tips for power and water shut off

[jestor]

im around 10-15 days and the day is close
what should i do and dont?

[Beaumont]

Get generators. Get lv 4 carpentry. Thats it. Where u base and ehat u do with those two things is up to u.

[Duckling]

bork said it too perfectly.

a 2 generator setup is great though, you can have 1 at a gas station so you can continuously get fuel even after power shut off, and the 2nd one is for your base.

carpentry level 4 allows you to craft water collectors with 4 trashbags and a few planks. A must have for long term survival.
I would make a few of them and stockpile clean water and put them aside cuz if you plan to survive through winter then you will need a big stockpile of clean water.

[jestor]

Originally posted by BorkBeNoms:

Get generators. Get lv 4 carpentry. Thats it. Where u base and ehat u do with those two things is up to u.

How many barrels should i construct?

[Sotanaht]

Power:
You want generators, and they need gas. First thing you need then is an empty gas can. They can usually be found in the trunks of cars or in gas station storage rooms. I say this is first, because gas stations require power and generators require gas, so either get your first can before the power shutoff, or you're gonna have to find a car to siphon.

Next you need the magazine "How to use Generators". Check in schools, any bookshelves in houses, and mailboxes. Unfortunately bookstores no longer seem to have skill magazines, so you won't find it there (always nice to go there for some high-tier skillbooks though).

Last, you need an actual generator. Check in storage sheds near houses. I recommend bringing a car (the gas can helps here too), because generators are heavy. Actually you probably want 2 generators, 1 for your house and 1 to either take with you or leave at a gas station.

Now that you have power, what do you do with it? There are only 2 "important" features that require power: stoves and refrigerators. You can cook food on a campfire or grill without electricity, but doing so can be very inconvenient and Propane is a rare limited resource. Refrigeration isn't too important if you are able to just gather more food, so mostly you only need it to make your farming/trapping products last through the winter, until then you can do without.

Water:
Level Carpentry. At level 4 you can make the basic rain collectors, but they suck. What you really want is the level 7 version which can hold 400 units of water. There's not too much hurry though. Even once the water shuts off, every sink, bathtub, and toilet will still have 20 units of clean water EACH. so you'll always be able to find something to drink. You can also find water dispensers in many businesses, each has 250 units of water and can be picked up with the water still inside, they weigh 30 units

Once you have rain collector barrels, you have two options: either put them on the roof of your safehouse and plumb them to a sink, which will effectively filter the water for you and make it drinkable, OR place a barrel INSIDE (along with several outside), boil water in pots or better yet, Watering Cans and then pour it from the pots/cans into the inside barrel to store clean water.

Why do you need water: Obviously to drink, but you can get drinking water almost anywhere. In fact, you can even drink directly from puddles or the river without getting too sick (just don't drink any tainted water in containers such as water bottles and you're fine). The other main purpose is for Farming, which requires a LOT more and is the reason why you really want those level 7 barrels. You'll want to build several barrels outside to collect water for farming, unless you have a well or river/lake etc.

Make sure you collect every Trash Bag you can. There is always 1 in every trash can, usually along with a cockroach (good for fishing bait). You need 4 per rain collector barrel and you probably want a lot of barrels.


If you read closely, you'll probably notice that neither electricity nor water is really urgent. There is plenty of food and plenty of water on the map, as long as you are willing to go and get it you can probably last a full in-game year without worrying about any kind of more sustainable solution. Neither is something you should be panicing about because you are 14 days in. Try to get some full gas cans if you can, but you can always find a car with gas in the tank to siphon if you miss the power window.

[Duckling]

Originally posted by jestor:

Originally posted by BorkBeNoms:

Get generators. Get lv 4 carpentry. Thats it. Where u base and ehat u do with those two things is up to u.

How many barrels should i construct?

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

[Sotanaht]

Originally posted by Duckling:

Originally posted by jestor:

How many barrels should i construct?

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

It never hurts to have more, except that level 4 barrels are terrible and waste your garbage bags that could be used to make level 7 barrels. Once you have level 7 carpentry though, go wild.

[jestor]

Originally posted by Duckling:

Originally posted by jestor:

How many barrels should i construct?

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

Also i should boil it every single time i get thirsty right?

[Duckling]

Originally posted by Sotanaht:

Originally posted by Duckling:

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

It never hurts to have more, except that level 4 barrels are terrible and waste your garbage bags that could be used to make level 7 barrels. Once you have level 7 carpentry though, go wild.

yes that is why I am suggesting such a small amount,

[Duckling]

Originally posted by jestor:

Originally posted by Duckling:

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

Also i should boil it every single time i get thirsty right?

yes. never drink unboiled water.

[Sotanaht]

Originally posted by jestor:

Originally posted by Duckling:

I would personally suggest only a few, maybe like 4 or so. though it all depends on how you play. such as if you have high thirst I would go for way more. or if you are in a coop I would suggest atleast a dozen.

Also i should boil it every single time i get thirsty right?

Boil any water you intend to carry in a container. The best containers for carrying water are simple Water Bottles or Orange Soda Bottles, as the container itself only weighs 0.1 and stores 10 units (best weight-storage ratio available). If you drink tainted water in a container (reads "tainted" and shows a little skull), you WILL die.

However, you CAN drink any tainted water not in a container safely. It doesn't give you enough "sick" to go past queasy, and by the time you are thirsty again the sick status will have already gone away. Check out this video for more proof:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ribgMWr8OU

"Containers" are things you hold in your inventory and can drink from directly in the inventory. This does NOT include Rain Collector Barrels or Water Dispensers. It's more referring to things like pots and water bottles. The sick effect is 10x as strong from a container and is almost guaranteed death.

[DeadRabbit]

Originally posted by jestor:

Originally posted by BorkBeNoms:

Get generators. Get lv 4 carpentry. Thats it. Where u base and ehat u do with those two things is up to u.

How many barrels should i construct?

Depends on a bunch of stuff, how luxurious do you want to live? Are you just looking to survive or do you want amenities? Are you going to cook? That requires quite a bit of water. Do you want to clean yourself and your clothing? What season is it, and what settings is your rainfall on? All of these can factor into how much you'd need. More is always better, especially in the case of a drought.

[Sotanaht]

Originally posted by DeadRabbit:

Originally posted by jestor:

How many barrels should i construct?

Depends on a bunch of stuff, how luxurious do you want to live? Are you just looking to survive or do you want amenities? Are you going to cook? That requires quite a bit of water. Do you want to clean yourself and your clothing? What season is it, and what settings is your rainfall on? All of these can factor into how much you'd need. More is always better, especially in the case of a drought.

I always make Stir Fry myself, which doesn't require water at all and is quite a bit lighter than soup/stew. I think soup/stew takes longer to spoil though.

But anyway, with level 7 barrels the more the merrier. Really the first thing you should probably do once you start to settle is grind out Carpentry.

[Duckling]

Originally posted by Sotanaht:

Originally posted by DeadRabbit:

Depends on a bunch of stuff, how luxurious do you want to live? Are you just looking to survive or do you want amenities? Are you going to cook? That requires quite a bit of water. Do you want to clean yourself and your clothing? What season is it, and what settings is your rainfall on? All of these can factor into how much you'd need. More is always better, especially in the case of a drought.

I always make Stir Fry myself, which doesn't require water at all and is quite a bit lighter than soup/stew. I think soup/stew takes longer to spoil though.

your assumption is incorrect, at least according to the wiki.
Both stew/soup and stirfry spoil within 5 days.

[Kaeden]

Also whenever you're looting a house before the water shuts off, if you find a large cooking pot in it, fill it up with water from the faucet, and leave it on the floor (unless you want to bring the empty pot home). When you return to it later after the water is off, you'll have extra water you can use.

[A_Flying_Seagull]

generators are great for power problems but elctricty skill might be needed sometimes