Outriders: The Best Build For The Pestilence Technomancer

It's amazing that a game like Outriders has ten legendary rifles and yet only one class suited to long-range combat. Stranger still, only one class build makes the most of using sniper rifles. The Pestilence Technomancer finds itself in a place without any kind of equivalency, even among other Technomancers who deal with Anomaly powers and healing.

Yet too many snipers out there are building their Technomancer without thinking about the long game. Well before the end of the game content, it's easy for a Pestilence build to go wrong and suffer from tunnel vision both on the battlefield and with their skill nodes. Thankfully, the experts who are in hot demand for their high-tier damage have shared some of their best secrets with the community.

Updated on July 30th, 2021 by Hodey Johns: It's hard to think of any games that have been updated and altered more than Outriders has in the first few months. The relationship between developer and community has been rocky at best, but communication is clear and active. This guide has been updated to reflect the latest balances. It's clear that the endgame goal is based on conquering high world tiers in a party. Therefore, a section has been added regarding how to properly play the character in a group so that players can have a clear idea of how this particular role should function after putting all of the pieces together.

Empowering Antena: Activating a Decay skill increases weapon damage by 40% for the Technomancer and all allies.
Sniper Assassin: 40% increased weapon damage with sniper rifles.
Exposing Toxin: Toxic also inflicts Vulnerable.

The simple rule of thumb for all of the smaller nodes is that if it helps out the sniper rifle in range, damage, or armor-piercing, take it. Also, the small Marked for Execution node provides a not-so-small bonus to the tune of an extra 40% effectiveness from Vulnerability.

The final skill in the tree, the Empowering Antena, is a big one not only because of the damage boost, but because the damage boost will apply to all allies. Groups have a choice of damage dealers when figuring out the higher World Tiers, and they could bring in anybody. A sniper without this trait won't be receiving any repeat invites.

Exposing Toxin is crucial as it makes it so that Toxic effects also inflict Vulnerable. Vulnerable is far, far more important to the Pestilence Technomancer than the damage over time on Toxic, so make sure to dip into the Tech Shaman tree to go get it.

Blighted Rounds: Fills a magazine with Decay rounds. These rounds inflict Toxic and spread the damage and effects to foes in an area around the target. The effect lasts until the magazine runs out, the gun is reloaded, or the weapon is switched.
Cryo Turret: An automated turret that will deal damage and inflict Freeze on enemies.
Cold Snap: Freezes enemies in a large radius.

To be clear, Blighted Rounds are what makes this build work. The automatic application of Toxic (and, thereby, Vulnerability) is big, but the area of effect damage is equally important. Snipers will be overwhelmed when trying to stick to single-target damage. By taking out waves of enemies, they are able to thin out the overwhelming hordes of enemies without having to switch weapons.

Older versions of this build used the Blighted Turret, but the armor at the endgame gives a direct benefit to the Cryo Turret. The Toxic debuff is an absolute necessity, but that can be applied via Blighted Rounds easily and the right mods essentially assure that the skill will rarely, if ever, run out. The Cryo Turret will keep enemies frozen, which is a requirement in encounters when the player is swarmed by legions of alien life.

The last skill is a matter of preference, but it's hard to survive without the freezing ability of Cold Snap. Class builds are delicate things and the difference between the good and the bad builds is often making a choice based on survivability and not pure damage. The move can be modified to reduce enemy armor, so of all the utility skills, this one has the best synergy.

Head: Twins, Critical Analysis
Chest: Painful Chill, Frostbite
Hands: Euthaniser, Toxic Lead
Legs: Cryodown, Spare Mag
Feet: Sharp Eye, Trick Up the Sleeve
Weapon: Ultimate Freezing Bullets

Players who choose this build shouldn't overcomplicate things with the mods; Blighted Rounds are the primary focus of the build. The very best of these is Spare Mag, which gives players an additional clip full of Blighted Rounds, effectively doubling the duration of the Pestilence Technomacer's best ability. Trick up the Sleeve gives bullets back for kills, also extending the duration of this skill.

Frostbite will reduce the armor of those hit by it and both Cryodown and Twins will assure that a turret is always available and never has to hit cooldown. When combined with the armor reduction in the node tree, armor piercing can get to nearly 100%, which is very helpful on bullet-sponge bosses that can take a while to strike down.

Toxic Lead is only a tier-two mod, but it feels like a tier-three mod for the Pestilence Technomancer because it will refill 40% of the weapon's magazine after killing an enemy inflicted with Toxic. That goes a long way in making sure Blighted Rounds never drops off. Ultimate Freezing Bullets can be ripped off of the Absolute Zero assault rifle. It will guarantee the target is frozen after shooting it, just in case the Cold Snap and Cryo Turrets have to b used on other targets.

Sniper Rifles: Icarus, The Iceberg
Pistols: Bolt & Thunder

The Icarus is great for Pestilence Technomancers (and almost every other class that might use a sniper rifle) because it has a huge clip size, fires automatically, and refunds critical shots. Yet don't count out the Icebreaker, which is slower, but it shatters enemies that have been frozen with either the gun or Cold Snap.

The pistols are actually more important to this build than people might realize. Even with all of the legendary weapons at the player's disposal, it can be tough to find a gun that works on the fly, especially after spending all of the build bolstering sniper rifles. The Bolt & Thunder have a mod that does damage based on the strength of other enemies, making it the perfect tool for firing while trying to survive.

Head: Crown of the Borealis Monarch
Chest: Any
Hands: Plague Sower's Hands
Legs: Waistcloth of the Borealis Monarch
Feet: Boots of the Borealis Monarch

The set buff from the Borealis Monarch set does extra damage to frozen enemies and increases critical damage after using Cold Snap. It only takes three pieces from this set to get this bonus, so two of these slots are open for experimentation. That works fine as the head, legs, and chest slot all have a core tier-three mod, leaving the chest and hands available for experimentation.

While any hands item can be equipped, the Euthaniser mod can only be found on the Plague Sower's Hands. Pestilence Technomancers should feel free to either take the mod off of that piece or use it themselves.

Here's the good news; as a damage dealer using the ammo rounds, the Pestilence build is the most desired Technomancer build in the game for group play. It's easy to make friends. The downside is that every Technomancer is aware of this, so the competition is fierce.

The top priority is to ensure that Blighted Rounds never goes on cooldown. There might be a few instances of truly terrible luck, but this is the difference between a top-tier Pestilence Technomancer and one that underwhelms. Be sure to grab an easy kill to partially refill the magazine when ammo gets low.

Pestilence builds should also prioritize their frozen targets. Whether it's Cold Snap or the turret doing work, this will give a big bonus to the Pestilence Technomancer and their teammates. Shooting other targets is missing out on an opportunity.

Finally, communicate with the other damage dealer on the team. Let them know what to target. Applying the vulnerable debuff is effective for everyone, so coordination of targets is key to cutting down on times and hitting the jackpot on more challenging runs.

NEXT: Outriders Complete Guide – Builds, Tips, Tricks, And Help

Original Article

Spread the love