Talk:Guides:Civilian

Have removed the suggested "attack another survivor and heal them" method of XP gain, it's less efficient than just attacking a zombie for full XP because you have to find the first aid kits, you still have to roll to hit your accomplice, and you only get 1/2XP for attacking a fellow survivor. --Spiro 20:26, 8 Sep 2005 (BST)

Might actually put that back, with the disclaimer that it is only useful if you are in the unlikely situation of not being able to find any zombies. --ShaneVsEvil 00:22, 9 Sep 2005 (BST)

Probably a better use of AP just to ask if anyone needs healing so you don't make a mistake. Less likely to get into PK habits, too. --otherlleft 14:11, 11 Sep 2005 (BST)

Recent edit: Cruci deleted the story section of the guide. I am ambivalent as to whether or not it's there, personally, but is anyone upset by this? Should we maybe move the story to a linked section? Is fan-fic appropriate for this Wiki at all? Small bits attached to other things? (thinking of group pages here) --John 19:02, 19 Sep 2005 (BST)

It's not very fast, but I've discovered that a Consumer can hunt for books and get XP fairly quickly (though still in the range of days to weeks for that first skill, not counting having to cut and run). Maximilian Schell 07:11, 3 Nov 2005 (GMT)

I moved this to the discussion page. it's not appropriate in the main body. It needs to be written properly and included as an alternative viewpoint in the text, not merely appended. User:JRH 12:00, 15 Feb (EDT)

EDIT: I disagree, a Cop (or for that matter, a Private) should take Pistol Training before Shotgun. You will find roughly the same amount of Pistol Clips to Shotgun Shells, and as Pistol Clips come with 6 shots (each doing half the damage of a single Shotgun Shell), you will quickly find that your ammo supplies have triple the overall damage (and XP) potential from Pistol Clips as from Shotgun Shells. Furthermore, you do not begin play with a Shotgun and while it's quite likely you'll find one in your first few days, a streak of bad luck could prolong your path to Shotgun. My strong recommendation is to avoid using ANY shotgun shells at all whatsoever and instead focus on the Pistol skills. By the time you've gotten enough XP for both (or at the very least, the first) Shotgun skills, you should have just enough Shotgun Shells stockpiled to make a single sortie killing run with Shotgun Shells alone. As Shotgun Shells are hard to amass quickly, you will definitely at least want Basic Shotgun Training, as it nearly doubles (30% to 55%) your efficiency with Shotgun Shells and hugely cuts down on the number of wasted shells. Some might argue that this is a strong reason why Shotgun Basic Training should be obtained BEFORE Pistol Training. However since you will be harvesting TRIPLE the overall damage/XP potential in Pistol Clips as opposed to Shells during your looting, you will be wasting a severe ratio of potential damage (almost half, or more than half if you factor in Advanced Pistol Training).

-- Mercurial Lily 07:02, 15 Jan 2006 (GMT)

EDIT: I acquiesce to your edit, Mercurial Lily, and I have to add that, one year later, at the time of this writing, one cannot afford to postpone Free Running to level 3. It must be the first skill bought, period. This is probably a no-brainer for the Consumer type - they need malls badly, right? - but it has to be mentioned for cops and firefighters. Otherwise you might find yourself outside the police station, out of ammo and unable to enter because somebody did not respect the barricade plan. If you're low on AP as well, after a good session of zombie bashing (hey, I only need 4 AP to get back.. what can go wrong? ) you're on your way to the revive point, you just don't know it yet. Not to mention that most good hiding places are EHB - at least that's been my experience, and that's in a low-danger suburb! So, Free Running should be the first skill bought. Firefighters are already killing machines (compared to the other beginner classes) and accuracy can wait a couple of days, while shelter can't. Cops are even more likely to profit from this skill up front: they need ammo badly, and being able to get it should be their first worry.

If nobody else disagrees, I'll move these observations to the main text in a couple of days. --cif 15:40, 9 January 2007 (UTC)