How to find experts and unlock abilities in Star Wars Outlaws

Experts are your ticket to a smoother ride through Star Wars Outlaws. Experts teach you abilities, allowing you to learn everything from blaster and health upgrades to perks for Nix, the best Star Wars creature this side of Naboo. Each expert can teach you up to six abilities, but finding them is an involved process.

Our in-progress Star Wars Outlaws guide lists all of the experts we’ve found so far, what abilities they can teach you, and what you need to do to unlock those abilities.

In all cases but one, you’ll get a lead on a nearby expert that Outlaws files under “Expert Intel” in your journal. These might appear naturally, such as when Danka helps you get started, or you might get a brief notification from ND-5 after completing a story mission. If these leads don’t pop, try leaving a planet and returning, which in our experience can sometimes get ND-5 to start talking again.

The initial lead introduces you to the expert in question, and then they’ll always have a quest for you. Complete that quest to unlock an initial ability and see the requirements for the rest. Meeting experts is essentially the skill tree system for Star Wars Outlaws.

These requirements might range from performing certain actions in combat to finding materials in the open world, but you can get hints and track progression in the skills menu to make keeping up with it all a bit easier.

Also note that you can only make progress toward a particular ability after you’ve seen the requirements; for instance, if you need to pick three locks to unlock one of Aila’s abilities, any locks you’ve picked before meeting Aila won’t count toward your tally. Once you’ve completed all of the prerequisites for an ability, you can unlock that ability directly from your menu, without any need to double back and visit the expert it’s associated with.

Bram unlocks automatically at the start of the game, and you get two free abilities. You have to work for the other four, though.

Bram’s abilities are foundational, mostly to do with unlocking and improving basic combat and puzzle mechanics.

Selo is probably the first expert you’ll unlock, assuming you follow Danka’s advice and sniff out leads on expert intel. After completing the “New Tricks” main quest, Danka gives you a hint about an ace mechanic on Toshara. Head to Jaunta’s Hope, and pick up the “Expert Mechanic” intel from the bartender in Daruda Diner. Follow that to Kadua, then to a cliff near Jaunta’s Hope, and you’ll meet Selo. She has a job for you.

Selo wants you to retrieve a speeder part for her, and that means infiltrating a nearby Imperial compound where said part currently resides. Follow the quest marker to the compound, use Selo’s disruptors, and head inside. You’ll need to complete a series of platforming challenges involving giant fans and moving walls, but since there’s only one path forward, you don’t have to worry about getting lost. Head back to Selo once you have the part to unlock her first ability.

Selo’s skills are a mix of speeder-specific abilities and some highly useful scoundrel tricks, including one of the best skills in the game: Smoke Bomb.

Aila calls Toshara home, at least for one mission, and her intel chain unlocks alongside Selo’s after you complete “New Tricks” mission. The “Expert Slicer” intel takes you back to Mirogana’s canteen-slash-gambling-hall, where you learn your next step is at the Crimson Dawn landing pad. You can waltz right up there if your syndicate reputation is excellent. If it’s good, you can approach the landing pad, sneak around to the right, and clamber up the side to find your contact.

If it’s poor or worse, you’ll have to sneak into the district from the marketplace, then stealth your way to the landing pad.

Aila’s in a bit of a jam, and you’re the only one who can help — if you want her help, at least. Follow the quest marker to the Imperial compound where Aila is stranded, and quietly make your way to her location. You can go in with blaster blazing, but with so many soldiers and a good deal of high-powered weaponry nearby, things quickly get out of hand here. A cautious approach is much easier. Aila leaves you to slice the compound’s turrets and extract some data, and then it’s time to leave.

Aila’s skills have surprisingly little to do with slicing, but they’re useful anyway.

You can unlock Lando pretty quickly after leaving Toshara the first time. Head to Akiva, and visit the cantina in Alcazar on Myrra’s southern side. The bartender tells you about an expert Sabacc player, which unlocks the “Taking Your Shot” intel. Follow it to a shady dive in Satrap’s Promenade, head downstairs, and speak with the bouncer. Bribe or bluff your way in.

Lando’s only too happy to help, if you do him a favor first. Head to Kijimi, enter Crimson Dawn’s district there, and find their Sabacc parlor — a task that’s much easier if you’re on good terms with Crimson Dawn. Challenge the table to a game using their special chips, win, and collect Lando’s chip. Return to Akiva’s orbit — you’ll have to fly away from the planet for this next stage to trigger — and defeat the TIE Fighters that attack you. Now, travel to the quest marker in Akiva’s jungle and help Lando’s Rebel friends fend off several waves of Stormtroppers. Once that’s all done, you’ll unlock Lando’s skills.

Lando’s skills give you some handy boosts in battle and out.

Quint is located on Tatooine but takes some time to get. Her intel, “The Gunslinger,” unlocks once you speak with the bartender at the Mos Eisley cantina, but if you follow the main story as it takes you to Mos Eisley, you can’t explore the cantina or talk to anyone inside until the lengthy quest ends.

Either way, follow the intel out to a Hutt outpost west of Wayfar. You’re looking for a datapad inside a small building outside the outpost proper. Roughly two dozen enemies or more will swarm you if your Hutt reputation is low and you get caught, so don’t linger. If it’s good or higher, though, you can just saunter into the building and pick up the datapad. It leads you back to Quint in Wayfar, and then her quest begins.

Quint’s quest is short and straightforward. Her former Hutt friends are out for vengeance, and it’s up to you and Quint to keep everyone in town safe. You’ll face off against three waves of Hutt fighters before a final showdown against their leader, but you can make quick work of them all with Adrenaline Rush attacks and Kay’s Power Blaster module.

Quint’s skills are hyperfocused on blaster finesse, as befits Quint’s own reputation as a sharpshooter. They aren’t exactly essential, but they certainly make crowd control easier.

Teeka the Jawa shipwright makes her home on Tatooine, and her initial intel chain, “Buying a Turret,” should pop sometime after you encounter Hoss in Mos Eisley’s cantina. You’ll have to finish the main quest before you can follow it, though.

Once you can freely explore Tatooine again, chase up the lead in Bestine by speaking with a human repairing their landspeeder in the settlement’s junkyard. They have less-than-pleasant things to say about Teeka, but a lead is a lead. Track the intel to the South Jundland Wastes, avoiding Imperials as you go, and you’ll eventually find Teeka at her Sandcrawler.

Teeka has a gross little request that sends you to an unexpected location. It’s a fun trip, so we won’t spoil the details, but the process essentially involves defeating a few bandits, entering a cave-like location, and retrieving an item. More bandits appear once you leave the cave and swipe that item, so your next task is chasing the thief down. Catch them in their lair, defeat them and all the enemies who attack you, grab the item, and take it back to Teeka. This fight is much faster if you have Quint’s default skill. If not, make sure to use any heavy weaponry lying around to take your foes out more quickly and avoid getting overwhelmed.

Teeka’s skills are a varied lot, including one essential ability if you play Sabacc and one that lowers merchant prices.

Teemin’s intel is linked with the main story on Akiva, and you can only find him after making contact with Gedeek and leaving the Imperial compound. The intel “The Scavenger” should pop once you leave the area, but if it doesn’t, a quick fast travel back to Myrra City should fix the issue. The intel takes you to Sashin Village, which is much easier to reach now thanks to the newly opened fast travel point, and directs you to Teemin’s aunt.

Teemin went scrapping a while back, but hasn’t returned, so you’re tapped to find him. Follow the intel to a remote homestead, where you’ll face some Hutt thugs who have Teemin trapped. If you break cover and fight in open combat instead of using stealth takedowns, you’ll lose a small amount of reputation with the Hutts. Speak with Teemin after the scrap ends to start his quest.

Teemin needs you to recover some Durasteel struts so he can properly apply a hydrorepulsor to your speeder. The Pykes took them to an island outpost, and lucky for you, the repulsor’s got just enough life in it for you to race out there and find them. You might want to unlock Selo’s speeder jump before you go, as it makes navigating the little islands a bit easier. The Pykes take off after you find the stash and relocate the struts to another outpost. Follow the intel there, then defeat the Pyke thugs guarding the goods. Despite fighting openly with them, it seems like this mission won’t reduce your standing with the Pykes. Head back to Teemin to finish the job.

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Teemin’s default skill lets you speed over water — only useful on Akiva, admittedly — and he’s also how you get the Electro-Shock Prod, which lets you take down elite enemies quickly.

Rooster’s intel just sort of…appears on the map when you arrive on Kijimi. Head to the Domak Refectory in the city’s northwest quarter, and speak with the bartender. She’ll share information about Gedeek for the main quest if this is your first time there, and you may have to leave and come back before the option to speak to her again appears. The bartender directs you to Rooster at a table around the corner, who mentions a transmitter and some lost weapons floating in Kijimi’s asteroid belt.

Head back to the Trailblazer, and enter Kijimi’s orbit. The intel marker takes you to the western part of Kijimi space and asks you to search a large, open area for a single container. For us, it was located in the search area’s southern portion, though the placement may be randomized. Either way, a map marker appears once you get close, so you’ll know when you’re on the right track.

Rooster directs you to the North Jundland Wastes on Tatooine next, an area you can reach faster and more safely if you already unlocked Teeka’s Sandcrawler fast travel point. Find Rooster, fend off waves of Stormtroopers – you can use Kay’s blaster if you go through all the heavy weapons – and then speak with Rooster again. She remained stuck in a combat state the first time we tried this; if that happens to you, leave the quest area. The area reset that happens after the 10-second timer runs out should convince Rooster that the danger has passed.

Rooster has a varied set of skills, including one that increases Nix’s sensory range and even a few for the Trailblazer.

We’ll update soon with more experts.