Anybody else avoiding the desert biome because of catching disease from the plague spitters?

[ElCabong]

I like the plague spitters. I left Bob and was jumped by three of them. I had to ignore the bugs and kill the spitters first. Then there were two other adds and the bugs to deal with. By that time I was concussed and diseased about 5.3. It was a blast dealing with it.

It took two honey to fix. I entered the desert with eight honey and left with five. I'm worried about spending a lot of time in the desert with less than a full stack.

So I go visit Bob to see what he's got and then concentrate on the burnt and the frost biome.

I am not catching disease from frost claws as often. There is a chance to avoid the boulders but not the bugs. I'm fine going into the frost biome with three or four honey.

 

[LittleNightma]

Plague Spitter spawns are too high and should be turned down, imo.

 

[Samcharles]

Geeze, three of them! That's rough.

Frostclaw boulders are pretty easy to avoid. When you see them pick one up start running diagonally and they won't be able to hit you.

 

[ElCabong]

Geeze, three of them! That's rough.

Frostclaw boulders are pretty easy to avoid. When you see them pick one up start running diagonally and they won't be able to hit you.

They're not hard to avoid if you see them. If I hear them but don't see them I can jank and avoid them. I'll get disease and damage from the boulders when I'm engaged with somebody else and they sneak up from behind.

 

[Javabean867]

This might be a difficulty thing, or what, but i have not had a problem with plague spitters. Are you underleveled? How is your gear? did you rush biome progression to get to better loot? No shade if you did, but rushing biome progression, just means you aren't ready for the enemies that spawn there.

 

[theFlu]

I left Bob and was jumped by three of them.

Three at once, hmm, can't remember fighting into that tbh; so I assume it's not that common. Possible ofc, with the random spawning. Should be relatively simple with suitable aggression.
First, try and not agro all of them if you have the option. Two will be way easier than three.
Second, take the ■■■■ bugs out if you already have some coming. Gunfire isn't _great_ on them, but it does the trick. I was one-shotting them with a Q5 pistol, 5/5 slinger, HP ammo. But shoot at them until gone either way.
Third, aggressively shoot the spitters, in the face. If you knock one down and another is agroed and about to spit, try to swap to that one to prevent the bugs with "a pain" or a knockdown. Kill the bugs if spawned, Finish off the first, carry on the aggression to the second and third without pause.

Fourth, yeah, you'll prolly need some antibiotics after a trio. But the above should keep you infection free for anything less.

It does take some FPS skills, like actually being able to hit a target, and not spending time screaming or theorycrafting your next move. Just shoot and walk your aim to the head, you'll often catch the flies by accident like that too.

I think they're mechanically my favorite enemy atm; they reward actually hitting things, without being janky and twitchy like everything else. And the risk is somewhat real, the debuffs aren't cheap to fix.

 

[pApA^LeGBa]

Plague Spitter spawns are too high and should be turned down, imo.

No. They are a pain early on, but i really don´t wanna have to look for ages to kill 10 of them for the biome badge. And a bit later on, they are no issue anymore.

The main problem here is that people are so used to get into the desert very early in the game and they still try to rush it with V2. But that´s exactly what this mechanic tries to stop. So it works like intended. You get rekt by the spitters? You probably went to the desert too early.

 

[ElCabong]

I can deal with them even when I felt I was a little underpowered for the desert, I could deal with them. I don't feel that way now I just got the go see Bob mission.

Even one-on-one, if they manage to get the jump on me I have a good chance of getting disease if I don't club the bugs quick. If there is an add I have to deal with, I am probably going to get diseased. They aren't killing me.

for each minute I spend in the desert, I'm spending two or three more harvesting stumps for honey.

Post automatically merged: Jul 7, 2025

This might be a difficulty thing, or what, but i have not had a problem with plague spitters. Are you underleveled? How is your gear? did you rush biome progression to get to better loot? No shade if you did, but rushing biome progression, just means you aren't ready for the enemies that spawn there.

I'm not under leveled. If I get the jump on them it's one shot with my crossbow. If I miss their head they'll fall down and I'll shoot them again and they die. Or I'll use my 9 mm and keep them from spitting if I see them before they have a chance.

 

[LittleNightma]

No. They are a pain early on, but i really don´t wanna have to look for ages to kill 10 of them for the biome badge. And a bit later on, they are no issue anymore.

The main problem here is that people are so used to get into the desert very early in the game and they still try to rush it with V2. But that´s exactly what this mechanic tries to stop. So it works like intended. You get rekt by the spitters? You probably went to the desert too early.

I can handle them just fine, but they seem to be everywhere in the desert. I find them more frustrating and annoying than anything else and I have seen quite a few others say the same thing. If nothing changes then it's fine. I just think they should be adjusted a little.

 

[Vaeliorin]

I avoid the desert now. I had originally intended to move to the desert, skipping the burnt forest, but I find the plague spitters so annoying (not difficult) that I spent as little time there as I possibly could.

While I get why toning them down would make the challenge more annoying, I wish they could set it up such that the spawn rate went way down once you had the challenge complete.

 

[Riamus]

I don't really have problems with the spitters. They haven't even gotten me infected yet. I have seen 3 in one small area once, and often 2. It's not a big deal to kill them, or just run if you don't feel like killing them. But they do make it so you need to pay attention to avoid getting hit from one you don't see.

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

I haven't avoided the desert, but cancelled a job because I was tired of running around the building recouping stamina when taking on four of them at once.

I agree the spawn rates of the spitter and Yeti are too high. TFP might consider lowering them after biome "challenge" completion, but as that's a apparently a once and done affair, I don't know that it maikes more sense than just lowering the spawn rate, period.

 

[Vaeliorin]

I don't really have problems with the spitters. They haven't even gotten me infected yet. I have seen 3 in one small area once, and often 2. It's not a big deal to kill them, or just run if you don't feel like killing them. But they do make it so you need to pay attention to avoid getting hit from one you don't see.

I mostly find the "stealth" thing they do very annoying. When I look around for one after getting hit by the flies, I should be able to see it, it shouldn't be faded into the background.

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

it shouldn't be faded into the background

A lot of people have said only the spitter does this and has a cloaking device of some kind. Maybe he is being treated differently. I haven't checked. But I've seen that effect on every type of zombie there is. They fade into view now the closer you get to them as opposed to being fully rendered and I assumed that was a performance consideration.

 

[Vaeliorin]

A lot of people have said only the spitter does this and has a cloaking device of some kind. Maybe he is being treated differently. I haven't checked. But I've seen that effect on every type of zombie there is. They fade into view now the closer you get to them as opposed to being fully rendered and I assumed that was a performance consideration.

From what I've read, that's supposedly a bug, and only the spitter is supposed to do that. Regardless, few other enemies have a ranged attack, and the ones that do have a directional attack, so you can generally tell which direction it came from, which isn't the case with the bugs.

 

[Suxar]

Hmm... Since version 1.0 I have almost no problems with diseases. Yes, at the beginning of the game I can get sick, but in the middle I just forget about diseases. Disease immunity from armor solves this problem.

 

[Dark Sun]

Plague Spitter spawns are too high and should be turned down, imo.

For now at least, until (if) this is addressed, I found a couple of mods over on Nexus that eliminate spawns for both these creatures, and I'll be using them going forward. AFAIK GNS's mod targets the spawn chance, but it doesn't eliminate them being the primary spawn type, so while I've noticed some reduction with it on, it's not enough...

 

[Krougal]

No. They are a pain early on, but i really don´t wanna have to look for ages to kill 10 of them for the biome badge. And a bit later on, they are no issue anymore.

The main problem here is that people are so used to get into the desert very early in the game and they still try to rush it with V2. But that´s exactly what this mechanic tries to stop. So it works like intended. You get rekt by the spitters? You probably went to the desert too early.

There is an easy fix for that too; scale the amount of kills required down.

Admittedly, you are most likely correct; it is working as intended.

I too did not have a problem with them, but I dragged my feet getting there and so they are merely annoying. Like I was already loot-stage capped before I did any of the biomes. I agree with the others though; they are highly annoying. I'm sure the yetis will be worse.

Also full disclosure I have been playing on defaults while I get a feel for the update; lately (well last version, so last year) I had been playing insane/nightmare so this is a lot easier than I am used to.

 

[theFlu]

I'm sure the yetis will be worse.

Fear not, they're not. Their boulders aren't heat seeking and only really threaten the campfire you're cooking at. And while they feel like they have 100% pain resistance, they don't have tanky health so they die pretty easy.

 

[Krougal]

Fear not, they're not. Their boulders aren't heat seeking and only really threaten the campfire you're cooking at. And while they feel like they have 100% pain resistance, they don't have tanky health so they die pretty easy.

Well, I'm thinking more of the impact of settling down in the biome. Granted I've never been fond of the mutants, but at least that is endgame (and the 1 in the basement of that 1 t1 poi...■■■■■■■s!)

Prior versions I kept a small basic platform base right outside each trader. Usually I'd have a raid base in each biome as well. Now, I'm not so sure. I already have the gyrocopter so I'm less motivated.