So you want to try the Nightmare Mode?

This guide is aimed towards New Players or Veterans from the other game modes, but if your Nightmare Vet and want to give it a read and add some input feel free too. If there’s anything i didn’t cover that you would like to know ask in the comments.

———————————————————————

First, if you’re coming from other modes it’s important you break some bad habits. Namely, you need to change your play style from a brute force into a finesse stealth style.

In Nightmare mode noise is a major factor, and cutting done unnecessary noise will make your life 100% easier

Guns- guns are great, very effective tool for taking out the undead, but it’s important to use them properly. In most situations if you’re using guns it should be for a.) base defense b.) hostiles. They can be used to take out hordes and whatnot but should always have a silencer. In most cases I’d recommend using a crossbow to deal with your field work, and there’s 3 main reasons 1.) absolutely no noise, 2.) the ability to easily retain ammo (via crafting and being able to retrieve used arrows), 3.) never jams. The crossbow will allow you to easily pick off screamers and bloaters out of the pack

Brawling- Yes big time ZomZom brawls are unavoidable, just pick your fights. Take your time and go for stealth kills, one zombie roar is enuff to draw the attention of another, which will likely draw another, and now you’re fighting a horde. Oddly enuff taking the time to go for a stealth kill will save you some time more times than not.

Driving- No, I’m not saying don’t use cars like SOD1 suggest. I’m telling you to be smart about it. Vehicles make noise obviously, so drive a little further than where you have to be because the vehicles always get the attention of a few Z’s. Take the time take them out, this will give you a clean get away since there shouldn’t be anything blocking you from your vehicle if things get tricky and you avoided drawing unnecessary Z attention to your destination.

LazyLooting- if the doors locked, go around to the other door it’s typically unlocked. Avoid breaking widows unnecessarily. Only fast search with stealth characters. This shouldn’t need explaining, less noise.

Noisemakers- noise making objects(firecrackers, boom box, etc...) do not take attention off of you in Nightmare. If a zombies chasing you and you deploy one they’ll continue to chase. That does no mean they go without use, if Z’s don’t have your scent they can be used to gather them effectively still. Useful in stealth infestation kills. (Ex. Throw a firecracker at an infestation, wait for the zombies to knock the door open and huddle together and toss a Molotov. Typically this will clear most infestations that easy, in other cases use that crossbow to pick off the stragglers)

———————————————————————

Additional reminders and tips/tricks

The game does not simulate combat away from you, if things get out of hand, bail, it sounds obvious but some people need to know it’s okay to take off. Lmao

Be prepared to deal with freak hordes, in Nightmare Mode expect to see trios of screamers, bloaters, ferals, and jugs come in 2’s(with blood plague similarly to dread mode)

Be prepared for plague heart assaults, the easiest method for a fresh play through without dlc I found is 6 pipe bombs, or 2 bloater grenades, and 2 Molotovs/firecracker/really anything that can ignite gas. 5 BFG shots/ 30 eternal rage shots

When you kill a plague heart be prepared to deal with a feral. 9/10 times a feral will spawn as you near killing the heart, just be ready to deal with it.

Be ready to deal with ferals in general. Obviously the best/easiest way is gunslinging (one to the head, now ya know he dead 😎), powerhouse dropkick stun and kill, flashbangs. All of these are efficient, reliable, and easily accessed methods. If you know you’re going to have to deal with ferals, be prepared to do so.

Scentblock. It’s op, use it. Allows you easily perform stealth missions in plain sights. Highly recommend using during plagueheart strikes and taking out clusters of infestations.

Npc’s/Hostiles do not fight fair, so fight dirtier. (I highly recommend avoiding facing off with hostiles as they can and will knock your head of your shoulders real quick) if you decide to dismiss the warning, fight dirty as hell boi. Drive around honking, throw zom bait, bloater grenades, bloater launchers, gunslinging, sniping. Whatever you do avoid giving them the edge because they rarely miss and headshot every time.

In relation to the last point, I highly recommend avoiding warlord/sheriff legacy to avoid dealing with NPC’s. I’d recommend going builder first, the sniper tower is clutch for getting you out of sticky situations, and for base defense

Temporary Mandate. You can swap leaders to build their facility so that you can have more than 1 leader facility. (I typically always have a trade post because much lazy)

Don’t be cheap with influence, you get it so fast there’s no point in trying to hold onto it

Vehicles take significantly more damage in Nightmare, so keep That in mind or you’ll be either searching 24/7 for toolkits, or running through parts like crazy.

There is never enuff BFGs. For optimal base defense have all your characters use BFGs when you’re not playing at them. Further more try and keep the area around your base clear, large hordes and freak zoms can be trouble during sieges.

Keep in mind your base’s noise level, save big noise building for during sieges or right after since they won’t occur back to back. You can cancel building prior stepping in your base to reduce siege threat.

For the love of god do not make your community members follow you, the A.I. In this game is beyond brain dead, if you want someone to “have your back” roll with a homie play with a friend.

———————————————————————

Your community start- finish

My personal opinion is that you shouldn’t even bring characters into nightmare mode for your first run. Stacked hero’s with solid initial gear just brings false security. You jump in overpowered for the first 3-4 days, your supplies go low, and your forced to play normal. You haven’t adapted to your surroundings naturally, so therefore you don’t have a strong feel of your limitations of the game mode thus making you prone to a false sense of security, and that’s when shit hits the fan. If you go on with 3 new characters, get a feel for the game you’ll adjust to the play style, you’ll gradually see what you can and can’t do. That and if you’re new to the mode it’s almost a safe bet you’re going to lose a character, better to lose one that doesn’t matter than that leader from your first com who survived 9 legacies.

I have a fried who logged 200 hrs of pre-nightmare mode gameplay. He took in 7 well equipped members(transferred a community) into his first nightmare. He bragged about how easy it was as he was “brute forcing” his way through the first few days with some of the games best weapons. But, he got cocky, when all these great weps with exotic ammo ran out, and supplies were low disaster struck. He lost every member he brought in 1 after the other till all he had was a couple randos he found to recruit.

Moral of the story, respect the difficulty, all it takes is a couple miscalculations and it can all be over.

With that being said, I think you should’t spend too much time re-rolling. Going into a fresh game I’d recommend lichenology(utility’s if you plan on rushing power/water), mechanic, and the last one you have some wiggle room. Maybe go in with no skill and you can decide for yourself later, driving is popular and can vouch for its utility.

Early game- this is where the games zom population is at its lowest, prioritize gathering materials and building your workshop, infirmary, and garden. Loot and Make sure to gather plenty of supplies while the games at its easiest so you can transition into the best phase with ease

Mid game- This is where you should prioritize adding to your community and planning your move. Keep in mind where you want to move in:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/primagames.com/tips/state-decay-2-all-home-base-locations?render_mode=google

Your focus should be shifted to making a self sufficient base, maintaining infestation numbers, completing quest building allied enclaves, and taking out plague hearts if the opportunity presents itself.

Shifting into the next phase, the late game. At this point your base should be relatively self sufficient and your minuses should be minimalized. Given that, your focus needs to shift to taking out the plague hearts.

After the plague has been eradicated your in the last phase of the game. There’s 2 things left for you to do. Decide who you want to take into future communities, what items, weps, mods, consumables you want to take with you, and prepares for your legacy finale.

That’s it, gg you beat Nightmare mode, just remember not to rush yourself and you’ll be fine. Take it slow, and be precise with your moves. ——————————————————————— Personal strats:

I have 4 main builds for Nightmare mode. Mostly because I don’t like having every character doing the same thing, because the game gets boring that way.

My primary stealth build:

Marathon, Stealth, Close Combat.

This build allows for striking fast and quick, close combat allows for easy executions and with an ultralight bag keeps your under the weight limit fairly easily. Also allows for fast searching. Marathon Stealth allows for infinite stealth sprints, stealth close combat allows for fast kills, close combat marathon keeps you at light weight. Much Synergy, Much wow. Lmao. Gunslinging because ya know.

My go to gun “ is the Po7 Pro. Light weight pistol (weighs I think 2 lbs) because staying under the weight cap is key, and I tend not to bring in too much with me and the hand gun wep press is probably the easiest one to get. And on top of that 9mm ammo is the most plentyful in my experience. Another gun I like allot is the JL94 custom (rifle with scope, lightweight(8lbs), and 9mm ammo) I tend not to care much about large clips and focus on the 30 range. The pistol holds 25 and 1 in the chamber, and I can stack 30.

The other builds

Bruiser builds

Powerhouse, discipline, striking, gunslinging

The following is just a variation

Powerhouse, discipline, swordplay, gunslinging

With these builds you can literally just brawl it out and swing for days, both have front exes, and the obvious gunslinger security. Here I’d use the bigger guns even tho I like my 9mm ammo. Stuff with larger clips since you’re not as restricted with your weight limit. And powerhouse will allow you to easily deal with a feral, drop kick, exe, done. Obviously gun slinger obliterates them but it’s nice in a pinch

Swordplay vs striking is just a matter of preference, I find both pretty adequate in Nightmare.

The last one is my supply runner. One of the strats I like to do, specifically when dealing with plague hearts is scent blocking and striking fast. I’ll scent block and try and hit a cluster of them, typically with my stealth build for speed runs, and then make or go to an outpost for my supply guy. To loot up afterwards, maybe just loot up the area around.

Backpacking resourcefulness striking gunslinging.

This one isn’t meant to be great for long fights but does well at what it’s design for running in grabbing ur stuff and getting it to where it needs to be.

Not a build but typically I have a homebody with weapon handling because jammed weps are annoying af. ———————————————————————

That’s it, questions, or if I missed anything leave in the comments. I know it’s a late guide given the Mode came out in March, hope it helps.

Also, I can help in game if I’m on, just a matter of making time with school/work.