# Tips, Tricks, and Newb Questions!

**URL:** <https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42>\
**Category:** The Bunker\
**Created:** [January 3, 2013, 3:04am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42 "2013-01-03T03:04:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 145

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:21pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2881 "2014-04-08T18:21:50Z")

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> [@Sep](#):
>
> My catana seems to train mostly bash which i find weird. i wonder if its related to what type of damage i wound up doing.

![](http://25.media.tumblr.com/9ac5a9926309e080f4e55b65b475ac2d/tumblr_mvv15kjihS1sev5hro1_1280.jpg)

That said yes, the damages are added together.

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**Author:** ![Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Sep](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sep)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 6:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2882 "2014-04-08T18:23:15Z")

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now that is a cat picture i can approve!

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**Author:** ![nekojusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@nekojusan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nekojusan)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 7:31pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2883 "2014-04-08T19:31:28Z")

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> [@Sep](#):
>
> [quote=“nekojusan, post:2879, topic:42”]4 … i found a fissure event in which i farmed hundreds of them, in nearly every case the downsides make them not worth using over a nailboard/normal clothes, let alone any of the other endgame stuff.

Hi Nekojusan, I dont have the mutation know-how yet and must ask you a question about what you wrote there. What’s a fissure event? Do you mean the rubble fields with lightning/fire that present them in the wilderness, the shimmering portals or something else?

Also, with you having that many, have you ever dropped them into a vehicle storage compartment and found that later you had multiple of the last kind of artifact you dropped in there? Its happened to me but i’d like to farm for more and see about reproducing that.

The artifact as clothing or needles or whatever can and will kill you when actively worn, but other than that they are perfectly usable from a vehicle. just pickup, fire and drop. in this case the negative effect is less likely to trigger.

> [@nekojusan](#):
>
> 5 Labs, reading through this thread people talk of labs as being really scary places, in my experiance they are the complete opposite, …

agreed. if you mod the area around the shoggoth so that you make a 1 wide tunnel for you to fight it in you can lead it there from its cage, then bash and dodge it (you’re pushing it back out the tunnel slowly now) until you’re done. next lead it back home, close the cage door and rest up.

if you have plutonium and the receipe you can craft powerstorgae bionics from all the consoles in there while you’re down there too. but as you said, for the rewards they offer they are way way way too insecure. fwiw, labs are the only place to ever turn on SAFE. (until you can dodge/tank the turrets do that before training up with the shoggoth)

> [@nekojusan](#):
>
> 6 Weapon damage, if a weapon is listed as having 20 bash damage and 40 cut damage are those two values added together against mobs that dont have any specific resistances to either?

i don’t know. i’m guessing no because criticals might both be larger and more frequent then. probably factored seperately then added. guessed. also applicable here… where do the skill points go? My catana seems to train mostly bash which i find weird. i wonder if its related to what type of damage i wound up doing.

i look forward to someone writing up something good about mutations![/quote]

Heya, the fissure one of a few events that happen in mines

[http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Guide:\_Mine](http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Guide:_Mine)

The one i speak of is the Amigara Fault where where you set of tremors and then an Amigara horror turns up, you can do this as many times as you wish

I did actually do that, dragged bucketloads through to the surface, the ones that didnt immediately drop a ton of negative effects when equipped, the issue i have is i effectlively exploited the only situation where you can get a ton of them the horrors are quite powerful and can perma stun you and murder you (i never experianced this at all tbh).

I mean it makes places like the strange temple seem a bit redundant with their measly 1 artifact, it would be cool if such places artifacts had less chance of negative traits on it, i cant imagine getting to the bottom of the temple only to be given an item that give -2 to -5 on each stat, has an evil presence (really bad) and when used makes you vomit, mutate and summons 4 shades to attack you (this is one of the less useful items i got in the fault event).

I did go back and farm some more and eventually got some decent stuff, a large sword with 44 cut, 20 bash -3 dex and +1 per that shoots acid, a cube that gives +4 int and shoots lightning and a dagger that when used reveals a large unexplored part of the map, all of these items also can recharge to boot.

More questions

what does the military black box, spiral stone, vortex stone do?

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**Author:** ![Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Sep](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sep)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 8:58pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2884 "2014-04-08T20:58:10Z")

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[quote=“nekojusan, post:2883, topic:42”]Heya, the fissure one of a few events that happen in mines

[http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Guide:\_Mine](http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Guide:_Mine)

The one i speak of is the Amigara Fault where where you set of tremors and then an Amigara horror turns up, you can do this as many times as you wish

I did actually do that, dragged bucketloads through to the surface, the ones that didnt immediately drop a ton of negative effects when equipped, the issue i have is i effectlively exploited the only situation where you can get a ton of them the horrors are quite powerful and can perma stun you and murder you (i never experianced this at all tbh).[/quote]

now i remember. yes. i think all it took was to smg them and that was that, the brochure was far more exciting than the actual visit.

[quote=“nekojusan, post:2883, topic:42”]I mean it makes places like the strange temple seem a bit redundant with their measly 1 artifact, it would be cool if such places artifacts had less chance of negative traits on it, i cant imagine getting to the bottom of the temple only to be given an item that give -2 to -5 on each stat, has an evil presence (really bad) and when used makes you vomit, mutate and summons 4 shades to attack you (this is one of the less useful items i got in the fault event).

I did go back and farm some more and eventually got some decent stuff, a large sword with 44 cut, 20 bash -3 dex and +1 per that shoots acid, a cube that gives +4 int and shoots lightning and a dagger that when used reveals a large unexplored part of the map, all of these items also can recharge to boot.[/quote]

its coming back to me now. yes. i/we did this last spring and spent nights farming that loot for hoots. its totally cool when you eventually get the rng to give you something that is actually fun and useful after having sifted through the funny rubbish it usually dishes out.

More questions

> [@nekojusan](#):
>
> what does the military black box, spiral stone, vortex stone do?

the black box can get you a ‘decoded flight info sheet’ or something like that when you take it to a computer in the right kind of lab. its a quest object for a quest that goes nowhere.

one of these might let you into a radio tower, the other is probably useless. e.g. i dont remember. if you searched for it here and on the wiki, try hunting it down by going to the code through [Pulse · CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA · GitHub](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pulse) and running a search for it there.

bottom line though, you’ve beat the game and seen more than most people might ever see. there’s not much more than that content wise. keep an eye on [Outline for Increasing Difficulty Over Time - Dynamic systems and a progessively more dangerous world · Issue #4977 · CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA · GitHub](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/issues/4977) … maybe it’ll go somewhere.

for sheer thrills though i keep going back to ants and triffids because in battling those you can find actual challenges emerging already. sure beats cranking up your computer skill to 10 just so you can see that the portal does nothing.

or play as far as you can without reading any books (you want to points in mechanics unless you know a way to get them without reading) build something cool, take your person into another world (load him up and copy the save) … or stock up a lair and take a new guy to it, there are all sorts of adventures to be had now that you’ve won. 🙂

but a question back, with all these artifacts farmed, you’ve never seen that you had two or more of the same after looking though your stash again later? i had a fire needle turn into a crackling needle in a trunk just yesterday.

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**Author:** ![Catfoodbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@Catfoodbob](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Catfoodbob)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2885 "2014-04-08T21:20:03Z")

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WHare are you people getting the experimental version

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**Author:** ![i2amroy](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/i2amroy/32/909_2.png) [@i2amroy](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/i2amroy)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2886 "2014-04-08T21:23:37Z")

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IIRC vortex stones summon a vortex attack when you use them (throwing stuff around and possibly hurting them) and spiral stones are just used up vortex stones.

> [@Catfoodbob](#):
>
> WHare are you people getting the experimental version

Looks like the mainpage links haven’t been updated yet. You should be able to get them from the wiki [here](http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Download#Experimental_Builds).

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**Author:** ![nekojusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@nekojusan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nekojusan)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2887 "2014-04-08T22:32:35Z")

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Cool thanks for the info

I went back and scum saved to faff about with mutations, i cleared the lot i had and then drank a gallon of mutagen, the first time i was getting dreams of being the leader of a civilisation and rebuilding, i take it this is an alpha tree dream.

I gave it a second go, this time i started getting Chimera dreams.

with these though has anyone actually gotten them over the threshold? i drank 40+ seriums in total but never seemed to move past the threshold im not even sure what stage the dreams are at 1, 2 or 3.

Ive also picked up the genetically unstable mutation as well, and it got me wondering if anything that causes mutation can push you past the threshold or is it just drinking serums?

oh interesting when driving i noticed i can stop on the spot by simply reducing my speed to zero then tapping 5 on the number pad a few times

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**Author:** ![HunterAlpha1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@HunterAlpha1](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/HunterAlpha1)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2888 "2014-04-08T22:40:22Z")

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> [@nekojusan](#):
>
> oh interesting when driving i noticed i can stop on the spot by simply reducing my speed to zero then tapping 5 on the number pad a few times

How were you stopping before you discovered this?!

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**Author:** ![Blackopsman9999](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Blackopsman9999](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Blackopsman9999)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:43pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2889 "2014-04-08T22:43:11Z")

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I imagine spamming 4 and 5 like I did until I found out about 5

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**Author:** ![Sep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@Sep](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Sep)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 10:45pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2890 "2014-04-08T22:45:59Z")

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> [@HunterAlpha1](#):
>
> How were you stopping before you discovered this?!

much much slower.

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**Author:** ![elauminx](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/elauminx/32/283_2.png) [@elauminx](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/elauminx)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 11:27pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2891 "2014-04-08T23:27:20Z")

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> [@nekojusan](#):
>
> with these though has anyone actually gotten them over the threshold? i drank 40+ seriums in total but never seemed to move past the threshold im not even sure what stage the dreams are at 1, 2 or 3.

Iymanutsure, but from what I gather you may have to inject them…

bad, bad, notty, muties,  
eai

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [April 8, 2014, 11:47pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2892 "2014-04-08T23:47:48Z")

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Some categories are tougher to push over the threshold than others: the more unique mutations pre-Threshold, the easier it gets. Here I thought Chimera was one of the easier ones, but maybe that’s changed.

And yeah, pay attention to your terms: you drink mutagen and inject serums. The two are significantly different, and you can only cross Thresholds via injection.

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**Author:** ![secretfire](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/secretfire/32/2984_2.png) [@secretfire](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/secretfire)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:39am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2893 "2014-04-09T05:39:29Z")

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Food Dehydrators and Vacuum Sealers don’t seem to do anything when activated.

Please explain.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![HunterAlpha1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6f9a4e/32.png) [@HunterAlpha1](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/HunterAlpha1)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 5:46am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2894 "2014-04-09T05:46:16Z")

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[quote=“secretfire, post:2893, topic:42”]Food Dehydrators and Vacuum Sealers don’t seem to do anything when activated.

Please explain.[/quote]You don’t use them directly, you have them in your inventory or on the ground/in a container close by and they’re automatically used in recipes provided they have enough battery charge.

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**Author:** ![nekojusan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecccb3/32.png) [@nekojusan](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/nekojusan)\
**Post date:** [April 9, 2014, 10:43am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2895 "2014-04-09T10:43:25Z")

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[quote=“KA101, post:2892, topic:42”]Some categories are tougher to push over the threshold than others: the more unique mutations pre-Threshold, the easier it gets. Here I thought Chimera was one of the easier ones, but maybe that’s changed.

And yeah, pay attention to your terms: you drink mutagen and inject serums. The two are significantly different, and you can only cross Thresholds via injection.[/quote]

yeh i understand about serums and normal drinkable mutagens it was more a question of stuff outside of flasks, such as drinking sewage, or having an artifact that mutates or in my case being genetically unstable, right now my unstable gentics, has already given and taken away antlers, and just given me extremely strong, i was wondering if it could actually take me over the threshold.

It would be nice to have a threshold dream guide to let me know if im at stage 1, 2 or 3 dreams, cos i dont have a clue.

Update  
worked it out and got enough chimera muta to push me over, which brings me to my next questions, some of my new positive attributes Apex Predator and Chaos what do they actually do, as in what benefits do they have?

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2896 "2014-04-10T02:36:22Z")

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An Apex Predator’s mind is significantly biased toward combat, at the expense of general intelligence. You should notice that your combat skills are developing much faster than noncombat skills, and books, bionics, etc are more difficult for you.

Chaos is the actual Threshold trait. At this point all it does is change your character’s stated profession on the character screen and mark you as a post-Threshold Chimera mutant.

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**Author:** ![secretfire](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/secretfire/32/2984_2.png) [@secretfire](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/secretfire)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:30am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2897 "2014-04-10T03:30:41Z")

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Question. Sorry if its stupid.

Is there a way to leave wilderness spawns normal, but to increase zombie spawns? Its mostly my fault for traveling at night so much, but I kinda want to make some more zombies in the cities, but I’m fine with the wilderness.

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**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 3:40am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2898 "2014-04-10T03:40:20Z")

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[quote=“secretfire, post:2897, topic:42”]Question. Sorry if its stupid.

Is there a way to leave wilderness spawns normal, but to increase zombie spawns? Its mostly my fault for traveling at night so much, but I kinda want to make some more zombies in the cities, but I’m fine with the wilderness.[/quote]

Meh, there’ve been far worse questions than that.

If you’re playing Static, then cranking the spawn rate ought to handle your situation as that’s precisely what it affects: statically spawned zeds. Wildlife is dynamic and not subject to the spawn rate, for good or ill.

On Dynamic, nope, not much to be done. Sorry. ☹

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**Author:** ![Arek\_PL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b77776/32.png) [@Arek\_PL](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Arek_PL)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 11:11am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2899 "2014-04-10T11:11:49Z")

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[quote=“secretfire, post:2897, topic:42”]Question. Sorry if its stupid.

Is there a way to leave wilderness spawns normal, but to increase zombie spawns? Its mostly my fault for traveling at night so much, but I kinda want to make some more zombies in the cities, but I’m fine with the wilderness.[/quote]

try latest dev build and turn on wander spawn 🙂

EDIT: i am flooded with fungus, anyone can give me tip how to destroy these anyoing things?

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**Author:** ![Catfoodbob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@Catfoodbob](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Catfoodbob)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2014, 8:03pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/2900 "2014-04-10T20:03:54Z")

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There is apparently no end to the zoombies… no where is safe, and also does wander spawn matter if you are near a city for it takes from that pool or is wander just random gank zombies

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