Why are survivor zombies so much stronger?

[Necrosia]

Why are survivor zombies - which are for all intents and purposes regular zombies - so much stronger than almost every other zombie type? I can take on several regular zombies easily with the right gear, but even with NPC allies and good equipment one survivor zombie can have us all for dinner.

[StopSignal]

They are zombies full of survivor armor, gasmasks and stuff, iirc.

[Sundaysmile]

Why are survivor zombies - which are for all intents and purposes regular zombies - so much stronger than almost every other zombie type? I can take on several regular zombies easily with the right gear, but even with NPC allies and good equipment one survivor zombie can have us all for dinner.

Tough Zombies are zombies who were once athletic individuals from their former life, a Survivor Zombie is a person, much like your character who has survived long enough to become near their physical peak, and they’ve decked themselves out in some tough, robust armour that they’ve customised themself.
It’s a grim reminder of what will likely happen to yourself the longer you stay amidst the infested horrors in New England.

[Coolthulhu]

They no longer have their survivor gear.
They’re supposed to be early-to-mid game survivors and thus clad in “cloth armor”. Player is likewise heavily armored compared to regular zombies.

Survivor zombies have 7/7 armor, which is what player can get by wearing hoodie+underwear.
They have dodge 3, which is comparable to player’s dodge 3 at 8 dex or dodge 2 at 10 dex.
Their accuracy is better than player’s (6 skill), but their attacks are slow and damage is lower than what player dishes out.

[Necrosia]

[quote=“Coolthulhu, post:4, topic:12183”]They no longer have their survivor gear.
They’re supposed to be early-to-mid game survivors and thus clad in “cloth armor”. Player is likewise heavily armored compared to regular zombies.

Survivor zombies have 7/7 armor, which is what player can get by wearing hoodie+underwear.
They have dodge 3, which is comparable to player’s dodge 3 at 8 dex or dodge 2 at 10 dex.
Their accuracy is better than player’s (6 skill), but their attacks are slow and damage is lower than what player dishes out.[/quote]

That’s what makes me think there’s either a bug on my end or the build’s end. It’s very consistent that survivor zombies in my games are dishing out massive damage, absorbing massive damage, and tearing apart other survivors and the player. With three attackers, me and two NPCs, striking a survivor zombie, I hit it once and suddenly get hit about 6 times by it, which puts me around pain 45 or 50. Attacking it again results in me losing so much speed that I become useless in the fight. NPC allies die just as fast.

[pisskop]

What they do have, however, is a significant attack boost over a Greenie.

3 dodge is enough to dodge inaccurate attacks, so those -1 and -2 matter, and those bonuses to attack rating count too. If you couldnt hit a zombie dog with it you cant honestly expect to hit a survivor zombie.

And, unlike a dog, they have the attack to pierce you modest early game armor. They are faster, and when you are under 100 speed, every point matters in getting more done.

But, imagine that you can hit a zombie for 20 damage. Zombies have 80 hp. 4 hits to kill 1 Zed.
Survivors have 100, which is an extra hit, but also take into account that 7 armor. Actually, chances are youre using a weapon with dual damage types. i.e. you sword does bashing and slashing damage, and the Zed armor can block up to 14 damage; 7 from each. So now you arent doing 20. Youre doing 6. 14-15 hits to kill. During which hes causing you pain and slowing you down even more by grabbing you.

[Coolthulhu]

That’s what makes me think there’s either a bug on my end or the build’s end.

Any mods?
Newest version?
Can you test it out with a debug character? Survivor zeds have max damage per hit of 24, but average should be 13.

[Breligar]

Anecdotal, but yeah, survivor zombies are scary now without some decent gear. If I see one it’s shotgun time, which I usually only reserve for brutes and above. Melee is straight nasty with those guys.

[Lesseps]

If I see one it's shotgun time, which I usually only reserve for brutes and above. Melee is straight nasty with those guys.

So true!

[Belteshazzar]

I ran into a pair of Survivor zombies in a dark basement recently, I had no firearms.

Probably would have been a lot scarier if I wasn’t trying out the ‘Bionic agent’ and just stepped back into the hallway and monobladed them.

(I later died after I mistakenly retracted my monoblade while clearing a new neighborhood and a neat little cluster of dogs and shady zeds rounded the corner backed up by a Hollow and Grabber. I had to empty my MAC-10 into them as well as a shotgun. Still died.)