Message showing that the shelter has been raided.
| “ | We've been raided! Someone came at night to take our things by force. | ” |
–Raid Report | ||
Overview[]
Raids are an off-screen event that occur during the night in the Shelter. During a raid, looters will attempt to forcibly take supplies from the survivors, which can result in the loss of valuable items and injuries to survivors. Raids which are not successfully defended against will cause survivors to become sad, and eventually depressed. Raids happen on a schedule, based on the Shelter Attack Rules.
Apart from deciding the roles (e.g. Guard, Sleep in Bed, etc) of the survivors, the player has no direct, in-game participation during a raid, even if one does not scavenge during the night.
If a raid doesn't occur, the Day Log will show nothing. Otherwise, a text similar to the following will appear in the Day Log:
Example of raid results in Day log
|
Players can defend against a raid in several ways such as assigning survivors for Guard Duty, using the workbench to Board Up walls and by building a Reinforced Door. Also keeping Weapons at the Shelter can reduce the chance of items getting stolen and from getting wounded. The Helmet and Military Vest can further prevent a survivor from getting wounded.
Attack power[]
Attack power refers to the strength of a raid, and is represented by a number. In an unmodded game, this number ranges from 2 to 16. The higher the power, the more dangerous to survivors. Raids can be broadly divided into 4 danger levels, according to their attack power.
| Danger Level | Attack power | Day Log | Occurrence | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 1-5 |
"They didn't seem very determined...." "They must've been more scared than us..." "They were just a couple of scavengers..." |
Occurs in the first few days. | Less common |
| Moderate | 6-9 | "It was a band of hardened robbers..."
"They really meant business..." "It was quite a tough group..." |
All except Outbreak of Crime | Very common |
| High | 10-14 | "They were a tough and mean bunch..."
"They came in force and were armed..." "The attackers were very aggressive..." |
Outbreak of Crime everyday, and occasionally Normal day | Common |
| Extreme | >14 | "They were an armed band of ruthless looters..."
"They had guns and were trying to kill us..." "They were extremely aggressive and very well armed..." |
Occasionally during and after Outbreak of Crime | Rare
Will occur if the Outbreak of Crime happens after Winter. |
Defense power[]
Defense power refers to the strength of your shelter's defenses. At the time of this writing, the exact formula to calculate this number is unknown. Several factors influence this value:
- How many survivors there are in the shelter; and how many of them are assigned as guards.
- Weapons (if available) in the shelter
- Built fittings that improve shelter defenses (in particular, Board Ups and the Reinforced Door.
Guarding is the best way to defend against raids.
Guarding[]
The most effective way to defend against raids is to assign survivors as guards. The more survivors assigned as guards, the more defended the shelter becomes. In most cases, two survivors guarding would be enough. However, during the 'Outbreak of Crime' event, up to three guards may be necessary. Negative states (hunger, illness, wounds, etc.) don't affect the effectiveness of a guard. However, guards that are tired, wounded and/or sick would get worse since they were not allowed to rest. A sleeping survivor counts as about one fourth of a guarding one.
If no one (i.e. the only survivor has gone out to scavenge) is left in the Shelter at night, a raid will always be successful. In that case, the Day log will show the following text:
"Someone noticed our shelter had been left unguarded for the night and stole our things. We don't know who it was."
Guarding proficiency[]
Every survivor performs differently when guarding. There are 5 tiers of guarding proficiency among the survivors. The multipliers listed below refer to their effectiveness relative to each other; for example, an S-tier guard can guard as well as two C-tier guards together.
| Tier | Multiplier | Survivors |
|---|---|---|
| S | 2 | Christo, Roman |
| A | 1.5 | Arica |
| B | 1.25 | Boris, Henrik |
| C | 1 | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle |
| D | 0.75 | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata |
As can be observed from this table, a survivor's guarding proficiency and combat proficiency are not necessarily in line with each other. For example, both Christo and Emilia are average combatants at tier D, but their guarding proficiencies are polar opposite; with Emilia being the lowest tier and Christo being the highest.
Providing Weapons[]
Equipping survivors (including sleeping ones) with a weapon increases defense power. Depending on whether or not the survivors are (fully) armed, the day log report will show one of these 3 lines:
"Thankfully we were all armed."
"Too bad we have no weapons..."
"We had weapons but not enough for everyone..."
The game divides weapons used during raids into 2 types: melee and ranged. Melee weapons include the Crowbar, Knife, Hatchet, Shovel, Helmet and Military Vest. Ranged weapons include the Pistol, Shotgun, Assault Rifle and Scoped Assault Rifle. Ranged weapons are four times as effective as melee weapons at defense, but cost 2 or 3 Ammunition for each gun per survivor in the shelter, whether they're guarding or sleeping. Ranged weapons cannot be used for defense without Ammunition. However, leaving 1 ammunition for guarding (assume you have guns) and taking the rest on a scavenge trip can save ammo while you look for more.
- "Ammunition we used up to chase them off:"
This table lists the maximum attack power of a raid that each survivor can beat if guarding alone without suffering any damage, provided there are no other sleeping survivors in the shelter and no Board Ups has been built. If there are sleeping survivors, 1 point may be added to this table depending on the number and weapons. This info is acquired through testing all the possibilities.
| Tier | Survivors | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S | Christo, Roman | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| A | Arica | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| B | Boris, Henrik | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| C | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| D | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata | 0 | 0 | 2 |
This table shows the value for some 2-guard combos, once again assuming no other sleeping survivors. Both are armed with the same weapons.
| Combos | Total multiplier | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S + D; A + B | 2.75 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| A + C; B + B | 2.5 | 6 | 8 | 16 |
| A + D; B + C | 2.25 | 5 | 7 | 14 |
| C + C; B + D | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| C + D | 1.75 | 3 | 4 | 10 |
| D + D | 1.5 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
Some conclusions:
- Without Board Ups, most survivors cannot beat Low level raids alone, unless they have a ranged weapon.
- S-tier guards by themselves and most 2-guard combos can beat most Low level raids unarmed, and guaranteed so with melee weapons. With firearms, they can beat all Normal level raids and even some High level ones.
- Some high-tier combos can beat Extreme level raids if fully equipped with firearms.
Board Up[]
Each board-up adds a flat bonus of +2 to defense power. A fully boarded up shelter, therefore, has a +6 bonus.
Below are tables once again showing the maximum attack power that can be beaten by guards, this time accounting for board-ups.
1 Board Up (+2)[]
| Tier | Survivors | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S | Christo, Roman | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| A | Arica | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| B | Boris, Henrik | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| C | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| D | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| Combos | Total multiplier | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S + D; A + B | 2.75 | 9 | 11 | 16 |
| A + C; B + B | 2.5 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| A + D; B + C | 2.25 | 7 | 9 | 16 |
| C + C; B + D | 2 | 6 | 8 | 14 |
| C + D | 1.75 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
| D + D | 1.5 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
Some conclusions:
- The chances are not greatly improved with just 1 board up. The shelter still needs to be guarded.
- C-tier guards are now guaranteed to beat Low level raids alone with a firearm.
- S-tier guards alone and most 2-guard combos are now guaranteed to beat Low level raids unarmed. With melee weapons, they can beat most Normal level raids. With firearms, they can beat all High level raids.
2 Board Ups (+4)[]
| Tier | Survivors | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S | Christo, Roman | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| A | Arica | 6 | 7 | 12 |
| B | Boris, Henrik | 5 | 6 | 10 |
| C | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle | 4 | 5 | 8 |
| D | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Combos | Total multiplier | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S + D; A + B | 2.75 | 11 | 13 | 16 |
| A + C; B + B | 2.5 | 10 | 12 | 16 |
| A + D; B + C | 2.25 | 9 | 11 | 16 |
| C + C; B + D | 2 | 8 | 10 | 16 |
| C + D | 1.75 | 7 | 8 | 14 |
| D + D | 1.5 | 6 | 7 | 12 |
Some conclusions:
- The chances are now somewhat better. However, the shelter still needs to be guarded.
- Most survivors are now guaranteed to beat Low level raids alone with a melee weapon. Same as D-tier guards, but with a firearm.
- S-tier guards alone, and most 2-guard combos, are now guaranteed to beat Extreme level raids with firearms.
3 Board Ups (+6)[]
| Tier | Survivors | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S | Christo, Roman | 10 | 12 | 16 |
| A | Arica | 8 | 9 | 14 |
| B | Boris, Henrik | 7 | 8 | 12 |
| C | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle | 6 | 7 | 10 |
| D | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| Combos | Total multiplier | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S + D; A + B | 2.75 | 13 | 15 | 16 |
| A + C; B + B | 2.5 | 12 | 14 | 16 |
| A + D; B + C | 2.25 | 11 | 13 | 16 |
| C + C; B + D | 2 | 10 | 12 | 16 |
| C + D | 1.75 | 9 | 10 | 16 |
| D + D | 1.5 | 8 | 9 | 14 |
Some conclusions:
- The shelter still needs to be guarded. However, just 1 guard is guaranteed to beat all Low level raids regardless of proficiency and weapons.
- Most survivors are now guaranteed to beat Normal level raids alone with a firearm. S-tier guards and most 2-guard combos can do so unarmed.
- S-tier guards and most 2-guard combos can beat some High level raids with melee weapons.
Reinforced Door[]
The Reinforced Door adds a +4 to defense power. A fully fortified shelter has a +10 bonus.
| Tier | Survivors | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S | Christo, Roman | 14 | 16 | 16 |
| A | Arica | 12 | 13 | 16 |
| B | Boris, Henrik | 11 | 12 | 16 |
| C | Bruno, Marin, Marko, Pavle | 10 | 11 | 14 |
| D | Anton, Cveta, Emilia, Irina, Katia, Zlata | 9 | 9 | 12 |
| Combos | Total multiplier | Equipped weapons | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Melee | Ranged | ||
| S + D; A + B | 2.75 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| A + C; B + B | 2.5 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| A + D; B + C | 2.25 | 15 | 16 | 16 |
| C + C; B + D | 2 | 14 | 16 | 16 |
| C + D | 1.75 | 13 | 14 | 16 |
| D + D | 1.5 | 12 | 13 | 16 |
Some conclusions:
- With the Reinforced Door, the shelter doesn't need to be guarded against Normal level raids in most cases.
- Most survivors can now beat High level raids alone with a firearm. S-tier guards and some 2-guard combos can do so unarmed.
- All 2-guard combos and some high tier guards alone can beat Extreme level raids with firearms. The highest tier guards and combos can do so with melee weapons.
Overall conclusions:
- Firearms greatly increase shelter defense. Try to acquire one, especially if your shelter only has low tier guards.
- As a general rule of thumb, 3 board ups are required to reliably beat Normal level raids, which occur for the majority of the game, with 1 guard. With High level raids, which happen during most Outbreak of Crime events, double the guards, or build the Reinforced Door (mandatory with more difficult scenarios where only 1 weak guard is available, such as Anton/Cveta and Zlata/Emilia/Kalina).
Damage[]
The damage is not always exactly the same but relatively. A damage level can have a wide range of actual damage, and can be exploited to receive minor damage by restarting the day.
Survivors might be either wounded or lose supplies or both. Unlike the damage to supplies which is exactly the lost items, the damage to people doesn't show clearly through the health bar but indirectly from Day log reports. It means if a survivor gets a minor injury the day log entry may not report correctly. He/she can actually be slightly wounded or not, depending on how his/her current health bar near the wounded's degree.
For example, a Katia who has full health bar still get injured from a minor attack, but her state shows as normal and the Day log report that no one was wounded. In case she has about 8/10 health bar and get injured from attack, she will be slightly wounded although the day log entry show as no one was wounded.
| Damage level | Sign from Day log | Result | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| None | "...we managed to fend them off"
"None of us was wounded and the attackers didn't steal anything. We are able to defend ourselves." |
Successful defense | |
| Minor | "[Character] was wounded but the attackers didn't steal anything. We are able to defend ourselves." | Some one get wounded but lost nothing. | |
| Major | "...but they didn't do much harm."
"[Character] was wounded and the attackers took a few things. We are able to defend ourselves." or other case: "None of us was wounded but the attackers walked off with many valuable things. We should put more people on guard." |
Someone gets wounded and lost few things.
No one get wounded but lost many things. |
Can switch between two cases by restarting the day |
| Major | "[Character] and [Character] were wounded but the attackers didn't steal anything. We should put more people on guard." | More than one get wounded but lost nothing. | Only happen if there were 2 or more people left in shelter. |
| Major | "Someone noticed our shelter had been left unguarded for the night and stole our things. We don't know who it was." | Lost many things.
Morale fall |
Only happen if no one left in Our Shelter at night |
| Critical | "...so they put a fight and did some harm."
"[Character] was wounded and the attackers walked off with many valuable things. We should put more people on guard." "[Character] and [Character] were wounded and the attackers took a few things. We should put more people on guard." |
Some one get wounded and lost many things.
More than one get wounded and lost few things. Morale fall |
Happen with High or Extreme danger level |
There are two possible cases if supplies were taken. If there was a survivor who was wounded, the attackers would take less supplies, otherwise they would take many valuable items. This can be modified by quitting the game to restart the day and get a desired result.
For example: If the character who was wounded already was "Slightly wounded", better to restart the day to get the text "None of us was wounded...", but also "...but the attackers walked off with many valuable things." as compensatory damage. So the character won't be wounded or worse. Or else if a character was normal, better to let them get "Slightly wounded" but save lot of valuable items.
Methods To Protect Items[]
Valuable items can be prevented from getting stolen by other non-traditional methods, like:
- Not scavenging from piles inside the shelter, as only items from the "Our Things" menu can be stolen. This is especially viable for a Marko solo run, as it is impossible to defend Our Shelter until another survivor can be found.
- Partially craft a construction. This will remove the materials from "Our Things" menu, and can still be fully retrieved by cancelling the construction. This is the best way to protect items in Marko solo run, as the items never leave our shelter, but effectively unstealable.
- Stashing items in one of the buildings in the city, with one exception being the Supermarket after Hostage scenario.
- Bring valuable items, such as food & drugs, with you. This is more convenient than caching items at a different location, but is a waste of backpack slots in all but the following special circumstances:
- The Marko solo run before another survivor arrives;
- Only one person is still alive before another survivor arrives;
- Nobody is healthy, rested or fed enough to guard well;
- Only the worst people are available to guard, specifically Emilia, Anton, Irina, Henrik, and Misha.
- Or Katia if she's slightly sick+, slightly wounded+, sad, depressed, or broken.