Whats the point of missions?

[Traveler]

Wouldn't you just want to play in Open World mode? I just got the game so idk much about the progression. Also it seems like Outpost is just creative mode?

[JereG]

Originally mission mode and outpost mode were the only two modes. The missions offered an extraction type gameplay where you started over from scratch each mission(you would keep your unlocked blueprints, talents and workshop items however), the outposts were a way to create a permanent base.

Outposts now are indeed a creative mode, each session rescources respawn. So no worrying about emptying caves.

[Traveler]

So as a new player should I start by doing missions, or go into open world straight away?

[Eventide]

When I started, I did the first suggested Mission - I think it's a fine first experience. You drop in, gather a bunch of stuff - follow the voice over suggestions - and extract when objectives are complete.

After 2 of those you might get tired of rebuilding a small base every time you drop in, and want a little more permanence. However, once you have built the device which is needed to access open world missions, you may find they are some distance from where you set up.

Stand-alone missions drop you somewhere near the objective with less travel needed. They are all about efficiency, since nothing you build goes with you when you leave: don't do any more work than is required.

And as a new player, don't take any mission outside the forest area until you have at least level 20 and some decent gear. Hostile animals outside the Forest area are orders of magnitude tougher than what you encounter in the Forest.

The money you earn ("Ren") and purple exotics you might find - are used to unlock / buy station gear that makes the stand-alone missions easier, so that you don't have to start over with stone age tools every time. (This special gear can also be requested and used in the Open World.)

[ulzgoroth]

I haven't tried open world, but honestly I think the game is very much made for missions and will be better played that way.

(Not counting Prometheus DLC, from what I've heard.)

[william_es]

Open world isn't really useful in the beginning, because you have almost nothing unlocked. All the cool stuff you can build and use in your open world won't be available until you reach tier 2, 3, and 4 of the tech.

Missions have very specific goals and end conditions. The fact that nothing carries over, and you start over again, is actually a benefit. Nothing you do in missions is permanent. Just do the bare minimum you feel comfortable with in order to complete the mission.

And it's actually possible to do BOTH missions and open world simultaneously. You can have your character parked in an open world, and then return to character select and start a timed mission at any time. Your same character will embark on the mission, without effecting the character remaining in the open world. Talent and tech recipes are unlocked globally, so any progress you make in the mission as far as talents/tech carries over.

The only thing that doesn't carry over is any workshop items you unlock and buy. Those are finite, and can only exist in one location. If you buy a canteen and send it down to your open world, it would not be available for use in a mission. The canteen is busy being used on the open world. You'd need to send the canteen back up, or buy a second copy for missions.

[Rekal]

It doesn't seem to be immediately obvious to all players but if you end up switching between prospects like William_es suggested, you will use the LOAD option from the menu to go back to your open world. Picking a NEW open world and naming it the same as the old one will overwrite it. Don't do that.

If you start in Open World you'll probably hit a wall leveling in the 20-30 level range (max level is 60) because you've already done most of your building and crafting. Leaving you with grinding resources/hunting for no reason other than to get XP. I don't know about you but that's a bit boring to me. Building too big also reduces your frame rate so there's a practical limit to what you should do on a single Open World map to maintain performance. Outpost mode is on a smaller 2x2 map so you can get away with building bigger there.

Missions require you do that crafting and gathering from square one every time so you keep getting a good amount of XP while just playing the game and doing the variety of things you need to do to finish each mission.

The missions have different objectives on different parts of the map so you'll actually uncover the entire map if you progress through the missions. That means you build a base in new locations and biomes and experience much more of the map without having to make long distance treks from a centralized base. Plus the objectives can throw interesting wrinkles at you to try and figure out the most efficient method to complete them.