A ((Basically)Finished) Saga of Good Loot, Literal Mountains of Zombies (and Zombie corpses too), and Not Knowing What to do

Game Talk The Bunker
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Introduction: (Can Skip/There is a TL:DR btw)
After listening to some people on my previous topics; I finally decided to grow a pair and try having monster spawns over 0.10, which definitely pushed my death count pretty high, having 3-4 games (Most Randomly generated, and most being military or police-based for whatever reason…) killed in the first couple of in-game minutes due to either being horded hard by hundred of zombies, dying in a burning building, or just an infection in their arm.

The Lead Up: (Can skip)
However… This time I rolled an evacuee scenario, ended up playing some basic role too and managed to do some good town runs, finally having enough food to feed myself at the end of it. This game was cursed, and I should’ve known as within 1-2 tiles- 3 separate minefields had been set up (that were surprisingly not the reason I had died, even though I had managed to step right into the middle of one without noticing.), and my static npc decided to give me a Jabberwock quest which I had stupidly accepted, resulting in a Jabberwock to spawn in a forest 3 tiles from my evac shelter.

The amalgamation surprisingly kept off my turf as it was busy killing zombies that were in a town close by. “It” however, started to get more insidious as it moved closer to the evac shelter in the following days until I woke up to footsteps outside the shelter. I quickly began to realize how dire the situation was and attempted to wait for the creature to lose interest and run into one of the minefields nearby; I waited for a couple of seconds until I couldn’t see the sound icons showing up anymore, so I took one step forward to see where it had or was going- a wrong move on my part- because the creature was still right in front -noticed the noise from inside- and almost instantly began shredding the door apart. My npc was being an absolute hero and used their Merlin 39a to try and mow the beast down, bringing the Jabberwock to “Almost Dead”, before they themselves were shredded to pieces by the vile intruder.

I quickly ran into the basement to retrieve a grenade that I had found, and luckily avoided the beast to run outside. I knew what it was coming down too, and I didn’t want to try my luck with meleeing the abomination on a fresh character, so I quickly stashed my spear and wielded the grenade- pulling the pin and (surprisingly) gracefully soared the doom pineapple at the Jabberwock. It landed, exploded, catching the beast within its epicenter of the blast, with that same blast almost gibbing my character too. Recovering, I checked the rose to see the result of my fine work, only to find the Jabberwock still at “Almost Dead”. Let’s just say maybe I should’ve invested in a helmet, because at least my brain, or head, would’ve still been in one piece, even if it had been gruesomely lopped off in the end.

My Current Situation: (Don’t Skip if you want context for TL;DR)
Woefully accepting the fate of my longest lasting character (with spawns at 1.00 FYI), I decided to pick up the scraps of my motivation and create a new random character, who was an Abandoned Student located at a mall, with two green traits, and a red trait (Slow (or bad?) Healer). Spawning in, I and my static were quickly greeted by a zombie, of which my untrustful companion quickly squished its skull. After that ordeal, I made attempts to try and recruit him and was quickly dismissed as too untrustful to be his friend (I was pretty alright with that fact as that had happened with most other spawns).

I decided to adventure out of our food court area with a pipe that I scrapped from nearby shelving. This proved a horrible idea as soon as I stepped out from the outlet, I found two zombie hordes- one at the quickest exit of the mall, and on at a nearby fountain. Luckily I was shadowed from their sight and also noticed that the zombies of the horde were pretty default, either normal zombies, crawler, tough, or fat. Quickly realizing that If I wanted to do anything in the mall, it was probably best to try and kill an unevolved horde of zombies before they turned monstrous.

Getting their attention was easy, killing them would’ve been suicide- however, I found out that I could use my unwillful cohort to be a useful teammate in the oncoming onslaught. This crazy man wielding just a bat, and I with a pipe, managed to kill a horde of 30-40 zombies over the period of about 20 in-game minutes, with my torso being shredded, and him being lightly wounded. I was in critical condition, 4 possible infections, a slightly detented pipe, and a load of loot decided to deal with my situation pretty quickly and effectively: gathering my supplies, using a swiss army knife to cauterize the infections before they started to spread, crafting a cudgel (Ironically my character spawned with 3 in piercing weapons, and by the end of the onslaught had almost a 2 in bashing weapons) and a makeshift crowbar.

I managed to break into the rooms between the outlets and buy out both vending machines full of food, sorting the loot out and do other miscellaneous, after that, I ate, and noticed I was in severe pain (wasn’t sure why my character wasn’t passing out though), and had no painkillers, so I decided to boost my self up with a good mix of alcohol, meth, and Ambien (thinking the tranquilizers would at least have some sort of effect on my pain). However, I quickly noticed how unsafe this saferoom of mine was when I noticed smashing and such in a door leading to another outlet. I quickly opened the door to try and funnel the zombie horde into the small room for easy pickings.

Then I noticed my torso, at about nothing, so I quickly ran back to the man who stood atop the zombie mountain with me and used him to murder the zombies that came through, and did this rinse and repeat before I noticed my character was exhausted and was satisfied with how much he and I killed so far, so I decided to move all the loot into an adjacent outlet with a storage room, quickly setting it up and sorting everything, and finally deciding to rest, before having a very rude awakening of another horde right outside my the storage area in the outlet, however my character was still exhausted so I tried to get some more shut-eye, only to wake up to the horde making more noise preventing my character from sleeping… Which is at the point that I’m at right now…

I honestly don’t know what to do, we managed to kill one horde with me barely surviving, and my cohort still doesn’t want to follow me, plus he had a quick tussle with a tough zombie that brought him all the way from light green to low yellow. Plus my character hasn’t gotten much of a chance to heal because of his red trait. His pain is at yellow, and I’m not sure if I should just make noise canceling headgear, and just go back to sleep with a horde so close, I’m almost positive they haven’t heard my character in the back room yet. This brings me to another question, does having wander spawns- spawn hordes? I feel like killing that one horde should have put a dent in the zombies all around the mall, but it seems like creating basically a mountain of bodies has done nothing to help our situation.

Should I pack up and try to book it to a nearby town that has a ton of housing and try to base out there? Or should I stay and deal with the zombies in the mall? In the case that wander spawns- spawns zombies, would It even be viable to clear out the mall? Ive got some really good tools at hand, but nothing for crowd control, or even ranged attacks.

TL;DR: I really just need help on my plan of actions for this mall character to at least increase their chances of survival, especially with such a badass start to the scenario…

P.S: Sorry for weird mistypes, incorrect spelling, and the such, as I started writing this about two hours ago, its about 1 am right now… (I probably should’ve used that time to start and finish my project that’s due later today, now that Im thinking about it…)

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For me, the point of the game isn’t how many zombies I can kill, it’s how long I can survive. I would suggest you play your character the same way – have him pick a plan to survive, and then try to implement that plan.

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Malls have a mountain of zombies even with default spawns and setting the spawn rate to 10x likely will make them have a ridiculous amount zombies, much more than you can expect to take out with a freshly spawned character.

As for wandering hordes, it does not spawn endless zombies, although in a mall with 10x spawns it will give the impression of endless zombies. What it does is make it so that zombies outside your reality bubble will not stand in place and politely wait for you to come to them but move around on there own and likely knock on your door if you’ve been making a lot of ruckus.

Your best bet for long term survival would be to get out of there and find somewhere relatively safe, but considering your situation (beaten up torso, pain slowing you down and the fact that the moment you step outside you will likely face more zombies then you would encounter in a small town) it might be better for your short term survival to try to get enough rest to remove the pain and get your torso health up a bit before making a run for it. Try making makeshift bandages if you have no other option for healing to get your health up even a bit.

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If you’re that badly beaten up I’d recommend some way to deafen yourself and sleep it off. Trying to loot anything but edge houses or isolated locations is pretty suicidal early game though, let alone looting in a mall, especially with wander spawns luring zombies to your location if you make a big ruckus, like killing an army of zombies.

If anything your first goal should be escaping the mall and finding somewhere secluded to heal and prepare, especially if you can’t manage anything to sleep inside. Living in a mall would be a stealth campaign rather then a battle one if you stick with it, lots of running and ducking in shadow. Just to be aware, the city will be just as bad if not worse depending on the size, if there’s any cabins or best case, isolated farmhouses around that would a good start until you can makeshift some protection. I wouldn’t recommend bee lining for centers of humanity unprepared.

Welcome to the full default zombie experience though!

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Noise canceling gear can be craft with lvl 1 talior and pretty common stuff iirc, I run quite a few mods though so dunno if they are in the base game. That should help you get some rest at least but I’d try and get out that Mall asap if I was you.

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Yeah, it was just by chance that the horde was really basic, so I took the risk and managed pretty well for a fresh spawn with a pipe…

Sorry, I shoulda said 1.00x spawn, or default (Yeah I liked to play it easy super easy before), can’t imagine the hell I would’ve spawned into if I decided to put it to 10.00x though…

Thanks for the information bro.

Yeah, so far most of the posts here mentioned something along those lines. I don’t think my character’s tailoring is high enough to make the headgear though, and there is my mention of a horde being in the outlet right outside of my little back area where I’m staying, should I just go into the back room and find another storage area to sleep in? I was wondering once all that is past and if Im still alive, should I start a fire in a farther off outlet to lure zombies away from the entrances?

Yeah, the two cities are pretty close together, but they’re dwarfed compared to the mega city next to it, and both of them combined are about 10 tiles long, and 4 tiles wide, with the smaller one being 6 houses, was planning on going there, but there is a field and ranch house nearby, but the ranch is rather close to a fema camp. only about 4 tiles between, with two of those tiles being forest.

P.S. attacking the horde was just supposed to be an oppurtunity, not my playstyle, I figured it would be easier to fight a horde of relatively normal zombies rather than groups of skeletal juggernauts, hulks, and that fun group of enemies.
P.S.S. Ill be trying to finish that paper, so my replies might be a little slow, and I really can’t play because of it being school and all, and not being able to be on my phone. (Even off of school I really can’t be on my phone, because of a single sh###y grade).
P.S.S.S. Should I try and recruit my zombie mower bro, or just leave him for the hordes in the mall, or the fire afterwards?
P.S.S.S.S. Should I try to craft a spear? I mean my character only has a 1 (69%) skill in bashing, while he has a 3 in piercing weapons (Random Character skills)

So far my course of action will be 1. Trying to craft the headgear. 2. Finding another storage outlet to bunk out in. 3. Once rested up, or as much as I could be, Ill start a fire in a outlet as far away as I can get it. 4. Waiting a couple of minutes for the fire to spread, and attract zombies. 5. Bugging out, heading for the Ranch (Or city), Should I focus on: 1. Food 2. Crafting supplies or 3. Just bugging out asap.

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I’d say unlikely you’ll get that static budging if he doesn’t already like you. As for the spear absolutely. Running a spear play through right now and it’s been a right proper death machine the whole way. That ranch would be great if it wasn’t for the fema camp, that’s a death sentance most likely. The 6 houser is your best bet, just be careful, wander spawns can travel quite far and you could drag the larger cities spawns to the smaller one.

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If you do head into town, try and find a basement that isn’t full of nasties to hole up in, even if you don’t want to permanently shack up there it will be safer in the interim while you find your footing.

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Yeah, making it is going to be a pain though, finding clean rags is going to be a problem, as the clothing outlet I was going to get rags from is also the outlet I’m bunked in currently- where the zombie horde was right outside the door going into the outlet. As for running out, since the horde will probably notice me as soon as I try to move around, what should I focus on dumping and what should I stash in my rucksack? I managed to clear two vending machines worth of junk food with cash cards from the horde, but there was also a lot of electronics on the zombies (Tablets and Laptops, the extras I had being disassembled for their parts). My character is still exhausted, and the storage room was the safest of choices for me at least.
Maybe during my lunch hour Ill try some of the suggestions, either you guys will get some more questions, or maybe finish the scenario torn apart by zombies. I’ve finished my paper at least, now it’s just time to make a stupid poster along with it, aaaannnnd Im done.

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Well a random heavy object will do until you can get something formed. Getting out of that place will probably be a lethal endevour if you end up actually hitting anything anyway. I can’t for the life of me imagine what you’d want all those electronic bits for though. What ya need is stuff to tie two by fours onto you for protection. Leave that stuff, ya gotta get armored up and armed and those bits aren’t gonna help.

Weapon>Armor>Water>Food>Medical Supplies>Anything else

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Once you’ve got a weapon and the best armor as you can currently make, for packing, I prioritize Medicine > Water > Food > Tools > Future Armor supplies > anything else.

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Yeah, my dudes gonna be a stick though, the rucksack is already pretty damn encumbering…

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Drop your rucksack before each combat.

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The Saga has ended, not with my character torn to pieces by a horde, not burning away by accident in a fire, not anything you would expect, it was quite peaceful compared to the alternatives…
I got back into the game and basically did most of what my plan was going to be, until I found a good place to sleep away from the other horde, in another storage area. I was only able to for a couple hours until my character awoke from being too cold to sleep, I checked to find that my character basically had boxer briefs, a polo shirt, some shoes, and a ruck sack all in tatters on himself. I decided to check to see if I could find anything clean to wear, and when I couldn’t find anything, I decided to check outside. I looked, saw no light, and realized it was already almost 9 pm, making it completely pitch-black.
These circumstances couldn’t be any stranger too, but I had made the decision to brave it and try to find refuge in the city. This endeavor was quickly halted once I realized I was almost in the middle of a minefield… Quickly tracing my steps back to get out, I tried to move til I got passed that, but found myself almost running into another minefield, and when trying to head north to get around there was another minefield… With the situation not seeming too dire i decided to head to the ranch, much against most suggestions, and halfway through my walk my character crumpled against the cold pavement of the sidewalk, passing out before finally succumbing to his frostbitten wounds, peacefully passing away…

Damn…

Started a new character, home mechanic as an evacuee, and manged to recruit the static npc though…

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Ouch, what a way to go, freezing to death in a field after epic battles and a mall escape. Sucks when characters meet less than glorious ends.

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TBH it was sorta a satisfying end though, finally escaping and just enjoying the cold spring air, sorta unorthodox ending though, and not the way I wanted it to end, but satisfying at least, especially with all the more violent ways I almost died…
That Home Mechanic might just be my lottery winner… Pretty good setup, lots of tools from mechanic start, and managed to find a secluded motel near about a safe couple of tiles away from a pretty big city. Only problem is finding a way to boil the pool/toilet water and finding books to boost my skills.

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Sounds like a decent start. Ought to be able to beat out a makeshift pot with some sheet metal and a fire drill if no matches or lighters dropped off the inevitable zombies at the motel. Probably wont even need the city for a good while. Lots of toilets mean lots of water at least.

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Oof, got called in for work, pretty good in my case as it allows me to go on my phone once I get finished cleaning, gonna update once I get back home.

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Got a good hour of playtime, really quick to clean as I was never needed to do anything else (surprisingly). What was really weird is that they needed to come in, as the person that was supposed work that night apparently had a serious nervous breakdown and was forced to head home. I got there, and the person who had called me in told me what happened “… So she was in the back room staring at a wall … when I got up to her, I looked at what she was doing with her hands and saw that she almost tearing the skin from the muscle, with blood almost seeping through, she was hyperventilating to high-hell too.” Yeah, having a “nervous breakdown” was a big understatement to say the least.

Anyways to update on the home mechanic, saying I won the scenario lottery was easy, trying to live for my first day was another… I easily mowed down any zombie at the single story motel with a cargo truck that I found working on the side of the road. No lighters, alright, just make a fire drill. But I needed sheet metal to at least make a brazier, which is where my luck ran out, as there was nothing to scrap to get the metal, and I couldn’t rip it off a vehicle as my character had almost every tool at his disposal, except for a damn hack saw…

Soon my situation got pretty dire as my character went quickly to very thirsty, I however managed to get a fire drill (because my companion apparently has a survival skill of 2), I decided to skip making something to contain the fire and to just set three long sticks on some pavement and to boil some water there, as I got the BS message of “No place to store the clean water” preventing me from making some to survive for the night. Rather than sleeping for the morning I decided to venture out with my companion to make it to a town for liquids, I followed roads for (in game) hours, only to find missle silos and a dead end (Like jesus, there was 2 within a quick hike of the evac shelter, and I found another 3 while trying to find a town.)

With my options running low, there was only one branching path to go- my and my companion followed it for about 30 minutes before finding a hippie van and a shrieker zombie. We made quick work of the shrieker, and daylight had finally began to light our surroundings, I soon realized that we were at the outskirts of a city, with 5 houses within view. I made a mad dash for the first house, as my very thirsty went to “dehydrated” and character getting tired, I managed to find something to drink, however, since it was only morning, the soda was frozen solid, rather than waste time waiting for it to thaw, I decided to keep search the building, finding more to drink, and then waiting a gruesome 3-4 hours to let the drinks thaw, wondering if dehydration would get me first, even with something to quench my thirst sitting in my bag frozen.

About thirty minutes later, and most of my loot organized, I decided to board up a bedroom, and sleep for a while. Woke up again dehydrated, and night was already upon us. It was about 9 pm, so I decided once again to find something to drink in one of the other buildings nearby, finding things to drink- but also frozen solid, however, I luckily found a basement, which let to an underground bar, filled only with a single zombie, a swimmer zombie, and a child zombie. Rather than taking my chances fighting while dehydrated, I quickly ran upstairs and outside to enjoy some sweet OJ i found in the basement…

Which is where Im at currently, other than being with my companion in the house adjacent to the other.

Should I try and make that basement my stash for future city runs? I mean the stuff didn’t freeze downstairs so that would be a big plus, and the zombies would be nothing to me and my friend to smash to pieces downstairs. The only problem is that with so many missle silos, that most of my wander spawns are a mixture of: Zombie Soldier, Zombie Bio-Operator, and some normal zombies speckled in too, but mainly just hordes of zombie soldiers. How would I deal with that? Just try to avoid them as long as possible?

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Well sounds like you hit a bit of a hitch. You should have just beaten some spare cars to pieces with a heavy object for the sheet metal though. Liberally applied beating solve most problems. Sounds like you nearly started as middle of nowhere as my current Unwilling Mutant. That one took me 15 ingame days to find a city at all and it was too hard to get to to be worth it. Setting a city on fire is a great way to thaw drinks btw :stuck_out_tongue: In all seriousness though ya the basements the best way not to freeze everything solid, should be a steady chilly 6 degrees Celsius or so stuff should last decently as it’s literally a refrigerator. You are going to have a hell of a time with those bio operators and solders though. Other than finding some extra expendable vehicles to utterly total on their faces they will be trouble. A stone spear, a shield, and some patience should be able to kill at least the basic solders though as long as you don’t get ganged. Avoiding them as long as possible should definitetly be a priority though, it’s a good way to get lots of bite wounds early fighting a solder without proper protection if he manages to grab you.

ps. I’ve always been too scared to ever fight a bio operator so let me know how that goes lol.