How to avoid "pneumonia"?

[Wanderlust]

Putting aside how silly it is to get pneumonia from being in a cave, I understand that medicine is an easy way to deal with it. What about the Dehumidifier, worth it? Are there any other strategies for avoiding it in the first place?

[Newsush]

just in and out of caves every 60secs or so

[Rekal]

There is a helmet alteration that can lower it's chance. There's a red exotic module that can do the same. Both say like a 50% reduction in chance, but other players who use them say it's 100% - even the 20% reduction. So it could be something along the lines of you start off with a 20% chance to get it when it ticks and the gear bonus is directly subtracted instead of multiplied.

There's also the new vitamin you can make which I think gives a 10% reduction? Could be wrong about that. Vitamin lasts over an hour so it's a nice buff to grab regardless.

Dehumidifiers work fine if you're planning on living inside a cave, I wouldn't bother setting one up if you're just planning on just mining the cave. Their range isn't that big though, so you may need several to cover some of the larger caves to live in. Another benefit is they prevent cave worm and bee respawns.

--

As to the fact that you're getting pneumonia in the first place -- pneumonia is a bacterial infection of the lungs. Prospectors are not wearing vacuum space suits, we're basically wearing coveralls with a SAR helmet. (Supplied Air Respirator) Sort of the same gear you see firefighters charging into burning buildings with or maybe scuba gear.

SAR masks/helmets use a type of one-way valve to expel the breath you breath out and are very good at blocking chemical toxins and poisons in the air. Not so great about stopping bacteria that can crawl the wrong way up the one-way valves.

The caves are supposed to have a massive concentrations of bacteria hence the chance to get infected. Sure pneumonia takes a lot longer than what it takes in game to infect and to heal but it's game so /shrug Same reasoning a bear ripping your arm apart can be patched up in seconds with a suture kit and a few bites of cooked meat.

[КрендельФигов]

Question for cave builders
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1149460/discussions/0/3875967397723733854/#c3875967397723819200

[Wanderlust]

Originally posted by Rekal:

{Great answer}

Great, I'll get on that vitamin and build me an alteration bench. Thanks!

Thanks also for explaining the rational basis for pneumonia from these caves. Shame on me for even raising the topic of realism in a game lol.

[Wanderlust]

Originally posted by КрендельФигов:

Question for cave builders
https://steamcommunity.com/app/1149460/discussions/0/3875967397723733854/#c3875967397723819200

Very nice thread with some great info, many thanks!

[william_es]

I can add that the miners module you buy with red exotics will completely nullify pneumonia. Since I've started using it I have never had it since, not even once. Worth every bit of the cost.

Another tactic is just to simply ignore it, as long as you stay in the cave. The only time pneumonia becomes a problem is when it's combined with a cold debuff. The combination of pneumonia and cold debuffs can reduce your max effective stamina to zero. Meaning you can't even swing a pickaxe even once. If you have decent cold insulation, the pneumonia is a pretty trivial debuff. So ignore pneumonia while you're in the cave.

If you have anti-biotics you can cure pneumonia entirely. Don't take anti-biotics if you plan to re-enter the cave, you can just catch it again almost immediately. Use them when you plan to leave and not come back.

Before I had the miner's module, I'd take anti-biotics as I was leaving my starting base for the last time. I'd get rid of the debuff and start travels towards the mission location.

[Wanderlust]

@william_es, sounds like great tips, but at my level I'm getting very minimal stamina when I get pneumonia, that's generally how I notice I got it. I had the sense that I just had to live with the cold buff when in caves, I always have it, despite having the full set of Naneo workshop armor. Is there a way to eliminate the cold debuff from caves? Do I need to bring a dehumidifier with me?

[Newsush]

what you could do at a low level is mine 2 metal nodes run out of the cave and back so it resets you debuff then when you get a higher level you just use a pill

[william_es]

Originally posted by Wanderlust:

@william_es, sounds like great tips, but at my level I'm getting very minimal stamina when I get pneumonia, that's generally how I notice I got it. I had the sense that I just had to live with the cold buff when in caves, I always have it, despite having the full set of Naneo workshop armor. Is there a way to eliminate the cold debuff from caves? Do I need to bring a dehumidifier with me?

Dehumidifier can work, or even simpler just make a suit of fur armor. That will usually take care of the cold debuff. The real problems happen when you have a cold debuff (usually in 2 levels) AND the pneumonia debuff simultaneously.

[Rekal]

Originally posted by Wanderlust:

@william_es, sounds like great tips, but at my level I'm getting very minimal stamina when I get pneumonia, that's generally how I notice I got it. I had the sense that I just had to live with the cold buff when in caves, I always have it, despite having the full set of Naneo workshop armor. Is there a way to eliminate the cold debuff from caves? Do I need to bring a dehumidifier with me?

Temperature adaptation is another bit of the game that's not explained very well, but is really simple.

There are two aspects we as players can control. Temperature Resistance and let's call it Ambient Temperature.

Temperature Resistance is a pretty straight forward bigger is better stat. It's the stat you see on your armor as heat or cold resistance and directly effects the range of ambient temperatures you can comfortably experience. Naneo armor (like the other workshop armor) has a 60% total cold resistance, only Fur armor with the extra 5% set bonus and Polar Bear/arctic armor with a base of 70% can top it.

60% Cold Resistance from the workshop armor will protect you from the environmental cold debuff down to I believe around -6 or -7 degrees Celsius. That means running around in the arctic during the day with no other protection you shouldn't have the cold debuff.

Ambient Temperature is the temperature your body experiences. This is displayed in the HUD in most cases as the current temperature. It's a measure of what your body actually feels. This is the part that most folks don't think they have any control over but you do in fact.

Ways to modify the Ambient Temperature - the temperature you experience.

• Turing the torch/lantern in your L slot on will raise the ambient temperature ~2.3 degrees. Fire be like that right?
  
  
• Getting the Wet buff/debuff from swimming or stomping through a puddle in the ice caves will lower the ambient temperature -10 degrees Celsius while the buff/debuff is active. Great in the hot climates, very bad in the cold. Cannot be removed so you have to wait for it to time out.
  
  
• Campfires or standing torches will warm up the immediate area for you if you're trying to ride out a storm in shelter.
  
  
• Building pieces have different insulation stats and they directly change the ambient temperature value based on how many directions around the prospector are covered by that material. For example concrete with the best insulation value will warm up the ambient temperature to a max of 20 degrees Celsius but if you put in a wood floor cause it looks nicer you lose a great deal of that insulation warming. Even if there is a concrete foundation underneath. The insulation factor is based on what your prospector directly sees in that direction like a shelter check. So stick to concrete interior floors and walls if you plan on living in the arctic and just place down rugs to pretty it up.
  
  
• The canteen with water also effects the Ambient Temperature but the change is not displayed on the HUD like the Wet debuff does. If you leave the canteen with water in it in the envirosuit's water slot you will sip it regularly and get a buff called "Cooling" This is a -5 degrees Celsius that is added directly to the Ambient Temperature. So you need to remember to take your canteen out of that slot when traversing the arctic.
  
  
• Filling the canteen with hot drinks has been added recently. You can now put the teas, coffee, and cocoa in your canteen to sip at and like the water's Cooling buff/debuff these hot drinks give a +10 degrees Celsius warming effect. Again like the cooling effect it's not displayed on the HUD but it is added directly to that value to determine if you experience the cold debuff. Be sure to swap your canteen to something cooler when visiting the hot areas.

The cooling/warming from the canteen and your torch are the most direct way to adjust the ambient temperature. They're also more than enough to keep you warm in just the workshop armor. I mean it's a 17 degree swing if you go from cooling canteen with torch off to warming canteen with torch on you just have to remember to swap your canteen around.

You also don't have to wait out the buff's timers. If you go to your equipment page that shows the buffs you can right click on the buffs to turn them off. The cooling times out pretty fast but the hot drinks last for 5 minutes so turning them off this way can be handy while traveling through multiple biomes.