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[Arcvasti]

Glass jaw is there because if I'm taking enough damage where it can kill me it would have jumped my pain high enough that I would be basically comatose already.  Glass jaw just gets it over with faster.

Glass Jaw is basically free points until you start running into people with guns. The lack of Glass Jaw, with decent armour, can make the difference between getting instakilled or not and being able to retaliate or retreat.

[Noblaum]

I tend to go for scavenging/engineering characters, then set up shop in a fire station when going into town. Invincible metal doors are very useful so long as the zombies haven't broken the winches. Plus the firefighter gear is good for damage protection and there's usually enough sets that you can repair the one you're wearing. The constant clanging if zombies are outside can be irritating, though; I usually put an obstacle next to the metal door and open and shut it so the zombies just line up to get crushed.

On more advanced characters, I take a hazmat suit and an electrohack and break into a missile silo. It's good to have the ability to nuke stuff on hand, especially if there are Fungal Blooms or something similar spouting hordes of zombies along the main roads. Fortunately I'm absolute crap at driving in Cataclysm (I once got into a car, somehow in near-perfect condition, backed it through a the garage wall, and got out when it was lodged in the bar just behind the house) so I can just walk around the craters it causes.

[Micro102]

I always ... nightvision

Out of curiosity, how long have you been playing the game?

A very long time. Why, do you not know the wonders of never having to fight a zombie at night and being able to kill anything with a gun at night? Also easy early game basement raiding and one step closer to perfect night vision mutation.

Also, purging an area of fungal oils is a pain in the ass. I have to use scorched earth tactics to stop the bastards from spreading. I slept in a swamp, then I had to burn down the swamp. Do trees grow back?

[gimlet]

Forget a gun, you can just use freakin *rocks* at night (but ceramic shards and metal chunks seem to be better, stock up!).   And it's always a pleasant rush when a mutation increases the night vision range, then you can really rock and roll...

[Greiger]

Re:Trees grow back?
I don't think so.  Unless you manage to lure a Trifflid queen into the area.  But then you will have less swamp and more impenetrable jungle anyway.


I just learned a valuable lesson.  Remember to always install 5 point harnesses in your super heavy armored zombie pancake machines. 

While it was amusing to smash the car into a shocker brute at 70 mph and watch it continue on to smash at least 3 more normal zeds while skidding sideways, It would have been far more enjoyable to have been in the car when it was doing it instead of being splayed out on the asphalt with 140 pain in a hostile city.

[ShinQuickMan]

Also, does anyone else try to min max their guy? I've found going really bad day tweaker to be nearly impossible, so I stick to shower victim and can still reach 12 in each Stat and full positive traits. What do you guys do to min max? I always take fleetfooted, nightvision, and robust genetics.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I go for max Int + Dragon Kung-Fu everytime. To get the points for this, I take the Trigger-happy, Wool Allergy, Insomniac, Weak Stomach, Animal Discord, Lightweight, Heavy Sleeper, Bad Hearing, and Truth Teller (if playing with NPCs on) or Smelly and Clumsy (if otherwise). I'd also need to lower some stats, so I drop Per to 7, Dex to 6, and then alter Str depending on the profession/scenario I pick.

Now, for starts, I often find myself hovering to mall cops. Gives extra points, gives access to lots of loot and vehicles, and it's just a more static and calculable starting location overall. Moreover, the abilities I picked guarantee that the many Zombies I inevitably fight inside are not too much of a hazard; only plain old zombies, and some occasional fat and child zombies, spawn in the interior during the first season, all of which are easy pickings for melee specialists. With good maneuvering, I could clear the mall in days, sometimes even by the end of day 2.

For rougher starts, I take burning building + failed cyborg. Gives lots of points, though having to evade a more dynamic cast of zeds and a random town layout may or may not make finding a hiding place and necessities a big ordeal. And, of course, dealing with the bad bionics is a chore at first, but at least if I survive long enough and secure the right supplies,high Int makes removing them rather simple.

Recently, I've been thinking of the school scenario. I've not tried it yet, but I suspect it shouldn't be too different to the mall start. Might be better for me, too, since a few professions in it allow for one more point over the mall scenario, and school libraries are way bigger than bookstores.

TLDR: Int 20 Dex 6 Per 7; Str (varies by scenario/profession) Shaolin Adept (Dragon Kung-Fu),Trigger-happy, Wool Allergy, Insomniac, Weak Stomach, Animal Discord, Lightweight, Heavy Sleeper, Bad Hearing, and Truth Teller (if playing with NPCs on) or Smelly and Clumsy (if otherwise) traits; Mall Cop or Burning Building + Failed Cyborg start/profession.

[gimlet]

Hmm interesting, what's your strength?

ED:  Huh, interesting, in something with lots of points like Lab Challenge you could have 13 Str with that Int 20 Dex 6 Per 7 and still have enough points for night vision and robust genetics on top of the Martial Art.  Only 7 Str as Evacuee Failed Cyborg, you really still take all 20 Int there? Or you do without night vision/genetics for 10.   Hmmm, I'ma give those a whirl when I get a chance...

[kilakan]

I quite frequently leave cha/dex at 8 then get about 14 int and strength.  Usually i'll buy a skill or good start as well and max out negative traits on things like :trigger happy, truth teller, poor hearing: and similar not too debilitating things.

[n9103]

For any of my characters I plan on having live longer than the starting conditions (so pretty much anything other than bad day scenarios) I always get a minimum of 12 Per, because I've lost far too many characters to unmarked minefields, particularly when it's a combination of mines I can't see and not-mines that I can.

Beyond that, I usually aim for 12s on the other stats as well. For games I plan on focusing on melee, Str gets the rest of the points, otherwise they're split between Str, Dex and Per.
Traitwise, I almost always take Quick, Fleet-footed and nightvision. The rest of the pos and negs I vary pretty widely on. Same for starting scenarios.
I do usually pick up a level in archery and survival for my longer aimed characters, as well as melee and dodge if I've got the points to spare.

[Greiger]

I always kind of wondered how people do that where they plan to use certain builds.  I usually put 9 in all stats just because I don't know what will be viable first.  Will I find a baseball bat in an early house?  Welp looks like this char is gunna melee.  Find a basement gun stash early?  Welp looks like this will be a rifle char.  Crossbow?  Welp.

While my current character did cheat a little, since mutations don't seem balanced point wise vs everything else for starting traits. I found a crossbow and some bolts early, and by the time I found any other decent weapon, the char was so good with a crossbow there didn't seem to be a point in switching.

[kilakan]

I mean, 12 str and a cudgle which you can make straight out of the shelter is an excellent melee weapon, I tend to personally go for high int though and attempt to kinda skip the early game via book finding/lots of reading.

[ShinQuickMan]

Hmm interesting, what's your strength?

ED:  Huh, interesting, in something with lots of points like Lab Challenge you could have 13 Str with that Int 20 Dex 6 Per 7 and still have enough points for night vision and robust genetics on top of the Martial Art.  Only 7 Str as Evacuee Failed Cyborg, you really still take all 20 Int there? Or you do without night vision/genetics for 10.   Hmmm, I'ma give those a whirl when I get a chance...

Nah, I myself don't spend points for night vision/robust genetics. I'd rather sink any spare points from professions/starts into strength. I used to take robust genetics, but I find more immediate need of that extra Str rather than some ease in mutations later. Not to mention that I leverage that starting Int and Str with the strengths and weaknesses of the unpurifiable Post-Thresh Slime mutations (which, by the way, I highly reccomend with max-Int builds), making Robust Genetics even less mandatory.

I always kind of wondered how people do that where they plan to use certain builds.  I usually put 9 in all stats just because I don't know what will be viable first.  Will I find a baseball bat in an early house?  Welp looks like this char is gunna melee.  Find a basement gun stash early?  Welp looks like this will be a rifle char.  Crossbow?  Welp.

It really depends on starting location. Like, that build I have works really well in Mall starts, which greatly rewards those heavily invested for melee damage. Conversely, that same build in a wilderness start could suffer greatly; low dex and no starting points in combat skills means you'll get your ass kicked if you run into a dodgy monster like, say, a giant wasp (yet, oddly enough, be more than capable of handling a moose or a bear).

[n9103]

As long as I have non-penalty stat levels, I can usually survive long enough to get to a safe place. How well the stuff I find lines up with my intended build determines how aggressive I can be from there.
Melee only for a ranged build? Kite everything through bushes/fire.
Large amounts of firearms and ammo for a melee? Can either burn the ammo sniping and get skill to a point where the less than great stat doesn't matter so much, or just have the fallback shotty be a bit more useful.

Either way, at that point I can pick and choose where I attack to give me better odds of finding preferred weapons.

[Descan]

Of course, if you are in a world where you can get to your old characters loot-lair easily, then it's easier to do the whole "build" thing.

[n9103]

I'm a firm believer in one character per world. (Multiplayer aside obviously.)