THE ENCUMBRANCE MAN
THE ENCUMBRANCCEE
Take off your backpacks and check your enc. levels with the @ button. Make sure your clothing fits.
I like to keep my enc below 3, and when I get higher stats I leave it at 4 or 5.
[quote=“FunsizeNinja123, post:21, topic:7766”]THE ENCUMBRANCE MAN
THE ENCUMBRANCCEE
Take off your backpacks and check your enc. levels with the @ button. Make sure your clothing fits.
I like to keep my enc below 3, and when I get higher stats I leave it at 4 or 5.[/quote]
so having an encumbrance of 1 or 2 isn’t bad for the first couple weeks? yay! i thought all encumbrance is bad so ive been trying to get all clothes down to 0
you though correctly. all encumbrance is bad and should be avoided as long as your meele skill lvl is at 0.
Any helmet, a reinforced trenchcoat, reinforced t-shirt, reinforced cargo pants, reinforced socks and shoes, and reinforced undergarments are all you need to have good early-game armor, carrying capacity, and encumbrance . You end with 1 arm and 1 torso encumbrance, some head encumbrance, and sometimes some mouth and eye encumbrance, depending on what helmet you have. You can’t carry everything, but you can carry the all important knife, hammer, screwdriver, flashlight, lighter, water bottle, tiny amount of food, medicine, and possibly even a pot. Everything else can be crafted (even without a pot you can craft a pointy stick and drink a aluminium can of something, in order to get something with 1 cooking and 1 boiling capability), and your weapon can stay in your hands.
Other things are nice to keep at home, especially blankets to keep you warm at night. And as always, it is always safer to make multiple small trips, rather than filling two dufflebags full of stuff, and hoping you don’t get ambushed with 8 torso encumbrance. And if you are lucky, you might find some better equipment, so try to be flexible, and not treat this as gospel.
The first thing I have done since I got over my initial zed meat playthroughs is to avoid towns like the plague for a little while. Do as the others have suggested and look for a remote patch of wilderness. Check along roads for military wrecks, they often have army spawns and rarely have serious threats in the area (but don’t step on rubble if you can avoid it, stepping on rubble can lead to !!FUN!!). If you find a car on a road that just needs batteries/gas, make a note on your map (m to pull it up, N to make a note). If you find an electric vehicle chances are it will probably start (assuming it hasn’t been snowing for days).
If you have to, spawn in summer until you get the hang of the early game. Perishable food spawns will be pretty much gone, but you won’t freeze to death picking through bushes for eggs.
Erm, may I suggest checking out the Cataclysm: DDA Survival Guide at https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lx79fcpgDHjqXit7VZ7kWNadxgPh_gkoa_MNgKsG8w? If you CTRL+F for “First night survival” you’ll find an easy 21-step guide that’s 90% effective for lasting the first day. The guide itself is incomplete but we’re working on it.
Hope it helps!
[quote=“IcedPee, post:26, topic:7766”]Erm, may I suggest checking out the Cataclysm: DDA Survival Guide at https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lx79fcpgDHjqXit7VZ7kWNadxgPh_gkoa_MNgKsG8w? If you CTRL+F for “First night survival” you’ll find an easy 21-step guide that’s 90% effective for lasting the first day. The guide itself is incomplete but we’re working on it.
Hope it helps![/quote]
Hello, IcedPee. I’m sorry you think we’re SILLYHEADS and that turrets are killing you through powered armor (last I tried, I was able to stand around in a heavy suit whilst a milspec bounced 5.56 NATO off of me until it ran dry?).
Apart from that, the guide was an interesting read. Thanks.
Everytime when I start a new game the very first thing that I do is to grab a rock, smash the lockers at the evac shelter and make a makeshift crowbar. It’s very useful as an early-game weapon and you can pry locked doors to open them without smashing it.
My approach generally involves crafting what I can from lockers and window curtains ((e)xamine them to take down curtains, I think?). First priority is a makeshift crowbar for a weapon (and prying), and a makeshift knife for butchering/cutting up fabrics. The knife takes smashing a couple of lockers for metal to craft a spike, and then I think a rag or small strings, so it’s not immediately apparent you can craft one from shelter materials.
Turn curtain into makeshift sling. Encumberment is terrible for combat, but I avoid that as much as possible in the first day.
Raid basement for foods/clothes. Sling means you can carry things now. It also disassembles back into a sheet, which is wearable later.
Ask npc for items. Ignore npc quest generally.
Then I GET THE HELL AWAY FROM TOWN. I aim for sewage treatment plants, gas stations, any building that tends to be unoccupied. Not sarcophaguses for waste, radiation is evil. Sewage plants are safe.
From there I basically bear grylls it and forage all of the underbrush for eggs and veggies and stab smaller game. Depending on your crafting skills, getting a fireplace may be easier or harder than crafting a brazier, but you can plop flammables into a small pile outdoors away from other flammables for cooking until then. Worry about crafting more clothes after you have a safe-ish space to do it longterm.
I like to hit smaller settlements on town outskirts, like mansions, or power stations. Mansions are amazing for food without the same variety of zombies I find near cities.
[quote=“KA101, post:27, topic:7766”][quote=“IcedPee, post:26, topic:7766”]Erm, may I suggest checking out the Cataclysm: DDA Survival Guide at https://docs.google.com/document/d/10lx79fcpgDHjqXit7VZ7kWNadxgPh_gkoa_MNgKsG8w? If you CTRL+F for “First night survival” you’ll find an easy 21-step guide that’s 90% effective for lasting the first day. The guide itself is incomplete but we’re working on it.
Hope it helps![/quote]
Hello, IcedPee. I’m sorry you think we’re SILLYHEADS and that turrets are killing you through powered armor (last I tried, I was able to stand around in a heavy suit whilst a milspec bounced 5.56 NATO off of me until it ran dry?).
Apart from that, the guide was an interesting read. Thanks.[/quote]
Like KA said, interesting read. Read only the first part. I kinda disliked it because it wants you to be the toughest and awesomest without really having the full experience of the Game. It’s like a grinding guide. Taking traits for free points, seeing the game in a more mechanical way. Idk, I just disliked it. However, it’s noticeable the work on it, so I can just say good work.
Pssh, having only one trenchcoat is for wimps, I go with 2 trenchcoats, and one leather trenchcoat, plus a hoodie but that isn’t really important.
I’m a near-god and I still take out the spitters first. Fuck 'em.[/quote]
Spitters aren’t THAT bad, as long as your not wading directly through 5 tiles of acid you’ll be fine, plus they can help hurt a crowd of zombies and take out those blasted dogs…
Spitter’s are a pain in the ass. I always go for them first in a hoard myself too.
When in doubt light bushes on fire and stand behind them.
Just a few advices:
A good way to stay alive is to use anything to your advantage. ‘Abusing’ obstacles that give you time to attack without being attacked are a very very valid way to stay alive. Like windows (broken ones, not openend ones!), bushes or even shopping carts (the mobile obstacle).
Another point is: start in Summer. It can be lethal to start in spring and not having proper clothing within a few game-hours.
Always have a shotgun around, for those brutes, especially shocker brutes :).
But, why give hints anyways, you’ll figure all the other fancy stuff on your own.
[quote=“Tineen, post:32, topic:7766”]Spitter’s are a pain in the ass. I always go for them first in a hoard myself too.
When in doubt light bushes on fire and stand behind them.[/quote]
Spitters are actually pretty useful, since zombies (at least, zombies that aren’t Hazmats or Spitters) take damage from acid. They’ll do the job of a good burning bush without wasting a lighter charge.
My first day situation (assuming evac shelter) is as follows. Also, I’m usually a lost submissive for the extra point and some starting leather and some matches.
Go outside…get 3 rocks. Come back. Smash a bench and craft wooden arrow shafts until I get Fab 1. Craft a wooden needle. Close a curtain then pull it down. Disassemble long string into 6 smaller string, then disassemble 4 of those into thread. Load needle. Make stone knife with remaining string. Cut sheets from curtains into sheets as needed. At this point I craft socks and then use my needle on them until they are reinforced. I usually get tailoring 1 doing this. Then I craft leg and arm warmers and practice sewing until both are reinforced. Tailoring is often 2 by now. If so, I craft boxer shorts, cargo shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, and a cotton hat…and reinforce. If I’m not at 3 yet, I just craft the items using the least rags and reinforce them until I am. Then I make a trench-coat and a backpack and reinforce them. In the experimental I’m playing, cargo pants aren’t unlocked automatically at tailoring 3…if they are in your version, make those too.
Now I head out to the nearest forest and start searching through bushes until I get to survival 1. I’m usually pretty hungry and thirsty by now, and its getting dark. While grinding survival, I usually get at least one (sometimes more…keep at it until you have at least one) watertight containers, a can of some sort, and some eggs. I return to base, craft a digging stick and a balaclava (or two…depending on weather). I smash a locker, craft a spike, and then craft a knife spear. Then, if it’s dark, I head to town (ideally with Night Vision) with my fully reinforced gear. I prioritize hardware stores, then grocery stores, looking for a wheelbarrow or shopping cart. I get food and plastic bottles of water/juice, as well as any really good tools (especially an axe) if they are available. Then I focus on finding meds, making sure to be back in the shelter by daybreak.
My second day I spend (hopefully) with my axe grinding construction until I can build a bed.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I usually cut up my bondage suit to reinforce my boots and belt.
[quote=“mdtexeira, post:35, topic:7766”]My first day situation (assuming evac shelter) is as follows. Also, I’m usually a lost submissive for the extra point and some starting leather and some matches.
Go outside…get 3 rocks. Come back. Smash a bench and craft wooden arrow shafts until I get Fab 1. Craft a wooden needle. Close a curtain then pull it down. Disassemble long string into 6 smaller string, then disassemble 4 of those into thread. Load needle. Make stone knife with remaining string. Cut sheets from curtains into sheets as needed. At this point I craft socks and then use my needle on them until they are reinforced. I usually get tailoring 1 doing this. Then I craft leg and arm warmers and practice sewing until both are reinforced. Tailoring is often 2 by now. If so, I craft boxer shorts, cargo shorts, a long-sleeved shirt, and a cotton hat…and reinforce. If I’m not at 3 yet, I just craft the items using the least rags and reinforce them until I am. Then I make a trench-coat and a backpack and reinforce them. In the experimental I’m playing, cargo pants aren’t unlocked automatically at tailoring 3…if they are in your version, make those too.
Now I head out to the nearest forest and start searching through bushes until I get to survival 1. I’m usually pretty hungry and thirsty by now, and its getting dark. While grinding survival, I usually get at least one (sometimes more…keep at it until you have at least one) watertight containers, a can of some sort, and some eggs. I return to base, craft a digging stick and a balaclava (or two…depending on weather). I smash a locker, craft a spike, and then craft a knife spear. Then, if it’s dark, I head to town (ideally with Night Vision) with my fully reinforced gear. I prioritize hardware stores, then grocery stores, looking for a wheelbarrow or shopping cart. I get food and plastic bottles of water/juice, as well as any really good tools (especially an axe) if they are available. Then I focus on finding meds, making sure to be back in the shelter by daybreak.
My second day I spend (hopefully) with my axe grinding construction until I can build a bed.
Edit: I forgot to mention that I usually cut up my bondage suit to reinforce my boots and belt.[/quote]
Sacrificing full-body armor to reinforce foot armor is perhaps more kinky than useful. Might wanna leave the suit on–it’s good protection.
True, but the encumbrance with the bondage suit and the rest of my gear is a no-no. That, and the leather I get I also use to make leather gloves. Since I’m usually most concerned with temperature regulation on the first day, the leather body suit is considerably less useful to me than the warmth and storage I get from the gear I craft. By time I’m readily getting into serious conflicts, I can make or have found better armor than the bondage suit. The early game for me is all about avoiding unnecessary conflict while I get geared. Combine this with my general preference to take enemies out with a bow, and there’s no real reason for me to focus (right now) on armor in the early game.
All and all, I’m doing well I think. I’m up to Day 10 now, thanks to having a sick 7 year old son at home, I was up in the recliner all night while he slept on the couch in case he woke up needing anything. Got in some extra zombie apocalypse time 
I’ve been doing well with my scavenging and repairing, I think tailoring and survival are both up to 3 or 4 now, along with Marksmanship and Pistols. Been busy piecing together a car outside. It’s just about ready to start driving soon. I’ve got 3 or 4 gallon jugs of gas sitting back in the base waiting to be used. I’ve been trying to find myself the recipe for a makeshift welder without any luck; the wiki gives the description for the item itself, but not the book in which the recipe resides… Fooey! I know you can build walls and such eventually, so instead of moving my base all the way over to the house with the garage I found, I might just add one onto the house I’m living in now 
Been spreading further into the city a bit lately, had a lovely challenge getting into the hardware store on the east side of town. Broke in the back door and snuck my way in to find a wheelbarrow nearby. Awesome… I think I looted every handy tool in the place and took them back to my base. Had to shoot down a few zombies to get back out alive though, the hardware store is a bloody mess of pulped zombie corpses (re-corpses?) now, but I have a wheelbarrow FULL of tools of all kinds (This is how I was able to start patching up that car I found).
Onward and upward! I still haven’t got reinforced gear yet, but it looks like all I have to do is just keep sewing them till they become reinforced (‘You practice your sewing’ seems to be an indicator that the success roll failed, so I just have to keep trying)
[quote=“Loendal, post:38, topic:7766”]All and all, I’m doing well I think. I’m up to Day 10 now, thanks to having a sick 7 year old son at home, I was up in the recliner all night while he slept on the couch in case he woke up needing anything. Got in some extra zombie apocalypse time
I’ve been doing well with my scavenging and repairing, I think tailoring and survival are both up to 3 or 4 now, along with Marksmanship and Pistols. Been busy piecing together a car outside. It’s just about ready to start driving soon. I’ve got 3 or 4 gallon jugs of gas sitting back in the base waiting to be used. I’ve been trying to find myself the recipe for a makeshift welder without any luck; the wiki gives the description for the item itself, but not the book in which the recipe resides… Fooey! I know you can build walls and such eventually, so instead of moving my base all the way over to the house with the garage I found, I might just add one onto the house I’m living in now
Been spreading further into the city a bit lately, had a lovely challenge getting into the hardware store on the east side of town. Broke in the back door and snuck my way in to find a wheelbarrow nearby. Awesome… I think I looted every handy tool in the place and took them back to my base. Had to shoot down a few zombies to get back out alive though, the hardware store is a bloody mess of pulped zombie corpses (re-corpses?) now, but I have a wheelbarrow FULL of tools of all kinds (This is how I was able to start patching up that car I found).
Onward and upward! I still haven’t got reinforced gear yet, but it looks like all I have to do is just keep sewing them till they become reinforced (‘You practice your sewing’ seems to be an indicator that the success roll failed, so I just have to keep trying)[/quote]
Forgets that older people play Cata
(Also you have a son? Cool. Teach him how to play Cata and give him a sense of imagination. Kids these days need it.)
Keep going, and don’t make any stupid mistakes. You’re doing good. IIRC, the recipe for the makeshift welder is in the book “Under the hood”.
[quote=“FunsizeNinja123, post:39, topic:7766”]Forgets that older people play Cata
(Also you have a son? Cool. Teach him how to play Cata and give him a sense of imagination. Kids these days need it.)
Keep going, and don’t make any stupid mistakes. You’re doing good. IIRC, the recipe for the makeshift welder is in the book “Under the hood”.[/quote]
Ah, excellent! I’ve got a couple of those lying around the house. I’ll have to start digging into them deeper.
Yup, so far as the Internet is concerned, I’m a dinosaur I predate Pong, for goodness sake! As for my son, he’s already a little gamer. Perhaps a bit TOO much; but he plays things like Spore, the Stronghold games and on occasion he’ll sneak in and play some half life or something that he’s not supposed to (sneaky little bugger…)
In related news, I’ve got all my gear all reinforced now, which is a good thing. I’ve moved a good portion of my stuff over to that house with the garage I found. Now I just need to make sure I get a fireplace or something similar installed before the temperature starts dropping again, it’s about to shift into Summer here shortly. Day 12 and counting!