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And so it should be an interesting point that I am a katana user. It can't be upgraded, and it uses stamina. Yet I can stand 'decently' against a group of cannibals solo. Sometimes I can take them down 'left and right', and this is even with me being bad at the 'strafe and move sideways' technique. I'm not that good at coordinating my mouse and keyboard movements. I succeed in this by simply advancing on each one constantly straight ahead, and if i need to make a different maneuver, I instead just turn one way and run then turn back lol.
To drive my point further, I can even regularly take down the flying leaches with only the katana. It eats the stamina during this encounter, constantly running and swinging. But when i'm out of stamina, I simply stop for a few seconds, get some back, and get back into it. Nothing catastrophic is going to happen during these few seconds, even with a group of cannibals. The stamina issue is just so inconsequential, makes so little difference even when doing the Worm solo.
Of course, when your avatar is newish and your athleticism is still kinda low, this is a little harder to manage. But even then it's not very consequential.
I keep an upgraded spear, but just for the heck of it because i very rarely use even that. I don't even hardly use the molotovs or explosives that I keep. I am even making my arrows bone arrows less and less, while my other main go-to is fire arrows. I do keep those on hand and I do use them.
Also, is the bow, or ranged weapons in general, an actual weapon "type" you can main and what ranged weapon do you think is the best one or just the most efficient I guess...
- I play normal. Just never bothered to do differently. I think that it's highly possible that on harder difficulties, upgrades, weapon choice, and stamina would need to be re-assessed. On the other hand, this is all within the context of how I play, versus someone else, and I'm pretty sure that in my particular case I would just make the adjustment a different way. I probably would still use my katana and bow, standard and fire arrows, and that's it.
- It should be noted the 'context of my playstyle' includes utilizing the traps a lot. I've become a 'trap master' such that I really don't even need to do any combat in the first place, and I don't even build any 'walls' of any kind, ever.
- In late game, specifically fighting megan, which I've only tried and succeeded in once with one other player who deserves more credit for the success than me, and then attempted but failed a few times solo, I used every single fire arrow, molotov, explosive etc that I could pack in before the battle. In that situation, with me at least, I'd go in with everything ranged of every type that I could possibly carry. But then, I might do better these days versus before if I'd try again, and it might not be nearly as hard for me.
- I'm not sure what you mean by what is the best to 'main'. This is very subjective. What I explained is what's best for me. But not for someone else. And so as it concerns 'efficient', these are the most efficient for me. When thinking of efficiency, I don't consider only stamina or damage-dealing capability. I also consider resources required for any particular weapon and it's upgrades, the effect of these versus what it takes to have them, the effect of stamina and how much difference it makes to worry only about that alone, etc etc. I kind of think of how I can still put a nail in a board with a regular old-fashioned hammer, and despite how a powered nail-gun can do it better, do i really need that advantage in the first place? No, I don't. so I 'keep it simple' and get the job done. I don't have that many occasions wherein I need the advantage of a nail-gun versus what it takes to obtain it, use it, and carry it around.
i also have an upgraded spear with a molotov just in case but i rarely throw it. the upgraded spear only has more melee damage not while thrown
the pros:
high damage ranged and in close combat
requires little stamina making you agile
spears are cheap and headshots can oneshot cannibals (sometimes the hitbox feels unreliable but it does work)
you can pick up the spears you throw and its one of the easiest ways to beat the boss (takes less damage from fire and explosives but not from spears etc)
available right at the start and doesnt require any exploring
strong vs mutants
spears are good for stealth kills
cons:
without a spearbag you have 2 spears max (one basic and one upgraded) making fighting difficult if you lost track of where you threw them in a fight
needs practise to be really effective
spear throwing is bad vs babies since you cant block. they do get oneshot by an upgraded spear though
i havent played much on harder difficultys but the spears did not disapoint me in my multiplayer world with 40+ days. they still do decent damage
Darn, i keep forgetting about the spears and trying them. This post reminded me. I might like spears even better much of the time, but just keep not even thinking of them.
With the Upgraded bow key is fire arrows
With the Upgraded Spear key is tactical usage of this weapon.
Pros - both these weapons can be obtained very early simply by going to the Modern Axe Cave location.
When you get the modern axe you get in the same exact spot - 15 arrows - 4 white pills - 2 rope - all the cans of soda you can carry - 10 - dynamite - 2 flairs - Spray is also located in another part of this cave and easy to get too.
You only need to kill 3 cannibals in this cave to get these items you can even run past them put on the Red Paint that is with the modern axe and simply ignore them .. however, ya need 3 bones to make the upgraded spear.
Anyone, imo who does not got to the modern axe cave imo ... at the beginning of the game ... when getting off the plane .... is a moron.
Again, ya get among other things 10 cans of soda so water is not a problem for awhile you have ample time to get two deer and make a water skin before the soda runs out ..
In addition the Old Pot ... one of them ... is located very near this cave in the tiny village next to the lake there .. the Old Pot satisfies your water needs and filling up your waterskin...
And also rabbits are nearby this cave so this can quickly afford you the stick bag and Quiver ... for arrows.
Anyway Fire Arrows are great you inflict damage and do not chance loosing any of your bone armor - using the katana you can loose bone armor so your constantly filling enemy and redoing when needed more armor.
USE OF THE UPGRADED SPEAR - The key is to Jab at the enemy and immediately as you jab to slide in a circle around the enemy constantly jabbing and sliding around them after each jab this can often take out an enemy without taking any damage.
Pro tip - hit them with a flame arrow as they scream start jabbing them with the modern spear if you do not want to use a lot of flame arrows ..
Oh also, in this same cave is plenty of booze in order to make flame arrows
One last thing you can use just regular arrows to head shoot enemy one shot to the head they are down and you have not lost any armor ...
so therefore the Bow and the Upgraded spear is all you need and the best weapons .. when ya get bored killing them with this simply go and find the katana the chainsaw etc.
but doing this first you have to deal with water and food and in order to get rabbits etc. you run around like a moron chasing them with a spear ... simply because you don't have a bow.
Ranged weaponry tends to default to bow because a headshot with any bow, with any arrow, in any difficulty is an instant kill on a cannibal. Reliably getting those headshots is an entirely separate issue though and takes some practice. Plus creepies exist, which obviously this doesn't exactly apply to (but fire arrows can be wonderful there). Spear ends up popular as well partly because of its reach but mostly that the spear throw can be absolutely devastating. Spear as a late game weapon can be slightly challenging though without leaning into throwing spears, largely because the spear has a precise poke attack otherwise that isn't always great at dealing with crowds (but good to keep in mind when building, spear is sometimes the only thing precise enough to break one structure without destroying the structures incredibly close to it).
Axes on the other hand, tend to favor the defensive, as counter-intuitive as that may be. Katana is pretty good for the highly aggressive as keeping the pressure on is how you stun lock them to death. Axes I find better for playing more defensively, actually blocking attacks and countering rather than just pure "strafe and stab". Plus a lesser known perk of axes is they are the weapon class with the greatest chance of enemy knockdown (though the axe with the absolute greatest chance of it is actually not the modern axe, it's the rusty axe which commonly gets overlooked but is the most defensive of the axes despite not being the strongest).
As for weapons upgrades, some swear by them, others basically never use them, but there are some established min/max style setups depending on whether you prefer to focus on speed, power, or the best possible combination of the two. Most of those established setups can be found on the wiki's page about weapon upgrades, along with an upgrade calculator if you want to test different combinations effects on different weapons without having to invest the materials directly in game (and with slightly clearer indications of what those upgrades actually do exactly). Which you personally would prefer to focus on is also based on personal preference as well though. Like you could dump entirely attack into your modern axe and it will hit noticably harder, but also slower which could potentially throw off your rhythm with that weapon and despite it now causing more damage you may find it less effective because all of your timing is now off causing you to make more mistakes.
I think that i'm a moron :) I don't bother with the modern ax, nor the modern bow, nor the modern arrows.
I like being able to craft arrows, for example, on the spot anywhere I am. That's 'efficiency', referring to OP followup inquiries.
Another thing that I like is to keep it primitive - crafted ax, crafted bow, crafted arrows. My one exception to this is the katana, and using the booze for fire arrows, etc. Even if i make molotovs etc, or eventually get the flare gun just for something to go do, i never use them.
But I think that this should make my point to some extent...I just don't need these things, and I do fine. I've started the game at the beginning a few times, when you have nothing and are weak, and I don't bother with any of this. I have no problems by not going to any cave - the only one I really go to is the katana cave. Long ago, I'd make some visits to that one that gives a lot of cloth, but i don't even bother with that anymore. And soda, another example...it's funny, but I almost go out of my way to NOT have soda. I know it makes no difference in game, but i don't like the idea of drinking soda for hydration lol. Water just isn't a problem either, even when I start a new game.
I also have no problem with bone armor...for me at least, bones are among the easiest things to get. I just kill cannibals left and right cause they want to constantly harrass me, and there's my bones. It's been a long time since I worried any at all about losing my armor by taking some hits, because I can make 10 for every 1 I lose. In fact, one of my crafting issues starting out is making sure i have some bone box storage ready to store all the extra bones in, and some armor racks for the extra creepy I accumulate.
Since the katana is most effective at crowd control, is it a good idea to use it against cannibals while using something else, like the upgraded spear, for mutants?
Since the spears are mostly a 1v1 weapon, can you still "circle" a group of enemies, poking them while strafing or will you get overwhelmed?
Just by your opinion, is it better to "strafe and stab" or to actually play a bit more close quarters and block attacks, what is safer, from your experience?
Could the katanas speed, and therefore the basically eternal stun lock, be a reliable alternative to the axe's knockdown?
You're getting to the point where you just need to play and learn and develop your own approach and opinion. That's more fun anyway. After a point, since much of this is subjective and up to each person, it won't do you much good to dig deeper into other's opinions.
It is possible to use the katana throughout the game, from beginning to end, on the hardest difficulties (that is pretty much exactly how i play constantly) but be aware this doesn't mean you have to use katana 100% of the time either even if it is your preferred weapon. The katana is crowd control for cannibals mostly, the stun effect doesn't really affect the big boys. That doesn't mean the katana can't be used against creepies but I will openly admit it is not exactly the best approach in most cases (though strafe and stab does work there as well, but the positioning can be slightly trickier). Also worth a special mention that fire is the preferred approach to dealing with the cow/pig (the walking potato that belly flops) as their panicking fire dance can prevent them from using that incredibly annoying knockdown charge in the first place. Sticking to the katana specific questions in this paragraph, I personally find the stunlock from katana to be more reliable than the axe knockdown IF you can maintain your positioning to keep them pinned. If you are still practicing your positioning in combat, you may instead favor an axe and incorporate more blocking for those moments you didnt quite get it right (katana can block, but barely, so with katana it is best to never get hit in the first place or constantly focus on your armor).
As for the spear, strafe and stab can work with any weapon including the spear but the spear is one of the easier ones to make a mistake that will cost you when fighting a group. It doesn't block at all, since its right click is the throw, so much like katana it is important to avoid getting hit in the first place but unlike katana the spear rarely hits more than one enemy at a time because of how precise it is. Spear is possible, but i see a lot of less experienced players struggle with that overwhelmed issue until they get the hang of their positioning. Though it is worth mentioning that in multiplayer games, a katana user and a spear user can be amazing compliments to eachother. The katana can keep enemies pinned so the spear doesnt get overwhelmed by the group, while the spear makes killing them off quickly much easier with little risk of accidentally hitting the katana user who can often end up in the way while trying to press enemies into stunlock.
Also worth mentioning if you weren't aware of it yet but you have hotkeys, 4 of them to be exact. So you can have multiple weapons on hotbar to switch quickly as the situation calls for. You'd combine the item you want hotkeyed, with the backpack, on the crafting mat and then assign it to slot 1-4 accordingly. My personal setup tends to be: 1) katana, 2) axe, 3) bow, 4) meds...but you can set it up however it works best for you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUXC1RnkUDE
Thanks for that vid, had a good watch. :)