Control minds and shrink enemies with these crazy Outer Worlds science weapons

Where are all The Outer Worlds' science weapons? No self-respecting open-world RPG would be complete without a set of ridiculous weapons that demand you jump through multiple hoops to acquire them. Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds is no different: the game offers a set of science weapons that can shrink, vaporize and cause utter mayhem for the enemies in your vicinity. 

With this guide I'm going to run through how to start the necessary the Weapons from the Void quest and find every science weapon in The Outer Worlds, with details on what wacky debuffs this futuristic arsenal has to offer.

How to start Weapons from the Void

First you need to find the Weapons from the Void quest that leads you to The Outer Worlds' science weapons. Once you unlock your hub ship The Unreliable after the game’s tutorial in Emerald Vale, head upstairs and into the room on your right to the quarters of the former owner of the ship, Captain Hawthorne. Read the documents on his computer to get started.

All The Outer Worlds science weapons

Shrink Ray

The Shrink Ray should be the first science weapon you pick up and it's very easy to get. Travel to Phineas’ Lab once you boot up The Unreliable’s navigational systems and it will be in a box to the right of the shift scientist. Pick it up to unlock it and head out into the world to blast enemies and make them fun-size. The Shrink Ray applies the Weaken debuff too, so they’ll be much easier to kill once you’ve made them all teensy.

Mandibular Rearranger

Many science weapons in The Outer Worlds involve you buying datapads from black market merchants to find them. Here you must find Gladys on The Groundbreaker, which shouldn’t be too hard given she holds your ticket to Monarch. Once you complete the main quest that involved her, you should be able to buy the Hephaestus Mining Archive Cartridge, which you can then study on board The Unreliable.

This leads you to a decrepit building on the moon-like planet of Scylla, which you can travel to easily once you have a reason to be there. It’s easily signposted and there aren’t any hoops to jump through beyond a swarm of creatures to kill.

The Mandibular Rearranger is essentially a small baton powered by a mysterious liquid system. Its freeze debuff makes it good for walloping creatures, letting you and the rest of your crew wail on them while they're immobile. It also inflicts Stagger.

Prismatic Hammer

Given they’re tied to the quest, a lot of the science weapons are signposted and therefore simple to find, but the Prismatic Hammer bucks this trend by demanding some outside-the-box thinking. Much like the Mandibular Rearranger, you must buy the Battered Mardet Datapad from Gladys to unlock this weapon. 

Annoyingly, the map marker leads you to a dead end, but I've got you covered. Once you’ve done that you have to head back to the entrance of The Groundbreaker and enter the room full of bed bunks. Follow the map marker there, climb up the side via the crates, crouch through the hole and you should see a ton of outlaws huddling around a ship. Wipe them out, head into the door on your right and it will be sitting right in front of you. Unlock the case to pick up this frankly underwhelming hammer, which does everything a normal hammer would except it can occasionally apply the Knockdown debuff and deal mega-damage.

Gloop Gun

This is the most demanding science weapon to nab, as it requires you to answer a series of questions and isn’t part of the main Weapons from the Void quest. To quickly pick it up in-game, as soon as you arrive in Monarch you should make a beeline for the UDLLab, which is south and then west of the Stellar Bay hub.

I stumbled upon it randomly in the wild, but you can also find it via the Errors Unseen side quest, where you investigate a corporate hideout for Catherine Malin. Once you find the place you should see a swarm of henchmen. Wipe them out, head inside, and you should see a terminal near a locked weapon case, which is housing the Gloop Gun. I had Parvati with me so could unlock it with my high hacking skill, but you can also unlock the gun by answering the terminal questions.

Simply reply to the first two answers with the option that mentions 'The Chairman' and pick 'Arrest your spouse' for the final answer. You’ll pick up the Gloop Gun shortly after, which deals devastating shock damage. Once you fire the globs at an enemy's feet they will float in the air, ready for you to fill 'em with holes.

Mind Control Ray

Head to Fallbrook on Monarch and speak to Duncan in the supplies shop for a touch of Mind Control. Much like Gladys, this guy is also a black market information broker, and you can buy a SubLight datapad from him that will lead you to the dangerous Cascadia landing pad. If you’re doing the Space-Crime Continuum quest this should come easily to you. Head to the Rizzo Secret Laboratory and when you’re told to siphon the gas, turn around and head to your right from the terminal to find a gap.

Jump across, climb the stairs, jump once more and climb the stairs, and the Mind Control Ray will just be lying there. As expected, it will turn your enemies into allies for a short amount of time, so use and abuse it when cornered.