Everything That Happened in The Outer Worlds (So You Know It All Before Playing The Outer Worlds 2)

This nonfiction contains spoilers for 2019's The Outer Worlds.

With The Outer Worlds 2 imminently astir to drop, we deliberation it's a bully clip to brushwood up connected the fundamentals of Obsidian's high-concept sci-ifi beingness and recount the events of the archetypal game. The adjacent 2,000 words oregon truthful volition enactment nicely arsenic a refresher for radical who finished The Outer Worlds ages ago, and besides arsenic a primer for those of you diving into the sequel without immoderate anterior knowledge. It goes without saying, then, that what follows contains spoilers for The Outer Worlds 1. If you don't privation thing spoiled... well, the agelong and abbreviated of it is that unregulated capitalism is bad. That's capable to get you going with The Outer Worlds 2.

But you didn't travel present for tl;dr. You clicked connected an nonfiction to work it, truthful here's everything that happened successful The Outer Worlds.

Divergence

The Outer Worlds' communicative arguably starts successful 1901 with a non-event. That is, President William McKinley not getting assassinated by an anarchist for failing to modulate the corporations, and subsequently, uh, leaving the corporations unregulated for the remainder of his word and seemingly for the remainder of time, putting humanity connected people to colonise the stars, but arsenic an entrenched, hyper-capitalist nine successful which workers rights are not remotely a concept. So this is similar a nightmare mentation of Star Trek wherever everything sucks unless you’re absurdly rich. Thank deity this is conscionable fiction.

Fast guardant a fewer 100 years, and The Earth Directorate, a one-world authorities established aft a devastating war, is granting licenses to assorted conglomerates to spell disconnected and colonise distant planets, the titular Outer Worlds. We don’t cognize precisely however galore galaxies person been colonised, but aggregate systems are mentioned done the people of the game, including Septerra, Tyrannus, Draconis, and from the upcoming Outer Worlds 2, Arcadia.

The Outer Worlds 2 isn't a nonstop sequel to its predecessor, truthful that's technically everything you request to know. But there's each accidental that someone oregon something from the archetypal crippled volition marque an appearance, beryllium that arsenic a broadside character, easter egg, oregon adjacent an important lawsuit successful the story. So work connected to brushwood up connected everything that happens anterior to your escapade successful crippled two.

Lost Hope

Our communicative occurs successful the troubled strategy of Halcyon, and that occupation starts earlier the colonisation effort adjacent reaches the system. Of the 2 immense colony ships sent there, lone 1 arrives connected clip - The Groundbreaker. After seeding each the inhabitable planets with colonists, it becomes an autarkic freeport abstraction presumption and floating portion mall, an indispensable hub for commercialized astatine the intersection betwixt tiny clip backstage endeavor and the remainder of the corporation-controlled system. The 2nd ship, the Hope, carrying tens of thousands of scientists and thinkers successful suspended animation, has a skip thrust malfunction enroute from Earth and ends up limping to Halcyon astatine sublight speeds.

Presumed lost, it is past discovered by The Board, Halcyon’s firm overlords, and alternatively of being allowed to implicit its journey, it is tethered to a distant crystal satellite and hidden from view. The Board don’t person the tech oregon the volition to revive the Hope colonists, and they don’t privation to person to woody with a nationalist outcry astir it, either. And truthful they are contented to fto it stay frozen and forgotten successful time.

This, however, irks 1 of their scientists, 1 Phineas Welles, who is truthful incensed by The Board’s inaction that helium takes matters into his ain hands and starts experimenting, successful secret, connected the Hope’s colonists successful bid to find a viable method of resurrecting them aft each this time. He succeeds, but not earlier becoming a disgraced outlaw and the astir wanted antheral successful the full system.

Unfortunately, the resurrection process requires tons of uncommon worldly that’s hard to stitchery erstwhile you’re connected the run, and truthful Phineas decides to usage his 1 and lone trial batch of revival serum connected a azygous Hope colonist. In a last-ditch raid connected the abandoned starship, helium selects idiosyncratic to revive astatine random successful the hopes that they volition go a loyal state and assistance him decorativeness his expansive scheme: to revive each Hope colonist, effect the Halcyon strategy with astute radical who aren’t idiots, and escaped the colonies from firm control. He successfully does so, but not without his ain vessel sustaining important damage, grounding it permanently.

Who helium revives depends connected you, the player, and their skills and quality traits beryllium connected your choices successful some the quality creator and the game’s narrative. And truthful begins a expansive prime and effect communicative successful which the optimum outcomes are locked down gates of competency – that is, if this heroic Stranger wants to execute the astir escaped and slightest bloody result for the radical of Halcyon, they’re gonna request to walk immoderate lofty code checks. And we’re assuming that’s what they did, due to the fact that covering each imaginable permutation of The Outer Worlds' communicative would instrumentality acold much clip than immoderate of america reasonably has.

The Unplanned Variable

Before the subordinate quality arrives – astir forty years precocious – to the Halcyon system, The Board is contented to preside implicit a strategy of shocking inequality, maintaining power done stifling bureaucracy and manufactured scarcity. But not each idiosyncratic is simply a mindless drone, arsenic we find retired successful Emerald Vale: the archetypal large trial of The Stranger’s resourcefulness, charisma, and governmental savvy - an opening section that sets the blueprint for each the conflicts to come.

But first, The Stranger needs a ride, and a guide. Welles arranges with a known privateer and wide Han Solo archetype, Captain Hawthorn, to conscionable The Stranger connected the satellite Terra 2. Unfortunately what Hawthorn really meets is the Stranger's driblet pod, violently, with the apical of his head. This leads The Stranger to commandeer Hawthorn's present captainless ship, The Unreliable - a benignant of chubby Millennium Falcon with a feisty onboard machine - and instrumentality disconnected connected a expansive interplanetary adventure.

Uh, except, not yet: it turns retired that The Unreliable needs a replacement powerfulness regulator earlier it tin go, which is annoying, but the pursuit of a caller 1 does springiness The Stranger an accidental to enlistee 2 immensely utile companions: technologist Parvati and philosophical space-priest Vicar Max, some of whom supply boosts to The Stranger’s important Persuade and Intimidate skills, captious for the wheeling and dealing that lies ahead.

After checking successful with the brag of Emerald Vale’s biggest firm municipality and Spacer’s Choice Saltuna cannery, Reed Tobson, it turns retired that determination are 2 powerfulness regulators successful the area: 1 successful his factory, which helium is understandably reluctant to springiness up, and 1 astatine an abandoned Botanical Lab, present location to a acceptable of deserters who, disillusioned with the systemic mistreatment they experienced arsenic lifelong, sometimes multi-generational indentured employees of Spacer’s Choice, person decided to recovered a caller cooperative nine escaped from institution oversight. Unfortunately, this means that the Saltuna Cannery is chronically understaffed, and truthful Reed asks you to chopped disconnected their powerfulness astatine the section works successful bid to unit his workers backmost into the fold, which volition marque it harmless for you to nab their powerfulness regulator.

It seems similar a coagulated plan, but it does travel with the downside of propping up an odious bootlicking toad similar Reed astatine the disbursal of radical whose lone transgression is wanting to beryllium escaped of a strategy that is hostile to them. The evident alternate is to screw him implicit and divert powerfulness to the Botanical Lab, but efficaciously sidesplitting the municipality of Edgewater astatine the aforesaid clip – not lone is Edgewater a harmless walled metropolis wherever radical live, it is besides the location of companion Parvati, truthful destroying it comes with a important idiosyncratic cost.

There is, however, an optimal solution: The Stranger decides to unopen down the Botanical Labs and instrumentality its powerfulness regulator, initially making an force of the deserter person Adelaide, but convinces Reed Tobson to measurement down arsenic person of Edgewater, cleverly utilizing his ain institution loyalty against him by pointing retired that he’s remarkably crap astatine his job, and that the champion result for Spacer’s Choice is for him to conscionable disappear. Morbid, sure, but they could person conscionable changeable him, truthful this truly is the champion result for each concerned. The Deserters instrumentality to the town, Adelaide takes implicit arsenic head from Reed, and sets astir making the colony much sustainable by increasing nutrient successful ungraded enriched by, uh, corpses. Which is fine. Look, nevertheless you portion it, beingness is inexpensive here. There is, arsenic it turns out, nary cleanable solution to immoderate of Halcyon’s problems – but this way, the radical of Edgewater get a small much wellness and happiness without having to springiness up the firm infrastructure they truthful trust on.

Groundbreaker

With a freshly installed powerfulness regulator and an anxious caller crew, The Stranger sets disconnected to Groundbreaker Station, Halcyon’s premiere buying destination and hive of scum and villainy. Most of it of the achromatic collar variety.

There, they enlistee 2 much companions: Felix, a canny dockworker with a precocious Persuade boost, and Ellie, a roving sawbones loyal lone to her adjacent wage packet who comes implicit with a boost to the party’s lying skills.

The Stranger’s adjacent task involves visiting the satellite of Monarch, but this is tricky due to the fact that the satellite has been deemed off-limits by The Board arsenic it is taxable to an entrenched civilian warfare and a communications blackout. Having been chopped disconnected from committee oversight, it’s mostly assumed that the spot is atrocious news. Bad News, however, is The Stranger’s mediate name. Or names. It’s not really. But look, thing volition deter The Stranger from going there, not adjacent a firm embargo oregon hazard of definite death. They show this determination by doing a clump of busywork successful different semi-abandoned firm colony conscionable to get capable bits to bargain an illicit achromatic marketplace navkey to the municipality of Stellar Bay successful the Cascadia portion of Monarch.

Clearing the Air

Phineas needs to procure a uncommon substance called Dimethyl Sulfoxide successful ample quantities to revive each the colonists inactive frozen connected The Hope. To way immoderate down, he’s made a woody with an accusation broker connected Monarch with the assistance of Nyoka, The Unreliable’s last recruitable companion, but has yet to person the intel for reasons unknown. So helium sends The Stranger determination successful his stead to find and retrieve this captious portion of the puzzle.

Upon arriving connected Monarch, The Stranger makes interaction with Nyoka and sets disconnected to Devil’s Peak, the ominous horned upland that hosts a ample communications presumption wherever the Information Broker is presently holed up, and learns (after doing tons of murder, like, loads and loads of it) that the crushed Phineas hasn’t received the intel is that the region’s communications are being drowned retired by pervasive broadcasts by Monarch Stellar Industries, the firm remnant inactive holding onto powerfulness connected Monarch, and The Iconoclasts, a radical of anarchists determined to escaped the colony of Board control.

This is similar the Edgewater vs Deserters concern connected steroids, and confirms what Phineas has told you astir Halcyon: the strategy is falling apart, and The Board are contented to fto it, alternatively than relinquish its stranglehold connected the workers. But The Stranger is remarkably bully astatine brokering intolerable deals – getting radical from opposing factions to spot reason, and enactment unneurotic toward a communal goal. They enactment this magic connected Monarch, archetypal to extremity the broadcasts and escaped up the comms operation to nonstop Phineas his intel, and past – conscionable arsenic an encore, you recognize – enactment an extremity to the struggle wholly with a small deposing here, a spot of finessing there. Turns retired diplomacy's a portion of piss.

Byzantium

Sorting retired the messiness connected Monarch provided a beardown instauration for the wellness of the Halcyon strategy going forward, but determination inactive remained the contented of The Board and their sheer indifference to the horrific conditions that radical are having to unrecorded with extracurricular of their glittering superior metropolis of Byzantium – which is precisely wherever the intel sends The Stranger successful bid to retrieve those captious chemicals, which are being utilized by The Board to tally experiments connected quality trial subjects successful suspended animation.

It turns retired that The Board’s reply to the Halcyon system’s collapsing system and full deficiency of nutrient information is the Lifetime Employment Program – a strategy wherever each of Halcyon’s workers volition beryllium placed successful indefinite suspended animation, revived lone erstwhile needed, successful bid to reserve the colony’s dwindling nutrient supplies for the societal elite successful Byzantium. And, y’know, their scientists volition wholly get onto fixing the full nutrient shortage happening successful the meantime. Definitely. Yep. Oh, and this involves sidesplitting everyone near connected committee The Hope to marque abstraction successful the fridge for this planned batch of idiosyncratic popsicles.

This being unconscionable, The Stranger shuts down the board’s probe and retrieves the Dimethyl Sulfoxide, the 2nd to past portion of the puzzle needed to revive the Hope colonists. The last portion being the vessel itself.

Endgame

Phineas sends The Stranger backmost to wherever it each started, the Hope, with a program to restart its skip thrust and bring it to Terra 2, truthful the enactment of reviving its colonists – said to beryllium Halcyon’s champion and brightest – tin get underway. It is Phineas’s content that they volition beryllium capable to lick the colony’s nutrient shortages and systemic conflicts with science, technology, and pragmatism.

Once the vessel is retrieved, though, it is discovered that Phineas’s concealed laboratory has been ransacked, and helium himself imprisoned connected Tartarus, Halcyon’s infamous penal colony. The combat that ensues involves astir everyone The Stranger helped retired connected their travels up to that constituent – with some the MSI and the Iconoclasts showing up arsenic allies to assistance successful this cosmic situation break, on with the unit of The Groundbreaker itself.

Despite a definite acceptable level of bloodshed being inevitable, The Stranger’s progressive reputation, past of even-handed pragmatism, and comparative deficiency of a murderous streak puts them successful a presumption to negociate peacefully for Phineas’s release, locking successful his imaginativeness for reviving the Hope colonists, and mounting its superb thinkers connected the way to fixing the colonies.

The Halcyon strategy was not saved by convulsive action, but by negotiation, compromise, and calculated governmental manoeuvring. And besides a spot of violence. A smidge. A indispensable pinch of shooting and battering. Also petty theft and the unusual swindle. But mostly the full diplomacy thing. And via these actions, a ragtag radical of colonists from each walks of beingness managed to present true, lasting systemic alteration to Halcyon earlier going their abstracted ways and their ship, The Unreliable, falling into legend.

Also astatine immoderate constituent they mislaid interaction with Earth and cipher knows what happened to it. I conjecture we’ll find retired successful The Outer Worlds 2 – a crippled connected which, arsenic acold arsenic we know, astir nary of this has immoderate bearing whatsoever. Still, saves you having to play it again, right?