Survivalist: Invisible Strain – Raiding Settlements Guide

Methods on how to clean up a settlement and take it over.

Guide to Raiding Settlements

All credit goes to Red riding hood the third!

Step to Step Basics

• There are two types of randomly generated settlements in the map: Survivors / Looters.
• Find a base of your choosing, the less survivors in it the easier.
• Eliminate all members of the faction, it will notify you after the last survivor died.
• The base will turn neutral once the faction has been eradicated.
• To take over a base you need a toolbox and material for each fence and building.
• Warning: You cannot open their gates once they turn hostile using normal means.

Scouting the Base

• It is recommended to count the amount of survivors and it’s defenses before attempting the raid.
• Trade with their survivors for molotovs and explosives.
• Check for weapons and armour: bows, molotovs and automatic rifles means danger.
• Tower positions can be exploited, they have a blind spot if you sneak close to the wall.
• Wood fences can be burned down with molotovs (Rendered useless in winter).
• Iron fences / Chicken Wires can be blown up with explosives.

Eliminating Survivors (Stealth)

• Sneak attacks with the hunting knife can eliminate all types of human with no difficulty.
• Clothing equipment with the camo tag add +1 of stealth, survivors have a chance of wearing them.
• It is recommended to quickly retreat with each kill to avoid suspicion.
• The best time to assassinate a survivor is outside of their base.
• Survivors will leave their base to gather firewood with an axe or if zombies are nearby.
• You don’t need to be in stealth to assassinate unnoticed. Crouch quickly and stab them on the spot.
• They will bury dead members in groups of 4, meaning their base will have less defenders.
• In case their base is hostile to you, wait outside next to their gate and wait for an enemy to leave.
• You can easily dispatch them with a shotgun or a molotov. Gain entry and use buildings as cover.
• Survivors will turn their back to you if they gather water from a well, sit in the campfire or if they walk around.
• It is quite time intensive to look for an opportunity to stealth kill unnoticed. This method is most suited for early characters with no equipment. Easy access to weapons and armour.

Eliminating Survivors (Loud)

• Make sure to acquire equipment suited to take out humans in one hit. Molotovs work the best.
• Take advantage of cover and hills, ranged users will be forced to approach closer.
• It is recommended to have hand to hand skill at level one. You can easily cripple a survivor if you take out their legs. Once they stumble on the ground go for their head (knifes don’t work on armour).
• If you’re forced to run away, either use forests or hills to make them lose sight.
• Armour cannot absorb bullets forever. They will eventually break. They also wont make them immune to knockback. Even a fully equiped survivor can be properly eliminated if they cant defend themselves.
• Cowardly survivors will run away from battle. It isn’t recommended to hunt them down. Wait at their base using stealth and wait for them to come back for a well timed surprise attack.
• Occasionally a survivor will break if their moral goes too low. This applies to your enemies too. The effects can vary but they will mostly become drunk and useless for combat.
• The most difficult part is when the enemy faction has one survivor left. If they do not return to their base after two days, chances are they collapsed from sleep deprivation and low morale somewhere in the wild. They will starve to death eventually so there is no need to hunt them down yourself.
• Molotovs can be easily crafted with alcohol and rags. They can one shot humans making them the best weapon against survivors.

Poisoning Survivors (Food Related)

• Skinning a freshly killed zombie will yield infected human meat.
• Cooking utensils that come in contact with infected meat ‘catch’ the infection.
• Any food made using those cooking utensils will automatically become infected. There is no guarantee that the first meal is dangerous but repeated intake will be lethal.
• Water bottles can also become infected if you fill them up with infected food.
• Selling infected food and infected cooking utensils is the most effective method for eradicating a faction with no casualties.
• Survivors will remember this, if they know you sold them infected food they can become hostile.
• It is important you separate infected cooking utensils with your normal cooking utensils in separate chests.

Author Notes

I tested out the difficulty for eliminating a fully occupied settlement using a fresh character. I did it with one point in stealth and one point in hand to hand.

It is quite easy to acquire weapons and gold if you successfully assassinate a survivor.

Using shotguns at close range and molotovs did the majority of the work.

The only reason one would want to eliminate a base is if it’s occupied by raiders, at war with your faction or if you want to get items early.

Otherwise they work very well for protection, getting survivors to join your faction and trading in general.