Am I the only one who loves Franko?

[[MSK]Cmdr_Keen]

In almost any guide i read that Franko is overpriced, which is technically correct. But he also offers tons of stuff.

He usually brings 4-6 nights worth of building materials. I try to trade him dry every time he visits. Trade materials such as herbs, guns, weapon casings etc are generally far more valuable than the slot spaces they occupy.

Once you can grow herbs and catch rats, canned food can also be traded with Franko for great benefits.

It's something in most guides that I strongly disagree with.

[JS]

Franko's the reason I was able to survive to the end of my very first run. He might be overpriced but if you're able to get to a point where you're making your own alcohol and cigarettes or any other trade good it almost doesn't matter.

[Blind Luck Inc.]

You are correct. The key argument is: how much value you can produce/trade/carry into your shelter one day. Carrying + emptying Franko will almos double the income! You should always empty Franko from essential materials.

I have modded game more difficult already, for example for materials I have 3 stack size in backbag, this reduced my carring capacity even further and made trading even more important.

Ressources, which you should trade Franko empty are: wood (with exception of late winter), materials, parts, water, sugar, weapons, consumables, filters. The rest are situational imo.

Originally posted by Cmdr_Keen:

In almost any guide i read that Franko is overpriced, which is technically correct. But he also offers tons of stuff.

He usually brings 4-6 nights worth of building materials.

[RainingMetal]

I think that guide is the only example I can think of that dislikes Franko. Everyone else knows he's important.

[Cetoiscini]

I'm not even sure why would anyone dislike Franko at all. He's really important, especially if you only have survivors with tiny backpacks.

[Kuestenvogel]

Originally posted by 20mins.to.7pm:

I'm not even sure why would anyone dislike Franko at all. He's really important, especially if you only have survivors with tiny backpacks.

Exactly!

[PrOxAnto]

Franko's the man! - Such a boss coming every 2/3 nights :D

[phreazerburn]

Katia and Franko are desperately in love. How else do you explain him showing up at her doorstep every few days even in the middle of a war? Love is a beautiful thing!

[Jake the Hawkeye]

I like playing games with Katia, since she comes in handy so much with trade. Not only does she get a good deal, but it frees you from 'rounding errors' (say you could trade 8:5 and 4:2 witih a regular character - you don't lose out with Katia) and she can trade back-and-forth (i.e. trade a big item, like a gun, for a few smaller valuable items (bullets, meds, etc.) and then trade those valuable items for tiny things (wood, components). This allows you to break things down for later trading too.

Like the other people said, though, backpack space is huge. No point in carrying 10 slots of 2 wood when you can carry 1 slot of gems and trade it for 20 wood

[SarahHughey]

I love the guy, even when I don't have Katia. He's so critical when you consider the limited backpack spaces.

[some moron]

What are the trades you guys mean, do you mean trade gems and teddy bears for components and wood??? I don't have enough in early game. Early game I have to trade gems for bandages to keep my peeps alive because i onlt have a knife and they get wounded guarding. I haven't yet made it past night 14 without major problems such as depression from lack of cigarrettes. Then chars won't run. What's your build sequence? I got a water distiller but cant' build filters. I built a garden but can't afford fertilizer and don't have water. I'm thinking a cigarrette roller should come before garden. I have a knife and a shovel and crowbar with two persons guarding why does it say I don't have enough weapons, they should use the crowbar.

[RainingMetal]

Build a metal workshop and get a crowbar, shovel, and consider getting a Hatchet. That'll be enough to defend your shelter until you barricade the holes in the wall.

[Jake the Hawkeye]

Originally posted by some moron:

What are the trades you guys mean, do you mean trade gems and teddy bears for components and wood??? I don't have enough in early game. Early game I have to trade gems for bandages to keep my peeps alive because i onlt have a knife and they get wounded guarding. I haven't yet made it past night 14 without major problems such as depression from lack of cigarrettes. Then chars won't run. What's your build sequence? I got a water distiller but cant' build filters. I built a garden but can't afford fertilizer and don't have water. I'm thinking a cigarrette roller should come before garden. I have a knife and a shovel and crowbar with two persons guarding why does it say I don't have enough weapons, they should use the crowbar.

It sounds like you just need to prioritize what you scavenge at night.

Loot weapons
>I advise looting places with weapons early on. If you can pick up a gun from a basement, pick someone's cabinet for their shotgun, etc., that helps a lot. Once you learn about combat, it's not hard to steal weapons. Hide in the shadows and jump someone using a knife, then grab their gun. Leaving guns at home makes you much safer.
>LOOT BULLETS. You can carry 20 bullets per slot, which is a lot, and bullets are relatively valuable trading goods. Sometimes I'll have 200-300 bullets, and use 50 to completely buy out Franko - bandages, meds, everything. There are tons of bullets to be scavenged.

If there's violence, prioritize boarding the place up
>The radio has a station that will warn you when lots of bandits are on the streets at night, so you know how hard defense will be
>Get a hatchet early, chop up the cabinets and useless stuff in your house, and use the wood to board up the walls

Think about the order you build things
>You don't need a garden until the second or third week. It takes a long time to grow veggies - it's better to steal food early on, and worry about sustainability later. Same goes for advanced smokeshop and such.
>Upgrae your weapons bench early, so you can repair guns and make good weapons in general. Don't just rely on a hatchet for defense.
>Scavenge/trade for water early on, until you have enough components to build lots of filters. Especially in winter, when components and wood are more valuable for being burned. Other than cooking hot meals (which keep your people happy too), you don't NEED water. You can steal booze instead of making it, and you don't need a garden until late-game. As long as you have enough to cook with, don't worry about wasting components on filters. Then again, unless it's cold, components are cheap to trade for - I always clean out Franko's components (unless it's witner, when they're more expensive).

Keeping your people safe stops them from getting depressed - which means it's exponentially good, since they can do more work too, instead of laying in bed all day recovering. Safety first - then you can worry about them building other stuff.

[some moron]

Wow. That is not my experience. When I steal something they go into depression, in particular Katia, and game over. How do you overcome that? I built a stuffed chair, I'm not sure whether it just needs to exist, or do I need to sit them in it? She doesn't seem to be drinking coffee, I had three coffees yesterday and I have three today.
Also, do you mean jump and KILL them? That always causes depression, which I can't get out of, and game over. Oh I mean in the game not IRL.

[Jake the Hawkeye]

It doesn't just matter WHAT you do, but WHO you do it to.

If you kill the elderly couple, you'll get really depressed. If you kill the soldier who's about to rape the girl in the supermarket, it will actually make your people happy, because you saved someone. You don't really suffer from killing the military outpost, and you get a bonus from saving prisoners in a basement.

It's not a hard rule, but generally if it says "danger" at a scavenge point, then you can kill hostiles. Note: hostiles.

[Fluffy_Ryebread]

franko is the best . i usually bring back food/med/weapon/bullet/expansive stuff and trade everything. he will be the main reason you will ever be able to get everything you need at the end