Raiding a city- Strategy discussion

[SaintPhillip]

So, this is my first 'real' playthrough and I have been playing the game in the most realistic manner possible and trying to avoid spoilers and such.

I'm really new to the game (although I played a bit a couple years ago) and as soon as I spawned in, I ran as far away from the city as I could and spent my time looting the country area near my base...I didnt loot anything in the city and just ran away planning to come back.

I've lived for at least a week or two , have a decent base (I think) , good food stock, generator (although I have the electricity set to go off on day 20 I think) some gasoline, etc... My goal is to get a farm setup and finish securing my base.

I'm lacking in some things- Probably more things than I even know. I know I need a sledgehammer super bad and some guns might be nice (I have a varmint rifle and some ammo but not much) some farming stuff and whatever else will help me survive once the zombies reach my base in any threatening numbers.

Anyhow, playing this has been terrifying and the longer I live the scarier its getting- To the point its damn near stressful lol - I know I need a sledgehammer for certain and every day its going to be more dangerous to try and find one.

I took a trip to town finally and its insane- Hordes everywhere.I didnt think I was going to make it out with my truck. From where I'm sitting-This looks to be 100% impossible and a suicide mission...But I know theres a way to loot the town since this is still only like 2 weeks in and I know you guys have to be looting far longer than that.

So please discuss some strategy for doing this- I know theres probably youtube videos but really not wanting anything thats going to be like a spoiler- More like a general discussion on tactics and such.

Thanks (and sorry for rambling)

[saurce]

1. You can set up some infrastructure. Get some areas where you can run along the rooftops, and lure them with guns, alarms, televisions, anything that makes noise. The taller the building, the better. More floors to store zeds.

2. You can get risky. Get a vehicle, and lure them to areas you don't need to worry about. Create a fallback point. Get several vehicles set up in strategic points to drag zeds from place to place.

3. You can start some fires. Using the aforementioned techniques, you can lure zeds to open fields and start some fires. Campfires, molotovs, bombs, your choice. They can take several days to burn completely, and some will have respawned before you're done, but you will incinerate far more than will respawn if you do things effectively.

This will make all other diversionary tactics easier to execute.

[Lemonhead]

Fires FTW when it gets that bad.

e: Just have a care that they're well away from anything you mind getting burned down.

Also based on mechanics I'm seeing (I haven't burned hordes in a while) If it goes sideways and you need to stop the fire, leave and come back on a rain day. I suspect the game remembers they're on fire, but puts it on pause when you leave the cell. Thus they don't burn up while you're out of the cell. This could result in seemingly neverending fires if I'm right, you may need to babysit the burn.
In the past I've used this to torch literally two screens of nearly solid zeds to ash. It is/was VERY effective.

Any recent burners care to comment? /e

e2: This makes me worry now that redistribute might send a burning zed into a new cell if you wait? Anyone seen this? same cell only right? /e2

[katsuragi]

either get a ridiculous amount of ammo and kill them once your aim skill is about 6+ OR just use melee and a lot of patience and restraint to kill them off the old fashioned way. If your PC has enough muscle you can use a emergency vehicle siren to lure them into one spot, but it is going to draw so many zeds that it may crash your game.

[Ficelle]

Another way is to beeline for the 'safe' places to loot

There is nothing special in the middle of a city that you cant find in another place with far less zombies
Vehicules make it even easier as you dont have to consider distances as much as before

Now, of course, it requires to know these places and where to go...so , if you have little experience with the game, you will have to learn the hard way


A trick with vehicules and many zombies
Instead of keeping accelerator on at all time, tap it to stay in 1st gear...will will have much more torque and be able to bruteforce your way more easily....upto a point of course

[Lemonhead]

Also, on the sledge. You don't need to go into town for that, or really anything for that matter. Last sledge I found was here iirc: https://map.projectzomboid.com/#0.6950104411472161,0.23464770119137507,320.7305019967193

Check all of those rural warehouses etc. if they're not too thick in the countryside that is.

[sudokek]

The above link shows one of my favorite websites for Zomboid. (https://map.projectzomboid.com) it's very well made and has support for a few map mods.

But tbh, if you can train up your stealth skills, you can for sure loot without getting caught, or at least not as often be seen. I've snuck right past zeds that were crowding in a small room. Never even knew I was there. Especially if you built your character for it (inconspicuous, graceful)

[Slimane]

Looting cities is only worth it at the beginning of a game imo. For example spawn directly in Westpoint and beeline for the hardware store. Chances of dying are high but it doesn't really matter if you die since your character is only a few hours old anyway.

Just ignore most of the stuff and head for the unique places like the hardware store, pharmacy and bookstore. Once you have all the essentials you can avoid cities for the rest of the game. Can get all you need from rural areas or smaller town like Ekron.

I see a lot of new players do it the other way around. They spawn and immediately go and start building up their base usually far from the city and only come visit the city a few weeks in. By then the population is 50% higher and you've invested a lot of time in your character, visiting the city will be much more dangerous.

Westpoint in perticular has INSANE population and I would never recommend someone go there after the population has racked up to 1.5

[DarkFaceGlow]

When I find a place I need to get into, and it's swarmed with zeds, I'll go about a block away and fire a few shots from my weapon. Then I circle wide and come into the area from the back. I also always carry a Molotov with me. This way I can lead a group into the grass and kite them in circles for a nice zed roast.

[SaintPhillip]

Wow- A lot of great responses and a lot to digest.

I think the safest approach is going to be to avoid the city- I went back near the outskirts and it was pretty thick with zombies (now they are spreading to the country with a few single ones I passed on the road not too far from base near the edge of the map)

I had imagined there wouldnt be massive hordes for months of game time but this moved far faster than I had planned for. Next time i'm going to loot the city immediately.

For now i'll probably be employing some of the tactics here to even get fuel at a country gas station since things are getting nasty really quickly.

-I've got to say ,I really like this game but I'm not sure its exactly a "fun" game. Its intense and the entire time playing I'm totally on edge now unless I'm inside my base. I enjoy it and love the depth but its a stressful game to play when you're immersed in it lol

[saurce]

Best advice I can give towards stress management and this game is to realize that the loading screen before you start is quite right. This is a story of how you died.

You'll get a lot better the more you experiment and learn from your mistakes. Personally, I spent a good amount of time on Sandbox with no infection transmission so I could get accustomed to what I could and couldn't do. Now I'm playing Apocalypse with the practice I had with Sandbox.

Plus, it's a game. Contrary to popular belief, they're supposed to be fun. No point in pulling your hair out over a game when work/life may make you want to do the same. It's a lesson or mindset that can take lots of time and mistakes to nail down, but once you do.. Games become fun again. :^)

[Lemonhead]

Originally posted by SaintPhillip:

I've got to say ,I really like this game but I'm not sure its exactly a "fun" game. Its intense and the entire time playing I'm totally on edge now unless I'm inside my base. I enjoy it and love the depth but its a stressful game to play when you're immersed in it lol

Can 100% relate. Not my cup of tea to play a game that might get me so worked up that I lose patience with my family over an interruption.

My solution has been to take it down a few notches in sandbox, and If I'm playing hardcore, I do so in the middle of the night when that's an option. The hypertension in harder world setups winds down a bit in time. (Who am I kidding? I went on a cursing litany just last week. But yeah, it kinda does.) No need to shelf it, just sandbox it.

Setting rally group size to five is my go-to. Clearing remains an option then, still have to earn it, but it's doable without so much need for a month's worth of planning and execution. Infection off helps a lot if your expectation is to survive for a long time to see those later game features. Follow sound distance and/or memory/hearing/sight helps with evasion but screws up kiting techniques. Anyway, you'll find your preferred presets.

That and:

Originally posted by Sauce:

Best advice I can give towards stress management and this game is to realize that the loading screen before you start is quite right. This is a story of how you died. ...

[Heavyeatsandvich]

Long Term Survivalist here,


Ill add photos to this later but for now, Muld wise; I've posted HQ at Mccoy Warehouse outside of town, not the safest area but will wall it up with cars, ensuring nothing will be able to enter as well as adding stairs to enter and exit the roofs. about (6?) outposts inside Muld. In my early game I use underweight, raid and eat all the junk food that will perish.(Spiffos,Burger shops,cafes,etc), Weight will build up quickly, get ahold of a beginners carp book and start working at the mccoy base walling it up, keep going and then make spears, save every knife for spear making(expect one for cooking). Spears seem the easiest to use with little risk, My character is build toward Long term at all costs, Smoker trait and High thirst for easy points since they are rather easy to manage. Once a month in start thinking long term, Keep your supplies clean and neat and plan ahead, use highways and cars to draw infected. use the motel in muld, or the safe storage beside it, or a storage fenced around nearby; good areas once walls are up since infected can't get in. BEWARE, Infected love to hide inside the garage doors, use desk or boxes to prevent insta death. Guns are TOOLS, NOT WEAPONS(expect shotgun), Use guns to draw if needed, avoid normal practice. If running Engineer build make pipebombs for best long term horde destruction, if not, use cars to draw instead, do not risk half the country side with fire bombs. Prep for fishing and foraging after setting up garden( plant every 5 days for decent income). Plant Cabbs and Potatos for highest nutrition. Use fences and windows for free smacks if more there two infected, less risk of being caught. Ask any questions and ill respond.



https://steamcommunity.com/id/heavyeatsandvich/screenshot/770608533634398818

https://steamcommunity.com/id/heavyeatsandvich/screenshot/770608533634401414

[Another Mother's Son]

Originally posted by Tamm:

Also i noticed that after some distract they tend to return to their spots wich is pretty unrealistic,

Returning to haunt the place where you spent your life is pretty standard Zombie lore, innit?