How to use the Star Wars Outlaws Fast Talk skill

The Star Wars Outlaws Fast Talk ability is a little unclear and because of that, you might feel inclined to ignore it altogether. But, it’s actually quite useful, if poorly named, and can buy you extra time when you’ve got enemies trying to shoot at you when they catch you sneaking. Though it’s called Fast Talk, you actually don’t talk your way out of anything.

It's easy to be confused in a game where talk seems important. Options like the choice to Bluff or Bribe the Bouncer in Star Wars Outlaws, or buy a VIP Suite Invite to Gorak's suite suggest conversation is how you’ll get ahead. But, Fast Talk is just about buying yourself a moment's extra time before enemies turn aggressive - something that might not be clear when you first trigger it and don't know what's happening. You might expect some chatter, don’t.

If you want some help to master the Star Wars Outlaws Fast Talk ability and truly understand its worth, here's what you need to know.

How to use Fast Talk in Star Wars Outlaws

Fast Talk in Star Wars Outlaws is earned by completing challenges from Bram, one of the Star Wars Outlaws Experts, and works like this:

If an enemy sees Kay Vess in a restricted area, there'll usually be a brief gap where they go from Alerted (Orange) to Aggressive (Red).
In this moment, if you're looking at the enemy, there'll be a prompt above their head to press R3/RS.
This triggers Fast Talk, keeping them in the Orange alerted state for a few extra seconds longer.
This basically buys you some time to work out a plan and do something before they attack you.
If you take any action, such as try to run or fire, it ends the Fast Talk state immediately.
Fast Talk can't be used in any mandatory "Don't be Caught" stealth sequences where killing enemies is not allowed.

This raises the obvious question: what do you do with this power in Star Wars Outlaws? Well, the main answer is to shoot the person you're Fast Talking to. If you knock them out or stun them with your Blaster you can stay in stealth, which will help maintain any Star Wars Outlaws faction reputation. Other options include a Smoke Bomb, but you'll need to have found the Star Wars Outlaws Smoke Bomb Compressor to unlock that. And just running for cover and and getting ready for a fight works but can cause a rep penalty if you're on gang territory.

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The Keep Talking upgrade Bram teaches you spreads the effect of Fast Talk to temporarily hold down everybody nearby - which is a situation that's only really resolved by the Adrenaline Rush power - if you end up Fast Talking multiple people, trigger Adrenaline Rush and immediately gun them all down. The Gunslinger Expert can also teach you to mark more people in Adrenaline Rush, and the High Roller has an ability called "Just Keep Talking", which grants a massive Adrenaline boost when Fast Talking enemies, setting you up perfectly for a quick-draw killing spree.

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Joel Franey is a writer, journalist, podcaster and Very Tired Man with a BA from Brunel University, a Masters from Sussex University and a decade working in games journalism, often focused on guides coverage but also in reviews, features and news. His love of games is strongest when it comes to groundbreaking narratives like Disco Elysium, UnderTale and Baldur's Gate 3, as well as innovative or refined gameplay experiences like XCOM, Sifu, Arkham Asylum or Slay the Spire. He is a firm believer that the vast majority of games would be improved by adding a grappling hook, and if they already have one, they should probably add another just to be safe. You can find old work of his at Eurogamer, Gfinity, USgamer, SFX Magazine, RPS, Dicebreaker, VG247, and more.

With contributions from

Grace Dean Freelance Writer