> Build a mobile base.
> Get on the road, ha ha time to explore my first side path.
> Fully-functional MBT with automated turrets behind it.
> Decide to use it as cover and toss an EMP grenade around a corner to disable them. S-surely they can't see me behind a gigantic fucking MBT.
> They shoot straight through the MBT with laser-guiding (HOW, I'M BEHIND A SOLID OBJECT), cutting it in half and killing me in a single turn.
> Ded.
Didn't see that coming. Christ. Fortunately, since I'm so fucking far in I'm savescumming the OHKO deaths away (aka alt-F4 on the ur ded screen). I've seen the foraging phase many-a-time with little issue on most of the starting modes, and very rarely the mid-lategame because of it. Being almost in my third year, fuck it.
Xhuis wrote:I finally started trying out this game. Upped tailoring a bit plus melee and ran with stats around the same.
I keep getting crushed within the first five minutes because I either spawn in a really bad spot or the first place I go to is infested to hell and I can't fight anything with my pocket knife. The one time I managed to kill something I immediately got eaten by a zombie master in a pizza parlor.
Edit: I went as a lumberjack and actually made it into a town before I was killed by a soldier zombie who only took three damage per hit, compared to normal zombies which were taking thirty or so. This game is brutal.
Edit 2: So a pocket knife is sharp enough to butcher but not a woodsman's axe. Right.
Git gud. No seriously, if you aren't playing with wanderspawns/wandering hordes the game isn't that hard. If you are, then it's kinda bullshit earlygame since many of the non-evacuee spawns ARE nigh unwinnable (the burning building one is a great example). Also, if you aren't on the most recent experimental, get it, since it introduces stamina and soforth that lets you escape from many previously unwinnable situations and play a bit riskier.
Protip: stay away from anything but small skirmishes until you have okay melee skills. Stick to night raids, and stick to evacuee until you get shit down. Sheltered survivor may, at first glance, look beneficial, but it comes at a hefty cost - all the zombies start almost entirely evolved, and you start with a 3-season time-elapse so much perishable food is just gone. On top of this, you start in bumfuck nowhere. Not really for new players.
Don't have too much encumberance earlygame (with exception). This slows you down in every facet, and, unless the mobility tradeoff is worth it, don't bother. However, grabbing a full suit of plate early on or other hefty equipment with high armor values (fireman equipment is a good example) allows you to gain nigh immunity to the lesser zombies typically on the fringes of a city, allowing you to train your skills with impunity. Make sure you're layering appropriately with +, so you don't get large encumberance penalties (it read as x + y where x is the base encumbrance and y is the layering encumbrance).
A trunk on a wooden frame is a godsend, wheels or not, and requires minimal skills - seriously, it quads+ your carry capacity and comes in handy. Even with a deathmobile with high storage mid-lategame, it still helps to have a foldable version to tug some extra loot along.
Tailoring is the key to survivial - you want to have every viable layer occupied by at least one object (two only in specific circumstances, e.g. worn rifles), and, since the ingredients you use are essentially ubiquitous, it's very easy to level it early on and gain alot of precious armor and warmth. If an object says it 'layers easily', I believe it means you can wear one extra item before suffering penalties. The layers are: close to skin, normal, outer and strapped, and every bodypart can have one of each without any penalty. Put the armored stuff on the outside and the precious, low armor, or hard-to-repair stuff on the inside.
Butcher every zombie corpse if you can. All zombies resurrect, albeit damaged after a day or so, unless you have the option turned off.
Deactivate skill rust. It's an anti-fun mechanic.
Use every single interesting-looking mod (e.g. arcana, historical weaponry, !GUNS!, vehicle additions, etc.). It's fairly balanced and adds a crapton of stuff.