The Outer Worlds 2‘s companions all have their own quests, as you’d expect in any other RPG. However, Inez works a little differently, as her first companion quest will decide what abilities she gets in combat. And if you know which ability you want ahead of time, you’ll make this quest way easier for yourself.
Here is everything you need to know about Inez’s first companion quest, Better than Nature, that takes place on Paradise Island. We’ll also go over the two different paths you can take with her character build, and where to go depending on the upgrade you want for her.
How To Start The Better Than Nature Quest
Inez will tell you about her grafted arm as soon as you recruit her. She’ll explain that it’s causing her discomfort and will kill her if she doesn’t get it fixed soon. So, she asks you to take her to Ethel Tinsley in Fairfield.
Ethel’s lab isn’t far, with the map marker taking you to the edge of town. Here, Ethel will explain that Inez needs samples to create a new graft, replacing her defective one. You are given the name of two beasts you can take down to collect the sample from: a Skeleton Crabble or a Raptidon Matriarch.
You only need to defeat one of these bosses, but you can do both if you’d like, so don’t worry about which one you take on first.
Option 1: The Skeleton Crabble
The Skeleton Crabble will probably be the most attractive option to you, because it’s so close by on the map. The area will be accessible no matter how much of the main quest you’ve completed, so this is a great path to take if you’re in a rush.
With that said, the Skeleton Crabble and its allies do put up a fight. The area is quite open, giving you plenty of room to run around and grow grenades, so use that to create some distance between you and the Skeleton Crabble.
I found that making use of Niles’ companion ability got me through the fight nicely. Not only will he take the Crabble’s attention off of you, but he also deals a huge amount of damage in the process, which is the biggest hurdle in this fight.
Option 2: The Raptidon Matriarch
The Raptidon Matriarch is the harder one to take down, mostly because she lives on an award side of the map. As you’ll see from the map marker you’re given, the Raptidon Matriarch lives in the north by the Vox Relay, so you’ll have to get past the bridge to get to her.
You can access the north of Paradise Island through a variety of methods:
- Completing a quest for the Protectorate Warden who guards the bridge.
- Completing a quest for either Milverstreet or Kaur in Fairfield.
- Making your own way across the river by jumping on a sunken ship found on the eastern side (requires the double jump)
- Making your own way across the river through an entrance found on the western side (you have to survive zyranium poisoning).
Once you have done this, make your way to the Matriarch’s location.
Inez will draw her out, leaving you to take her down, as well as all of the other Raptidons in the area. Like the Skeleton Crabble, it makes for a difficult fight, only made worse by the swarms of other enemies around you, so be mindful not to find yourself overwhelmed.
To make the fight more manageable, focus on thinning out the smaller Raptidons before committing to the Raptidon Matriarch.
Which One Should You Choose?
It depends on what you want to get out of Inez in combat. This is what you can expect from each graft.
- Skeleton Crabble: Inez will fire shell shards at enemies, which are better for tearing through armour.
- Rapitdon Matriarch: Allows Inez to stealth during combat, as well as throw out healing packs.
Personally, I went with the Rapitdon graft, pretty much solely because of the healing capibilities. I’ve opted to not take VAL with me much, so I was missing having a medic on the team. However, if you’re leaving Niles on the bench instead, you may be better off with the increased damage of the Crabble graft.
Either way, she at least has a companion ability – The Magic Bullet – which she didn’t have beforehand. Upon activation, she will cloak to you and drop some healing.
Her companion ability remained the same for me, regardless of the option I went for. However, I am wondering if this was a mistake, as the wording would mention a Raptidon graft even if I went for the Crabble option. We’ll have to see if that gets changes in a patch.
