PC In SP, is "Dead-is-Dead"... Dead?

[Aldranon]

Not in MP for sure.  With a group you can stun lock a large group of zombie at a door.  Having one player start working as the medic just seals the groups win.  Good communications is important.  Making one skilled player the squad leader is a big plus as well.

So, I talk about the solo player.  My "Best Attempt" is this:

The Pipe Machine gun is by far the "Weapon of the apocalypse", early game.   Followed by the Pipe pistol.   The Pipe Shotgun seems bugged as often the pellets seem to pass through the zombie even at point bank range and the very long reload time makes it a non-starter weapon.

First point: Daring Adventurer: 7.62 is rare, 9mm not as much, so at the start to give you at better chance at 7.62 or 9mm.

Whatever ammo you get of the two you need pipes and glue to build the weapon that uses the ammo you have.

This show us the second point.

Second Point:  Advanced Engineering:  This is one of those deals where "You need the thing for the other thing".   Build the forge and make a pot to make glue and/or pipes as you need them (a grill if you can).

Before you make the pipe weapon (Pistol or Machine Gun) what you plan to build shows us the next points to spend.

Third point:  Machine Gunner/ Gun Slinger":  Now you can build the tier 2 weapon.  Building both will be an eventuality, but you want to wait till you can build a tier 3 weapon (For the 2 mod slots). 

The fourth point for me is clubs as its an OK melee weapon for the "Wasteland Cha-cha": <W key> "Swing" <S key>  repeat...

Getting a tier 3 club (eventually) is where I stop spending points as 2-3 swings kills most average zombies.

So after that you must listen and react quickly all the time.

-You have a half a second to run before you fall through false floors.  YOU need to choose when you will head downstairs and how you will do it.

-You will hear what I call a "Ruffing of feathers" when a Vulture spawns in.  Shoot it when its sleeping or let it come at you in an open area.

-When you hear wood breaking AND zombie sounds, run back the the entrance to that room and asses what just happened.  Its normally an ambush that you can deal with better at a doorway.

Welp, that's the basic stuff I learned by a bunch of deaths (and subsequent new games). 

 

[Aldranon]

Also If you have a bunch of 9mm then making 3 pipe pistols is strong.

As I normally only fire at stronger zombies I fire 3 quick pistol shots at each stronger zombie, then swap out to the next pistol and repeat.

 

[theFlu]

Hmm... does Dead-is-Dead involve a difficulty setting for you? 2-3 club swings sounds a little above default, but not exactly Insane? I was fine with a bone knife for the first week, but I took my difficulty down to Nomad to have a chill start.

Nothing there screams "wrong", esp on a lower difficulty, although:

Now you can build the tier 2 weapon. 

You mean "quality", not tier, right?

A lot of tactics could be employed on higher difficulties, spikes, tiny towers of about two blocks, blocking doorways and such, but you sound like you're fighting head first?

 

[Aldranon]

A lot of tactics could be employed on higher difficulties, spikes, tiny towers of about two blocks, blocking doorways and such, but you sound like you're fighting head first?

I do like a mobile fight yes.  I figure once I run into more ferals than normal zombies I will need to employ spikes or other structures using the POI's walls.   Falling into dead fall traps where almost a dozen zombies are waiting is the only thing I need to avoid.

So far.

 

[Aldranon]

Also I find that the trader is one of the best places for ammo!

So getting INT up to 3 and putting a second point into Daring Adventurer is not a waste after all your key weapons are at tier 3 (The most cost/effect point wise)

If your luck is not good, you might want to spend more points to get a chem station so you can make antibiotics.

I have searched about 100 nests and have not found a honey yet.  So A chem station is a must for me.

 

[theFlu]

Hmm.. start a couple games with 3 Str and 2 Pummel Pete, make a yellow club straight away. Next point for forge and make the bat. The point would be to get great with the melee. Might be a bit painful, but should be fine.

You'll get enough glue, pipes and ammo from basically trash piles to make a backup firearm - as long as you use it as a backup, not the main weapon

And, I'm sure you meant "tree stumps", but nests don't drop honey.

 

[Aldranon]

That set up was my A19 standard.

For A20 I wanted a forge quickly to get pipe guns with a 2 quality on day 1 without hoping for good luck.  Saying you should get enough, doesn't mean you will get enough materials.

My way guarantees I can have a pipe MG and a pipe pistol by the end of day 1.

A club is good for 95% of the time, but I focus on what can kill me.   So I work on ways to prevent death.

Yes, I did mean tree trunks and that shows if you have bad luck, you can be in trouble.

My way reduces luck to a minimum (I need some ammo in loot and/or the trader of course).

 

[theFlu]

Saying you should get enough, doesn't mean you will get enough materials.

But I said "you will". Of course I was wrong with that, to some probability

If you can rely on the club for 95% and get the heck outta dodge for the remaining 5%, there's zero randomness with the club approach. But yeh, if that's what you've been doing, just testing things out is a perfectly valid reason to change from it ..

 

[Aldranon]

But I said "you will". Of course I was wrong with that, to some probability

If you can rely on the club for 95% and get the heck outta dodge for the remaining 5%, there's zero randomness with the club approach. But yeh, if that's what you've been doing, just testing things out is a perfectly valid reason to change from it ..

I really like A20, its hard with many ways to die!  I've never died this much in any other alpha! 

When I use the club, I just do <W key> swing <S key> (It makes the normal zombies no threat) while keeping an eye on zombie flow/positioning and my stamina.

I go out of my way to kill to zombie cops first if possible, as I can't deflect their damage in the open.  The ferals add complexity to that and so some battles are all over or around a POI!

So far, 3 level 3 Pistols and 1 level 3 MG is more than enough for emergencies.

 

[theFlu]

So far, 3 level 3 Pistols and 1 level 3 MG is more than enough for emergencies.

Hah, that's one m***f**r of an emergency..