Overwhelmed by infestations and about to quit.

[basketcaseNZ]

Hey everyone. I love this game. I've played several campaigns and for my last one I wanted to try on Nightmare. I foolishly awakened about four plague hearts and was quickly overwhelmed by infestations. At first I ignored them because I had a blast fighting off sieges. But more and more were popping up and I realised with horror that infestations actually spawned infestation hoards, not just plague hearts.

So I've spent about the last three days (three real days) trying to get the situation under control but when I try to take out the infestations more hoards show up. I wiped out most of them then went to track down the PHs and by the time I took out one I was surrounded by infestations again.

So now three days later. I've run out of everything because I haven't been scaving because if I stopped for a minute the infestations would overwhelm me again. I found what I was sure was the last awake PH and was pondering how I could take it out when I literally can't even make bolts and then another infestation hoard appears! They're coming from parts of the map I haven't even been, as if the things are waking up on their own!

I think I'm just going to quit and start again. But if you've been in this situation did you manage to get out of it? Or do you just live with it? Or did you quit?

Cheers everyone.

[miikhei]

It's possible that a PH wakes up on its own due to a curveball. Sounds like you currently have two awakened ones, which is more or less manageable even when low on resources.

You could try something like kill latest horde with car -> visit all friendly enclaves and buy ammo / molotovs or find the lootable military sites or find the special weapon cases, if you know where they are. Or you could kill the last visible PH in melee (put a noise maker outside and kill the PH with a heavy weapon), if you have someone with the Powerhouse specialization.

[Protectron]

The Plague Hearts spawns infestation hordes based on the threat level (noise) of your base, so they will do so quite quickly. One awakened Plague Heart can cause a Siege in a couple of days.

The Plague Hearts awakens from killing zombies, but also from killing a Plague Heart that lies within the zone of influence of another Plague Heart. So by killing the awakened Plague Hearts, you have likely awakened more Plague Hearts.

To avoid this, claim a Cell Tower and activate its Plague Disruption ability. This will greatly increase the number of zombie kills you can do in a plague zone before a Heart awakens, but also prevent Hearts from awakening from the death of another Heart.

A Siege is cleared when its Screamers are dead. So all you need is 1-3 crossbow bolts and managing to stay hidden from the Feral.

Clearing Infestations is a sisyphean task. Most of them clear themselves when you get Sieges, which are free to fight if you let your crew do it for you. Equip assault rifles with Brakes on all your crew (or better yet - .50 cal rifles and full-auto-only guns with Brakes). They don't really make noise from shooting and don't actually use your ammo, so don't worry about that.

[shmodzilla]

Depending on where your base is, claim outpost to just wipe our the infesting hordes. I dont even worry about them. It was a decent idea but im not a fan of the new seiges. Its nearly impossible not to wake hearts up even just trying to go by them.

[jamesglen7]

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen... this is my basis for code of conduct on red turf.

Cell towers & billboards paint my strategy picture. This info defines my scavenge strategy as well as heart locations worthy of approach. Mission risks can also be determined.

Screamers awaken hearts faster than the kill count on plague turf. Every zed you snuff not using stealth will be held against you until a heart stir advisory posts.

Practice hide & seek as well as stealth recovery and pin this to your red dirt code. Hearts in close proximity to each other must be known & served last for special handling.

My base has 3 headstones already but I've got prestige backup. Most if not all users have retired communities, perhaps by just a single strategy discovery or save vacancy.
Sacrifice & compromise are usually found on the path to success.

[Mr. Teflon]

Add me and I'll help you out, I've been jonesing for a challenge.

[Destruction126]

If you really like ur survivors put them in the legacy pool and restart if it's becoming to hard. Other than that maybe open ur session up and have people help you.

[basketcaseNZ]

Thanks very much for all the help everyone. There are some mechanics I didn't know about that should help. And thanks for the offer to join my game. I totally forgot this is a multiplayer game. I don't actually have Xbox Live though.

I decided to start again. This time being super careful and was actually doing really well. I did lose one person attacking a PH but that was the fourth PH and only one loss.

I was actually feeling pretty confident, but then I made what turned out to be a fatal decision. I moved base from the Bridge Fort to the Corner Office. We had seven people, all armed with decent guns, blocked off all but one gate. I thought we would be fine. Then two plague juggernauts wandered in, apparently they were just passing by... and wiped out three of my people! However, in the spirit of the game I soldered on, but decided to move back to the bridge fort. But by the time I was ready to do that another jugg attacked and killed one of my favorite guys. So there's just three of us left, and to be honest my heart just wasn't in it after that. So I restarted again, but this time on Dread. Learned my lesson. But now I'm frankly surprised when I get seriously hurt let alone killed. There seems to be a huge jump in difficulty between Dread and Nightmare.

And to be honest I'm not a fan of plague zombies. I'm sort of a zombie traditionalist. I'd love a setting that's really hard but with fewer freaks and plague zombies and just hordes of really deadly basic zombies.

Anyway, thanks again everyone. I might try Nightmare again one day so your help is appreciated.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by basketcaseNZ:

Thanks very much for all the help everyone. There are some mechanics I didn't know about that should help. And thanks for the offer to join my game. I totally forgot this is a multiplayer game. I don't actually have Xbox Live though.

I decided to start again. This time being super careful and was actually doing really well. I did lose one person attacking a PH but that was the fourth PH and only one loss.

I was actually feeling pretty confident, but then I made what turned out to be a fatal decision. I moved base from the Bridge Fort to the Corner Office. We had seven people, all armed with decent guns, blocked off all but one gate. I thought we would be fine. Then two plague juggernauts wandered in, apparently they were just passing by... and wiped out three of my people! However, in the spirit of the game I soldered on, but decided to move back to the bridge fort. But by the time I was ready to do that another jugg attacked and killed one of my favorite guys. So there's just three of us left, and to be honest my heart just wasn't in it after that. So I restarted again, but this time on Dread. Learned my lesson. But now I'm frankly surprised when I get seriously hurt let alone killed. There seems to be a huge jump in difficulty between Dread and Nightmare.

And to be honest I'm not a fan of plague zombies. I'm sort of a zombie traditionalist. I'd love a setting that's really hard but with fewer freaks and plague zombies and just hordes of really deadly basic zombies.

Anyway, thanks again everyone. I might try Nightmare again one day so your help is appreciated.

It's just that the Corner Office is a death trap and one of the worst bases in the game, because there is no space to be able to focus-fire the Juggernauts. The road just outside it is also a hotspot crossroads for several wandering Hordes.

Go for Loch and Keogh or Mohr & Mohr - or the Container Fort of course, when you're in Cascade Hills.

[Letterit]

Not much related, but I was getting again and again a base attacked, with the start base, map with elements shared with Heartland. I was solving the attack, event finished, all waves and nearby zombies killed. But at game restart, I was getting soon and again the base attacked, weird. I trashed this play but before I had at least 4, perhaps even 5 base attack.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by Letterit:

Not much related, but I was getting again and again a base attacked, with the start base, map with elements shared with Heartland. I was solving the attack, event finished, all waves and nearby zombies killed. But at game restart, I was getting soon and again the base attacked, weird. I trashed this play but before I had at least 4, perhaps even 5 base attack.

Strange. I have never experienced that. Sounds like the game didn't save after the Siege was over.

[basketcaseNZ]

Originally posted by Protectron:

Originally posted by basketcaseNZ:

Thanks very much for all the help everyone. There are some mechanics I didn't know about that should help. And thanks for the offer to join my game. I totally forgot this is a multiplayer game. I don't actually have Xbox Live though.

I decided to start again. This time being super careful and was actually doing really well. I did lose one person attacking a PH but that was the fourth PH and only one loss.

I was actually feeling pretty confident, but then I made what turned out to be a fatal decision. I moved base from the Bridge Fort to the Corner Office. We had seven people, all armed with decent guns, blocked off all but one gate. I thought we would be fine. Then two plague juggernauts wandered in, apparently they were just passing by... and wiped out three of my people! However, in the spirit of the game I soldered on, but decided to move back to the bridge fort. But by the time I was ready to do that another jugg attacked and killed one of my favorite guys. So there's just three of us left, and to be honest my heart just wasn't in it after that. So I restarted again, but this time on Dread. Learned my lesson. But now I'm frankly surprised when I get seriously hurt let alone killed. There seems to be a huge jump in difficulty between Dread and Nightmare.

And to be honest I'm not a fan of plague zombies. I'm sort of a zombie traditionalist. I'd love a setting that's really hard but with fewer freaks and plague zombies and just hordes of really deadly basic zombies.

Anyway, thanks again everyone. I might try Nightmare again one day so your help is appreciated.

It's just that the Corner Office is a death trap and one of the worst bases in the game, because there is no space to be able to focus-fire the Juggernauts. The road just outside it is also a hotspot crossroads for several wandering Hordes.

Go for Loch and Keogh or Mohr & Mohr - or the Container Fort of course, when you're in Cascade Hills.

I saw this damn video on YouTube that said it was the best base because of its central location.

[Protectron]

Originally posted by basketcaseNZ:

I saw this damn video on YouTube that said it was the best base because of its central location.

Yes, the location is convenient, that's true.

But there are other considerations. Among the most important ones is defense. The most important one by far is of course size.

If you don't hate driving, those two considerations should out-weigh location easily.

With a bit of imagination, and given that no base in the game will prevent zombies from coming in, the best base defense possible would be a large, open, unobstructed space with all 6 NPC survivors + you standing ready to shoot full-auto at the zombies getting in through one door. Maximizing focus-fire and everybody having each other's backs in case a zombie sneaks up from behind.

There are no bases that can actually do this perfectly, but by not choosing cramped, obstructed spaces with zombies getting in from all sides, you can at least eliminate the worst case scenario.

Corner Office and Bridge Fort are both examples of that worst case scenario. The latter having FOUR guards being useless when the zombies get inside, further worsening the situation. The best bases in the game for base defense are thus Farmland Compound, Lundegaard Lumber Mill, Westen Builder Supply and Tranquility Factory. They have the biggest open spaces around the main entrances. In the latter I block off the entrance in the back with a car, but I rarely bother with this in the others.

You can make a "kill zone" in most other bases by blocking off entrances in cramped areas, such as the back gates of Mohr & Mohr and Mike's Concrete. The two other gates of those two bases lead into the same area, so facilities that obstructs the view - such as Trade Depot or Farm 3 - should be placed in the corner. The lowest large facility is the Staging Area, and the Lounge, Autoshop and Armory can more easily be shot and navigated through (iirc).

[basketcaseNZ]

Originally posted by Protectron:

Originally posted by basketcaseNZ:

I saw this damn video on YouTube that said it was the best base because of its central location.

Yes, the location is convenient, that's true.

But there are other considerations. Among the most important ones is defense. The most important one by far is of course size.

If you don't hate driving, those two considerations should out-weigh location easily.

With a bit of imagination, and given that no base in the game will prevent zombies from coming in, the best base defense possible would be a large, open, unobstructed space with all 6 NPC survivors + you standing ready to shoot full-auto at the zombies getting in through one door. Maximizing focus-fire and everybody having each other's backs in case a zombie sneaks up from behind.

There are no bases that can actually do this perfectly, but by not choosing cramped, obstructed spaces with zombies getting in from all sides, you can at least eliminate the worst case scenario.

Corner Office and Bridge Fort are both examples of that worst case scenario. The latter having FOUR guards being useless when the zombies get inside, further worsening the situation. The best bases in the game for base defense are thus Farmland Compound, Lundegaard Lumber Mill, Westen Builder Supply and Tranquility Factory. They have the biggest open spaces around the main entrances. In the latter I block off the entrance in the back with a car, but I rarely bother with this in the others.

You can make a "kill zone" in most other bases by blocking off entrances in cramped areas, such as the back gates of Mohr & Mohr and Mike's Concrete. The two other gates of those two bases lead into the same area, so facilities that obstructs the view - such as Trade Depot or Farm 3 - should be placed in the corner. The lowest large facility is the Staging Area, and the Lounge, Autoshop and Armory can more easily be shot and navigated through (iirc).

I thought bride fort was great because you can block the doors with cars, leaving only one spot you can get in over the wall. Feral can get in but regular hordes just mill around outside and you can just pick them off.

[Letterit]

Originally posted by Protectron:

Originally posted by Letterit:

Not much related, but I was getting again and again a base attacked, with the start base, map with elements shared with Heartland. I was solving the attack, event finished, all waves and nearby zombies killed. But at game restart, I was getting soon and again the base attacked, weird. I trashed this play but before I had at least 4, perhaps even 5 base attack.

Strange. I have never experienced that. Sounds like the game didn't save after the Siege was over.

Only one occurrence of it among some play starts in this area. I was aware to see a save message at top right.

it was looking like a step of a more global mission saved at a point so it was re triggering the base attack.