cataclysm dark days ahead- You just cant win

Post by **Armhulen** » Thu Nov 02, 2017 4:13 am #353089

Bottom post of the previous page:

Static, it's great to actually finally clearing out a town.

Super Aggro Crag · Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:11 pm

Why can't we crafta chainsaw bayonettes?

Qbopper · Post by **Qbopper** » Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:56 pm #355866

i play static because i'm a peanut brain who can't handle respawning enemies

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Thu Nov 09, 2017 7:57 pm #355868

It offends my reelisms so i cant handle it

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:42 pm #355905

I do static at first then switch to dynamic later on

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:35 pm #357445

i keep trying to learn this game but all games follow the exact same pattern
>pick survivor because its the best "zero point" class where you can branch out anywhere
>sprint to nearest forest hoping i dont aggro wildlife even though i have the animal trait
>if i survive long enough to rummage around in the bushes and get 1 survival sprint back to spawn
>cut up some shit and make a knife spear
>sneaky beaky to boonies of nearest town
>look in a house or two if im lucky
>usually inadvertently aggro a horde of nasties even though im being cautious
>kite the shit out of them
>even with quick traits takes 10+ turns of running with them right next to me before i can get them to max spear range
>take a swipe (usually miss)
>mob immediately closes gap and more often than not is able to get a hit on me
>kiting over bushes and tables gets me MAYBE two swipes before they're next to me again
>pray to god that my luck is better than theirs until the encounter ends

and thats for one mob, god help me if i get 2+. it wouldnt be AS bad if they didnt have such seemingly huge health pools, even times when i say "fuck it" and just hold down the directional key into them for max speed fights it can take a good 5+ seconds for the fight to end.

just let me love you, cataclysm. i keep trying so hard. just let me have fun

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 5:44 pm #357448

Spend a couple chargen points into skills like tailoring and a melee skill. If you are having trouble winning fights try a class that has some better combat skills or gear. The game is customization enough that you can be as easy or hard on yourself as you like, but it is always better to start easy and go harder when you feel comfortable rather than try the hard way over and over again, have no fun and then quit

Xhuis · Post by **Xhuis** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:34 pm #357464

A few points in dodging (starting with skill 2 or 3) is massively useful to stop you from dying right away. If you're okay with losing a bit of early-game utility for mechanics and the like, picking up Shaolin Adept and going with the Dragon style, then starting with at least 4 unarmed, makes combat a cakewalk against any enemy that isn't acidic or electric and isn't a brute or hulk. You get counters and stuns that way, and at unarmed 5 you get a knockback, too. Combine all that with a punch dagger - you can find them pretty easily around the drug dealer corpses you sometimes find out in fields - and you can mow down hordes with nothing but your fists. This becomes even more eminent if you can find and install a Monomecular Blade CBM, which adds around 36 damage to your hits and can't be disarmed or damaged.

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 8:54 pm #357523

Is Dragon style the new Krav?

Xhuis · Post by **Xhuis** » Tue Nov 14, 2017 11:31 pm #357595

I think so. I heard great things about Krav, but even starting at unarmed 3 it would never be worthwhile for me and usually ended up in me dying pretty quickly, but with Dragon style I could smear zombie soldiers across the wall without breaking stride. Do keep in mind, though, that unless you start with 4 unarmed or so it's a very rough start as you lack all of your moves.

If you want pure damage, Tiger style is also crazy, getting me up to 120 damage crits with unarmed 2.

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 12:08 am #357624

Dragons a best, I shouldn't be surprised.

Shame that at the other end of the scale there's still designated useless styles, though.

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:19 am #357665

scorpion for 1hit ko

Post by **Armhulen** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 1:23 am #357666

why is frog form so bad : (

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 3:20 am #357707

Armhulen wrote:why is frog form so bad : (

because being a frog is only good when it's your super power

D&B · Post by **D&B** » Wed Nov 15, 2017 4:52 am #357735

Although easier than most, CDDA is still a roguelike so you'll enjoy the game a lot more if you expect death at every corner than expecting to survive.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:24 am #358637

on a scale from "you might last ten minutes" to "jesus christ deitus what are you even doing," how fucked am i

Drynwyn · Post by **Drynwyn** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 7:51 am #358661

Deitus wrote:on a scale from "you might last ten minutes" to "jesus christ deitus what are you even doing," how fucked am i

pretty solid

if you just want to survive max dodging and take the Traceur profession

you can start with a dodging of 12 and just be unfuckinghittable, you have to avoid shockers, but that's it.

Also take Parkour Expert, it's great. Better than Quick for the cost, IMO.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:31 pm #358896

what are some semi-up-to-date guides or videos you guys recommend to learn stuff for this game?

Xhuis · Post by **Xhuis** » Fri Nov 17, 2017 9:36 pm #358897

I'd recommend moving some of those points into melee skill (chance to hit, unarmed is mainly just damage) and maybe swapping out Fleet-Footed and Animal Empathy for some higher traits since those two aren't as useful
As for up-to-date stuff, I honestly just learned myself; most guides and the like aren't current and people don't really contribute to wikis so your best bet is learning the hard way if you're anything like me

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Nov 18, 2017 6:40 am #359032

im really tempted to make videos or something of my playthroughs so you guys can critique/tell me what not to do, i might genuinely look into it when i get back from break.

Super Aggro Crag · Sat Nov 18, 2017 5:17 pm

If you're that bad just use debug mode to spawn yourself a full set of platemail and a greatsword

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Mon Nov 20, 2017 1:39 pm #359596

[youtube]hwaQHZaVtBQ[/youtube]

this guy has some good playthroughs of cdda that are entertaining + instructional in some ways, and I think it could help out to just watch a few videos, this video is his new series about a guy doing a completely naked start in the wilderness with no cities around. haven't watched the whole thing yet but since deitus seems to like wilderness might be helpful

Qbopper · Post by **Qbopper** » Mon Nov 20, 2017 2:21 pm #359601

onefjef had some good ones from what I remember

not from an educational standpoint but they were entertaining

Super Aggro Crag · Tue Nov 21, 2017 9:37 pm

I cant find any dang electronics books ree

I have a flaming zweihander tho

John_Oxford · Tue Nov 21, 2017 10:09 pm

imo the most IMPORTANT thing to have is animal empathy

wasp, bees, moose, deer, bears, anything

things that have been -known- for fucking your shit up, no longer fuck your shit up.

(citation needed for wasps and bees)

WJohnston · Post by **WJohnston** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 4:06 pm #360143

pretty much the only thing that really truly matters early game is parkour expert (and second to that, movement speed like fleet footed + quick), in my experience. it's absolutely monstrously good. note that parkour expert is the REASON why you can even fight well on wreckages, cars, shrubs etc -- it prevents attack speed slowdown when your movement speed is otherwise slower, giving you these ridiculously effective options.

midgame and lategame are the same pretty much regardless of what build you start with. grab a whole shitload of books from the library, start reading up on tailoring/survival/fabrication and whatever else after that. create heavy survivor armor which is literally impervious to damage from zombies AND impervious to *getting* damaged by zombies, and later on make yourself a nodachi for those sweet one-hit-kills. after that go find a science lab, get yourself an integrated toolset and metabolic interchange, and start building your deathmobile in peace. after that towards the end game, keep raiding labs until you find the alpha mutagen book and start working towards becoming an alpha.

you are now an indestructible one-hit-killing god of death and destruction who carries all his shit with him and doesn't need to defend a stationary location. this meta works 100% of the time in my experience and has yet to be redefined in years.

Super Aggro Crag · Wed Nov 22, 2017 5:47 pm

That sounds really boring

Good news for me, I drank a mutagen and grew mu legs back so I can move faster than zombies again. Ponderous and leg tentacles and the 32 encumbrance from XL survivor boots HURT my speed.

Xhuis · Post by **Xhuis** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:14 pm #360196

Night Vision is also handy at any stage in the game, since it lets you loot at night early on to avoid zombies and let you see them in the dark before they see you. I'm also lightly armored since I use Dragon Adept and like to use dodging instead, so being able to avoid fights is always good.

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Wed Nov 22, 2017 7:17 pm #360197

Yeah animal empathy is okay early game but imo there are easier ways to ward off wildlife that dont sink your early game points into a trait that will pretty quickly become useless

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 5:15 pm #360400

Are you guys playing the 2015 DDA 0.C release or did you switch to another version?

Wyzack · Post by **Wyzack** » Thu Nov 23, 2017 5:38 pm #360405

As far as I know most people who play this game do so on the experimental branch, which is updated multiple times every day. The last stable release is basically a whole other game at this point and i can not see myself ever going back to it

lntigracy · Post by **lntigracy** » Fri Nov 24, 2017 2:46 am #360501

I've been playing on 6666 since it came out, should probably update since it's in the 6900 range now

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 9:21 pm #364664

okay i finally decided to just make videos so you guys can tell me what im doing wrong. maybe later as i keep going ill do voice too so i can nasally tell you what im thinking at any given point.

here are my first two recorded attempts:

[youtube]zxtgQ4rll2M[/youtube]

[youtube]1LrIbrMimcw[/youtube]

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Fri Dec 08, 2017 10:51 pm #364705

Your biggest problem, which you point out yourself, is temperature. Just unfold an emergency blanket bro, wear it while travelling around, and drop it before combat.
Wraps are also nice at the start for a bit of extra warmth. And sockmittens.

Some more things I caught:
survival 2: waste of points IMO, searching 5 bushes gets you to 1, and like only 20 more to survival 2.
no parkour skill: you don't *need* it but no build is EZ without it.
low scent/fast healer: meh.

Ok, so next is stamina. I suppose it's always low because of the cold, since you don't seem to be depleting it by running. This should be fixed by not freezing your ass. Consider the following once you fix stamina:
-Always run while fighting!
-Kill things one at a time, and rest to full stamina between each fight.
-Never run on bushes -> have zombies go over bushes (do you know how speed works in roguelikes?)
-Never run from something faster than you in an open field. Just like in ss13, if a traitor sabers you once, you will never be able to run away. Turn around and pray to RNJesus.
-If something hostile is 2/3rds of you LOS away or less, you don't have time to butcher.

Also CHECK THE FUCKING BASEMENT. I know that there is rarely shit down there since lootdrop has been nerfed to shit, but it's really the first thing you should do.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:00 am #364753

advice noted, this is a freeform character that i forgot was freeform so i threw survival 1 in there to save the tedium of looking at bushes the start of every game before being able to make a knife spear. also, i guess i wasnt aware of fatigue all that much. how do i know when im walking vs running? ive just been using my numpad and never noticed a stamina bar of any sort.

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 1:17 am #364759

Pretty sure you toggled running when fleeing the triffids, you have it mapped to doublequote. You can tell if you are walking or running by the corresponding letters W/R in the movement section of the ui. The stamina bar is there too.

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 2:24 am #364770

also if I spawned somewhere where a fungal tower was in the overmap near me I would just restart tbh.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 2:51 am #364774

i honestly didnt know walking/running was a thing, i thought movespeed was normal. so my stamina is draining even though im walking because of the cold then?

also made another attempt. didnt work out so hot.
[youtube]fKhnohbsNk4[/youtube]

edit: just realized i forgot to look in the basement again. whoops.

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 5:11 am #364811

here is 30 minutes of my shitty gameplay just for you deitus
[youtube]-OqQU-V9tC8[/youtube]

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 7:28 am #364879

list of stupid questions while i watch this:
how do i enable npc's in my world?
how do i examine my distant surroundings, both with how you cycled between monsters and "free looked" tile by tile?
how do i yell?
how do i peek?
how in the fuck do you keep attacking zombies on shrubs without them attacking you? i always try to do that but they just hop off and start beating my shit. is it because im trying to engage from range with knife spear?
on a related note, how do you know how many times you can hit an enemy before they can get off the obstacle?
if you didnt have the npc to tank for you, how would you have approached the same situation in terms of exploration and combat?
how do you multidrop?
why is loida so qt and bestgirl-tier?

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:03 am #364887

-World gen options.
-Check your keybindings, he is using x to look around and tab to cycle items/monsters.
-Huh I forgot
-Uppercase X. (by default, check keybindings)
-Welcome to roguelikes. Every tile has a movement cost, and a bushes movement cost is quite high. That means that anything wanting to walk over it spends more "turns" compared to a flat terrain. With a decent attack speed, you can get a lot of hits off. The zombie is not walking off the bush because it is already adjacent to Wiznerd so it's focusing on attack.
-You kinda don't in advance, mostly you learn from experience what to expect. The quicker a monster runs at you, the higher their speed and the less time for them to cross obstacles.
-Lure stragglers away and poke them over a bush, or a window frame.
-Lowercase d to drop on your tile, uppercase for a tile adjacent to you. (by default, check your keybindings)
-Functional strenght.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:40 am #364891

yeah but the zombie was just standing there while he wailed on it, was it just because he had the stats to attack quickly? like i keep saying, i kite a mob onto an obstacle and i can only land one hit (or at least attempt to) before the mob is off the obstacle and back in range to attack me, and usually do. that is to say
>move into kiting position by obstacle
>as soon as the mob is on the obstacle/within range, i swing once
>at the end of my "swing" turn the mob is already off the obstacle and has attacked me once before i have a chance to create more distance
i gotta be doing something wrong in this regard but i cant figure out what.

also
>decide fuck it ill make an entirely OP character
>20 in all stats
>10 in dodging
>STILL die almost immediately

im beginning to think this game just plain doesnt like me.

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 10:10 am #364903

Well I just killed some zombos no problemo with 10 in all stats and 5 dodge using the knife spear.
What's your version? And also, check the mods you are loading for the world. Your worlds seems colder than average.

Are you running? Running is pretty important for repositioning. Also, if you manage to get a zombie on a bush adjacent to you, you might as well hit it and get distance instead of moving away and using a reach attack with the spear.

Chest encumberance is pretty important too. If you start with a winter jacket (survivor?) chest wraps aren't useful, just put on a blanket while you run around and drop it once combat starts.

TheWiznard · Post by **TheWiznard** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 6:29 pm #365002

[youtube]Oz-7HO6jRKw[/youtube]

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 8:33 pm #365030

Iatots wrote:Well I just killed some zombos no problemo with 10 in all stats and 5 dodge using the knife spear.
What's your version? And also, check the mods you are loading for the world. Your worlds seems colder than average.

Are you running? Running is pretty important for repositioning. Also, if you manage to get a zombie on a bush adjacent to you, you might as well hit it and get distance instead of moving away and using a reach attack with the spear.

Chest encumberance is pretty important too. If you start with a winter jacket (survivor?) chest wraps aren't useful, just put on a blanket while you run around and drop it once combat starts.

i use the latest version updater, and i run. ill stop using chest wraps but i have noticed that when i put on sock mitts as suggested it encumbers my hands, would that be a problem?
here's a vid of me setting up a new world, ill make a new attempt vid later today.
[youtube]7a1-nIQydoU[/youtube]

edit: didnt realize it picked up me listening to music too, just mute it

John_Oxford · Post by **John_Oxford** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:15 pm #365046

encumberance on your hands if i recall completely fucks any hope you had of hitting anything

encumberance in general completely fucks your dodge ability too.

if you're about to fight something just drop all your equipment. more so backpacks if you happen to be carrying one

install a tileset too, damn.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:21 pm #365047

John_Oxford wrote:encumberance on your hands if i recall completely fucks any hope you had of hitting anything

encumberance in general completely fucks your dodge ability too.

if you're about to fight something just drop all your equipment. more so backpacks if you happen to be carrying one

install a tileset too, damn.

i was told/under the impression that tilesets are unreliable at best and game-breaking at worst, especially since im using the update launcher

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Sat Dec 09, 2017 9:43 pm #365054

Encumberance from gloves and most mittens is very small, you can keep your hands warm and protected for less than 10 encumberance (combined with other items), which is nothing with your starting stats. A sling shouldn't be a problem either, but if you are missing often chest encumberance could be a cause.

Deitus · Post by **Deitus** » Sun Dec 10, 2017 5:30 am #365141

new vid featuring my nasally voice and shitty mic asking beginner-tier questions.
[youtube]cP-nBRPrctc[/youtube]

Iatots · Post by **Iatots** » Sun Dec 10, 2017 2:43 pm #365222

type a number before dropping/picking up something. If you do this correctly, a # will appear next to the item name. (the way I would pick up something, for example, is (E)xamine tile, see 200 twigs, type 3, press right arrow while twigs are evidenced, and then press enter to get my 3 twigs)
there is no reason to wield the pocket knife, the (B)utcher menu lets you cut up stuff on the floor too.
You can see your encumberance on the character (@) or worn items (+) screen. the (+) screen also lets you re-layer your clothing, important for when you get armor.
You can't carry items if you are dead. Drop the sling if you need to fight.
-Also, if you decide to fight, drop stuff before aggroing enemies.
While luring enemies on NPCs might be a valid tactic according to some people, try taking out dogs, coyotes and other small animals yourself as practice.
Some vehicle parts have storage (trunks, seats etc). You can see at a distance if something is in them because the icon will have a colored background.
-This doesn't work for furniture like drawers and cupboard at a distance. You need to be adjacent to them to have their contents appear, V won't show you at a distance.
V gives you both items and monster, use tab to cycle.
The red asterisk on the map is probably your quest target.
"what's the point of X" is a low morale telltale.
You *can* always see enemies at the edge of your screen. In safe mode, as soon as you can spot one the game freezes. If safe mode is off you can walk on them and not notice. You can use singlequote (') to ignore all enemies of one type you currently see to not turn off safe mode but still be able to move around aggressive animals. Example: The game freezes, there is one aggressive dog in the distance. You ignore it. You keep walking towards it and more aggressive dogs pop up. You keep walking, now the game freezes,you can see an aggressive cougar is fighting the dogs. You ignore the cougar, distance yourself and get everything out of your sight. You now have 0 monsters in your LOS and are still in safe mode.
Mi-gos, when you look at them, are pretty unnatural. Other unnatural monsters are grecks, grackens, krecks and amoebic blobs, so when you see one of these, there is a chance one of the others is near. When you saw that loot next to the amoebic blob, you should have circled the house first to avoid being sideblinded. You should always scout a place out as much as possible before moving in.

That should be all for this video.

DemonFiren · Post by **DemonFiren** » Sun Dec 10, 2017 8:11 pm #365287

Iatots wrote:

"what's the point of X" is a low morale telltale.

What's the point of tai chi again?