How Do You Get FOOD???

[danconnors]

I'm starviing!!! The only food I've found is a small pack of saltines and a can of chicken noodle soup. I've been risking my life by eating mushrooms I find in the woods, but they aren't filling me up.

On the bright side, this is my first character to live long enough to actually get hungry. Can someone stretch my life expectancy by a few hours and tell me where to find food?

[Lin]

Scavenged food will get you nowhere. It's too late in the apocalypse for much to be left. You have 3 basic alternatives:

1) Eat the meat of your kills (deer, dogmen, people if you swing that way). Make sure you cook it first, and remember that it degrades relatively fast (and don't eat spoiled meat, that's a death penalty without nano). Having a combat oriented character helps make this a viable option.
2) Go for berries and mushrooms. Without the botany skill this is a time consuming prospect, but can still get you buy, especially if you carry around and craft a squirrel snare (which increases your yield a bit and may get you the odd squirel as well). Remember that only the blue berries are always safe.
3) Reach the (atm 3) locations on the map that offer food. One is free, the other costs money, the third may be risky. I'm not giving you spoilers since you haven't asked for them and because none of them are permanent solutions for when roaming around.

For new players I'd advise making builds that include botany, until you know the game and the world a bit better. You can't starve with botany, your yield in forests is always decent and you instantly know what is edible and what poisonous. It may make the game almost too easy later on, but it's great in the learning phase.

[danconnors]

Botany it will be. I don't know how to start a fire, and only one of my characters found a cigarette lighter (a few minutes before a giant plant ate his face).

Guess I'll have to drop the lockpick skill, but my current character, with the skill, lost his picks, and the skill's now useless.

Thanks for the help.

[Utjan]

Get a crowbar and put a strap on it so you can carry it on your shoulder. It can be used to break down locked doors.

[danconnors]

Another useful tip! My current character has now survived 3 days! He has a sleeping bag, lockpicks, berries, mushrooms, and 3 cigarette lighters. And just now, he found a sleeping bag! He may make it for a week at this rate.

Now, if I can just find a looter with a crowbar...

[Lin]

To make fire without a lighter, you need to pick the trapping skill. It will allow you to light fires by friction. Lockipicking is hardly ever useful as the game stands right now, like Icemeow said, crowbars are common enough and can be strapped.

Bonus tip to get past the first few days: You need to learn how to play defensively. Don't get into battles before you have weapons, run instead. Only attack when the opponents have the "vulnerable tag", keep your distance and dodge the rest of the time. Don't get too close early on to Bad Muthas especially, they are much harder opponents then one expects.

Two weapons will save your early game: 1. Craft a spear asap (there are many variations around the common base of large shafts, that you get by "using" forests, and shards that you get everywhere). You can use it as a stab weapon from a distance of 3, which is the distance you should aim to stay in at all times, to avoid taking mellee damage. 2. Craft a sling asap (any rag, paper, whatever with some medium threads). Most useful if you have ranged, but even without it, it's easy to craft and a lucky shot at a vulnerable opponent from a distance may cripple their limbs, gaining you a great advantage. I even use it at late game myself, imho it's a great, underrated weapon.

Frankly, I really miss the time when I like you couldn't survive past the first days, it's great fun figuring out how the game works. ;) Enjoy discovering it. :)

[danconnors]

Not being able to start fires has given me one advantage (knock on wood). I have to sleep at night without a campfire. So far I haven't been attacked while trying to sleep.

My guess is that a campfire gives away your position too readily in the dark. All those things creeping about in the dark probably zero in on any fire they see.

Sharpened spears were the first thing I learned to make. I usually make 2 at a time, because 1 spear breaks every fight. I need to learn how to make a bundle of spears I can sling over my shoulder with a strap.

[#GetRektasaurus]

Here's a tip, USE TRAPPING and MELEE!!!... That sharpened spear+fire+melee skill...

Hardened spear, which lasts me like 10 fights.

Trapping is great for food and making fire without a light. Trapping+twigs+medium stick = fire XD

[He Who Shat His Pants]

Originally posted by danconnors:

Another useful tip! My current character has now survived 3 days! He has a sleeping bag, lockpicks, berries, mushrooms, and 3 cigarette lighters. And just now, he found a sleeping bag! He may make it for a week at this rate.

Now, if I can just find a looter with a crowbar...

Why are you using the lockpicks?

[ccwylde70]

A sharpened spear is easy enough to make, but like you said, it doesn't survive more than a few fights - a hardened spear's even better, as noted above. I go with the broad spear - whether it's truly any better than the hardened spear is anybody's guess as far as I know, but I do know that the $ value on it is about a buck higher than a hardened spear of equal quality, and much better than a sharpened spear. The other good thing about the broad spear is, you don't need a fire for it ... but you do need: large piece of wood, something sharp, string, melee skill (perhaps strong or tough skills might work as well) and a glass shard. You can make one w/o the glass shard, but it won't be a 100% broad spear then ... from what I can tell, you'll need a 100% large stick (easy) and a 100% glass shard (you can get these by crafting a broken bottle for 2 shards, both will come out 100%). This gives you a spear that will last through days of heavy fighting.

The second thing I get around to making as soon as possible is a bow, but you'll need the ranged skill in order to make bows & arrows ... for me, ranged is a definite must, b/c once the enemies graduate to firearms, you're going to want to be able to shoot them at distance before they can accurately shoot you back (hopefully). At any rate, bow & arrow's great for hunting down deer and getting several large & small slabs of meet. Large slabs of meet are great b/c, curiously, they do a real positive jump on both the food and drink requirement. Happy Hunting!

[ccwylde70]

Ok, I rechecked, you DO have to have the melee skill to make a broad spear. Strong & tough skills won't cut it ...

[Dragoonseal]

Ranged skill lets you make broad spears as well as, in addition to the Melee skill.

And yes broad spears are slightly more damaging than hardened spears (little more cut damage, same impact damage).

[ccwylde70]

Thanks for the extra info, Dragoonseal :)

[Codex]

Originally posted by Lin:

Scavenged food will get you nowhere. It's too late in the apocalypse for much to be left. You have 3 basic alternatives:

1) Eat the meat of your kills (deer, dogmen, people if you swing that way). Make sure you cook it first, and remember that it degrades relatively fast (and don't eat spoiled meat, that's a death penalty without nano). Having a combat oriented character helps make this a viable option.
2) Go for berries and mushrooms. Without the botany skill this is a time consuming prospect, but can still get you buy, especially if you carry around and craft a squirrel snare (which increases your yield a bit and may get you the odd squirel as well). Remember that only the blue berries are always safe.
3) Reach the (atm 3) locations on the map that offer food. One is free, the other costs money, the third may be risky. I'm not giving you spoilers since you haven't asked for them and because none of them are permanent solutions for when roaming around.

For new players I'd advise making builds that include botany, until you know the game and the world a bit better. You can't starve with botany, your yield in forests is always decent and you instantly know what is edible and what poisonous. It may make the game almost too easy later on, but it's great in the learning phase.

YOU HAVE TO COOK HUMAN MEAT? WHAT BULL**** IS THIS? i just use my multitool to cut open my kill...and then i enjoy the DELICIOUS FILLING uncooked...