Freak buildup

[MOK]

Mid game, there's probably a plagueheart or two awake somewhere on the map. If not from bumbling around, then from curveballs that awoke them. Maybe near, but probably far away. My understanding is that these awakened PH's contribute to the density of freaks wandering around your base.

As your play session lengthens, the density increases. I'm not sure whether there's an upper limit on the density, because it seems like it always can get more dense. You might go around cleaning the area of screamers or ferals occasionally, but they'll come right back after a bit. Other than a guard tower(who's got space for that?), I'm not aware of a mechanic that reverses this buildup....

....Other than quitting to the menu and reloading. Which is quick and convenient, solves the problem for a bit, allows you to drive out of your base and take care of business without pulling a juggernaut horde in. So this is, de-facto, the gameplay for dealing with this buildup. Play for a day, exit to menu, reload.

It's getting pretty annoying, and it's frustrating since I'm unaware of a way to deal with this(other than busting PH's across the map that curveballs wake). Am I missing something? How do you contend with the buildup of freaks and hordes around your base, given the above?

[Sc0rpiTr0n]

Freaks and hordes around the base:
Lure them to the base so survivors can kill them.

Dangerous to do that with 3 Ferals unless you have 6 survivors with good guns.

Freaks and hordes in the field:
If near objective or want to max survivor standing,
kill them with the car, otherwise ignore and drive past them.

Lone Juggernaut: Lure away from objective.
If Juggernaut is part of the horde: Kill every member of the horde with car
and then drive away from Jug 100 meters or so and he will despawn.

[MOK]

Thank you for the reply, but that's not really what the thread is about. Thinning the density manually is what I already do, and what I'm trying to find an alternative to, other than reloading, or taking on cross-map PH's that I'm not yet able to budget.

[Sc0rpiTr0n]

Originalmente postado por MOK:

taking on cross-map PH's that I'm not yet able to budget.

Don't know what to tell you.
I try to avoid awakening Plague Hearts but once they're awake I make them priority.

If nothing else hit and run with heavy melee weapon is always option.
If I get tough version of Black Heart before I am ready I change town.

It sounds you want something not available (currently) in the game.
Maybe check if there are mods for that.

[MOK]

Originalmente postado por Sc0rpiTr0n:

Originalmente postado por MOK:

taking on cross-map PH's that I'm not yet able to budget.

Don't know what to tell you.
I try to avoid awakening Plague Hearts but once they're awake I make them priority.

As i mentioned above, curveballs awaken PH's. Pretty regularly, too. Still, that's also what I do, prioritize awakened ones. But crossing the map to do it requires quite a bit of home turf safety, and a bit more resources. And you don't really gain safe looting areas from it either, so it's a bit rough.

But circling back to the topic - reducing freak density around base - you figure there's no other mechanic that curtails or caps their buildup?

[Sc0rpiTr0n]

Originalmente postado por MOK:

you figure there's no other mechanic that curtails or caps their buildup?

I am not aware of it.
Maybe some other posters can bring more insight into this.

[WarBucks]

As you gain standing with your characters. Say from killing a freak or doing missions, the game acrues a Community Standing tally. The tally moves you along a curve that as you said increases spawning.

The upper end of the spawning is different per action slider level.

The tally always increases even if the character is maxed out personal standing. and loses characters doesnt decrease that value.

On lethal it youll see its maxed out when you have packs of 3 BP ferals running around and youll even get stragglers.

I think the most BP ferals I have had on a screen at once is 5?

[MOK]

Whoa, so.... if I'm understanding you correctly, then the longer you survive, the worse it gets, without much for plateaus? So that implies:

A) if you take your time instead of clearing all PH's quick, then it's always gonna be harder, even if you're good at keeping them dormant, simply because you've survived longer and gained more standing. Meaning that it's not merely about keeping them dormant; busting all PH's sooner is easier than waiting till later.

B) Avoiding gaining community standing perhaps helps slow the buildup. So completing missions or leveling survivors progressively ratchets up the permanent difficulty. Meaning that finding ways to progress your community's foundation without gaining standing early is preferable, while standings-raising activities are better postponed.

This is pretty interesting because prior to reading this, I had gotten a sense that the difficulty in this game is very non-linear. Difficulty-factors compound and synergize, creating feedback loops, and cascading failure. But factoring 'community standings' spawning in, it's even more extreme than I thought.

When do your early game right, everything is permanently easier. When you mess something up early, everything is permanently harder, and you're more likely to make further mistakes, with less wiggle room. Although this would be true of midgame as well, if I'm understanding this right, then a super clean and efficient early game is the single most impactful aspect for overall, long-term difficulty.

Pretty interesting.

[MOK]

Is this community standing score also what affects mission difficulty? Or is that rather static?
For example, I've completed the mechanics enclave mission a few times, but most recently I've been failing the one where you defend waves and fight two juggernauts. Likewise, enemy enclaves have been able to 100-to-zero me with one bullet lately.