Missions at Fort Pastor

Introduction to the Program

Prep Work

Freshman Curriculum

Sophomore Curriculum

Junior Curriculum

Senior Curriculum

Master's Degree Program

Recommended Courses

Required Reading

Reference Info

External Links

The Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Dead Frontier Missions: Fort Pastor

The 43 missions at Fort Pastor predominantly take place in Orange Zones, but some will take students into Yellow or Red Zones as well. Consequently, the difficulty level varies wildly, along with the weapons and skills necessary to succeed. Students who lack confidence and/or equipment should wait out tough missions and attempt easy ones; when the difficult missions roll around again a few weeks later, seniors should be ready for them.

Missions:

War Machine
Pinned Down
Spiders
Where The Hell Is He?
One Big Ass Spider
Tanks Get Thirsty Too
Spiders, Spiders Everywhere
Engage
Big Bang
Tracking
Chopper Down
Save the Data
Chemistry Time
Stomach Cramps
Secronom Unlocked
Bloody Massacre
Mow Down
Mother Lovin'
Hunger Strikes
Sixteen Legs
Trade Off
Big, Red & Spikey
Time's Up
Big Tongues
Intercept the Unknown
Stack 'Em and Burn 'Em
Some New Talent
Bleed 'Em Dry
Think of the Children
Rumbler Samples
Put Them Down
My Boys Need Beer
Bring Your Big Guns
Man Flu
Fighting Retreat
War on Tentacles
Alarm System
Gold Star
Betsy is Broken
Missing Boy
Radio Waves
Crush the Opposition
Big Black Thing

WEAPONS

Assuming students stay at Fort Pastor throughout their senior semester (from Level 36 to 50) their build and equipment should be up to par. Most of the missions can be executed with the standard weapons one would expect at these levels: probably a 100-proficiency looting weapon and a 100-proficiency grinding weapon, with perhaps a third, lower-proficiency weapon as backup. Some of the more extreme extermination missions may require more heavy firepower.

Weapons that seniors will probably use this semester include:

Looting Weapons:

Melee: Battle Axe/Katana (100 proficiency) at first; then Nodachi (110 proficiency)
Pistols: Alpha Bull (100 proficiency), possibly 475 Magnum (110)
Rifles: VSS Vintorez (100 proficiency); 577 Rex (110) proficiency; Ironsight (120 proficiency)
Note: Melee students may supplement their Katana with a low-level SL8 Rifle (20 proficiency).

Grinding Weapons:

Chainsaw: Steel 090 (110 proficiency)
Submachine Guns: K-50M (90 proficiency)
Assault Rifles: AK 47 (80 proficiency); M4 (100 proficiency)
Shotguns: Sweeper (80 proficiency); USAN-12 (100 proficiency); AA-12 (110 proficiency)
Heavy Machine Guns: FM Mag (100 proficiency); M60 (100 proficiency); Vulcan (110 proficiency)

Because of their Strength requirements, the Shotguns and Heavy Machine Guns may be difficult to equip by Level 50 without shortchanging other Stats. Only a few mission require the high knockback and/or DPS of these weapons.

If students are unable to obtain these weapons during their stay at Fort Pastor, they can still attempt the missions, possibly by enhancing skills with booster drugs for Speed and/or Damage.

Beware, however: drugs are not always necessary; sometimes, strategy is all that is needed to surmount apparently insurmountable obstacles. For example, “Sixteen Legs” – which involves two Giant Burning Spiders – seems impossible at first glance, but a simple strategy turns it into something relatively easy.

Check out tips and tactics for each mission, below…

1. WAR MACHINE

Goal: Loot ten machine parts
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro:
Suggested Weapons: Battle Axe/Katana & Grinder
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull & AK 47 or Sweeper

This simple mission can be accomplished by senior students recently arrived from Precinct 13, before upgrading to better equipment. Though a Nodachi and an M4 definitely make this mission easier, any decent looting weapon is more than enough to succeed. No special strategies or skills are required.

“War Machine” takes place in four Orange Zones southeast of Fort Pastor, close to but not in the more dangerous Red Zones. There are some dangerous Mutant Zombies, but unless a Siren screams there is no aggro in the mission areas.

The machine parts can be found in military trucks that are easy to spot and pretty much guaranteed to deliver the sought-for loot. There are only about eight or so lootable trucks in each mission area, so it will probably be necessary to visit two in order to find ten machine parts.

Being keeping quiet, students can complete the mission with only a looting weapon, never having to reach for a grinding weapon. Just in case, bring along a Grinder, a Chicago Typewriter, an AK 47, or a Sweeper Aug. Students who need more firepower to boost their self-confidence should upgrade to a Steel 090 chainsaw, a K-50M submachine gun, or an M4 assault rifle.

Extra Tip: Since the mission is near the Red Zones, take along some wooden planks and nails. After completing the mission, board up a mini-outpost; dump the machine parts into storage; then go loot the Red Zones.

2 - PINNED DOWN

Goal: Contact four soldiers and exterminate 750 zombies
Zombies: Long Arms, Rumblers, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapon Combo Steel 090 & K-50M & M1 Garand
Alternate Weapon Combos: Alpha Bull & AK 47 & HK 69; Ironsight & Chicago Typewriter & HK 69

Set in a Red Zone populated by Long Arms and Rumblers, this mission is easier with advanced weaponry; nevertheless, it can be successfully executed with more modest equipment. With a little strategy, students can lure the zombies into a trap and exterminate them as if shooting fish in a barrel.

Students who have attempted the “Officers Down” mission in Precinct 13 know the drill: Find four humans and kill a mass of zombies. Students can circle the block or hang out near the soldiers; either way, expect minimal assistance: like the policemen in "Officers Down," the soldiers in “Pinned Down” will bug out shortly after speaking (unlike personnel in Search-and-Rescue missions, these soldiers will not wait for quiet moments before speaking and leaving).

Fortunately, there is a fenced parking lot on the northeastern block not far from the soldiers’ position. Circling the block in a counter-clockwise direction will trap the majority of the zombies behind the fence, where they are easy to pick off.

Weapon choice will depend on how patient students are versus how much they are willing to spend on ammunition. An M1 Garand would take forever, but it would eventually kill enough zombies to complete the mission at considerably less cost than spraying the crowd with a Gau-19. A VSS Vintorez rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver would do the job faster; an Ironsight would be even better because of its ability to one-hit-kill Rumblers and Long Arms.

For students who prefer grinding weapons, an HK 69 grenade launcher would be ideal. Otherwise, we recommend best available machine gun.

There are no entrances or exits on the south side of the parking lot, where students should take up position. Nevertheless,small groups of zombies will interrupt, from time to time, so be ready for them. A Steel 090 is sufficient to take out these interlopers. Students who do not like chainsaws can manage with a Chicago Typewriter, a K-50M, or an AK 47. These weapons will also provide decent protection while waiting for the soldiers to speak.

After exterminating 750 zombies, students can grind a while longer for additional experience. We also recommend taking advantage of the better looting opportunities – inventory slots are likely to be empty after using ammo to fight off the aggro.

3 - SPIDERS

Goal: Loot ten blood samples from spiders
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: VSS with K50M; Alpha Bull with AK 47
Alternate Weapons: Grinder with XM8 or M4

Like “Blood Harvest” and “Scream Away,” this mission requires students to loot blood samples from exterminated zombies. This time, instead of Tendrils or Sirens, students will be targeting Spiders, which makes this mission much more dangerous.

As in previous missions of this type, a major difficulty is that only a small percentage of the target zombies will drop loot, so “Spiders” turns into a de facto extermination mission, racking up dozens of arachnids, not to mention other zombies that get in the way.

Aggro starts slow, so students will be able to kill their first few Spiders with ease, but long before ten blood samples are looted, all hell will break loose. There may be Arachnid Armada (commonly called a Conga Line), which will relentlessly advance, its sheer numbers creating enough momentum to counteract knockback from weapons (except a Vulcan or an AA-12).

Truly, the safest way to complete this mission is with the biggest machine gun accessible. But students do not own a Gau can employ a couple strategies that will work with lesser weapons.

First, run around the mission area in a counterclockwise direction, sticking to the outer perimeter. This will keep border of the mission area to the right side of the zombies, which have a tendency to veer right from time to time; consequently, they will get tangled up in bushes, fire hydrants, and other obstacles.

While retreating backward, blast away with a VSS Vintorez rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver, killing as many Spiders as possible. After several circuits of the area, students will have killed enough Spiders to bag ten blood samples. Try to outrun the aggro long enough to loot the corpses.

This method can take awhile, and it can be very frustrating to pass the corpses multiple times, unable to stop and loot because of the zombies in pursuit.

The other method is to find a safe area to grind, such as a fenced in place with as few entrances as possible, enough room to maneuver, and some obstacles to provide cover if the swarms gets overwhelming. A parking lot is ideal.

Lure Spiders inside by approaching the entrance, then darting back within the fence or wall. Grind them to death; then repeat. With this method, it is possible to complete the mission with a Steel 090 chainsaw.

The problem is that, pretty much inevitably, an aggro spike will cause some Spiders to spawn inside the safe place. Switch to a machine gun, or make a quick exit. In the latter case, most of the zombies will be stuck inside the fenced space, and it may be possible to take them on one by one as they exit in pursuit.

4 - WHERE THE HELL IS HE?

Goal: Find Jenkins
Zombies: Bones, Reapers, Small Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: low to high
Suggested Weapons: Battle Axe/Katana & Grinder
Alternate Weapons: Dragon SVD & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull and XM8 or Mannberg

Set in a in a Yellow Zone, this is a mission students can accomplish shortly after embarking on their senior semester, without upgrading weapons leftover from Precinct 13. Simply find Jenkins and get him to talk a half dozen times. The catch, as in most missions of this type, is that Jenkins prefers not to talk while fighting zombies, so it is necessary to draw aggro away from him.

Fortunately, aggro is initially low, and remains so for a few minutes, providing an opportunity to find Jenkins – which is the biggest challenge in the mission. Jenkins likes to hang out near a big rig truck parked at an awkward angle across a street in the middle of the mission area. He wanders back and forth around the front of the vehicle, so it is easy to miss him.

The good thing about Jenkins’ position is that the big rig provides cover from the aggro. After finding him, run around the block, upon reaching him again. With luck, he will have time to speak a couple times before the zombies catch up. Repeat the process until he agrees to return to Fort Pastor, ending with "Catch you later."

Students are not required to kill any zombies to complete “Where the Hell is He?” but once Jenkins is gone, it is possible to hang around and grind through the aggro to rack up easy experience points. There is a small, fenced tennis court in the mission area, from which it is easy to pick off targets with a rifle or a pistol (or a grinding weapon for those who do not mind expending money on tons of ammo).

A graduate student slumming in this easy mission could whip out a bad-ass mini-gun and lay waste to the hordes - spending about ten times as much on ammunition as the mission returns in cash reward.

The Scientific-Minimalist approach will serve much more profitably.

A Grinder chainsaw affords protection from aggro while getting Jenkins to speak. An SL8 rifle will kill zombies through the tennis court fence – slowly but surely. Fortunately, there are many Normal Zombies, which can be killed with a single shot from the SL8.

For those who prefer firearms instead of melee and chainsaws. A Dragon SVD rifle and a Chicago Typewriter submachine gun make a good combo for this mission: the latter for crowd control while dealing with Jenkins, the former for picking off zombies in the tennis court. An Alpha Bull revolver paired with an XM8 assault rifle or a Mannberg shotgun will also work.

Since students will be using rapid-fire weapons for crowd control rather than grinding, an UMP submachine gun or a Sega-20 shotgun will be sufficient.

5 - ONE BIG ASS SPIDER

Goal: Kill a giant spider and loot a sample of its blood
Zombies: Giant Spider, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: moderate to high
Suggested Weapons: K-50M, AK 47, M4, FM Mag, M60, Vulcan, AA-12
Alternate Weapons: VSS or Alpha Bull

This mission is simple in concept but difficult in execution: kill a Giant Spider.This task will be no different for students with experience hunting this particular boss. Students who have never killed a Giant Spider should use this opportunity to get a little practice.

A skilled student should be able to finish off this particular beastie with a good single-shot weapon such as an Alpha Bull or a VSS, but this mission contains too much aggro for me to feel comfortable recommending this approach to a neophyte. Instead, go with the biggest, baddest machine gun or shotgun accessible – something that will knock the Giant Spider back on its ass.

A Vulcan works best because it has knockback and DPS. An AA-12 takes longer to inflict a lethal dose of damage, but its knockback is good enough to fend off the Giant Spider until it drops. Lesser grinding weapons can do the job if students are careful to dodge.

If students want to attempt this mission the hard way – with rifle or pistol, or even a chainsaw – they should use the Speed Boost Drug. That will give the edge needed to outmaneuver the Giant Spider; hopefully, this practice will provide the experience needed to face a Giant Spider without speed enhancement the next time.

Get tips on killing Giant Spiders in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

6 - TANKS GET THIRSTY TOO

Goal: Loot ten fuel cans
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: none unless provoked
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: Alpha Bull or VSS

This is a slightly longer version of “Suck on This” from Dogg’s Stockade; the only difference is that this time students must find ten cans of fuel instead of only seven.

There is little aggro, so it is easy to focus on finding gasoline – an easy task because the fuel cans can be found in automobiles, which are easy to spot in the mini-GPS window.

“Tanks Get Thirsty Too” takes place in nine Orange Zones a moderate distance from Fort Pastor. Fortunately, there are so many lootable cars that students will need to visit only one or two areas to complete the mission.

7 - SPIDERS, SPIDERS EVERYWHERE

Goal: Contact the Commander and exterminate 250 spiders
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Buzzblade, FM Mitrail, M60, Vulcan, USAN-12, AA-12, Painshot
Alternate Weapons: K-50M, Steel 090, M4

This frantic extermination experience will have students reaching for the biggest guns available, and we have to admit to feeling much safer with a Heavy Machine Gun in our hands. However, it is possible to complete “Spiders, Spiders Everywhere” with lesser weapons.

The most obvious option is to pump up abilities with booster drugs for speed and damage, but students who are not a Gold Member receive 200 credits per month may not want to shoulder the expense of purchasing the booster drugs.

Assuming students go into this killing field without artificial enhancements, there are a couple strategies that work.

First: Students can hang around with the Commander and his soldiers, relying on them to help exterminate the hordes. This works for a while, but inevitably the aggro becomes too hectic: a tidal wave of zombies arrives; pukers sneak up in the crowd; Bloats start exploding left and right. Worst of all, students will not necessarily kill very many Spiders, spending much of their ammo on other zombies.

The second option works better, though it can take considerable time.

The Commander and his crew are located on the Northern most street in the mission area, above the Northwest block, and there is a fenced-in yard just below them.

Run around this block in a counterclockwise direction. A handful of Spiders will follow during each circuit – but not so many that they become overwhelming. Upon reaching the Commander, pause to kill these Spiders. With luck, a few Spiders will get themselves stuck behind the fence, where they can easily be dispatched.

Later, rinse, repeat.

There are two main difficulties with this strategy:

With low-DPS weapons, it is easy to run out of ammo before bagging the arachnid quota.
It takes a while to kill 250 Spiders – which means it is necessary to maneuver well enough to stay alive that long.

Both of these can be solved by packing enough supplies for the mission: lots of ammo; lots of meds; and spare armor. Some nails and wooden planks are a good idea, too, in case it becomes necessary to make a mini-outpost to purchase more supplies.

One strategy that does not work here is “Find a Fence.” Though there are several walled and fenced spaces in the mission area, none is secure enough to enable the killing of 250 Spiders. The most students can hope for is a few moment to recharge energy before sprinting around the block again.

Speaking of which: Students who are not carrying high-end Shotguns or Machine Guns, SHOULD NOT CIRCLE THE ENTIRE MISSION AREA. This will create a Spider Train (i.e., a dozen Spiders in a row), which will push themselves forward no matter how much knockback is delivered by weapons. Students might be able to outrun the Spiders with Speed Drugs, but most likely they will catch up.

We have found that shotguns are very effective at holding off the aggro - better than submachine guns. Even the Sega-20 is adequate; unfortunately, its DPS is so low that after two boxes of ammo, only 30 Spiders will be dead, even with the help of the commander and his crew. An USAN-12, AA-12, or a Painshot will do a better job of killing; the Painshot, with its slower firing speed, is slightly less safe, but it will finish the mission more economically, saving on ammo.

For students using Machine Guns instead of Shotguns, an FM Mitrail is the minimum weapon for completing this mission comfortably. It is possible to succeed with lesser machine guns (an M4, an AK 47, or a K-50M), but skills must be near flawless.

Those wishing to attempt the mission with chainsaws should wait until they have a Buzzblade; lesser chainsaws are not recommended as primary weapons on this mission. However, lesser chainsaws are useful backup weapons, saving ammo while grinding through a few stray Spiders that wander away from the crowd.

Tip: Experience is a great benefit to completing this mission.Students who perform it often enough to remember the layout will find numerous useful obstacles, particularly cars parked close together, which can be used as "funnels" to narrow the horde into a thin line so that individual zombies can be picked off as the squeeze through. This strategy is very useful for Chainsaw students attempting the mission without speed drugs.

8 - ENGAGE

Goal: Loot a ring from a female corpse
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: little if any
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull and XM8

Like a pair of missions at Precinct 13 (“Family First” and “The Lost Pendant”), “Engage” is more dull than difficult. Basically, students must loot a single engagement ring somewhere within the four mission areas, but the odds are about as good as those of finding the Holy Grail.

Seniors could probably complete this mission shortly after arriving in Fort Pastor. All that is needed is a decent looting weapon: a Nodachi, a VSS Vintorez, or an Alpha Bull – even a Battle Axe/Katana. The only “skill” involved is perseverance: keep searching female corpses until one divulges the ring.

On the bright side, the “Engage” takes place in areas with decent loot. When the mission is completed, students need walk only another five or six areas to reach the Red Zones, where even better loot is easy to find.

Note: The Dead Frontier Wiki indicates that this search is plagued by heavy aggro, but we encountered none the last time we attempted this mission.

9 - BIG BANG

Goal: Exterminate 15 burning zombies
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons:
Alternate Weapons:

At Nastya's Holdout, students killed a single Burning Zombie. At Dogg's Stockade, students killed a quartet of Burning Zombies. But can students kill fifteen Burning Zombies?

That is not an idle question. This mission is entirely about numbers. Being swarmed by a dozen or more Burning Zombies is a situation entirely different from battling one or two. When bunched together, the Burning Zombies push each other forward, neutralizing weapon knockback. They also shield each other, with healthier Burning Zombies pushing to the front and shielding their wounded brethren. Consequently, this mission can be quite a challenge.

Fortunately, “Big Bang” can be accomplished with relative ease by using a Steel 090 chainsaw. Unlike guns, chainsaws have enough knockback to protect students from the Burning Zombies. With enough DPS, weapons can grind through fifteen targets in ten minutes.

Aggro is initially minimal. The first one or two Burning Zombie will probably appear alone, and lucky students can finish killing them before more arrive. After that, several will arrive at once, with more appearing all the time.

Keep moving around the mission area, sticking to the perimeter; get familiar with the layout. Avoid staying in one spot, where aggro can accumulate.

Unfortunately, there are no completely secluded spots where Burning Zombies can be lured away from surrounding aggro; nor are there fenced spaces where to trap and pick them off one by one. However, there are plenty of cars, fences, and other obstacles that can “funnel” the zombies, sheering a few off from the crowd so that can be singled out for special attention. There will probably not be enough time to finish a single Burning Zombie this way, but it will be possible to seriously wound two or three before the crowd catches up.

Chainsaw students, if they can avoid backing themselves into a corner, can complete “Big Bang” without firing a shot and without being wounded.

Students using other kinds of weapons may have a slightly harder time. Pistols, Rifles, Submachine Guns, Assault Rifles, and even Shotguns do not have sufficient knockback to provide a comfortable level of safety; students will have to rely on their dodging skills to avoid being hit. Consequently, we recommend as much DPS as possible, to kill targets before Energy runs out.

A precocious student might be able to manage with a low-end machine gun of some type, but I would not recommend anything less than an AK 47. Shotguns have slightly more knockback but not much; an AA-12 or higher may keep students alive until they can extinguish fifteen Burning Zombies, but I would prefer something with more DPS.

An HK 69 is an interesting option for this mission. It has less knockback than any of the other weapons discussed (which is to say: none at all), but it has the advantage of spreading its damage among the fifteen closest targets to the blast center. This provides the tremendous advantage of inflicting damage on zombies toward the back of the crowd – which is where the wounded Burning Zombies will be, hiding from any bullets being shot at them.

It is possible to bag the quota with a single-fire weapon, such as an Alpha Bull revolver or a VSS rifle, but these weapons fall prey to the problem mentioned above: Each time a Burning Zombie is wounded to the point of death, it will fall to the back of the group, while a healthy Burning Zombies lunges forward to attack. Sprinting in a zig-zag pattern may spread the crowd out so far that Burning Zombies at the tail end can be targeted. It takes some skill, but it can be done.

All of these methods share the same potential pitfall: student will need to sprint to avoid being overwhelmed by the swarm of flaming revenants; if students are not careful, they could run out of energy. To avoid this, keep an eye on energy level, and duck out of the mission area before Energy reaches zero. After recharging next door, return to the mission area. Doing this two or three times should be enough to finish the mission.

Of course, Heavy Machine Guns and Mini-Guns will snuff out the flaming menace, at the expense of thousands of dollars in ammunition.

After the mission is complete, the Burning Zombies will continue to spawn – at least another few dozen. Students so inclined may hang around to earn more experience.

10 - TRACKING

Goal: Exterminate a Wraith and loot a tracking device
Zombies: Wraith, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: K-50M or higher; USAN-12 or higher
Alternate Weapons: Steel 090; Alpha Bull; VSS

Basically, students who can exterminate a Wraith can complete this mission. Retrieve the tracking device from its corpse, and the mission is completed!

We normally recommend grinding a Wraith to death with a chainsaw, or sniping it from a safe distance with a pistol or a rifle; unfortunately, high aggro in the mission area renders these strategies difficult to execute. Additionally, there are no good secluded spots to lure the Wraith for one-on-one combat, nor fences to trap the Wraith.

That leaves free-for-all combat on the open streets, against the Wraith and its horde of zombie minions. Students need a weapon enough knockback to provide safety, enough DPS to kill the target relatively quickly, and enough accuracy to avoid wasting a mountain of ammunition.

The K-50M submachine gun is up to the task. Wind through the streets, using obstacles to break the crowd into smaller groups and provide an occasional moment to pause and recharge energy. Fire continuously only when surrounded by a crowd or when face-to-face with the Wraith; don’t waste too many bullets when the Wraith is across screen – SMGS are more accurate than other machine guns but not that much more accurate.

For Shotgun students, an USAN-12 should provide protection from the crowd long enough to finish off the Wraith without expending too much ammunition.

Students fortunate enough to outrun the horde and get the Wraith alone can try switching to single-shot weapons or chainsaws, to save ammunition, but odds are that aggro will catch up, forcing a switch back to a grinding weapons.

After the Wraith is dead, lure the other zombies around the block, then sprint back to the corpse to loot the tracking device. After that, head home to collect the reward, or stay in the mission area and grind the remaining throng of zombies, racking up even more experience.

Get tips on killing Wraiths in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

11 - CHOPPER DOWN

Goal: Loot a flight recorder from a downed helicopter
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: Chicago Typewriter; Sweeper

The goal is simple: loot a flight recorder from crashed helicopter. The only obstacle is a swarm of relentless zombies that will not give a moment’s peace.

Students can try to fight them off or to lure them away. Neither effort is guaranteed.What is the solution?

Easy: The helicopter is a very large loot spot. As students run by, they should hold down the “F” (loot) button on the keyboard. With a little luck, students should be able to loot the copter on the run, with half a dozen zombies in pursuit. This might not work the first pass, but after two or three tries, students will grab the tracking device.

Since killing zombies is not necessary to complete the mission, students need weapons only for defensive purposes. A Steel 090 chainsaw is more than enough to provide protection while looting the helicopter. A Chicago Typewriter submachine gun or a Sweeper shotgun should do the job.

Anything more would be overkill: useful to exploit the aggro for grinding purposes but not necessary to complete the mission.

Note: When we last sent a research team to attempt this mission, the Dead Frontier wiki and the in-game map (which can be viewed by pushing “M” on the keyboard) showed “Chopper Down” taking place in six Orange Zones south of Fort Pastor. In fact, the mission took place in a single area: the upper right of the six zones highlighted on the map, located directly due south of Fort Pastor.

12 - SAVE THE DATA

Goal: loot a hard disc from a downed helicopter
Zombies: Titans, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons:Steel 090; Chicago Typewriter; Sweeper
Alternate Weapons: VSS; Alpha Bull

This sequel to “Chopper Down,” which takes place in the same mission area, with the crashed helicopter still burning hours later, is essentially a repeat of its predecessor, with two differences, one cosmetic and one substantial:

Students are looting a hard drive instead of a flight recorder.
The aggro is augmented with Titans.

Since it is not necessary to kill the Titans (or any zombies, for that matter) in order to complete "Save the Data," students can employ the same weapons and strategy that worked in “Chopper Down”: Go in with a grinding weapon for protection; sprint past the helicopter with a finger on “F,” and with luck the hard drive will be loot-able.

Of course, a steady stream of Titans is too tempting to pass up, especially for students looking to earn easy experience points. So after looting the hard drive, students may remain in the mission area to kill as many Titans as possible (they will keep spawning indefinitely, though always one at a time, unless there are other survivors arriving into the mission area).

More powerful weapons may be helpful when transforming "Save the Data" into a de facto extermination mission. The aggro is not so intense that it will be dangerous to a senior with a Steel 090 or a Chicago Typewriter; however, it is thick enough to interfere with focusing efforts on the Titans. Patient students can try to separate the Titans from the surrounding hordes, but if students are in a hurry, they may just want to blast away with as much DPS as possible.

Another possibility is to pinpoint each Titan with a VSS rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver. Running around the block while dodging obstacles can thin out the crowd and expose the Titan.

Note: As with its predecessor, during our last recon,“Save the Data” displayed as if it took place in six areas; however, there was actually only one mission area, located eleven zones due south of Fort Pastor (though it is not possible to walk there directly, because of the layout of the city streets).

13 - CHEMISTRY TIME

Goal: Loot five chemicals from trucks
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: none
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: Alpha Bull or VSS

This is the Fort Pastor version of “It’s Spreading,” in which students loot five bottles of chemicals from flatbed trucks. Besides the altered back story, the main difference between this mission and its predecessor is that “Chemistry Time” is located in four Orange Zones, east of Fort Pastor, which are populated by Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Bloats, and Tendrils.

Fortunately, the flatbed trucks are easy to find, and aggro is low to non-existent, so looting is not difficult. Not every truck will have chemicals, but since only five are needed, students will probably complete "Chemistry Time" without having to visit more than one of the four mission areas.

Unless students meet a Siren or deliberately stir up aggro, “Chemistry Time” can be completed with any good looting weapon. A Nodachi is preferable: it is silent and it handles Blood Dogs in a single hit. An Alpha Bull or a VSS would work almost as well.

14 - STOMACH CRAMPS (Updated)

Goal: Exterminate 150 Bloats
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapon Combo: Alpha Bull & AK 47 or Sweeper and HK 69
Alternate Weapon Combos: VSS or Rex or Ironsight & M60; M1 Garand & Steel 090 & K-50M

Since the alteration in the Fairview map, the strategy for this mission has changed. No longer are there alleyways and intersections that can be used to funnel aggro; instead, the mission area now consists of one long block, filled with an open field, surrounded by shrubbery. In most places, there are gaps allowing egress and ingress, but in several places, the bushes form a protective wall, creating a convenient "grinding" spot. By circling the block, our students can eventually trap most of the zombie horde inside the field, behind the foliage. There is an especially nice spot on the northern street, where a couple of cars form another barrier, which will afford protection from any zombies that happen to get out of the field. By taking up a position here, students can use single-fire weapons to pick off the mission targets or grinding weapons to take out the entire crowd.

Rifles or pistols are suggested, though precisely which weapon combination is "best" depends on the goal: students who aim to pick off Bloats to quickly complete the mission should rely on high-accuracy rifles; students who simply want to grind through the surrounding aggro may opt for Explosives and/or Machine Guns. In either case, at least a mid-level Machine Gun or Shotgun is recommended for defensive purposes.

The minimum build we would recommend for this mission would be an Assault Build with Alpha Bull revolver, AK 47 assault rifle, and HK 69 grenade launcher (Shotgun Students may substitute a Sweeper for the assault rifle). Use the AK 47 for protection while circling the running through the street, then switch to the revolver or the grenade launcher upon reaching a safe grinding spot. It is important to have stats in place, especially Reloading, to optimize the Alpha Bull and the HK 69.

An effective alternative would be a combination of a Rex 577 or an Ironsight rifle with an M60 heavy machine gun. This equipment is more "high-end" than we usually recommend, but it will make the mission noticeably easier (and more costly, if students opt to grind everything to death with expensive machine gun bullets).

With their explosive deaths, Bloats are not ideal opponents for Melee-Chainsaw students, although a Chainsaw can certainly be used to fend off surrounding aggro before switching to a Rifle or a Submachine Gun to target the Bloats.

The main challenge of “Stomach Cramps” is that zombie hordes can create a protective shield around the Bloats. If students circle and fire, the other zombies will get in the way; if students retreat in a straight line, the Bloats will be left behind as the other zombies pursue.

With some effort, Melee-Chainsaw students should be able to succeed with an M1 Garand, a Steel 090 chainsaw, and a K-50M submachine gun. The chainsaw can cut through other zombies, and the M1 Garand is good enough to pop the bloats. Save the K-50M for emergencies – or if a number of Bloats herd together.

Of course, a higher-end rifle or pistol is preferable to the M1, so students with builds that prioritized these weapons will have an advantage. The VSS Vintorez Rifle or the Alpha Bull pistol will take out bloats with three shots each. A 577 Rex or an Ironsight are much the better: these rifles need only two shots to kill bloats; and their Very High Accuracy makes it easy to pinpoint targets through the crowds.

As noted above, keep a decent machine gun or a shotgun handy to fend off aggro. For much of the mission, these grinding weapons are of limited use targeting Bloats, because the other zombies will be in the way, but as the mission progresses and the percentage of Bloats increases, grinding weapons will become more effective at exterminating the mission targets.

Explosives have an advantage in this regard, because Grenade Launchers can lob bombs over the heads of intervening zombies, taking out the Bloats and their comrades. These weapons are especially effective when the zombies are trapped in the bushes and crowded together like fish in a barrel.

Of course, it is possible to treat this as a mass extermination event, killing not only Bloats but everything else as well. In this case, we recommend a Heavy Machine Gun or a Mini-Gun, equipped with a surfeit of ammunition.

15 - SECRONOM UNLOCKED

Goal: Exterminate 5 zombie scientists and loot their keycards
Zombies: Scientists, Long Arms, Rumblers, etc.
Aggro: minimum
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: Dragon SVD or VSS; Alpha Bull

Although located in a Red Zone, “Secronom Unlocked” is an easy variation on the kill-and-loot type mission. Head to the designated area and kill enough zombie Scientists to loot five keycards from their corpses.

Unlike other kill-and-loot missions, in which perhaps one in ten targets drops loot, the odds are higher here: a blood sample drops for every few scientists terminated. Consequently, it is easy to finish this mission quickly, without any special strategy.

A Nodachi is ideal, but any other decent looting weapon will suffice. There are not enough Long Arms and Rumblers to cause serious difficulties, even for students using weapons that cannot one hit kill these zombies. And since the Scientists are easy to kill, even relatively weak looting weapons will work.

Although the Dead Frontier Wiki indicates that aggro will be maxed, we encountered only minor aggression while completing this mission recently (May 2015). Most of the zombies where indifferent to our presence; the Scientists attacked us one by one, making themselves easy targets.

Afterward, we stuck around to do some looting; the number of attacking Scientists and other zombies increased enough to be annoying, but we experienced only one outburst of aggro, triggered by a Siren, which we were able to quell with a Steel 090 – no machine guns necessary.

Another advantage of this mission is that it requires only five loots in inventory, leaving room to do more looting in the lucrative Red Zones before heading back to Fort Pastor.

16 – BLOODY MASSACRE

Goal: Loot 3 laptops from corpses
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: minor
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS; Alpha Bull

This very easy mission requires only that students loot three laptops from the designated area. The streets are loaded with loot spots, and the laptops are so easy.

The Dead Frontier Wiki warns of intense aggro, but our recon team encountered little if any. Presumably, aggro could increase if too much time was spent in the mission area, but students can find their quota of laptops and clear out long before that happens.

“Bloody Massacre” takes place in an Orange Zone, so leftover weapons from junior semester at Precinct 13 could suffice if students have not upgraded since arriving in Fort Pastor. Melee is preferable, to avoid attracting attention, but even if aggro spikes, students should be able to put down the local zombies without undue difficulty. OUr test subject finished without using a grinding weapon.

Like “Secronom Unlocked,” this mission leaves most inventory slots empty; take advantage of this by walking a few more areas to the Red Zones, where better loot is available.

17 - MOW DOWN

Goal: Exterminate 2000 zombies (!)
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Steel 090 & M1 Garand & M4
Alternate Weapons: Alpha Bull & AK 47 & HK 69; VSS & K-50M & HK 69

Despite the enormous number of zombie-kills required to complete the mission, “Mow Down” is not supremely challenging. Mostly, it is a numbers game: how long will it take to exterminate this many zombies; how much ammunition is needed; and how much will that ammunition cost?

Set in an Orange Zone just a few areas south of Fort Pastor, “Mow Down” features mostly Normal Zombies, with some Mutants mixed in. Since most targets can be one-hit-killed with decent looting weapons, mega-powered weapons are not necessary.

The aggro, though high, is seldom so aggressive as to cause much discomfort. If students keep moving, and avoid getting trapped, a good submachine gun or assault rifle will hold the zombies at bay; neither a Vulcan mini-gun nor an AA-12 shotgun is needed.

Of course, the higher DPS of Heavy Machine Guns will help complete the mission sooner – but at a tremendous cost in ammunition.

Students looking for a more economical approach have a couple of options, involving chainsaws and/or rifles.

First Option:

Dead center of the mission area, students will find a three-way intersection with a walled parking lot just north. Outside the wall is a single soldier; inside the parking lot are a few more. These soldiers can help kill the zombies. Circle around them, luring zombies within their firing range.

There is far more aggro inside the parking lot, which affords an opportunity to kill zombies faster, but this is about the only place where the swarm might become overwhelming. A good strategy is to move around the soldiers until agro gets too dangerous, then head out the exit and run by the soldier outside the wall, who will help kill any zombies in pursuit.

Students can simply stay next to this soldier on the street, but the number of zombies will be much lower, so completing the mission will take longer.

Second Option:

Half a block south of the parking lot entrance mentioned in Option 1, there is a fenced space on the left side of the street. There are no exits for this space on the street, so any zombies behind the fence are trapped, unable to attack. By staying near this fence, students can pick off the zombies with a rifle or a pistol – a slower process than using a machine gun, but also more economical in terms of ammo.

It is not completely safe near the fence. Zombies will appear on the street, but usually in small groups (maybe half a dozen), which c chainsaw or a submachine gun can handle. Kill them off; then return to shooting the zombies behind the fence.

This will take a while, but by using a chainsaw and a single-shot weapon, students can complete the mission using only a couple boxes of ammunition.

Weapons:

Melee-Chainsaw students can complete this mission with a Steel 090 and an M1 Garand, backed up by a K-50M or an M4 assault rifle for emergencies (though strictly speaking, it is possible to complete the mission without resorting to the machine gun at all). Just bring medication and a spare armor.

Students with an Alpha Bull or a VSS Vintorez will be in better shape when it comes to picking off zombies through the fence. Since “Mow Down” is set in an Orange Zone, without Long Arms or Rumblers, the increased DPH of a 577 Rex or an Ironsight offer little advantage, and their slower firing rate will extend the time to completion even more. A K-50M or an M4 should be enough to handle the zombies on the street; the higher DPS of the M4 is a definite bonus.

Because of the large number of the zombies to be exterminated, the ideal weapon for this mission is a Grenade Launcher. The HK 69 will work very well. Though explosives offer no knockback, there are several walled and fenced spaces, where students can hide and lob grenades, killing zombies from relative safety. Students could even stand next to the soldier outside the parking lot; his gunfire will offer some protection from any zombies who manage to get around the wall to attack.

18 - MOTHER LOVIN’

Goal: Kill two Mothers and loot blood samples
Zombies: 2 Mothers, Bones, Reapers, Small Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: moderate
Suggested Weapons: VSS & K-50M; Alpha Bull & AK 47
Alternate Weapons: Steel 090 & M1 Garand

This is an easy mission for any student who has killed a Mother. Taking out two simultaneously is not much more difficult, though care is required.

The safest way to complete this mission is with firearms that allow students to stand well back from the targets. Rifles are best, though Pistols will do almost as well with their stats in place - such as a VSS or an Alpha Bull. A long range rifle with more DPH, such as a 577 Rex or an Ironsightm would work even better, but neither is necessary.

Machine Guns and Shotguns, with their low Accuracy, are not ideal, though students may use them to clear intervening zombies from their sight-line. For the most part, aggro is not so high that grinding weapons are needed.

Melee-Chainsaw students can whack the Mother with a Nodachi or – better yet – grind them with a Steel 090. This can be a little tricky, because it is necessary to outmaneuver two Mothers. Circling around may cause them to fall into synch, which makes it easier to move in and strike while both are stationary (that is, when they pause to vomit or strike). Otherwise, use obstacles (cars, etc) to separate the two Mothers, in order to target one at a time. Remember to withdraw to a safe distance to administer the kill shot with a rifle.

Melee students should be warned that “Mother Lovin’” takes place in a Yellow Zone, populated with weaker Mutants that should be familiar from junior semester at Dogg’s Stockade: Bones, Reapers, and Small Bloats. Seniors who have graduated from a Battle Axe to a Nodachi could accidentally injure themselves by attacking Small Bloats: the Nodachi will one-hit-kill them, and they will explode upon death. Use a rifle instead.

Get tips on killing Mothers in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

19 - HUNGER STRIKES

Goal: Loot ten food supplies from pickup trucks
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: minimal
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull & XM8 or Mannberg

This is another basic looting mission, made easy by the fact that the loot is located in easy-to-find pickup trucks.As in “The Hunger” at Nastya’s Holdout, students are on a quest for food, which can be found in four mission areas southeast of Fort Pastor. Fortunately, there are so many pick up trucks - all of which contain food supplies - that students will probably visit only one area in order to meet their quota.

Aggro is low unless provoked, so a silent looting weapon, such as the Nodachi, is best. A VSS rifle or an Alpha Bull will work, too, but shooting will inevitably draw some attention, which will slow down looting efforts.

Since killing zombies is not required to complete “Hunger Strikes,” grinding weapons are for defensive purposes only. A Steel 090 chainsaw, a Chicago Typewriter submachine gun, an XM8 assault rifle, or a Mannberg shotgun should provide enough protection to finish the job.

In fact, students could complete this mission with lesser weapons, such as a Battle Axe/Katana and a Grinder, or a Dragon SVD and an UMP, or an Alpha Bull with a Sega-20 shotgun. It would just take a bit longer pick off the zombies and get to the loot – being able to one-hit kill the Blood Dogs with a Nodachi speeds up the process, and if aggro does occur, it’s nice to be able to clear it as fast as possible. Nevertheless, with patience, students can manage with weapons leftover from junior semester at Precinct 13.

20 - SIXTEEN LEGS

Goal: Exterminate two Giant Flaming Spiders
Zombies: Burning Giant Spiders (2), Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Alpha Bull; Greyhawk; VSS; 577 Rex; Ironsight
Alternate Weapons: Vulcan, Corpse Destroyer, XL-Gunner 8

Run to the fenced-in building in the middle of the mission area; get inside before the Burning Giant Spiders spawn; then shoot both of them through the fence until they die.

It's just that easy!

Seriously, this strategy will work (assuming students can get inside the fences before the arachnids arrive).Any decent single-shot weapon will do the job; no grinding weapons are necessary. Weapons with higher DPS will kill arachnids faster, but by firing from a safe space, students will have all the time in the world, interrupted only occasionally by other zombies sneaking inside.

The only problem with this strategy is getting behind the fence. It is entirely possible that the two Giant Burning Spiders will spawn before students reach safety, in which case survival time will be short.

UPDATE: The strategy described above no longer works. Since the Wastelands were added to Dead Frontier, the map of Fairview has changed: although there are still fences in the mission area, there is no safe space where the Giant Flaming Spiders cannot follow. Instead, students have these options:

Hang out with the Commander and his soldiers in the middle of the block.
Use Speed Boost.
Attempt the mission with multiple survivors and hope the arachnids attack someone else.

Before weighing these options, we should point out: Although both Giant Flaming Spiders might spawn simultaneously, there will probably be only one visible most of the time. If there are two, try to shake one off. There are plenty of obstacles in the streets and alleys; some pathways are so narrow that only one GFS can squeeze through at a time. During a recent test run, our volunteer subjects found that the killing process was mostly sequential: kill one spider first, then worry about the second.

We recommend Option #1. The Giant Flaming Spiders will appear before it is possible to reach the soldiers, but well-armed students will be close enough to reach safety by laying down a little cover fire while running the last block. The Commander is armed with a mini-gun; his soldiers are armed with assault rifles. They are configured in such a way that it is possible to weave in between them and lure the GFS into a position where it will be pinned for several seconds, taking fire from every direction. When it starts to inch forward, take cover behind whichever soldier happens to be blocking its path, then run around the group so that the GFS gets stuck again while trying to turn and follow. Use nearby vehicles or streetlights for cover. Repeat for the second GFS.

This method can be relatively inexpensive in terms of ammo. After wounding the two Giant Flaming Spiders, students' main goal is to stay alive while luring the targets into the line of fire of the Commander and his soldiers. Shooting is optional but necessary only for knockback if the GFS gets to close. Otherwise, let the soldiers do the work.

Students who use Option #2 might can accomplish this mission - out on the street and unprotected, with no help from the soldiers. Chainsaw students can exterminate the mission targets without firing a shot.

Option #3 is the least effective. Fellow survivors are unlikely to provide as much effective cover fire as the Commander and his soldiers; poorly skilled survivors are probably worse than no help at all.

Whichever method is chosen, the most important point is to outlive the mission targets. Maneuvering is more important than killing power (which the soldiers can supply). High DPS weapons are useful for protection. Theoretically, a student could land a single shot on each GFS and successfully complete the mission by letting the soldiers finish the job. It is even possible to resort to the safety of going "AFK" throughout most of the killing process; just remember to come back before the soldiers finish the job - there is no mission reward for targets killed while students are in limbo.

Get tips on killing Giant Spiders in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

21 - TRADE OFF

Goal: Contact Police Officers and loot two explosives
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: minor
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS or Alpha Bull

“Trade Off” is a variation on “The Pick Up” at Dogg’s Stockade. This time, students seek a trio of Police Officers, and after their leader speaks a few times, grab two explosives from nearby squad cars. (Though the mission assignment and the dialogue refer to explosives, the actual loot is labeled supply boxes.)

Set in an Orange Zone part way back towards Precinct 13, “Trade Off” features familiar Common Zombies and Mutants that could be dispatch with weapons leftover from junior semester at Precinct 13 . The only aggro in the area occurs around the Police Officers, who fend it off, leaving students safe while waiting for the lead officer to finish speaking. Students may have to take out two or three zombies on their own, but a grinding weapon will not be needed to do this; any decent looting weapon will suffice.

Three squad cars are near the officers, but students need loot only two of them. They are parked very close together, blocking zombies, so grabbing the explosives can be accomplished very quickly.

Students can finish this mission in five minutes without getting their hair mussed.

22 - BIG, RED & SPIKEY

Goal: Exterminate five Titans
Zombies: Titans, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Ripsaw G12 & M4
Alternate Weapons: Ironsight & Uziel 14; Greyhawk & FM Mitrail

This mission is a one-way ticket to oblivion. Titan-killing is familiar to senior-level students, but taking on multitude of them is extremely difficult. No matter how fast students dodge, they will get hit; no matter how much students shoot, they will not knock back the Titan conga line.

Did we say multitude? That’s right: although the mission goal is to kill five Titans, many more will spawn – over a dozen, depending on how long students stay in the mission area.

How can students complete this mission?

Honestly, the Scientific Minimalist Approach may not be the easiest one to apply to "Big, Red, and Spikey." Best bet is to get the biggest Epic Level machine gun accessible and blast away. However, there are other options for those who dare:

Students can attempt this mission in with multiple survivors and hope that gunfire from comrades-in-arms slows down the Titans.
Students can use the Speed Booster Drug, which will provide enough of an edge to stay one-step ahead of the Titans
Students can use strategy and hope they get lucky.

Since #1 and #2 and self-explanatory, let’s examine #3 more closely.

In the center of the southernmost street when of the mission area, there is a single tennis court. Upon entering the area, run inside this court as fast as possible.

Once inside, stay away from the single entrance; instead, keep toward the street. With extremely good fortune, students may be able to shoot five Titans to death through the fence. Frankly, the odds of this happening are slim to none.

Titans will materialize inside the tennis court; sometimes, they will even jump the fence. Students who know what they are doing should be able to handle one or two at a time, with a machine gun, a shotgun, or a chainsaw. Moving in tight circles will keep the Titans close together and hopefully in synch with each other, making it easier to avoid their attacks - also providing brief opportunities to pause and recharge energy.

As each Titan dies, another will likely replace it. As long as students keep killing them fast enough, it may be possible to avoid facing more than two at a time. If, however, three or four Titan are inside the court, it is imperative to leave – immediately.

Again, with luck, it may be possible to get outside, leaving the Titan trapped within the court. Sprint to the street and shoot them through the fence. Most probably, students will not be able to do this uninterrupted. Titans will escape and/or spawn on the street. As long as they arrive one or two at a time, it is possible to dispatch them and then resume firing at the ones inside the tennis court.

Unfortunately, fortune does not always smile upon the brave; this strategy is not foolproof. Sometimes, students will be trapped inside the tennis court with too many Titans; other times, students escape back onto the street only to be pursued by a relentless gang of Titans, pushing each other forward, despite any firepower directed at them.

In order to survive these pitfalls, it helps to have great armor, preferably Exterminator Reactive XT, and to have high Endurance stats, which increase durability and sprint time. Students will also want as much DPS as possible, in order to kill the Titans before more appear.

Despite these difficulties, it is possible to complete this mission with a chainsaw. Our volunteers have done it twice: once with a Goretooth and once with a Steel 090 on Damage Boost. We are confident that a Ripsaw G12 would suffice. Keep a machine gun at the ready, in case things get out of hand, and have some kind of single-shot weapon in case there is a chance to pick off Titans through the fence.

Students who prefer firearms will benefit from high DPH weapons such as the Ironsight. Lesser weapons will suffice, but the longer it takes to exterminate a target, the more chance there is that another Titan will arrive and interfere.

As intimidating as this mission is, there are a couple good points about it:

It is located only two zones above Fort Pastor. Students who die before finishing, can heal themselves and quickly return to the mission area to resume the battle
After completing the mission by killing five Titans, students can remain in the area and grind another dozen or more. Subsequent Titans will arrive less frequently, making making it relatively easy to kill them one at a time. Grind them with a chainsaw or shoot them through the fence around the tennis court. Eventually, an aggro spike might complicate matters, but until then, it’s just a matter of racking up easy Experience points.

Get tips on killing Titans in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

23 - TIME’S UP

Goal: Loot a watch from a corpse
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: mild
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons:Alpha Bull; VSS

This is essentially the same mission as “Engage,” except that students will be looting corpses for a watch instead of an engagement ring. The same strategies apply: bring a quiet looting weapon, and be prepared to take time seeking the watch, which has a low probability of showing up at any individual loot spot.

The mission is located in four Orange Zones, north of Fort Pastor, though not quite as far away as the ones for “Engage.” Aggro is low to non-existent unless provoked, so students should be able to complete this mission with only looting weapons.

If all hell does break loose, students should be able to defend themselves with a Chicago Typewriter submachine gun, an XM8, or a Mannberg shotgun (even a Sega-20 will get by). If things get too heavy, leave the mission area for one of the others; if aggro appears there as well, keep switching areas until aggro disperses.

Students will find decent loot while searching for the watch. After completing the mission, students can walk nine zones farther north to reach the lucrative Red Zones.

24 - BIG TONGUES

Goal: Exterminate eight Leapers and loot blood samples
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: moderate
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: VSS & K-50M; Alpha Bull & AK 47 or Sweeper

Complacency is the major danger here: Leapers are slow and easy to outmaneuver, lulling students into a false sense of safety that could be rudely shattered when a lethal swipe from the big-tongued monsters.

Consequently, the safest strategy for this mission is to use a rifle or a pistol. Maintain a safe distance, fire a few shots, and hope the corpse is lootable.

Student with good dodging skills should have an easy time killing Leapers with melee weapons, though boredom may prompt a shift to chainsaws. Most corpses will not be lootable; it will be necessary to kill lots of Leapers to get 8 blood samples.

Meanwhile, other zombies will be active, getting in the way when students are aiming at the mission targets. Fortunately, the aggro is not too aggressive – just enough to slow down the looting process, not enough to overwhelm. Major grinding weapons are not required to complete the mission.

However, after 8 blood samples have been collected, the Leapers will continue to spawn, and unburdened of the need to loot quietly, students can turn “Big Tongues” into an unofficial grinding mission: open fire, and watch the experience points rack up.

Located in a single Orange Zone east of Fort Pastor, “Big Tongues” requires a fairly long walk but does not take place in a particularly lucrative looting area. Students can fill inventory slots with cheap junk if they like, but elite weapons are unlikely to be found.

25 - INTERCEPT THE UNKNOWN

Goal: Exterminate 350 Long Arms
Zombies: Long Arms, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: 577 Rex, Ironsight
Alternate Weapon Combos: Alpha Bull & AK 47 & AK 69; Nodachi & Steel 090 & M1 Garand; VSS & K-50M & HK 69

Situated four zones south of Fort Pastor, “Intercept Unknown” is the rarest of all missions: a grinding mission that induces boredom. Yes, Long Arms are more dangerous than the zombies normally encountered near this outpost, but students could whack 350 of them to death with a melee weapon and be home for lunch without breaking a sweat.

What makes this goal difficult to achiev is the low percentage of Long Arms buried within the surrounding aggro. Consequently, students have two options:

Resign oneself to a massive, lengthy extermination campaign obliterating 3,000 other zombies in order to bag 350 Long Arms.
Pinpoint the Long Arms through the crowd.

Students who opt for Option #1 probably want an HK 69 grenade launcher. There are several fenced and walled spaces in the mission area, where zombies can be trapped blasted.

For students who opt for #2, the ideal weapon would be a 577 Rex or an Ironsight rifle, both of which will one-hit kill Long Arms with Very High Accuracy. (The limited edition Corpse Piercer rifle will also do this.) Just move continuously throughout the mission area, maneuvering through obstacles to thin the crowd, and pick off Long Arms when they expose themselves.

Though aggro is high in this mission, it is comprised mostly of Normal Zombies and Special Infected, with only a handful of Mutants mixed in. There is little likelihood of being overrun by swarms of Spiders and Tendrils; therefore, a single-fire weapon will probably be enough to finish the job, saving money on ammunition. If one of these rifles is not available, a VSS or an Alpha Bull is good enough.

Melee-Chainsaw students can complete this mission without firing a shot, but it will take forever. After awhile, the percentage of Long Arms will increase, so it will be possible to grind through them with a chainsaw instead of whacking them one-by-one with a melee weapon; it will still be a long, slow process. Students might prefer switching to their best rifle or pistol. Even an M1 Garand is adequate, though it will do the job rather more slowly.

26 - STACK ‘EM AND BURN ‘EM

Goal: Loot ten gasoline cans
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: none
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS; Alpha Bull

“Stack ‘Em and Burn ‘Em” is essentially a remake of “Tanks Get Thirsty Too,” set in a slightly different area: four Orange Zones east of Fort Pastor. (Note: The Wiki map for this mission indicates only three, and the placement is slightly off.)

The gasoline is found in vehicles. Unfortunately, not all vehicles in the mission areas are lootable, and not all lootable vehicles contain gasoline. Consequently, students may have to visit more than one mission area to secure ten cans of fuel.

Aggro is low to non-existent as long as students keep a low profile, so rely on quiet looting weapons. This is another mission that Melee students can easily complete without firing a shot.

Unfortunately, the location is not a particularly promising one for further looting, so there is no need to worry about leaving inventory slots open for anything else. Simply obtain ten cans of fuel and head home.

27 - SOME NEW TALENT

Goal: Find Tanya
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull & XM8 or Mannberg

This is another Search-and-Rescue mission, a la “Find Charlotte” and “Where the Hell is He?” Take the long walk east, find Tanya, and get her to talk until she decides to return to Fort Pastor.

The challenge is familiar: Tanya does not like to talk while fending off zombies, so students need to lure the horde away from her, then sprint back to grab a quiet moment or two. Fortunately, Tanya is not as talkative as some other rescue subjects – she speaks only a few times - so it is possible to complete this mission relatively quickly.

Though situated in the far eastern section of Fairview, the mission area is an Orange Zone, so there are no Long Arms and Rumbles. Aggro is high but not overwhelming; students should not have much trouble staying alive, though they may find it difficult to get alone-time with Tanya.

Students will be using weapons mostly for defense. A Nodachi will beat back most of the threats without increasing the aggro; a Steel 090 chainsaw will come in handy if things get hectic. Other good weapon combos include: a VSS Vintorez Rifle paired with a submachine gun; an Alpha Bull revolver paired with an assault rifle or a shotgun. Mid-level grinding weapons should suffice - such as a Chicago Typewriter, an XM8, or a Mannberg.

Of course, if students want to take advantage of the aggro to grind for experience points, they should remain in the area after Tanya has left; and lay siege with their best grinding weapons.

28 - BLEED ‘EM DRY

Goal: Exterminate ten Long Arms and loot blood samples
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: low
Suggested Weapon Combos: Nodachia & Steel 090
Alternate Weapon Combos: VSS & K-50M; Alpha Bull & AK 47 or Sweeper

Though located a considerable distance east of Fort Pastor, this mission area has little aggro: generally, only the Long Arms will attack. Students need to kill enough to get to get ten blood samples: whack them to death one at a time with a quiet looting weapon or go for mass extermination with a grinding weapon.

Either way, the biggest difficulty will be looting the corpses for blood samples. As usual for this type of mission, most of the targets will not drop loot when they die, and those that do will be difficult to reach, because more and more Long Arms will attack in increasing numbers as the mission wears on.

Therefore, students should find an isolated area where they can kill many of the Long Arms, then loot the bodies before other zombies interfere. If no safe space is available, kill the Long Arms wherever it is most convenient, then run around the perimeter of the mission area to lure the aggro away, sprinting back to the lootable corpses before the other zombies catch up.

29 - THINK OF THE CHILDREN

Goal: Loot 10 toys
Zombies: Rumblers, Longarms, etc.
Aggro: low
Suggested Weapons: Battle Axe/Katana & Grinder
Alternate Weapons: Dragon SVD & UMP; Alpha Bull & M16

Located a moderate distance north and slightly west of Fort Pastor, “Think of the Children” takes place in a set of six relatively safe Orange Zones, populated mostly by Normal Zombies and slow Mutants (Bloats, Brutes, Leapers), with few of the faster Spiders and Tendrils to interfere.

Consequently, the only “challenge” is finding a quota of toys. Simply hit every loot spot while avoiding risk. Do not bother trying to force a way to a spot surrounded by zombies; remember there are lots of other loot spots – more than enough to find ten toys.

Despite a warning on the Dead Frontier Wiki, our research indicates that aggro is virtually non-existent most of the time (unless deliberately provoked). When aggro does erupt, it is usually possible to outrun it or fight it off. Another option is to slip back and forth between two or three zones until one of them is quiet, then resume looting.

Move patiently; do not kill anything unnecessarily. Use melee if necessary – a Battle Axe is enough in this Orange Zone. With a combination of care and luck, students can complete this mission without firing a shot – or at least without reaching for a grinding weapon. If self-defense does become necessary, an UMP, an M16, or even a Sega-20 should be enough to preserve health.

Once students have found a loot spot that serves up toys, they can "reload" it by leaving the area and returning. If there is a house nearby, just duck in and out until reaching the quota of playthings.

30 – RUMBLER SAMPLES

Goal: Exterminate ten Rumblers and loot blood samples
Zombies: Rumblers, Longarms, Leapers, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Ironsight & K-50M
Alternate Weapons: Greyhawk & M4; Nodachi & Steel 090

This mission takes place in a Red Zone, where students will encounter a difficult level of aggro. The experience is rather similar to “The Spiders”: no matter how fast targets are exterminated, the continuous flood of zombies will make it difficult to loot their corpses for blood samples

Adding to the difficulty, Rumblers are challenging foes: they have more health than the Common Zombies seniors are accustomed to hunting; most looting weapons will not kill them with a single critical hit.

On top of this, it is necessary to kill far more than ten in order to get enough lootable corpses, and students will have to evade the surrounding aggro in order to loot the blood samples.

Fortunately, Rumblers are not particularly fast. By luring a crowd of them into an isolated area, students can whack them to death with a melee weapon. And it just so happens that there is a small tennis court or sports field in mission area. Inside there, students can grind all the zombies that follow , and/or shoot all the zombies crowding outside the fence.

The former option will provide corpses that can be looted safely; the latter requires that students head back outside. The main difficulty of the former option is that only a few Rumblers will follow inside the fence; it will be necessary to pop outside from time to time to lure some more in. This is complicated by the fact that the entrance to the field is off a narrow pathway, making it easy to get swamped when entering and exiting the field. Be careful, therefore, when trying to lure more fish into the barrel.

Though students can complete “Rumbler Samples” with lesser weapons, an Ironsight is ideal, because it can one-hit kill the mission targets, and with its Very High Accuracy, students have a good chance of pinpointing them among the other zombies. If students do not own an Ironsight, a 577 Rex or a Corpse Piercer can one-hit the Rumblers if the rifles have been enhanced with damage boost.

A Nodachi can kill a Rumbler with two hits – which is good enough when taking out one or two at a time. A Steel 090 chainsaw will perform better against groups of half a dozen or more. These weapons will succeed against Rumblers massed inside the sports field, but their performance might be less satisfacotry out in the streets.

After collecting ten blood samples, students can stick around to grind some more. The K-50M submachine gun is a bit underpowered for this job, but will work well enough from behind the safety of the sports field’s fence. We prefer weapons with higher DPS: an M4 at least, or an HK 69 grenade launcher.

31 - PUT THEM DOWN

Goal: Exterminate five zombies and loot their bodies for I.D.’s
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Battle Axe/Katana & Grinder
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull & XM8 or Mannberg

This undemanding mission is set not too far northeast of Fort Pastor. Enter the mission area and exterminate zombies until five of them drop loot, in the form of wallets or I.D.’s, identifying them as former friends that have been saved from the misery of their undead existence.

Though “Put Them Down” bears a superficial similarity to “The Spiders” and “Rumbler Samples,” the experience is somewhat different, because it is easier to retrieve the required number of loot items. Students need only five I.D.’s (instead of ten blood samples), and the mission targets are less difficult to kill: though the mission description does not specify, only Irradiated Zombies will drop loot; a Battle Axe/Katana, a VSS Vintorez, or an Alpha Bull can one-hit kill these.

Aggro is moderate - not overwhelming, but strong enough to interfere with looting. Fortunately, there is a fenced parking lot at the intersection the street running through the center of the mission are intersects the easternmost street.

Run inside this lot and grind away until five corpses drop, then lure the other zombies out into the street, run around the block to lead them away, and sprint back to the lot.

The zombies in the area are not too fearsome, so students could attempt this mission with weapons leftover from Precinct 13 missions. Students who feel up to the challenge could try it with looting weapons only, but even modest grinding weapons will handle the aggro. A Chicago Typewriter submachine gun, an XM8 assault rifle, or a Mannberg shotgun should blast through the zombies without much trouble; even a Grinder will do the job if wielded by a student with good dodging skills.

After completing the mission, students can remain to rack up more experience points, in which case more DPS is useful, though it should not take too much to slice through this particular zombie population.

Check out the tutorial video below...

32 - MY BOYS NEED BEER

Goal: Loot ten bottles of beer
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: moderate
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS or Alpha Bull

On the scale of Looting Missions, “My Boys Need Beer” ranks somewhere in the middle, weighted toward “easy.” There is some aggro, and it takes a while to find the loot; however, aggro is not overwhelming, nor will the search take so long that boredom gives way to frustration.

This mission takes place in six zones to the east of For Pastor, right on the edge of the more dangerous Red territory. Fortunately, only one of the mission areas is a Red Zone, so students can avoid Rumblers and Long Arms by sticking to the five Orange Zones.

Students need to find ten bottles of beer, which can show up in any loot spot. The odds of finding beer are not very high, and it will probably be necessary to visit more than one mission area to meet the quota; however, the loot in the area is decent, so looting is not a waste of time (assuming students have enough empty inventory slots to collect ten bottles of beer and some additional loot).

The Dead Frontier Wiki warns of “high aggro in the area,” but we encountered moderate aggro at most. Zombies were interested, and they did approach, interfering with our looting efforts. They did not, however, swarm en masse; they walked up two or three at a time, so they were easy to dispatch.

We completed the entire mission with only a Nodachi, never reaching for a grinding weapon. Any other good looting weapon should do the job, though firearms may provoke more serious aggro than we experienced.

33 - BRING YOUR BIG GUNS

Goal: Exterminate 300 Rumblers
Zombies: Rumblers, Longarms, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapon Combos: Ironsight & K-50M
Alternate Weapons: Steel 090 & M4 & M1 Garand; Alpha Bull & AK 47 & HK 69

Despite the title, big guns are not necessary to complete this mission – students do not need to sit out “Bring Your Big Guns” just because they do not own a Gau.

The mission is a long walk east from Fort Pastor, in a Red Zone, inhabited not only by the mission targets (Rumblers) but also Long Arms and lots of Spiders and Tendrils. This leaves students facing a choice: either try to pinpoint the Rumblers, or just blast everything in sight.

Students interested only in bagging their quota as soon as possible will find the Ironsight rifle most suitable to the task, because it can one-hit the Rumblers with Very High Accuracy. Though there are no completely secure spaces in the mission area, there are several fences, including a parking lot, where it is possible to trap the aggro for a while, giving providing an opportunity to pick off Rumblers one by one. A K-50M is somewhat underpowered as far as grinding through the crowd, but it will protect students from the occasional zombies who get around the fence and attack.

Students who want to blast everything in sight will need massive DPS – perhaps more than senior-level equipment will provide (assuming students do not stay at Fort Pastor past Level 50). We do not recommend anything less than an AK-47 for grinding purposes. An M4 is better; an Uziel really does the trick.

For students fortuante enough to own an HK 69 grenade launcher, here is a chance to put it to good use. Its slow firing speed will leave students vulnerable in the open streets, but if aggro is trapped behind a wall or a fence, the grenade launcher will vaporize the zombies with a relatively small amount of ammo.

Much as we extol chainsaws, we are dubious about trying to complete this mission solely with them. Yes, the Rumblers are slow, and a Ripsaw can grind through a crowd of them. The problem is dealing with Long Arms, whose speed and reach make them tricky to evade. It is possible to avoid them with careful maneuvering, but why take the extra risk?

However, a Steel 090 does make a nice compliment to an M4 assault rifle, coupled with an M1 Garand, especially if students want to complete this mission with the least use of expensive ammo. Upon first arriving, students will encounter a typical phenomenon for this kind of mission: a low percentage of the target zombie. Our advice is to run around the block, trap the crowd behind a fence, then pick them off with the M1, switching to the Steel 090 when zombies attack on the street.

When the percentage of Rumblers increases, lure the zombies out into the street and begin to lead them around the perimeter of the mission area. There are several obstacles that can be used to split the crowd.

Whenever the horde is divided into a small group, especially with lots of Rumblers, use the chainsaw to grind them to death while circling around them. When the rest of the swarm catches up, switch to the M4 and retreat, firing along the way, in short bursts – just enough to hold off the crowd while recharging energy for the next chainsaw binge.

The longer students stay in the mission area, the more Rumblers will appear, until eventually they will at times outnumber everything else. When this happens, students can chainsaw mass quantities with relatively low risk, saving a ton of money on ammo.

As with most of these missions, the aggro will continue after students have bagged 300 Rumblers, providing a chance to rack up even more experience points. Students can let loose with a machine gun on the open street, snipe with an Ironsight from behind a fence, or slice through the crowds with a chainsaw, depending on preferences and ammo capacity.

34 - MAN FLU

Goal: Loot five crates of medical supplies
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: minimal
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS or Alpha Bull

Like “My Boys Need Beer,” this looting mission ranks ever so slightly above “Easy” on the Difficulty Scale. As in “The Sickness,” “The Science,” and “Infection,” the goal is to loot medical supplies from easily identifiable flat bed trucks. The only difficulty is that not all the trucks contain medical supplies, so students will have to search quite a bit to meet the quota.

“Man Flu” is set in four Orange Zones” east of Fort Pastor. Aggro is light; students can complete the entire mission with only a looting weapon. A VSS Vintorez rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver will suffice, but a Nodachi is nice and quiet – and has the advantage of one-hit killing the many Blood Dogs in the area.

Only five crates of medical supplies are required to complete the mission, leaving empty inventory slots for further looting. The mission areas are not particularly lucrative, but walking seven or eight areas further (depending on direction) will bring students to the Red Zones, where good loot is easier to find.

35 - FIGHTING RETREAT

Goal: Find and relieve five soldiers; exterminate 500 zombies
Zombies: Rumblers, Long Arms, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapon Combos: Steel 090 & M4 & M1 Garand
Alternate Weapon Combos: VSS & K-50M & HK 69; Alpha Bull & AK 47 & HK 69

This is essentially a replay of “Pinned Down,” set in a different location. The differences are that students must contact five soldiers instead of four, and exterminate only 500 zombies instead of 750.

The strategies that worked previously will serve well here. Initially, students can hang out with the soldiers and/or circle the block around them, drawing zombies into their firing range. Either way, the soldiers will bug out, one by one, after speaking, leaving students alone to face the rest of the horde on their own.

Fortunately, there is a wide alley running parallel to and just below the northernmost street in the mission area. The alley contains a fenced middle section running almost its entire length. If students run around the mission area once or twice to lure the zombies into following, and then run through the alley and around the fence, there is a good chance of capturing most of the zombies. After that, students can pick them off at their leisure, using single-fire weapons to conserve ammo, or blast them with a grenade launcher for fun.

“Fighting Retreat” takes place in a Red Zone, so there are Rumblers and Long Arms to deal with; however, there are plenty of Normal Zombies, which are easy to kill, so students can bag the limit even without ultra-high-level weapons. The usual weapon combos (a VSS Vintorez rifle paired with a K-50M submachine gun; or an Alpha Bull revolver paired with an AK 47) will be sufficient. An HK 69 will work wonders if students can get the zombies trapped and lob grenades from a position of safety.

Our research volunteer ground his way through approximately two-thirds of the quota with a Steel 090, switching to an M4 from time to time when his sprint energy dropped to dangerously low levels. After the mission was completed, aggro continued for several minutes but on a reduced level, with few fast zombies, making it even easier to use the chainsaw on them. Eventually, our volunteer trapped the zombies behind the fenced portion of an alleyway and finished the rest off with an M1 Garand.

36 - WAR ON TENTACLES

Goal: Find four soldiers and kill 250 Tendrils
Zombies: Long Arms, Rumblers, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Ironsight & K-50M; Greyhawk & M4
Alternate Weapons: Steel 090

Heavy aggro in a Red Zone makes this a challenging mission. Students can succeed with minimal weaponry, but big guns are definitely helpful.

As in other missions of this type, students must make contact with personnel in the area and kill a specific number of the target zombie while inevitably killing four or five times as many other zombies. Plenty of ammo is required, unless students plan on using Melee weaponry.

Aggro will start almost immediately, leaving little opportunity to wander around searching for the soldiers – who are tucked away in an alley instead of standing in the street. Check near the southwest section of the mission area. Remember: they must speak in order to complete the mission.

Since there is little if any quiet time for the soldiers to talk, the best bet is to circle the building facing the alley where the soldiers are stationed. During each circuit, a horde of zombies will follow, and the soldiers will help kill them; eventually, one of the soldiers will talk – no long conversation, just acknowledgment and thanks. After that, all students need to worry about is killing Tendrils.

Until meeting their quota, students can continue circling the alley with the soldiers (who will stay even after speaking), or students can take to the streets, which have plenty of obstacles, which provide shielding from the crowds.

Better yet, there are a few fenced spaces near the northeastern block of the mission area, including a single tennis court. Though it is difficult (perhaps impossible) to trap the aggro inside these fence, students can take shelter inside the court, and pick off the zombies from inside.

Occasionally, one or two zombies will find their way in, but students can handle them quickly and return to firing at those stuck outside the fence. From this relatively safe position students can use single-shot firearms, saving money on ammo, instead of blasting away with machine guns.

Because of the prevalence of Long Arms and Rumblers, in addition to Tendrils, an Ironsight is ideal for this mission, but students can use a VSS or an Alpha Bull – it will simply take longer.

As for grinding weapons, a K-50M will provide adequate safety on the streets, but its DPS is a bit low for these targets; an M4 is much better. An AHK 69 grenade launcher offers much better DPS: though its lack of knock-back will leave students relatively unprotected on the street, the weapon is ideal when fired from inside the safety of the tennis court’s fence.

It is possible to complete this mission with Melee-Chainsaws, but it is an endurance test. Using a Steel 090 (or higher), move continuously around the mission area, weaving in and out of cars to prevent the Tendrils and other zombies from amassing too thickly; circle by the soldiers so that their firepower will kill the zombies faster. If the aggro gets too thick, duck out of the mission are and return, resetting the aggro.

Of course, students who own a Gau mini-gun can ignore these subtle strategies and simply stand in the middle of the street with a finger on the trigger. But why spray a hundred thousand dollars worth of ammo to earn a $13,500 reward? Meanwhile, a student with a chainsaw has a chance of actually turning a profit on this mission.

37 - ALARM SYSTEM

Goal: Loot eight car batteries
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro:
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi
Alternate Weapons: VSS; Alpha Bull

This is another straightforward looting mission, set in four Orange Zones a long distance south of Fort Pastor. The biggest challenge will probably be getting to the mission area: the trek will almost inevitably lead through an aggro spike and/or into the arms of a waiting boss. If students can survive these encounters, the actual mission is a comparative breeze.

Students will be searching for automobile batteries. These of course can be looted from automobiles, which are easy to find thanks to their appearance in the GPS window in the upper right screen. Cars, of course, offer the additional advantage of blocking any zombie that comes wandering by, making the job considerably less stressful.

Not every car will have a battery, but there will be other, decent loot, too. It might be necessary to visit more than one of the four mission areas.

Aggro is low, so keep it that way by using quiet looting weapons: a Nodachi; a VSS Vintorez rifle; or an Alpha Bull Revolver. Since zombie extermination is not on the menu, grinding weapons will be need only for defense, if at all. Mid-level equipment (Chicago Typewriter submachine gun, XM8 assault rifle, Mannberg shotgun) should be enough.

“Alarm System” takes place close to the Red Zones. If students have empty inventory slots after completing the mission, they can walk a few blocks to fill up on more lucrative loot items.

38 - GOLD STAR

Goal: Rescue five civilians
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: K-50M; AK 47

With its high aggro, this is like an Extermination Mission, but students are not actually required to kill a specific number of infected. Simply rescue the civilians from their predicament.

As always with Search-and-Rescue missions, part of the goal is to get the personnel to speak, but this case is slightly different. Instead of luring the aggro away so that there is a quiet moment to chat, the best strategy is to fight along side the civilians until they talk.

Most of the civilians will speak twice, fairly quickly. The last one seems to take longer, speaking a few times, and only after some long pauses, which allow aggro to build.

The civilians are spread throughout the mission area, so students must search for them diligently. One of them is secluded in a fenced yard. Two are in the central intersection.

The civilians are all using weak weapons, so expect little assistance from them in terms of grinding; in any case, they will bug out quickly.

A Steel 090 chainsaw is sufficient to handle the marauding zombies in this Orange Zone, but using it gets a little dodgy when dealing with the two civilians in the central intersection. The aggro is thick, which creates a risk of being wounded if one of the civilians pops a Bloat standing nearby. It’s safer to back off and use a machine gun.

A K-50M submachine gun is good enough for students developing a Critical Build. Hybrid Build students will manage even better with an AK 47. More powerful machine guns will make the job easier, but they are not necessary. Really, all that is necessary is to stay alive long enough for the civilians to finish talking; killing lots of zombies is merely icing on the cake.

39 - BETSY IS BROKEN

Goal: Loot eight machine parts from military trucks
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Nodachi & Steel 090
Alternate Weapons: VSS & K-50M; Alpha Bull & AK 47

This is another easy looting mission, with readily identifiable targets: in this case, the machine parts can be found in military trucks that practically leap off the GPS window in the upper right of the screen.

Set in four Orange Zones a long walk east of Fort Pastor, “Betsy Is Broken” features little if any aggro, so students could theoretically complete the mission with only a looting weapon. A Nodachi is great because of its ability to one-hit-kill Blood Dogs, but a VSS Vintorez rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver will suffice.

Students may wish to bring a grinding weapon just in case a Siren screams, but heavy firepower is not required.

The only “difficulty” is that not every military truck is lootable. It will probably be necessary to visit two or three of the four mission areas in order to acquire eight machine parts.

40 - MISSING BOY

Goal: Exterminate a Mother and loot a body from her corpse
Zombies: Mother (1), Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: moderate
Suggested Weapons: Grinder & SL8
Alternate Weapons: VSS & Chicago Typewriter; Alpha Bull and XM8 or Mannberg

This is another “Kill-and-Loot” mission disguised as a “Rescue Mission.” The stated goal is to find a missing boy, but upon entering the mission area, students will encounter aggro and a Mother. The mission is completed by killing the Mother and retrieve the dead boy from her corpse.

“Missing Boy” takes students back to a safer Yellow Zone, populated by Reapers and Bones instead of Leapers, Spiders, and Tendrils. Consequently, this is a safe mission to attempt immediately after beginning the senior semester in Fort Pastor, with leftover junior-semester equipment still in hand.

Though the Dead Frontier Wiki warns of “high” aggro, our research teams have only encountered moderate amounts – many zombies, but mostly Normal species that are easy to plow through. There are several places, such as parking lots, with walls or fences which will screen out most of the zombie hordes while students concentrate their efforts on the Mother.

A Grinder works excellently well for this mission. Mothers are slow, so it is easy to get in close and attack while avoiding damage. A Battle Axe/Katana works, too, but the Grinder will do a faster job cutting through any other zombies that get in the way.

Of course, withdraw to a safe distance to deliver the kill-shot with an SL8 (or other) rifle.

Students who prefer firearms will easily succeed with either a VSS Vintorez rifle or an Alpha Bull revolver. The VSS has the advantage of better accuracy – which is useful for pinpointing the Mother instead of the surrounding zombies.

If the aggro grows too intense, a mid-level grinding weapon should handle it: a Chicago Typewriter submachine gun, an XM8 assault rifle, or a Mannberg shotgun.

Aggro will erupt after the Mother explodes. If looting the corpse proves difficult, retreat around the block to lead the zombies away, then sprint back to the Mother and retrieve the child’s body before the hordes catch up.

Get tips on killing Mothers in our Scientific-Minimalist Guide to Boss Hunting.

41 - RADIO WAVES

Goal: Loot ten radios from trucks
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: none unless provoked
Suggested Weapons: Katana & Grinder & SL*
Alternate Weapons: Alpha Bull; VSS

“Radio Waves” plays like a throwback to some of the easier loot missions at Precinct 13. The goal is to secure ten radios from military trucks, which are easy to identify, even showing up clearly on the GPS window in the upper right screen.

The mission takes place in four areas on the edge of Death Row. The first three are Orange Zones; the fourth is a Red Zone. Fortunately, trucks are so prevalent that there is no need to venture into all four zones; students can find thier quota of radios in two or three zones, avoiding the more dangerous Red Zone.

Consequently, “Radios Waves” can easily be accomplished with junior-semester equipment leftover from Precinct 13: a Katana to loot quietly; a Grinder to clear any aggro spikes; and an SL8 rifle to pop bloats.

Students who prefer firearms can manage quite well with an Alpha Bull revolver or a VSS Vintorez rifle, with a decent mid-level grinding weapon for backup. Advanced weaponry is definitely not required.

42 - CRUSH THE OPPOSITION

Goal: Contact the commander and exterminate 750 zombies
Zombies: Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, Sirens, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: Ripsaw & M4
Alternate Weapons: Ironsight & Chicago Typewriter & HK 69; Greyhawk & AA-12 & HK 69

This extermination mission takes place in a Red Zone, where senior-semester weapons may not be adequate until students are approaching Level 50. Students will be facing Long Arms and Rumblers, plus swarms of Tendrils, Spiders, and other Mutants. Massive ammo and/or Damage Boosts certainly help.

This mission is dangerous in the open streets, where the risk of being overwhelmed by zombie hordes is high. It is possible to use the Commander and his fellow soldiers for cover. Staying near them will work only for a short while, until the aggro becomes too overwhelming; instead, students should circle around the block, shooting along the way, while leading the zombies back to the soldiers to be finished off.

Even better, there is a fenced-in space near the southwest corner of the mission area. Run around the block once or twice in a counter-clockwise direction, stopping just after turning the corner onto the southernmost street. This will place students near the fence, while the zombies following will most likely enter the fenced space through a gate on the western street, leaving students free to pick them off at leisure.

What’s nice about this particular space is that it is very tight, grouping the zombies together and holding them there, with little chance of their getting loose to attack on the street. Once students have taken up a position, they could probably exterminate 750 zombies with relatively weak weapons – depending on how much boredom they are willing to suffer waiting for their targets to drop dead as round after round fires through the fence.

An M4 has enough DPS to keep this process from lasting too long. If students prefer to save ammo by using a single-shot weapon, an Ironsight (with its ability to one-hit-kill Long Arms and Rumblers) will do the job. The ideal weapon for this situation is the HK69, which can safely lob grenades over the fence.

Zombie slaughter activities will be periodically interrupted by small bursts of aggro in the street, usually consisting of 6 to 12 zombies, so students will need a defensive grinding weapon for protection. A Ripsaw is strong enough, and will save ammo on the way to achieving the target body count of 750; a Steel 090 may be adequate. Otherwise, a strong mid-level machine gun or shotgun should keep students safe, if their dodging skills are strong. An M4 is preferable, although, depending on skill level, precocious students may be able to get by with less.

As usual for missions of this type, “Crush the Opposition” is not complete until students have made contact with the Commander. Fortunately, he does not wait for a quiet moment (of which there are precious few), and he speaks only once.

43 - BIG BLACK THING

Goal: Exterminate a Black Titan
Zombies: Black Titan, Leapers, Brutes, Spiders, Tendrils, Bloats, Blood Dogs, etc.
Aggro: high
Suggested Weapons: VSS & K-50M; Alpha Bull & AK 47
Alternate Weapons: the heaviest machine gun accessible

This dangerous mission can be accomplished with a single-shot weapon and a dose of speed drugs. If students can stay alive long enough to reach the safety of a small, fenced parking lot, they will not even need the drug; simply holding a finger on the trigger for ten minutes will slowly shoot the Black Titan to death through the fence.

The more DPS, the less time it will take to kill the target, but if students are on the safe side of the fence, time will not be a major issue. An Ironsight rifle would be ideal, but a VSS or an Alpha Bull pistol will be stufficient.

Obviously, a shot of damage-boosting drugs would speed up the process, but if students are already on speed drugs, they probably do not want to spend more money for another artificial enhancement.

Spurts of aggro will interrupt from time to time, so a grinding weapon will be useful to fend off other zombies. Do this as quickly as possible, with a minimum of dodging (if students wander too far from the fence, the Black Titan might get out). A K-50M or an AK 47 should suffice, maybe an AA-12 shotgun. An M4 i even better, though probably not essential.

Students could attempt to fight the Black Titan in the open streets. This is possible on speed drugs with a single-shot weapon, but students who prefer not to use artificial stimulants should have the biggest, baddest machine gun they can afford to feed with thousands of rounds of ammo.

Another way of attempting this mission without drugs is with multiple survivors, but this presents its own problems: multiple Black Titans will spawn as new survivors enter the area (instead of the single Black Titan encountered during a solo confrontation). Also, multi-survivor engagements are more chaotic, with the target shifting attention from one survivor to other survivors and then back again. In a one-on-one confrontation, the Black Titan's behavior will be more predictable.

SCIENTIFIC MINIMALIST GUIDE TO MISSIONS: CHAPTERS

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