Do I really need to watch life n living?

[Dogtor]

I noticed while playing that every playthrough I start I just gather enough supplies and huddle up in a house until I watch every episode of life and living. In my future playthrough I want to do an off the grid type of run where I don't use electricity.

So can I level up with books or are they there just to give XP boosts?
Does it get more grindy without life and living?

[Thick-Six]

by default a lot of skills are hella grindy. i personally double the XP gain but start 6 months later to balance it out.

[Amereth]

yes you will grind a bit more, the most affected is probably going to be cooking since carpentry isn't that hard to level up.

Anyway if you start 6 month later without electricty you have nothing to worry about anyway, you won't be able to watch anything...

[The early worm deserves the bird]

You don't need to at all. I almost never watch it any more unless I happen to be around a house. Books only give XP boost but skills aren't that hard to level up. There are also VHS tapes that you can get that have skills on them so it's not a big deal

[icedude94]

Books give you big multipliers when you gain XP so it lessens the grind. All of the life and living episodes for the different shows you can find VHS tapes for and watch later.

You could always edit your sandbox settings to give yourself xp gain multipliers to make it less grindy as well.

[Quill]

I don't watch Life and Living

What I do is rush to the VHS Stores across Knox County and take all the tapes I can that provide XP. I then raid any Bookstores I can to get all the books

Then once I get established somewhere I read all the books and watch the Tapes to get MUCH bigger XP boosts than watching the shows on TV by themselves

[Malthar]

Originally posted by Quill:

I don't watch Life and Living

What I do is rush to the VHS Stores across Knox County and take all the tapes I can that provide XP. I then raid any Bookstores I can to get all the books

Then once I get established somewhere I read all the books and watch the Tapes to get MUCH bigger XP boosts than watching the shows on TV by themselves

the tv show and the VHS stack last i heard

[Armagenesis]

Originally posted by Malthar:

Originally posted by Quill:

I don't watch Life and Living

What I do is rush to the VHS Stores across Knox County and take all the tapes I can that provide XP. I then raid any Bookstores I can to get all the books

Then once I get established somewhere I read all the books and watch the Tapes to get MUCH bigger XP boosts than watching the shows on TV by themselves

the tv show and the VHS stack last i heard

They do stack, but spending your first week holed up just to wait for LnL shows might be a waste of time. You should only catch up when you can. Unless you are playing a chill playthrough with small starting population.

[Malthar]

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

Originally posted by Malthar:

the tv show and the VHS stack last i heard

They do stack, but spending your first week holed up just to wait for LnL shows might be a waste of time. You should only catch up when you can. Unless you are playing a chill playthrough with small starting population.

tbh, i play with 2x pop with random stats and still hang out watchin LnL the first week, prioritizing woodcraft

[Atalan]

I feel that clearing out the zombies in nearby cells is more productive during the first week rather than watching TV. That way when the helicopter event happens, the concentration of nearby resulting zombies is much less dense.

[Death]

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

Originally posted by Malthar:

the tv show and the VHS stack last i heard

They do stack, but spending your first week holed up just to wait for LnL shows might be a waste of time. You should only catch up when you can. Unless you are playing a chill playthrough with small starting population.

I'll catch the shows while I'm out looting if I'm not under too much pressure. No need to hole up and do nothing in that time. You have 6 in game hours in between shows, so I'm not sure why anyone would just spend the first two weeks just waiting for the shows to start when you can get plenty done in between.

[Undefined]

I'll make an effort to try and catch the shows, but I won't stay all day holed up just so I can guarantee I'll catch them.

After I've gotten a good weapon, a car, and a base, I'll just head to the VHS Store and the Library and get my easy XP that way.