One more about the difficulty

General Discussion
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Alright, there has been a long discussion about the difficulty, did not want to ignite the torch, but this must out…

We are two guys playing multiplayer and we seriously believe the difficulty became mad.

There is some kind of strange relation between big guys and churches, After initial “training”, we reached Saltholmen church. Survived initial skirmish with Hunter and couple of Runners… suddenly a Harvester AND a Tank appeared from nowhere. Prototypes, but helluva a fight. Stopped counting own deaths. Ok, got them, next.

Angerås church - battle with 5-6 Hunters, countless Runners AND Harvester AND Tank at the same time. All military. Stopped counting own deaths. Got them all. Frustrating…

Sillavik church - first battle about 5 Hunters and 10 Runners. All FNIX. We started looting and became attacked by APOCALYPSE Rival Hunter with two APOCALYPSE Runners! WTH were they doing there?? Ok, got them, and right out of the door - freaking Harvester AND Tank! Both FNIX! Which means tons of rocket volleys and TONS of darned Ticks!! Died, died, died, …, killed them, but…

Seriously, is THIS normal? What’s next? Imperial Star Destroyer?

Is it just us or are you guys having similar experience?

We did not covered more then 15% of the map and this is a pure madness, we are scared what else we will encounter out there.

Beside of the problem, that almost every Runner and Hunter disappeared during the battle so there was not much to loot (hopefully this will be fixed in March update)

To be honest, we are just casual players and the game experience should be balanced :confused:

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@xMstSpider
Hi.
May I ask you, are you on PC or Console, what level are you, what skills do you have, what weapon(s) do you use, what ammo do you use and do you use tactics?

Thank you. :slight_smile:

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@Xogroroth, thanks.

Both on PCs + gamepads.

We are on levels 10-12, so our initial focus is on Survival and bit of Tech (e.g. lock-picking) trees.

Primary weapons are hunting rifles (Älgstudsare or A90), secondary AI76 or AK5, handgun Klaucke, 12G and HK5 for close-quarter battles - all silenced if possible. Launchers for Harvesters/Tanks.

Ammo AP if available, FMJ usually works well too when hitting weak points.

Tactics depends on enemies, for Runners/Hunters we hide in buildings and shoot them with silenced guns or picking them behind the door with 12G.
Big guys battling in the open (e.g. fields), keeping distance, wide angle between us so we can’t be hit with same volley. If we have EMP rockets, one shoots to temporarily disable them while the second one places gas canisters. Sticky flares are also nice when you have multiple enemies on the scene.

Hope it helps.

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@xMstSpider
Thank you for replying.
Before anything: let no one tell you this or that is the best weapon.
The ‘worst ever weapon’ might actually be what works best for you.
Not even jesting here.

Most seem to prefer non-AP ammo, so in that regard you seem to be good, too.

When engaging (or being engaged): do you stick to the same place, or do you move around a lot?
Also, do you use explosives with lures, or do you basically hope they get close enough if hacking them fails?

One tactic that is quite valid: make a trap: put several gas or air cannisters together, add a lure and get out of the way.
Once the machines are close enough blow the whole up.
If you have a vehicle nearby, use that vehicle for the trap as well, these are good explosives as well.

Do not stay at a single spot, move around, move erratic (throws off their aim), and move a lot.

What I fail to understand though: machines do not scale with the amount of members in the party.
Whether you’re alone or with 4, they stay the same in level and toughness, UNLESS this was fixed with the last patch, but I do not think so…
In other words… both of you should have a breeze, so to speak.

Do you know where to aim on the different types of machines, sir?

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@Xogroroth, good advices, thanks.

We try to move quickly, the fire is not so accurate so you avoid being hit. We use radios, fireworks or flares to lure them if they are nearby.

Ticks - anywhere :smiley:
Seekers - hit the sound module on top to silence them or one of the engines to destroy them
Runners - fuel cell on top of their back
Hunters - Hit fuel cell on back with .270 or A90 (Mil+FNIX) when turned away. If they are close to you, then 12G or full-auto assault rifle in the middle of their body
Harvester - Rocket pods are best, or shoot off shields on their legs.
Tank - Plate above the weapon grid.

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@xMstSpider
So yes, you do, basically. :slight_smile:

Does your friend know, sir?

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@Xogroroth yes he does, we share the same tactics.

Need to run, thanks again for good tips and advice.

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@xMstSpider
Strange, really…

My old save had about 70 deaths, 3500 kills approximately.
I used an A4, an Exp .50 and that was basically it…
I am not the only one, and some have even better scores than me.
Some then…

I heard of other people in trouble with machines, both in solo gaming as in parties up to four people.
Not speaking of console players here, because console seems to be bugged with an auto aim system that throws your aiming to parts off.

I would suggest: see if your tactical approach is good…?
As said, move a lot, move erratically, use the surroundings (rocks, pits, trees, NEVER a car though as cover, that will surely get you killed, but you know that)…

Good luck, sir, next session… :slight_smile:

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Don’t give them any ideas… :wink:

My best advice as someone who’s clocked over 800 hours in this game is, choose your battles. If it becomes too much, retreat to a safer location or try again later. Some regions are definitely worse than others; if you want to be cautious you can stick to the Farmlands where you encounter mostly Prototype machines; the worst region is probably the Mountain Region, huge packs of Hunters patrol those forests. I’ve run into 20 at a time there. Venture further north than that, and you run into whole groups of Tanks.
Though the bunkers and military complexes have much better loot.

There’s definitely strength in numbers; use flares and fireworks to keep the machines distracted and unfocused. If you can cheese a fight by taking potshots from inside a barn, do it.

Oh, and if you disable the weapons on a Tank… Run.

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You are still low level, it`s normal, you will improve with time and some more level skills will help you.
In the beginning it requires a bit of learning, from what you told, you are using the right tactics.
Don´t give up on the game :wink: .

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I’ve also noticed tanks seem to run in packs with other tanks and or a harvester lately and where there is a harvester there will always be a wolf pack of runners or hunters or sometimes both patrolling along side for support. Ran into 3 tanks just trotting along side each other just yesterday, but I was further north where things tend to get sticky. On a side note, has any one noticed the tanks range with their morter fire seems to have gotten a lot more reach? Maybe I’ve just never noticed it but I swear it never seem to reach out that far. Appo tanks seem to have the farthest reach.

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Machines are definitely more responsive to what is going on with their nearby pals.

Right now on very rare occasions I can calmly dismantle level 4 rival 1 on 1. Usually I end up fighting a horde of runners, hunters and 2-3 tanks… And I like it this way :hugs:

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Personally I loved this…

This then…, to me, it’s like even more imbalance to the whole. :’(
If this is a fact… we are going backwards…

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Best part of the game when that happens!

Was in a coop game some week ago, we were fighting a rival tank in the deep forest, so the view was limited to say the least. First a bunch of runners joined in from a nearby harvester, short after the harvester itself started shooting its rockets. Four or five seekers to alert enemies of our position, and then three different hunter packs (around 3-5 hunters in each pack) roamed in from different directions.
Total chaos, but was one of the best moments I’ve had in the game ever.

My best advice is the same as always - keep on the move, you can kite anything in this game, and flares are your best friends to get a breather. If you find yourself falling over a lot, grab the steady feet skill.

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You know, there’s a chance people get better at the game after a while. Just a thought.

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True, I admit this.
However, what I understood from it… there is no more hordes of runners…
If I got that wrong… my apologies.

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At the beginning, the fights are hard enough anyway - pick only the fights that you want, and that you can win. Dropping to a crouch works really well to sneak away - break contact. Turn off the music! You need to hear before you see.

Perfect the “Withdrawal In Contact” working in your pair. One engages as they start to close, the other runs 50 metres and turns. First one now lets him fire and overtakes him going 50 metres further and then turns and covers the second. The machines are under constant fire, but from the furthest person (which confuses). You work together on communication and you should be able to use the open country behind you to draw them on to their destruction. Tanks and Harvesters will give up and stop, Runners and Hunters never, so you withdraw until you have killed the chasers and then close with the heavies. If the chasers get too close, drop a flare to give you time to get distance and then engage together until they start to close again, and go back to the Withdrawal In Contact.

The enemy think they aree winning right up until they run out of people.

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Their behavior has changed indeed, also tanks seem to run more often, even when not engaging targets :open_mouth: .

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@Mr_A1992
… OMG… could it be…?
I am starting to get too much hope…

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Just a little bit :wink:, and the tanks running alone are an anomaly, but they are a bit smarter than in the last months, not much but can make a difference to inexperienced players.

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