no way to compare when less than two revisions

Differences

This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+====== About ======
+This is a collection of notes on the "This War of Mine" game.
+====== Survivor Team ======
+The game is not balanced in regards to survivors and perhaps intentionally so since survivors are chosen at random per default upon each playthrough - it might be a "dream team" or a "calamity" depending on which survivors are chosen.
+===== Traits =====
+The "dream team" could be summarized as:
+^ Name ^ Explanation ^
+| ''Boris'' (alt. ''Marko'') | Compared to no other survivors, ''Boris'' has 17 inventory slots and ''Marko'' has 15. The tradeoff between ''Boris'' and ''Marko'' is that ''Boris'' has an addiction and is noisy whilst looting whereas ''Marko'' has no addiction and is faster implicitly (baseline noise generation) yet quantity matters way more such that 2 extra inventory slots are preferable to an addiction (that can be hampered via other means) and being noisy during scavenging (that may not matter in various scenarios). |
+| ''Anton'' | ''Anton'' speeds up the rat traps thereby reaping food faster and food is the most crucial to survival. No booze, no puff-puff just slow and only 8 slots - the ideal shelter hermit that can be on guard duty every night! :-) |
+| ''Zlata'' (alt. ''Katia'') | ''Zlata'' is the best guitar player and can provide massive boosts to morale even hampering addiction side-effects of the other survivors. ''Katia'' is a good alternative, also playing guitar (but with an addiction to coffee that can be self-hampered via the guitar) with an additional extra bargaining skill (however, ''Katia'' has only 12 inventory slots compared to ''Boris'' or ''Marko'' such that she will never be the primary choice for scavenging and might therefore only reach the default trader knocking on the shelter door every three days; other vendors/traders on the map will provide some awesome loot that ''Katia'' might miss out on). |
+"Calamity Survivors":
+^ Name ^ Explanation ^
+| ''Bruno'' | ''Bruno'' has the ''Good Cook'' trait meaning that ''Bruno'' will use less resources whilst cooking. However, after the ''Crude Stove'' has been upgraded (and this can be done after 10 days or so) the only benefit from the ''Good Cook'' trait is just 1 less ''Water'' being used when cooking. The ''Good Cook'' benefits are maximized for medication, alcohol and tobacco but ''Livia'' also has the ''Good Cook'' trait. Also, ''Bruno'' only has 10 inventory slots. ''Bruno'' is addicted to smoking meaning that he will intermittently have a ''Sad'' status even with a good guitar player around. Not even being a guard during nighttime is a good activity for ''Bruno'' because of the other statuses inherent to his character that will mess him up beyond rescue very quickly.   |
+| ''Cveta'' | ''Cveta'' has the ''Loves Children'' which is (only) useful with kids, can cheer up survivors (only, as in, not a permanent buff) when ''Depressed'' or lower (at which point, the game might be soon over), has 8 inventory slots and is the worst character at combat. Perhaps in the ''The Little Ones'' expansion she might have some use, otherwise, she is, at best, good for perpetual guard duty during nighttime. |
+"The Lowest Common Denominator" (the best):
+^ Name ^ Explanation ^
+| ''Pavle'' | Ah, what would surviving be without ''Pavle''? No addictions. Baseline 12 inventory slots providing sidekick scavenging if need be. Worst but still effective guitar player. A little whim is provided by his ''Fast Runner'' making him the fastest running survivor in the game - faster moving inside the shelter to get activities done and good when acting as a sidekick scavenger. ''Pavle'' can play guitar during daytime and guard efficiently during the night if not acting as a sidekick scavenger. |
+===== Size =====
+The game mechanics restrict scavenging to a single survivor such as all the other survivors will have to either sleep or guard during nighttime.
+Since only a single survivor can scavenge, the ideal team size seem to be three survivors such that, during nighttime:
+    * one survivor is scavenging,
+    * one survivor is guarding,
+    * one survivor is resting in bed
+Depending on survivor traits, a fourth team member may be redundant and, given proper morale remedy solutions, can even be killed off (ie: by making them guard all the time during nighttime till they die).
+Sometimes, keeping a fourth survivor around with an useless trait that may additionally be addicted to alcohol or tobacco is just one more mouth to feed and a person to take care of.
+====== Managing Characters ======
+Depending on whether survivors are scavenging, at home in the shelter during daytime or at home during nighttime there are a few observations to mind.
+===== Scavenging =====
+  * trivial, but making a scavenger take an item with them when going scavenging will ensure that the item cannot be stolen during a raid back at the shelter,
+  * the highest priority when scavenging is to, in order:
+    * clear piles of rubble - once a pile of rubble is cleared, a survivor can return and pick up whatever was blocked by the pile. Clearing piles of rubble should be a priority even to exploration since it takes a long time to clear rubble piles without a shovel.
+  * when scavenging an area, do not loot the first pile you find but rather loot all the other piles, bring the loot back to the first pile and dump all the inventory inside the first pile. Any extra time available during scavenging should be used to dump stuff into the very first pile. Keeping the first pile has several advantages, implicitly, given the game invariants:
+    * the very first pile is the easiest, least risky and takes the shortest amount of time to reach (trivial, given that scavenging is limited from 9pm to about 4am and that the scavenger is placed at the entrance upon entering the area),
+    * piles do not have an inventory limit (but a scavenger does) such that all items will be sorted and organized into proper stacks inside the first pile,
+    * easier to remember what the area contains when re-visiting since it is much easier to remember a single pile than loot spread out in a certain area
+   * as an addendum to the former, during certain events regarding shortages, loot piles will have certain inventory types removed and in order to work around this issue one speculative solution is to dump the scavenger's inventory right away without maintaining one of the game-provided piles - it seems that when a survivor dumps its inventory on the floor, it is not accounted for by the game as an official pile of loot but will still be persistent when a survivor re-enters the area
+     * note that dumping inventory on the floor in an area will not make the loot register on the area selection on the map when preparing to scavenge but the loot is still there
+===== At Home during Daytime =====
+  * **all** characters should be resting in bed unless they have no ''Tired'' status,
+    * a survivor that returns from scavenging should be put to bed right away since their ''Tired'' status will clear in about an hour's time leaving plenty of time to perform other activities
+  * characters that have the ''Illness'' or ''Wounded'' statuses can and should be used preferably to characters that have the ''Tired'' status in order to accomplish tasks during the daytime because the ''Illness'' and ''Wounded'' statuses progress only during nighttime (if the characters are not resting in bed)
+  * iff. a guitar is available and any of the following characters are available and additionally the characters do not have a ''Tired'' status, then, in order of preference: ''Zlata'', ''Roman'', ''Katia'', ''Arica'' or ''Pavle'' should play the guitar during the whole day in order to provide a very good morale boost.
+===== During Nighttime =====
+  * the survivor with the largest inventory will scavenge,
+  * the survivor with the statues, in order of preference: ''Illness'', ''Wounded'' and ''Tired'' should rest in a bed,
+    * iff. a ''Reinforced Door'' is built, then all survivors may rest in beds because the alarm will wake the survivors up
+    * iff. a ''Reinforced Door'' is not built, then one survivor will have to guard, given the survivor's statuses, in order of preference ''Tired'', ''Illness'' and ''Wounded''
+  * the standard shorthand for nighttime for a 3-survivor team seems to be:
+    * one survivor scavenging,
+    * one survivor guarding,
+    * one survivor resting in bed
+===== Feeding =====
+''Hunger'' has the following evolution:
+^ Status ^ Duration ^ Notes ^
+| ''Well Fed'' | 1 day | Increases movement speed. |
+| Normal (no message) | 1 day | The starting status for all survivors. |
+| ''Hungry'' | 2 days | |
+| ''Very Hungry'' | 2 days | Walking speed will be impaired and other statuses will be made worse (''Illness'', ''Wounded'' and ''Mood''). |
+| ''Starving'' | 2 days | Additionally to the former, other survivors will suffer a morale loss when one survivor is starving. |
+| ''Extremely Starving'' | Next day, the survivor will die. |
+The best time to feed a survivor would be on the first day of ''Very Hungry'' which will grant the survivor another 2 days of going without being fed before going back to ''Very Hungry''.
+====== Trading ======
+  * At the start of the game and for a very long while, players should never trade for ''components'' and ''wood'' because both are available in droves in all areas such that trading valuable materials for them is pointless - perhaps in case of a quick emergency in the shelter when being 1 item short.
+  * After all areas have been entirely looted of easily accessible ''components'' and ''wood'' (this might take a month or so), the best person to trade ''wood'' with will be ''Franko'', a trader that appears at the shelter. However, and defeating the "supply and demand" principle, ''wood'' is both very expensive and plentiful so it should preferably be looted instead of traded for.
+  * The ''Hospital'' provides free healing to survivors ailed by either ''Illness'' or ''Wounded'' statuses but also provides double the healing - the debuffs step back two levels when being healed by a nurse at the ''Hospital''. Therefore, if possible, ''Bandages'', ''Medicine'' and ''Herbal Medicine'' should best be kept in order to trade with ''Matey'' at the ''Garage'' who has a large offer of equipment as well as ''Electrical Components'' that are considered rare.
+  * ''Electrical Components'' and ''Parts'' (gears) should always be bought from traders: ''Electrical Components'' are considered rare and are very difficult to come by (compared to ''components'' or ''wood'') whilst ''Parts'' (gears) are also difficult to find aplenty.
+====== Early Building Plan ======
+Due to other game invariants, it seems that a build plan can be established that seems quite invariant by itself and provides the best stability in the long run. In order of priority, the following should be built:
+^ Item ^ Explanation ^
+| 2 x ''Rat Cage'' | Two rat cages will provide survivors with the default source of nourishment throughout the entire game. There is no building more important than building two rat cages as soon as the game starts. |
+| ''Bed'' for all survivors | Survivors can rest during daytime as well as nighttime. |
+| ''Workshop'' | The workshop will provide a crowbar at first. |
+| ''Crowbar'' | A ''Crowbar'' is imperative to have early on in the game in order to maximize the amount of loot scavenged. ''Shovels'' are nice but a survivor can clear out rubbles easily when scavenging in exchange for some wasted time. ''Lockpicks'' are only useful later on in order to avoid detection and even then a ''Crowbar'' can be a good substitute. |
+In case two rat cages have not been built after the above has been built then the player should not progress and instead amass the sufficient resources to build a rat cage.
+**TL;DR**: the secret to self-sufficiency is building the rat cages early on in the game.
+====== Helping Neighbors======
+Due to the game design, helping neighbors boosts morale but morale is easily remedied via the two following methods:
+  * making a guitar and having, in order of preference: ''Zlata'', ''Roman'', ''Katia'', ''Arica'' or ''Pavle'' play the guitar during the daytime.
+  * building a radio (maybe, but unconfirmed, setting the radio station to a music channel)
+Contrary to other suggestions, the most efficient approach, given that the above props are available, is to not help neighbors by not even answering the door. Neighbors will knock on your door and just listening to their monologue will allow the player to determine whether they are:
+  * asking for help,
+  * trader (trader arrives every 3 days),
+  * wanting to give the player something.
+Simply open the door to the trader and when people want to give you something - there is no penalty for not helping people (by not opening the door) but the player will not get a morale boost and if a morale boost is not necessary, then it is best not to bother.
+Apathy saves penalties to morale. :)
+**TL;DR**: helping people knocking on your door does not provide any benefit except a morale boost (that can be compensated for).
+====== Beds and Sleeping ======
+Contrary to other suggestions, it is imperative to build the exact number of beds as survivors under the player's control. That is, on a 3-survivor playthrough, build 3 beds (on a 4-survivor playthrough, build 4 beds, etc.).
+There are two distinctive uses for beds depending on whether it is daytime or nighttime and both during daytime and nighttime players should use the beds with all characters.
+===== Daytime =====
+An interesting trick that seems to work wonderfully is to immediately put all characters to bed at the start of the day for a nap. Taking a nap during the day, seems to last just a few hours and all the characters will have their "Tired" status removed. With the "Tired" status removed, either accumulated during the nighttime whilst guarding or due to scavenging, there is still plenty of time during the rest of the day to get things done.
+**TL;DR**: at the start of the day, tuck every character in their beds and let them rest till their "Tired" status is gone (it only takes an hour or so).
+===== Nighttime =====
+Once a ''Reinforced Door'' is built, all game characters can sleep assured in beds that the door will wake them up during the raid because the ''Reinforced Door'' has an alarm. This has the benefit of allowing characters to recover from ''Illness'' or ''Wounded'' whilst still being able to fend off raiders.
+**TL;DR**: every character remaining at home can sleep in a bed if the ''Reinforced Door'' is built.
+====== Addictions ======
+Certain characters have addictions such as smoking or alcoholism. Neither of these addictions have to be satisfied and the morale penalty can be compensated by:
+  * making a guitar and having, in order of preference: ''Zlata'', ''Roman'', ''Katia'', ''Arica'' or ''Pavle'' play the guitar during the daytime.
+  * building a radio (maybe, but unconfirmed, setting the radio station to a music channel)
+The effect will still be there such that a character like ''Boris'' will still have the ''Sad'' status but its evolution will be hampered by regularly playing the guitar or listening to the radio. In any case, compensating for additions is much better than wasting resources to craft valuable and highly sought-after commodities such as alcohol and tobacco that can be sold off for good bargains.