Combat Revive: Difference between revisions
mNo edit summary |
(It flat-out stated that the hidden costs outweighed any benefits. There's debate about this. It's not settled. Section revised to reflect that this is opinion, not settled fact.) |
||
Line 14: | Line 14: | ||
==Combat Reviving as a Poor Use of Syringes== | ==Combat Reviving as a Poor Use of Syringes== | ||
Although the overall AP cost of performing a combat revive remains | Although the overall AP cost of performing a combat revive remains lower than the AP cost involved in dispatching a zombie by shotgun or pistol, combat revives are currently unpopular. Many survivors believe that the "hidden costs" of combat revives considerably outweigh the benefits: | ||
# Given the current length of the queues at revive points and the declining survivor numbers, syringes are much more important as the only way of recovering fallen survivors. | # Given the current length of the queues at revive points and the declining survivor numbers, syringes are much more important as the only way of recovering fallen survivors. |
Revision as of 18:26, 26 September 2008
- “Combat revive” redirects here. For other uses, see Combat revive (disambiguation).
Combat Revive (abbreviated "CR") refers to the tactic of using a NecroTech Revivification Syringe to neutralise a hostile zombie, rather than as a means to revive a survivor.
Combat reviving is a controversial tactic among both the survivor and zombie communities. Proponents of Combat Reviving as a legitimate tactic note that the offensive use of revivification syringes allows a survivor to neutralise any zombie without brain rot by means of a single, 100% to-hit attack that costs 10 AP. By comparison, destroying a flak-jacket wearing zombie with bodybuilding requires 12.3 AP on average (8 shotgun blasts) from a maxed combat survivor (65% to-hit) using the most powerful firearm in the game.
Even when preparation time is taken into account, the syringe remains faster than firearms. A revivification syringe takes 8 AP to locate, no AP to load, and 10 AP to use. This is less than the time required to find, load, and fire enough ammunition for a maxed survivor to put down a maxed zombie: about 16 AP of Gun Store searching and about 4 AP of reloading provides enough mixed shotgun and pistol ammo -- about 18 AP of shooting -- to kill a zombie.
On the other hand, opponents of the Combat Revive argue that the "hidden costs" of Combat Reviving outweigh the apparent benefits. These costs include the potential for a revived zombie to PK, GK, spy or engage in other destructive death culting activities. In particular, GKing is seen as an especially AP-costly potential side effect of Combat Reviving.
Many zombie players oppose Combat Reviving because of its perceived unfairness and it use as a "griefing" tool -- especially when used on low-level zombies.
More detailed arguments on the pros and cons of Combat Reviving are listed below.
Combat Reviving as a Poor Use of Syringes
Although the overall AP cost of performing a combat revive remains lower than the AP cost involved in dispatching a zombie by shotgun or pistol, combat revives are currently unpopular. Many survivors believe that the "hidden costs" of combat revives considerably outweigh the benefits:
- Given the current length of the queues at revive points and the declining survivor numbers, syringes are much more important as the only way of recovering fallen survivors.
- Any brain-rotted zombie causes the combat-reviver to waste 10 AP of action and a 20 AP syringe, destroying the efficiency of syringes as a combat tactic.
- A disgruntled combat-revived character can wreak havoc in safehouses, including destroying generators, debarricading, scouting for zombies, and spraypainting and shouting propaganda or misinformation. The zombie-turned-human can also learn bodybuilding and gather a flak jacket before jumping out the window. In addition, it is not uncommon for the revived zombie to thank their combat reviver with shotgun shells. (See Shoot the Messenger)
- And as a minor point, note that killing a zombie using firearms provides you with 60-70xp, instead of the 10xp you would earn using revivification.
The Random Revive Policy encourages all scientists to make use of revive tools and revivification points, to make sure that every revive is a wanted revive.
Counter Arguments to Combat Revives being a Poor Use of Syringes
However, some survivors believe that combat revives can, with preparation, be efficient, Humanity's Saviors and COMBAT REVIVE (Group) being notable examples. The Big Prick is an experiment in mass combat-reviving which started in May 2008.
- Revive points are necessary, but pointless if the people being revived have no place to sleep. Ergo, when they are revived, combat revival, either by them or by the people who revived them, will still be the most AP efficient way to find a place to sleep.
- Brain rot is easily detectable if the stack is DNA scanned first, or 1 target is DNA scanned and added to contacts, a "precision" combat revive, rather than an anonymous one
- If survivors sleep anywhere but a Tactical Resource Point, and do not power their safehouse, and wear flak jackets, then it is virtually impossible for all but the best prepared zombie to harm them using the normal PK, GK, RK, and spying tactics
- Maxed out characters do not care about XP, nor do some mid-level characters.
- Shooting zombies only slows them down, but combat revives actually "kill" zombies as opposed to having them stand again and tear down the barricades.
- The Dual Nature play style is actually fairly popular with feral zombies. If you revive them, that's one less zombie and one more survivor.
Combat Reviving in an NT Building Siege Situation is a Good use of Syringes
Zombies have rightly identified NT buildings in Malton as the most important resource to its Survivors and are employing strategies to render them useless. A tactic called Salt The Land Policy is an example. To combat these strategies, Fertilize the Land Policy encourages survivors to use combat revives in NT facilities to clear and re-take them with haste.
The Fertilize the Land Policy is an accepted practice. It's not here to debate the pros and cons of combat reviving. Its sole purpose is to spread the word that ONE use of combat reviving should be accepted by the UD community as a whole. That tactic is the use of combat reviving in an NT siege situation.
Historical Controversy Over Combat Revives
Prior to March 28, 2006, revivification syringes required only 1 AP to use. This imbalance enabled a single NecroTech scientist to repel a small organized horde that had just broken into a building by repeatedly using combat revives and dumping the bodies. While the scientist shut down the invasion, other survivors could spend their efforts rebarricading the building and get back to the business of surviving.
Zombie hordes would attempt to foil this tactic by including significant numbers of brain rotters in a breaching horde. Since failing to revive a brain-rotted zombie wastes both 1 AP and an expensive syringe, zombie hordes that had significant amounts of brain rot were able to make combat reviving uneconomical.
Combat Reviving was frowned upon by many zombies, especially career zombies who had not yet purchased brain rot, since it was a "cheap" way to (temporarily) defeat a zombie in combat. The Let the Dead be Dead Campaign was created to convey to survivors the loathing that zombies feel towards combat revives.
By contrast, some survivors viewed combat revives as a necessary (and storyline supported) tactic.
Although combat reviving used to provide a quick-fix solution during the desperate moments of a breach, it created controversy because it frequently produced a zombie spy. While a courteous combat-revived character might simply leap out of a window to their death (or allow newbie zombies to devour them for XP), a disgruntled combat-revived character has a variety of destructive retributions available as a spy. Zombie spies can destroy barricades with a crowbar, scout barricaded buildings, and spraypaint and shout propaganda and false information.
Several zombie groups that repudiate unethical zombie spying also permit some retaliation by a character who receives an unethical combat revive.
Nowadays, because of the stiff 10 AP cost per syringe use, syringe-wielding scientists are mostly viewed with bemusement (and incredulity) by the invading zombie hordes. There was, however, a movement by the Combat Revive Eligible Society to create a process where combat revives can be a useful tool in mall siege situations or when viable human survivor populations are at a premium (as in when faced with the Apocolypse Horde or a Mall Tour).
Certain supporters of the Dual Nature Policy, such as The Opportunists, can only be returned to a pro-survivor character by a combat (or random) revive, as they play pro-zombie while undead.
Templates
![]() |
Combat Reviver |
This user or group supports the strategy known as 'Combat Revival'. |
![]() |
Anti-Combat Reviver |
This user dislikes the strategy known as 'Combat Revival'. |
{{Combat_Revive}}
{{Anti-Combat_Revive}}