How to even start playing? , page 1 - Forum (2024)

The wiki seems to confirm what I'm seeing, that Greenfruit at 10% productivity is basically keeping pace with the growth of Wheatstraw at 60% productivity, but the harvesting success rates are drastically different. Cactus (100% productivity in Arid) seems to be harvested with almost zero failures by my far-less-skilled farmer.

I finished the southern half of the wall, and put in 2 Riceweed crops in the Swamp part of the camp, plus a second Wheatstraw field in the Arid region just above them. That drew multiple parties of Swamp Raptors within an hour or two. By the end of the third attack, I had several members unconscious and healing in beds, with most of the rest of the party injured to varying degrees, and two more Raptor groups were converging on my gate, so I reverted to a save before putting in those fields in the south end of the camp.

EDIT - Confirmed in a couple more Raptor raids that my "inner citadel" idea was less than ideal. I removed the few bits and pieces already built, laid out a long entry corridor running to one side just inside the main wall, and chose locations for several turrets along that inner wall with wide fields of fire. This looks a lot less imposing, but should be far more effective.

The old arrangement didn't give the turret gunners enough time for more than one or two shots before the Raptors were around the corner and past them. Now the Raptors will have twice the distance to cross while under fire, then pass a second group of turrets, which should be manned by the time the Raptors turn the corner and exit line-of-sight from the first group of turrets. I'll put a gate in the inner wall, in line with the outer gate, so I can take a more direct path when convenient, but keep it closed most of the time to divert any invaders down the long "kill zone".

Getting the whole party to hold, rather than run into the kill zone to engage the Raptors in melee (with painful consequences), has been an issue, because with two groups, stray individuals from each tend to try to get involved before I can order the second group to hold, and then I've got to direct them individually to move them away from the approaching Raptors, without pulling my turret gunners off their tasks. Killing bandits is simple in comparison, and a lot less hazardous if/when a few get past the defenses.

Gohan is my preferred food to purchase (highest nutrition for the cost), but growing enough Greenfruit to make it is proving difficult, as I'm only able to harvest an average of about 2 per crop, so I've been saving those until I have enough to expand the field to the next size. Growing it in better soil means starting a new camp elsewhere, since the Borderlands are only at 10% Green fertility, and Greenfruit won't grow in a swamp. I've been making Meatwraps from the Bread being made from harvested Wheatstraw, combined with a bunch of raw meat I've saved up (mostly from Bonedogs encountered earlier), which isn't the most efficient food supply, but is tiding me over until I've completed enough defenses (and trained enough turret gunners) to guard several Riceweed fields.

If I do another campaign someday, I'll have to try placing the camp where Vain and Borderlands overlap. No Raptors there, and somewhat higher productivity for Greenfruit, although Riceweed productivity will be significantly poorer.

EDIT 2 - Finished the wall, did a recruitment run through HN territory with a lot of stops to buy food (now for 15 people), returned to the outpost and put the farms in place again, then waited for the inevitable Raptor tidal wave. Dust Bandits showed up first, intent on avenging the heavy-handed reception of their previous ill-considered assault. It didn't end well for them this time either, and the increased time under turret fire definitely had more effect than with the old layout. Then the Swamp Raptors appeared, 7 in the first group (much less than on the previous attempt), 3 in a second wave about 1-2 hours later, followed shortly after by 1 lone straggler. Rather than take them on in melee after the turrets softened them up a bit, I chose to draw them toward my crossbow group, while the melee fighters remained at a safe distance with Hold orders. After a long "shoot and scoot" chase around the compound, with 5 crossbows spamming "toothpicks", I managed to finish off the last of the Raptors, only suffering injuries to one crossbowman who decided to take a detour THROUGH the raptors instead of almost directly away from them. I have a workbench to replace the expended ammo, which is preferable to having down time while serious wounds heal.

I loaded up a very old save for informational purposes, back to my original 5 characters with very little skill at anything, and checked out a different location on the edge of Vain, near the Hive Village closest to The Hub. As my group headed into the village to trade, it was under attack by no less than 11 Beak Things (Gutters), and the Hivers were taking a lot of casualties. Slavers showed up and tried enslaving a few of the downed Hivers, which prompted the Hivers to turn on the Slavers, and then the Beak Things went after the Slavers as well. Serious bloodbath for all parties involved, and then a couple of wandering Gorillos joined the action. I'm now starting to wonder how advisable a Vain location would be for a relatively squishy party, with Beak Things and Gorillos showing up.

I reloaded the save with the Borderlands/Swamp fortification. A couple more crop cycles and it should finally be self-sufficient with food.