Room for Improvement: Crafting/Looting Balance in 2.0

[meganoth]

They do somewhat line up from the start, you get some chance of getting the "next tier" at cap. (0.05 for T1 at LS 40.) Once you get the wasteland badge, even pine is up to 140, giving some chance (0.16) for T3s.

With the "biome loot stage" -buffs back, moving forward is useful in any case now... But, as his complaint is not getting what you didn't spec for; that's not really improved by higher loot levels. That's a books vs gear balance thing or some such.

Simple. In general you don't **craft* what you don't spec into, that is true since a few alphas now. If you want unspecced weapons you either need to loot a complete weapon (very low chance AFAIK) or buy them. For that you probably need to go into the next biome at least, and that is partly why I first asked those questions if he maybe stayed too long in the forest. Which also would hint at something else, that if you want to stay in forest for longer you will have problems getting parts for the better weapons.

But that was only part of his story. He seemed to be fighting against glowies with a toilet pistol. If other players have the same problem then that could hint at a general problem.

Post automatically merged: Jun 29, 2025

it didnt feel that way. i have been playing since april and havent crafted ANY tools or weapons since may because looting/buying has been more than sufficient. i am curious to see how my play will different now but i couldnt ever justify constructing my own kit outside of the primitive set for the challange points

No question it can be **sufficient** as ideally you can get your stuff 3 ways. But if you meant to say you were lagging behind in crafting then I'd have to ask back: Do you understand how the magazine finding system works? Do you know that perking into some other stuff may reduce your chance to get magazines for your weapon/tool/...

 

[theFlu]

He seemed to be fighting against glowies with a toilet pistol. If other players have the same problem then that could hint at a general problem.

He was sporting a Q6 Steel Spear as his best weapon; so, a perception build. I can't speak for other players, but even if I spec into rifles from D1, I'm not getting past a hunting rifle at that point (the point with a fresh Q6 S.Spear and glowies in infestations). I might have the books to craft a lever action, but I won't have the parts or the steel. Usually not even the books.

That hunting rifle is easily outperformed by a toilet pistol at that point. That's how the perception-focused build has played out for me, practically every time I've tried. I carry a rifle in the hopes of finding a use for it, and use anything else to manage any tough spots. Usually I compensate by starting a "perception run" by playing Agi with some rifle points. Parkour + Run & gun synergize better with an early rifle than anything in Per. And that gives the toilet pistol some honest decap.

I don't know if that's a problem, that's just how it's been for me

 

[meganoth]

He was sporting a Q6 Steel Spear as his best weapon; so, a perception build. I can't speak for other players, but even if I spec into rifles from D1, I'm not getting past a hunting rifle at that point (the point with a fresh Q6 S.Spear and glowies in infestations). I might have the books to craft a lever action, but I won't have the parts or the steel. Usually not even the books.

That hunting rifle is easily outperformed by a toilet pistol at that point. That's how the perception-focused build has played out for me, practically every time I've tried. I carry a rifle in the hopes of finding a use for it, and use anything else to manage any tough spots. Usually I compensate by starting a "perception run" by playing Agi with some rifle points. Parkour + Run & gun synergize better with an early rifle than anything in Per. And that gives the toilet pistol some honest decap.

I don't know if that's a problem, that's just how it's been for me

I mentioned the hunting rifle problem already in one of the previous posts. The interesting question is if a perked hunting rifle can kill a glowie (from a save position for example), an unspecced q1 toilet pistol definitely can't, except maybe in difficulty 0.

Like the INT player a PER player may have an easier time if he fills the hunting rifle "hole" by partly speccing into one other weapon perk as well, at least for early game

 

[theFlu]

an unspecced q1 toilet pistol definitely can't

I'm pressing X, not even lightly

 

[meganoth]

I'm pressing X, not even lightly

???? Console lingo maybe?

 

[theFlu]

???? Console lingo maybe?

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definitely can't

Started a new test world for the patch, 1 toilet pistol, 28 rounds later (about 50% hit rate just spraying) :


Nomad difficulty; I did a biker as well, but that admittedly took a couple tries, kiting on the cars at that spawn location. 63 rounds spent. Far from impossible for the toilet pistol thou. Would not recommend on an equal rifle

 

[Kosmic Kerman]

Just to respond to some of the most recent posts here.

• In both 1.0 and 2.0, I am crafting unperked weapons because I cannot find them in loot. And traders never have anything because I generally don't put points in intellect. This is the core of my balance complaint. I find the game more limiting and boring since the overhaul in 1.0. I am not looking for a return to the previous system where you would never craft because looting outpaced crafting. But I do think they need to revisit the looting tables so that low quality complete weapons drop much earlier. Early to early mid-game I think high quality weapons should only be available by crafting but you should be able to loot low quality T1/T2 items. An AK or pump shotgun makes radiated zombies much easier to handle.

• Weapons parts and workstation progression was not an issue for me in that play through. I had crucibles unlocked by around Day 14ish (1 hour days) and I had plenty of weapon parts to craft shotguns (which I had perked into) and I had 3-5 machine gun parts. I doubt this is particularly repeatable. I think I got lucky with craft magazine bundles and the POIs that spawned even though there were no book stores in the starting towns. I also horded the forge ahead books until I had a Q2 nerd outfit. And I have mentioned previously, now that armor progression is much slower, it will be a long time before you hit the 50% bonus from a Q6 nerd outfit to speed up your crafting skills in unperked weapons and tools.

• Running into radiated zombies early in the progression curve has been an issue since 1.0. This is more of an issue for me when I run perception since I view the perception ranged weapons as mid to late-game horde night weapons and not for clearing POIs. The spear is also slower and the hitbox more finicky than knifes (the other build I usually run). When I run spears, I really want to pair it with an AK or a shotgun to deal with radiated zombies. With knifes I can stab and kite until they die and the bleed stack helps mitigate the health regen. I also usually have a Q6 pistol around that time (however pistol parts usually have to bought from the trader).

• Finally, that particular POI was an issue because there was no natural place to kite that many radiated zombies. There weren't any fences or rails to line them up against and jump over for stamina regen. And I couldn't line them up along the outside because of the land mines. They also avoided the mines when I tried to get them to run over them. To make matters worse, every buidling I could climb so could they. This is when the absence of a decent ranged weapon became so apparent and got me thinking about how bad the loot is compared to previous alphas.

 

[Riamus]

Just to respond to some of the most recent posts here.

• In both 1.0 and 2.0, I am crafting unperked weapons because I cannot find them in loot. And traders never have anything because I generally don't put points in intellect. This is the core of my balance complaint. I find the game more limiting and boring since the overhaul in 1.0. I am not looking for a return to the previous system where you would never craft because looting outpaced crafting. But I do think they need to revisit the looting tables so that low quality complete weapons drop much earlier. Early to early mid-game I think high quality weapons should only be available by crafting but you should be able to loot low quality T1/T2 items. An AK or pump shotgun makes radiated zombies much easier to handle.

I disagree regarding 1.x. I never had any issue with having enough magazines or resources to craft things and I could also loot things just as easily. If anything, looting was usually a bit ahead of crafting for me, but not by much. Now, yes... if you don't put points into a weapon, you are going to have a hard time seeing that weapon drop in loot. It can happen, but the chance is low. And certain weapons seem to have a very low chance to drop. But one single point in a weapon changes that. And before you say that's a waste of a point... if you want to use that weapon, having a point in it isn't a waste.

Running into radiated zombies early in the progression curve has been an issue since 1.0. This is more of an issue for me when I run perception since I view the perception ranged weapons as mid to late-game horde night weapons and not for clearing POIs. The spear is also slower and the hitbox more finicky than knifes (the other build I usually run). When I run spears, I really want to pair it with an AK or a shotgun to deal with radiated zombies. With knifes I can stab and kite until they die and the bleed stack helps mitigate the health regen. I also usually have a Q6 pistol around that time (however pistol parts usually have to bought from the trader).

I use spear almost exclusively except during horde night, and horde night is just a choice because I enjoy the sniper rifle on horde night and haven't ever liked the melee base build. I have no trouble killing any zombies with my spear. The only time I'll use a gun is if I'm getting overwhelmed by too many zombies (usually that means around 10+ or else a situation where I am surrounded without the ability to back up while fighting), or with a dire wolf. I could take on a dire wolf with my spear, but I don't bother. I'll sometimes do zombie bears with spear, but usually also do those with a gun. But otherwise, I'll do any other zombies with my spear without any difficulty, including radiated. I don't even see the radiated zombies as being a challenge.

 

[NiteVIper]

IMHO, I don't see anything wrong with 2.0 crafting, looting and so on. I'm just now getting into day 5 on PS5 and I already have a fully functional base, minus the chemistry workbench, plus already have my burnt badge as well. It just took me a few hours of doing the experimental to figure out how to adjust my game play. To me after learning how to adjust quickly, honestly the game doesn't really feel all that different from 1.4. and I already am up to level 4 iron tools, level 2 bat and level 2 wooden bow. I've seen so many people say that the game is ruined now, when they haven't learned how to adjust to the new features because they are stuck in their old ways.

 

[meganoth]

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Started a new test world for the patch, 1 toilet pistol, 28 rounds later (about 50% hit rate just spraying) :
View attachment 35061

Nomad difficulty; I did a biker as well, but that admittedly took a couple tries, kiting on the cars at that spawn location. 63 rounds spent. Far from impossible for the toilet pistol thou. Would not recommend on an equal rifle

Point accepted

 

[meganoth]

if you want to use that weapon, having a point in it isn't a waste.

This