Day One Infection = Restart

[Warlock]

is it just me, or does the honey spawn rate fall to about 25% normal rate once you are infected? I have never been able to recover an early game with infection, the honey spawn rate always falls and you cannot find one until you are above 5%, and you will spend hours of game time just running around looking for stumps and never getting honey

thus the thread title

this seems to be the case on Random Gens, at least since Alpha 19

[Mithrandir]

Each game I start, I consider myself as soon to be infected and harvest any and all stumps I see. I always have one (or more) honey before I get an infection. Anyway, I need the wood so it's a double win.

[Crater Creator]

It’s probably just confirmation bias, OP. The drop chance of honey from stumps shouldn’t change based on whether you’re infected or not. And honestly, even if it did (I can kind of imagine how one could set up an invisible buff to do that), I can’t imagine the devs would make it less likely. They wouldn’t go out of their way to make you find something more often specifically when you don’t need it.

[william_es]

I've recovered repeatedly.

Just have to make it a priority to look for and harvest stumps. I'd go with what mithrandir said. Don't go looking for it _after_ you're infected, look for it before you need it. Once I get about 2-3 in storage, I switch to other things.

[Desert Rat]

The first couple of in-game days - for me, anyway - are spent gathering resources. Wood, stone, feathers, food, etc. While I'm running around the map I harvest every tree stump I find. By the end of day 2 I usually have plenty of honey to deal with any infection that may happen.

[jacobellinger]

Originally posted by Warlock:

is it just me, or does the honey spawn rate fall to about 25% normal rate once you are infected? I have never been able to recover an early game with infection, the honey spawn rate always falls and you cannot find one until you are above 5%, and you will spend hours of game time just running around looking for stumps and never getting honey

thus the thread title

this seems to be the case on Random Gens, at least since Alpha 19

experienced players know that you smash stumps BEFORE you need honey.

[leadmecca]

I usually have 6 to 10 honey by the end of day 2 just knocking out stumps, sometimes I even double hat trick the achievement by getting one right after another. I've done it 3 times, and about 10 times I've missed by one stump. I've also gone equally as much by hitting 10 or more stumps and getting no honey. It isn't hard to buy a cure/remedy if you are playing with traders and using trader rewards too, often I just beeline for a quick antibiotic, knock out a quest and sell the loot and make enough for it, doesn't set me back that much as I was looting anyway.

The main thing is you just don't want to be taking any more damage then required when infected. If it's game start and this is iron man, I can understand a restart when you reach a point of does the time sink warrant an hour or more grind, especially with bad stump rng, or no traders.

For me first hour infection is usually something exciting to overcome, that could be a game select-able start condition, 1% infected. Sometimes I take tons of damage and I can't get infected, other times, just one scratch.

[mathaniel]

A too late tip but on a new run, just for ♥♥♥♥♥ and giggles, hunt honey before you even get to first trader/first mission:-) Thank you, I`ll be here all night:-)

[Warlock]

hey thanks all who responded

yes of course I prioritize and hit every stump early game, and infection is rarely an issue for me

except

when it happens day one before the first honey as been found. a rare occurrence.

must just be my luck then, because for me when this circumstance occurs, the game does not generate honey or stumps at nearly the same rate. I mean 3, 4+ days of game time doing nothing but searching for stumps, finding most of the forests are now empty of them, and when I do find stumps there is almost never honey and it's not enough to get the infection under 5%

its just not worth spending hours of real time doing nothing in the game but searching for stumps and honey

[Crater Creator]

If it's literally taking days of game time, then you might as well get some cash and buy a cure. There are two kinds of antibiotics, and they work better than honey.

[Macdallan]

Originally posted by Warlock:

is it just me, or does the honey spawn rate fall to about 25% normal rate once you are infected?

*snip*

this seems to be the case on Random Gens, at least since Alpha 19

It's just you because it absolutely doesn't. It's just RNG doing what it does, and I think your perception of it is going to be slightly different when you require that item because you are already infected.

It is definitely not the case since A19 on random gens. I play only random generated maps and this does not happen to me at all.

Originally posted by Crater Creator:

If it's literally taking days of game time, then you might as well get some cash and buy a cure. There are two kinds of antibiotics, and they work better than honey.

Yeah, I wouldn't suggest limiting the search to only stumps even though they have a reasonable chance of dropping honey. Worth it to try the traders and if that doesn't work out then try to find medicine cabinets, ambulances, medical buildings (pharmacy, hospital), and keep your eyes peeled for medical loot piles or medical crates.

[Gaping Bacon Hole]

I suggest not only looking for stumps to harvest honey, but put one of your first 4 points from your preliminary challenges into The Brawler, found in your Fortitude skill tree. When you have at least one point in Brawler, when punching zombies in the face you negate their ability to infect you. It's quite useful.

[neopolaris]

Originally posted by Gaping Bacon Hole:

punching zombies in the face you negate their ability to infect you. It's quite useful.

That's gold right there!

[Sylvaa]

Absolutely not. I don't consider myself ready to set up a base until I have some honey stashed.

[Macdallan]

Originally posted by Gaping Bacon Hole:

I suggest not only looking for stumps to harvest honey, but put one of your first 4 points from your preliminary challenges into The Brawler, found in your Fortitude skill tree. When you have at least one point in Brawler, when punching zombies in the face you negate their ability to infect you. It's quite useful.

Some may consider it a waste of a point that's best spent elsewhere in the early game if you have no desire to build a brawler and you are only taking that skill for the sole purpose of disabling enemy melee infection. If I plan to use clubs I'm going to drop that point into Strength or Pummel Pete, not The Brawler.

Punching and knuckles are tied with most knives (and apparently the robotic sledge) for the shortest ranges in the melee category which means you have to get close which, for someone struggling with early game infections, may not be the best approach to the problem.

To make the negation ability work you have to punch the target in the head. Strikes landing anywhere else don't negate the melee infection effect. It must be a head shot and it must be a punch - either bare handed or with knuckle weapons. If you are not building a brawler you might be better off just learning your melee weapon range and being more careful rather than trying to punch until you land head shots then swap to your preferred weapon(s).

The infection negation only works on melee attacks, it doesn't stop range attacks from potentially causing an infection even if you do hit the head so vulture spit and cop projectiles can still infect you even if you pop them in the mouth.

[zztong]

I've been infected on Day 1 before. I always seem to find, be offered, or be able to buy strong antibiotics at some point. In my latest game I got up to 60% infection before being able to cure it.

I do make it a priority to find honey; sometimes you just don't have it. I also play with honey only curing 1% of an infection.