Outriders Weapon Leech Explained and How to Maximize it

Are the enemies in Outriders getting you down? Is the big elite dressed like a rejected Mad Max villain, firing flaming tornadoes giving you trouble, when all you want to do is dismember his friends? Weapon Leech is here to help. 

Weapon Leech is a weapon attribute in Outriders that can have a dramatic impact on any combat scenario. Dishing out damage to your opponents can create a near-constant stream of healing for yourself, no matter your class or how your class normally regains health.  

As enemies become stronger in the mid- to late-game, absorbing and dealing more damage, Weapon Leech can often be the difference between staying in the fight or collapsing under a barrage of bullets, claws, and anomaly powers. 

Weapon Leech is expressed as a percentage, and does two things. It converts the percentage of damage dealt into healing energy for the player, and it caps how much healing can be done per shot.

Simply put, the Weapon Leech percentage is how many hit points the player is healed for every 100 points of damage dealt, and also the limit of what percent of the players overall health can be healed.

If a player has 800 health points, a 10% Weapon Leech, and does 1000 points of damage then the calculation would look like this:

1. 1000 damage x 10% Weapon Leech = 100 points of healing
2. 800 player health x 10% Weapon Leech = 80 point healing cap
3. The player received 80 health points via the Weapon Leech. 

This is a per shot healing figure. Late in the game weapons will typically do thousands of points of damage per shot, so the healing cap will be the primary limiter. As a result, weapons with a higher rates of fire will often be more beneficial for Weapon Leech.

How to Start Leeching

There is no fixed way to acquire a weapon with Weapon Leech. It is a random attribute and can be found on any weapon rarity level above common, including unusual, rare, epic, and legendary.

Completing missions, especially World Tier 4 and above, and opening chests often results in weapon drops. All you can do is keep grinding loot until you find a weapon with Leech that you like, and then using the in-game weapon leveling system to continue upgrading that weapon to keep it viable. 

With the amount of loot you get from each combat scenario and completed area, you should have a weapon leech gun in no time at all. 

Making your Leech Suck… More?  

Weapon Leech can be enhanced with the Rule of Leeches mod. This mod applies an additional 20% leeching effect for 20 seconds after a kill.

This is a powerful combination. A 10% Weapon Leech suddenly heals 300 points for every 100 points of damage given, making your outrider as durable as they are deadly.

The beauty of mods like Rule of Leeches is they can be reused. The first time you dismantle a weapon containing this mod, it permanently enters your inventory, and it can be added to any weapon with a mod slot. Higher rarity weapons can be fitted with additional mods, increasing damage and, by extension, potential healing.

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The fundamental loop in Outriders is deal damage and heal. Weapon Leech is a powerful ability that can dramatically alter the latter half of that loop. The right weapon, with the correct mods, can be all you need to turn the tide in more difficult battles at higher World Tiers. For more tips, be sure to check out all of our Outriders guides. Happy hunting, Outrider.