Can you respec in The Outer Worlds 2 and reset your Skills?

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There's one chance to respec in The Outer Worlds 2 and that's it

The Outer Worlds 2 respec dialogue option when talking to VAL
(Image credit: Xbox Game Studios)

You get one chance to respec in the Outer Worlds 2 at the start of the game. That lets you change some aspects of your character, but after that you can never change anything again. Unlike the first game, or even Obsidian's previous RPG, Avowed, respecing your character isn't allowed in Outer Worlds 2 so you've got to make careful decisions when levelling up and live with those choices. The one chance you do have to reset Skills and Traits and try something else comes just after the first mission, so let me explain all the details on how to respec in The Outer Worlds 2 below.

How to respec in The Outer Worlds 2

The Outer Worlds 2 gives you one opportunity to respec your Traits and initial Skills only and that's it – your Outer Worlds 2 Background, Skill Points, Outer World 2 Perks, and Outer Worlds 2 Flaws are all permanent choices that cannot be changed once they've been confirmed.

Your one and only chance to respec comes right after completing the intro-mission which starts with you figuring out The Outer Worlds 2 intercom and making the choice between security ops or central dispatch in Outer Worlds 2. When that mission is over VALERIE will give you a chance to undergo a "physical and cognitive test to confirm mission readiness". At this point you'll get to choose a [Respec] dialogue option, letting you pick your Outer Worlds 2 Traits and Specialized Skills again.

Obviously if you're happy with your choices you can turn this option down and carry on, but I strongly recommend taking this chance to double-check you're happy as is your one and only chance to make changes. The intro mission throws as many opportunities to test all sorts of Outer Worlds 2 Skills as possible, to give you a taste over everything. Although some will come up more than others, so just because one of your Skills didn't come up that often or at all on Horizon Point Station doesn't mean it won't be useful later in The Outer Worlds 2!

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Will Sawyer
Will Sawyer
Guides Editor, GamesRadar+

Will Sawyer is a Guides Editor at GamesRadar+ with over five years of experience in writing online guides, news, and features, and has a BA (Hons) in Journalism. Starting as a freelancer, Will contributed to startmenu and Game Rant before joining the GamesRadar+ team in August 2021. Since then, he has written hundreds of guides about a huge range of games, with shooters and action games being his areas of expertise. Outside of writing about games, Will hops between multiplayer shooters with friends, such as Darktide and Helldivers 2, and delves into whatever has been on his backlog for far too long. He also tries to get through his never-ending Warhammer pile of shame of grey Tyranids, Aeldari, and Chaos Space Marines.

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