04Field guide · Out there
Threat tiers
The tier is picked at the convoy gate, and it decides what's waiting: which infected are out, how hard the waves come, and what the jobs pay.
01The three tiers
Restless is the usual run. Calm is for learning the ropes, alone or not. Hot is for a crew that wants the brute and the pay that comes with it. Every tier keeps the final timer.
| Tier | Screamers | Radioactives | The brute | Waves | Jobs pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calm | None | None | None | Later and smaller | Standard |
| Restless | Out there | The odd one | Maybe, asleep | Standard | Standard |
| Hot | Out there | More of them | Always, in its lair | Bigger | +2 reward items a job |
Calm: Quiet streets: no screamers or special infected, and the waves come later and smaller. Restless: The usual block: screamers, the odd radioactive, and maybe something big asleep in its lair. Hot: Radioactives about and the brute in its lair. Bigger waves, and every job pays 2 more reward items.
02Waves
Besides what's already on the map, waves of walkers and runners come for you. The first comes about 3:00 into a run, and nothing finds you where you arrive in the first moments.
Every noise heats the block up, and heat cools off slowly. The hotter it is, and the longer you've been out, the sooner the next wave comes (never closer than 25 s apart) and the bigger it is (up to 6 on Restless). 12% of a wave are runners at first, more every minute after. A journey runs all of this at half speed, to fit its longer clock.
| Tier | First wave | Gaps between | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calm | 45 s later | 30% longer | -1 each, up to 5 |
| Restless | Standard | Standard | up to 6 |
| Hot | Standard | Standard | +1 each, up to 7 |
03Jobs
A run has a main job from what its map allows, a 30% chance of a side job, and the hunt when the brute is out. They're optional. Finish one and everyone who gets out afterwards gets its reward items on top of their haul; a job's items are always somewhere on the map.
| Job | What to do | Reward items | XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recover the relief supply case | Find the relief supply case at the drop and carry it out. | 4 | Scavenging 40 |
| Get a car battery into the warehouse generator | Find a car battery and hold E at the warehouse generator for 5 s. Every open exit then stays open, but it hums loudly for a minute. | 5 | Mechanics 60, Strength 20 |
| Fire a flare from the radio mast | Find a signal flare and hold E at the radio mast for 3 s. It calls a pickup of its own. | 5 | Fitness 30 |
| Bring out 2 lab samples | Find 2 lab samples in clinics and industrial lots, and get out with them unbroken. | 4 | First Aid 40 |
| Put down the brute | Only when the brute is out: put it down. | 5 | Aiming 80 |
Each reward item is one draw on the reward table: a stack of ammunition, medicine, food or water, or duct tape, and sometimes a gold watch or a backpack. Hot adds 2 to every job.
04Going alone
A crew of one is still a crew: everything works the same, on every tier. Jobs cost a survivor alone more, so they pay 2 more reward items each when you go alone. The specials come with the crew, too: alone, a Restless run has a radioactive about one time in eight (12%); three or four together see one 45% of the time and two 15%. The brute turns up on 6% of Restless runs alone, 8% more for each crewmate.