Outriders is full of sidequests that take players off the beaten path to explore other stories. Sometimes these tie in nicely with the main game, and this is certainly the case with the “Payback” sidequest. At the beginning of the game right after the Outrider wakes up from their decades long nap in cryo, an insurgent by the name of Reiner puts them through hell. Forcing them to walk through the anomaly, the Outrider develops a grudge against this insurgent leader, and the “Payback” side quest lets them see that grudge play out to the end. That said, as the first boss that some players face, he can be particularly challenging.
Like the player, Reiner is Altered, meaning he has supernatural powers that make him a much more challenging foe than standard enemies in Outriders. In order to come out on top here, it is important for players to understand what each of his anomaly skills do and how best to combat them all.
The most important thing to understand about this boss fight and those in the future is that enemy skills can be interrupted. Check the skill descriptions of the abilities unlocked up to this point to see if they have the interrupt tag. Using these skills on Reiner or any Altered enemy while they are in the midst of charging up an attack will interrupt it and stop the effect from taking place. Additionally, Reiner spawns enemies throughout the fight, and these are the player’s main source of healing should things get rough.
Reiner really only has two abilities, but they are both very dangerous if left unchecked. The first ability that players will see Reiner use is called Wandering Flame. This technique takes a bit to charge up, but spawns a tornado of fire that will track the player. This can be used multiple times, making the battlefield very hectic. Next, whenever Reiner is getting low on health, he will use healing light, a skill that restores his HP. If possible, this should be the main target for interruption, as letting him use this too much will cause the fight to drag on for too long.
As a general strategy, players should chip away at Reiner’s health in the safest way possible. If he starts to use his Healing Light ability, do whatever it takes to interrupt the skill. The Wandering Flame can be annoying but is easy enough to dodge, and if the player’s health gets low, focus on the adds that he summons to heal up. If the fight is too difficult even still, it is always an option to turn down the world level to make things a bit easier, though players should be aware that this will decrease the quality of rewards.
Outriders is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
