Safehouses

This is the article for the in-game safehouse function. For the glossary article on safehouses see Safehouses (Glossary).

As per the 16 August, 2010 Update:

• Survivors and zombies alike are finding it easier to navigate the familiar wreckage of the city streets. Survivors can get directions to a nominated safehouse; zombies automatically focus on the most recent groan or scent trail.

• Settling in for the long haul, some survivors have been modifying and memorising their safehouses. Those able to scout a safehouse can spend 30AP to survey the building, giving them approximately 5 extra AP per day within their nominated safehouse, until they die or the safehouse is ruined.

Setting a Safehouse

Whilst alive, all survivors have the option to select a building as a Safehouse. You begin the game with no default safehouse set. This message is displayed directly below the Minimap on the left of the page.

It should be noted that you do not need to possess the Scout safehouse skill in order to set a safehouse.

To set your safehouse click the "Set Here" button below the mini map. This automatically makes the current location your safehouse. Curiously you can be outside a location or even in an empty street. This costs 1 AP. You will then receive a message stating You familiarise yourself with the building. or Location if outside. From now on directions to your safehouse will be displayed below the minimap.

Your safehouse can be changed and set:

• Several times in the same day.
• Even if the building is ruined.
• As well as when the building is dark.
• Even if you're standing outside a building.

It seems every type of building can be set as a safehouse, including malls. In fact, open blocks such as streets can be set as a safehouse as well, strangely enough.

It is worth noting that newly created characters' safehouses automatically default to the building they started off in.

Scouting a Safehouse

Once the relevant skill is purchased. You may scout your safehouse using the "Scout the Building (30ap)" button. This gives you a message reading You spend some time clearing sight lines, and surveying and memorising the layout of the building. You can only scout a building when inside.

The benefit of scouting a safehouse is a 10% chance that an action taken within the safehouse will not cost an action point. When this occurs a message reading You move quickly through your safehouse. appears with the usual text for the action performed to indicate that the action did not consume an action point.

Note: Manufacturing syringes in a scouted safehouse is also affected by this mechanic; however, the scouting skill will only reduce the AP cost by 1 to 19ap, rather than completely removing the 20ap cost.

Survivors should scout safehouses thoughtfully and infrequently. Scouting a safehouse is costly at 30AP. Given a return of about 5 AP per day, it takes about 6 solid days of searching, barricading, etc in the same building to get a return on that investment. If you are not confident you will utilize the same safe house for at least a week, your scouting effort will cost you more than it will benefit you.

Note, however, that as of mid-January 2011 at least, a scouted safehouse appears to invalidate zombie Interference with barricade construction. This editor was able to barricade a building containing three zombies from zero to Extremely Heavily, without ever seeing a barricade-interference message. If this holds for larger numbers of zombies in the building, it could make the cost of scouting a safehouse worthwhile, even when the building is expected to come under attack soon.

Once the building has been scouted, the "scout the building button" is no longer available. It is possible to scout the same building again, by setting a different safehouse, then returning to the original building to set it as a safehouse and re-scout it. However this would provide no additional boost to AP usage, and would be therefore be a waste of at least 34AP (for movement, safehouse-setting, and scouting costs).

Ruined buildings may not be scouted in this manner. When pressing the Scout Building button you receive the message. The broken doors, wreckage and debris make the ruined building impossible to scout effectively. You use only 1AP doing this (CHECK)

This rule goes for Dark buildings as well. When pressing the Scout Building button you receive the message: You cannot scout a building in the dark. Just as with Ruined buildings, you only waste 1AP doing this. This means cinemas, banks and clubs need a generator in order to scout. It's unknown at this point if the 10% boost to AP usage is achieved when the building goes dark, after it being successfully scouted.

Scouting a single corner of a large building (such as a mall) does not carry over to the other corners as well.

Losing the scouting effect (UNCONFIRMED)

The 10% boost to AP usage in a safehouse will be lost under any of the following circumstances:

• The scouted safehouse is ruined.
• The player dies.
• The building goes Dark (UNCONFIRMED)

Entering your safehouse once it's been ruined yields the message You enter the building. Returning to your safehouse, you find it has been ruined beyond recognition. If the safehouse is ruined or the player dies then in order to regain the 10% boost the player will have to re-scout the safehouse, meaning he or she will have to spend another 30 AP. Note that even though the scouting effect is lost, the affected building will still be set as the safehouse. If the safehouse goes dark, powering it with a genny and fuel will be sufficient. (UNCONFIRMED)

Some buildings, junkyards in particular, cannot be ruined or go dark, so that players will not have to worry about their safehouse in these locations, just their own safety.