Maximizing player attributes and all skills – My final report

[daw593server]

After many, many months of effort that was only possible with support from many members of this community and my squad, I have completed what I consider to be the most difficult challenge in SCUM (that I have been involved in so far).

My character finally has attributes of STR 8.00, CON 5.00, DEX 5.00, and INT 5.00. Each of the 21 associated skills are also now at above advanced.

The knowledge gained along the way entirely changed the way I play the game, and I can confirm that everything connected to attribute and skill building is working smoothly in SCUM. Given the complexity of the game, it amazes me that I never ran into any issues and the Devs should be congratulated and recognized for their hard work and determination behind the scenes. They really thought through this aspect of the game.

What were the biggest challenges?

Strength – This was the first challenge I started and the last challenge I completed and took the most effort by far. The rate of daily strength gain falls continuously as you approach 8.00 and is just 0.03600 when you get there. Despite my earlier concerns that daily STR gain would fall even more quickly over time after 7.00, the rate is linear so it was not quite the nightmare I thought it would be. Still, getting from 7.5 to 8.0 is no joke and takes a lot of time. I was really motivated though; the benefits of high strength are numerous and despite certain costs (example: you need to eat a lot more) are really worth the time commitment. Fortunately, strength is raised naturally during gameplay (ride a mountain bike rather than driving) and will grow as you work on other attributes and skills, so it is really only a slog toward the end.

Cooking – I am not a great cook in real life and do not enjoy being trapped in the kitchen. As a result, raising this attribute was a grind that nearly drove me to tears. The fact that the only benefit is reduced cooking time was not a particularly strong inspiration and I will admit walking away from this challenge a few times. Once again, much of my motivation to continue came from others in the community and I am very grateful for that. My squad also went out of its way to source the materials needed and I would never have completed this task without them.

Camouflage – Crawling around the map for days on end while looking at the bottom of ferns, bushes, and grass roots is no fun. Fortunately, I was not aware at the time that the camouflage attribute had been nerfed and that it currently has no real impact on gameplay or I would never have bothered to complete this one. The only benefits along the way were that I could raise other attributes and skills (e.g.: stealth) while I worked on camouflage and that I learned the map really well. If you find well-worn construction gloves, destroyed footwear, and tear-stained tissues underneath bushes around the map they are probably mine.

Thievery – You have to pick a lot of locks. More than you would believe. This, along with the fact that screwdrivers and lockpick crafting materials must be found along the way make it a long-term goal rather than one you can achieve in a short period of time. My solution was to run/bike around a specific loop between certain POIs and bunkers (especially those containing medical and radiation containers) while often relying on the looting skills of squad members to source screwdrivers (when I could not find enough of them along the way). This is an important skill and one that pays solid dividends over time, so I was motivated to raise it – but the time commitment was substantial.

Notes

One of the best sources of information when it comes to working on raising attributes and skills are the posts left here in the past by other community members. There are also many that will answer the questions you might have when you really need direction. Often what appears to be the most obvious method is not the best or most efficient to follow, so do not be shy. Again, I am incredibly grateful to those in the community that both motivated me and shared their knowledge. You are great people, and I owe you a lot. Thank you!

The information found in online videos is often incomplete, outdated, or incorrect. This is particularly true for STR training at higher levels. For example, spinning a wheelbarrow is not necessarily the best choice because it prevents you from accomplishing anything else in game and it is truly mind numbing. Combining activities to work toward multiple goals at once (including STR) will get you to where you want to be over time, far more quickly than focusing on a single task at a time. It is also important to maximize certain attributes or skills first because it will make later skill building far easier.

If you are considering maximizing attributes and/or certain skills and want more information specifically as to how I approached each challenge, you are welcome to reach out to me (leave a comment on my profile) and I will share everything I learned. I also tend to read and respond to posts left here and will happily reveal everything I learned along the way.

Sarah

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408272128
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408272424
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408272543
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3408272679

[Deathwhisper]

I think it's great that you write down and share your experiences in such detail! :)

For me, it's the medicine area in particular that's difficult to master. I know I could spend hours on a C1 to "push" it, but I wouldn't like doing it that way. Often there's only time to take care of one C1, the others have already healed quickly by then, which makes the medicine area one of the most difficult for me, while others are more or less self-sufficient ^^.

CON and DEX are upgraded very quickly for me, I just do too much in these areas, while STR is treated more or less regressively anyway, and never really gets any focus from me.

I pay very little attention to strength, usually only when I want to go back from too high values ​​to my actual appearance or my style of play.

Intelligence is also self-sufficient, except for the medical. I sneak a lot and craft way too much, which means all skills here reach advanced level very quickly.

[daw593server]

Hi Deathwhisper,

You may remember a post of mine a few months ago when I was asking about the rate of daily STR gain as you approach 8.00. That was a real low point for me because I truly did not believe I could possibly get this done. You said, "I know you can do it" in a response and that really drove me to continue. Thank you for your support. It shows the kind of person that you are.

Outside of performing medical actions on myself and others, I found that crafting burn gel also raises medical skill. It is a process rather than a hit-or-miss kind of thing (I much prefer a known process).

Sure, you will need a lot of aloe and plastic bottles to craft it, but aloe is found everywhere in the Z sectors and running around to loot it will raise running skill too. I could not find enough bottles around the map though and ended up purchasing a literal ton of various drinks from the traders (funded from looting POIs and selling weapons and other items back to the traders). My squad also brought every small bottle they found back to base and in the end we had enough burn gel to treat an army. Maybe several armies. Unfortunately it was lost in a map wipe shortly after I maximised medical skill.

Thanks again Deathwhisper.

Sarah

[Deathwhisper]

Originally posted by daw593server:

Hi Deathwhisper,

You may remember a post of mine a few months ago when I was asking about the rate of daily STR gain as you approach 8.00. That was a real low point for me because I truly did not believe I could possibly get this done. You said, "I know you can do it" in a response and that really drove me to continue. Thank you for your support. It shows the kind of person that you are.

Outside of performing medical actions on myself and others, I found that crafting burn gel also raises medical skill. It is a process rather than a hit-or-miss kind of thing (I much prefer a known process).

Sure, you will need a lot of aloe and (small) plastic bottles to craft it, but aloe is found everywhere in the Z sectors and running around to loot it will raise running skill too. I could not find enough bottles around the map though and ended up purchasing a literal ton of water from the traders (funded from looting POIs and selling weapons and other items back to the traders). My squad also brought every small bottle they found back to base and in the end we had enough burn gel to treat an army. Maybe several armies. Unfortunately it was lost in a map wipe shortly after I maximised medical skill.

Thanks again Deathwhisper.

Sarah

I'm glad to read that it helped you! :D I pursue my own goals in this way and always push myself a little harder hehe.

Yes, crafting burn gel would be an option, but as you say, it's a long-winded and very monotonous one. So grinding isn't really my thing, I prefer to do it in the "heat of the moment" so to speak.

Otherwise, we always had our bear for medical things, and no one could hold a candle to him in this area :D, so the medicine skill is more for field supplies when I'm everywhere and nowhere xD.

At the moment I'm treating a wound with rags so that I can treat it again later, in this way I've already been able to achieve a medium 78% in the medicine skill, it's not quite as time-consuming and grinding-like, I don't really feel comfortable with it but I can accept it.

What is really a bit more difficult is keeping strength at the value it is at. On my current character in SP, I go into great detail and have even only chosen STR 1 to see what and how I can best influence it. I have had some good experiences with this and for some time now I have not been able to increase STR too much, actually it is very manageable overall. I also found a good way to lose fat without building muscle, although there is not too much to lose at 50.4kg XD.

[Chill Canuk]

Wow, I'm in awe, Daw. I had done some serious grinding to get my stats up too but admittedly I did a lot of afk grinding and didn't get as high as you. You seem to have done it the proper, hardcore way. Respect. Things have changed since I did it but I remember Brawling and Melee weapons were hard to increase just because it's time consuming to find that many puppets. Running took forever but one of the more worthwhile imo. I'm surprised on your Lock Picking strategy. I used the Practice Lock Picking board so you don't lose materials. I think they took Throwing out but I sat on A LOT of roofs chucking stones at admirers. I was SOOO happy to get Awareness up. Finally I could leave the junk in the cupboard without dragging everything to the ground. To others thinking of following this folly, start getting your stats up but know you are going to re-roll your character and put your starting points in the hard to level up areas. Medical and Thievery come to mind 1st. I started with 1 STR, everything in there was easy enough to level up. I hope you did it the REAL way Daw and you didn't use ANY of your starting points, just a 1-1-1-1 character. :P kidding but I think you might have the tenacity to do it all again for 1.0. Great game mechanic, really makes you invested in your character, more than loot that can be lost.

[marktkm]

Nice going!

Not that I can guide your play style, but I'd be curious to see what happens over time if you stop grinding and simply...play. Some time ago if you stopped grinding the skills beyond what your general play would support the stats would start to decline somewhat noticeably over time, but it's been a while and many changes since I saw anything about it.

I've never been one to min-max a build. I just make a Joe Average and let my play adjust him.

[Deathwhisper]

Originally posted by marktkm:

Nice going!

Not that I can guide your play style, but I'd be curious to see what happens over time if you stop grinding and simply...play. Some time ago if you stopped grinding the skills beyond what your general play would support the stats would start to decline somewhat noticeably over time, but it's been a while and many changes since I saw anything about it.

I've never been one to min-max a build. I just make a Joe Average and let my play adjust him.

Pretty much the way i play the game. Hence my skills in the area i use the most are usually in good codition while STR for example never realy raises ^^. It stil ldoes work well this way.

[Yellowbuss]

HOW?????? I don't have the patience lol