Anthem vs Outriders: Which Loot Shooter Reigns Supreme
In the crowded world of loot shooters, Anthem and Outriders stand out for different reasons. Anthem promised a shared-world experience with aerial mobility, while Outriders delivered a tight, fast-paced build-and-loot loop. Both games chase the same core thrill — the drop that changes how you play — but their design choices shape how you hunt, improvise, and keep coming back for more.
Understanding their strengths helps you pick where to invest your evenings. If you value exploration and spectacle, Anthem offers a grand stage. If you prefer streamlined progression and aggressive, build-driven combat, Outriders tends to deliver more consistently on a loop you can repeat with different class loadouts.
Core Loot Mechanics
At the heart of any loot shooter is progression, and each title handles progression in a distinct rhythm.
- Loot flow: Anthem’s loot encouraged cooperative play during incursions, with gear that felt like a team dynamic upgrade. Outriders emphasizes rapid drops after missions, pushing players to experiment with different builds on the fly.
- Rarity and rolls: In both games, rare items unlock powerful attributes, but the way those attributes influence your playstyle differs. Anthem often ties gear to your Javelin role, while Outriders rewards flexible loadouts across Trickster, Pyromancer, Devastator, and Technomancer.
- Crafting and upgrades: Crafting in Outriders allows you to optimize specific stats for endgame expeditions; Anthem’s upgrade paths felt more integrated with its class system, which affected how you prioritized gear.
Combat, Mobility, and Feel
Mobility defines your feel in a loot shooter, and the two games lean into different kinds of motion. Anthem’s defining feature is flight — the ability to fly, hover, and weave through landscapes as you fire. That sense of freedom shapes encounter design and pacing.
Outriders swaps vertical play for tempo. The Trickster’s evasive dashes, Pyromancer’s area-denial flames, and Devastator’s brick-wall presence all encourage aggressive, high-velocity play. The Technomancer adds support and gadgetry to the mix. If you crave crisp gunplay with immediate, high-impact skills, Outriders typically scratches that itch more reliably in each session.
“Loot is only as good as the build you can assemble around it — and both games deliver, just in very different gears.”
For players who value a tactile, on-the-ground feel and a constant sense of escalation, a well-tuned build in Outriders can feel instantly rewarding. Anthem, however, rewards players who enjoy mastering movement and choreography with teammates, building to those “wow” moments that feel cinematic.
Endgame and Longevity
Endgame velocity matters as you clock more hours. Outriders structures its late game around expeditions, difficulty scaling, and loot variety, with ongoing opportunities to push for better gear and faster clears. Anthem’s endgame aimed for large-scale incursions and weekly challenges that aligned with its grand world, though post-launch content never fully bridged all gaps, leaving some players feeling the horizon wasn’t as richly paved as promised.
Both games succeed when the loop stays fresh: new gear, new builds, and new encounters to overcome with friends. The key question is simple: do you want the thrill of a relentlessly adaptive build (Outriders) or the spectacle of a soaring, four-Javelin symphony (Anthem)?
As you calibrate your setup, consider tuning your desk to support long sessions. A reliable surface can make a real difference in precision and comfort in late-night farming runs. You might even want something like the Neon Gaming Mouse Pad 9x7 Neoprene to keep your aim steady through those long play sessions.
For a broader take beyond this write-up, you can read a visual comparison on Zero Images' comparison page.