Is it possible to have a base in the wastelands?

[ElCabong]

My main base is in the forest biome but want to make a wastelands base near a trader.  I think spending a night there in my base would be like doing a mission there at night. I am going to get eventually overwhelmed by endless spawns.

 

Has anybody tried this? Is it doable? I don't mind failing a few times before I catch on to what I need to do.

[Jinx_DG]

It's doable from what I've seen. Haven't tried it myself though. I wish you good luck and fun times with no Zombie Bears at your door.

[ChickenWings]

20 minutes ago, ElCabong said:

My main base is in the forest biome but want to make a wastelands base near a trader.  I think spending a night there in my base would be like doing a mission there at night. I am going to get eventually overwhelmed by endless spawns.

 

Has anybody tried this? Is it doable? I don't mind failing a few times before I catch on to what I need to do.

Yep it's doable, only way I play now is wasteland from the start, on insane mode.   I turn rain and wind off because it will start raining every day at some point.

 

The first week is the hardest, but it's very doable.  I'm up to day 27 I think with no deaths.  Expect to die a lot at first but the challenge is a lot of fun, reminds me of when I first started to play this game.   I can give you some tips if you want. 

Edited February 26, 2022 by ChickenWings (see edit history)

[ElCabong]

7 minutes ago, ChickenWings said:

Yep it's doable, only way I play now is wasteland from the start, on insane mode.   I turn rain and wind off because it will start raining every day at some point.

 

The first week is the hardest, but it's very doable.  I'm up to day 27 I think with no deaths.  Expect to die a lot at first but the challenge is a lot of fun, reminds me of when I first started to play this game.   I can give you some tips if you want. 

Thanks, if I get stumped I'll come back here make a post. I might get killed a few times but I'll figure it out. Famous last words lol

[ChickenWings]

Oh you will lol but it's a lot of fun figuring out how to survive. 

[JoeDaFrogman]

6 hours ago, ElCabong said:

My main base is in the forest biome but want to make a wastelands base near a trader.  I think spending a night there in my base would be like doing a mission there at night. I am going to get eventually overwhelmed by endless spawns.

 

Has anybody tried this? Is it doable? I don't mind failing a few times before I catch on to what I need to do.

At some point, of course?  On day 1? probably not unless you have lowish difficulty settings are are REALLY good at the game(and yes, there are people who are that good at the game but not I).   I know multiple people who have moved to the wasteland 40+(or so) days into the game and built a craft/horde base in one on land they flattened.     

 

I also know one guy( @dcsobral) who started outside a wasteland trader(he edited the spawn points) and spent the first several days questing in the nearby desert town and did horde night in his wasteland base he built up.     Last I checked, he was doing primary questing in the wasteland itself on the second week(his crafting area is between two ditches outside the trader area.) since that wasteland city as extremely rich in unique tier 4 POI's(IIRC).  He even has a YT chronicling his journey

 

 

 

Edited February 26, 2022 by JoeDaFrogman (see edit history)

[Ramethzer0]

In my MP game, we have a very large POI Wasteland base.

 

I find it to be a bit of a mixed bag.   That first night we started to work on it, we were constantly under attack.  I had to stick and move, build and shoot the entire time.

Eventually we managed to fortify the walls enough to make it not worth their while to hit.   I had to personally build diversion walls, lined with wooden traps stacked on

top of each other.  Occasionally, a demo will show up, and put a big hole in something.   Eventually we fortified all the doors into vaults.  We have two main entrances in and out through the front and the back, but we also have a bunch of different parkour related escape routes.

 

The Good:  If you have shotgun turrets monitoring your entrances and you modify your entrances to be more viable as breaching points for zombies, you can actually chill inside for longer than 5 minutes if you need to.  It's not the most efficient, because there's usually loss of rounds as sometimes the turrets just pound away until the corpse disappears.  Which sucks, but if you need a breather, its the best defense you will have.  If you build in a wasteland metropolis, there are often a lot of working vending machines that will sell rations and peas, making some endgame recipes a bit easier to get your hands on.   Trust me, you'll need those.

 

The Bad:  It is a nightmare at night if you don't have proper base defenses.   It's a constant stream of rando zeds and they sometimes get outta hand if you have a very large base like we do.   If your POI base is connected to another building, you better come up with a better place to lay low.   Zombies will often tunnel their way through adjoined buildings so they can climb up stairs and then beat down on a roof to get to you.  It blows my mind the level of tactical thinking they will go through to find the easiest way to you and circumvent ALL of your base defenses.   I had to reinforce several nearby structures to avoid them pathing this way.  Not only did a few of us have to lay down a series of LCB's in a specific pattern to suppress sleeper spawns, but there was a lot of filling up hallways, reinforcing windows, knocking out stairs.  Hours of work just to keep the zeds from finding alternative passages into our base from higher than our roof.   We built a garden on top of a parking structure across the street (complete with bridge from our rooftop) and wow was that a mistake.   I had to completely demo out large sections of the inside of that POI, reinforce walls, and make sure there is no way they could tunnel upwards within walls or corpse ladder their way towards the garden itself.   And when I mean reinforce, I mean all the way up to steel.  I hated the amount of work needed to complete, and I was disgusted by the amount of resources I blew through doing these renovations.   It took more resources to fortify the neighbourhood this way than it did with the base itself.    *throws arms up in frustration*

 

The Ugly:  Simply put;  If you want a base in the city in the wasteland, be prepared to deal with a multitude of logistical problems.  Most are solvable with enough time and resources, but you need to be extremely mindful of how the zombies will path through to get to you, and many of your defenses will require daily maintenance.  One of the more frustrating issues is hearing my shotgun turrets running 24/7.  After a while this sound starts to drone in my head, and I have to turn down the appropriate volume just so I can hear my friends on Discord.

 

I think if I have to do it all over again, there are plenty of inner city POI choices that would be a fraction of the headache I had with the one we chose.   The new Cathedral, for instance - has a small house unit off to one corner that would have taken significantly less work to fix up and maintain for long periods of time.   At least we learned enough about the wasteland that finding a good spot for a Horde Base was much easier.   In a pinch, those bridge overpasses can be built upon and walled up in such a way to make them worthwhile.  It also took a lot of resources, and ours uses every kinda trap there is, including land mines.  Luckily, cooking pot mines can be very cheap and quick to produce.  One word of caution however is be careful not to place them in rows or in clusters.  It's best to spread them out, or else runners will gleefully run across several of them in row before the explosion catches up with them.   Use barb wire or wood spikes in between them in checkerboard like fashion, and you will end up replacing far less the next time you need to use the space again.

 

I'd have to say that honestly, I don't actually recommend it unless you have the manpower and the resources to build and maintain it.  Not only am I the builder, but I'm also the primary miner as well.  The benefit here is that I was able to keep up with my own resource demand.   It's actually much more worthwhile to build on the cusp of a city, then build downtown.  It's also less costly and demanding if you build strategically just outside of the wasteland biome and then just go into the wasteland city when you feel like going after jobs or loot.  In one week, I've blown through entire stacks of stacks of mineable materials.  I want to also state that this was a setup for six people including myself.  A single player or a duo will require less work and materials, but you'll also need to be on higher alert at all times.   For example, if you're mining solo in the wasteland, be prepared for Bears and Dogs that will block your mine shaft exits, and may not always announce themselves when they arrive either.  You may also want to forgo using an auger altogether, because the noise and the heat will definitely complicate things.

 

To end this little novel I've written, I should just say that If you're something of a masochist - everything in the wasteland will seem like a paradise.

And if my friends decide to do this again, I will make an attempt to persuade them to choose either the Desert or the Snow biomes.

[ChickenWings]

All I do is live in the wasteland, in a city (eventually),  and from a base defense point it's not nearly as hard as you are describing.   I'll have to see what my player level is but I'm sure it isn't very high, and I'm on day 27 or so, single player insane mode.   Most nights I have very few zombies coming by, it's pretty quiet.  There's a strategy to it though, when a random horde comes by just sit tight and be quiet.  You know, as if you were in a real zombie apocalypse.    My base defenses for the first 3 horde nights were stone arrows and wood spikes, with some iron spikes thrown in as I could make them.   My horde base is a garage next to a house.  The house roof has all my supplies.  And I killed them all, I didn't have to resort to surviving until 4am hit.

 

There are tricks to it though, ways to survive.  And I'm real hesitant to post them here because I feel like I will be punished for coming up with ways to survive in the wasteland by the developers.  Not cheesy ways, or exploits.  Just using my brain like anyone else.  You know, like posting how to wrench land mines, or shoot them with arrows.   Now in 20 that doesn't work anymore.

Edited February 27, 2022 by ChickenWings (see edit history)

[Callum123456789]

22 hours ago, ElCabong said:

My main base is in the forest biome but want to make a wastelands base near a trader.  I think spending a night there in my base would be like doing a mission there at night. I am going to get eventually overwhelmed by endless spawns.

 

Has anybody tried this? Is it doable? I don't mind failing a few times before I catch on to what I need to do.

The short answer is yes the long answer is also yes but if you have feral sense on expect to have a whole battalion of zombies coming at your door if you make enough noise at night it's not so bad mid to late game but all the wasteland spawns in the night time are always feral aswell as more bear spawns so that means if you decide to make a base there early game you better have a damn good game plan lol

[Ramethzer0]

3 hours ago, ChickenWings said:

All I do is live in the wasteland, in a city (eventually),  and from a base defense point it's not nearly as hard as you are describing.   I'll have to see what my player level is but I'm sure it isn't very high, and I'm on day 27 or so, single player insane mode.   Most nights I have very few zombies coming by, it's pretty quiet.  There's a strategy to it though, when a random horde comes by just sit tight and be quiet.  You know, as if you were in a real zombie apocalypse.    My base defenses for the first 3 horde nights were stone arrows and wood spikes, with some iron spikes thrown in as I could make them.   My horde base is a garage next to a house.  The house roof has all my supplies.  And I killed them all, I didn't have to resort to surviving until 4am hit.

 

There are tricks to it though, ways to survive.  And I'm real hesitant to post them here because I feel like I will be punished for coming up with ways to survive in the wasteland by the developers.  Not cheesy ways, or exploits.  Just using my brain like anyone else.  You know, like posting how to wrench land mines, or shoot them with arrows.   Now in 20 that doesn't work anymore.

I am level 163, game stage 350+, Warrior difficulty, a downtown POI that is gigantic, and I play with 5 other people whom are of similar levels.

 

As a single player, at your level, on insane, with a small one person base?    Of course you're not going to see the level of difficulty I am describing, which is why I don't recommend doing what I am doing.

2 hours ago, Callum123456789 said:

if you have feral sense on expect to have a whole battalion of zombies coming at your door if you make enough noise at night it's not so bad mid to late game but all the wasteland spawns in the night time are always feral aswell as more bear spawns so that means if you decide to make a base there early game you better have a damn good game plan lol

Out of curiosity, If you have feral sense on - how does not making noise make a difference in avoiding said battalion of zombies?  

Edited February 27, 2022 by Ramethzer0 (see edit history)

[Adam the Waster]

On 2/26/2022 at 11:21 AM, ElCabong said:

My main base is in the forest biome but want to make a wastelands base near a trader.  I think spending a night there in my base would be like doing a mission there at night. I am going to get eventually overwhelmed by endless spawns.

 

Has anybody tried this? Is it doable? I don't mind failing a few times before I catch on to what I need to do.

Yes, 100%

but be armed, I live in the city of the wastelands sense it makes it harder

 

14 minutes ago, Ramethzer0 said:

 

Out of curiosity, If you have feral sense on - how does not making noise make a difference in avoiding said battalion of zombies?  

Making noise causes zombies too come too you, sense the wasteland can now almost spawn every zombie under the sun...
so if you shoot your gun.. expect to see solders, ferals.. pigions, bears.... doggos and fat bois

feral sense just makes them mad but damn its fun hiding and throwing rocks seeing a TON of zombies going after it

[Ramethzer0]

4 minutes ago, Adam the Waster said:

Yes, 100%

but be armed, I live in the city of the wastelands sense it makes it harder

 

Making noise causes zombies too come too you, sense the wasteland can now almost spawn every zombie under the sun...
so if you shoot your gun.. expect to see solders, ferals.. pigions, bears.... doggos and fat bois

feral sense just makes them mad but damn its fun hiding and throwing rocks seeing a TON of zombies going after it

 

Doesn't feral sense include a component of the zeds always knowing where you are, despite full cover and stealth?

 

I thought I heard this during the dev streams, but I've never actually used it because I already think the zeds are too powerful for what they actually are.

Edited February 27, 2022 by Ramethzer0 (see edit history)

[meganoth]

16 minutes ago, Ramethzer0 said:

 

Doesn't feral sense include a component of the zeds always knowing where you are, despite full cover and stealth?

 

No, it is just a constant bonus to their sensing.

 

16 minutes ago, Ramethzer0 said:

I thought I heard this during the dev streams, but I've never actually used it because I already think the zeds are too powerful for what they actually are.

 

[Callum123456789]

2 hours ago, Ramethzer0 said:

I am level 163, game stage 350+, Warrior difficulty, a downtown POI that is gigantic, and I play with 5 other people whom are of similar levels.

 

As a single player, at your level, on insane, with a small one person base?    Of course you're not going to see the level of difficulty I am describing, which is why I don't recommend doing what I am doing.

Out of curiosity, If you have feral sense on - how does not making noise make a difference in avoiding said battalion of zombies?  

because if you make lots of noise youll just keep attracting more and more zombies where if you keep it to a small level youll have a lot less 

[Ramethzer0]

10 hours ago, Callum123456789 said:

because if you make lots of noise youll just keep attracting more and more zombies where if you keep it to a small level youll have a lot less 

I guess that wont be possible while I have shotgun turrets mitigating our entrance points.

Those things do make my life much easier.

[POCKET951]

The trick to building a a base solo in the wasteland is to build during the day imo

 

[dcsobral]

On 2/26/2022 at 3:38 PM, JoeDaFrogman said:

At some point, of course?  On day 1? probably not unless you have lowish difficulty settings are are REALLY good at the game(and yes, there are people who are that good at the game but not I).   I know multiple people who have moved to the wasteland 40+(or so) days into the game and built a craft/horde base in one on land they flattened.     

 

I also know one guy( @dcsobral) who started outside a wasteland trader(he edited the spawn points) and spent the first several days questing in the nearby desert town and did horde night in his wasteland base he built up.     Last I checked, he was doing primary questing in the wasteland itself on the second week(his crafting area is between two ditches outside the trader area.) since that wasteland city as extremely rich in unique tier 4 POI's(IIRC).  He even has a YT chronicling his journey

 

Actually, the trader tile isn't bad at all on the respawn. I don't have a base, just stations and boxes on the ground and even at night I rarely see more than a couple of zombies nearby. I got a compound crossbow early on so I can easily silently kill the nearby zombies with sneak shots and not be bothered at all. Maybe the trader tile didn't get respawns set for it so it's actually lower than even wilderness.

 

If you start with agility and invest in From the Shadows and Hidden Strike and also get a forge right away to make iron arrowheads, I think it's perfectly possible to stay in the wasteland from day 1. I moved to the desert because I thought I wouldn't be able to handle the wasteland right away, but I've changed my mind about it. Of course, looting cities in the wasteland is another story, and you really have to be prepared to run away from bears and avoid getting near downtown. Even if you don't go inside downtown, you'll still get the tough zombie respawns from downtown if you are nearby.

 

18 minutes ago, POCKET951 said:

The trick to building a a base solo in the wasteland is to build during the day imo

 

I've dug a trench during the night without issues. I got attacked every now and then but only one zombie at a time, which I easily handled with a spear. I also built, but building doesn't make a sound so it's even easier.

[Ray Garraty]

On 2/26/2022 at 7:21 PM, ElCabong said:

want to make a wastelands base

Main cooking-smelting-crafting base? No, there's no point in that.

Horde base, on the other hand, should be placed in Wasteland, preferrably on the territory of the high Tier POI. I am thinking at the moment about moving my horde base to the Shotgun Messiah factory parking located in the hub city in order to recover the top loot from them loot bags.

Edited July 5, 2022 by Ray Garraty (see edit history)