What causes the cannibal things to attack you?

[Acevy]

Is it completely random? I was just chilling and 4 of them ran up on me

[SteelFire]

They're naturally hostile. They are cannibals and you aren't one of them, so you're on the menu.

[General Malaise]

You should look up the definiton of cannibal.


They want to eat you!

:)

[Acevy]

Originally posted by Leland Stottlemeyer:

You should look up the definiton of cannibal.


They want to eat you!

:)

Yes I know what a cannibal is but is there something that causes them to show up at my camp? I'm not sure if I did something to cause a bunch of them to appear or if it was just random

[General Malaise]

Originally posted by Acevy:

Originally posted by Leland Stottlemeyer:

You should look up the definiton of cannibal.


They want to eat you!

:)

Yes I know what a cannibal is but is there something that causes them to show up at my camp? I'm not sure if I did something to cause a bunch of them to appear or if it was just random

They'll show up more if you're on patrol routes, but they will show up anyway.

Build traps - enjoy their visits.

Seriously, fill boxes and boxes with bones, if you have enough traps.

They don't come enough for my liking.

:)

[SteelFire]

Even if you're not near enough to a patrol route to draw them in due to simple line of sight, certain things will draw them in closer. Fires at night that they can see, the bigger the fire the more attention it draws. Chopping down trees, it's a loud process. Seeing your structures; so be careful of your build order/position.

Also, once they know where you live, they don't just forget. They're cautious at first, so you may not have even noticed the first ones to find your camp, but they went back to tell their friends about you. You can delay the time between encounters if you make sure that every single one of the scouts/attackers gets killed when you encounter them, but certain ones are more cowardly and are likely to run away when things go south for them. Coincidence or not, but I've also noticed it seems they might change location focus for hunting for you if they have a significant encounter with you away from your base.

Also, once they start an attack, again, if you don't wipe them out quickly enough, they'll send/call for more reinforcements so long as some are still alive and they can detect your presence. You can find yourself with a near endless supply of increasingly dangerous cannibals and mutants coming your way.

[Acevy]

Originally posted by SteelFire:

Even if you're not near enough to a patrol route to draw them in due to simple line of sight, certain things will draw them in closer. Fires at night that they can see, the bigger the fire the more attention it draws. Chopping down trees, it's a loud process. Seeing your structures; so be careful of your build order/position.

Also, once they know where you live, they don't just forget. They're cautious at first, so you may not have even noticed the first ones to find your camp, but they went back to tell their friends about you. You can delay the time between encounters if you make sure that every single one of the scouts/attackers gets killed when you encounter them, but certain ones are more cowardly and are likely to run away when things go south for them. Coincidence or not, but I've also noticed it seems they might change location focus for hunting for you if they have a significant encounter with you away from your base.

Also, once they start an attack, again, if you don't wipe them out quickly enough, they'll send/call for more reinforcements so long as some are still alive and they can detect your presence. You can find yourself with a near endless supply of increasingly dangerous cannibals and mutants coming your way.

That is a crazy cool AI. I have no idea what a patrol route is but I've done just about everything wrong possible. I always left my fires on overnight and built on the beach next to the yacht which i guess is easy to see. Thanks for all the info

[SteelFire]

Patrol routes are paths the cannibals regularly travel, in groups. As you do some exploring and watch, you'll see them running along; sometimes stopping to place effigies, sometimes stopping to look around, sometimes moving along and then doubling back, and sometimes just zooming through. Yeah, the north beach by the yacht, where the grave is, that is right on a patrol route.

Pretty much, just assume that any major structure/point of interest is on or near a patrol route. Which makes logical sense if you think about it.

[Acevy]

Originally posted by SteelFire:

Patrol routes are paths the cannibals regularly travel, in groups. As you do some exploring and watch, you'll see them running along; sometimes stopping to place effigies, sometimes stopping to look around, sometimes moving along and then doubling back, and sometimes just zooming through. Yeah, the north beach by the yacht, where the grave is, that is right on a patrol route.

Pretty much, just assume that any major structure/point of interest is on or near a patrol route. Which makes logical sense if you think about it.

Well thanks for all that info. I'll try to learn the rest myself. I didn't build much yet so I guess I'll move into the woods or something soon.

[General Malaise]

Originally posted by Acevy:

Originally posted by SteelFire:

Even if you're not near enough to a patrol route to draw them in due to simple line of sight, certain things will draw them in closer. Fires at night that they can see, the bigger the fire the more attention it draws. Chopping down trees, it's a loud process. Seeing your structures; so be careful of your build order/position.

Also, once they know where you live, they don't just forget. They're cautious at first, so you may not have even noticed the first ones to find your camp, but they went back to tell their friends about you. You can delay the time between encounters if you make sure that every single one of the scouts/attackers gets killed when you encounter them, but certain ones are more cowardly and are likely to run away when things go south for them. Coincidence or not, but I've also noticed it seems they might change location focus for hunting for you if they have a significant encounter with you away from your base.

Also, once they start an attack, again, if you don't wipe them out quickly enough, they'll send/call for more reinforcements so long as some are still alive and they can detect your presence. You can find yourself with a near endless supply of increasingly dangerous cannibals and mutants coming your way.

That is a crazy cool AI. I have no idea what a patrol route is but I've done just about everything wrong possible. I always left my fires on overnight and built on the beach next to the yacht which i guess is easy to see. Thanks for all the info

I honestly think that's the best place in the game to build. Build loads of traps, and you'll be fine.


I've built there 3 times, the last on Hard Survival. I've been scouting the island, for somewhere that's anywhere near as good, for my next playthrough - but I don't think anywehre is as good.

You have plenty of logs and sticks nearby. Turtles arriving every day, for meat and water collectors. You have tons of Seagusl to catapult for feathers. You have Aloe and Marigold nearby, and Coneflower a little to the south, along with Blueberries. You have a pond not far away(near village), if you get short of clear water - just boil in a pot. You have access to rope on the yacht, and boats at the pond.

It's easy to defend. I've got about 60 traps: Happy Birthday, Noose, and Deadfall.

Like I said, I think it's the best place going. You also cannot be surrounded, as you have the ocean, and you can go there if you're really desperate. Go to yacht.

[BrokeAsAJoke]

There is a youtuber called Farket who has detailed videos about the cannibals patrol routes and what will cause them to attack or hostile you. For the most part if you havent already attacked them, you're not wearing armor, and you don't approach them too closely they won't attack you (most of the time). They travel along patrol routes and build effigies. There are also different groups so if you build a base where multiple patrol paths intersect then your base will be under constant attack. Farket recommends the "Fertile lands". This patch of forest is located near the east part of the peninsula just north of the river. Think of the peninsula (the forest is NOT an island) as a clock. The fertile lands are just about where the 3 would sit on the clock. If you're not sure where you are you can always use the big mountains as a quick north reference.

[Cata]

Originally posted by BrokeAsAJoke:

There is a youtuber called Farket... Farket recommends the "Fertile lands". This patch of forest is located near the east part of the peninsula just north of the river. Think of the peninsula (the forest is NOT an island) as a clock. The fertile lands are just about where the 3 would sit on the clock. If you're not sure where you are you can always use the big mountains as a quick north reference.

TL:DR, defo build up on the ridge near the fertile lands and never never attack them.

In my 2nd play through I built up on the ridge next to fertile lands. I only ever chopped down trees in the day and very cautiously at that. I didn't chop any down near the large pond up there and kept well close to the ridge edge. I kept my buildings small and simple.

I NEVER EVER lit even one fire at night. Didn't even attack one canibal above land, except one on the 2nd day in that large village of theirs with the cave access; and that was cos the ♥♥♥♥♥ jumped on me without me even seeing her. I killed her and ran away from the rest of her gang.

After that I didn't get noticed by them until day 42. They eventually found me and put up some effigies. I just watched and didn't interact. When they left I smashed them down. They would come and visit me sometimes in the day but never at night. They only ever watched me and built a few more effigies.

Eventually I explored and tried to complete the story and on the few occassions I bumped in to canibals, we would stand off and just stare at each other. They would hiss and grunt at me. I would back off slowly and then they would continue their patrol. The crazy grey/blue skin ones I met a few times and they outright attacked me so I Killed them and hid the bodies.

I completed the story and never had my base attacked once even though they knew where it was and was never attacked by them accept the crazy grey/blue ones.