If one user can have more than one survivor added to the pantheon, here is my second one. I wanted to try a speedrun of the challenge, and I think I managed that by finishing six challenges and two milestones in about 28 days. I’m somewhat disappointed as I could have probably shaved about 10 days or more if I decided to read up some skill books and get NPCs to teach me skills.
Going nomadic was probably the best choice as well. When I started the first challenge I had some sort of base going, but then afterwards I realized that having a place to go back to for resting would take far too much time, so I went and stuffed some key items on a wheelbarrow cargo carrier, and went exploring for the places I needed to go - which proved wise as it helped pave the way to fulfill two milestones.
So, here’s the challenges and milestones.
Kill a shocker brute unarmed and with no electric protection.
http://smf.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?topic=19.msg264893#msg264893
RNG really liked me on this one. The first projectile from the shocker left an open path to step out of, minimizing damage. Following projectiles somehow missed as all it took was a step in a safe spot to once again minimize any damage. Hands took a beating, but not broken, and at the time I barely had any unarmed skill (finished this speed run with only a 3 in unarmed, at 23% before reaching level 4.
Kill fungal tower with no environmental protection
[spoiler]I reckoned awl pikes were kosher. Managed to somehow avoid all the fungal things and only got mildly spored. I think I didn’t even needed to eat a royal jelly for this.
The opening post didn’t state the method for killing the fungal. So I decided to do it naked for no environmental protection, save for a fanny pack for some modesty and a way to carry around some cigars. Got to take some puffs of a cigar while doing the killing for maximum swag.
Anyway, for a little bit of cunning, instead of setting the place ablaze first, or using guns or explosives, I simply used melee… of the awl pike’s reach attack, leaving my survivor spored but safe from direct hits. Like I said, opening post didn’t state what means of killing were to be used, so I’m assuming this is kosher. I’d like to think my survivor did this to be a little cunning while still exposing himself to risk by being naked.[/spoiler]
Kill a hulk by getting smashed by another hulk
By far the hardest of the challenges I set out to do. Luring the hulks out so I won’t be bothered by other zombies is one thing, positioning my survivor for the smash kill was a nightmare. The two were seemingly stuck next to each other at all times and it took a whole lot of luck to set it up properly. Almost died after, as you can see from the pain and head wounds.
At this point I went and cleared two milestones first, but here’s the other challenges I’ve done.
Reinforce a corpse.
Well, a relatively easy challenge after the previous three. Nothing much to say, though I wonder if a broken cyborg can be reinforced, and if that would count since at least the head is human. I debugged just now to see if an armored zombie is made of steel, but alas, they’re made of flesh.
Wear enough to get to 1k volume, and then carry 1k volume worth of items.
Again, nothing much to say. Prior to reinforcing, I had smashed some beds and whatnot, as well as carry a number of stuff in the cargo carrier wheelbarrow. I probably would have taken less work to just add in a corpse or two.
Also, both things were done while smoking a cigar. Just for fun, survivor started each challenge with a cigar. First two challenges were done before the cigar ran out.
Anyways, milestones!
Fancy!
[spoiler]
Not seen, but survivor is wielding a walking cane, and has a pocket watch in his inventory. Plus several diamonds and gold bars taken from security vans. Several of the clothing items was during a somewhat daring night raid on a mall. Suit and walking cane was found during the first or second night raid, and the monocle was found in a lab, as well as the wedding dress and veil. Seriously, it seems like labs are the only place to find them. Would’ve liked two monocles, one for each eye!
Ran into several labs, and only found one monocle. Main lab tactic for this run is just shoot everything up with a shotgun while avoiding turret rooms if possible. Aside from the clothing, I really only checked for mutagens. Alas, didn’t find enough serums, but I did have a backup plan.[/spoiler]
Martial arts!
RNG was being generous, as the first dojo had all the martial arts manuals available to the place (I think). Before that, fencing was found in a library or bookstore, while the niten and medieval style was found in mansions. Much to my surprise, the manual for krav maga spawned in a boxing gym, which seems to be a new thing. It spawning there, I mean.
I was kind of hoping to get a threshold for a second milestone instead, the main plan being letting the rat king mutate me then shooting up with a rat serum or two to complete the transformation. Alas, the rat king I left alive was way too far to finish this run under 30 days. In general I thought I should finish by 50 days, and I had more than enough time to get back to the cave, but I found the boxing gym and lo and behold it had a krav maga training manual.
And that’s it…
Oh no it ain’t!
Man vs. Shoggoth! Granted, this was with the aid of hydraulic muscles and injected some adrenaline as well, but in exchange he’s almost naked (wearing a fanny pack to hold a cigar, one of which is being used during the fight), as well as having low skills in general (melee is kinda decent at 6, unarmed is 3). Lockers were set up in such a way to prevent the shoggoth from running away or stepping on any nearby tiles so my survivor can wail on it in one spot, without which would probably made this impossible.
And that’s more or less it, really. Here’s a rundown on my survivor’s stats in the end:
[spoiler]
In general, I shouldn’t have bothered learning cooking. My survivor pretty much survived off cooked meat and clean water when it was needed, but for most part had a decent supply of raided food and drinks. Construction and fabrication was another, as both skills didn’t see any use at all - though with fabrications I was planning on letting a tank drone see and chase me to a road lined with loose caltrops. They can be killed with a few steps on caltrops, though that seems to be more of an oversight than anything.
Survival was another thing that I shouldn’t have bothered making my survivor read on a book. There’s a few more useless skills for this run, and not learning them at all would have shaved off a lot of time for this run, sadly.
One thing that learning first aid, electronics, and computers did help out on was attaching some bionics. That and several shots of atomic coffee and adderall, too. …saying that, the only ones that my survivor benefited from was synaptic accelerator, and for the shoggoth hydraulic muscles. Maybe telescopic eyes, but he did have binoculars on him. He carried around food, tools, and all sorts of stuff like the fancy clothing in this run. Haven’t really tried a nomadic playthrough, but it was fun, though I really enjoy having a base to call home.[/spoiler]
And that’s that. For reals.
