Should you go to Security Ops or Central Dispatch in The Outer Worlds 2?

The Outer Worlds 2 Security Ops or Central Dispatch choice is one of the first diverging decisions you'll have to make, selecting which path you want to take through Horizon Point while Niles and Helen take the other. This comes just after the Outer Worlds 2 intercom choice right at the start of the mission and it can have some notable effects on the remainder of the mission, but it isn't a game-changing decision overall. However, it's still a good idea to know about the major differences between these routes in the intro mission of The Outer Worlds 2, so here's how the Security Ops and Central Dispatch choices play out.

Outer Worlds 2 Security Ops or Central Dispatch choice

There's no right or wrong choice here as both routes differ in terms of gameplay only. Security Ops is geared towards sneaking and melee stealth kills while Central Dispatch is for those who want to tackle Horizon Point's forces head-on and use grenades, but both converge on the same objective and mission finale, and have no effect on how Niles, Helen, and Val get on.

With the emphasis on stealth, I think Security Ops is arguably the easier route through Horizon Point, but both routes have their own unique features, including how certain Outer Worlds 2 Skills are used.

The Outer Worlds 2 Security Ops choice

As mentioned, stealth is the focus of the Security Ops path, so choose this if you fancy keeping a low-profile. You'll learn about enemy detection and De Vries will also point you towards a stashed knife, which you'll get to use to perform lethal Sneak Attacks against human Protectorate enemies.

This path also has a useful sabotage opportunity in the form of an automechanical repair station and, provided you have Engineering 1 or the Innovative Trait, you can rewire a damaged mech's targeting module to set the Protectorate as the enemy. You can then take the targeting data and upload it to the security operations monitoring station to turn all mechs against their Protectorate masters, getting them to do the fighting for you (or if you can't do that, you can just disable all the mechs), which comes in handy later in the mission!

The Outer Worlds 2 Central Dispatch choice

As for the Central Dispatch route, you're encouraged to go loud and use your pistol and any grenades you find to blow up the Protectorate forces in your way. You'll also be introduced to the Tactical Time Dilation gadget, which lets you briefly slow time for superior aiming.

The sabotage opportunity for this path requires you to have either Hack 1 or the Innovative Trait, and can be used when you need to disable communications. Ordinarily you just remove the power core to cut power but, in this case, you can swap in some distracting Earth Directorate propaganda. Just after this opportunity, you can also snoop in Cadet Corbin's journal in a small side room, which will be useful shortly.

This is just the beginning of the game so if you want to know how much longer is left, I've laid out how long it takes to beat The Outer Worlds 2 here. You've also got an Outer Worlds 2 respec opportunity coming up, if you want to change things about your character.

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