Lo-Fi Games

Preamble:

Hi,

I started a playthrough near the end of August (2018), and it ran till the second week of December (2018), whereby I stupidly saved over the file and thus the game (and story) vanished. That bummed me out for a while, as it was my most successful progression through the world of "Kenshi".

Now, I'm cleaning out some old files off of my computer, and noticed I had taken a bunch of screenshots during that time. After some consideration, I have decided to post them - with some accompanying text - instead of just deleting the entire file they're in. What follows are for two purposes:

The first; for anyone who has interest in seeing how other people approach and play the game. Maybe someone can gain new insights or ways of thinking, or at least, perhaps chuckle at my inept way of going about achieving certain goals. I play the stable version of the game "as is", meaning no modifications (besides the ones which come with automatic updates), no stealing, no assassinating, and no reloading from a prior save if things don't go my way. Also, I refrain from canceling character actions and doing a more advantageous one, once combat has been initiated. The only thing I might fiddle with, is the shadow display, under the graphics tab, in the options menu - varying from disabled, to CSM or, RTSW (I think) - trying to find the one that looks the most appealing to me. Everything else is on default settings. All of these restrictions, certainly make things more difficult, but also give me a sense of accomplishment if I can overcome the difficulties and survive in Kenshi.

The second; to the game creator(s), if they should see this, so that you know that someone like me, is absolutely enthralled by what you have managed to put together. I hesitate to call it a game, because it feels more akin to having an experience, while playing Kenshi - hence the reasoning behind the thread title.

Although I welcome comments, I have not played everywhere on the map, nor with all races. I am not seeking advice nor looking for spoilers. Any questions relating to the posts in this thread, I will endeavor to answer.

If applicable in this forum, I will also provide a direct link to the pictures, for those of you wishing to see them in full screen.

Enjoy.




Back Story:

I happened upon the Flotsam Village, in a prior playthrough, and acted upon the suggestion by their leader (Moll), to look through their HQ and read all information concerning their cause and "raison d'etre". Some of those documents were absolutely heart wrenching, and made it a point that once I got better at understanding how to play Kenshi - that I would make a character and faction modeled on the Flotsam Ninja.

At the end of the summer (2018), I figured I was ready, and created a character accordingly; "Elvyra", an evil sounding name - Narko would approve! Human, scorchlander, female, and played her with attitude. I believe the stable game was in version 98.47 at the start, but most of it was played during version 98.55 (which through my own experiences, I feel was the best), and the last file (I believe) was in 1.01 (this is from what is displayed on the screen when loading from the menu). So likely some information I provide might very well be outdated, or have changed (or not).

The Flotsam Ninja have high attack, virtually no defense, low strength, high dexterity, and above average toughness. So my immediate challenge, was how to increase dexterity without increasing defense (?). Besides never activating the block command (which I never did), the only solution I could come up with was using crossbows. After all, I could drop them once I've progressed enough in dexterity. So i picked up a shoddy junkbow from a dust bandit, and hung out at the rebel base with the Trade Ninjas for the longest time.

The Shinobi Thieves sell just about all the gear (exception are the pants) and the weapon that the Flotsam Ninja use, so joining them was a no-brainer. Even though the initial fee is 10,000 cats, if you figure what I saved (by paying half price) over the course of the game - and for 30 characters, well... Later on I would manufacture my own, but until then, the Shinobi Thieves served me very well, and also provided sanctuary in the cities where they have a tower.

Due to this, it is perhaps where I made a mistake, when I saw a skeleton smith Mk. III wakizahi for half price - I couldn't help myself and purchased it. This was the nicest weapon I had ever seen in the game so far, but whenever I pulled it out, I found my defense increasing - even though I would hardly ever block with it. Still, I persevered, trying to justify it through role playing logic, that I can't help but defend myself - at least sometimes (!). Turns out (now that I have more experience with the game than at the time), that there are a number of ways that defense gains experience, and increasing toughness directly affects this.

So I guess after about 40 in-game days passed, while I built the character up some, having a few near death (and potentially game ending) situations, and even being enslaved while lying unconscious (I kept the slave shackles in a personal chest all game), I felt strong enough to begin recruiting faction members. All female, all human with preference going to scorchlanders. I started with the five in the Flotsam Village, then worked my way down through the Holy Nation cities (before I would lose reputation with them), then the Border Zone. I had never been to Mongrel before, so decided to check there for potential recruits, before venturing into even further distant lands.

Man, what a wonderful city that is! Just about everything is available there - and in quantities. And best of all, it can defend itself (unlike other places which I might mention later). This is also where I discovered a character named "Beep". Now, although he did not fit my recruiting criteria, and I was playing a "tough" chick, it does not imply that I'm heartless. So I said "Okay" - but my real intention was to buy him a nice sword, some adequate gear, and then dismiss him at a convenient way station later on. Or, so I thought (!).

So we hung out for a bit, in and around Mongrel, learning about the city, gathering supplies for an outpost (I had a general idea where I wanted to settle), doing business with the Shinobi Thieves, living at their tower, getting some combat experience with the fogmen, and when I figured it was time, decided to leave and headed for the Hidden Forest. Along the journey, at the bottom of a crater, somewhere in the Fog Islands, North-East of Mongrel, we had a date with destiny...

I remember this like it was yesterday...


We got jumped by fogmen, no problem we can handle this, in fact I fully expected it somewhere along the path.

Then another group appeared, it's okay, more experience is all.

Then another.

My group is starting to get pretty wounded. I want this battle to end now, and be on our way. I'm getting the sense that we're just on the edge of things getting beyond my ability to control - which in Kenshi speak means - on the cusp of disaster.

Fourth group of fogmen appear.

Now I'm looking through the members of my faction and their wounds. I'm giving orders for individual actions; medic, passive status, splint rigging, etc. Can we maybe attempt a fighting withdrawal?

Then a couple of the girls went down, and before I could prevent it they were kidnapped. Okay, I've seen this before, I can chase them, or at least track their locations. But by now everyone is wounded, some pretty badly, and I can't separate a group from the main battle - because it is no longer assured that we are going to win the main engagement.

Then a group of fogmen heavies appeared. Alarms are wailing inside my skull. We are not going to win, that's okay, that's part of Kenshi - but now there is a real chance we might get wiped out. I have to pause the game, and I have to think, and think real good.

Okay, I can see the deathyard on my map. We're going to head towards it and make our stand there. Useless to fight here, cause when we go down, that's where we'll be transported to any ways. And if we are all rendered unconscious by fighting here, then there's no hope.

I start everyone heading towards it, except for the strongest six that will try a fighting withdrawal to buy time for the rest. Those disengaging, I know I'm giving the fogmen free hits on, but the sooner we are all there, at least in a group, the better I can react to the situation. I'm not going to sacrifice those already down, or too wounded to attempt a "sauve qui peut". It was my decision that got us into this; either I get us out - or we pass into oblivion.

Several went down on the way, but we kept going, I knew they would be picked up and brought to a pole soon enough. Being physically in the yard, one of us could always attempt to free them. I zeroed in on the prince, which I knew would be in residence. He had to go ASAP. Elvyra went down in the process, but she wounded him enough for others to claim his head. After that, attack priorities were on remaining heavies, and subsequent looting of their mercenary clubs in case they got back up. There were too many regular fogmen for me to do the same, so we had to put down quite a few repeatedly.

However, when the message appeared that 'fog deathyard ###' was wiped out, I had a sense of hope. Now it was a battle of attrition. Meaning how quickly I could patch up people and send them back into the seemingly never-ending fray. One of my girls had her arm go to -102 life, and it did not fall off. I don't know if that is a bug in the game, or not. Eventually it all subsided, and there were just scattered remnants of fogmen squads milling about. We couldn't move out though, I had more people down than could be transported by those remaining.

We spent the better part of the next day there, among the fly ridden corpses, just healing up to get enough people walking to carry the rest out. Back to Mongrel was the route. I couldn't risk going anywhere else, further away. When we came within sight of the gate, I sighed in relief. I had never been - either then or since - so joyous to see the gates of a city and their offer of sanctuary. That is the point in time when I took the first screenshot of the playthrough.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/JigUAxD


I don't know if my actions were correct in extraditing ourselves from that - maybe we just got super lucky. But one thing I knew for sure; I certainly did not know how to play in such a way, so as to avoid getting into trouble like that, in the Fog islands. I don't remember if I heard it from a patron, barman, or shinobi guard but, there's text that talks about "Getting to Mongrel is one thing, and now you are stuck here."

I realize this has been long in story telling, and perhaps somewhat anti-climatic. However, every time I sit down at the computer to play Kenshi, I bring up this picture before starting. It reminds me that disaster lurks and is always patiently waiting for you to step into it.

One of my goals was to establish a permanent self sufficient outpost and also, from which I could launch offensive operations against the Holy Nation. I wanted to also be located within the boundaries of the Hidden Forest, and thus within supporting distance of the Flotsam Village.

The Hidden Forest, although a seemingly friendly environment to grow crops, is actually only fertile along its Northern and Western edges. So after trekking along, and studying the road network within its borders, I chose a location that would satisfy my criteria.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/V5viTYf


You see the founding of Sin City, an outpost of the Dark Sinners faction.

I took this screenshot to track the growth of the outpost from its inception.

I know what you are thinking; "This is the Floodlands - not the Hidden Forest". Well, if you survey the area carefully, you'll discover that the location is nearly entirely within the Hidden Forest's border. Roughly speaking, in the picture above, whatever is on the right side of the road is Floodlands, while the area to the left of the road is Hidden Forest. Furthermore, and although I did not know it at the time, the area at the top left of the picture is called Wend, but more on all this later.

The building shells at the top are for the iron works area (there are three iron nodes in the vicinity), while the bottom ones are for the stone working area. Ascending the bluffs on the left of the river, is where I started the initial wind farm for power supply. The small shacks were intended just as temporary points to store and organize materials, while I continued to plan and expand the outpost.

We slept in sleeping bags under mercenary tents, between the two trees with mauve foliage, until we could erect a dormitory.

While collecting materials at the Ghost Village, we encountered some Tech Hunter mercenaries. I thought to myself, it might be a good idea to have some extra muscle around, while we are constructing the outpost.

You see, I had no intentions of erecting walls because I was quite confident we could handle anything that spawns in the territory of the Hidden Forest. Like; what could be the worst possible spawn - a pack of wolves, maybe? These guys certainly could handle that, while we concentrated on constructions and tasks. So I hired them for (I'm pretty certain) eight days.

Normal mercenaries can be hired for four days to guard outposts, but I believe these are a cut apart from them due to being tech hunters. I could be wrong, but never-the-less, I do remember hiring them for the maximum amount of time in the menu box.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/mRM83jr


Okay, so I took this picture because this is what I did with these tech hunters - a lot - bandaging them up.

Iron Spiders from the Old Machines faction (a hulk can be viewed in the background) would wander in from the side of the Floodlands. And since these tech hunters would split up and patrol individually, they would get butchered by these mechanical monstrosities. It got to the point, where I was paying more attention to the hired mercenaries, than what I was doing for the outpost. Up to, where I even assigned individual members of my own faction to follow and guard them (!). This was so that I could be alerted of attacks by the orange flashing picture on my display.

I tell you, I was so relieved when their contract came to an end. Although I consider it a near miracle, not one had lost a limb and all survived during their contract period for the Dark Sinners. I thanked them and watched them head North along the road running next to Sin City. When the last one limped out of view, I could now fully devote attention to the development of the outpost.

Note that in the picture it is raining and the characters have a "wet look" on their clothing. Nice touch on the graphical side. It adds to the immersion.

So things started to take shape, once i continued figuring out the urban planning aspect of the outpost.




Direct Link: https://imgur.com/GwYJeic


The crooked wall layouts were just temporary (or so I thought at the time), to funnel any meandering iron spiders towards the bottom of the picture, whereby I could dispatch them in force. The bluffs face (on the left) provided a natural barrier from that direction, so effectively the outpost was "fenced in" on three of the four sides at this time. I was careful not to actually place any wall sections on the road itself, so as not to hinder the paths of any traveling merchants (or whatever else might be using it).

The first major building (a bughouse) has been erected, where I used it for multi-functions at this point; research, hospital, storage. If necessary, additional rest areas were the sleeping bags (on the roof) for those with lesser wounds.

Above it, are some wheat fields, the grinder, a well, tank(s), and some bread ovens within the shack.

Above that are greenfruit fields (hard to see in the picture), and cooking stoves with food storage in the other small shack.

Where Rei and Inu are, those are hemp fields that they're tending to.

On their right, near the location of ice, I have erected the shell to an 'L house', where I plan to concentrate the storage, and crafting stations related to the iron works area.

Bottom right, at the locations of Elvyra, Zu, and Shryke, is my sentry and react area. They're set on 'Hold" and "Attacking Enemies" task, and with the ranged weapons, I had ample time to react to any incursions.

At this point in the game, I was coming to realize that outpost development has quite a different feel, as compared to exploration, or traveling. Feels like a different game, when one is concentrating on this.

I was not very good at placing structures due to not having an all too clear vision of what the outpost would be like in the end.

I'm learning while progressing, so inevitably I would encounter situations where things did not fit where I wanted to place them. Sometimes I had to improvise and use an ad hoc approach to things, as displayed in the picture below.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/0TaXklG


Did you ever think that wheat straw would grow in such a submerged and wet area?

Note that, although Liff is obviously tending the wheat field, the display (on the left) shows her as both operating a machine and swimming. Also note the reflection of the building structure on top of the water. Stunning amount of detail.

Mistake post.

Administrator please delete.

To change the air some, after playing outpost building game for a while, I decided to go get some combat experience.

I knew exactly where I wanted to go - the Fog islands. I wasn't satisfied with how I mishandled that situation where I nearly lost everyone (reference the first screenshot in this thread). I was determined to learn how to play properly in that region.

We surveyed some locations around Mongrel, and I settled on the one in the picture below.




Direct Link: https://imgur.com/5ynrRBK


I took the picture after placing the shells, so as not to obstruct the back scenery. You can see Mongrel in the distance, and due to the position of the sun, likely can also tell which side I'm on (for those of you who pay attention to such details).

So I wanted just a tower structure, because I never built one before, and a single building to keep things simple. Sin City produced food and other supplies in excess of my needs, so transporting some elsewhere wasn't a problem.

You are likely wondering as to my choice of name for the outpost...

I know, I originally wanted to dump Beep after getting him out of Mongrel. But over time, he kind of grew on me, as I discovered he had a sort of personality. Plus he has an unusual recruiting method, compared to everyone else I had encountered so far. I justified it comparing to Mani in the Flotsam Ninjas, being a male and dressing a little different than the rest of the faction. Now, mind you, I have no illusion of saying Beep is anywhere near as capable as Mani, but considered him more as a "work in progress", and let's see how far it can go.

I've separated the faction into multiple squads, and for now, they're designated from the regions I recruited them; FN = Flotsam Ninja village, HN = Holy Nation, BL = Border Lands, MO = Mongrel, DC = Dead Cat.

That means I've added a few members since the last picture, I got them from the Fishing Village in the Northern Coast. I thought I could have also gotten some from World's End, in Okran's Arm, but besides the barman and guards, all four bars were devoid of anyone else.

This is an occurrence that can either happen from time to time, or nearly all the time. What causes it, I don't know, every game is different as to where and how profoundly it effects things. For example; in this particular game, not only was World's End empty but - the entire Shek Kingdom was also completely devoid of patrons and recruits. That didn't bother me much, as I had no intentions of adding Shek members to my faction any ways.

Here's a fogmen assault which I mishandled.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/99Uh4F5


I'm trying hard to remember why it turned out like this, but what is obvious, was not having anyone guarding the entrance. And judging by the faction members in the picture, it looks like I had different squads operating on different floors, in all likelihood involved with some types of interior constructions.

Any ways, you can see how one can be easily swamped in blue hivers, and rather quickly. These guys all run at incredible fast speeds, and if a group decides to bypass a few characters trying to intervene, most get by.

What quickly became apparent, with having an outpost in the Fog islands, was that if they managed to enter your building (like in this case), then it became a real long and antagonizing process to pick up, and then dump outside, all the bodies. The "Remove Intruder" command, I could never figure out how to make it work correctly. After just a few of these occurrences, I was constantly endeavoring to protect against it, and thus to avoid it (!).

My preliminary attempts at "top defense".



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/6SZUfOr


I'm in the process of constructing all round 'lighted mounted crossbow Mk. II's', in the allowable placement slots on the top floor of the tower. The spaces where I don't have one yet, I have positioned a member with a toothpick crossbow on Ranged and Hold orders.

One thing to note, is that when using/manning a ranged weapon, the character will still track through interposing obstacles and/or terrain. And when their load and aiming cycle has completed, they will then shoot - no matter what. So I had many bolts lodged or embedded within the parapet along the roof edge, or directly into the floor.

Sixteen sleeping bags are deployed, for the lightly wounded to rest, I also had six beds on the floor below, and four beds on the floor below that.

I found having so many squads cumbersome, and have instead put most into one large squad. The FN Sinners are maintained as separate, because they're my most experienced and have become my "go to" squad should I need to resolve a problem.

Solving a problem can lead to another.

Below, I have a door guarding detail - and - the door is locked. So they can engage incursion attempts into the tower.

On the roof I have crossbows shooting at assailants. But sometimes their aim is off.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/35wbaBk


Paste took a mounted bolt in the leg (the white one, black ones are from toothpick crossbows). I really do appreciate the attention to differentiate the types of bolts.

On a related subject; notice the Nodachi coloring compared to our side arms? They're so nice and uniform in white coloration. I figured out why, it depends on the weapon grade. Those are all skeleton smith Mk. III grade nodachi, while the side arms can be as low as rusted junk grade. So next time you see someone strolling along the road, and are deciding whether or not you can take him, check how nice looking the scabbard is first.

I acquired those nodachi from skeletons traveling along the road next to Sin City. Turns out that road is well traveled by various sorts of groups. The skeletons near always have nodachi, always manufactured by skeleton smiths, and varying from Mk I's to Mk. III's. I keep the Mk. III's and sell the others. Later on, I stopped using the nodachi, because they were too good. Combat would end too quickly with them and I would receive less experience.

Such a great location for the outpost of Beep's Keep!

The spot I chose to construct was fulfilling what I desired. I was constantly garnering combat experience and fogmen knowledge. So much, that I made a diagram indicating the paths fogmen could take, as well as the access corridors to potential surrounding deathyards.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/lLa605Z


The green lines are the paths which could be taken, and the arrow heads indicate the areas they access. So we have three craters where potential deathyards can spawn, and the paths of movement along the corridors. All the while ranged weapons (on the roof) can track and shoot movement which surrounds the tower.

If I would ever do anything different, it would have been to rotate the tower placement about 20 degrees more, clockwise. That would place the door entrance just a little further from the point where it can be accessed. Only way in, is along the rise near the top of the picture and around to the side of the wind generators.

An interesting picture, due to the amount of things going on, and the way the lighting is projected.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/tfMbIPQ


This is the onset of a special assault, it's called "The Fog" if I remember correctly. It is announced, meaning there is a text message that appears on your screen just before it happens.

I wasn't quite ready for it, as it looks like I was shuffling positions with squads, judging by the character positions in the picture. In any case, the door has been breached, and some fogmen are heading up the stairs, most likely to the gunners on the roof.

What i do recall, is the reason I paused the game here, was to take the gunners off of the turrets before any blue hivers reach the top. If they do, then the turrets will traverse on their exit point of the stairs, and now being at near flat angles of fire, they may well hit other faction members.

Concerning the breach, there's nothing that can be done to plug it. I see Elvyra, Adi, Digna, Pia, Reva, and Knife right there, and since they can't stop it, no one else can. It's now going to be close quarter combat - inside the building - and then like an hour to dump all the bodies out...

There are around thirty inside or at the doorway. A successive wave of the same amount is coming (to the right of the tower). And there will be another two following behind them. So figure about 120 fogmen. I don't recall any heavies or a prince making an appearance, but still, that's a lot to hold off at once.

Other things to note, in the picture; notice how the inside of the tower is well lit, but if you look closely, I have just one torch post inside on that floor - and in fact on all floors. So all that light is coming from the lights on the mounted crossbow turrets, on the roof. That's because they're all pointing at the threat which, is the pile at the door, and those scaling the stairwells.

You can also see a modification I recently added, and that is the outside lights. There are spot lights on each side of the entrance, and the remaining lights around the tower base are all search lights. This is the reason I constructed a second wind generator, because all power consumption are from these and the ones on the mounted crossbows.

A night time shot of Beep's Keep, showing the projections and areas of the outside lighting scheme.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/Gcafvt7


Also showing blood trails, gut trails, red blood pools are likely from escaped servants, fogmen corpses and limbs. Once the faction members were "set", I could leave the game run and just watch the carnage with no inputs from me. Besides the annoyance of a door breach, this episode of the playthrough proved quite a success, and I learned a lot.

Note how nicely the game shows overlapping light reflections, and how the projected light conforms to the terrain undulations. Also the fog cloud in the crater, to the right of the tower, nicely done.

If anyone should be interested in experimenting with it, here is the exact location of Beep's Keep,



If you are not familiar with the area of the Fog Islands, simply zoom in the map all the way, and then line up the scroll sliders to the position I have in the picture. That will center it and show you in your game .

Besides 'The Fog', there were two other types of special assaults that would be announced on this outpost; Scrawny Cannibals, and Great Canhead. Both would originate somewhere in the distant North-West, beyond the Fog Islands territory. However they would both route through the city of Mongrel before getting to me. None ever got past the shinobi ninja guards of Mongrel. In the end, upon their announcement, I would rush everyone to the road leading outside the Western gate of Mongrel, so I could intercept them first, and then gain some combat experience.

Direct Link: https://imgur.com/U5YMjFn


So here we're back at Sin City, and I see near everyone's in the hospital, except for two characters. Likely got hit by a special cannibal raid, or something.

I have started to place more building shells, because my vision for the base layout is starting to coalesce. I'm working on walls, again contradicting my original intention about them. It's not because I can't handle what's being thrown at us in this location, but more due to being distracted from the actual construction of the outpost. So if I can "keep nature out" for a while, I'll tear them down once we've progressed to a stage where random wandering things will no longer disrupt things.

You see that large structure next to the location of Stinks? It looks like some type of derelict refining tanks. Okay, those were there when I first came to the sight, but disappeared once I started erecting buildings. That's why you don't see them in the pictures when I first founded the outpost. Now they're back, and I kind of like it. Adds more atmosphere, I find.

Towards the right side of the picture, on the other side of the road from the main outpost, there are two small shacks, one is actually just a shell currently. I used those to store all types of excess junk, looted weapons, gear, items I found during my travels that I didn't what they're for, etc. So when the various merchants came to visit, instead of scurrying all around the scattered buildings in the outpost, collecting things to sell or get rid of - I just needed a character to run into the shack and pick out the items. Saved me a lot of hassles. i estimate that each shack held about one million cats worth. I believe I had something like sixteen storage containers in each shack (!).

This seems to me to be The intended Kenshi kind of experience this game wanted to be.
A stage setting to discover our own stories unfolding within.

Way nice post there, I'd recommend copy/paste sharing it to Steam if you have an account there. As that kenshi thread area seems far busier, and this is a great example of what this game seemed to be aiming to be.

Direct Link: https://imgur.com/XMcr36t


Here is Beep, about to dispose of the husk of an iron spider into the incinerator (yellow machine on left with stairs and dual smoke stacks). It's the first time I constructed a corpse burner, and they're marvelous for the ability to give the commands of "Find" and "Dispose". Curiously, they are in the Power directory for construction, when they in fact give no power, but instead use it. i suspect that the creator(s) intended for them to provide power (like a furnace), but either changed their mind, or was too complicated to program it.

Notice the wall shells behind Beep. I was constantly erecting, then dismantling and repositioning them. I found it very difficult to get them to behave and be placed in an easy fashion. Was quite frustrating at times. I'd give up for a while and do something else, then come back to it. Over and over again...

Look at how the sunlight glistens off of the the huge ruined structure in the background, and the different types of grass and shrub on the ground. The attention to such details is quite surprising.

Oh yes; uh, Beep wants everyone to know, that he killed the iron spider all by himself. Everyone just pretend that it's true. Beep is somewhat insecure at times.

What happens when you are not paying attention.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/Zjv4Osl


So in Kenshi, when you are concentrating on something and have the camera zoomed in to a specific spot - like when you are figuring engineering priorities and ordering characters on tasks, or even focusing on one area of an on-going engagement - the rest of the world does not stop.

I was doing something , likely near the Southern end, of the outpost and when finished, zoomed the camera back out, and noticed that several engagements happened between other factions, in the North part of the outpost.

Wow! I snapped a picture, but it was near impossible to make out everything due to the shear area of it all. So I dropped the screenshot in MS Paint and added details and pointers to make it more apparent.

A group of cannibal hunters would sometimes wander into the outpost and stay for a number of days (I think it was four days, for a normal staying period). I could initiate dialogue with them and have the option of hiring (like mercenaries), and some other groups I could not, they just patrolled the outpost for varying amounts of time (maybe two days). After my experience with the tech hunters at the beginning, I never hired any more mercenaries. But any ways, there obviously was at least one such group present at the time of the picture, and look at all the trouble they got into.

Elvyra is swimming out to patch those in dire need, then to loot the iron spider before it reboots, and I likely just didn't pay attention to the skeletons. But there you go, one has to take their "head out of the sand" from time to time, less you miss out on something.

An exercise in extraction.

At the time, I was heading towards the Southern United Cities area, to recruit more faction members. On the way, I decided to explore a location in South-West vain, hoping to find tech artifacts. I received the coordinates from a map I purchased at a tech hunters shop, and figured I could safely get to it, as it was relatively close to the Stenn Desert.

We were sneaking down a slope, because I am familiar with possible encounters in Vain, but although I was being careful - the game spawned a group of beak things just about on top and in the midst of my group. That's about the worst, and it is something one can not avoid, as it is the way the game works. I'm not complaining here, merely stating fact. How I do look at it, is that even the best tactics don't necessarily mean you can evade all encounters.

So we took our licks, over half the group received serious wounds, but managed to overcome and emerge victorious. I was relieved that no one lost any limbs. But now I had another problem, how to extract the group before any more beak things wonder in. You see, if corpses are lying around, other predators are attracted to them, and we were in no shape to handle a second group of beak things. Also note; that beak things move extremely fast, only certain characters can eventually have the ability to outrun them.

So in the picture below, was my chosen course to solving the predicament.



Direct Link: https://imgur.com/bbYgYIW


So I have just nine characters conscious (out of twenty-one), and of those only four (Elvyra, Pia, Paste, Liff) are actually able to pick-up and then carry people.

The ambush location happened at the left of the map, where you can maybe make out the names of Beep, Shryke, Suns. On the right, where Adi and Soman are, is the boundary between Vain and the Stenn Desert - that's where I want to get too - ASAP.

So Paste, Pia, and Liff, are picking up people from the pile on the left, and transporting them to (and over) the border on the right.

The four remaining conscious characters (denoted by the stealth icons) in the pile, are acting as sentries, should more beak things suddenly appear. Not that they can do much to stop anything, but at least I will be alerted to their proximity.

There is a reverse slope just to the right of Elvyra, if you look at the terrain carefully, which blocks line of sight from anything down in Vain.

Soman limped to the safe zone and is acting as sentry at this location. Although the Stenn Desert is safer than Vain, it still can spawn stuff, and a pile of severely wounded and unconscious characters can very well be eaten by a wolf pack.

Elvyra, although capable of carrying someone, is positioned and acting as overwatch. She can engage at range while I react with the rest, and is the only one that might have a chance to either draw away, or directly engage a threat in melee, should it materialize.

All conscious characters are in stealth mode, because it acts like a proximity sensor (by the color change to yellow / red).

When I had everyone safe, we rested enough to get most walking, and went to Admag to fully recuperate. The attempt at the tech ruin in Vain was put off till a later time. Which, in retrospect, was a good move, as there are additional dangers in the area that we were unprepared for at this time.