The Outer Worlds guide: Fast travel

The short version of this guide is this: The Outer Worlds has a fast travel feature, and you have every reason to use it. It’s easy to miss, though, and you might not even know it exists unless you know where to look.

This guide will walk you through how to fast travel in The Outer Worlds, the limitations on it, and why you should use it.

How to fast travel

Obsidian Entertainment/Private Division via Polygon

Open the Map tab of your menu, and move the (infuriatingly slow) cursor over any of the compass icons. Those are fast travel locations you can reach. That’s it.

Limitations on fast travel

You must have visited a location before you can fast travel there. You’ll get a notification on your HUD when you reach a new area (and it comes with a nice XP reward, too). Areas that are fast travel destinations will have a compass icon on your map.

You cannot fast travel if you are encumbered — carrying more weight than your carrying capacity allows. Everything from your armor and its mods to the companions currently in your party has an effect on your carrying capacity. You can see your carrying capacity and your current load in the upper left corner of your menu. (There is a perk you can unlock called traveler that lets you fast travel even if you’re encumbered.)

You also can’t fast travel if you’re underground or inside a location-specific building. You can fast travel from inside a house you find out in the world or from with a city, but you can’t fast travel from inside a secret lab or factory. Head back outside or above ground to make fast travel an option again.

Why it’s OK to fast travel

Enemies and loot in The Outer Worlds don’t respawn, and there are very few (if any) random encounters. Once you’ve gone through an area and cleared out the loot and baddies, there’s not going to be anything new next time. You can fast travel without missing out on much beside pretty scenery.