# 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:** 201

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**Author:** ![FunsizeNinja123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/funsizeninja123/32/118_2.png) [@FunsizeNinja123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/FunsizeNinja123)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4001 "2014-07-25T18:30:36Z")

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> [@blazing glory](#):
>
> [quote=“qurvax, post:3994, topic:42”]zlaves? Seeing this all around commits on github i wonder what they are and how to get one? Can someone explain this to me, please?

What they are:Let’s imagine a building with 2 floors,your on the first floor,going up to the 2nd floor would be going up 1 Z level,if you blasted a hole in the ground and went through that then you’d be going down a Z level.

How to get one:Download the latest experimental build of Cataclysm DDA and enable the Experimental Z levels “mod”.[/quote]

Quarvax meant ZOMBIE SLAVES. Not z levels.

Right now you can’t get zombie slaves.

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**Author:** ![qurvax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@qurvax](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/qurvax)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 9:09pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4002 "2014-07-25T21:09:46Z")

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Oh well…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4003 "2014-07-25T22:03:42Z")

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> [@FunsizeNinja123](#):
>
> [quote=“blazing glory, post:3995, topic:42”][quote=“qurvax, post:3994, topic:42”]zlaves? Seeing this all around commits on github i wonder what they are and how to get one? Can someone explain this to me, please?

What they are:Let’s imagine a building with 2 floors,your on the first floor,going up to the 2nd floor would be going up 1 Z level,if you blasted a hole in the ground and went through that then you’d be going down a Z level.

How to get one:Download the latest experimental build of Cataclysm DDA and enable the Experimental Z levels “mod”.[/quote]

Quarvax meant ZOMBIE SLAVES. Not z levels.

Right now you can’t get zombie slaves.[/quote]

Oh, Ninja. We [merged the zlave PR](https://github.com/CleverRaven/Cataclysm-DDA/pull/8213) last night/this morning.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FunsizeNinja123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/funsizeninja123/32/118_2.png) [@FunsizeNinja123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/FunsizeNinja123)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:05pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4004 "2014-07-25T22:05:07Z")

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Grr.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![TheFlame52](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/theflame52/32/247_2.png) [@TheFlame52](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/TheFlame52)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2014, 10:50pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4005 "2014-07-25T22:50:10Z")

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[quote=“FunsizeNinja123, post:4001, topic:42”]Quarvax meant ZOMBIE SLAVES. Not z levels.

Right now you can’t get zombie slaves.[/quote]  
For a second there I thought you were kidding, then I realized that there will be zombie slaves soon.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![blazing\_glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@blazing\_glory](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/blazing_glory)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4006 "2014-07-26T00:55:26Z")

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> [@FunsizeNinja123](#):
>
> [quote=“blazing glory, post:3995, topic:42”][quote=“qurvax, post:3994, topic:42”]zlaves? Seeing this all around commits on github i wonder what they are and how to get one? Can someone explain this to me, please?

What they are:Let’s imagine a building with 2 floors,your on the first floor,going up to the 2nd floor would be going up 1 Z level,if you blasted a hole in the ground and went through that then you’d be going down a Z level.

How to get one:Download the latest experimental build of Cataclysm DDA and enable the Experimental Z levels “mod”.[/quote]

Quarvax meant ZOMBIE SLAVES. Not z levels.

Right now you can’t get zombie slaves.[/quote]

Ah…

Well in my defense I’ve talked to people with bad spelling.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Creamy\_Goodness](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/creamy_goodness/32/292_2.png) [@Creamy\_Goodness](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Creamy_Goodness)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4007 "2014-07-26T19:46:22Z")

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can anyone clarify what the new fighting style brawling does. when I Try it out all it seems to do is deal half damage

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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:** [July 26, 2014, 9:06pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4008 "2014-07-26T21:06:25Z")

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> [@Creamy Goodness](#):
>
> can anyone clarify what the new fighting style brawling does. when I Try it out all it seems to do is deal half damage

If that’s the case it got mixed in with Akido. :-/

Brawling is _supposed to_ let you skill-up to trips, block-counters (though those seem to activate as a special on their own, it’s a bug in your favor so don’t complain too loudly), power attacks, and leg blocking.

(I took leg blocking away from No Style as previously it’d been exclusive to TKD and Muay Thai–effectively blocking with one’s legs requires quite a bit of skill or at least style-knowledge, IMO.)

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**Author:** ![Giga\_Retro\_Kumquat](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/giga_retro_kumquat/32/325_2.png) [@Giga\_Retro\_Kumquat](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Giga_Retro_Kumquat)\
**Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4009 "2014-07-26T21:37:56Z")

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> [@KA101](#):
>
> [quote=“Creamy Goodness, post:4007, topic:42”]can anyone clarify what the new fighting style brawling does. when I Try it out all it seems to do is deal half damage

If that’s the case it got mixed in with Akido. :-/

Brawling is _supposed to_ let you skill-up to trips, block-counters (though those seem to activate as a special on their own, it’s a bug in your favor so don’t complain too loudly), power attacks, and leg blocking.

(I took leg blocking away from No Style as previously it’d been exclusive to TKD and Muay Thai–effectively blocking with one’s legs requires quite a bit of skill or at least style-knowledge, IMO.)[/quote]

I don’t know if it does exactly half like aikido, however it is lower than no style

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:36am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4010 "2014-07-27T02:36:06Z")

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> [@Giga Retro Kumquat](#):
>
> [quote=“KA101, post:4008, topic:42”][quote=“Creamy Goodness, post:4007, topic:42”]can anyone clarify what the new fighting style brawling does. when I Try it out all it seems to do is deal half damage

If that’s the case it got mixed in with Akido. :-/

Brawling is _supposed to_ let you skill-up to trips, block-counters (though those seem to activate as a special on their own, it’s a bug in your favor so don’t complain too loudly), power attacks, and leg blocking.

(I took leg blocking away from No Style as previously it’d been exclusive to TKD and Muay Thai–effectively blocking with one’s legs requires quite a bit of skill or at least style-knowledge, IMO.)[/quote]

I don’t know if it does exactly half like aikido, however it is lower than no style[/quote]

There’s no damage-reducing code on Brawling (nor damage-enhancing on No Style) that I could tell. I suppose setting arm\_block to -1 on Brawling (which meant “available at any level”, last I checked) might somehow reduce damage done, but I think it’s more likely that good/bad rolls skewed things. (And yes, I did test. Damage output was substantially similar at skill 3, which is as it should be: the specials start showing up around 4-5 for Brawling.)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Xetari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/b5a626/32.png) [@Xetari](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Xetari)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 5:33am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4011 "2014-07-27T05:33:37Z")

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Does the dexterity stat play any role in dodging attacks or is that solely the dodging skill alone? I remember reading that it does help with dodging traps but is that all in terms of defensive capabilities?

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**Author:** ![AvatarJTC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@AvatarJTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/AvatarJTC)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:42am UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4012 "2014-07-27T08:42:47Z")

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I noticed the experimentals as of late have the Melee Weapon Training treat. I dabbled a bit in Silat, and noticed it gives +1 to dodge. How do the others compare? Are any of them truly useful in combat? Or would I be better off putting the points towards my skills?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FunsizeNinja123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/funsizeninja123/32/118_2.png) [@FunsizeNinja123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/FunsizeNinja123)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 3:25pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4013 "2014-07-27T15:25:19Z")

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_Sigh, newbs are the power of my lifeforce…_

Anyway.

> [@Xetari](#):
>
> Does the dexterity stat play any role in dodging attacks or is that solely the dodging skill alone? I remember reading that it does help with dodging traps but is that all in terms of defensive capabilities?

Or course it does.

> [@AvatarJTC](#):
>
> I noticed the experimentals as of late have the Melee Weapon Training treat. I dabbled a bit in Silat, and noticed it gives +1 to dodge. How do the others compare? Are any of them truly useful in combat? Or would I be better off putting the points towards my skills?

Fencing is hella fun. Never played with eskerima much.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![AvatarJTC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@AvatarJTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/AvatarJTC)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4014 "2014-07-27T17:20:34Z")

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Then it’s time for me to make a character rocking eskrima, for science. I wonder if it’ll run into the Karate problem where the extra quick strikes are great but your character will only do criticals a upon reaching  
high levels therefore making the bonus meaningless.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Vanigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/45deac/32.png) [@Vanigo](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/Vanigo)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4015 "2014-07-27T20:31:35Z")

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Hey, uh, stupid question, but how do you chop down trees? I’ve got a fire axe, but activating it just prompts me to cut up an item in my inventory. (0.A, if it matters.)

Edit: Oh, there it is, in the construction menu. Nevermind.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![digitCruncher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cab0a1/32.png) [@digitCruncher](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/digitCruncher)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 8:46pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4016 "2014-07-27T20:46:04Z")

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Another question:

I have a USB stick with Hackpro on it, but when I tried to hack a missile computer, it didn’t seem to tell me that I was using it.

Do I need something to make the USB stick interface with the console? Does it just not work with military hardware?

If it helps, the game crashed soon after failing to disarm the missile, so I plan to have another shot at it. Also, this was the latest experimental as of 24 hours ago.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FunsizeNinja123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/funsizeninja123/32/118_2.png) [@FunsizeNinja123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/FunsizeNinja123)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 9:04pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4017 "2014-07-27T21:04:24Z")

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> [@FunsizeNinja123](#):
>
> _Sigh, newbs are the power of my lifeforce…_

Anyway.

> [@digitCruncher](#):
>
> I have a USB stick with Hackpro on it, but when I tried to hack a missile computer, it didn’t seem to tell me that I was using it.

You can’t do anything with USB drives or the stuff on them. With hackpro, you can make something but I’m sure you’ll die by then.

> [@digitCruncher](#):
>
> If it helps, the game crashed soon after failing to disarm the missile, so I plan to have another shot at it. Also, this was the latest experimental as of 24 hours ago.

Odd.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![digitCruncher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cab0a1/32.png) [@digitCruncher](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/digitCruncher)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 9:18pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4018 "2014-07-27T21:18:55Z")

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> [@FunsizeNinja123](#):
>
> [quote=“digitCruncher, post:4016, topic:42”]If it helps, the game crashed soon after failing to disarm the missile, so I plan to have another shot at it. Also, this was the latest experimental as of 24 hours ago.

Odd.[/quote]

Probably should have made this clearer.

I failed to disarm the missile, killed a robot, dying robot explodified the console, looted the scraps, went home to my (very successful) farm, spent some time messing around with the crafting menu, and the game crashed. It has happened so many times before, I would be very surprised if it is not a known issue 😛

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![FunsizeNinja123](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/discourse.cataclysmdda.org/funsizeninja123/32/118_2.png) [@FunsizeNinja123](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/FunsizeNinja123)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 9:34pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4019 "2014-07-27T21:34:52Z")

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> [@digitCruncher](#):
>
> [quote=“FunsizeNinja123, post:4017, topic:42”][quote=“digitCruncher, post:4016, topic:42”]If it helps, the game crashed soon after failing to disarm the missile, so I plan to have another shot at it. Also, this was the latest experimental as of 24 hours ago.

Odd.[/quote]

Probably should have made this clearer.

I failed to disarm the missile, killed a robot, dying robot explodified the console, looted the scraps, went home to my (very successful) farm, spent some time messing around with the crafting menu, and the game crashed. It has happened so many times before, I would be very surprised if it is not a known issue :P[/quote]

This doesn’t sound like anything that would crash the game…

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KA101](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/278dde/32.png) [@KA101](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/u/KA101)\
**Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 10:06pm UTC](https://discourse.cataclysmdda.org/t/tips-tricks-and-newb-questions/42/4020 "2014-07-27T22:06:19Z")

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> [@digitCruncher](#):
>
> [quote=“FunsizeNinja123, post:4017, topic:42”][quote=“digitCruncher, post:4016, topic:42”]If it helps, the game crashed soon after failing to disarm the missile, so I plan to have another shot at it. Also, this was the latest experimental as of 24 hours ago.

Odd.[/quote]

Probably should have made this clearer.

I failed to disarm the missile, killed a robot, dying robot explodified the console, looted the scraps, went home to my (very successful) farm, spent some time messing around with the crafting menu, and the game crashed. It has happened so many times before, I would be very surprised if it is not a known issue :P[/quote]

I’ve had crafting-menu crashes but not consistently or easily-reproducible, so I haven’t filed a report. :-/ Sorry it killed your progress.

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