What is your raiding strategy?

Game Talk The Bunker
21

When playing the really bad day challenge (starting at night, eskrima as melee technique) my general strategy is:

-drop the soap bar and get out of the burning decadent shack
-rob near houses to acquire warm clothes / antibiotics / first aid kits and also get a two by four as desperate weapon
-hit groceries for carts / wheelbarrows and food, sporting goods for slightly better weps, useful clothes (also rollerblades) and tools
-pawn shops / museums for best melee weapons/armors and hardware stores for more useful tools
-all of this while scouting the roads for potential vehicle parts to dismount later, mark them on the map
-retreat before the sun rises into an house near the outskirts of the city
-craft wooden needle, make/repair clothes and go to sleep
-exit at night, spend time exclusively for stockpiling food (or gathering anything else that didn’t managed to get at the first day)
-also acquire books to read later, mechanics at 2-3 is the highest priority
-start disassembling parts and building my vehicle, store almost everything inside of it
-gather the few food supplies now left in town
-leave town

I train my melee skills at night, and when skilled enough i fight them during the day. when unskilled everything is fine as long as it is 1vs1, but when there are too many i try to outrun them (if i am close to the outskirts, or if i have the rollerblades) or otherwise leading them inside an house and burning it down with a single lighter will do the job.
Otherwise, using the Magic Bottles (molotov cocktails) always work as intended.

22

Mild necro, but I tend to set my worlds to start new games in the evenings, rather than the morning, because morning starts are bullshit. Is this cheating?

(Also, I won’t lie; the Night Vision + Light Step + Weak Scent combo packs a punch in the early game, as nothing can keep track of you in the darkness that way–though good Perception/Good Hearing is also handy so you don’t run into zombies accidentally, or Fleet-Footed/Quick so you can escape should you stumble upon a brute or other fast zombie.)

23

Nah, that’s not cheating.

24

I mostly just use a makeshift crowbar on the windows of the outskirt houses and pray that I don’t break the window, To be honest.

25

I haven’t played in a while, and have been relearning the game inspired by Aavak’s LP (link, because his videos are fantastic).

With a bit of experimentation, I have discovered that you can get an incredible start within 1 day. It’s a bit long, but here’s how it goes:

  • Start off walking outside and picking up at least 2 rocks. 5 is preferred.
  • Go back inside, tear down one set of curtains. Pick up the stick and the long thread.
  • Disassemble the long thread and craft a stone hammer. Use the stone hammer to break 5-7 benches, enough to craft and board up 2 windows.
  • Tear down a second set of curtains and board up both. Bring the sheets to a convenient location.
  • Break apart a locker and craft a spike. Use the spike and the short thread to craft a makeshift knife.
  • Use the makeshift knife to cut apart the 4 sheets. Disassemble 3 rags into threads.
  • Craft a weapon of choice. I find a 2-by-sword to be a great starter weapon, but I also have had luck with a Cudgel or a Pointy Stick.
  • Craft as many improvised lockpicks as you can. If this does not bring you to Fabrication 1, use rocks to make pebbles.
  • With Fabrication 1, craft a wooden needle from splintered wood you got from the benches.
  • Using the thread and the rags, reinforce everything and craft as many clothes as needed to stay warm. At least with the Fast Learner, this gets me to tailoring 3-4 within 1 day; those without the trait will simply need to tear down more sheets and do some more crafting/reinforcing.

[spoiler]I craft the following:

  • 2x Bandana, Cargo Shorts, Undershirt, Long Underwear Top, Long Underwear Bottom, Socks, Light Gloves, Hand Wraps, Trenchcoat, Backpack[/spoiler]
  • Time and location permitting, you can scavenge undergrowth. This will quickly level up your Survival skill, allow you to craft balaclavas to protect your mouth from freezing, and might give you decent food.
  • By this point you should be very hungry and very thirsty, and it should be evening or so. This is a good time to head to town and scavenge for food, tools and books. A pillow is a nice bonus; a rollmat or a tent are incredible.
  • Goals for first night/second day are to provide sustainability; for this, you need fire (to cook), water, and containers. The most useful items are leather (for a sling and more), a source of fire (very important for cooking anything), a pot (+ possible frying pan), duct tape (for screwdriver) and empty plastic bottles (for a funnel).

With the above, you can have a sustainable shelter within 2 days, while decked out in good clothing and ability to craft a LOT more things. You can make a knife spear, set up more funnels, and process any kind of food. A nearby forest can be amazing, as acorns+pinecones+herbs provide really good nutrition. If you are unlucky enough to not have found any matches or a lighter, you’re on a very short timer to death by penalties; you have to harvest bushes and butcher anything you can find to get your survival to 2, at which point you can craft a fire drill from basic resources.

Within a few days, you should be able to level up tailoring/survival/fabrication further and collect some leather; with that, you can craft leather armor+leather helmet+leather gloves, which when coupled with a parry-able weapon, will allow you to easily take on any wildlife or 1-3 zombies at a time. A few houses should provide enough cookable food for a week or more, and with 2-3 funnels you should have enough water for anything you want.

Final noteworthy tip is to stock up on mood-boosting books, and pray for an MP3 player. The mood boost will massively help with the quick learning, and potential book reading.

26

For all that I appreciate the evac-shelter start, I’ve become addicted to the point boost from disadvantaged starts, and my go-to is Infected–I find it’s manageable, but no small part of my picking it over Really Bad Day is a matter of being able to have something other than “Shower Victim” or “Tweaker” at the top of my character sheet. This probably figures into my preference for starting later in the day and finding mornings just awful. One of these days I might move towards just turning on hordes or upping spawn rates or something for more long-term difficulty as opposed to a short-term difficult start and upping my point allotments in the debug menu.

27

I’m only now getting enough of a grip on the game to try my hand at the disadvantageous scenarios. We’ll see how it goes when my current character dies horribly to a Mi-Go or an Operator.

28

Make the best of whatever start I’m dealt. It’s either follow NPC until they find me some nice stuff or get shrekt and leave me some nice stuff, or chill out in starting location until skills are high enough to craft nice stuff. Then I, based on what start I have, decide what long term goals I have and loot according to those. I’m pretty reckless when it comes to looting, most people clear building by building, I just think “I need thing” and then go get thing, dealing with whatever I come across along the way. If I can find a library, all the skill books go in a draggable vehicle and I learn all I can while it’s still fun.

29

Do the lab challenge (not the weak “experiment” one).
It’s a lot of fun learning how to do it and it tends to start much safer and less random than really bad day. Plus it unlocks the mutant traits, which are a great way to make the game a bit different.

30

Do the lab challenge (not the weak “experiment” one).
It’s a lot of fun learning how to do it and it tends to start much safer and less random than really bad day. Plus it unlocks the mutant traits, which are a great way to make the game a bit different.[/quote]

I’m pondering concepts for that, yeah. Obviously it implies that you’re a mutant (though I’m legit surprised you can’t choose a lab tech/scientist/bionic experiment profession for the lab start; those would be very fitting), so I’d really want to roll with an “I am a science experiment” character concept for that. Maybe one of the experiments that was created to save humanity, only the apocalypse came long before she was “complete” or something. Hmm. Maybe a clawed, fanged, night-sighted and near-sighted girl with a name like Ursa Minor or something. Though that’d probably logically come with Sleepy too and man did playing the bratling make me hate Sleepy. If I roll with this the only beverage she’s getting once she’s out of the lab is coffee I don’t care if it’s bedtime or not.

31

Nearsighted+nightvision? Why not ursine vision? It is basically full NV+nearsighted, except kinda bad for crafting and reading (this might be a bug).

Heavy sleeper progresses into hibernation (once you cross the bear threshold), so it’s probably better than sleepy.

32

Yeah I meant Ursine Vision, derp. And the bear tree/Hibernation works on Heavy Sleeper rather than Sleepy? Score; Heavy Sleeper is an easy point.

33

One thing to be cautious about: the trait system wasn’t designed for taking mutant-type traits at chargen, so it still considers those “baseline human” for mutation categorization purposes. Ursa Minor is unlikely to make her Bear threshold.

34

great sadness, but thank you for telling me

Along the same lines I should probably avoid making future Medical mutants too tough or future Alpha mutants too, uh, Alpha at the start. (Now I’m picturing some tough gal who has to swallow Schizophrenia and Vomitous just to make Cenobite someday. The sacrifices we must make for ultimate power.)

35

[quote=“Coolthulhu, post:31, topic:8244”]Nearsighted+nightvision? Why not ursine vision? It is basically full NV+nearsighted, except kinda bad for crafting and reading (this might be a bug).

Heavy sleeper progresses into hibernation (once you cross the bear threshold), so it’s probably better than sleepy.[/quote]

Ursine NV is High, not Full, NV, and its crafting abilities should not be mistaken for those of FNV.

36

[quote=“JonnyBlack, post:15, topic:8244”]I don’t know if I have a strategy per se, the build I’ve been using of late tends to be able to wade through regular zombies with melee from the start. I’ve been thinning them out without any particular “strategy” since about Day 4, just keeping an eye on my health and making a hasty retreat from shockers or if wounded. Keeping clothing reinforced is a must though. I keep a Desert Eagle for when things get bad(ie: shockers, I hate shockers. I also use it on the ones that blow up.) and generally flee shortly after using it to avoid getting swamped. I try to kite, as at this point I tend to get hurt enough to run before I run out of volume.

Sometimes I’ll wait for night to hit a specific store in an area I haven’t thinned yet, in which case I just sneak in, pick a lock, and try to get out without getting swamped. Getting swamped is the fun part, ducking through houses and throwing doors shut behind me, abruptly changing direction, killing a few as they crawl through window frames, etc. This is my first character with any real length of surviving though, and I’m trying really, really hard not to get cocky and die.

He’ll likely be dead before the day is out, but at least I’ve been hauling stuff back to the shelter at a constant rate.[/quote]
Shockers are awesome IMO, they’re a real good (and relatively common) source of some mid-game bionics, most of the good bionics which I’ve got (Integrated Toolset, Enhanced Hearing, Targetting System, Expanded Digestive System and many others) are from Shockers (and Shocker Brutes) only. Zombie Technicians and (sometimes) Zombie Scientists drop shit (Burnt out bionic and other kinds of shit) whether I butcher them using my Hunting Knife (30 Butchering) or an activated Circular Saw (50 Butchering). They’re pretty easy to kill for a practiced ranged player and they shoot their electricity-bolt every 25 turns so even if you get the first hit (its does not hurt that much), you can easily kill them soon after. If you have a good ranged weapon (longbow + good archery skill + good-strength or crossbow if you’re good enough to make a one hit kill), then you can easily kill them, but if you don’t have one then try not to use weapons made from conducting substances (aluminium bats, machete; katana & zweihander for the really experienced), a good wooden weapon (a baseball bat works but a quarterstaff is even better, really any weapon with bash-16+ would do) would be good enough to kill them as they’re not that good in melee. Shocker-Brutes are an exception as they’re a deadly combination of Brute and Shocker, so if you can’t kill them in 3-4 hits (with a longbow) then run away!

Btw my early game, “strategy” (after getting a base and some basic goods) is to get my archery skill high enough early in the game (I do it using a slingshot + lots of pebbles) so I can craft a short-bow then a longbow because its one of the best weapons in the game. Its the only reliable, sustainable, powerful, ranged-weapon which you can get early in the game and its ammunition is not very hard to craft too. After that you may get a good archery book with recipe for the crossbow which is really helpful for conducting night-raids (stealthy ones) but unfortunately I was not lucky enough to get that “Zen and the Art of Archery” book early and till I got it I had a pneumatic bolt driver and a pneumatic assault rifle too, I didn’t have a need for a crossbow but really its one of the best stealth weapons in the game. I also try to get as much as batteries as possible to keep my flashlight (and those pesky battery consuming L-Amp Goggles) powered so that I can explore in dark (and conduct night raids deep inside the city). Fabrication, Archery Melee, Cutting/Stabbing are a must for low level characters; Mechanics and Taloring can also help much both early and late-game (as you’ll need a vehicle if you want to progress in the game and you’ll also need to repair your clothing sooner or later), Electronics and Cooking skills are secondary but are a must for mutagens, CBMs, cool gadgets (geigr ctr, electrohack, hedge trimmer, circular saw, etc); Other skills like First-Aid, Computers, Driving, Weapons (all of the ranged weapons like rifles, handgun etc), Unarmed combat and Construction are a must for late game tasks (CBM installation, Martial Arts, Hacking Consoles; Creating Stoves, Fireplaces, Vats, Wells, etc).

And one more thing, try to raid a library (at night) as soon as possible (as soon as you can get night-raid gear: light-amp goggles, a bicycle or electric vehicle, good melee weapon, painkillers + bandages + disinfectants + stimulants).

Pain management is one of the tasks that early players overlook, pain slows you down, weakens your skills (strength and int mainly which hamper your combat and bionic installations respectively) any good painkiller can help in managing pain (but don’t forget they affect your “hidden-health-stat” and are quite addictive), poppy painkillers are fairly easy to craft and are the equivalent of codeine, higher-degree painkillers like oxycodone and tramadol are a must if you’re going to hunt down turrets in that lab with your EMP grenade and MBR Armor but poppy painkillers work in most conditions and are far by the best. Aspirin can be used to remove low level pain (8-10 approx) but its best left for crafting First-Aid kits which come in handy for quick healing. Speaking of drugs, try to maintain a hobby of taking a single vitamin every day (take 2/day if you’ve got a bad health due to alcoholic lifestyle, taking lots of drugs, etc.) to maintain your heath, not only this will allow for healing large amounts of damage while asleep it can also help counterbalance the effect of drugs and alcoholic drinks (which decrease your hidden-health-stat).

Metal working is an expensive task to start with but pays off well for late-game players so better leave it till you’ve gotten all of the equipment (don’t think if you’ve an electric forge and some chunks of steel, you can craft a machete, you’ll not only waste batteries but also your time).Don’t start unless you’ve got:

Charcoal Forge (and a kiln to craft charcoal from Splintered wood, bones or two-by fours) or lots of acetylene torches or a forge rig (if you’ve a vehicle); Electric forge is a waste of early game batteries so avoid using it (Btw, the Integrated Toolset can replace these in most of the recipes but do NOT use it if you’ve a Battery-System CBM as your basic power unit, a Joint Torsion Ratchet, Internal Furnace, Ethanol Burner (be wary of addiction) or Metabolic Interchange + lots of cooked meat is good enough to keep it powered)

Aluminium Tongs

Anvil (used in weapons forging)

Crucible (used in creating the powerful bearing ammo for pneumatic assault rifles and also used in creating some very large containers)

Metal Working Chisel

Swage and Die set (I didn’t get one so I forged one myself, you can do it too)

I started metal working pretty early since I’ve a couple of acetylene torches and all of these tools which I got from a Public Works area near my spawn and its paying off well. I’ve combat knife, steel spear, tanto, kukri, switchblade, throwing knives, butcher knife and hunting knife, all of which I forged myself (though I kind of regret wasting a whole day on forging that combat knife which I could get from those pesky manhacks in my new base: lab), though you cannot forge the best weapons (zweihander, katana, rapier, etc), its well enough to get you on the way to become a powerful character late game. Its not very expensive (charcoal only takes time and some splintered woods; chunks of steel can be easily salvaged from those wrecked vehicles lying around) and it does pay off well so start now if you can.

Thanks.

37

That’s a lot of good info, though I’ll admit I have some disagreements:

One, I admit I night raid at the start of the game and not so much by the time I’m actually equipped for optimal night raiding. Mostly I start my new games in the evening and then head into town for needful things at night, navigating by the initially revealed map. My own suggestion on the matter tends to be “grab any caffeine pills/Adderall/meth/whatever so you can run like hell if you stumble upon a brute or tank in the dark, also Night Vision is like the best use of a point in chargen and Light Step ain’t too shabby either.”

Two, I used to be as defensive of batteries as you are, but now I own like ten or twenty thousand or so (I could see your defensiveness of them if you’re using light-amp goggles all the time, though). You can loot tremendous amounts of them from extra flashlights and other electronics; they’re not an uncommon drop from slain eyebots, which will start infesting towns as soon as flop a lockpicking task in a place of business (and several will likely to die to local zombies); every gallon of vinegar you find makes 1500 batteries; etc. (Drinking the stuff in aluminum cans tends to be bad for your health, but you can pour it out or, in many cases, use it to make sugar with a chemistry set.) So you don’t really need to be paranoid about batteries, particularly if you have things like unlooted electronics stores on your map or several gallon jugs of vinegar. If you don’t have a book that teaches you how to make a charcoal forge, an electric one is probably fine.

Three, I’d also argue that the optimal late-game setup is not based around a wood stove and charcoal forge, but rather around a solar generator powering “vehicle” facilities in the home. (This may be slightly different if you prefer to operate out of an LMOE rather than keeping a base on the surface, but even then, according to Rivet, solar panels will still function outside of your reality bubble, so you can use them to fill storage batteries and then install them in the actual facilities in your basement: storage battery cases will allow you to remove and install storage batteries with only a wrench, so moving full batteries downstairs/empty batteries outside is easy and efficient.) Vehicle-battery-powered facilities are also a given if you prefer to live out of an RV rather than in a geographically stable base.

…Oh, and. This may be a slightly controversial position, but IMO the most important thing for a fledgling character in zombie country is a sewing kit. Reinforced clothes make a humongous difference in survivability in the early game. A sewing kit, a couple blankets, a closed room, and maybe a glowstick, and you’ll be vastly more survivable in short order. Right behind that, I’d say a pipe or similar parrying weapon.

38

Heads-up: Coolthuhlu’s been wanting to issue the zombies night vision, and there’s a mod to give 'em all perfect NV currently in. Partial NV may happen in future mainlines.

Thought I’d post here as zed-NV is likely to seriously change raiding styles.

39

god dammit why

40

I agree with you there man, but as I said, in the beginning batteries are very useful stuff. Yeah they’re not for late game stuff, because of the rush to stockpile those batteries I had 12384 batteries after 136 days.

But due of the newly added rechargeable battery mod (and no I currently don’t have the skill to craft an atomic battery mod yet), I created a UPS with a rechargeable mod, and converted all my good tools to UPS-conversion mod, and after that I never needed batteries any more as battery operated stuff like Soldering Iron, Hotplate, Mess kit, etc become useless once you’ve an Integrated Toolset (or a welding rig but it works only as a soldering iron though); Even without integrated toolset, a good vehicle + storage batteries with an onboard Chemistry set and a welding rig will replace most of those tools, but batteries are still needed for many good weapons (like electric carver and circular saw) but I’ve converted them to UPS so I don’t need batteries any more except for my flashlight (believe me man, cranial-flashlight is not good enough for exploring labs) and occasionally, the mp3 player; Other tools like geigr ctr, pba mask, thermal suits (for the cold blooded), noise emitter still need batteries because I’ve not converted them to UPS or Rechargeable. But yes, in early mid-game batteries tend to become useless because of those numerous options.

But I’ve only pointed there that you only need batteries enough to keep your night-raiding gear powered, no need to stockpile them, but if you’ve a Battery-System CBM as your only power supply then you may need to keep loads of batteries but I think that has become somewhat obsolete since Joint Torsion rachets, ethanol burners have become common and solar panels cbm are easily craftable.