In today’s Outriders Broadcast #3, Square Enix and People Can Fly turned the spotlight onto the Devastator class. The big, burly tank of the Outriders universe, the Devastator uses the power of the planet to devastate their enemies.
According to Square Enix and People Can Fly, the Devastator isn’t your standard tank and can almost match the other classes in terms of damage dealing and are the drivers of the pace and flow of firefights. Devastators are also incredibly mobile and agile for a tank class which is important when it comes to healing.
Like all classes in Outriders, the Devastator heals through dealing damage. Where the Pyromancer needs to kill marked/burning enemies and the Trickster gains shields for close-range kills, the Devastator regains health anytime an enemy dies while in a close range.
Outriders Devastator
While the Trickster and Devastator’s healing mechanics seem similar, the devs are keen to point out that as you progress down the skill tree, the Devastator can become vastly different. For example, Devastators can steal enemy armour when they’re killed in close range. According to the devs, the Devastator is the class that will likely have the most amour and health buffs at any one time of all the classes.
It also means that in order to stay alive, Devastators will need to stay in the thick of it. The first of the four revealed abilities for the Devastator class is a handy way to get into (and out of) combat in a hurry.
Gravity Leap sees the Devastator leap into the air and turn into a pile of floating rubble. While in this state, players can target an enemy, who will be highlighted in yellow and then slam down on them dealing massive AOE damage. This is a great way to heal the Devastator and also get into the middle of the fighting. Gravity Leap will also interrupt enemy and boss attacks, so it’ll be imperative to get right when playing.
Reflect Bullets turns the Devastator into Neo at the end of The Matrix. When Reflect Bullets is active, an invisible wall appears in front of the Devastator and catches all incoming bullets, stopping any damage. Once the skill ends, or the player activates it again, all of the caught bullets are sent flying back towards enemies for huge damage. The invisible wall can be used to help the team push forward and to defend injured allies.
Impale is People Can Fly’s favourite ability and it’s easy to see why. Impale is another interrupt ability and it deals a tonne of damage. When used, a spike of stone appears underneath the chosen enemy and impales them. If the damage is lethal, the stone spike will remain and the enemy will be permanently impaled on it. If this occurs, the team will be granted nine seconds of armour and health bonuses.
There are seven modifiers players can use with Impale which can be found and applied via gear. One example given is Spike Forest which allows players to impale an additional enemy.
Finally, Endless Mass is a control ability. The Devastator creates a spinning black obelisk that has a huge gravitational pull. It draws in nearby enemies creating an opportunity for players to kill them all in one go. When combined with Gravity Leap, Endless Mass is a great way to clear the battlefield and heal the Devastator.
As with all classes in Outriders, the Devastator’s skill tree is split into three branches; Vanquisher, Warden and Seismic Shifter. Each of these branches plays a little differently and will appeal to players with different playstyles. The Vanquisher is a grappler that excels at getting close to enemies and has bonuses for shotguns and assault rifles.
The Warden is the “ultimate tank” and has the largest armour and health bonuses and resistances. The Seismic Shifter is a mid-range variation on the Devastator and uses anomaly damage. It also deals damage over time which works well with the Bleeding status which the Devastator inflicts when using melee attacks.
There are still four other abilities to be revealed for the Devastator and the skill tree is still virtually unknown so there’s plenty more to learn.
Outriders will be available on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
