So I’m proud to say that I killed my first rival (I’m not so scared of Hunters anymore), but then his buddy killed me and, since it was dead of night in the middle of a forest when I killed the rival, when I came back to kill the buddy, I couldn’t find the Rival’s body to loot.
Did I miss anything rare or unique, potentially?
Thanks in advance for any info!
Rivals have a chance to drop Experimental clothing items, which is essentially prototype advanced tactical combat gear, and it does look pretty cool. My character is wearing Experimental jacket - blue camo and Experimental pants - gray camo here. From level 25 (I think that’s the level) onwards, they also have a chance to drop Experimental weapons. Since I’m assuming you’re not level 25 (I’m not either), you might only have missed out on an Experimental clothing item. However, Rival Hunters have a pretty low chance to drop anything Experimental (Rival Harvesters and Rival tanks have a higher chance), so it is more likely you just missed out on a bit of ammo and maybe crafting resources.
I was overconfident when I looked at all the Rival profiles and Saw they kind of just looked like Dogs with a blade arm, and was shocked to discover, upon venturing close to them, that they can be all different kinds.
And their names are all so funny snd vainglorious and badass.
So, are harvesters those giant industrial looking ones? With the squat bodies and kind of massive ultra long club looking arms?
I kkow what Tanks look like because the one and only time I joined a multiplayer game (to see what it was like) the guy was fighting 4 tanks at a church.
I got to loot one before he rudely booted me from his game.
Also, I have a giant (I think) Havester rival (The Boss of Salthamn) and a Tank rival (The Top Dog of Salthamn) our for my blood near the safe house I just unlocked.
And I’m almost out of precious SMG ammo LOL.
Any tips on taking down Tanks and Harvesters?
Also, I’m lowly level 8.
Yeah, a Rival can be at least one of three types of machines; a Hunter, a Harvester or a Tank. I’ve heard of people who have gotten Runner Rivals (the small dog-looking ones), but I never have.
Yes! Most of them are equipped with a form of missile or mortar attack, and can also summon Hunters to aid them.
This may sound odd, but my primary advice would be to not feel like you have to fight any. It’s okay to sneak past them, or run from them if they spot you. That’s how I usually deal with them as I normally don’t consider them worth the ammo or health packs. In fact, I don’t fight Harvesters or Tanks at all unless they’re a Rival or unless it’s required for a mission. And as for actual Rivals, they will not disappear. You are free to leave them be until you feel confident about taking them on.
But, as for actually fighting them, my first advice would be to acquire heavy weaponry, if you haven’t already. This means the Granatgevär m/49 and the Pansarvärnsgevär 90 and the corresponding ammo. Then, what I usually employ is either heavy cover (such as the mouth/entrance of an underground bunker) and fight them from there, or I employ lengthy hit and run tactics, slowly taking it’s health down by attacking weak spots, running away and hiding, and then attacking again and again. In my experience, it doesn’t matter how long it takes to destroy one; they never repair or heal damage.
It’s also good to adapt to the environment. If you think a building could be useful cover, try it. The last Tank I destroyed was a Rival Apocalypse Tank, and I actually spent the better part of an evening taking its health down. I initiated the battle from the top of a mountain by sniping it with the Pansarvärnsgevär 90 and it culminated in a close up battle in an enclosed industrial area that I had put land mines around.
Edit: Using EMPs is also a good idea, as it stuns them momentarily!
First, find decent cover. Both of these machines have rockets, and buildings, especially larger ones like houses or barns, are effective at blocking rockets for you. Second, take out their weapons. With Harvesters, you need to take out their rockets at the back of the machine. With tanks, you probably want to take out the rockets first, then the autocannon, though your priority might change from time to time depending if you have cover or not. Third, take out their weak points (Fuel tanks, etc) For harvesters, take out the tank at the back, but with tanks, you don’t really need to shoot at the weak points to take it down, unless you really have to. If you do need to, their are these areas that you could say, are the armpits or the hips, and another area around the knees of the Tank. There are also some at the back, but Tanks are far more maneuverable than Harvesters, and have concussion charges like Harvesters so I wouldn’t recommend trying to flank them.
I usually actively avoid combat as I have realized the ammo expenditure is Never really worth it.
If I have to fight for a mission, I’ll do it.
I’m definitely going to avoid rivals and combat in general for a while; I went through about 600 SMG ammo today between doing a couple missions snd foolishly fighting rivals, and I’m really missing that ammo already.
Going to switch to Assault Rifle for a while, I haven’t even fired mine yet,
I DID find a G. m/49 in the gas room in the naval base bunker last night, I only have about 10 rockets for it though.
I had a super satisfying moment earlier today when I came across a lone Hunter on the middle of a long bridge today, surrounded by cars, and I shot a car and caused an explosive chain reaction that killed it.
That earned me my trophy for killing a Hunter in one shot. Booyah!
EDIT: Also, thank you both @AliciaStorm and @Alexohyeah !
To learn a bit more about machines, look here and scroll almost to the bottom, where different machines are displayed: https://generationzero.com/en
If you click on each one of them, you’ll get their name and small description about them.
Depending on your difficulty level: Adventurer - bring more ammo; Skirmish - bring even more ammo; Guerilla - bring A LOT of ammo. Also, be prepared for a longer fight since it takes a while, even with sustained fire, before they go down.
There are several ways to take them down but overall tip is blue sparks. As long as you see blue sparks, you’re doing good.
Rivals drop experimental Weapons when you are at level 25. Underneth that level you get experimental cloth. The best Chance to get an experimatal weapon is to kill a rival Harvester or rival Tank in the north.
I made their an experiental PVG 90 and a golden (5 *) Ak 76 (Kalaschnikow) . Best Chance is when the Rival is lebveled up to his Level 4 and when he kills you. 
So go out for a hunt
One another possibilitie is to get a experimental weapon from a friend player that is in your game. Or when a gamer is in your game and has a higher level. I had in early times have the luck that a friendly player gives a golden Automatgevär 4 (5*) to me. I used her the whole game. It’s my number one.
