Another intense night of Survival. Got real close on my last solo run but got sandwiched by NPC's at the Antiviral location. I was pretty well geared but when the NPC's focus you, it's a wrap..
Waited to see if a guardian agent would rescue my cold corpse off the ground, only to see show up to finish me off and take my sweet purple loot
I played Survival on PS4 (solo) for nearly 4 hours last night. I started playing around 10 PM, and meant to quit and go to bed around midnight, but kept trying "one more time" until nearly 2:30 in the morning (granted - I am off for Christmas - but still).
I played the original levels 1-30 solo, and loved the challenge of having to battle powerful NPCs and push to gear up. Solo PvE Survival brings back this same feeling. I probably died 25 times last night and only made it to the DZ twice out of those 25 times. Every single one of those 25 deaths was my fault for one reason or another:
- The cold mechanic is awesome. When you are undergeared, you only have around 20 seconds until hypothermia starts setting in. There were several times when I tried to push it too far, and I either froze to death (twice) or became too disoriented to stave off enemies (three times).
- The NPCs are a real challenge when you are gearing up. You only need to find 2 green weapon parts in order to craft a decent weapon, but if you try to take on three or more level 28 enemies with just the pistol, there is a good chance that they will land some shots on you and put you down (five times). My fatal flaw yesterday was overconfidence once I crafted a weapon or two. I kept facetaking elites and/or groups of level 30 LMBs with a green M1A and a blue Aug, and they put you down hard if you make a mistake (ten times).
- You also have to mindful about where you are on the map and where you are looking to go next - especially early on in the game when you have almost no gear. I have found that staying on the main roads gives you the best access to places where you can get warm, but - the game constantly tempts you to leave the main roads and either head into the courtyard in Stuyvesant or the maze of warehouses in the bottom left of the map. I died at least five times because I put myself in a bad spot where I either couldn't find a heat source and/or I got myself cornered by tough enemies.
- And, the DZ is a whole new challenge. You get in there and suddenly the entire game is wide open - but there are really tough enemies everywhere. Both times I made it in I took on groups of enemies with strong armor who eventually got me.
I can't wait to come home from work today and try again (and again...and again).
