• Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead - FUCK NO SPORTING GOODS STORES
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[QUOTE=MrDestroyer;48519029]Can anyone give me any starting tips? Every time I start I end up getting mauled by a swarm of zombies or freezing to death.[/QUOTE] Unequipping a weapon makes you automatically put your hands in the pockets of your pants/sweater/jacket if available. This warms you up a bit more as well as lessens the "your hands are cold" messages.
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;48519128]- [b]Utilize lines of sight to pull as few zombies as possible.[/b] -[/QUOTE] On that note also another tip. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD make use of the lean function so you don't just blindly run around corners, especially in dense towns with a lot of strong Z's and Bots. And ESPECIALLY in Labs etc. Which is Shift+X I think. Been a few months since I last had a proper game. It's long overdue.
[QUOTE=MrDestroyer;48519029]Can anyone give me any starting tips? Every time I start I end up getting mauled by a swarm of zombies or freezing to death.[/QUOTE] Getting mauled right away: Try to avoid running near any big cities. Go to the very corner and break into the house on the very edge, if you attract attention you should be able to run away and try again from a different angle. If you take the 'Quick' and 'Fleet Footed' traits you should be able to outrun most enemies at the early stages of the game. Freezing to death: Being a bit chilly is perfectly fine, but if things start going numb then you may have problems. The lockers at the shelter you spawn in usually contain blankets/emergency jackets which will provide you with warmth at the cost of severe encumbrance. I suggest wearing them at night to sleep. You may also find it handy to try and make a scarf to keep your head/mouth warm. To do this take down a curtain from your starting shelter (or if there are any clothes in the basement simply stand on those) and press 'B' and opt to cut up as much as you can. You should get rags, which you can use to craft clothes. You can turn up the initial amount of points you get to spend if you want, the option is there to be changed. I understand if you don't want to though, I always felt it was 'cheating' and didn't enjoy the game if I did. It's been mentioned before but in case you missed it, if you take 'Melee Weapons Training' trait and the 'Scoundrel' profession, and then select 'Eskrima' as your melee style you get a very nice start. The knife the scoundrel starts with works with the style (which you may need to select from the menu by pressing '_') . You should be able to defeat most basic enemies in 1v1s with that set up. Stab twice by trying to move into the enemy, then move backwards 1 space - to make them waste time chasing after you.
If you can, find a basement and make a base there. Zombies will not wander into basements unless they are already chasing you.
Basements are usually pretty dark though so I'd recommend getting an atomic lamp for reading. One of the best locations is the starting shelters just for that reason. You can read 24/7.
I just use lightstrips for reading, at least early on. They seem to have nerfed them a bit though.
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;48519128]I'm insanely tired right now so I won't be able to give anything decent, but I'll try to remember to get back to this thread after I get some sleep.[/QUOTE] Okay, I'm back awake. Let's see what I remember. Probably the best early weapon is a hammer if you can find one. It costs 83 moves per attack, which means it actually spends less time attacking than you do moving. Coupled with proper kiting - something you'll learn as you play, but basically it's like fighting anything slower than you in other Roguelikes; let it step to you, hit it, back away and repeat - you can deal with basic zombies/skeletons and even dogs fairly easily. Past that I usually go the bow route, as ammo is cheap and with enough skill and 12+ strength you can deal a LOT of steady damage at the highest tier of bow. Dogs, shockers, and spitters are your biggest threats early. Dogs are fast, shockers and spitters have ranged attacks. Spitters' acid will damage or destroy any items on the same tile as it, keep that in mind when trying to kite them near loot. Shockers will shock you back if you hit them something made of metal in melee, which can prove lethal if you don't realize it, are near other zombies, or are using a weak weapon that you have to hit them a LOT with. Ideally a baseball bat would handle them, but as long as they're alone and your weapon is decent you can just eat the extra damage. Also keep in mind that skeletons and skeletal dogs can't bash. Any other zombies will smash their way through windows, cars, doors, even some weak walls to get to you, but skeletons will just stand there and glare at you if they're sealed in. Natural wildlife ranges from mostly a joke/prey animals, to absolutely stupidly unbalanced. Some things are obviously dangerous, like bears and wolves. Some things are not, like moose. Moose are the single most persistent and dangerous enemy I have ever seen in this game. The primary reason for this is that they don't trip the enemy detection on safe travel mode. If you see a moose and it's not in a direction you aren't going, find it using look. Avoid it. If you go near it, it's going to aggro on you and probably kill you. I've lost a lot of promising characters to moose before. Later they're much less of an issue, but they're always dangerous. As far as early raids go, throwing is a broken skill. For whatever reason, they nerf bows every single release but refuse to touch throwing. Loading yourself up on rocks before you get to the city and throwing them at approaching zombies can help whittle them down, and it won't take long before you're able to do significant amounts of damage as they close in. It falls off later due to the weight of the ammo, but early on it can significantly help your chances of survival. You can live out of the shelter if it's in a convenient place, but personally I prefer to empty out a house and the surrounding area in the corner of a city and work for there. It lets me compartmentalize my loot easier, and is generally much closer to where I want to go for raids. A 'nasty bite wound' can be disinfected with either disinfectant or a first aid kit. This is important. This will kill you if you don't treat it relatively quickly. Bleeding will stop on its own, but it's much faster to stop with rags or bandages. Health returns when you sleep unless you have the Regeneration mutation, so if you're weak but not planning on raiding anymore you can pass the time with crafting or reading and get some sleep to heal up. Vehicles are mostly a waste of time to a brand new player. Focus on survival. When you've got a good supply of perma food and clean water, try to find a car in a safe place that's either only missing gas or wheels and fix the problem, then slowly drive it back to your base and drive it around a bit at sub-30 MPH to get a feel for the way the controls work and how your driving skill affects your ability to control it.
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;48521840] A 'nasty bite wound' can be disinfected with either disinfectant or a first aid kit. This is important. This will kill you if you don't treat it relatively quickly. Bleeding will stop on its own, but it's much faster to stop with rags or bandages. Health returns when you sleep unless you have the Regeneration mutation, so if you're weak but not planning on raiding anymore you can pass the time with crafting or reading and get some sleep to heal up.[/QUOTE] You can also cauterize an infected wound with a soldering iron(with at least 1 charge/use, naturally). Bear in mind that its less likely to succeed than using disinfectant or a first aid kit and REALLY hurts you. I only state it because it is fully possible to end up with an infected wound, a soldering iron and no other means of disinfection.
Thought they removed that?
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;48521979]Thought they removed that?[/QUOTE] Tried it a while ago on the latest stable. Took 3 tries and naturally hurt like all hell but it worked.
[QUOTE=Lijitsu;48521840]Probably the best early weapon is a hammer if you can find one. It costs 83 moves per attack, which means it actually spends less time attacking than you do moving. [/QUOTE] I mentioned it earlier in the thread but taking Melee Weapon training (Eskrima) with the scoundrel starting job for the switchblade is extremely effective for a starting build, though if you want to save the points and not take the scoundrel job hammers work with eskrima, stone hammers work also. Not entirely necessary but it makes it easier. [QUOTE=Lijitsu;48521840]A 'nasty bite wound' can be disinfected with either disinfectant or a first aid kit. This is important. This will kill you if you don't treat it relatively quickly.[/QUOTE] Just a note, you can cauterize the wound with a knife or a soldering iron but it doesn't always prevent infection and it also causes a shitload of pain. Also you'll know when you've gotten a would that needs to be disinfected/cauterized when you get the message "the wound feels deep" or something along those lines. *damn ninja'd* But yes it's still in the game as of the latest experimental. There is a wiki with useful info but it isn't really kept up to date. I mostly use it to get an idea of what weapons or crafting projects are available. [URL]http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Main_Page[/URL]
[QUOTE=SteakStyles;48522000]Tried it a while ago on the latest stable. Took 3 tries and naturally hurt like all hell but it worked.[/QUOTE] Huh. I just fell back into the mad dashes through bathrooms, pharmacies, and utility closets. I was wondering why they decided to add it and then remove it so quickly, as I remember when it was added and trying it the next release and didn't do it.
Does throwing heavier items do more damage than throwing lighter stuff or does weight only affect range? I got caught by a wolf without ammo for my bow and just started throwing MREs and books.
The actual damage values of the items is what matters.
I love this game but I can never do anything more than find some guns if I'm lucky before I get blown up or swarmed by hulks or something. Any tips? I've never played with a lot of skills like crafting and tailoring and I've never survived a character long enough to build/mod a vehicle
Go back a page and read what we posted. Past that, focus on stockpiling permanent food and skill books. Use up food that can spoil first, keeping in mind anything you find in a tin can won't spoil. Craft when there's something you need, read when there's nothing to craft, sleep when you're tired and it's too dark to read. Always have something to do, even if that something is just organizing your base a bit to pass time for something.
Well, I played my first serious game earlier today. I was wandering around and breaking into houses, collecting food and water. I found a glock and a LAW in someone's dresser, so I took them. I survived for two days until I got spotted by a huge swarm of zombies, so I led them to a gas station, shooting as many as I could with my glock, but I didn't kill enough and there were still like 20-30 of them, so I unpacked my LAW and shot a gas pump, which lit the whole place up. I think I killed most of the zombies but I ended up burning to death.
[QUOTE=Kylel999;48523057]I love this game but I can never do anything more than find some guns if I'm lucky before I get blown up or swarmed by hulks or something. Any tips? I've never played with a lot of skills like crafting and tailoring and I've never survived a character long enough to build/mod a vehicle[/QUOTE] Try turning off skill rust, so you don't feel burdened by your skills or anything. Get some light in your shelter and a bunch of food and just spend a bunch of time reading. Look at all the cool new stuff you can craft.
[QUOTE=MrDestroyer;48523612]Well, I played my first serious game earlier today. I was wandering around and breaking into houses, collecting food and water. I found a glock and a LAW in someone's dresser, so I took them. I survived for two days until I got spotted by a huge swarm of zombies, so I led them to a gas station, shooting as many as I could with my glock, but I didn't kill enough and there were still like 20-30 of them, so I unpacked my LAW and shot a gas pump, which lit the whole place up. I think I killed most of the zombies but I ended up burning to death.[/QUOTE] Sounds like you either have wandering spawns on or are going too deep into the cities. Just stay on the outskirts until you have decent equipment and skills.
Who the fuck designed the "Hates Vegetables" trait? I thought it would be manageable, but fucking rice, beans, potatoes, [I]broth?[/I] [editline]23rd August 2015[/editline] Is there any CBM that negates this shit?
[QUOTE=mastermaul;48526140]Who the fuck designed the "Hates Vegetables" trait? I thought it would be manageable, but fucking rice, beans, potatoes, [I]broth?[/I] [editline]23rd August 2015[/editline] Is there any CBM that negates this shit?[/QUOTE] Try bone broth. Also no, not that I'm aware of.
I just started this and I've never done a rougue like Rpg before. Honestly not got far at all apart from being lost in a fores and not understanding the controls at all.
[url]http://www.wiki.cataclysmdda.com/index.php?title=Controls[/url] Good for getting to grips with it all. Helped me massively when I first played a long ass time ago. You pick it up quite quickly.
Also you can bring up an ingame help menu by pressing ? that has a list of controls. It looks more daunting than it really is.
[QUOTE=tails484777;48529492]I just started this and I've never done a rougue like Rpg before. Honestly not got far at all apart from being lost in a fores and not understanding the controls at all.[/QUOTE] A big thing to remember is that it's best if you use the keypad for movement, because it allows you to move diagonally (using 7/9/1/3).
Thanks for everyone's help.
[QUOTE=mastermaul;48526140]Who the fuck designed the "Hates Vegetables" trait?[/QUOTE] If there was a way to eventually outgrow/cancel out those kind of traits, then I'd imagine it was thrown in for the added challenge of having to come to terms with vegetables eventually being the only food source. Otherwise, to RP as a fussy eater?
Animals continue to spawn, you can always get meat and bones.
Also if there was one option I wouldn't go without, it's the "circle distances" option or whatever it's called. So instead of moving one square diagonally taking the same time as moving one square straight, it take a little bit longer. It also applies to line of sight and attack distances.
[QUOTE=SteakStyles;48531620]If there was a way to eventually outgrow/cancel out those kind of traits, then I'd imagine it was thrown in for the added challenge of having to come to terms with vegetables eventually being the only food source. Otherwise, to RP as a fussy eater?[/QUOTE] Hates Vegetables has a smaller point gain than Hates Fruits, but I honestly can't imagine Hates Fruits being worse. Practically everything I find is rice or beans. [editline]24th August 2015[/editline] "Curry" is bad but "curry with meat" is fine according to it. You get a -75 fucking moral penalty for eating vegetables. Eating a carrot is 15x worse than killing a child. Your character immediately becomes a bumbling useless shit who won't read or craft because mummy made him eat his spinach.
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