The Outlast Trials Amps and Prescriptions Guide

Think of the build in layers. The Rig is the only piece with a button and a cooldown: Stun, Blind, Heal, X-Ray, Barricade, or Jammer, one per run, each upgradeable. Amps are the second layer. They are passive bonuses or playstyle tweaks, such as quieter movement, healing or escape improvements, or stronger item play, and you can equip up to three of them per run. Prescriptions are the third layer. They are permanent attribute or ability improvements, bought in tiers, and they apply to every run once owned. A new player therefore has two different kinds of progress: the per-run choice of one Rig plus three Amps, and the account-level growth of Prescriptions that never goes away. That split is why early Vouchers feel tight. Every purchase competes with the others, so the first buys should fix your most common cause of death, not chase a fashionable build.

Amps are best understood as answers to the question of what kind of Reagent you want to be. The documented effect families cover silent movement, recovering stamina when hurt, stronger healing and escape play, and better item use. None of them is a second Rig: they do not add a new active tool, they make the tools and body you already have behave better. The practical consequence is that Amp choices should match a playstyle, not a single trial. A player who hides a lot wants different Amps from a player who sprints between objectives, and swapping all three between runs is free in the sense that nothing is consumed by changing them. What does cost is unlocking them in the first place, which is where Vouchers come back in. One unlock condition sometimes quoted for Amps, that they open at Therapy Level 10, comes from a single review, not from an official patch note, so treat it as unconfirmed until you see it in the in-game shop yourself.

Prescriptions are the long game. Examples documented in secondary sources include sliding, breaching doors without spending stamina, and regenerating health over time. The Sleep Room task list makes the tier structure concrete: it has separate task lines for acquiring one Prescription, and for collecting all Tier 1, all Tier 2, and all Tier 3 Prescriptions. That tells you two things. First, Prescriptions are genuinely permanent, so a Voucher spent here is never wasted on a single run. Second, they are gated in stages, so early purchases should be the ones that help every run, such as movement or survivability, before niche upgrades. Sliding deserves a special note because it is tied to an achievement: spending 120 seconds sliding in trials is the Slip and Slider badge, and sliding itself is the second Prescription from the Nurse in community guides. If sliding feels awkward at first, that is normal; it is a purchased ability, not a default move.

Whichever direction you pick, keep one discipline: change Amps freely between runs, but spend Vouchers slowly. Amp swaps cost nothing, so experiment there. Prescription purchases are permanent, which is good, but also means a rushed buy locks up Vouchers that a better pick next week could have used. When in doubt, run a few trials with a borrowed idea first. The build that survives contact with your actual playstyle is the right one, and it is usually simpler than the build a guide told you to copy.

No. Three is the per-run limit, alongside one Rig. Prescriptions do not count against it because they are permanent upgrades rather than equipped items.

No, as documented they are permanent upgrades. Seasonal programs add new trials and modifiers, but they do not take away Prescriptions you have already bought.

In the Sleep Room upgrade shops, between trials, using Vouchers earned from completed trials. Rigs are bought and upgraded at the engineer shop in the Sleep Room; Amps and Prescriptions use the same Voucher currency.