A Quick Question about Plague Hearts

[Suggin]

If you damage a plague heart, will the damage save and remain there, even after you retreat or get killed in the process of trying to kill one? Or, do the plague hearts regenerate themselves over time when damaged?

[Jin [Medic]]

damage gets saved, as long as you dont exit the game halfway through and come back.
if things get hairy, you can just run away and come back later

[Mooman]

Depending on your difficulty level it can be useful to go 'full hog' on the plague heart as after it is down it'll kill all Blood Plague zeds in the area, including Blood Jugs.

Dread or lower will kill everything, Dread will spawn a Feral near the end. Higher than Dread won't kill anything so be prepared.

My method is to produce pipe bombs. You need a workshop with power and some ammo resources. Takes 5 pipe bombs to down a heart.

The trick with explosives is to use them slowly. If you go too quick they blow each other up. Sneak into the location, clear any zeds inside. Find the heart and back away in a clear line as far as you can. Throw a bomb, wait for it to blow up before throwing the next.

Be careful with the geometry in the location as even small objects can block the explosion. Don't panic as even throwing bombs won't attract many new zeds in time before it's down, and any that appear will go for the explosion and not you in another room.

If on Dread the Feral will spawn once down. Run out the nearest window or door, the Feral will run at you in a straight line which can help with shooting it down. If you have a Powerhouse survivor the power kick is an easy way to deal with Ferals.

Rinse and repeat till the map is clear.

[Farrel]

One rare, but important caveat... Regular plague hearts won't regenerate their health, but if you're unlucky enough to get a black plague heart, don't exit the game once you've started dealing damage, it will reset it's health back to full if you do... And they have a LOT of extra health.

[Suggin]

Originally posted by Farrel:

One rare, but important caveat... Regular plague hearts won't regenerate their health, but if you're unlucky enough to get a black plague heart, don't exit the game once you've started dealing damage, it will reset it's health back to full if you do... And they have a LOT of extra health.

Ah, good to know. I have only ever played in Standard Zones, and Dread Zones, so I don't think I have ever encountered a black one before

[Suggin]

Originally posted by Mooman:

Depending on your difficulty level it can be useful to go 'full hog' on the plague heart as after it is down it'll kill all Blood Plague zeds in the area, including Blood Jugs.

Dread or lower will kill everything, Dread will spawn a Feral near the end. Higher than Dread won't kill anything so be prepared.

My method is to produce pipe bombs. You need a workshop with power and some ammo resources. Takes 5 pipe bombs to down a heart.

The trick with explosives is to use them slowly. If you go too quick they blow each other up. Sneak into the location, clear any zeds inside. Find the heart and back away in a clear line as far as you can. Throw a bomb, wait for it to blow up before throwing the next.

Be careful with the geometry in the location as even small objects can block the explosion. Don't panic as even throwing bombs won't attract many new zeds in time before it's down, and any that appear will go for the explosion and not you in another room.

If on Dread the Feral will spawn once down. Run out the nearest window or door, the Feral will run at you in a straight line which can help with shooting it down. If you have a Powerhouse survivor the power kick is an easy way to deal with Ferals.

Rinse and repeat till the map is clear.

Thank you. This has been helpful, and insightful