Too difficult?

[GarfieldKlon]

Hi :)

I've lost campaign 6000 to 3000. And I'm loosing because the ZEDs are controlling too many territories. The lvl4 territories are only doable with the right mercenaries. But this is only luck which mercs are available.

I've begun a new campaign without activated any option. After about 6 months I now have a few hundred points more than the ZEDs. But how can I win if the ZEDs gets 2-3 or even more territories in a month? I mean I can clear 1 territory a month, and they get always more than one. Do I have to win all territories before night?

[Ice444]

I had problems with this for a while. Try doing a level 3 infection until you get the right mercs for a level 4. Level 3's give tons of points and if you need to, bomb/detonate the civilians that are going to get zombied anyways to prevent them from gaining more score. You can get a huge amount of points really fast because of that 3.x modifier, you rescue 60 and you get like 240 or something points so if you rescue a lot you can get 500 or more. Also try early on to get some territories...its hard but it helps offset them having 10 places when you make 40-60 extra every-turn.

Also if you get llama bombs, make sure to target multiple territories instead of just 1.

Really, practice is the way I got it. at first I thought the game was way too hard, now its just challenging enough. Its a super fun game though so just play with it and you should figure it out.

[Guest]

It's just frustrating!

For example, how could I win this territory?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c0cgLIszou8

[Guest]

I never touch level 4 zones. Just attack level 3 zones until you get llama bomb, then just bomb level 4 outbreaks.

[Guest]

Ok, I think it depends on which mercs you get first. If you get infantry and sniper first, you can conquer many lvl1 territory at the beginning. Happened to me, and now I'm leading 6000 to 2000...
So it's a little bit imbalanced, or just luck.

[Brendon]

@GarfieldKlon -

Like Ice444 said, level 3 territories reward an extremely large amount of points. Train your mercenaries with easier missions, and when you have a good roster lineup, try doing a level 3 zone.

[liberal killer]

infantry r great when mobile. you do need artillery etc. level 4 zones are worth the 35 science geeks. (with llama bomb purchase enabled)

if you r lucky to get infantry early, take many level 1 zones. place strategically and blast the new spawn, then run to next.

later on, well placed barriers make great kill zones for snipers/infantry with artillery hitting behind zeds.

i agree...it can be frustrating. but pretty cool when your helicopter lands among zed and picks up one last survivor off the street! woo-woo!

[Beardhammer]

AZS made four hours of my afternoon disappear today. Without my noticing. It's been a long time since a game's done that - I'd guess Amnesia was the most recent, up there with the first playthroughs of Half-Life 2 and its episodes, and particularly engaging points in WoW. Pretty awesome for an indie game that only cost me $10.

But AZS is pretty hard, and while I definitely enjoy hard games (I play every game on the hardest difficulty setting possible), twice now I've ended up with a campaign that's unwinnable. I know there's a "Chooser" option that allows you to select your mercs each round, but that just seems like cheating to me, and my merc loadout would never change: chopper+infantry+bait+artillery, then add in snipers after you unlock that fifth merc slot. I honestly feel like Demolition mercs are just useless (you can't manually detonate individual charges, and the AOE is tiny, so unless it's being used to set off a gas main, it'll kill like... 10 zeds at most), and Barricade mercs aren't much better due to the (obvious) restrictions preventing you from just boxing in half the map for a cheap win. Land mines can be pretty decent, but compared to the other mercs, why bother with them?

Both campaigns ended with me owning a good handful of territories, against nothing but level 4 sections, and whether or not I could even do anything about those sections was entirely up to luck of the draw - I need good mercs, and then I also need a setting that isn't at least unfavorable (i.e. shorter daytime or more zeds.) Did I get demolition, barricades, land mines, and snipers? Yeah, not gonna take down a level 4 with that.

Generally speaking, I was always trying to prioritize any sections that were in danger of becoming level 4's over anything else (typically level 3's adjacent to other sections that could become level 4's and thus turn those level 3's into level 4's themselves), and doing my utmost to try and convert those territories in the process. This worked out fine, but eventually all of the remaining infested sections turn into level 4's and if I don't have a commanding lead, it's an inexorable process as I essentially roll the dice, hoping for good mercs and good conditions while trying to hold out for the next llama bomb salvo or elephantbird cannon salvo.

But that begs the question: are you even [b]supposed[/b] to win, without great luck or rigging the game (by using "Chooser" or other mods)? Oddly enough, I'd totally be fine with a game you generally could not win, and you were instead just trying to see how long you can hold on before the inevitable defeat.

[Guest]

This game isn't that difficult. I can easily win any campaing. Just try to capture level 1 outbreak zones on beggining. I played it for 24 hours now and I love this game.

[Beardhammer]

Yeah, I beat a 10,000 point campaign earlier, but I still maintain a lot of it's simply luck - I pretty much always had either infantry or artillery available, and a lot of times I had the trifecta of infantry-snipers-artillery. I still didn't find hardly any practical use for either demo or barricade mercs, and land mines generally felt very limited.

Ironically that campaign felt too easy - there were several times I could've taken a territory if I felt like replaying it once or twice (one or two zeds would survive until sundown) and I never bothered. Ended winning by something like 2900 points.

AZS is still probably the best indie game I've played since Portal (if you consider Portal to be an indie game.)

[Nicholas]

Fiddle with the settings if it's too difficult at first. Once you have Chooser set, it's a lot easier - you can build up the main combat units and always have the tools to take out any enemy. Then Level 4 outbreaks are a goldmine for scientists.

[Tuoweit]

The trick to avoid getting overwhelmed long-term is to use some strategy in choosing your sites on the campaign map. The level 4 infections are a huge pain in the ass because they will spread a lot of zombies to the neighbouring sites on the map, so what you want to do is take on relatively easy sites where you can hopefully clear out all the zombies, and split the map up into a lot of smaller zones separated by "decontaminated" sites. This way even if one site gets out of control you get a couple level 4 sites going, the damage they can do is contained. Once you have your map divided into manageable chunks, you can start tackling some of the level 3 & 4 zones for extra points/research (though do pay attention to which mercenaries you have available!) You can win arbitrarily long campaigns this way, even taking the whole map (eventually).

[Sandesta]

I just finished my first playthrough a couple of minutes ago after buying it on sale today (took me a little over 2 hours), and I want to start off by saying this is an absolutely fantastic game and I look forward to replaying it multiple times and showing friends. Now onto the difficulty question...

I found that as long as I capture at least half of the level 1/2s I engage in until I get Llama bomb, I have a fairly nice lead (approx. 1/3 more than the Zed), and then with the first Llama bomb I take out as many 4s and 3s as possible. Then I just continue TAKING (important! If you take a lvl 2 and save approx. 150 citizens, you receive around 375 points, in addition to the 20 points per round you receive form then on) as many level 2 as possible, occasionally completing (only rescuing enough citizens) from a lvl 3 for scientists or if I get a particularly good set-up (ofc do a lvl 3 when you get the super artillery for a turn). If I get a real shitty draw, I do a lvl 1 and just get an easy win and a new territory.

For real time tactics, barricades and TNT are amazing, although most people don't like using them, because they don't know how. Barricades are used most effectively to force ALL Zed spawns into 1 corridor. Force them into 1 area where you can hit tons of them with artillery or snipers/infantry etc. You want to use your dynamite fairly early on and always count the steps from the spawn, so when you explode 1 dynamite on a group, you explode it on every other group also. On top of that, try to place dynamite in corners as thats where it has the most area of effect (the corner itself and all branches get hit). With a couple of nicely placed TNT and a good funnel, you kill half the Zed outright and the others are being led to the slaughter. Just try to maximize everything and its extremelly easy to consistently take lvl 2 zones for a secure win.

[BillsterJ]

Looks like my post is a lot like Tuowelt's, but just to back up what he's saying...

1. "Opportunities multiply as they are seized" or the Long War: I really recommend trying to conquer as many territories as you can at the beginning of each campaign, even if it means forgoing some of the 2s and 3s for a bit (this is especially important for longer campaigns). Although these territories are worth less points up front, just imagine that in a longer campaign with 20 months in it, you'll be making an extra 400 points down the road (20 x 20 = 400). Also you get the benefit of...

2. Divide and Conquer: Here's another sneaky tactic you can do in conjunction with #1. As you're conquering low level 1 and 2 outbreaks, setup "barricades" on the world map. Imagine this tactic like setting up firewalls, separating the map into sections by making walls with the levels you conquer. This will stop a level 4 outbreak from taking over an entire map, since the outbreaks can't infect territories that are under your control. Focus on establishing a line of defense first down the middle, or around existing level 4 outbreaks. You can also focus on conquering long skinny territories that help divide the map. Once you have established these firewalls, you'll find that managing the infection is a lot easier.

These tactics work a little better on the long campaigns, but I will often try to box out level 4 outbreaks even in short campaigns, especially when I'm dealt a bad hand with my units.

Hope this helps!