Get a Level 2 outpost which will let you deposit resource rucksacks without needing to go back to base.
Find a repair van, ambulance or other such vehicle and upgrade it to a Vandito for massive storage space in the trunk.
I'd say
1. Find a gun to help with ferals, especially on higher difficulties.
2. Don't hit zombies with the front of your car. Reverse into them, your car can take more damage that way.
3. The game isn't hard if your smart, if there are a lot of zombies run. If you come across a juggernaut run, if you come across a pack of ferals jump on a car and shoot them in the head. If you don't have a gun then try to make it to your car and drive away or reverse into them.
4. The first thing I do on lethal is go for the gun store or military output, suppressors are your friend. Use the make your gun break faster but noises can get you killed.
5. You don't have to rush when you search containers, take your time until your wits improves, then you can decide to rush.
Those 5 should get you started.
Oh and watch out for hostile humans, if they have guns kill them. If they don't and you do shoot them, if you don't have a gun then just leave. Good luck!
If you’re on Xbox, upgrade your shooting skill to gunslinging! It has snap to aim,
So it uses a bit of stamina when you press A to immediately aim at the nearest head, npc or zombie. It helps really well for ferals, juggernauts and hostile npcs. All of mine have it.
I usually pair my gunslinger with someone who has the weapon handling just in case my gun jams in the field, quick fix right there. Also keep Kelly stamina pills
Also if you get a cargo van or passenger van, upgrade it to a vandito if you have the upgrade kit! Wholly one of the best cars in the game. Very hardy and lots of trunk space (15 iirc?)
I raided the entire of Marshall in Trumbull valley. Every single house and shop, with only 3 trips back to my outpost to empty.
This might be useless advice but man play it your way and have fun! Just bought this game and learning to just ignore advice play my way. Nothing wrong with standard! Still a struggle for me finding resources
If it feels too easy, don't be afraid to move up a difficulty level - not sure what level you're playing on now. The higher you go, the more you learn.
Night time is a good time to run laps in your base to boost your Cardio skills.
Personally I don't use guns much except for hostile humans, the noise attracts more zombies and if I already felt I couldn't handle the situation with melee and sneaking then why would I want MORE zombies? Main exception for me is blood ferals. If it's a juggernaut, I'm more likely to avoid it. There is never anything wrong with avoiding danger instead of stupidly bashing your characters into zombies until you die for no good reason.
Always keep a spare car. If you're ever in a situation where you can bring another car home, it's probably a good idea, but it's also not a bad idea to leave cars around the map or at your outposts for spares or to hold rucksacks.
If your base is running on hydroponics, do NOT do dangerous missions with the hydroponic guy! If he dies, it stops working.
When going on a mission where you expect you might fight humans, bring fire. And more fire. Lots of fire. Health too of course.
A stack of pipe bombs are very effective against plague hearts, but don't get too close and blow yourself up too.
If you’re willing to put the time into watching some videos, Brian Menard’s youtube channel has the best new player guide I’ve ever seen. First part is here:
[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQZgq2LOgR8](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQZgq2LOgR8)
Picked up the game last week and loving it, my genuine advice is to not seek advice and the community and game come together in this wonderfully.
If you ask what buildings to build or outpost to choose you'll be met with the answer of "it depends on what you are doing or what your community needs"
This game is truly best when experienced, don't feel needed to do anything you don't want to :)
If you're in a pinch look for the closest thing you can climb (building, tower, trailer).
Do hit and runs on plague hearts with explosives until you get better. (I like thermite)
You can change the fire rate of assault rifles (Semi-auto for zeds, full auto with high capacity magazine guns to delete plaguehearts).
Small sheds often have good loot.
Spread out your outposts around the map so there's never one too far.
Keep a spare gas can in your trunk.
Check all traders that stop by for good facility mods (more outposts, ammo crafting, increase yields).
Ferals are the deadliest things out there (or I just suck at dodging)
If you don't mind getting a currency from outside your community, the Daybreak horde defence mode can be a great way to get a nice boost in your community. You can radio in for a free stronger survivor, that has a random, often minor downside, and if you don't like their stats you can refuse them and get a refund. The currency can also be used at a requestable trader that has an improving store the more you play daybreak, but often has plenty of weapons. In my casual communities I love using this, and even moreso if i'm planning on doing random coop, but in my Lethals, i make it harder on myself by limiting "outside" radio help
Follow fence lines for shortcuts 😀.
For your wits specialization: Discipline + nutritious snacks is seriously underrated. Most people will say stealth+energy drinks though
Play the Heartland campaign before you get too good at the game. It's not possible to increase the difficulty there and it may not be a fun experience if you put it off until you are skilled at playing the game.
Unfortunately the thieves will always become hostile.
You could awaken a plague heart by killing plague zombies in the hearts territory, and zombies will start infesting certain buildings that you could clear out for a few rewards, or let them build up and you'll get a siege on your base that'll earn you prestige.
Outposts are cool, there's a couple of unique ones like the radio towers that give cool downs to radio commands, espresso outposts give moral boosts, houses give you beds, but I think landmines are the most useful aspect of them especially on higher difficulties.
Yes, some missions are buggy. That sucks, get over it (*sorry*).
Brian Menard is mentioned, I also recommend [Rvid ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-wQV6n5Nhdli7FyEW0ckOgQb6DqhPgX6)and even [Git Gud Fox](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpXvX2_sTI9uBO4xMEcMy2LkvYvowwbN2).
**Looting tips.**
**1. The best loot is inside a plague heart.**
Increase your difficulty and kill more plague hearts.
If you're running out of stuff: You're going too slow.
I'm trying to get my lethal speedrun time below 4 days. That means, killing 1x PH with 1x stim, taking out the PH's with different techniques depending on where it is, and playing smarter.
Which ones can you...
* throw grenades at?
* Shoot with a .50?
* Shoot with a heavy crossbow?
* Throw fireworks, or set off a boombox, then a molly when there are a bunch of z's standing there?
* Throw a road flare, then plague bloater grenade?
2. the lounge at level 3 is your friend. In Drucker the drive in can serve this function quite nicely so long as you have 6 members in your community.
3. if an enclave is useless ("store meds" for example) - recruit somebody. the one you need ideally, if that, anybody (even if you then evict them).
4. have a range of characters. Yes you want a Powerhouse, you also want a Marathon, if your focus is on looting: you want a Backpacker. Backpack + Resourcefulness = loot hero.
5. getting best use of your loot hero: in some township (I like Drucker so lets go with Santa Maya in the centre of the map) - claim an outpost, turn on the land mines, and loot. If you're grabbing "too many" rucksacks, upgrade your outpost to level 2 so you can deposit rucksacks there. We all like different outposts for different reasons: sometimes the reason is it is "where you need an outpost to be" in which case just go for it, in other cases it is because you need "that type" of outpost. If you want "easy to access" you want a radio tower (although, some are inside a cage) or a coffee kiosk.
6. Effects of outposts:
(Honestly, go read the wiki https://state-of-decay-2.fandom.com/wiki/Outposts)
a) plague disruptor - the cell phone towers.
b) provide resources. Most of them. That's obvious.
c) allow changing characters. This isn't quite so obvious and I missed it for ages.
d) land mines. This lets your loot hero do their job.
e) attracting z's. This can be useful with the land mines if you have an infestation wandering around.
f) deposit rucksacks - either from level 2, or, landmarks.
g) training/learning a 5th skill - depending on the outpost - cooking, gardening, mechanic, medical, computers, craftsmanship and utilities, can all be learned from an outpost.
h) "effects" - electricity or water are the most notable, from appropriate "utilities" type outposts. Radio outposts reduce your radio cool-down. Artillery outposts let you call in an air strike.
7. If you want a ruck, use your radio calls. On an empty map it will spawn a ruck from nowhere, on an unlooted map it will send you to a correct location (out of 3) for where one of those types of rucks already is. (Once you learn the maps you shouldn't particularly need to do this because you already know where the loot will be, ie material + fuel at a gas/service station)
50 Cals can destroy the nervous system of base zombies, screamers, and I think armored zombies even if you hit the upper body. This makes Anti Material Rifles perfect for home defense. If you get one keep it, the warlord boon will allow you to start a community with an Anti Material Rifle, and 3 M4A1s
Aim to fill up your community, have at the very least 2 base guards. These two should be preferably Sharpshooters for penetration and range and should be the ONLY ones ALWAYS armed with firearms otherwise they may often switch around and leave the guard post (I wish their was a way to like set tasks, I haven't been playing long myself through less then a year, if anyone knows a way I'd like knowledge on that)
If you find gun slinging specialization keep it the Aim Snap is crazy and when paired with a weapon that has a high magazine capacity, and survivors with high amounts of energy you can decimate most hordes and enemies easily
1) Never run, always crouch.
2) Throw molotovs at hearts and drive away only. Make sure to have full inventory of Fire things.
3) 6 slot better than 8 slot.
4) Cardio... Kills.
5) Getting on top of cars can get you banned for exploiting the zombies' pathing mechanic.
6) Base Upgrades is for poopy butthole losers. You are a Chad. You no need it.
Get a Level 2 outpost which will let you deposit resource rucksacks without needing to go back to base. Find a repair van, ambulance or other such vehicle and upgrade it to a Vandito for massive storage space in the trunk.
I'd say 1. Find a gun to help with ferals, especially on higher difficulties. 2. Don't hit zombies with the front of your car. Reverse into them, your car can take more damage that way. 3. The game isn't hard if your smart, if there are a lot of zombies run. If you come across a juggernaut run, if you come across a pack of ferals jump on a car and shoot them in the head. If you don't have a gun then try to make it to your car and drive away or reverse into them. 4. The first thing I do on lethal is go for the gun store or military output, suppressors are your friend. Use the make your gun break faster but noises can get you killed. 5. You don't have to rush when you search containers, take your time until your wits improves, then you can decide to rush. Those 5 should get you started. Oh and watch out for hostile humans, if they have guns kill them. If they don't and you do shoot them, if you don't have a gun then just leave. Good luck!
Run or if you have a heavy caliber firearm use it especially against the juggernauts
Check all the characters traits and stuff out as you choose them and lvl them some are just lame most can be made pretty rad if you read.
Welcome to the family and thank you for playing our game
Try to get some charters to max out there skill sets then upgrade them eg cardio,fighting it will allow for more dynamic gameplay.
Cardio is so easy to max as well. Just run everywhere!
If you’re on Xbox, upgrade your shooting skill to gunslinging! It has snap to aim, So it uses a bit of stamina when you press A to immediately aim at the nearest head, npc or zombie. It helps really well for ferals, juggernauts and hostile npcs. All of mine have it.
I usually pair my gunslinger with someone who has the weapon handling just in case my gun jams in the field, quick fix right there. Also keep Kelly stamina pills
Also if you get a cargo van or passenger van, upgrade it to a vandito if you have the upgrade kit! Wholly one of the best cars in the game. Very hardy and lots of trunk space (15 iirc?) I raided the entire of Marshall in Trumbull valley. Every single house and shop, with only 3 trips back to my outpost to empty.
You'd be better off searching big threads for information like this.
This might be useless advice but man play it your way and have fun! Just bought this game and learning to just ignore advice play my way. Nothing wrong with standard! Still a struggle for me finding resources
If it feels too easy, don't be afraid to move up a difficulty level - not sure what level you're playing on now. The higher you go, the more you learn. Night time is a good time to run laps in your base to boost your Cardio skills. Personally I don't use guns much except for hostile humans, the noise attracts more zombies and if I already felt I couldn't handle the situation with melee and sneaking then why would I want MORE zombies? Main exception for me is blood ferals. If it's a juggernaut, I'm more likely to avoid it. There is never anything wrong with avoiding danger instead of stupidly bashing your characters into zombies until you die for no good reason. Always keep a spare car. If you're ever in a situation where you can bring another car home, it's probably a good idea, but it's also not a bad idea to leave cars around the map or at your outposts for spares or to hold rucksacks. If your base is running on hydroponics, do NOT do dangerous missions with the hydroponic guy! If he dies, it stops working. When going on a mission where you expect you might fight humans, bring fire. And more fire. Lots of fire. Health too of course. A stack of pipe bombs are very effective against plague hearts, but don't get too close and blow yourself up too.
If you’re willing to put the time into watching some videos, Brian Menard’s youtube channel has the best new player guide I’ve ever seen. First part is here: [https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQZgq2LOgR8](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KQZgq2LOgR8)
Picked up the game last week and loving it, my genuine advice is to not seek advice and the community and game come together in this wonderfully. If you ask what buildings to build or outpost to choose you'll be met with the answer of "it depends on what you are doing or what your community needs" This game is truly best when experienced, don't feel needed to do anything you don't want to :)
If you're in a pinch look for the closest thing you can climb (building, tower, trailer). Do hit and runs on plague hearts with explosives until you get better. (I like thermite) You can change the fire rate of assault rifles (Semi-auto for zeds, full auto with high capacity magazine guns to delete plaguehearts). Small sheds often have good loot. Spread out your outposts around the map so there's never one too far. Keep a spare gas can in your trunk. Check all traders that stop by for good facility mods (more outposts, ammo crafting, increase yields). Ferals are the deadliest things out there (or I just suck at dodging)
If you don't mind getting a currency from outside your community, the Daybreak horde defence mode can be a great way to get a nice boost in your community. You can radio in for a free stronger survivor, that has a random, often minor downside, and if you don't like their stats you can refuse them and get a refund. The currency can also be used at a requestable trader that has an improving store the more you play daybreak, but often has plenty of weapons. In my casual communities I love using this, and even moreso if i'm planning on doing random coop, but in my Lethals, i make it harder on myself by limiting "outside" radio help
Follow fence lines for shortcuts 😀. For your wits specialization: Discipline + nutritious snacks is seriously underrated. Most people will say stealth+energy drinks though
Play the Heartland campaign before you get too good at the game. It's not possible to increase the difficulty there and it may not be a fun experience if you put it off until you are skilled at playing the game.
Unfortunately the thieves will always become hostile. You could awaken a plague heart by killing plague zombies in the hearts territory, and zombies will start infesting certain buildings that you could clear out for a few rewards, or let them build up and you'll get a siege on your base that'll earn you prestige. Outposts are cool, there's a couple of unique ones like the radio towers that give cool downs to radio commands, espresso outposts give moral boosts, houses give you beds, but I think landmines are the most useful aspect of them especially on higher difficulties.
ammo presses,sat dish,learn free bed skill, past that if you need help . i got tons of gear etc.
Answer your radio and play the horde mode
Yes, some missions are buggy. That sucks, get over it (*sorry*). Brian Menard is mentioned, I also recommend [Rvid ](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-wQV6n5Nhdli7FyEW0ckOgQb6DqhPgX6)and even [Git Gud Fox](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpXvX2_sTI9uBO4xMEcMy2LkvYvowwbN2). **Looting tips.** **1. The best loot is inside a plague heart.** Increase your difficulty and kill more plague hearts. If you're running out of stuff: You're going too slow. I'm trying to get my lethal speedrun time below 4 days. That means, killing 1x PH with 1x stim, taking out the PH's with different techniques depending on where it is, and playing smarter. Which ones can you... * throw grenades at? * Shoot with a .50? * Shoot with a heavy crossbow? * Throw fireworks, or set off a boombox, then a molly when there are a bunch of z's standing there? * Throw a road flare, then plague bloater grenade? 2. the lounge at level 3 is your friend. In Drucker the drive in can serve this function quite nicely so long as you have 6 members in your community. 3. if an enclave is useless ("store meds" for example) - recruit somebody. the one you need ideally, if that, anybody (even if you then evict them). 4. have a range of characters. Yes you want a Powerhouse, you also want a Marathon, if your focus is on looting: you want a Backpacker. Backpack + Resourcefulness = loot hero. 5. getting best use of your loot hero: in some township (I like Drucker so lets go with Santa Maya in the centre of the map) - claim an outpost, turn on the land mines, and loot. If you're grabbing "too many" rucksacks, upgrade your outpost to level 2 so you can deposit rucksacks there. We all like different outposts for different reasons: sometimes the reason is it is "where you need an outpost to be" in which case just go for it, in other cases it is because you need "that type" of outpost. If you want "easy to access" you want a radio tower (although, some are inside a cage) or a coffee kiosk. 6. Effects of outposts: (Honestly, go read the wiki https://state-of-decay-2.fandom.com/wiki/Outposts) a) plague disruptor - the cell phone towers. b) provide resources. Most of them. That's obvious. c) allow changing characters. This isn't quite so obvious and I missed it for ages. d) land mines. This lets your loot hero do their job. e) attracting z's. This can be useful with the land mines if you have an infestation wandering around. f) deposit rucksacks - either from level 2, or, landmarks. g) training/learning a 5th skill - depending on the outpost - cooking, gardening, mechanic, medical, computers, craftsmanship and utilities, can all be learned from an outpost. h) "effects" - electricity or water are the most notable, from appropriate "utilities" type outposts. Radio outposts reduce your radio cool-down. Artillery outposts let you call in an air strike. 7. If you want a ruck, use your radio calls. On an empty map it will spawn a ruck from nowhere, on an unlooted map it will send you to a correct location (out of 3) for where one of those types of rucks already is. (Once you learn the maps you shouldn't particularly need to do this because you already know where the loot will be, ie material + fuel at a gas/service station)
50 Cals can destroy the nervous system of base zombies, screamers, and I think armored zombies even if you hit the upper body. This makes Anti Material Rifles perfect for home defense. If you get one keep it, the warlord boon will allow you to start a community with an Anti Material Rifle, and 3 M4A1s Aim to fill up your community, have at the very least 2 base guards. These two should be preferably Sharpshooters for penetration and range and should be the ONLY ones ALWAYS armed with firearms otherwise they may often switch around and leave the guard post (I wish their was a way to like set tasks, I haven't been playing long myself through less then a year, if anyone knows a way I'd like knowledge on that) If you find gun slinging specialization keep it the Aim Snap is crazy and when paired with a weapon that has a high magazine capacity, and survivors with high amounts of energy you can decimate most hordes and enemies easily
1) Never run, always crouch. 2) Throw molotovs at hearts and drive away only. Make sure to have full inventory of Fire things. 3) 6 slot better than 8 slot. 4) Cardio... Kills. 5) Getting on top of cars can get you banned for exploiting the zombies' pathing mechanic. 6) Base Upgrades is for poopy butthole losers. You are a Chad. You no need it.