This Outlast Trials beginner guide covers what you need to know before and during your first trials: where your progress lives, what vouchers buy, how sanity works and which enemies to learn first. It is a co-op horror game by Red Barrels, and you play a Reagent in Murkoff's Sleep Room, solo or in a group of up to four.
How the Sleep Room works
The Sleep Room is the hub between trials. Dorris Ritter sells amps once you reach Therapy Level 10, and Cornelius Noakes sells rigs. The Invasion terminal opens once you reach Therapy Level 30. You earn Therapy Levels by playing, and each level pays vouchers, the currency that buys rigs, rig upgrades, prescriptions and amps.
Your first rig and amps in this Outlast Trials beginner guide
A rig is the one reusable tool you carry into a trial, and you equip one at a time. Each level of a rig costs 2 vouchers. The Stun rig and the Jammer rig are the two ranked S by the one current published list, GameRant's, so they are the safe first reads; see the tier list. Amps come later: the first three, in the tool group, unlock at Therapy Level 10, the skill group follows at 15 and the medicine group at 20. The loadout builder shows what any set costs.
Sanity, Psychosis and hiding
Reagents are given no weapons of any kind, so stealth and the items you find nearby are your only defence: hide, keep quiet and avoid the Ex-Pop. Your sanity drops when a Pusher drugs you, when you set off psychosis mines, rigged doors or containers, and when you fail at lock picking. When it runs out you enter Psychosis and the Skinner Man appears; he disappears again after you take a nearby antidote.
Enemies to learn first
- Ex-Pop: the Experimental Population, split into Prime Assets, Specialists and Grunts.
- Pouncer: lurks in closets, barrels, crates and car trunks and ambushes anyone who passes close.
- Berserker: blind and hunts by sound, so noise is what draws him.
- Jaeger: picks one Reagent and always knows where they are.
Modes you unlock later
Escalation unlocks at Therapy Level 15, Invasion at Therapy Level 30 and Relapse at Therapy Level 99. Events such as Chemical Leak and Program Geister add limited-time trials with their own variators.
Outlast Trials beginner guide FAQ
Can I play The Outlast Trials solo?
Yes. It supports solo play and co-op for up to four players. In solo, the Self Revive amp is the way to come back after a death.
When do I unlock amps?
Amps unlock from Therapy Level 10, when Dorris starts selling them. The tool, skill and medicine groups open up in steps up to Therapy Level 50.
Does the game have a weapon?
No. Reagents are given no weapons of any kind, per Fandom, so stealth and nearby items are the only defence.