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Ubisoft’s Star Wars Outlaws stars a cunning hero seeking a new life

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This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

Ubisoft announced Star Wars Outlaws, a new Star Wars game, in collaboration with Lucasfilm Games at today’s Xbox Showcase. The latest installment leaves behind Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and Survivor protagonist Cal Kestis in favor of a new rebellious, rule-breaking hero called Kay Vess.

Star Wars Outlaws: Official World Premiere Trailer

We don’t know much about Kay Vess yet. Her role in the trailer starts during a card game, where she and her mutant companion, Nix, are trying to swindle their fellow bar patrons. However, she needs to fold early because of law enforcers who discover her whereabouts before the end of the game. The bar erupts into chaos, and she escapes. She then receives a curious offer to turn her life around and finally be free of the day-to-day conning she needs to do to survive.

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As per the official trailer description, Vess is willing to risk it all to leave behind the Underworld. She will be traveling through new and familiar planets in the Star Wars franchise, but it won’t be so easy because of the bounty on Kay Vess’s head. We’ll have to see how it ends up with her journey across the galaxy.

Kay Vess looking out at Star Wars landscape vista
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Star Wars Outlaws will be the first modern open-world Star Wars game, but there wasn’t much explanation about how the exploration would work in the Xbox Showcase announcement trailer. Ubisoft is scheduled to reveal more about Star Wars: Outlaws during its dedicated showcase at 1 p.m. ET tomorrow, June 12.

Star Wars Outlaws will launch in 2024 for Xbox Series X/S. Xbox hasn’t confirmed if it will be PC compatible or on Xbox Game Pass.

Jess Reyes
Jessica Reyes is a freelance writer who specializes in anime-centric and trending topics. Her work can be found in Looper…
The best Syndicate rewards in Star Wars Outlaws
One character points a gun at others while gambling in a bar in the trailer for Star Wars Outlaws.

You will learn very quickly in Star Wars Outlaws that it isn't the Empire that runs things -- it's the syndicates. These crime families each fight for power over the various planets you will explore and all see you as a potential pawn in their schemes. Kay has a lot of useful skills and abilities they want to take advantage of, but it isn't a one-way street. If you can raise your reputation with a syndicate all the way to the max, you can earn yourself some valuable and exclusive rewards you won't find in any container you lockpick. Doing that many jobs for a syndicate takes time, but also tends to incur the wrath of other syndicates at the same time, making it very challenging to keep everyone happy. These syndicates have the best rewards that you should work your way through the ranks to get.
How reputation works

Each of the four major syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws has their own reputation meter you need to manage. These have five major segments: Terrible, Bad, Poor, Good, and Excellent. You raise that meter by doing jobs for a syndicate and lower it by either doing jobs that hurt that syndicate or by fighting or trespassing on their turf.

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All Experts in Star Wars Outlaws and where to find them
star wars outlaws interview returning characters qi ra

Unlike most other Ubisoft games, or even most RPGs for that matter, you don't level up and unlock skills as you would expect to in Star Wars Outlaws. You won't earn any points or find a skill tree waiting for you here, but rather the new Experts system. As you explore the galaxy and meet new people while hunting for treasures, you will encounter special characters called Experts who are willing to help Kay expand her skills. Well, once you find and help them out, that is. Without their help, you're stuck with your basic abilities for the whole game, so taking a break from your main quest to find them is well worth your time. The galaxy is a big place, so we'll tell you where to find each of the Experts in Star Wars Outlaws.
How learning new skills works

As we mentioned, you won't find yourself leveling up after completing missions or dispatching enemies. The only way to learn any new skills is through finding an Expert.

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The best abilities in Star Wars Outlaws
EMBARGO 7/30: Kay snakes through a base.

While Kay Vess is no amateur when you begin Star Wars Outlaws, she's far from a pro. She is a decent shot, can hack basic computers, and even pick locks, but she's not much more complicated than that. Unlike a traditional open-world game — especially a Ubisoft one — you won't find any skill trees or XP bars here. Instead, Kay can only pick up new abilities by meeting special Experts. These NPCs are scattered across the various planets and need to be found and befriended before you can start working on unlocking new skills. It's a long process no matter how you approach it, so we're here to pass along the vital info you need on the best skills in Star Wars Outlaws.
Armored Undershirt

The first Ability you should aim for is Armored Undershirt, which you can start on right away since it is part of Bram's set. This Ability is a passive buff that increases your default HP by 1, which is incredibly valuable at the start of the game when you only have three. Hunt down or purchase Ironweave and 8 Coarsweave on Toshara to snag it.
Fast Talk

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