Question about Ferals

[Redarmy]

Do they sense the player? Or is it possible to stealth past them.

And realistically how hard are 3 ferals if you and an AI follower are at full health and stamina with JUST melee weapons? Is it a death sentence? Do you gota run?

This is a serious question i want answered as its going to really be my main reason for starting on nightmare zone if i feel it will be somewhat fair.

And also to anyone playing nightmare ,do you often shoot loud weapons,or is it ALWAYS a death sentence or can it actually be helpful? I cant imagine a playthrough where im always punished for using a weapon,it makes firearms pointless in that case

[beanmix_za]

My opinion: Honestly, three ferals and melee only would be a really tough fight *for me*. I sincerely would run screaming like a wus.

Having a meatshield distract them might make things easier, but you're going to have to be at the top of your game to kill 3 in one go. Two I can handle... sometimes. Lol. You'll have to practice your dodge and definitely have some energy and health sustaining consumables. I'm not talking snacks, I'm talking stimulants or energy drinks so the constant dodging and attacking won't deplete your stamina. Also, use the terrain to your advantage wherever possible. I'd think this fight would be easier with blunt weapons than with blades or close combat. You'll have to know your special abilities. I'd think something like drop-kick insta-finisher would come in handy here. Be prepared for slow-zed party poopers.

I'm really speculating here because I have not dared to try take on 3 with only melee.

Contrary to popular belief: loud weapons is NOT always a death sentence, but be really prepared for a good (and fun) fight. Always be prepared to attract a feral or three in the area if you go loud. Sometimes they don't show up but it's better to be prepared for the eventuality anyway. I often fight with brakes instead of silencers. So much more oomph in the guns; especially vs hostile enclaves.

You didn't ask but DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE HOSTILE ENCLAVES. They're easy enough to kill but be on your toes; they can and probably will headshot you often enough. And for Pete's sake, if you get a headshot LEAVE. Get better prepared and come back. Think up a tactic to approach the particular location wherein they don't have multiple lines of sight. One attacker can miss a shot or two easy enough but 2 or 3 firing from multiple angles is likely going to kill you.

At the beginning Nightmare will feel really unfair but with a little practice and application of strategy and tactics, you will have a good time.

It's actually this little more thoughtful gameplay and approach that makes Nightmare so much more appealing for me.

Yes, have a human backup is OP AF but here's some loud gameplay in Nightmare: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RhjaI55nhg

[Prometheus]

The game tells you through a radio message that they are blind. So in theory they hear you. Which would explain why they can spot you through terrain, as long as you are within range. That range can be quite close though. Maxed out stealth allows you to get almost within throwing range with a high arc.

You can drop kick a feral with powerhouse and that allows you to do an execution on them if you are quick enough. I wouldn't try it on more than one, especially not with support from other zeds, as you risk the interrupt and then you are screwed. I flashbanged a group of ferals, and that knocked them and me over, and I had time to do one execution and then GTFO, but you really shouldn't try that. It was desperation.

Speaking of desperation, a tried method for me is to have molos on me, and then throw them straight at a feral after the first tackle. Yes, you do set yourself on fire, but if you run dodge out of it, you put it out quickly. The feral has to spend time rolling getting the fire put out, and in the mean time you pop snack, energy drink, stim pills and health items while running to your car. Car is safety, as long as you are in the car, you are not going to take damage. Distance to car is one of the single most important things to have. If you are more than 75-80 meters from it, you are risking death to feral spawns. Everything else you can run from, even a blob of zeds if you dodge out of them, but ferals are quicker than you.

My current loadout is Spec Ops Vector with best silencer, Echo X3 crossbow below it, so I can quick switch with a few clicks, 6x snacks, 3x energy drinks, 3x normal pain killers, 3x bandages, 25x light bolts, 3x firecrackers, and 3x flashbangs. I am using flashbangs, as there are no enclaves willing to sell me molos or fuel, but they will sell me flashbangs.

With this setup, I have had no feral deaths. Full auto into charging ferals works. You can snipe them from range too on single shot. It even helps if you get swarmed by z's and you for some reason won't bug out. My expendature of snacks and healing items has dropped so rapidly, that my stockpile is growing with no production of my own, leaving me to use medical supplies on other things, such as trading for influence with cure.

As for going silenced or loud, go silenced unless you plan to kill humans with long range attacks. You can attach a brake to increase damage, which is really what you want to do. A massive headshot to one or two shot kill them at range is the safest option. But in the early game, you can shotgun the single ferals the game throws at you.

Just remember, every zed is a screamer, every scream draws in more zeds, which eventually means real screamers, that are ultra screamers, and they chain scream to other screamers that hear them plus spawn in new zeds, including specials. If you get a zed screaming, deal with it fast. If you get a screamer, get out if it screams. If you use a shotgun, leave immediately.

These are some of the basic tricks that I have learned.

[falserebel]

yeah you can stealth past them
yes u can run and jump on the nearest barricades to isolate them for a sec then hit them offguard if there is none better fight them head on while ur on full stamina so u can dodge more.
if u have just melee make sure it is blunt then i can be easy.
but on nightmare it is really always better to bring guns ...to farm kill on special zombies like bloater and ferals.

[Redarmy]

Jesus ..nightmare sounds like its name implies alright.The video i saw on reddit..its actually the video that finally convinced me to buy the game.(And DL a reshade)

Thanks for the insight its really helpful to know.I do have to wonder if the devs will take any feedback into account regarding NM and tweak it at all.

As it currently stands im on the fence about it,even after the helpful info. My current Dread playthrough,rite outside starter base on providence ridge the map is show 2 Ferals,a bloater,a Jug and a horde,i have 3 followers theres literally no way to take that head on and its the only way to drive out...I had an idea..boombox and C4..

Anyway mainly what i want from higher difficulty is less ammo,resources etc,how is resource / scavenging in NM compared to dread?

[Prometheus]

You will get less resources and weapon finds for sure. If you are in doubt about NM then go watch the series by Git Gud Fox, called Fox returns to nightmare (or something to that effect). It is a really good tutorial in how to handle nightmare.

[Redarmy]

Originally posted by Prometheus:

You will get less resources and weapon finds for sure. If you are in doubt about NM then go watch the series by Git Gud Fox, called Fox returns to nightmare (or something to that effect). It is a really good tutorial in how to handle nightmare.

Il take a look thanks

[Nick Naughty]

Thats what get-away vehicles are for.

"Feral !" "go go go !"

Panic can lead to car destruction.

[Aerond]

You don't melee Ferals.

[Prometheus]

Originally posted by Nick Naughty:

Thats what get-away vehicles are for.

"Feral !" "go go go !"

Panic can lead to car destruction.

It's worse when a really bad situation leads to panic driving, that leads to car destruction, that leads to feral encounter...

[Redarmy]

So i gave NM a go..and a few things i noticed..

1) scarcer resources...it seems it relates to amount of consumables found such as parts amount,amount f bullets etc,and not actually making finding weapons or an instance of consumables any scarcer.(maybe a little but not as much as i expected..i found a bolt action and high end crossbow off the bat,as well as rucksacks in the normal places..

2) Influence..you simply get rewarded more influence on NM because higher rewards for killing freaks/hords and other actions,as well as the fact you are going to SEE these enemies alot more..This makes influence far too easy to accumilate and therefore makes those scarce items,easy to obtain anyway,simply by trading.

3) More influence=more radio call ins = easier cheese.

4) my melee weapon broke before i made it to the starter base lol

5)Freaks everywhere. Could be fun if you like that,me personally i wouldnt mind if freaks werent in the game at all,though i wont argue they really spice the gameplay up.

Over all i dont think its going to be for me,and im going to continue to play a dread gameplay,as i do think it in itself IS quite difficult as i had a guy die,a close encounter with heart i had to run from and an infected survivor being out of action for a while that it really hindered progress.

I used to mod Arma 3 dayz style mods and i always modded ways to reduce loot to the point IT was the real threat of the game.I plan to learn the mod tools for SOD2 and start modding to such ends.

This game is awesome,when i can tweak more things it will crank that experience up to 11!

[beanmix_za]

Originally posted by Redarmy:

Jesus ..nightmare sounds like its name implies alright.The video i saw on reddit..its actually the video that finally convinced me to buy the game.(And DL a reshade)

Was that you? I remember the comment about Reshade. Haha, awesome =)

Originally posted by Redarmy:

I plan to learn the mod tools for SOD2 and start modding to such ends.

There's a modding community on Discord. I personally installed a mod to increase the number of zeds in infestations. I'd have liked to see a mechanic where infestations left unchecked grows to become huge and eventually turn into a plague heart/wall or something. This was the next best thing.

Here's the discord invite: https://discord.gg/b42dhT

Kai Helios seems to be on of the people to chat to about modding. He is active here on Steam as well as I've seen him respond to some of Prometheus' posts.

[Protectron]

I wouldn't advice fighting Ferals with melee. Especially not 3 of them at once. That's a dodge-run for the car moment.

Shooting unsuppressed spawns more zombies, as do Screamers screaming, and Juggernauts and Ferals roaring. Regular zeds also stop and hiss, which also spawns more zombies. And bombs exploding. Fast search accidents and knocking in doors as well. And attacking a Plague Heart.

This doesn't mean that unsuppressed guns are useless. Bring one along to take out the Screamer, Bloater and Feral. Then run like hell and croach/get in the car and leave. The zombies will go for the last noise they heard, so with a bit of luck you'll be fine. Just don't expect that you can get on top of your car, a house or a container/whatever and shoot the zombies from safety. That's a rather expensive waste of resources as all the zombies will hiss and call in more and more, until the area is saturated and the ruckus calls in Freaks.

Get a real gun with a good suppressor, and stop using the useless shotguns and revolvers.

And, if you are in a bad situation and must fight a Feral with melee, make sure that you are Light Encumbered, and that you have Energy Drinks.