Chaos Theory: Twenty-plus outfits you can get by questing in The Secret World

Just about everyone I know in The Secret World is a total fashion junkie. My cabal meets once a week to allegedly run dungeons and other difficult content, but really we're just there to show off our spectacular and creative outfits. And because statted gear is completely removed from your character's visuals, there isn't that typical pull to balance looks and numbers. Everyone is free to look the way that he wants, provided he's picked up enough costume pieces to do so.

MJ did a terrific job the other week outlining the myriad of ways that you can assemble your wardrobe in The Secret World because she is a fashion junkie. And because I am also a fashion junkie, I'm going to pick up the topic and focus on just those quests that reward you with an item or two that pops into your dressing room. I'm always paranoid about overlooking a quest (or side-quest) because it might be one of the rare ones that gives you a cool article of clothing. So to help any fellow paranoid players out, here is a list of over 20 clothing items that you can get from quests.

Pumpkinhead (do all three Jack O'Lantern quests)

Each of the Solomon Island zones has a Jack O'Lantern quest in it, and if you do all three, you'll get this nifty Halloween-looking headpiece. As with many of the head items in this game, I really appreciate the fact that you can see your eyes and head through the gaps instead of TSW simply replacing your head with the item.

CDC Hazmat Suit (Up in Flames)

An easy-to-overlook side mission in Blue Mountain, Up in Flames grants you a yellow hazmat uniform that's as functional as it is good-looking. Several of my cabalmates used it for the final Tyler Freeborn mission and were pleasantly surprised to discover that it worked in keeping the fog out.

CDC Respirator (Vanishing of Tyler Freeborn)

If a full hazmat suit is too much but you'd still like to project a cold war/punk vibe, then you'll definitely want to nab the respirator. This yellow gas mask is pretty awesome in all respects and can be used to filter the fog in any missions that have that particular danger.

The ugliest baseball cap ever (Kingsmouth survivors achievements)

If you're diligent and do all of the quests from the NPCs in Kingsmouth, you'll leave the zone with a truly awful baseball cap. I mean, maybe you like fishing hooks and lures hanging from your hat, but I have never been able to make this work in any of my outfits.

Harbaburesti straw hat (Local Flavour achievement)

Speaking of ugly hats nobody wears: You can get this one if you do eight missions for the villagers in the Scorched Desert. Yay you?

Hunting Wraps (The Draculesti achievement)

Seriously, does someone at Funcom have a huge fetish for hideous headwear? I have to think so. I mean, "hunting wraps" sounds absolutely cool. When you see it, you realize you've been had and are now sporting something your grandpa would wear to bingo. So go knock yourself out to do nine quests from the Romany already!

Foamy Antlers (Of Fauns and Fairytales achievement)

OK, I can sometimes see using this... odd... cap, if I'm in the mood to look like a patron of a theme park. Which The Secret World totally has! So that fits. This takes just nine NPC quests in Transylvania to get.

Orochi uniform (The Eight-Headed Serpent achievement)

If you like the Orochi sense of style -- and hey, who doesn't? -- then prepare to cover your bases by doing three mission achievements and one grand meta-achievements over the course of the game. All in all, it takes 19 missions to get this uniform.

Atenist garb (Black Sun, Red Sand)

Like some of the clothing on this list, the item in question -- the Atenist cult uniform -- is used during the mission and then left in your dressing room afterward. It's not my favorite uniform, since you can't mix-and-match with it much and it covers most of your head, but the fact that few people wear it means that those who do will stand out a bit.

Teddy bear t-shirt (I Walk Into Empty)

Issue #7's missions have a few particularly tricky achievements, most notably collecting a bunch of additional letters for a nursery chalkboard so that you can earn a (stationary) teddy bear pet and a matching t-shirt.

Rocketeer helmet, Leatherface mask, Magneto helmet (auxiliary weapon missions)

It seemed that -- for a while, at least -- any time that the devs put in a new auxiliary weapon mission, they'd give you an iconic headpiece as well. The rocket launcher quest gave a Rocketeer-like helmet, the chainsaw quest gave a Leatherface mask, and the quantum brace gave a Magneto-ish helmet. But I don't recall seeing anything for the whip or flamethrower apart from what you can earn with the special currency from those issues.

Dawn Leathers (Wabanaki achievement)

Make sure to go through all of the Wabanaki quests in Blue Mountain, and a set of "dawn leathers" will be yours! For the men, this means a really cool-looking jacket with the Innsmouth Academy (why?) logo on the back. For the women, this means a frumpy shawl. Don't even get me started on how this game discriminates against female characters when it comes to clothing.

Traditional Garb (Tomorrow We Dance achievement)

This isn't a particularly good or bad uniform, although it's also not one that I've ever worn. I guess if you want to look "period," then you'll do the six quests from the Transylvania villagers that it requires.

Issue t-shirts

Most of the recent issues give you in-game t-shirts if you complete all of the new missions or mission chains therein. Lore-breaking? I suppose, although TSW is highly meta at times.

Innsmouth Academy wear (Unleashed and Magna Cum Laude achievements)

Doing all of the Issue #1 missions gives you not only the previously mentioned tee but a blood-splattered Innsmouth Academy hoodie as well. Absolutely love this shirt! If you want a plain blue version of the same hoodie, it's yours if you do all of the Academy quests. Why not get both?

Final story outfits (finish up the current main storyline in Transylvania)

There are four outfits -- two for each gender -- that are awarded once you wrap up the last Transylvania story mission. Women get the Streetwise Samurai outfit (and several tattoos) and the Weiss Knight outfit. Men get the Crowley's Glad Rags and High Planes Drifter outfits.

Conspiracies, paranoia, secrets, and chaos -- the breakfast of champions! Feast on a bowlful with MJ and Justin every Monday as they infiltrate The Secret World to bring you the latest word on the streets of Gaia in Chaos Theory. Heard some juicy whispers or have a few leads you want followed? Send them to mj@massively.com or justin@massively.com and they'll jump on the case!