extremely slow by steady progress..working as intended?

[dextergecko]

Hey, I'm totally a newbie to this game so please be patient. First, I'm totally digging the vibe of the game, graphics , gameplay, etc. I like the combat style, and the character development is really sweet.

My story so far: I using a 5mm pistol, making my way to restore power to the generator and take back the outposts. I built my character around being a heavy armor gun user. No psi powers for him. My problem is that these rathounds slowly buy surely take me down. From full health, I easily take out a group of them, but then I'm left at 50 percent health or so. I use a bandage, cool, take on the next group, 50 percent health, bandage, and take on the next group, 50 percent health, band...oh...no more bandages. run back to doctor, get healed, continue on my way. Problem is, there are a lot more rathounds than bandages and syringes around. I'm basically going back to the doctor after every group or two now, because each rathound gets in three hits on me a round and even if i funnel them into a one at a time situation, they still get their hits in eventually. It takes my pistol two rounds per rathound it seems like.

Long story short, am i missing something key here, or is it just a slow start? I'm cool with it if it is, just want to know if im banging my head against the wall for no reason. 

Thanks 

[blackmoor]

The difficulty in combat is part of the appeal for me.

This is a role-playing game where the odds are stacked against you. So for the rathounds, might I suggest using more tactics? You could get them lined up and toss a grenade to soften them up, or set a mine and lure them into it. If you had a crossbow and tranquilizers, you could stun them all and shot them point-blank. If you had psi powers you could freeze one of them, stun the other and focus your gun fire on the third. The difficulty requires a little more planning and consideration for each encounter, because as you say... it's challenging.

Note: You can always export your character and start again with the leveling progress you've made as well.

[dextergecko]

Thanks for the help, I tried posting, but I honestly couldn't read the captcha. I'll probably pick up the game, but I won't be going through this nonsense of figuring out the secret password everytime I post. Thanks but no thanks.

[blackmoor]

Thanks for the help, I tried posting, but I honestly couldn't read the captcha. I'll probably pick up the game, but I won't be going through this nonsense of figuring out the secret password everytime I post. Thanks but no thanks.

This is my first day on the forums and that confused me also. But after a couple of posts you no longer have to do the captcha thing. Until then you can click "listen to captcha" and don't have to worry about unreadable text. They must have had a major problem with spam in the past.

I'm really enjoying the game and would definitely recommend the full version.  Good luck.

[dextergecko]

Well, that's good to know. This game has promise. I'm going to pick it up on desura i think tonight.

[Infiltrator]

The best way to deal with rathounds is to position yourself in such way that they have to get to you one-by-one. Narrow corridor or your back against the wall with only one open square in front of you.

[UnLimiTeD]

In the early cave sections, if you use ranged attacks, like the crossbow you get, you can go through the fences and close the door behind you.
Saves a lot of health.^^

[Styg]

I nerfed the early rathound encounters a couple of times (reduced their numbers, their stats and so on).

I'm happy with the difficulty it's at right now. What I'll probably do with the next patch, however, is give player some more meds and ammo at the start of the game to better deal with early game enemies, as I'm aware that managing resources early game can be a bit tricky at times.

[dextergecko]

I was playing on the alpha demo at the time, so maybe i was playing with the higher spawns? I'm downloading the full game now, so we'll see if it's different at all. Oh, and crossbow? I still can't see it. I'll have to be more careful when i start playing the full game to check everywhere for it.

Thanks for the replies everyone, nice to see devs are actually watching their site

[joejoefine]

Since its part of a quest I don't think its a big spoiler to let you know; but the crossbow should be in a locker in the lower levels of your station where the agronomy and pens are. Just talk to the chemist/biologist working on a burrower, he'll have a mission for you, and give you his crossbow for free (you have to take it from the locker).

Also, the way I dealt with rathounds was basically to use special perks. Knee shot combined with sprint is very useful, as is aimed shot for saving ammo. But the biggest tip I have is just to use the fences. If you sprint to one, close the door, then end your turn, the rathounds will pile up on the other side of the fence and you can shoot them through the holes in the fence one at a time (use aimed shot to save ammo too). You could use mines and tranquilizer bolts, its just that at the start of the game things are pretty expensive and way too hard to craft, and those items really should not be wasted on rathounds.

If you don't have a fence I would try to do a combination of aimed shot, knee shot, utilizing all of your movements points to maximize distance, and using sprint if necessary (if you have the perk). It should be fine, although its still challenging. Also don't forget the explosive barrels for one part in those caves...

[Bubu91]

I nerfed the early rathound encounters a couple of times (reduced their numbers, their stats and so on).

I'm happy with the difficulty it's at right now. What I'll probably do with the next patch, however, is give player some more meds and ammo at the start of the game to better deal with early game enemies, as I'm aware that managing resources early game can be a bit tricky at times.

Did the last update made the first encounters easier .... I mean did you add the stuff that helps you out?

[Styg]

I nerfed the early rathound encounters a couple of times (reduced their numbers, their stats and so on).

I'm happy with the difficulty it's at right now. What I'll probably do with the next patch, however, is give player some more meds and ammo at the start of the game to better deal with early game enemies, as I'm aware that managing resources early game can be a bit tricky at times.

Did the last update made the first encounters easier .... I mean did you add the stuff that helps you out?

Yes, you stat with an extra hypo, bandage and 30 more bullets. Also you get a repair kit at the start for free.