State of Decay 2 – Nightmare Combat Tips

Starting on Nightmare combat difficulty is tough, but doable. It’s intentionally unfair there, about half as unfair as Lethal.

Tips and Tricks

Mistakes are costly, and most of the game mechanics are active (you have turned off one of them by turning Community down to Dread; morale).

Some tips on how to get a good start:

1. Take the rucksacks in the trunk with you to the starting base. Beware of Ferals.
2. Go and get a rucksack of Fuel and some gas cans from the nearest gas station or other fuel site. All starting bases have one pretty close.
3. Return to the car and refuel it. Then drive to the nearest fire station or other site that is guaranteed to have Repair Kits and more Fuel. Where that is depends on which map you started on. Providence Ridge does not have a fire station (because it is a base), so then down the road to the West there is a electrical power transformer station that is guaranteed to have a Repair Kit (but no Fuel – for that, continue down the mountain until you get to the valley – there is Fuel there). Obviously, auto shops do have both a repair kit and gas – but a fire station should have at least two of each.
4. Now return to your base with the extra Fuel and resources. Next target is finding a Crossbow. Military sites, gun stores and Barns are the best places to find them. In Providence Ridge there is a military quarantine station down the road to the West, just before the abovementioned power station. And by the crossroads near your base there is a gun store that is probably empty on Lethal map. There is a barn going south from the abovementioned Fuel site. On the mountain plateau where you start, there are also plenty of cabins and campsites that have a chance of having Crossbows as well.
5. When that is in order, next step is to arm the other two survivors with guns as big and loud as possible. On your trek to find a Crossbow you might have found some shotguns or other guns. Talk to them and go into their inventory and equip these guns. On Providence Ridge, there is a hidden military site south from the crossroads by your base and down the hill on the other side. To your left (East) there is a logging site in the hillside. There is an observation post there, as well as a gun shed below it.
6. Now you are ready to start building something, getting some Materials (infirmary 2 asap).
7. Then comes the first enclave mission with the 2 Plague Samples, which is the last of the “handholding missions” that all games start with. After that, you are on your own.