End Game Fists Wolverine build: Overpowered at level 28 (+Boxing Tutorial)

[edyonline]

End Game Fists Wolverine build: Overpowered at level 28 (+Boxing Tutorial)

 

Consumables:

 

Consumables are very important in any build, but in this build, they are king. If you ever find yourself in a bad situation, don't go for that gun! Wolverine would rather drink a beer, and that's what we are going to do. I always have a full stack of beer on me. They are easy to find and are super useful to this build as they give you 300% punching power. I once fell in a room with 2 grizzly bears, but instead of panicking I quickly skulled back and punched them both out... Even before level 28 I was punching out Grizzly Bears and Dire Wolves in the wild with ease! If you haven't maxed out pain tolerance, then you want to pop a pain killer first, so that you don't get stunned, because being stunned in front of one of these beasts is a guaranteed death. The feint is super difficult but still doable, but honestly I rely more on the stun procs from head blows. If I'm over whelmed on a horde night, drinking a beer will help you chop their numbers down, to a point where you can manage them again. Mega crush is super usefull for the speed buff, as you become untouchable and can create space to open your inventory to look at other consumables like first aid kits or more alcohol. Fortbites makes you invincible, literally. And Grandpa's Moonshine is absolute bananas, its a broken item for a melee build with 400% punching power, 100% stun resist and it heals! A lot of these are hard to come by when leveling but as long as you have a full stack of bandages, beer, painkillers and some water or coffee to rehydrate/regen stam, then your good to go. Having all the regeneration ability means you don't even need first aid kits or healing items.

 

Leveling:

 

And last but not least, lets talk about the actual build while leveling.

If you try to spread your talents, then this just isnt going to work. I tried to set up points in forges so I could spawn XP farms, tried putting points into mechanic so I could traverse the map faster etc, but for this to work, you have to priorities Brawler, all the way to max. Once these talents are maxed, then you can do what you want. But what makes this build so good is all the crowd control you get from landing jabs to the head. I try holding off putting points into healing factor for as long as I can, only building it when Im out of food and have no healing items. With brawler maxed, and one or two points in Healing Factor (as needed) ill start trying to build up Pain Tolerance, for that 100% stun resist. Because getting stunned with light armor is a bad idea.

 

Having maxed out Fortitude, gives massive buffs to machine guns, as a nice side bonus to this build. Because we are prioritizing Brawler/Fortitude, we end up with 300% machine gun head shot damage as well as 50% chance to blow their head off, and quite early in the game. This is why I carry the AK, and its good for hunting.

If your just starting out with this build, then I recommend carrying a fully loaded AK that you can fall back on until you get the techniques down. But TBH selling the ammo is super important too, as you want to get your hands on the first pair of steel knuckles you come across. One clip is enough to get you out of trouble and start swinging them fists again.

 

Rather than build a base, I build up a stack of 5 torches, and because Im on horde night every night, I just throw them down in a line before dark, and run up and down while smashing face. I prefer to leave dump chests in each town and break down all the guns and parts to sell. There's no real need to start building a base until you get your first bike when you can go around collecting all your dump chests.

 

For each horde night, I like to line up a few rows of wood boxes with the torches to try and keep the zombies running straight. What works best is a line of 5 boxes on the left and right, with an empty row to run down the middle. Make 3 or 4 of these in line with the torches. This gets the horde coming at you one by one. If you've mastered the techniques above then you don't need to build anything, but it definitely helps. Don't even upgrade them, then you can pick em up at the end of the night. You could make them 2 stacks high, but there is no need, just having them one stack high still makes the zombies line up for you neat and tidy, as it takes them too long to try and jump over.

 

Another tip that's useful with this build is, face punching boars. Boars don't care how close you get, so I like to crouch right in front of them and throw a power punch. Even early game this nearly kills them because of double damage while crouching, then stand up immediately and try to keep your distance while landing jabs, again, trying to get those stun procs going. With bears and Dire wolves, its super important that you don't miss the head. With at least 3 points in Brawler and weighted mod, If you land on the head, then 9 times out of 10 they will just stand there stunned for a few seconds, giving you plenty of time to land some more stun procs or just punch their head off completely. Works for dogs too, but they move around a lot, so you have to be super accurate. In the beginning I always used the AK for dogs, birds and bears etc, but now I just use it for birds and deer, cos its so easy to miss a bird and get a disease...

 

Also, this build does not work on a multiplayer server, unless you are the host. Even with a fast internet connection, the zombie is actually half a step closer, so its impossible to time the feint or lunge and land a hit. If you are the host, then it seems to work fine. I tried to work around it on a friends server, but just found myself frustrated with the amount of damage I was taking.

 

Well looks like Im rambling now. This is my first ever tutorial, so I hope you guys found some information useful. Id like to record a vid for youtube, but Im running on a near minimum spec PC with low visuals. Which brings me to my last tip. Don't give up any frame rate for this build. This build relies entirely on your ability to land clean head shots.

 

Chur.

[edyonline]

Hi guys, Iv'e been testing a Wolverine Brawler build. I recently did an end game test at level 100, but only maxing talents upto 28 (this makes the zombies level 100 and Im essentially only level 28). It works against even cop zombies and radiateds, provided you can land clean hits to the head. I was able to destroy 5 horde nights easily using only fists. Using basic boxing tactics, you take no damage at all but can completely obliterate the horde. This is my attempt at a tutorial explaining how the build works.

Iv'e also done multiple play through's. My most recent up to level 32, Horde night every night, and without difficulty or deaths. I think its easier because you make a lot of money selling guns and ammo, so getting the necessary gear for this build is easy. I was roaming multiple Traders in the day and doing their quests at night, even at low level!

I hope they don't nerf this build now, but it has a super high learning curve to master, so shouldn't need to IMO.

 

The basic rotation priority is..

Bandage > Feint > Power punch if stamina is greater than 50% > Hook for AoE damage > Jab if less than 50% stamina or 1, 2 combo if greater than 50% > Backwards lunge > Drink Beer/Moonshine > run

Ill go into more detail later, but if you can use this combo effectively then you are basically invincible.

 

Talents:

Fortitude 10/10

Brawler 5/5

Pain Tolerance 5/5

Healing Factor 5/5

..and that's it.. all the way to endgame.

 

The gear I use is..

Weapons:

Steel Knuckle Busters

-Weighted head

-Fortifying grip

-Structural brace

 

AK47 (hunting weapon of choice, also the panic button of choice)

-Scope

-Silencer

-One clip of ammo (sell the rest)

 

Armor:

Full Padded Armor

High performance running shoes (+10% Run speed)

College Jacket (+20% Run speed)

-all modded with Banded plating mod

 

Must Have Consumables:

-Bandages x10

-Beer x10

-Pain Killers (while leveling)

 

Optional Consumables:

-Mega Crush

-Grandpa's Moonshine

-Fortbites

-Vitamins (pop one before horde night starts)

-Pure Mineral water/coffee

 

Theres some nice books that work well with this build, but the RNG means its not really worth mentioning. Basically.. if you find a book that doesn't help with this build, then sell it for cash so you can upgrade the gear you need asap.

 

OK, now for the more detailed explanation...

 

Bandage:

 

Priority is simple. If you're bleeding then you need to bandage asap. The extra health regen from Fortifying grip only works based of 50% of your total health. So if you've bled out, then your total health is lowered, which means your healing factor is reduced. Keep it maxed. This is easy if you just chop down some curtains or bust open some couches and you can get your mats for bandages and padded armor all on day one. I have this set to the letter V, so I can mash V and mouse click for an instant bandage as soon as I see Im bleeding.

 

Feint:

 

This is easier done when running towards a zombie. As soon as they start swinging, take a step backwards and start winding up that power punch. They will miss, allowing you to land a perfectly timed counter punch.

 

The feint can also be triggered at night on a running zombie. Instead of running towards them, you will most likely be back pedaling. Just stop back pedaling briefly, to get the zombie winding up early, then continue back pedaling, and they will miss. Distance management is key here. If at any point they end up close enough to land on you, that's when you need to backwards lunge which Ill explain later. I first practiced the feint on a world save with zombies that run all the time. Once you get it down, you are untouchable, especially with all the crowd control proc chance that's built into the Brawler talents. (Stagger, Knock down, ragdoll, Head pop).

 

Power punch:

 

Everyone wants to be Mike Tyson and just one shot zombies all day. But just like in real boxing, you need to be mindful of your stamina. Also you need to be aware of missing and being countered. Only use the right hand if you know it will land on the head, and if you have more than 50% stamina. When you have less than, just stick to the jab (left hand). This still has a high chance to have some kind of stun effect so if your just starting out, maybe just practice with the jab only. TBH I hardly use the power punch at night. I mostly use it if I get stuck, or surrounded and need to clear an opening, because its too punishing to your survival if you miss.

 

Hook:

 

Yes you can hook in 7 days to die. I use it to hit 2 zombies at once. If you have 2 zombies side by side, you can aim to the left of the left zombie, throw a punch and swing the mouse to the right of the right zombie. If you time it right, you will smack them both in the head at once. On a horde night you could smack 10 zombies if you timed it right. But you generally don't want them coming at you more than 2 by 2. I try my best to keep them in a straight line and smack em down one by one, to be able to feint and lunge effectively, but the hook works well when you master it. Ive tried to master it with the right hand, but the delay makes it difficult to time it correctly. I usually end up in their swing space and get tagged, so I prefer to just use the left hook.

 

The 1, 2:

 

Left punch, right punch. The bread and butter of elite boxers, followed up with a hook of coarse. In 7 days, you mostly want to flick out the jab, but if you recognize them flinch early, then follow it up with the right. You get enough time to throw both punches and step out while they recover from the first jab. Even if you miss the right, you have enough time to lunge out of range.. which leads me to the next important manoeuvre..

 

Backwards Lunge:

 

They took away strafe running! Its still possible, but it takes practice. You can strafe run on a 45 degree angle. I haven't tested, but if feels slower than just sprinting straight ahead. This is why its important to wear light padded armor. Even just one or two leather items with speed mods will still slow you down enough to make this lunge ineffective. The Running shoes and College Jacket aren't essential to this build, but they definitely make life easier. This is your go to move when the zombie is close enough to hit you, and there is nothing you can do about it. You could just turn up your mouse sensitivity to turn 180 and bolt, but then you have to try and 180 turn back and land a clean head punch. I like my sensitivity turned right down so I can land every hit to the head. Just ask any boxer. Accuracy with timing, beats speed and power.

 

To lunge effectively, turn away from the zombie, either 45 or 90 degrees. Then sprint on a further 45 degree angle (hold shift, forwards and strafe all at once). Take two big steps, then look back at your opponent. By now they have missed you, and you are in perfect position for that counter power punch (when above 50% stamina of coarse). When you master this, you can even do it in a small lounge or kitchen at night, making night questing a lot of fun. Just make sure you are aware of your surroundings, as bumping into a couch can get you killed.

 

 

 

Gearing up:

 

Gearing up takes priority over anything else when it comes to spending your coin. I start out making my own leather knuckle busters at level 3, on day one. Get the leather from animals or couches/clothes and scrap your first can food. This makes the first few days super easy. Then I make my own level 1 padded armor after chopping curtains/couches for cloth and chopping up carcasses on the road or animals for bones>glue>duct tape. There's no real need to upgrade this padded armor set, other than the extra mod slots you get and lasting longer, but I still like to upgrade them when I see them at a trader. I've experimented with other light armor and trying to reduce the speed debuffs with talents and mods etc, but each split second counts. even just a 1% decrease in speed is not worth it IMO. The health regen and ability to dodge, completely negates the need for more armor. By now its day 2 and you have some decent coin, so now Steel Knuckles/weighted mod takes priority over everything else. This will maximize DPS, and also give you more stun chance from the mod in early game, which is where this build shines. You want every punch to do some kind of stun effect. If your trader doesn't have them, then find another one. Rince and repeat until you get them. Also keep an eye out for the running shoes and college jacket. Their speed buffs make all your evasive manoeuvres much easier.

 

Consumables:

[Adam the Waster]

sweet. ill have to try that!

[Ramethzer0]

truth be told, I've been waiting for combat metas to start surfacing.

[Boidster]

This sounds like a really interesting way to approach the game and kudos for doing the research! That said...

 

I was able to destroy 5 horde nights easily using only fists. Using basic boxing tactics, you take no damage at all but can completely obliterate the horde.

...

 

The basic rotation priority is..

Bandage > Feint > ...

 

Talents:

Pain Tolerance 5/5

Healing Factor 5/5

...

 

Must Have Consumables:

-Bandages x10

-Pain Killers (while leveling)

...

 

Bandage:

 

Priority is simple. If you're bleeding then you need to bandage asap.

 

You may have oversold it a bit. It seems to me that you are taking all of the damage one would expect from facing down a horde of running zombies using only fists, it's just that you have perked and prepared to heal that damage quickly. You take a crapload of damage, but you can survive it.

 

Which is amazing. Good job.

[Roland]

This is awesome but it looks like you cut off before finishing. Please finish your post!

[edyonline]

This sounds like a really interesting way to approach the game and kudos for doing the research! That said...

 

 

 

You may have oversold it a bit. It seems to me that you are taking all of the damage one would expect from facing down a horde of running zombies using only fists, it's just that you have perked and prepared to heal that damage quickly. You take a crapload of damage, but you can survive it.

 

Which is amazing. Good job.

 

Not oversold at all. If you master the feint and the lunge, you shouldnt take any damage at all. I probably get tagged at least 3 times in a Horde night, but thats usually because I get overconfident. In light armor, you cant afford to take damage, youl die really quickly. I used to be ranked quite high in UFC 2, and all Ive done is take the basic principles in that game with stamina and distance management, and applied it to my 7 days play style. If you can play Fight Night or UFC, you know how important it is to not just button mash. All the rules there, apply here in 7 days, for fist fighting at least.

 

The play style is easy to learn though, I can go into a house on day one and punch the zombies down with my bare fists and not take any damage. Practice the feint first, and take note of when you do get hit accidentally. Thats when you should have used the lunge. When you get to a point where your not taking any damage at all, then its time to practice at night.

 

If you want to learn it as quick as possible, then just go bare knuckle. Get to a point where you can fight 3 zombies and not take any damage. It makes the fights way too long, but that helps with the steep learning curve.

[edyonline]

Pain Tolerance and Healing factor are not enough to help you tank the damage, at least not in padded armor. But you need pain tolerance incase you do get tagged, because being stunned in padded armor is a quick death.

 

The healing factor just helps me play a little more reckless. If you play like your Money Mayweather then you dont even need these talents. But youl get like 3 kills a night. I like to rush a bit more to try and maximise my DPS. As soon as Im down to 50% HP then ill start fighting like a school girl and let the health regen get me back up to where I can be a little more reckless.

[Deadalready]

I was inspired by this and after testing a few levels in single player, I was able to take this to a Nomad difficulty server (ping of about 100) and make it work. Survived my first horde night inside a poi and was amazed at the crowd control powers of this build!

 

A suggestion is to make use of any auto turrets found as additional dps and stagger potential for early game (they're pretty common treasure).

 

Have managed to get my Brawler maxed and working on healing factor/pain tolerance. Any suggestions for good synergies? I'm thinking agility for the Flurry and parkour jumping, perhaps Intelligence for auto turret support?

[edyonline]

Yeah I started out in the agility tree. Getting that third point in parkour gives you a window of invincibility. I like to cut the stairs out in at least 3 buildings, and make ramps that start at 2 blocks high. That way you can enter the building at any time without taking damage. I wanted these to be my first points, but it's tough starting out on day 1 without aiming to max brawler.

 

After I max out the wolverine build, my next priority is..

 

level 3 parkour > 5/5 flurry of blows.

 

With max flurry, you essentially get a free strike after every 4th swing. That's an extra opportunity to blow off a head. But TBH, I feel invincible as it is, so these aren't all that crucial. In terms of synergy, the agility tree is definitely the best. We'll, at least in theory, I haven't actually tested, as I get bored around level 30. Being invincible has its downside. I'll test it on my end game character and let you know.

 

Turrets are a nice back up plan especially starting out. I like to stick a couple up at the back of a building. That way if I ever find myself about to die, I can just run to the back for a breather.

[Ghostlight]

Hi guys, Iv'e been testing a Wolverine Brawler build. I recently did an end game test at level 100, but only maxing talents upto 28

 

What do you mean here. Who was level 100? You? Gamestage? Both? I assume you mean you were level 100. Zombies don't have levels, so I assume you mean you were on gamestage 100? If so then you are playing on the lowest difficulty. Hate to break it to you but any build is OP at lowest difficulty. You probably didn't even need to spend 28 talent points. Hack any build is OP even on Nomad difficulty.

[edyonline]

I can go max difficulty, I'm still not going to take any damage. Its all about foot work. But it just takes way too long to kill anything on day one with bare knuckles.

 

The point is, I can fight a billion zombies all night and not get hit. I line them up 300 style and knock em down one by one using fists which have infinite ammo. The tests I did included radiated zombies and cops.

 

I recorded a tutorial. I shortened the day to 20 minutes. Horde night every night. I killed a boar, 2 birds and the horde with my bare fists because I didn't have time to craft the level 3 knuckles. Day 2 I crafted the knuckles and punched out a dog.

 

If on day 3 on a normal game, you can visit 3 traders and do all their quests during the night, and punch out grizzly bears then I like to think your pretty OP...

Now when I start a new game, I try to spawn in the wasteland. With any other build, I avoid it at all costs.

 

Its more about the play style, and the build accommodates that. I should have the tutorial up by tomorrow, I'll post it here.

[edyonline]

I was having second thoughts on this build, as others were putting doubts in my mind... I did record a day one with short days, 20 min I think, with horde every night. I recorded on medium graphics which is pretty touch on this PC. I decided to continue that game on low graphics. I havent died to any zombies, even punched out a 3 dog horde on day 3 or 4. Tried to take on a bear at day 4 with 2/5 Brawler and got eaten alive, but apart from that Ive been fighting the horde on the street and havent died to em yet. Its now day 9 and I finally got my hands on a pair of steel knuckle busters. I feel like ive clocked the game

 

Im currently 3/5 Brawler and 2/5 Healing Factor. Usually I try hold off on other talents and focus down Brawler, but I need the health regen to have enough HP for each horde night. One time I got tagged and got stunned which cost me half my health, so I really need to get points into Pain Tolerance. But for now, I have to rely on my new steel knuckles with weighted mod and focus down Brawler for that head pop.

 

I think for the most part, Im owning because of the fight tactics Im using, more so than the talents, but this build definitely compliments someone with basic boxing knowledge.

 

Im still working out this video editing stuff, but right now, I need to raid with my guild in World of Warcraft. Ill Try my best to get it up tomorrow.

[edyonline]

I was having second thoughts on this build, as others were putting doubts in my mind... I did record a day one with short days, 20 min I think, with horde every night. I recorded on medium graphics which is pretty touch on this PC. I decided to continue that game on low graphics. I havent died to any zombies, even punched out a 3 dog horde on day 3 or 4. Tried to take on a bear at day 4 with 2/5 Brawler and got eaten alive, but apart from that Ive been fighting the horde on the street and havent died to em yet. Its now day 9 and I finally got my hands on a pair of steel knuckle busters. I feel like ive clocked the game

 

Im currently 3/5 Brawler and 2/5 Healing Factor. Usually I try hold off on other talents and focus down Brawler, but I need the health regen to have enough HP for each horde night. One time I got tagged and got stunned which cost me half my health, so I really need to get points into Pain Tolerance. But for now, I have to rely on my new steel knuckles with weighted mod and focus down Brawler for that head pop.

 

I think for the most part, Im owning because of the fight tactics Im using, more so than the talents, but this build definitely compliments someone with basic boxing knowledge.

 

Im still working out this video editing stuff, but right now, I need to raid with my guild in World of Warcraft. Ill Try my best to get it up tomorrow.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

 

What a rush. Got food poisoning and had to start the horde fight with half stamina.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

[canadianbluebeer]

Brawler is fun for POI clearing, but having a machinegun for when a dozen greenies drop in is handy too.

(and for the cops. I don't like them going asplodey and breaking my loots)

 

For horde night, well, I'm using a dart trap base now, and I could probably use a bow on the number of zeds that are making it to where I can shoot them. (so far).

 

Popping the head off a bear with one punch though... heh.

 

Oh, I'm using the full heavy armor. If I gotta run, I get to da choppa! (motorcycle choppa, not that eggbeater thingie)

 

[edyonline]

 

Super choppy.. in the process of upgrading my PC, but this is the best I can do for now

[Ghostlight]

Watching the video, don't think this is for me. I mean I typically push my games to Insane difficulty after a few weeks. Enemies are bullet sponges then. They can take 10+ headshots with a fully modded tier6 AK. I also play 24 enemies at a time. I don't see how this fighting style could handle that to be honest. Show me a video of you taking no damage at those settings and your gamestage in the 300s (where mine is now), and I will sit up and pay attention.

[edyonline]

Maybe my next challenge. I wonder how the difficulty affects head pop chance with fists.

 

I just did a day 1 sky scraper challenge, default settings. I entered the skyscraper on day 1. Did a full clear and hit the phat loot at the top by day 5. Still continued fighting throughout the night. If you can beat that, then perhaps I'd be interested in your build/play style.

 

TBH, I don't see the point in upping the difficulty if it's just going to take ten times longer to kill one zombie.. Remember, fists have infinite ammo. When I got to the worker floor in the skyscraper, I woke the whole floor and smacked em down. It took aaaaaages. Would probly take a full day to kill them on your settings, kinda boring IMO.

 

Ima try amp up the settings on my test server and see how the proc chances are affected.

[Prisma501]

Maybe my next challenge. I wonder how the difficulty affects head pop chance with fists.

 

I just did a day 1 sky scraper challenge, default settings. I entered the skyscraper on day 1. Did a full clear and hit the phat loot at the top by day 5. Still continued fighting throughout the night. If you can beat that, then perhaps I'd be interested in your build/play style.

 

TBH, I don't see the point in upping the difficulty if it's just going to take ten times longer to kill one zombie.. Remember, fists have infinite ammo. When I got to the worker floor in the skyscraper, I woke the whole floor and smacked em down. It took aaaaaages. Would probly take a full day to kill them on your settings, kinda boring IMO.

 

Ima try amp up the settings on my test server and see how the proc chances are affected.

 

"Feeling elite > using difficulty for most fun in various circumstances" for some people.

 

Cheers

 

-edit- defo gonna try this build after reading this. Sounds like a bunch of fun!