Kay Vess isn’t a soldier. She’s not a Jedi. Honestly, she’s just a street thief trying to survive the Outer Rim without getting a thermal detonator shoved down her throat. This basic reality defines everything about how Star Wars Outlaws weapons actually work in-game. If you’re coming from Battlefront or even Jedi: Survivor, the limited arsenal might feel like a shock at first. But there’s a mechanical depth here that most players overlook during their first few hours on Toshara.
The game revolves almost entirely around the Salyard E-54 blaster. It’s your ride-or-die. You don't have a magical backpack that carries ten different rifles. You have one pistol and whatever you can scavenge off a dead Stormtrooper before the heat gets too high. It’s a scrappy, desperate way to fight.
The Blaster is Everything
Most of the time, you're tinkering with Kay’s modular blaster. This isn't just a pea-shooter. It’s a Swiss Army knife of galactic violence. You’ve got three primary modules: Plasma, Ion, and Power.
Plasma is your bread and butter. It’s what you use when a Pyke Syndicate thug decides he doesn't like your face. It kills unshielded organics fast. But the cool part is the heat management. Unlike other shooters where you just reload a clip, here you have to nail a "Cooling Vent" mini-game—basically a quick-time event that rewards you for timing your vent perfectly. Hit it right, and your blaster gets a temporary buff. Mess it up, and you’re standing in the open like a moron while your gun hisses steam.
Ion is where things get tactical. In the early game, you might think it’s useless because it barely tickles health bars. Wrong. It’s for shields and droids. If a Viper Probe Droid spots you, Plasma will take forever. Flip to Ion, and you can disable it in seconds. More importantly, Ion shots can "stun" certain electronics, opening doors or triggering environmental kills. It’s more of a tool than a weapon, really.
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Then there’s Power. This is your heavy hitter. It turns the blaster into a quasi-explosive launcher. It’s slow. It’s loud. It’s perfect for when a shield-carrying enemy is pinning you down. You charge it up, let fly, and watch the cover disappear.
Scavenged Weapons: The "Use It and Lose It" Rule
Ubisoft and Massive Entertainment made a very specific choice with Star Wars Outlaws weapons: you cannot keep the big guns. If you pick up a DLT-19 heavy blaster rifle or an A300 sniper, you use it until it runs out of juice or you try to climb a ladder.
Kay drops the weapon as soon as she needs her hands.
It feels annoying at first. You find a high-damage rotary cannon and you want to keep it forever. But the game isn't designed for Kay to be a walking tank. These weapons are power-ups. They are temporary solutions to a "too many enemies" problem. Picking up an E-11 blaster from a fallen Stormtrooper gives you that iconic pew-pew sound and a higher rate of fire, but once that yellow bar at the bottom of the screen hits zero, it’s back to your trusty sidearm.
Expert Combat Nuance: It’s Not Just Point and Shoot
If you're playing Outlaws like a standard cover shooter, you're gonna die. A lot. The AI is aggressive, and Kay is squishy. To really master the combat, you have to lean into the "Scoundrel" fantasy. This means using Nix as much as your gun.
Nix is basically a sentient tactical grenade. You can command him to fetch a better weapon from across the room while you stay behind cover. See a heavy Z-6 rotary cannon on the floor but there's a sniper watching it? Send the little guy. He’ll drag it back to you. This is the only way to effectively rotate through the heavier Star Wars Outlaws weapons without getting your head blown off.
- The Stun Setting: Your blaster has a separate stun cooldown. Use it. It’s an instant takedown regardless of the enemy's health. It’s on a long timer, so don't waste it on a basic grunt if a heavy elite is charging you.
- The Adrenaline Rush: As you fight, you build up a meter. Once full, you can trigger a "Mark and Execute" style mechanic. It’s very Red Dead Redemption. You tag three or four targets, and Kay clears the room in a blur. This is essential for escaping Imperial search parties.
Upgrading the Salyard E-54
You don't just find new guns; you find "Expert" NPCs who teach you how to make your current gun better. This is the E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) of the game world. To get the best out of your gear, you have to track down people like The Mechanic or The Mercenary.
These upgrades aren't just +5% damage. They change the weapon's behavior. For instance, the "Bolt" configuration for the Plasma module increases projectile speed, making it much easier to hit moving targets at a distance. Or you can go for the "Rapid" configuration, which turns your pistol into a submachine gun but makes it overheat in a heartbeat.
Honestly, the "Light" configuration is a trap. People think the faster cooling is worth the lower damage. It's not. In the late game, you need stopping power. Stick to "Heavy" or "Burst" configurations once you unlock them.
Environmental Lethality
The best weapon in Star Wars Outlaws often isn't a gun at all. It's the red barrels. Yeah, it's a trope, but here they actually make sense. You’ll find fuel cells, explosive containers, and even environmental hazards like steam pipes.
If you use the Ion shot on certain canisters, they don't just explode—they create an EMP field. This is huge when fighting Imperial Death Troopers. Those guys are absolute sponges for Plasma fire. But trap them in an Ion cloud, and their gear malfunctions, leaving them open for a stealth takedown or a Power shot.
The Misconception About Stealth vs. Firepower
There’s this idea floating around that you can stealth the whole game. You can’t. Eventually, the syndicates will corner you, or the Empire will lock down a spaceport.
When the shooting starts, the biggest mistake is staying in one spot. Kay’s weapons are designed for "run and gun" gameplay. The Salyard is most accurate when you're peek-shooting, but the scavenged rifles work best when you're suppressing and moving. If you grab a T-21 heavy blaster, use that massive fire rate to keep heads down while you navigate to a flank.
The A300 sniper rifle is rare, but it's the only way to reliably take out officers who call for reinforcements. If you see one, grab it. Prioritize the guys with the radio icons over their heads.
Why Kay Doesn't Use a Lightsaber
It sounds obvious, but it bears repeating: there is no melee weapon system beyond Kay’s fists and a few stealth takedowns. You aren't Cal Kestis. If you let a Gamorrean Guard get within axe-swinging distance, you’ve already lost the fight. Your weapon is distance and trickery.
Actionable Strategy for Your Next Session
If you want to stop struggling with the combat encounters, change your approach to the gear immediately.
First, prioritize the Ion Module upgrades as soon as you get to Mirogana. Most players focus on Plasma damage, but the ability to strip shields is the real bottleneck in mid-game difficulty spikes.
Second, get comfortable with the "Drop" mechanic. Don't hoard a scavenged rifle with two shots left. Throw it away. Kay moves faster and can use her specialized blaster modules better when her hands are free.
Third, hunt for the "Expert" intel as soon as it pops up on your map. Specifically, look for the "Highroller" or "The Gunsmith" rumors in cantinas. These leads are the only way to unlock the higher-tier weapon trees that make the final acts of the game manageable.
Check your "Materials" tab often. You might be one "Actuated Lever" away from a blaster upgrade that doubles your heat capacity. Most of these parts are found in Smuggler Caches, which Nix can sniff out.
Stop treating the game like a looter-shooter. It's a survival-shooter. Your blaster is your best friend, but your brain—and your ability to scavenge the right Imperial rifle at the right second—is what actually keeps Kay Vess alive. Get the Ion module leveled up, keep your cooling vents timed right, and keep Nix busy. That’s how you win in the Outer Rim.