How I fight and my best combat tricks

5

That’s almost how I start into a battle.
But, I usually start shooting the hunters shoulder cannons (without the snipers I feel more save).

Long time ago I tested many guerilla tactics, especially on himfjäll.
At österhällan marine center is a parking lot. I crawled from car to car, dropped mines and gas tanks next to them, created some electric fences with my klauke with 9mm experimental ammo, crawled back to a safe position and dropped a radio on my way. A group of hunters ran to that parking lot and … :boom:

Besides of that, I hate everything with a machine gun. They are too accurate in most cases, even if you run around like a scarred bunny. Because of that I think that military hunters are way more dangerous than their fnix or apoc types.

3 Likes
6

Yeah, they are brutal. What I hate about them is, that once they lock at you, you’re toast. It is very hard to avoid a hit even by moving away. You basically have to put some mass (rocks, ground, etc.) between you and the nozzle to be safe. And as snipers they hide well and shoot with a low frequency making them hard to trace when everything around you is shooting at you as well. Like you, I try to relieve them from ther shoulder cannon/rifle too.

??? Electric fence with experimental ammo? How does that work?

2 Likes
7

I didn’t find the correct words instantly.
→ It’s 9mm shock ammo.

Didn’t use them (or 7.62 or .270 shock ammo) for a long time now, so idk if they even are still able to build chains of electric arcs.

Quoted from GZ wiki:

9mm Shock Ammo - Fire two rounds at different bots and have electricity become chained between them. Can also be used to lay down electrical tesla traps by firing them onto surfaces. (Note: You can hurt yourself by running into the tesla arcs between placements! Do not run into them!)

And not just two rounds, more is or was possible.

Btw regarding the machine guns. It’s a great tactic to hide behind something. I usually use trees. In the past it was also possible to hide behind any wrecked machine to prevent being hit by bullets. I loved the sound when the bullets hit the metal.

3 Likes
8

My initial reaction to the experimentals was … well, less that enthusiastic. And as I’m a very stubborn and unyielding guy (hence the bull icon) I very quickly stopped playing with them out of principle. I kind of regret that a bit now, as there seems to be some fun applications.

Now that I’m very reluctantly getting a tiny bit curious … are there any other tactics worth knowing about regarding these … hmmm … experimentals?

2 Likes
9

Besides of shock ammo Idk any further tactics with experimental ammo.
The others are explosive or especially designed to do more damage against components or armor (and less to the other one).

Medical ammo (in the experimental 12g) can help you getting unstuck if you got stuck.

Combined with experimental weapons the effects of the experimental ammo can be slightly different. An experimental Älgstudsare for example can be very strong when used with .270 shock ammo. Or can heal a whole team a great amount with medical ammo. If you use it correct and good.

3 Likes
10

Medical ammo??!? Surely you must be joking! When I wrote my rant against the experimentals back then I actually thought that I was ridiculing the experimental ammo using “blood transfusion shell” as a sarcastic example. And now you are telling me, that I wasn’t that far off??!?

Okay, back to being stubborn :joy:

(I will do some digging into this, as I suspect that you are pulling my leg).

2 Likes
11

Ok, this is a great topic! I remember clearly when I first started playing, I was an absolute coward too. I didn’t play the game as intended; I just wanted to explore the beautiful scenery. But my curiosity got the better of me, and I stumbled across a Runner!!! near that first Polis car. I hadn’t seen or heard an enemy quite like this in any other game and the fact that I could track its predatory behaviour from a great distance was something very new to me. It scared the hell out of me frankly, it could outrun me and kill me easily.

On that first day, I spent a full eight hours running from every machine. I took potshots with my Möller, managed to kill one, but more kept coming. I spent a lot of time hiding in Saltholmen Church, waiting for them to leave, or firing until I ran out of ammo. Then I heard it, the distant rumble of a Tank. I peeked through a window and saw it approaching. At that moment, it felt like a true horror game. There was no way I could take down this thing! I couldn’t escape the church, didn’t want to lose what little I’d gathered, and Generation Zero completely got the better of me. I rage quit and didn’t touch the game again for three months.

When I returned, I approached it more methodically. I played missions properly, improved my skills, got all the DLCs, and eventually acquired the PM-71, the only gun I really use now. Pairing it with the experimental AI with .243 HEAT ammo I could take down Reaper shields easily and then finish the job with the PM using shock ammo after finding cover from its thermobaric blast.

There was a period in my Generation Zero “life cycle” when the machine blood lust was upon me: I would spawn countless Reapers and Vultures with a fast travel radio down in a hatch just to fight them repeatedly with only these two guns. Then I’d do base defenses, gather resources, and repeat the cycle. Constant fighting for days on end.

I then discovered multiplayer and spoke to many others and refined my skills. What the best tactics boil down to for me is knowing your enemies, using the right weapons, and staying in cover. Hit and run tactics work well, exploiting terrain, while explosives and precision shots take down tougher machines. Stay aware of audio cues, manage resources, and coordinate in teams for the best results.

Nowadays, I hardly fight at all. I tend to use Sensory Jammers to avoid conflict and focus on exploring. That initial rage has faded, and now I find the quiet moments far more enjoyable. The small details like spotting a Flash Cola bottle I haven’t seen before bring me immense satisfaction. I can just watch the sunsets and gain so much joy from the tiny little new discoveries.

3 Likes
12

The shock ammo is good for setting up trip wires. The tesla arcs are these trip wires. You set trip wires as you run away from machines and will zap any machines that give chase. This is most helpful to zap a bunch of ticks chasing you. But the explosive ammo is also effective at destroying those bouncing ticks.

Setting a few trip wires in open doorways and at corners also lets you know when there are machines at that opening. First step of the trap is to leave a door open so the machines will stand in front of it. Put a gas tank or two near and makes for a nice trap with automatic trigger.

I will shoot my explosive ammo on the sides of big storage tanks or side of cars that I have lured the machines to. The movement of machines trigger the rounds to explode and causes all kinds of chain reactions then.

Fun thing is to shoot a runner or lynx with shock ammo, while they are running, and they drag the arcs to other machines and they get zapped too.

2 Likes
13

Ok, that sounds like fun. I definitely have to try that out. Thanks for the tip :+1:

1 Like
14

So my tactic is using buildings to hide behind, or even inside of to fight. Using cover as much as possible. It’s hilarious watching a tank strafe around a building trying to get you while you’re inside a barn! However, snipers and gas grenades do suck!! So many times I have to abandon the cover for a bit and fight some outside the building only to take cover again when its safe to do so.

I also love using my experimental KVM59! It does shock damage (don’t use at close range). I also love the latest heavy weapons pack that was released. I use the minigun and the shotgun from that pack. I also keep the m/49 on me for the big boys!

One more thing is I keep 2 homing turrets and 2 portable machine gun turrets. In case things get harry, I deploy those for crowd control. The homing turret even works on Firebirds if close enough!

Obviously all that heavy stuff means weight management. So I have my companion carry the majority of first aid packs. He carries the Advanced and Standards while I carry the Simple first aid. He’s set to be my medic in fights.

And so that’s my tactic! Probably not the best nor smartest. But I get by! LOL! :grin: :+1:

3 Likes
15

If in a house, go to opposite side of building, barns go to the concrete wall area and go prone. Can then crawl around while the machines lose “sight” of you. Simple trick to break off contact.

I started carrying one around again. They do come in handy for crowd control and easy way to burn through all the 7.62 FMJ that we collect off everything. It then give me room to carry more loot after the battle.

1 Like
16

I remember when I found my first gasmask and thought that now all my problems dealing with gas were finally over. Boy, was I disappointed :alembic::dash::nose::weary:

I happily went into the gas chamber in one of the first bunkers and choked in the blink of an eye. I’ve never bothered using a gasmask when attacked by machines dealing that, which I think should have much worked better in the game. I believe resilience to gas is an acquired skill, but it should have worked “out of the box” - that is, after all, what gasmasks are for.

2 Likes
17

I like to get right up in their faces and punch them on the nose! I usually start my attack with the PVG-90, and use it to soften them up while I close in the distance, firing away as I come running. When I get close I switch to a 7.62 machinegun and finish off any survivors. If it’s a large group I often throw a few flares and fireworks to confuse the machines.
Simple tactics, really. Reckless perhaps, but it works. :blush:

I recorded my first fight with the Reaper, if you wanna watch, it’s a decent example of my playstyle.

Video

3 Likes
19

Cool @NJR87 :grin:

(and 20 characters …)

20

Back when you had to loot for everything, you learned to make use of everything you looted, loot wasn’t as common as now either.

Daisy chain a bunch of simple tactics together and they could become a complex trap. Who hasn’t deployed a boombox near a parking lot of cars to lure machines to it. Toss a grenade that sets off a chain reaction and wipes a lot of the machines out. Add a few gas tanks for even more excitement.

And it didn’t use a lot of resources.

1 Like
21

My only trick is trying to avoid combat and sneaking past like a :ninja: to reach my goal and when I do need to fight I like sniping them from high up places if possible.

1 Like
22

Cool…

23

Probably a very smart strategy. My problem is that my trigger finger gets this unbearable itch whenever I see or hear a machine. It’s like they caused me so much pain in the start game, that I’ll never miss an opportunity paying them back :joy:

Holding af grudge against machines :roll_eyes: … I should know better :wink:

2 Likes
24

I only realised about a week ago that if you hold the left stick down (on console) while aiming, you can hold your breath for steadier shots, at the cost of some stamina. I’ve been playing for years and never knew this was a mechanic! Does anyone else use this feature?

1 Like
25

I guess I knew that and used it way back, but now I never use it.

But (and this is really crazy) until the showdown update, I didn’t know, that I could crawl :exploding_head: Quite a few times I got stuck somewhere, and (while swearing and cursing) I had to fast travel to the closest safe house. When I had to meet with Veronica and Tatiana (not Olga :smile:) near the bomb crater in the underground facilities, I tried all fancy stuff with field radios to get in. Eventually, and by accident, I double-pressed the “duck” button and … voila … I could crawl :joy:

And apparently you can’t use “dash” character as a stand-alone character anymore … Damned spammers!

2 Likes