Swapping Armor Sets

[MiTHMoN]

That's not even mentioning the specifics of the game's armour sets.

If you want to play as a crop farmer, the Boots and Outfit give crop harvesting bonuses. The hat gives a bonus to looting seeds... But looting is a separate activity from farming. And the gloves give a meme bonus that nobody uses. If you wanted players to stick to wearing the full farmer set, at least give them bonuses they care about. The gloves could give a knife or harvesting bonus at a minimum.

But one of the limiting factors to making a big farm is... Nitrate and Clay. And to some extent Wood and Rotting Flesh.

So if you're committed to playing as a dedicated farmer... You need to go mining... And wouldn't you know it, there is a set dedicated to mining. And a set dedicated to chopping trees. So by committing to one aspect, farming, you actually need to branch out into other aspects.

You don't need a pickaxe while harvesting crops, you use a bone knife for that. You don't need a bone knife for mining nitrate, you use a pickaxe or auger for that. You don't use a pickaxe or auger for harvesting wood, you use an axe or chainsaw for that. You don't use an axe or chainsaw for harvesting clay, you use a shovel or auger for that. And for harvesting rotting flesh, I mostly use a machete, but in the early game a bone knife will work.

So depending on which activity you're choosing to do, all within the goal of "being a crop farmer", you need to change which tool you use. And if you're going to your storage chest to grab a tool, why not also grab the appropriate armour pieces, too?

So purely dedicating yourself to being a farmer, it's not unreasonable to prefer having at least two armour sets; farmer and miner. And that's how the game is designed.

If you want to use the forge to make steel, that's intellect. But gathering the iron and clay is strength or perception.

If you want to be a farmer, you benefit from Generalist perks, Strength perks, Fortitude perks, and if you want to get the seed magazines you can also go into Intellect, and actually harvesting crops and rotting flesh can benefit from Agility, and gathering clay can benefit from Perception.

So, again, just focusing purely on being a farmer means you need to do a lot of things that are associated across every single stat. So it only makes sense that wearing the appropriate armour pieces also makes sense.

 

[FenixMatariki]

I'm morbidly curious, are you guys changing into lumberjack set to harvest wood, rogue set to unlock and loot, scavenger set to harvest cars etc? Because that sounds god awful, why would you do that to yourselves? Edit: If you are really trying to min max things to that extreme do you also use the forgettin elixer before looting each time so you can spec into intellects 25% chance for an extra book?

The only armor pieces i have ever needed to swap out at any time are enforcer glasses for selling, Miner gloves and helmet for mining, farmer boots and chest for crops. Five pieces to swap and four of them are once every five day swaps.

 

[MiTHMoN]

I'm morbidly curious, are you guys changing into lumberjack set to harvest wood, rogue set to unlock and loot, scavenger set to harvest cars etc? Because that sounds god awful, why would you do that to yourselves? Edit: If you are really trying to min max things to that extreme do you also use the forgettin elixer before looting each time so you can spec into intellects 25% chance for an extra book?

The only armor pieces i have ever needed to swap out at any time are enforcer glasses for selling, Miner gloves and helmet for mining, farmer boots and chest for crops. Five pieces to swap and four of them are once every five day swaps.

You seem confused. You literally are asking in your first paragraph, then admitting you change gear in your second paragraph. Did you answer your own question?

 

[FenixMatariki]

You seem confused. You literally are asking in your first paragraph, then admitting you change gear in your second paragraph. Did you answer your own question?

I'm changing 5 pieces roughly once every five days, however when i read the complaints about it from others it sounds like they are changing multiple times a day? If its multiple times a day i can understand their suffering, even if i think its self inflicted. However if its only once in a while i don't get the complaints.

 

[MiTHMoN]

Hypothetically you decide that you want to go mining. Let's say you'll spend 15 minutes just mining an ore vein.

If you put on the Miner set specifically for this activity (before you head off to go mine for 15 minutes), and your Miner set is quality 6... That's +30% harvest, -30% stamina cost, +50% block damage, -35% tool degradation. Just from equipping the armour pieces alone.

Best case scenario you might end up with 3x as much ore than if you didn't put the set on. ((1.3 x 1.5) / 0.7) = 2.78, and costing less repair kits.

It's not a trivial amount.

Or if you decide "hey, I'm gonna go scrap all the vehicles on the road, to clear up the road", and you spend 15 minutes just doing that (could be 30 minutes, 45 minutes, an hour. Different players like to focus on one thing for different lengths of time).

Scavenger set gets +30% resources and -20% stamina used, +20% loot stage (for looting the vehicles before salvaging them), and +60% salvaging exp. It's not as big of a bonus, but if we assumed stamina was a limiting factor, maybe 1.3 / 0.8 = 1.625 times as effective using the set, maybe even 2.6 times as much exp.

 

[MiTHMoN]

This is how I would characterize the armor sets as well. Swapping them endlessly for each situation is like drinking the elixer. Stick to one or two for a playthrough and the replay value climbs because you're excited to try a couple of new sets the next time you play.

I'm changing 5 pieces roughly once every five days, however when i read the complaints about it from others it sounds like they are changing multiple times a day? If its multiple times a day i can understand their suffering, even if i think its self inflicted. However if its only once in a while i don't get the complaints.

See above a quote where @Roland says "Stick to one or two for a playthrough".

You, @FenixMatariki, are mentioning 3 separate sets you are dipping into. So you fall outside the concept of sticking to one armour set in a playthrough.

The game clearly, through its mechanics, encourages gear swapping. Gear swapping is the most sensible, natural, normal, and common way to play the game. But apparently the devs designed the game so that players aren't intended to gear swap.

So @FenixMatariki, you are the "rare other" that isn't playing the game as intended.

 

[theFlu]

I'm changing 5 pieces roughly once every five days, however when i read the complaints about it from others it sounds like they are changing multiple times a day?

I brought up the rogue set and swapping to it per loot pile - not as something I Do, but as how the system is designed. Because it is. Improving it might be in order, if you find the design ridiculous

 

[FenixMatariki]

See above a quote where @Roland says "Stick to one or two for a playthrough".

You, @FenixMatariki, are mentioning 3 separate sets you are dipping into. So you fall outside the concept of sticking to one armour set in a playthrough.

The game clearly, through its mechanics, encourages gear swapping. Gear swapping is the most sensible, natural, normal, and common way to play the game. But apparently the devs designed the game so that players aren't intended to gear swap.

So @FenixMatariki, you are the "rare other" that isn't playing the game as intended.

It feel's like the difference is less about swapping a few pieces of armor and more about excessive armor swaps.

I still think Roland's one or two for a playthrough does apply like me, even if i am dipping my toes into 3 different sets.

As for the previous post of yours, while your numbers seem right for the increase in ore, the idea that you can craft t6 armor and still worry about repair kits cost, stamina costs or exp gained seems a little trivial to me. Though maybe the stamina costs matter to people not using the auger?


Perhaps it is simply a me thing, that the gains from micromanaging armor swaps compared to the massive resource costs of crafting said armor just does not add up. I can say with absolute honesty that the idea of swapping away from my battle armor to squeeze as much juice from every situation never even occurred to me until i saw people here talking about it. Where are you people even getting so many legendary parts from? Is the 10% bonus from a level X armor set worth the duct tape and other resources to make it?

 

[MiTHMoN]

I can say with absolute honesty that the idea of swapping away from my battle armor to squeeze as much juice from every situation never even occurred to me until i saw people here talking about it. Where are you people even getting so many legendary parts from? Is the 10% bonus from a level X armor set worth the duct tape and other resources to make it?

In my experience, once you reach around the 35-hour mark in a playthrough, you're basically end-game maxed out. I've got a recent playthrough that, by about 47 hours I was 7k kills in, able to craft basically everything in the game, chests upon chests of items that I'll never use, maxed out quality 6 weapons and armour will best-in-slot mods, all the skill points I can reasonably spend to the point where further skill points aren't getting spent.

And that's playing solo, and putting artificial restrictions on myself to slow down my progress. If you're playing as a duo, or even with more players, you can absolutely plow your way to being fully kitted and maxed out even quicker.

So if you're even able to craft quality 6 armour, most likely you're already pretty close to being maxed out. At that point, the only thing to do is just do whatever goals you set for yourself. And for some people that's clearing roads of vehicles, or building something big with steel, having a wall of steel chests for storage, etc.

Or it could be that you had enough steel to make a Miner's set, then a friend joins in the playthrough and you want to craft them a 4x4 or something, which costs steel. Or you decided that you're going to build a big farm after all, even though you told yourself you wouldn't, so now it turns out you need a lot of nitrate and clay that you hadn't been hoarding.

You can loot legendary parts very early on, it's mostly luck. One playthrough I'll have zero legendary parts 20 hours in, another I'll have 4 by day 2.

 

[MiTHMoN]

It feel's like the difference is less about swapping a few pieces of armor and more about excessive armor swaps.

And who decides what's excessive?

It's common to have a bartering helmet (Enforcer / Ranger / Preacher?). I usually put one in my motorcycle or 4x4, so I can put it on when I buy or sell from a trader. This could happen multiple times per in-game day if I bring back stuff to sell from a quest's loot.

The alternative is to keep your loot in your storage chests, and sell it in bulk every once in a while. Is one more excessive than the other?

Same with the Nerd Outfit. Some players wear it constantly so they can eat magazines while looting/questing. Some players save up the magazines and put on the Nerd Outfit when they feast on the magazines.

Farmer Boots and Outfit in a chest with a bone knife which you grab every time you want to harvest your crops is also totally normal. Some may consider it excessive, but that's just how players play the game.

 

[zztong]

If you put on the Miner set specifically for this activity (before you head off to go mine for 15 minutes), and your Miner set is quality 6... That's +30% harvest, -30% stamina cost, +50% block damage, -35% tool degradation. Just from equipping the armour pieces alone.

Okay, I'm convinced. I'll start collecting a Miner set, though I rarely mine until late in the game. Those are nice numbers.

 

[InfiniteWarrior]

I do believe that the ability to do it influences the design of the armour pieces and set bonuses, though, and is one of the reasons they're generally uninspiring.

I think it's their idea of encouraging roleplay...of exceptionally specific roles. Unless I miss my guess, they're trying to appeal to RPG players, thus all the supposed "RPG elements." Still a survival game.

 

[MiTHMoN]

I think it's their idea of encouraging roleplay...of exceptionally specific roles. Unless I miss my guess, they're trying to appeal to RPG players, thus all the supposed "RPG elements." Still a survival game.

If they wanted roles, they could give you a full set of quality 6 armour at the start of the game instead of the pipe weapon bundles. So you'd actually be locking yourself into a role of your choosing.

It'd be that simple.

 

[Kire]

If they wanted roles, they could give you a full set of quality 6 armour at the start of the game instead of the pipe weapon bundles. So you'd actually be locking yourself into a role of your choosing.

It'd be that simple.

Quality 6 is a bit much but some armor set would be a nice. Early game it can take a while before you actually get something useful

 

[Riamus]

is also totally normal.

It may be normal, but so is not doing those things. Some people want to do that, while others don't. You don't have to do those things if it bothers you. It's a choice. I wear the ranger hat because I like how it looks. The bartering is pointless because dukes are mostly pointless. If people don't mind the magazine mechanic, there isn't much reason to use nerd armor for reading magazines. It's more for those who don't like to wait while they progress through the magazines, though as I've mentioned before, I use it only on armor magazines because those are excessively rare drops if you don't put points into armor. All other magazines drop frequently even without points in their perks. And farming isn't necessary either. The bonus may be nice, especially if you don't want to put points into LotL, but if you make a larger farm, you're fine without it. I don't even make a large farm - 8 or so blocks for 2 people with no LotL until mid or late game and rarely the farmer outfit and I always have plenty of food.

 

[Rooster Gold]

The current system is like having a bag of golf clubs, but each club takes up a slot rather than 1 neatly stored separate container that's easily accessible.

When the Wardrobe System was teased I thought it might be something useful to alleviate this.



And there's nothing wrong with playing smarter not harder, in every sport or hobby allot of people strive to be the best they can be.

Note: Re-posting here since it didn't carry over from when the thread was moved.

 

[MiTHMoN]

Quality 6 is a bit much but some armor set would be a nice. Early game it can take a while before you actually get something useful

I generally don't bother using most armour pieces unless I loot them as level 5 or craft them as level 6. The bonuses just don't do enough when they're low level, so they're kinda pointless.

For example, the only time I use a wrench before getting the armour set is to get the 20 mech parts for the workbench, most times.

And if you just got a lower level set, let's say level 1, then it wouldn't be committing to a role. It'd just be some items to scrap or sell or throw away. It would ruin the purpose of getting something to commit to the role.

 

[MiTHMoN]

If people don't mind the magazine mechanic, there isn't much reason to use nerd armor for reading magazines.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I tend to invest into Intellect early to get the bonuses to eating magazines (intellect mastery 2 & 3), and the first armour piece I aim for is Nerd Outfit.

And farming isn't necessary either. The bonus may be nice, especially if you don't want to put points into LotL, but if you make a larger farm, you're fine without it. I don't even make a large farm - 8 or so blocks for 2 people with no LotL until mid or late game and rarely the farmer outfit and I always have plenty of food.

Well yeah, you don't ever need to do farming to stay fed. You have four main options for food/water: 1) Get it from the environment (animals, lakes, rivers, wild crops), 2) Farm it (farm plots + dew collectors), 3) Loot it (cupboards, POI loot room loot, zombie drops, etc), 4) Buy it (from traders or vending machines, for dukes).

But I tend to make a farm most playthroughs... Just because I enjoy farming. Not because it's "efficient" or "necessary". And I don't bother farming until I've got quality 6 Farmer Boots and Farmer Outfit, and maxed out seed magazines, as well as maxed out Living Off The Land. I want all the crop harvest, not just partial.

 

[Kire]

I'm not exactly sure what you mean. I tend to invest into Intellect early to get the bonuses to eating magazines (intellect mastery 2 & 3), and the first armour piece I aim for is Nerd Outfit.

Well yeah, you don't ever need to do farming to stay fed. You have four main options for food/water: 1) Get it from the environment (animals, lakes, rivers, wild crops), 2) Farm it (farm plots + dew collectors), 3) Loot it (cupboards, POI loot room loot, zombie drops, etc), 4) Buy it (from traders or vending machines, for dukes).

But I tend to make a farm most playthroughs... Just because I enjoy farming. Not because it's "efficient" or "necessary". And I don't bother farming until I've got quality 6 Farmer Boots and Farmer Outfit, and maxed out seed magazines, as well as maxed out Living Off The Land. I want all the crop harvest, not just partial.

We seem to have a very similar playstyle