# Serums not working on NPCs

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [April 14, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616 "2017-04-14T11:40:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 10\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Azrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Azrad](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Azrad)\
**Post date:** [April 14, 2017, 11:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/1 "2017-04-14T11:40:06Z")

</div>

What should I do? Way back then, once your survivor was able to give mutagens to NPCs, I remember getting the NPC to hit the cattle mutation threshold as a test.

Now, I can’t seem to do it. They take their mutagen just fine, but if I try to give them the serum (with a syringe given to them via trade) they seem to think that I’m giving it to them as a weapon and would not consume it.

If I use debug to spawn a serum in the inventory without a container, then give that to the NPC, they take and use the serum, so what gives? Is it due to the containers behaving oddly or something with serum?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 2:02am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/2 "2017-04-15T02:02:00Z")

</div>

It should work as with mutagen. Must be a bug then.

Or possibly mods. Are the serums from the core game or a mod?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Azrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Azrad](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Azrad)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:18am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/3 "2017-04-15T03:18:02Z")

</div>

[quote=“Coolthulhu, post:2, topic:13616”]It should work as with mutagen. Must be a bug then.

Or possibly mods. Are the serums from the core game or a mod?[/quote]

Core game.

The mutagens works. For the serum, they just seem to think that I’m giving it to them as a weapon. I’ve given them a syringe through trade, and also took the weapon they’re wielding, and when I give them the serum they start wielding it as a weapon. If I give them back the weapon they were wielding they don’t do anything with the serum.

I used debug to wish for a serum that’s not in a container, and giving it to them makes them use it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/4 "2017-04-15T03:53:35Z")

</div>

What happens if you give them a weapon first and then hand them a serum?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Azrad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Azrad](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Azrad)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 5:06am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/5 "2017-04-15T05:06:50Z")

</div>

> [@Coolthulhu](#):
>
> What happens if you give them a weapon first and then hand them a serum?

The NPC reply is that their current weapon is better than the serum and its container.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Noctifer](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/noctifer/32/458_2.png) [@Noctifer](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Noctifer)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 7:54am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/6 "2017-04-15T07:54:13Z")

</div>

Have you tried the “use item” section of the menu you get when you bump into NPCs?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [April 15, 2017, 8:13am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/7 "2017-04-15T08:13:38Z")

</div>

Found the reason:  
NPC consumption code checks for food, but serums stopped being food. Mutagens are still food (and not meds), that’s why they work.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e36b37/32.png) [@Orca](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Orca)\
**Post date:** [April 16, 2017, 1:37am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/8 "2017-04-16T01:37:50Z")

</div>

Cool! I ran into this bug too and assumed that serum use on NPCs just wasn’t part of the game. While we’re at it, is there some bug or incompetence on my part that’s preventing me from installing bionics on my party members? Because I’ve assumed that’s impossible, too.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Orca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e36b37/32.png) [@Orca](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Orca)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:45am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/9 "2017-04-19T10:45:46Z")

</div>

Has this bug been fixed? I don’t see it in the changelog here: [http://ci.narc.ro/view/Cataclysm-DDA/job/Cataclysm-Matrix/changes](http://ci.narc.ro/view/Cataclysm-DDA/job/Cataclysm-Matrix/changes)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Coolthulhu](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/coolthulhu/32/2446_2.png) [@Coolthulhu](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Coolthulhu)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2017, 10:52am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/serums-not-working-on-npcs/13616/10 "2017-04-19T10:52:35Z")

</div>

Not yet