Zombie Hunter University, Fairview

COURSE SYLLABUS

A. DESCRIPTION

This course is designed to aid sophomore-level students making the transition from Nastya's Holdout to Dogg's Stockade. Information will be provided regarding the new challenges of the surrounding Yellow Zones, including projectile vomit and exploding zombies.

B. OBJECTIVES

1. Learn new tactics necessary for survival near Dogg's Stockade.
2. Assess current build development and consider possible alternatives.
3. Acquire new weapons as necessary.
4. Prepare for the move to Precinct 13.

C. TOPICS

This course will cover the following topics:

1. Dog's Stockade - Overview
2. The Journey
3. What Next
4. Dogg's Stockade Zombies
5. Weapon Choices
6. Looting Near Dogg's Stockade
7. Grinding in Yellow Zones
8. Chainsaw Advantages & Disadvantages
9. Tactics for Using Chainsaws in Yellow Zones
10. Dealing with Bigger Zombies
11. A Warning About Chainsaw Complacency
12. Dogg's Stockade Bosses
13. Dogg's Stockade: Missions
14. Dogg's Stockade: Bosses
15. Dogg's Stockade Summary

D. PREREQUISITES

1. Survival 190: Nastya's Holdout

3. REQUIRED READING

1. Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Weapons: Rifles
2. Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Weapons: Pistols
3. Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Missions: Dogg's Stockade
4. Scientific Minimalist Guide to Boss-Hunting: Titans

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DOGG'S STOCKADE - OVERVIEW

After obtaining Level 12, students should be ready to move to Dogg’s Stockade, a moderate trek north from Nastya’s Holdout. This area is more dangerous but also more lucrative, with loot spots more likely to provide the kind of food and medicine necessary for survival after Level 10.

Students who are not confident in their skills may remain in Nastya’s longer, raising stats and buying new weapons, but this is not necessary. I recently made the journey, using the weapons and stats for Critical Build #3, and had no trouble – even though I ran into a Flaming Zombie, an Aggro Spike, and an Outpost Attack on the way.

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THE JOURNEY

The Dead Frontier Wiki Map displays the color-coded sections of Fairview, indicating the escalating danger level, from Blue to Green to Yellow in between Nastya’s Holdout and Dogg’s Stockade.

Blue contains familiar threats. In the Green areas, some new zombies appear that cannot be one-crit killed with a Kris or a Crowbar, but these are so few and far between that they will not be a problem.

In the Yellow Zones around Dogg’s Stockade, students will face some difficulties: zombies with a longer reach, zombies that vomit, and zombies that explode when killed

Additionally, the increased durability of these zombies will make it difficult to grind through them with a Ronan Pro.

However, the weapons brought from Nastya's Holdout should be strong enough to use defensively. Students will be able to fend off  attackers and make a run for the outpost.

Remember: if a student dies on route, he/she will resurrect back in Nastya’s Holdout and have to make the trip again. As a precaution, bring medication to heal on the way. Also, bring a hammer, nails, and wooden plank, to build an outpost if necessary, in order to purchase more meds and medical services.

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WHAT NEXT

Once safely ensconced at Dogg's Stockade, students will embark on their sophomore semester. Better equipment will be needed to handle new threats. Consequently, we will increase primary weapon proficiency and possibly begin work on a second. By Level 20, sophomore will have acquired the 100 proficiency points needed to equip an Elite Level Weapon.

As for stats, max out Agility, then optimize Critical Hit for weapon(s) in hand.  Raise Strength only if necessary. Students with firearms can begin working on Reloading if they have leftover stat points. 

Eventually, students will need a machine gun or possibly a shotgun, but it is a little early to worry about that.

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DOGG’S STOCKADE ZOMBIES

Besides the Normal Zombies seen near Nastya’s Holdout, students will encounter these new threats:

Dogg’s Stockade Common and Mutant Zombies
SPECIES	HEALTH	DPH	EXPERIENCE	ZONES
Siren	70	N.A.	180	Y, O
Burned Female	70	22	90
Irradiated Female	70	Hit: 22 Vomit: 20	90	G, Y, O
Burned Male	80	24	100	G, Y, O
Irradiated Male	80	Hit: 24 Vomit: 20		G, Y, O
Blood Dog	100	50	200	G, Y, O
Small Bloat	100	Hit: 20 Explosion: 20	122	Y, O
Reaper	200	50	270	Y, O
Bone	250	30	315	Y, O

The Blood Dogs and the Burned and Irradiated Males and Females are Common Zombies that first appear in the  Green Zones on the way to Dogg's Stockade.

The highlighted zombies are Mutants that first appear in the Yellow Zones – more dangerous but less common. Students will need to prioritize their ability to handle the Common Zombie, avoiding Mutants when possible and engaging them only when necessary.

The most important newcomer in the Yellow Zones is the Siren - the bane of a looter’s existence. Although she inflicts no direct harm (she will not attack), her screams provokes aggro from other zombies. If a student is trying to loot quietly, and a Siren enters the area, kill her as fast as possible, preferably with a single hit.

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DOGG’S STOCKADE WEAPON CHOICES

Selecting weapons becomes complicated at Dogg’s Stockade. It was relatively easy to determine the equipment necessary to loot and grind in Nastya’s Holdout, because the zombies were weak. From now on, there will be a bewildering set of options that depend on personal preference and skill level. There are rival schools of thought on this subject, but Scientific Minimalism will yield economic, efficient results for sophomore-level students. For instance, ignorant survivors insist that chainsaws are a waste; in the long run, students may abandon them in favor of other grinding weapons, but at Dogg's Stockade they remain useful because they are relatively easy to optimize at low levels.

It is not possible to one-crit kill every zombie in the Yellow Zones; instead, the goal is to kill the Common Zombies as efficiently as possible and to dispatch Sirens before they provoke aggro. Hence, a weapon that can one-crit-kill a Siren is essential.

A NOTE ON THE NECESSITY OF FIREARMS

Also essential is to avoid being wounded by exploding Small Bloats. Sophomores armed only with Melee must avoid these zombies; there is no way to kill them up close and avoid the blast. Therefore, we highly recommended equipping a low-end firearm. This is not a problem for students planning to eventually equip a Rifle or a Pistol, but even students who have yet to make a decision in this regard should keep in mind that all professions begin their sojourn in Dead Frontier with 5 proficiency points in Pistols, allowing everyone in Fairview to equip at least a Gerring HP automatic pistol, which holds 13 rounds.

CHARTS

Below are two charts enumerating the capabilities of certain weapons. When reading these charts, students should consider two things:

1. Can a weapon kill a Siren with a single critical hit?
2. How fast can the weapon kill other zombies.

 The first chart shows pertinent information for lowest level Rifle, Melee, and Pistol that one-hit-kill Sirens; the MS 800 Chainsaw is also included, for the benefit of Melee students who want to do some grinding. As is apparent from the chart, Rifles require the lowest proficiency to obtain an effective weapon for the areas around Dogg’s Stockade (the M1 Garand); pistols require the highest proficiency (for the Alpha Bull), but they offer compensation in the form of faster firing rate.

EFFECTIVE WEAPONS FOR DOGG’S STOCKADE
WEAPON	M1 Garand	Sabre	Steel MS 800	Alpha Bull
TYPE	Rifle	Melee	Chainsaw	Pistol
PROFICIENCY	40	80	80	100
STRENGTH	25	25	40	25
ACCURACY	49	25	N.A.	80
CRITICAL HIT	112	80	112	80
RELOADING	124	25	N.A.	124
FIRING RATE	1	1	8.57	1.5
CLIP SIZE	8	N.A.	N.A.	5
DPH	17/85	15.4/77	2.6/13	17.5/87.5
DPS	17/71.4	15.4/64.68	22.29/93.6	26.25/73.5
DPC	136/680	∞	∞	131/367

WEAPON EFFECTIVENESS CHART FOR DOGG’S STOCKADE
Number of Seconds	M1 Garand (85)	Sabre (77)	Alpha Bull (87.5)
0	Siren Burned & Irradiated Female Burned & Irradiated Male	Siren Burned & Irradiated Female	Siren Burned & Irradiated Female Burned & Irradiated Male
0.66			Blood Dog Small Bloat
1	Blood Dog Small Bloat	Burned & Irradiated Male Blood Dog Small Bloat
1.33			Reaper Bone
2	Reaper Bone	Reaper
2.66
3		Bone

RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on this information, here is our assessment of what works, what doesn’t, and why…

Melee

The Sabre strikes once per second, delivering enough damage with a critical hit (77) to instantly kill Common Zombies, Sirens, and Burned and Irradiated Females. It requires two hits to kill Blood Dogs and Burned and Irradiated Males. For this reason, some survivors prefer to get a Battle Axe/Kanata, which will one-hit-kill Burned and Irradiated Males; however, we suggest that our students wait until they are ready to move to Precinct 13.

Another option is the Kukri, which requires the same proficiency as the Sabre (80) but strikes more quickly - 1.5 times per second, delivering 47 damage points with every critical hit. We recommend avoiding this weapon, because it (like the Wood Axe and the Machete) inhabits a strange limbo land – stronger than its predecessor the Trench Knife but not strong enough to make a substantial difference.

The Kukri cannot one-hit-kill Sirens, so it is inferior to the Sabre. The Kukri takes three hits to kill Blood Dogs; Sabre takes only two. The Kukri takes four hits to kill a Reaper; the Sabre takes only three. The Kukri takes six hits to kill a Bone; the Sabre takes only two. (Note: I am leaving the Small Bloat out of this calculation, because students really do not want to make one explode in their face by killing it with Melee weaponry.)

The Kukri can dispatch weak zombies faster than the Sabre. It can one-hit-kill Common Zombies every two-thirds of a second instead of every second. It can also two-hit-kill Burned and Irradiated Males faster than the Sabre. But in all these cases, the Trench Knife can do the same as the Kukri, so why bother?

On the other hand, the Kukri is the knife that Jonathan Harker used to decapitate the Count in the novel Dracula, so it has some sentimental value.

Chainsaws

The recommended Chainsaw for this level is the Steel MS 800 (proficiency 80). Sophomores will need the additional DPS to handle the crowds of stronger – and in some cases, faster - zombies. The old Ronan Pro will perhaps still be sufficient in the Green Zones but not so much in the Yellow Zones.

Rifles

The M1 Garand is the first rifle that can one-hit-kill a Siren. It can do the same to everything up to and including Burned and Irradiated Male Zombies – impressive for a weapon the requires only 40 proficiency.

Its disadvantage is its small clip, which holds only eight rounds – when firing continuously, this rifle will reload every eight seconds. Its total Damage Per Clip is 680 – half that of the SL8. Obviously, this rifle need Reloading to be effective.

Also keep in mind that the next couple rifles after the M1 – the Chesterfield (proficiency: 50) and the MSG-9 (proficiency: 60) – are identical to the M1 except for larger clip sizes (10 and 20, respectively).  This makes the MSG-9 an attractive choice for sophomore students still working on their Reloading stat.

The low proficiency numbers give Rifle students the option of pausing in the development of their primary weapon to begin working on a secondary weapon for grinding, mostly likely a Sub-Machine Gun.

Pistols

Unlike Rifles, Pistols cannot one-hit-kill Sirens until proficiency is raised to 100 for the Alpha Bull Revolver, which can also instantly dispatch Burned and Irradiated Males.

Unfortunately, the Alpha Bull holds only 5 rounds per clip. Maximum Reloading is essential, in addition to points in Critical Hit and Accuracy.

Because of the high proficiency requirement, it is unlikely that sophomore Pistol students will be able to work on a secondary weapon at Dogg’s Stockade.

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LOOTING NEAR DOGG’S STOCKADE

Before leveling up for better weapons, students should be able to loot the Green Zones around Dogg’s Stockade with mid-level equipment (a Shovel or a Trench Knife, and a Ronan Pro).

Looting will be a somewhat slow process because there are more zombies, many of which can survive a single Critical Hit. Fortunately, our recommended weapons will knock back most of the stronger zombies, giving students a chance to land a second hit before being wounded.

However, the Reaper and the Bone will present difficulties, especially if Agility is not maxed. Melee students really cannot knock these creatures back, so they will need to dodge and strike several times before killing them. The Reaper is relatively slow, so a Melee student might be able to simply avoid him altogether, but the Bone is fast. Just keep retreating, dodging and striking until he dies.

Using a rifle (or a pistol, for that matter) will give the advantage of attacking from a safe distance, but there will be problems with poor accuracy and slow reloading.

After leveling up and getting new weapons, looting will be easier. Sophomore Melee students using a combination of Sabre and an SL8 should be able to handle all the zombies with a measure of ease. Unfortunately, with its relatively weak critical hit of 54.6 damage points, the SL8 will not one-hit-kill any of the new zombies around Dogg’s Stockade.

What is it good for, then? Melee students should predominantly use their primary weapon while looting. Normal Zombies, Burned Female Zombie, and Sirens are all easy to one-hit-kill with a Sabre; even Burned Male Zombies, which require two critical hits, are no big problem.

Reserve the SL8 for zombies that are dangerous to approach: Irradiated Female Zombies and Irradiated Male Zombies will vomit from a considerable distance; Reapers will strike victims down with their long arms. After awhile, students will learn to kill these zombies easily with Melee, but for now, a safer weapon is recommended.

Blood Dogs and Bones are fast, so if students can pick them off at a distance with a rifle, good; if not, students should dodge and strike with Melee.

Small Bloats are slow and easy to outmaneuver; therefore, Melee students can save ammo by delivering the first blow with a Sabre, then backing off to a safe distance to deliver the kill shot with a rifle.

In conclusion, students who want to find loot should use a Sabre to instantly silence Sirens before they scream. Take out Bloats and other dangerous zombies from a safe distance with an SL8. A Steel MS800 can mow down small groups of zombies without stirring too much aggro, or students can try using a faster bladed weapon, such as the Trench Knife (or even a Kukri, though we do not particularly recommend the weapon).

This should be enough to keep students safe while looting.

On the other hand, if students want to grind….

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GRINDING IN YELLOW ZONES

Grinding in the Yellow Zones around Dogg's Stockade involves new challenges, now that there are zombies that can inflict damage from a greater distance. Dodging is more important, as is increased Damage Per Second

Grinding with Chainsaws

The Steel MS800 is almost the only realistic alternative at this point.

We understand that students eagerly anticipate machine guns, shotguns, grenade launchers, etc. Those are wonderful toys, but at this point they are not practical. During the sophomore semester (levels 13-24), students are earning enough proficiency points for their first Elite Weapon; that doesn’t leave much leftover for a high-end grinding weapon, and low-end grinding weapons are fairly useless.

Theoretically, a sophomore working on Rifle Proficiency could stop at 60 with the MSG-9 and then get a decent Submachine Gun such as the Gramm M11 or the UMP. But insufficient points in Reloading and Critical Hit would hamper both of them.

The Steel MS800 chainsaw, on the other hand, is just about ready to go. It requires 80 Melee Proficiency, 112 Critical Hit stat, and 40 Strength stat. Melee students will have upped proficiency for their Sabres, so that number will be in place already, and they will be working on Critical Hit for their Rifles, so the only stat points they have to “spend” specifically on Chainsaws are Strength – which was taken care of by using the Boxer profession with its 20-point bonus in that stat.

This is small investment that has the fringe benefit of enabling Melee-Chainsaw students to purchase SN-42 armor, a great piece of protection that absorbs as much damage as the more expensive Exterminator Mesh. (Like all Strength armors, the SN-42 is cheaper to purchase than comparable non-Strength armors and requires less skilled repair work – by a Level 25 Engineer, rather than the Level 45 Engineer need for the Exterminator Mesh.)

Grinding With Rifles

One problem with Chainsaws is that they do not allow students to take full advantage of a lucky situation that sometimes arises: every once in a while, through luck or skill, a survivor finds himself on the safe side of a fence, with a mass of zombies crowding on other side.

It is possible to run back and forth scraping a Steel MS800 through the fence, but eventually a Reaper will reach through and strike, or an Irradiated Zombie will vomit.

Instead, pull out a rifle and shoot the zombies one by one. The process is slow, but speed is hardly necessary when the zombies are trapped behind a fence. Compared to a machine gun, the rifle is a more ammo-efficient (i.e., cheaper) method of killing off the horde.

From time to time, small groups will get around the fence. Switching to the MS800 will quickly polish them off; then return to shooting the zombies on the other side of the fence.

This is a slow but easy method to enjoy the experience gain.

Grinding With Machine Guns

Machine Guns available to sophomore students are mid-level weapons better suited to protection than grinding. The Gramm M11, the UMP, and the M16 can knock back a swarm or punch a hole to safety, but with their relatively low DPS and frequent pauses to reload, they are ill-suited to eliminating large numbers of zombies en masse. Nevertheless, if students keep dodging or find a safe spot behind a fence, these weapons can be adequate. 

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DEALING WITH BIGGER ZOMBIES

When bigger threats appear, students should be able to handle them as long as their numbers are small.

Remember not to attack head on; approach from the side or behind. Also remember that a chainsaw will stun its target, so stay close and maintain contact, leaving the zombie little chance to counterattack. Reapers and Irradiated Zombies can be handled this way after a little practice.

Bones and Flesh Hounds are trickier because they are faster. Fortunately, students can turn the zombies speed into an advantage. By running away, students should be able to ditch the other zombies, while the Bones and Flesh Hounds keep up. This will provide a few seconds to circle and grind them.

If a student encounters a Small Bloat, he/she should swipe it once or twice with the chainsaw, then step away and finish it with a rifle.

Upon spotting a Siren, take her out as quickly as possible (the MS 800 should kill her in less than a second, hopefully stunning her before she can scream). If she is separate from the group, switch to a Sabre and knock her out with a single blow. Otherwise, plow into her with the chainsaw and try to maintain contact until she is dead.

If none of these techniques work, or if there are simply too many dangerous zombies coming too fast, then try the techniques mentioned above: Conga Line, Funneling, and Tactical Retreat.

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DOG’S STOCKADE: BOSSES

Boss Zombies Near Dogg’s Stockade
BOSS	HEALTH	DPH	EXPERIENCE	ZONES
Burning Zombie	2,500	40	2,700	B, G, Y, O
Titan	7,500	80	13,500	G, Y, O
Mother	7,500	Vomit: 80 Explosion: 50	13,500	G, Y, O
Burning Titan	15,000	150	20,250	G, Y, O
Burning Mother	15,000	Vomit: 150 Explosion: 100	20,250	G, Y, O

As students venture out on loot trips and missions, they will encounter more dangerous Boss Zombies in the zones surrounding Dogg’s Stockade. Flaming Zombies show up in two missions; a Titan shows up in another. Students may encounter a Mother in the Yellow Zones, though usually not very close to the Stockade. There are also flaming versions of the Titan and the Mother – essentially stronger versions that are harder to kill.

By this point, students should know how to kill a Flaming Zombie from their experience at Nastya’s Holdout. The new Bosses are more difficult, but students should be able to handle them with the weapons we have recommended.

All of these Boss Confrontations are endurance tests: Can students avoid being killed before killing the Boss? In addition, Titan fights require a certain amount of dodging skill to outrun and/or avoid the beast.

Fortunately, none of these boss fights requires a top-level grinding weapon. Bosses are typically accompanied by aggro, but the Common Zombies in this neighborhood are not so overwhelming that they will tip the balance from success to failure. Students should be able to use a strong looting weapon to target the boss itself. (In deeper outposts, these same bosses will seem much more difficult to kill, because they will be surrounded by more dangerous swarms.)

Our Bare Minimum Guide to Boss Hunting includes tactics for defeating Titans and Mothers.

Note: The Dead Frontier Wiki indicates that Giant Spiders and Wraiths spawn in Yellows Zones, but none of our research teams have ever encountered them in the vicinity of Dogg’s Stockade.

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DOG’S STOCKADE: MISSIONS

The dozen Missions at Dogg's Stockade are more difficult and more lucrative than those at Nastya's Holdout.

Students should not be alarmed. Those who successfully completed the missions at Nastya's should do well with these new missions. Several will be familiar; the additional difficulty consists mostly of increased numbers. For example, instead of killing one Flaming Zombie, students will kill four. Instead of finding one container of medicinal chemicals, students must find five.

There are more dangerous zombies nearby, but their numbers are usually low, so students can avoid them while concentrating on the mission objective. But even if the numbers swell too large to ignore,  new weapons will keep students safe (at least once they are optimized with proper stats).

The two most challenging missions are “Big Brother” (in which students vanquish a Titan) and “Bones” (in which students exterminate 30 Bones).

Check out our The Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Missions for strategy tips.

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DOGG’S STOCKADE:  SUMMARY

The sophomore semester at Dogg's Stockade is the time when students need to make decisions about the future of their builds. Up to now, the progress on stats and proficiency has imposed few limitations on where to go next.

As long as students were working only on a Looting Weapon, their options for a Grinding Weapon remained open; until students reach 80 points in Critical, they need not decide whether to opt for a Critical Build with Sub-Machine Guns or an Assault/Hybrid Build with Heavy Machine Guns or Shotguns. However, as students begin working on a second weapon proficiency, they begin narrowing their future options.

Whether students are using one of our recommendations or developing one of their own, there are some basic concepts to keep in mind while considering the future:

All Critical Builds require a continued investment in Critical Hit. Assault/Hybrid Builds involve capping Critical Hit at 80 and eventually raising Strength to 100. Depending on a student's choice of build, he/she could max out Strength by Level 50, allowing use of better armors and stronger weapons, such as Shotguns and Heavy Machine Guns.

Students who opt for Assault/Hybrid builds should stop putting base stats into Critical Hit after reaching 56; instead, max out Agility, then start adding those extra points to Reloading. Add points to Strength only when necessary to equip a new weapon.

Choosing this option prevents students from optimizing Chainsaws and most Rifles, which require 112 Critical Hit; nevertheless, the weapons will work until better options are available.Rifles with 110-proficiency and above (the 577 Rex, the Ironsight, the Worg Carbine) require only 80 Critical Hit points, so these will fit a Hybrid Build.

Another option would be to use Pistols instead of Rifles.  Although Automatic Pistols require 112 in Critical Hit, Revolvers require only 80 total, making them perfectly suited to Hybrid Builds.

Keep in mind that having more than enough stats does not prevent a less stat-hungry weapon from being used: an Ironsight rifle will work perfectly well in a build with Critical Hit raised to 112. A Shotgun that requires only 50 in Strength (such as the Corpse Blaster or the Buckblast) will work in a Hybrid Build with 100 Strength.

Students may feel as if they are "wasting" stats, but no decision is final; a stat reset is always a possibility. Nevertheless, it is probably a good idea to settle on a plan for the time being. Students who have not already done so should take the time to peruse our Build Development Guide.

If students have followed our recommendations so far, they should have successfully negotiated their time at Dogg’s Stockade and be ready to move on to the next outpost. It’s a long trip, so students may want to upgrade their weapons before leaving. However, their current builds and weapons should be strong enough to make the journey. 

Advance to next course: Surviving Dead Frontier 290 - Precinct 13