With zombies being a hot topic in all forms of media, State Of Decay 2 manages to carve out a memorable niche for itself by combining survival horror with planning and resource management. While a large part of the game's challenge comes from trying to rid the town of zombies, just as much effort must go into keeping the player's community stocked and secure. These rarely-considered aspects of survival make State of Decay 2's emphasis on the player's shelter notable.
State of Decay 2 can seem daunting to a new player with the details that they have to balance regarding their survivors, but it only takes a short amount of playtime to learn how to manage the community competently. Once the first few lessons of the game are learned, then everything else will gradually fall into place. State Of Decay 2 is about repetition in some ways, maintaining a cycle to keep the community alive.
Survivors are the most important part of State Of Decay 2. Not only are they the game's playable characters, but each of them have their own stats and ive abilities that affect the community. A good survivor can be an incredible asset, and a crew of them can create a strong foundation for virtually any community to thrive. With State Of Decay 2's newest update adding more obstacles and opportunities, it is vital to know what qualities to look for in survivors.
Survivors' Skills And Traits Are Very Important in State Of Decay 2
Every survivor has five skills, the first four are always the same core stats: Cardio, Wits, Fighting, and Shooting. However, the fifth skill varies with each survivor, sometimes they are extra talents that level up just like the other stats, while others are attributes with flat bonuses that do not level up. Among these fifth skill slots, a survivor with the Medicine skill is extremely important, because they will be able to help survivors heal from injuries and plague more quickly. Likewise, a survivor with Gardening can help the community grow more food, keeping morale up.
As higher difficulties create more resource strain, any way to improve yields is a valuable asset. Slightly less vital are Computers, which will allow the command center to be upgraded with more outpost slots, and Utilities, which allow building the phenomenal hydroponics improvement that acts as an improved garden. In of one-star abilities, a few good ones to look out for are Fishing, which provides a healthy food generation bonus, and Driving, which substantially cuts down on fuel use while driving.
Every survivor also has up to four traits, which can be positive or negative. While positive traits are always good, negative traits may or may not ruin a Survivor's viability. Any trait could be hiding positives or negatives, and they must be examined thoroughly. There are some traits such as "Afraid of Needles" or "Worst Fighter Ever" that severely hurt their ability in the field, but if they have an excellent skill such as Computers or Driving, then they can stay at base to reap the rewards while hardier survivors go into the field. However, if a Survivor has traits that damage morale or make them liable to start fights, then they probably need an amazing upside in order to justify their place, because a community with no morale is almost destined to suffer in the long run.
State Of Decay 2 Outposts Keep The Community Supplied And Running
Outposts are the main way for communities to keep a steady stream of supplies coming in. Having any resources at or near zero will incur a heavy morale penalty as well as other issues that naturally crop up from a lack of materials, medicine, or food. Resources are life in State Of Decay 2, so players are encouraged to start grabbing outposts and upgrading their command center as soon as possible.
One important resource to secure early is fuel. While one may not need to start driving right away, it is good to have a good source of fuel handy not only for cars, but for making molotov cocktails and fuel bombs. Likewise, food is very vital for obvious reasons, and running out will damage health, stamina, and morale. The last of the most important resources in Medicine, which is required to keep the infirmary running. The infirmary is vital for healing, so it should be one of the first buildings erected in any base. In some ways, organizing outposts for the community feels similar to building bases in Fallout 4 Once the basic needs are met, maintenance will feel much easier.
Gas stations, restaurants, and medical stations are excellent outposts for each of these three resources, so grabbing at least one early on will be a big step forward for a fledgling community. When needs for one resource are being fulfilled, it is easier to relax and focus on building up the community rather than frantically scrambling. In addition, signal antennas and network signal boosters will provide extra outpost slots if installed in the command center, so they are always worth bringing back to base unless one has already been installed. More outposts are never a bad thing in State of Decay 2.
Scavenge Early And Often in State Of Decay 2
Although outposts are amazing for resources, they cannot hold up a community on their own in State Of Decay 2. This is especially true considering that some maps, such as the recently added Turnbull Valley, start the player without easy access to many types of outposts. Scavenging is an important part of survival, and the game itself will even point players in that direction by giving them a missing to find a cache of materials and bring them back to camp to start building improvements. Players will have to learn all the ins and outs of finding supplies in the world in order to survive, and there is no getting around that.
Upon establishing a community, players should immediately comb the nearby buildings, heading back to base whenever the survivor's backpack is full. A good strategy is to bring a second survivor along and use their combined storage capacity, meaning they will have to take only half as many trips. While houses are a good supply of parts and miscellaneous supplies, such as gardening kits and game consoles that feature classic Xbox references, rucksacks of supplies are harder to come by. Garages and stores are better sources for vital supplies, so those must be quickly factored into the scavenging schedule before the community runs low.
Another important thing to take is a car, gas cans and toolboxes can frequently be found in garages and used to fix and gas up cars. Cars can cover a lot of ground at a far quicker pace than walking, and they are a necessity in State of Decay 2. However, one must be thrifty ing cars, areas within a block are not worth using gas to get to when moving on foot will work just as well, unless there are dangerous zombies such as ferals or juggernauts in the area. Perhaps State Of Decay 3 will change things and make cars even more crucial, but it is too early to tell. Being smart with one's vehicles will make traversing the map for supplies far easier.
Surviving in State Of Decay 2 is not as hard as it first sounds. The zombies will always be an ever-increasing threat, but a well-prepared community can withstand almost anything that challenges it. Once every part of a planned community comes together, State Of Decay 2 is one of the most satisfying games around. After all, zombies aren't so scary for a group of well-armed and sheltered survivors.
State Of Decay 2 is available for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox X/S.
