The Outrunner, or "Runner," is a dune buggy with a mounted turret.
Overview
Outrunners are known to be at least partially designed by Pandora's resident mechanic, Scooter. They are spawned at Catch-a-Ride terminals throughout Pandora, materialising out of thin air to provide quick access to a versatile overland transportation. There is no initial access to these vehicles at the start of the game, but before long Scooter will enlist the Vault hunters to repair the broken down Catch-a-Ride at Fyrestone to unlock Outrunner travel.
Outrunners can seat up to two people; one to drive and one to man the turret. They have a durable suspension, allowing large jumps with minimal vehicle damage. They are also equipped with afterburners mounted to the rear of the runner, allowing faster movement speed at the cost of maneuverability.
Bandits are also known to drive a version of the Outrunner, known as an Out Rider, and use these vehicles in the open expanses of The Dahl Headlands and The Salt Flats.
Outrunners in Combat
| Character Level |
Outrunner HP |
|---|---|
| 5 | 420 |
| 10 | 570 |
| 15 | 720 |
| 20 | 870 |
| 25 | 1020 |
| 30 | 1170 |
| 35 | 1320 |
| 40 | 1470 |
| 45 | 1620 |
| 50 | 1770 |
When being driven alone, the player can fire the forward machine gun (R2, right trigger, left mouse) as well as the turret (L2, left trigger, right mouse). However, manning the turret seat provides the turret weapon with greater accuracy which is reflected in tighter crosshairs, compared to using the turret from the driver's seat. A single player can press a button to switch between the driver and gunner seats, or two players can switch, one using the switch key and the other keying to confirm the switch. The turret can be locked on with a button press for automated aiming, which is useful with the machine gun turret but less so for the rocket launcher turret, as it does not lead moving enemies. Pressing the auto-aim button again will lock onto a different foe, if any, or deselect the target if there are none. Auto-aim will lock on a foe even if it is not in sight.
Usually, running over enemies is a far more expedient way to kill enemies since being rammed by the runner will kill most non-boss foes, and running over most enemies will only slightly damage the runner. The damage inflicted to the runner when running over an enemy appears to be a percentage of the target's current health, thus, colliding with larger foes (particularly higher-level Badass enemies) can cause heavy damage or even destroy the vehicle outright.
A player can choose to spawn the vehicle with either a machine gun or rocket launcher mounted on the turret, both weapons with infinite ammunition. The machine gun deals lower damage than the rocket launcher, but has a much faster rate of fire. The launcher by contrast does higher damage with an area effect, although the slower rocket can often be less effective at hitting highly mobile targets.
Damage to a runner is displayed on the runner's health bar, a blue bar indicating a health value that scales up in direct proportion to the level of the highest level player character in the game (270 +[30*Level] = Outrunner health). The runner's health bar replaces the character's own health/shield bars upon entering a vehicle. This health bar has a similar appearance to the shield bar of a character and damage is mirrored on the runner itself, first by the appearance of smoke pouring out of the vehicle, then as health drops even lower, the emission of flames. Should the health bar reach zero the Outrunner will explode, depositing any occupants and doing significant damage to them in the process. The shield depletion mechanic used to portray a Runner's damage also provides the benefit of health regeneration after several seconds of not having sustained damage. Any flames or smoke erupting from the vehicle at the time will also stop as the vehicle slowly repairs past the corresponding percentages.
Borderlands 2
In Borderlands 2, Outrunners return as a transport with largely the same characteristics. However, the vehicle does have one notable change - unlike in the first game, the front machine gun is now able to traverse from side to side rather than being in a fixed position, making it much more versatile as a weapon. In addition, running over enemies no longer results in the instant destruction (of either the vehicle or rammed target) as in the first game - instead, running over an enemy will cause them to ragdoll and sustain some damage, which can be rather amusing in and of itself. Not only that, but the Outrunner can now execute a power slide with a button press which engages an emergency brake, allowing it to turn and slide.
Borderlands 2 provides Outrunners with the same two turret weapon options as in the first game (either a machine gun or a rocket launcher), but with additional secondary fire features added for a dedicated gunner seated in the turret. For the machine gun, secondary fire zooms the view and tightens the accuracy of the machine gun, improving its effective range significantly. The rocket launcher now displays a bar that fills up, when secondary fire is held down with the crosshair over a target (with attendant audio cue). When the bar is fully filled, the launcher will fire a cluster of three missiles that will will home in on the target, making it highly effective for scoring direct hits against moving enemies, even at very long range.
Notes
- During a co-op game, it is possible to quickly transport a third character by having them stand between the front wheels of the runner while it moves. They will not sustain damage, but will be left behind if they lose contact with the vehicle, such as when the runner becomes airborne.
- Melee attacks against Outrunners are treated as vehicle impacts by the game, sending the Outrunner flying when struck. This can be useful in dislodging a vehicle from a trapped position that it cannot be driven out of.
- Outrunners are not available in any of the Borderlands DLCs, although the Racer is largely the same vehicle with a faster engine.
- Outrunners can be healed with the Soldier's Cauterize ability if a teammate of the Soldier is seated in the vehicle.
- Outrunners can be carried between areas by remaining in the vehicle and initiating travel.
Paint Jobs
Outrunners can be coloured from the following set of options:
- "Vehicle X" - Black/Red
- "Blue Sky" - Blue
- "Mean Green" - Green
- "Blaster Master" - Red
- "General Flee" - Orange
- "Fuego"'' - Yellow
- "Flamingo" - Purple/Pink
- "Range Racer" - Brown
Trivia
Early design of the Outrunner
- The Orange General Flee design pays homage to The General Lee, the car famously driven by cousins Bo and Luke Duke in the show The Dukes of Hazzard. The General Lee is itself a reference to Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The two zeros on the side mimic the "01" painted on the side of The Dukes of Hazzard's General Lee.
- The Red Blaster Master design is a reference to the player's red tank in the NES game Blaster Master.
- The Black Vehicle X is reference the Speed Racer's Racer X.
- If the Class Mod has the appropriate bonus, Roland's Heavy Gunner Mod can increase the rate of fire for the primary weapon, IE: the forward gun when driving or the turret when in the gunner seat. This increase even applies to the launcher turret.
- The Outrunner's design in the final product is largely unchanged from its early design prior to the art change.
See also
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