how do you kill a feral in Heartland?

[Chill°bucket]

as said: it was so fast nothing I did could hit it until my car was trash and I died...
Couldn't shoot his head, it was too quick... couldn't drive over it... it trashed the military Jeep
in seconds... I hit it.. it instantly attacks again, no time to aim the head...
(maybe a noob question)

[konstantinoskountousias]

you climp on a car (even the ruined ones do) and shoot his head, it needs 3 hits. if you are far away you can snipe but with supressed gun. 3d way use a shotgun. if you are close to a house run in and close the door behind you and wait, when the feral come and hit the door open it and execute. dont try to melee, its very hard

[Chill°bucket]

thx

[Hydra_360ci]

Umm... this like a special Feral or something?
Anyways... you can run over them in a car, they're kinda dumb. They will dodge out of the way, but go back and forth enough times and eventually they mess up and get smashed. As for on foot.... Dodge can work... MAYBE. and Shotguns are your best option though it's not impossible with a pistol or a hand weapon, just have to dodge more times with the game's flaky as hell dodging system. Best to have a follower, though. Not so much to save you, but as a meat shield.

[konstantinoskountousias]

yea a car can work but in heartland, in marshal region (where the final mission is) there is no room to drive a car. and ferals are lethal lvl, thankfully they are not in triple packs...

[Ladez]

One feral:

1. If you see it first, shoot it in the head a few times while it runs towards you. You can optionally set the feral on fire, which will make it roll around and give you more time.
   
2. If you have a character with the powerhouse skill, use the drop kick ability. This stuns the feral so you can execute it. This can be risky if there are other zombies nearby as they will interrupt the execution.
   
3. Lure the feral over to a door and open/close it while it's on the other side. This also stuns the feral so you can execute it. Also risky with other zombies nearby.
   
4. Jump in your car and run the feral over. Make sure to go in reverse and hit them with the trunk, this way the car takes practically zero damage. Don't hit them head on, and don't ever allow them to get on the hood. Cars are wet tissue paper against ferals, and it will start to burn in no time if you allow that to happen. Reverse is fine though. The trick to hitting a feral is to not hit it while speeding, you want to be slowing down before you hit it, to the point of being almost still, then you speed up and squash it. Also, know how to park your car safely, and get in from the passenger side to draw attention away from the driver side: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_atg_m7uXeE
   
5. If the above methods fail, jump on top of a car and shoot the feral. It can be annoyingly difficult to hit while it's running around or standing right next to the car. Just take your time and try not to fall down while aiming.
   
6. If all else fails, just run away. Run through buildings and jump over fences to break line of sight, then go into stealth.
   
7. Use a heavy weapon. They knock the feral down. Keep whacking it until it is dead or stunned so you can execute it. Your stamina is the determining factor here. Best with a survivor that has a lot of stamina or reduced stamina usage. Also make sure you always have some snacks and painkillers with you. Honestly I only ever do this for fun, and I rarely get away without a scratch.
   
8. Melee with other weapons is also possible, but you need to spend some time to learn how to dodge the attacks effectively. Pretty much requires you to be alone with the feral, which rarely happens, and even then it's too risky. Last resort for me.

Multiple ferals:

1. Run the ferals over with your car. Same approach as with one feral.
   
2. Jump on top of a car and shoot them. Same approach as with one feral.
   
3. Get in your car and get the hell out of there. Seriously. Remember good parking habits. If you don't have a car nearby, use everything to break line of sight, buildings, fences, steep cliffs. Better to jump off a cliff and get some broken ribs than getting torn apart. The ferals will try to path around, so you can get away.
   
4. If they're close together, use a flashbang. This stuns the ferals so you should have time to execute at least one of them. Wouldn't really recommend it though. Virtually any other option is preferable.
   
5. Use a smoke grenade. Standing inside a smoke cloud makes you completely invisible to all enemies, even if they're standing right next to you. It's honestly a bit overpowered. You still have to get out of there or kill them before the smoke clears though. Running away should be your first option, but use this if you need some time to consider your options.

Originally posted by Hydra_360ci:

Umm... this like a special Feral or something?

Yes, freaks on Heartland and higher difficulties are infected with blood plague. Blood ferals only appear in Heartland and lethal.

[Hydra_360ci]

Yeah.... I haven't played much of this game. I usually play enough to get a fix, and then move on to other stuff.

[Protectron]

I don't know if you can have the Impaler or Zedbuster in Heartland. These cars have spikes, so all you need to do is to slow down to let the Feral catch up and try to leap onto the back/hood.

The trick with any other car is to do much the same, but then back up when it is beneath the rear end. If you do it too early, it will dodge.

Using a semi-automatic gun, shoot at it in an even tempo. It will stagger each time. When there's 3 of them, climb on top of your car or something else. Even if they can also climb up, they will all do so in the exact same place, which makes it easier to control them while shooting.

As with any other Feral, their attacks are "scripted". The Blood Ferals are quicker, and sometimes can be mid-leap in 1/10th of the blink of an eye. But usually, they are also predictable when you can fight them alone. You hit them thrice, then they'll back up and thus dodge your attack - and then they'll leap forward doing a mountain lion double-hand swipe attack which brings it further forward than a regular Feral so you need to dodge backwards twice. Then spring forward and strike it three more times until it dodges again. The other two attacks are the regular leap and the run-and-leap. Dodge both of these until you get it to go back to the more predictable dodge + swipe attack routine. Bring Energy Drinks and preferably Heavy Melee or Blunt (more Impact). Be Light Encumbered.

Here's a video visualizing what I'm talking about. The channel is useful if you struggle with the game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSNpBGW_bcI&ab_channel=RvidD%27sStateofDecayScience

[Chill°bucket]

thank you all for your help! Very nice. Guess I have to check some videos...