Fans who were anticipating Outriders for any amount of time are already familiar with what the Tempest build looks like. The developers were so excited about how visually spectacular and tactically intriguing that they released an early look at the “Fire Witch.” While the name would end up changing, the moves stayed the same and, as a result, the Pyromancer appears to be the most popular class in the early going.
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However, seeing a professional developer execute a build that they designed and managing to play that build as a normal gamer is easier said than done. Even after copying the build, fans shouldn’t settle for playing the build the way the developers did; as exciting as it was visually, there was a ton of running away during combat and waiting for big skills to come back from cooldown. Pro players have added a twist to the Tempest build and the community agrees that this is the best Anomaly Power damage build in the game right now.
Updated on July 31st, 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.
- Grave Ablaze: Gain a 30% damage boost to Explosive abilities.
- Extinction: Gain 20% damage to enemies with less than 30% health.
- Wildfire: 10% reduction to cooldown for skills in the Explosive, Immobilize, and Ignite Skill Fields.
When it comes to the smaller nodes, take almost everything in the Tempest skill tree except ignore anything that has to do with Burn damage or duration. The Tempest will inflict the Burn status but will use overheat to detonate these effects. Resistance-piercing and Anomaly Power modes are the bread-and-butter of the build, so be sure to pick all of these up.
Two more small World Ablaze nodes will combine with the large Wildfire node to reduce Explosive cooldowns by 40%. Because the bulk of the Tempest’s damage is going to come from a single explosive skill, this is imperative to make the build work.
Grave Ablaze and Extinction both boost damage to enemies. The latter will be most useful against bosses or targets with large health pools and teams will appreciate that these drawn-out fights will end sooner when a Tempest is in the party.
- Eruption: Does damage to a target and a small area around that target.
- Overheat: Deals damage and interrupts units in a large area. Units who are inflicted with Burn will lose their Burn status and take extra damage.
- Heatwave: Sends forth a wave that inflicts enemies with Burn.
No further conversations about this build can happen without explaining why the F.A.S.E.R. Beam has been cut out of this build. While the legendary armor set and some of the nodes would boost it up, this comes at the expense of Explosive damage and the F.A.S.E.R. Beam is not an Explosive type of spell. Ultimately, Overheat edges that move after trying thousands of node configurations.
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Eruption and Overheat are to be cast together. The Eruption is purely a primer; because this build skips over the damage-over-time Burn effects, it’s best to immediately detonate these charges with Overheat which is, thankfully, an Explosive skill.
The reason people who understand how the higher World Tiers operate want a Tempest Pyromancer in their party is for their Eruption ability. It’s the last skill the Pyromancer will acquire, but it’s worth the wait as the damage is not only absurdly high but cast in a small area. Clusters of enemies will melt rapidly when confronted with the ability.
- Etna: Eruption can be cast an additional time before going on cooldown.
- Pompeii: Eruption can be cast an additional time before going on cooldown.
- Improved Damage: Increase Eruption’s Explosive Damage.
- Sunburnt: Increases damage against enemies with a status effect.
- Phoenix Force: Increases Anomaly Power per status consumed. Stacks up to ten times.
First off, do not bother with any mods at all on Heatwave. Remember that this move exists solely to prime Overheat and mod spots are both limited and precious, especially with so much of the build depending on the other two Explosive abilities.
Etna and Pompeii work together to let the Tempest Pyromancer cast three total Eruptions before the move goes on cooldown. Even if only one of these mods existed, the advantage would be outrageous. With two such mods in the game, it’s absolutely overpowered and likely all the build needs to top the charts.
Phoenix Force is a smart choice as it increases Anomaly Power every time Overheat consumed a Burn debuff. Stacking these up to ten before unleashing the volleys of Eruptions is an understandably devastating advantage.
Assault Rifle: Inferno Seed
Double Gun: Shelrog’s Excrescence
Pistols: Torment and Agony
This Tempest build doesn’t even pretend to do physical damage, but there is time between cooldowns where time not shooting is time wasted. The real conundrum for the Pyromancer with this build is finding guns that are more than just damage machines. No worries, there’s an extensive list of legendary guns and one of them will be perfect for the Tempest.
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There is a mod called the Judgment Enforcer on the Torment and Agony pistols. It makes it so that enemies hit by the gun are marked until the weapon is changed. The Tempest deals extra damage to targets with the Mark debuff on them. Craft this mod onto any and all guns in the inventory.
The Inferno Seed and Shelrog’s Excrescence both have mods that apply the Burn status to enemies. The Overheat skill will be grateful for this effect whenever the Heatwave skill is on cooldown. Either use these weapons or take their mods and put them in another weapon of choice.
- Lava Lich Set: Increases damage and decreases the cooldown on Eruption.
The set bonus makes this a no-brainer as it boosts the main damage source, Eruption, for the Tempest and allows the skill to be cast more often. But there are two big caveats that players should know about in order to maximize their gear.
The first is that many of these mods are for the F.A.S.E.R. Beam, so they should be replaced in exchange for mods that beef up Overheat. Four of the mods boost Eruption and those can stay put.
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Second, only three pieces of gear are required to get the set bonus. So the boots, which have no mods for Eruption, Overheat, and Heatweave, can be replaced entirely in exchange for a better piece of gear without losing any of the offensive power gained from the set.
The metagame is currently obsessed with ammo powers and they are strong. So, undoubtedly, groups will be a little bit wary when a non-rounds DPS user steps into their group. It’s important to remember that outside of bullet-based DPS, the Tempest is likely the best and the benefits from the Tempest help the group dynamic a great deal.
The most important thing to do is to target large waves of enemies. All three of the Tempest’s skills damage units in an area, so any damage against a single unit standing alone is a waste of abilities unless the target in question is the last one alive.
Next, thanks to some smart skill node selections, the Tempest isn’t useless when it is time to focus on bosses. If it’s possible, group enemies around bosses and then target the boss (or biggest enemy in the bunch). The explosions and Burn effects will be maximized this way.
Of course, it’s important to stay safe as well. A dead Tempest is a low DPS Tempest. This build has the highest damage possible, but it also comes with a noticeable lack of utility and movement abilities, so if enemies swarm the Pyromancer, it’s all over. Do not fight opponents in the middle of an arena. Kite around the perimeter and keep all enemies in front of the action.
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