Undead Hunter

Game Talk The Bunker
1

I’ve seen many threads on here about trying to enhance long-term survival, or trying to establish a base/megavehicle/etc. But something I haven’t seen on these forums (at least in recent memory) is a thread about building up a strong kill count.

Zombies, mutants, and extra-dimensional horrors are roaming the streets. This is the thread for those who want to make New England liveable again–the hunters!

What’s your personal best kill count? What is your preferred strategy for racking up the kills? Any other insights?

I’ve started playing Cataclysm again for the first time since 0.7 was released, so I’m seeing how high I can get my own high score in 0.9.

2

Currently I’ve purged 1241 monsters, 914 of those are undead. I prefer to use melee exclusively and to keep my encumbrance below one, (except during winter). When I’m clearing a few more blocks in the nearby city I attract as many zeds as I can using an airhorn or the truck horn I welded to my scooter. I can usually get the attention of about fifteen-twenty five. When their charging me I fire off few bolts of lightning and do what I can to indirectly take out any zombie children are in the mix.
Melee and dodge skills are so high I don’t have to worry about much, I can take out an unsupported hulk without much concern. I like to fight with my back up against a wall, if things get sticky I either get some caffeine in my system or fire up the hydraulic muscles to get an extra twenty-thirty damage. In the rare occasions those boosts aren’t enough I’ll quantum tunnel through the wall to escape and mend my wounds.
Sometime when I want company I go farm slime at a pit and then run through town with about 20+ slimes, it’s pretty fun. 8D

A last bit of wisdom I’ll share since I keep seeing people complaining about Shocker Zombies, when they zap you walk into the sparks. I’ve never gotten paralyzed when I walk into the 8, doing so can save you a lot of damage and time.

3

9725 by my own hand (so far). God only knows how many more I’ve killed with fire. Probably about that many again. I like driving through towns with a flamethrower turret on my bike and burninating the countriside, and my standard method for clearing 3x3 megastructures is to just burn them to the ground with all the zombies inside.

Probably a few hundred splattered with cars and blown up with explosives, but I doubt that it comes to more than 2% of my total.

And, um. However many I killed when I found a missile silo and nuked an annoying triffid grove.

edit: correction, current tally is 11191

4

[quote=“Aluminumfoil, post:3, topic:4164”]9725 by my own hand (so far). God only knows how many more I’ve killed with fire. Probably about that many again. I like driving through towns with a flamethrower turret on my bike and burninating the countriside, and my standard method for clearing 3x3 megastructures is to just burn them to the ground with all the zombies inside.

Probably a few hundred splattered with cars and blown up with explosives, but I doubt that it comes to more than 2% of my total.

And, um. However many I killed when I found a missile silo and nuked an annoying triffid grove.

edit: correction, current tally is 11191[/quote]

My best survivor only killed something like 1500, mostly because he was focused on survival and building up the “Death Truck” unfortunatly he was mauled by a pack of wolves and died crawling back to the gas station, somehow attracted a jabberwock from the wolf fight… anyways this number is truly stunning, how many days did it to take to complete that?

5

Top five survivors:
5) Jimbo McKallahan, archer - 3210
4) Jimbo jr., archer - 3211
3) Sven Svenson, swordsman - 4000(ding!)
2) Amanda Stocking, sniper - 4102

  1. Alan Wrench, swordsman, firefighter walking inferno - 15337 and counting
6

That character has been alive for a little under 200 days, but the vast majority of that time has been spent crafting, building, or fixing, not zombie-killing. Just amass a really high dodge rating, some good armor, and the ability to put the hurt on whatever you’re hitting. Then attract a mass of zombies and murder them all to death. 500 a day isn’t hard, if you can survive with 3-5 zombies on you at all times and have some way of recovering health and equipment deterioration. If you’re a little more fragile, attract the swarm and then hide behind a broken window and murder everything.

Naturally, murdering zombies is faster if there are more zombies to murder, so consider upping your spawn counts and city sizes for maximum slaying potential.

Illustrated guide to zombie genocide:

1: Obtain lots of zombies by running around town. Shoot the spitters before they get close, they’re killstealing bastards

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2: LOTS of zombies

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3: slimes can come too

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4: equip melee weapon and hold arrow key to murder. Keep an eye on your hp and apply health-ups and wound-cleanings as needed.

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How-To-Kill-A-Zombie.JPG640×503

If you want to level your skills, you should do some drugs, eat some candy, and/or activate your MP3 player as you murder everything, to keep your Focus up.

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5: check on equipment, after you burst out the other side of the swarm and have a little bit of breathing room. You don’t want your pants falling off while you’re fighting zombies!

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6: Make repairs while dodging zombies!

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Wearing my New York Yankees jersey adds an Encumbrance, but it’s worth it to spite all those Sox-loving undead New Englanders.

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7: Repeat steps 4-6 until you are alone on a mountain of squicky corpses.

618 monsters were killed in the making of this post. It took about four and a half ingame hours and 5-10 minutes of gameplay.

You probably shouldn’t try this if your character isn’t ridiculously overpowered, but a similar method with a wall guarding one flank is viable with much lower stats.

7

That was epic, Aluminumfoil o.o
It’s a pity that my lasted character died last night (he was a badass) or I could have tried this.

8

Probs quite a few more with explosives and car rams.

I LIVED FOR TWO YEARS DAMN IT

9

You guys scare me. My characters have never lived longer than a week.

10

11

Aluminumfoil: Neat high-level z-killing guide! I’m not sure if my own late-game tactics will look like yours (I’m less into melee), but this is inspiring!

trusty_patches: Well, you obviously know what you’re doing!

HoundofDarkness: I hate shockers! I agree, sparks are basically harmless in moderation.

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I’ve created a character specifically to be a hunter: Jason. I guess the following progress report could count as a guide for surviving day one, since I know many people have trouble with it.

[spoiler]

SPECIAL CONDITIONS:
–Skill rust: Int
–All else: Default

MY GENERAL METHODOLOGY:

[ul][li]Start cautiously, build up strength[/li]
[li]Don’t pack much, but rather note locations of helpful things on map[/li]
[li]Focus on throwing and marksmanship, and mainly taking point-blank shots. Even if I’m untrained, a petty little sling is as powerful as a sledge hammer at point-blank.[/li][/ul]

JOURNAL:
Day 1, early morning:

[ul][li]My shelter’s basement is empty. I notice there are two gun shops on my map.[/li]
[li]I close all shelter curtains so that I can more easily sneak in without being seen.[/li]
[li]I grab a nearby rock to train up throwing to level 3–basic competence. (Note: Creating pebbles and throwing them in a pile decreases the amount of time spent picking rocks up. I forgot to do this.)[/li][/ul]

Day 1, mid morning:

[ul][li]Having trained up my throwing, I create a pointed stick, and begin my raid into the town outskirts.
[/li][li]First three zombies! They’re in the road. I keep my distance. A few pointy stick and rock kills later: My reward is cargo shorts!
[/li][li]After a few more kills, I make my way to a house to enjoy good food and stuff.
[/li][li]I tear up a boot to make a sling.[/li][/ul]

Day 1, late morning:

[ul][li]The house has zombie dogs and skeletons outside. I sneak out back to make pebbles.
[/li][li]I treat the sling like a slow, powerful melee weapon[/li][/ul]

Day 1, early afternoon:

[ul][li]Nail gun FTW! Lucky house.
[/li][li]I accumulate 30+ kills by using the nail gun, sling, and thrown pointy sticks up close and personal.
[/li][li]Kill count at 2:47PM: 35[/li][/ul]

Day 1, late afternoon:

[ul][li]I take a break from killing to raid the northern houses.
[/li][li]Found MP3 player! With optimism, that’s a constant 62 morale!
[/li][li]I have to walk wide around a bobcat in my way, because I’m killing zombies, not wildlife.[/li][/ul]

Day 1, early evening:

[ul][li]5:40PM: Killed my first shocker zombie (which I consider the worst sort).
[/li][li]I find a survival nut’s house, with a go bag and skill books.
[/li][li]I continue raiding houses and re-killing their former inhabitants.[/li][/ul]

Day 1, dusk:

[ul][li]I’m not a fan of night raids, and I can’t kill as effectively in the dark.
[/li][li]I head to a northern house, board up a bedroom, and relax for a night of reading and arts & crafts.
[/li][li]My plan is to avoid getting hit at all, but I boost tailoring skill and reinforce all armor.[/li][/ul]

Total kills by day one’s end: 57

It’s a humble number, but one which will expand exponentially in the next few days, I’m sure.

Jason at the end of Day 1:

Territory cleared at the end of Day 1 (I can’t wait to expand this):
[/spoiler]

12

I took a few notes during the 0.7 version on what counts as a personal kill. Apparently any time an enemy is directly killed by melee, a thrown or fired projectile, or ran over with a vehicle, it counts. Things which don’t count (as of the last time I checked) include fires, acid, and explosions–even if you directly cause these.

Progress report on my Undead Hunter…

[spoiler]JOURNAL:
Day 2: Morning

[ul][li]I wake up before 8 AM, and begin the day by listening to music and eating delicious snacks to boost morale. Before heading out, I create a couple bayonets for throwing.
[/li][li]I feel that the nail gun is a bit cheesy to use too much, so I plan to head to the gun shop to get an actual handgun.
[/li][li]In one day, my town has turned into a zoo. I have to walk around wolves, and sneak by giant wolf spiders. I jump through houses to accomplish this. I’m forced to wound a fox, though.
[/li][li]I continue my campaign southward. I found a handheld game system. Then I found kitten!
[/li][li]At around 10:30, I get to the nearest gun store. It has all sorts of rifles and handguns without accompanying ammo. The only gun available is the RM216 SPIW, and SMG. I prefer handguns and rifles, but I’ll take what I can.
[/li][li]Apparently, lots of folk in the area like to grow cannabis in their basement. Why not partake?
[/li][li]Total kills at noon: 82[/li][/ul]

Day 2: Afternoon

[ul][li]For me, the second gun store is the jackpot! Handguns of many different sorts, most with appropriate ammo. My tactic remains the same for regular enemies: Point-blank shots.
[/li][li]Regular Zs get the S&W .22. I save my .45 for brutes and such. I use my most accurate gun (the H&K UCP) to get spitters and shockers at a distance.
[/li][li]At this point, I’m not going for a “kill as many as humanly possible immediately” approach, as much as a “clear and check areas” approach.
[/li][li]Because I’m exploring homes, I find several survivalist basements. I make notes on my map in case I need the extra supplies.
[/li][li]I’ve never assaulted a cathedral before. I have no idea what’s inside. Let’s see! (please don’t kill me…). I pack my powerful .45 handgun. The top level has a bunch of glasses and raincoats in it. I am underwhelmed. Now for the basement…
[/li][li]It’s mostly boring. However, I find a small relic guarded by blank bodies (whom I leave alone because they’re not aggressive). I wear it, and it has no immediately noticeable effects (found out from reading that it’s just an NPC quest item).
[/li][li]A storm is raging on, and I rush to a survivalist basement to borrow a bed. It’s after dusk, so I chug some Nyquil and go to bed.[/li][/ul]

Kills at end of Day 2: 148

[/spoiler]

13

Quick note: In my game, I don’t really consider a zombie dead until I’ve pulped or butchered its corpse.

JOURNAL:

[spoiler=Day 3]Day 3

[ul][li]I wake up just after 5:00AM. I begin my day with music, cheese, and cranberry juice.
[/li][li]I spend my time in the dark making bayonets (for throwing) and training up mechanics by trying for almost an hour to improve my army helmet (which boosted mechanics).
[/li][li]Starting at about 8:00AM, I basically dash through town, clearing buildings and emptying streets.
[/li][li]TIP: I found something out. Smoking Cannabis all the time will really slow you down. HOWEVER, if you keep you keep your MP3 player running at all times (keeping it well-fed with delicious batteries), it allows you to maintain an insane level of morale. This town is pretty cool, 'cause it seems to contain absurdly high levels of weed!
[/li][li]For the first time playing Cataclysm, I develop a cigarette smoking habit, just because there are so many around! I take a vitamin with each cigarette just in case it helps.
[/li][li]At noon, I reach a third gun shop. I switch weapons. I now carry a Remington shotgun, a TEC-9, and a M1911 .45 handgun, for variety. Total kill count at noon: 276
[/li][li]Early afternoon, I’m in the middle of town. I’ve found a metric shit-ton of cigars, small snack foods, small drinks, and other little joys. Combine all these little joys together at the same time at all times, and it causes me to constantly have 300+ morale.
[/li][li]Early evening, I’m wearing such strong military gear, that I can fight melee without any real risk. I thus make use of the strength bonuses from morale and the wood axe I found to practice forestry. On zombies.
[/li][li]It’s finally dusk. Kill count at end of Day 3: 387[/li][/ul]

Areas completely cleared of zombies:
[/spoiler]

[spoiler=Night 3]Night 3

[ul][li]I found lots of caffein, batteries, food, water, bandages, etc. So rather than sleep, I spend the time from dawn to 2:30AM reading in a library to raise some non-combat skills (driving, electronics, computers, etc). I then slept in a truck until 6:30AM.
[/li][li]Now that I think of it, using so much caffein and staying up so long was immature and unhealthy. So, you know, typical survivor behavior.[/li][/ul]
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