Which Traits Should You Pick in The Outer Worlds 2 for Completing and Solving?

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Like the original Outer Worlds, The Outer Worlds 2 kicks off with everything going wrong—that’s pretty typical under the intergalactic capitalist system. But before things turn upside down for your character, you get to decide who you are! That starts with selecting your traits, an important choice that shapes your entire gameplay experience.

Traits are a core part of your character. Unlike Skills, which can be upgraded over time, and Perks, which require specific conditions to unlock, Traits remain part of your character from start to finish. There are plenty of Traits to pick from, and some may suit your playstyle better than others.

When creating your character, you must choose your Background, the Skills you want to develop, and your Traits. Skills can be improved regardless of your specialization, and your Background mainly affects dialogue options and flavor. Traits, however, have a big impact on how you play—altering combat, exploration, and interactions significantly.

You can select up to two Positive Traits, but doing so requires you to also pick a Negative Trait. These choices are permanent—they can’t be changed later or added on later. Make sure you’re confident in your picks because they influence every part of your game, from fighting to talking.

This also applies to Negative Traits. They can lead to some interesting interactions, even if they make the game more challenging.

There are 12 Traits total—nine positive and three negative. If you choose one Positive Trait, you don’t need a Negative Trait, but if you pick two Positives, then a Negative is mandatory. Traits are strong because of how much they can change gameplay.

Positive Traits:

Brawny: Knocking down enemies by sliding or sprinting into them. Also helps you yank open broken doors and interact with the environment.
Brilliant: Specialize in three Skills, with unique dialogue and environmental options.
Heroic: Reduces your companion ability cooldowns by 20%.
Innovative: Creates double the usual amount of ammo, throwables, and resources from crafting. Also unlocks special interactions.
Lucky: +5% critical chance, with some interactions working automatically without specific Skills.
Nimble: +25% crouch and sprint speed; slips through tight spaces easily.
Resilient: Prevents death for three seconds the first time you would die in combat.
Suave: 10% discount at vendors, and your bounty must be twice as high for you to be considered an Outlaw.
Witty: Never drop below Neutral reputation with any faction.

Certain Traits are especially useful, like Brawny—which lets you open broken doors without relying solely on the Engineering Skill—and Lucky, which boosts your chances in tricky situations. Heroic offers situational benefits and can help with companion abilities, but isn’t as universally impactful.

Negative Traits:

Abrasive: Your reputation with factions can never go above Neutral.
Dumb: Locking out five Skills permanently, making certain perks and gameplay options unavailable.
Sickly: Reduces your base health by 15% and lowers your Toxicity Crash Threshold, making combat more dangerous and healing more difficult.

Each Negative Trait can be a heavy drawback. Sickly, for example, makes heavy combat risky, and healing harder. Abrasive can limit your faction relations, and Dumb prevents you from investing in some Skills altogether, cutting off access to perks and abilities tied to those Skills.

Traits show up throughout the game in many ways. They often have more effects than what’s listed when you select them. For example, Brawny doesn’t just let you pull open broken doors—it allows for environmental interactions that other Skills might not enable, like opening certain doors without hacking or engineering.

Some Traits, like Lucky, are all about chance, providing flexible but unreliable benefits. You might blend Items or set off explosions using indirect methods, but you can’t fully depend on them, unlike more consistent Skills like Brawny.

Traits like Witty and Suave don’t influence the game environment much but do improve dialogue options and convenience, often making interactions easier or more favorable without affecting real-time gameplay. These Traits stand out because they add flavor and storytelling options rather than mechanical advantages.

Can you change your Traits? Unfortunately, Traits are locked in once chosen—there’s no way to switch them out later. You get one opportunity to respec after completing the first mission of the game if you decide you don’t like your choices, but after that, you’re stuck with what you’ve picked. Your background and Skills are also fixed, making initial choices pretty important.