Backpacking vs. Marathon vs. Acrobatics vs. Powerhouse (which is best!?)

[@GitGudFox]

I hate cardio.

[@resoody2]

Git Gud Fox Me too! 😜

[@GitGudFox]

@@resoody2 Fortunately, you can lose weight and get buff without cardio. I think that's something a lot of people don't know especially because cardio has a tendency to ramp up your appetite which can cause you to overeat.

[@resoody2]

Git Gud Fox People don't believe me about that. lol Finally someone I can relate to. 👍

[@suiton20]

Git Gud Fox then I need to start to do more cardio. I need the weight.

[@GitGudFox]

Lift weights and eat more.

[@LiteralTitle-sg6kj]

5 years later and still provides the answers i was looking for. Thank you

[@GitGudFox]

Thank you for staying with me all these years!

[@Deciduoustrees]

I love the drop kick-use it all the time

[@GitGudFox]

It was surprisingly the best melee skill against ferals. I wasn't expecting that.

[@jacobftagon8037]

@@GitGudFox l

[@evanroach5025]

I very much agree about Acrobatics, though I did find one cool use for it. Using close combat weapons, the Flying Strike turns into a sweet martial arts flying knee that knocks down zomboys. Super stylish and effective with CC combat skill.

[@GitGudFox]

I went back and tried it myself this morning. It is a pretty cool attack. I think the main anti-synergy though is that if you're specializing in close combat, you get the standing execution which basically does the same thing in 1 fewer movement. If the flying strike was the flying knee on every weapon type, that would have bumped up its usefulness a lot more.

[@evanroach5025]

@@GitGudFox ah, good point, a move not being used to its fullest. I see what you mean, when you're a CC god, that's all you really need. Maybe I'm a bit starved for new fighting styles and this move feels real fresh and mobile.

[@jacobp.2024]

@@evanroach5025 drop kicks down ferals in one hit and are badass

[@geodude3966]

I'm late to the party, but Flying Strikes are perfect for clearing infestations. Run straight to the house, slam open the door and knock down zombies in your way, then, find the Screamer and run and do a Flying Strike for an instant kill. Works every time.

[@dzobie]

I've been rewatching these since I started up again with the Juggernaut Edition. I have to say I love powerhouse because I can execute zombies quickly and efficiently from the front. The power slam is also great when I get swarmed but need to stay and fight.

[@CL3VA]

Been coming back to these videos every couple of years when I get back into the game, and these still provide great information. Hope you return when State of Decay 3 drops!

[@juancarloflores6985]

1:50 Yes, the extra pockets do stack. One of my survivors has both, and she’s a complete beast when it comes to scavenging.

[@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062]

Her nickname will be the trash queen

[@WackE8008]

Prospectors... ala fallout.

[@Spychopunk2077]

is there a hero trait for extra pocket for every one in the community?

[@gyneve]

@@Spychopunk2077 There's a one star skill called sewing that does that. Edit: Wait, nevermind. That just increases item stack size.

[@romdom9406]

Does everything stack? Keeps hidden pockets too?

[@ClarenceSampang]

Powerhouse grapple is great for crowd control. It basically becomes bowling if you throw a zombie into a crowd.

[@GitGudFox]

It is. At the time of this video, there was no Nightmare Zone so the strategy didn't really have a lot of use until they cranked up zombie population.

[@TravisBone14]

I dont have a best or favorite, i have characters who i specialize for certain tasks, one character resourcefulness and backpacking and sowing (5 pocket slots), another uses cqc and acrobatics, then blunt and powerhouse and one for marathon and discipline

[@stuartbagley2586]

I didn’t realize how well done the animations are in this game.

[@Archiean69]

Thanks for all the skill videos, I had no idea we could pick any, and then it was nice to see them all in action!

[@GitGudFox]

Yeah, you can pick the ones you want if you find a retraining manual, too. It opens up the advanced skill options the survivor previously didn't have access to.

[@yukikodavila4907]

Great video Fox and thanks for the shout out! Before your videos I played the game for sheer efficiency (retired Business Analyst) but I now have fun killing zombies without running them over or blowing them up. My funnest character is my Hunter; Marathon/Stealth/CQC/Gunslinging (crossbow). I really enjoy using her to farm plague samples for endless generated income. Thank you for all the effort you have put into these tutorials they changed my perspective of the game. I also want to thank your commenters for the Acrobatics/CQC idea. I love watching a knee strike to the face!

[@GitGudFox]

Efficiency can be a terrible rabbit hole to wind up in. In Warframe, people often pick between fun and efficiency to the point that the game becomes work instead of entertainment. While I do think that there is such a thing as "delayed gratification" where work can wind up becoming very rewarding and worth the effort, I think it still has to be balanced out with entertainment. On a side note, I'm glad people actually read those little text messages I put in the game. I normally add them if I forget to say something in the voice over.

[@jonaahthan]

4:07 had to do this once in Drucker County, and it was one of the best experience ever minus the scent blocker. Sprinting with only a pistol, and some energy drinks.

[@GitGudFox]

Energy drinks are really good.

[@bas919]

I use Marathon+Discipline combo with all my survivors whenever I can. I seldom have problems with stamina - carrrying lots of stuff while running/fighting almost feels like cheating.

[@ghostslayer1981]

It really does. Plus that fatigue severity and no stamina encumbaranxe makes it so you can ignore fatigue FOREVER. I fought so many emclaves amd hordes with fatigue barely even moving due to low stamina costs. You dont even need coffee

[@snowmon4243]

Ya, me too. Marathon+Discipline is always my choice. About combat skill, I choose Endurance for destroying Plague Heart, Swordplay for crowd control.

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

I totally agree but I still choose to have one person with marathon, stealth and gunslinger for close quarters infiltration.

[@danielwright9548]

I know this is old, but I have some info that was not gone over Flying strike works better now than it used to, but it still will crap out, but I use it often to get a quick kill on screamers before they can scream, and with a decent chance of decapitation, it can make insta kills nice Acrobatics now also reduces dodge stamina cost, and I like to use the roll to roll through a crowd of zombies if I’m getting overwhelmed, it will temporarily stun them, also super useful for crowds of armored zeds in dread or nightmare zone, because you can roll through them and then execute one from behind while it’s stunned Backpacking and resourcefulness do stack inventory slots, so you get a total of four packet spaces With marathon, it’s super helpful to be able to sprint away from zombies to get my stamina back, and if you pair it with discipline, it’s so much easier to have light encumberment, so you can sprint for free much easier, with discipline, I can have a gun, two stacks of ammo, melee weapon, and consumables, and still be able to sprint for free

[@anticip8dthegamer]

Great video Fox. Backpacking is by far the best cardio skill. And I can confirm it can be combined with Resourcefulness to have 4 pocket slots. 2 of my characters have that combo

[@GitGudFox]

Yeah, I can see myself re-specializing most of my characters into backpacking when I get the manuals.

[@anticip8dthegamer]

@@GitGudFox yep I've been holding onto a cardio manual just for this awesome vid you did to make sure I picked the right one. You rock bro✊💯

[@jackbishenden3386]

The being able to throw zombies makes it so you can dispatch single zombies on their own without needing to damage your main weapon, or lock yourself into a potentially lengthy execution

[@GitGudFox]

It's situational. You need something for them to hit their head on.

[@trentwolter208]

The flying strike is good for closing the gap between you and the zombies I find myself swinging away at a z and missing my first 2 or 3 hits and copping a slap for it so now I use flying strike do wish it worked more often

[@GitGudFox]

I normally begin combat with a dodge since sometimes zombies can swing faster than you.

[@jacobftagon8037]

@@GitGudFox k,,,screen sing lk

[@nessuno1984]

Just getting around to watching these analysis vids of yours. Not many KZbinrs do these and those that do don't do them throughly. I like to see if there's anything I missed/didn't know already in a game (rarely happens but it's good to discover, lol). When you move on to other games, definitely do more of these gameplay analysis vids. Experiment even. What happens if I do this? type thing.

[@GitGudFox]

Part of the reason I chose to do SoD2 is because I expected the game to be too small to attract KZbinrs who would do analysis videos on it which would mean I wouldn't really have to compete with many people, and I could distinguish myself with having a notch or 2 higher understanding of video editing to differentiate myself from my existing competition.

[@phobos2631]

I don't know about anyone else, but I reference these videos pretty frequently. Would be nice if you annotated the timestamps for the beginning of each skill. Cheers on the great videos! Thanks

[@GitGudFox]

I normally only annotate videos if they're past 20 minutes.

[@phobos2631]

@@GitGudFox Fair enough, good sir.

[@leonardmcspazerton8912]

This video is really great and helpful even now although the powerhouse skill has been updated to be much more useful in that you can execute standing zombies from the front if you have a heavy weapon equipped so it's a bit better now but I do see your point in the drop kick and throwing part

[@GitGudFox]

Yeah, the powerhouse skill would be rated much higher now if I were to take the newer improvements into consideration.

[@suiton20]

Powerhouse curb stomp is very useful. Sometimes you can’t weave around behind every zombie. It keeps you safe when grabbing them from the front. Acrobatics is useful against hordes if you somehow get stuck in the middle of them. What I do is roll to gain distance and throw a fire bomb so I don’t get in the fire. Roll is mostly good as an escape tool. Acrobatics is also useful for scout all survey spots. I use my unbreakable character to survey and jump off the ad signs to basically be well unbreakable.

[@GitGudFox]

If the roll worked on juggernauts, I would have probably liked it more.

[@noreally2120]

Throwing zombies offers really good crowd control, knocking over tight hordes. The stamina cost reduction is very nice for this and a few other uses for throwing.

[@alexhall8656]

I recently experimented with a survivor giving him powerhouse+striking and gave him a baseball bat and turned him loose. The results were shocking, the survivor was swinging forever with this 4lb bat and just taking down crowds. So I watched this for more input and plan to experiment more. Enjoy your videos

[@GitGudFox]

Striking benefited a lot from the smart executions they added where your character will always use the fastest execution animation speed if there is at least 2 zombies near you.

[@OfficialAzIzTV]

the flying strike is almost 100% decap for me using high dismember stat bladed weapons 🤷

[@GitGudFox]

It's coincidence. Sometimes you can flip a coin and get heads 10 times in a row. I've tested it 1000s of times over the 5 years I've covered this game.

[@twitch7515]

Something that isn't discussed in the video (or comments from my scanning) is how well or not well Powerhouse's "Grapple enemies from the front" might work with enemy humans. Sniping and gas grenades are my preferred ways of dealing with human vs human encounters but we all know that sometimes plans become FUBAR and you wind up nose to nose. Humans are so dexterous up close that I've never even tried to grapple or give them the speedy execute, but if Powerhouse could allow a player to grapple a human from any angle it would greatly increase its versatility. Can humans be grappled or executed? Can they be used as human shields?

[@GitGudFox]

Pretty sure you can't grapple enemies humans for any reason.

[@Kemuell_Mabuen]

my own opinion. From worst to best: Acrobatics, Backpacking, Marathon, and Powerhouse. Acrobatics: is bad but I noticed you only used a bladed weapon for the jump attack. For close combat it does a flying kick or a jumping knee (almost a butterfly kick) that can hit multiple targets (though not often). I think for blunt weapons it has a higher chance to hit multiple targets. Backpacking: I know I put it just after Acrobatics but it's not actually bad. Very basic buffs and yes, if you combo it with resourcefulness then you get 4 pockets on your character without a backpack. Being able to carry more with that combo makes it so you have a solid looting character or if you're helping someone else out then you can jam pack that character with noise makers, meds, fuel bombs, 1 gun with lots of ammo or two guns (I use Preppers AK and the BFG w/e it's called 50 cal), explosives, etc. Marathon: I love this perk and have it on 3 or 4 of my peeps. I have one that has endurance and I just flip zombies all day, run away, and do it all over again while I let others go nuts with their guns. I have close combat on one and Juggernauts and Ferals are a joke when I can dodge for a little stamina, and run a good distance away from hordes around me and what not so I can focus on the Ferals and Jugs again. All this and not have to break my weapon. I have sword play on the last one with the ultra light axe. Good at taking out crowds while running to an objective. Lastly, Stealth because I wanted a ninja. Nuff said. Powerhouse: I have 3 of these where two have Discipline (one with close combat and sword play). The main thing I like about power house is both strategic and comedic. Here's the strategic value. Sometimes if you go for the insta kill with close combat or sword play then you will accidentally attempt a grab and bounce off. Not when you use power house. As you put in the video at the end that yes, drop kicking ferals gives you the one shot. The low stamina cost for melee allow me to go ham on ferals with close combat, or on crowds with sword play and barely lose stamina. Lastly, if you haven't leveled up fighting enough then the drop kick being able to down zombies allows you to get free executions until you do. This is also handy for leveling wits. Drop kick, sneak dodge (hold the button down) and execute to perform the stealth kill which levels your wits skill. It's also more effective than shoving a zombie with close combat if you end up using that parring. Here's the comedic value: you did point out that you can throw zombies into stuff and splat, no head left. Here are some other funny things (to me). If you have sharpshooting or a good gun then you can shoot off the legs (and if you want the arms too) to force a zombie to crawl. If a friend picks that zombie up and throws them, they actually throw them in the air. If you try to grab them without power house then it might bounce off as if the zombie were standing and facing you BUT if you have power house then you could potentially CATCH the zombie! I have too much time........ any who the other comedic thing I do is make a wrestler. Power house, wits doesn't matter (discipline is still solid though), Endurance, and assault for guns while using a hammer type weapon. You kick zombies hard enough to down them with assault, you can drop kick out of the ring (ok I know there's no ring), and you can flip them over your head for a wrestling SLAM attack. To add to this, don't use the execute on downed zombies but instead use the kick option to stomp on them over and over like a true wrestler. When all is said and done, if they get back up, go no holds barred and smack the crap out of them with your Sledge (or what ever type you have) hammer! Just like Triple H.

[@GitGudFox]

I did go back and try it with close combat for the flying knee attack. It's a cool attack... but if you're using close combat, you could have also just used the standing execution. I think the flying strike mainly just makes your guy look cool.

[@Kemuell_Mabuen]

@@GitGudFox indeed, that's all it is really. I have two people with acrobatics just for role play sake or "build variety." One with Close Combat that's basically the MMA fighter (inspired from a build video i found) and the other with Striking Skill and a Danford Slugger (spell check?) also inspired by a build video.

[@pieceofplastic2052]

@@GitGudFox That sweet jump kick from Acro + CC really breaks the distance between you and the enemy. i like to use it on a straggler zombie away from a horde that I'm fighting as a way to make some distance as well as knocking down the zombie. This gives you time to recover stamina, take some quick clean headshots on the oncoming horde, etc etc. Same can be said with the Dodge roll ability. It creates enough distance for some quick snap shots before they get close. You just gotta be quick on your feet. Acrobatics + CC is my personal favorite, next to Powerhouse + CC because of how "John Wick" you can truly be in the game.

[@LonghornsLegend]

Just curious, for your 3 powerhouse characters did you need a respec book to get them? I had to buy the book 3 times to get my group of 3 military members from the beginning to switch to it. I just thought it was odd I never found anyone who had that option to choose from. I am enjoying pairing it with discipline and striking.

[@alexangell903]

Kemuell What do you think is the best specialization options for all specs and why? What do you think works together the best?

[@Boldro92]

you can also combo marathon with resourcefulness, which increase the light encumbrance limit

[@GitGudFox]

You'll probably still wind up using lighter weight gear to stay in light encumbrance though.

[@Boldro92]

@@GitGudFox sure, but at that point you're basically forced to use CQB as a melee specialization to avoid the weight of the weapons, or loose the effect of marathon as soon as you pick a painkiller bottle

[@marcos9127]

Git Gud Fox i dont know if someone already mentioned it but if you take of your melee weapon you have two different animations for it when using it with just your knife and honestly they are pretty good for taking out single, small hordes and even bigger ones if you experienced and it has good synergy with the CQC skill and its my prefered combo for my main character.. Also I too had a problem getting the skill to work but after some practice and using it all the time i pretty much land 100% of the time. I can send you a clip of me using it if you like. btw great videos

[@GitGudFox]

The flying knee attack is the most useful of them all for sure. It's just sort of in conflict with the close combat standing execution since they do basically the same job but the standing execution does it in 1 move instead of 2. I still think it's a fun move to use, and especially in the normal difficulty, fun often trumps effectiveness.

[@OfficialAzIzTV]

The grappling zombies is actually auper useful... you aim the zombie towards the crowd before throwing them and it knocks down a LOT of them

[@GitGudFox]

Considering you can just reverse through an infinite amount of zombies with your vehicle, it's more of a party trick to hurl zombies into each other than a major strategy.

[@drakardmexigun7280]

I love these analysis videos. Keep em coming. Maybe base building analysis next? I love powerhouse/close combat which I can now make happen with the training manual. The most useful piece of information I gleaned from you this video was how to trigger the skull punch execute with my powerhouse. Thanks!

[@GitGudFox]

Those damn training manuals can be hard to find. Sometimes I play a whole weekend without finding the seller.

[@drakardmexigun7280]

@@GitGudFox They only appear on the weekend and only from mysterious trader.

[@GitGudFox]

@@drakardmexigun7280 Yeah, I haven't had a mysterious trader for 3 weekends in a row.

[@CyanDreams1312]

I use throw grabs to bowl down a hoard to more easily execute a few of them before they start getting up, so I am looking forward to powerhouse

[@AJay22285]

Wow a little shocked on what you said about powerhouse. I use powerhouse with dis and close combat. Grapple, push into all other zombes, execute when down. Rinse + repeat. Imo best skill combination, quickest way to kill because the execute from close combat is so quick and clean. That and ferals no longer need a shot in the head (IE no noise) from the dropkick :) Still a great video man for exposing all the info, nice stuff as always man :)

[@GitGudFox]

Because why do that when you can just run them over with a car, or burn them all with the pyrolauncher regardless of spec? In Nightmare Zone, this skill gains quite a bit of value, but in Standard Zone? It's just spending a greater amount of time to do something a car or high powered weapon would do faster.

[@AJay22285]

This video was addressing the Cardio specs specifically was it not? Not how to use a car or shoot in SoD2. If you want to bring that into it then I would still say why damage a car or waste ammo? When you can skillfully take them out with no damage to CQC weapon or a car :)

[@GitGudFox]

It was not. I don't evaluate skills in isolation. If a logical, readily accessible alternative exists, then I include it. Vehicular damage is irrelevant in Standard Zone, and the time taken to skillfully remove enemies is a sacrifice in time efficiency. Time is a much more valuable resources than ammo/parts which are abundantly available in Standard Zone.

[@GitGudFox]

Basically, there is no situation, in Standard Zone, where I would prefer to throw zombies into one another and execute them with CQC when I could have just ran them over or burned them with firecrackers/fuel bombs none of which lock you into a skill choice or skill combination. The usage of powerhouse and CQC is not ineffective. It's just not going to be something I recommend because it's a matter of personal taste. What one man considers a skillful removal of enemies another man might consider a waste of time.

[@GitGudFox]

One could also argue that it's more fun to throw zombies into each other and execute them because it's a clever use of game mechanics. That is a perfectly good use of powerhouse, but it's not going to get it recommended in the video.

[@SuperFlik]

I always try for synergy between cardio and wits specializations. If I can get a survivor with Marathon and Stealth, they're my ninja/scout If I can get a survivor with Backpacking and Resourcefulness, they're a supply runner If I can get a survivor with Powerhouse and Discipline, they're on my strike team

[@aaftiyoDkcdicurak]

My marathon character without discipline has the ultralight backpack weighing 0.1 with a 2 pound pistol, 5 pound rifle and 1 pound axe. The ones with discipline have full size backpacks and heavier weapons.

[@johnsemeniuk8230]

I will say, that in the clips I've seen, the grab and throw is actually extremely effective at dealing with large groups of zeds. Put simply, you grab one, throw it at the group, and they all proceed to hit the ground. Very useful if you don't wanna take the chance of being overwhelmed by a large group of 'em. Especially if it's a Plague Zombie horde you encounter while you're out farming plague samples. Though to be honest, I've been giving everyone who isn't a RT Contractor in my current community Acrobatics because I like the combat roll dodge. Silly, I know, when Backpacking is prolly the best.

[@Sgil97]

I tend to Combo Marathon with Discipline with characters that have a naturally high light encumberment limit Unless your carrying Facility mods you will be lightly encumbered most of the time

[@JayHog1992]

Yeah, that combo is great, I can just sprint forever and carry decent weapons like assault rifles and shotguns instead of being forced down to pistols and probably no melee weapons aside from the knife. Because seriously, dealing with light encumbrance to make full use of marathon is quite annoying when it ain't much.

[@G.D.R855]

I'd like to say that in my experience Flying Strike appears to be improved since this video came out. Only issues I have and is being to close and it jumping and not striking

[@GitGudFox]

That's always been an issue. It's still a massively bad skill. The main difference is that you can control when you tumble vs dodge.

[@G.D.R855]

Gotta respect you for replying to a comment on a 4 year old video

[@GitGudFox]

KZbinrs see comments chronologically in descending order, so your comment was close to the top of the list.

[@edpyasecky2225]

In the Open Beta Acrobatics got redesign - now it has BOTH types of dodge . Now you make short sidesteps most of the time , and roll-dodge away from area effects like Plag Jugg ground pound and enemy grenades by pressing "sprint"+"dodge" . You can roll-dodge AROUND Juggernaut - so no more belly/ass hits (almost )

[@katurnasa]

Theory: Flying attack's mechanic might have been meant for quick decap/head smash, but wasnt fine tuned for accuracy due to mobility/targeting issues? I noticed when you tested it when you -actually- hit, you had a dismember every shot (boosted by another skill?) And almost every second/third success you landed a decap. Thoughts?

[@GitGudFox]

It does seem like the killing blow is increased with leaping strike, but it isn't assured. It's also inconsistent where I couldn't get it to function reliably like a fluid combat style. The main problem is that other skills can do the same thing with more reliability like the swordplay standing execution or the close combat standing execution.

[@katurnasa]

@@GitGudFox Yeah I can definitely understand the fluidity issue involved with it. Reason I questioned is that I had a thought it was "meant" for it, but that inaccurate targeting makes it horrible as a sort of targeted "quick kill". Thus, the theory of it being like that, but horribly hobbled by the animation gap. Maybe that was the intent, but players found it easier and faster to net the flow as youm described on the Close Combat/Standing Executions.

[@GitGudFox]

The real problem though is that even if it worked 100% of the time, acrobatics has other problems. It has this aggravating stagger issue when rolling away from juggernauts. Even if you aren't trying to fight the jug in melee combat, it will stagger you if you are close enough to him which isn't uncommon since he chases after you. The other problem is that being able to decapitate enemies with leaping strike is similar to the standing executions. It might seem faster, but there is a delay after recovering from the leap, so it'd be possibly useful, if it had 100% reliability, if your chosen fighting skill was endurance which doesn't have an automatic execution, so it'd be theoretically valuable in very specific situations especially since I would not consider endurance a particularly great skill.

[@katurnasa]

@@GitGudFox Awesome. Thank you kindly for entertaining my theory! Do you feel it would be more competitive if there were tweaks made, or just better to stick with the "meta" of things?

[@GitGudFox]

If it didn't stagger when used around juggernauts, if you could pick between using the standard dodge instead of the roll, and if the leaping attack worked 100% of the time, it still wouldn't be as good as Powerhouse and Backpacking. Powerhouse's dropkick can stun ferals meaning you can kill them in 2 moves: dropkick, execution. Backpacking grants tremendous stamina, adds another inventory slot which stacks with resourcefullness' +1 inventory along with the consumable stack size increase making them the ultimate pack mule. You can carry huge amounts of bombs to go on a plague heart massacre or be the enlisted ally that follows your character around holding onto all the extra gear for your character acting as an expanded inventory.

[@HenryDaily412]

I just buy this game but watching the wit and gun skill from you it help me a lot

[@GitGudFox]

The game has evolved a bit since these videos were created. Some have been adjusted, but they still fundamentally do the same thing fortunately.

[@KhalidElMouloudi]

By grabbing and throwing a zed you can down a whole hord if done right. It's especially useful if you don't have time to fight small fry zeds while a feral is trying to murder you.

[@MrDexterJKM]

Old video, but let me just say this: Assuming we have a character with 120 base stamina and using a melee attack costs 18 stamina. Powerhouse: (120+21)/(18*.75) = 10.44 Hits till stamina depletion. Backpacking: (120+61)/18 = 10.05 Hits till stamina depletion. Backpacking has a better stamina for IN and OUT of combat. Plus inventory, which is always great to have.

[@GitGudFox]

Well, the updates to the skills have changed things. This is fortunate because the skills are sufficiently different that we don't have to stress the mathematics of stamina to try and make like an empirical evaluation. Powerhouse heavy attacks are REALLY good against plague hearts. It is the best melee setup against plague hearts and is even effective against Lethal Zone plague hearts which are VERY durable. So Powerhouse is good. Packpacking gets you 1 more inventory slot. You do a shit load of looting in this game. You also get a huge quantity of stamina making it better for running around and general battle against zombies. So backpacking is also good. Thing is that they do different jobs. The other thing is that I acrobatics sucks, and I personally think marathon is too far out of the way for a playstyle (having to stay in light carry). So basically choose Powerhouse or Backpacking when it pops up... WHAT IF YOU GET BOTH? I would say you should have 2 powerhouses for plague heart smashing, and you can have the rest be Backpacking. You should definitely choose Backpacking if you get Resourcefulness as a Wits skill for +2 inventory slots.

[@joedavis6377]

Great intro! I usually jump on backpack if it's available. Very good analysis!

[@GitGudFox]

Yeah, backpacking is one of those skills that pretty much has no drawbacks.

[@joedavis6377]

@@GitGudFox any idea on when the new update is coming out?

[@GitGudFox]

@@joedavis6377 I haven't heard anything. UL is mainly talking about new members of their team and doing employee spotlight stuff.

[@joedavis6377]

@@GitGudFox thank you Mr. Fix!

[@dafishin3463]

Hey thank for the valuable info just starting play o few weeks ago

[@pieronipeteroni3793]

I'd love to see a vid on red talon contractor perks and how to get the most out of your contractors

[@GitGudFox]

Ugh, that'd mean grinding more PP. I got burned out of Daybreak unlocking all the items. I might do it one day though.

[@geroffmilan3328]

The one use I've found for Flying Strike is in Daybreak - but that of course is with a Red Talon operator who has access to a huge array of skills. In Daybreak it can allow you to close a lot of ground. Use with the big Battle Axe for best results imho. BUT In main game I am always gonna take any other skill: I like Marathon, but Backpacking is cool, and that grab -> execute from Powerhouse is super-efficient.

[@GitGudFox]

After playing Lethal for all this time, I pretty much only choose Powerhouse and Backpacking.

[@thechosenofmystra9397]

I feel like the different forms of cardio play roles properly If on the correct survivor

[@Skeensh3]

Tested Acrobatics, it's more effective without a equipped melee weapon. Flying Strike closes the distance especially against zeds far away, it does a flying kick when there's no melee weapon equipped.

[@GitGudFox]

I gave it a shot this morning since it's been mentioned several times. The flying knee is a lore more effective than the sword and blunt strike. I still think it is mainly a cool looking ability though because if you're going to specialize in close combat, you could just use the standing execution on them instead of a knock down and ground execution.

[@EviltheNub]

Flying strike is really effective against screamers, it's a great way to get close and knock them down super quick.

[@GitGudFox]

Normally you can shoot them or run up to them quickly enough. There might be some benefit to closing the distance a little faster, but you're giving up the ability to dropkick ferals with powerhouse or carry a ton of equipment with backpacking for it.

[@arlem525]

I wonder. Does hidden pouches trait and resourcefulness and backpacking give you 5 pockets?

[@GitGudFox]

I don't see why it wouldn't, but I have not had a character with that trait yet.

[@aigothalinyang8830]

Yes. I have someone with it. But I replaced that person. I still have him in my survivor pool though

[@codiem3]

Marathon combined with discipline is one of my personal favourites, as it increases light carrying capacity, meaning you can collect more stuff before hitting the normal weight. I can generally carry a gun, healing items, stamina regen things such as stimulants, a plague cure incase, ammo in all remaining slots, a rucksack and melee weapon whilst remaining in the light limit.

[@GitGudFox]

I go the backpacking route with heavy duty armaments to blast my way through typically. I think it's still useful to have a character with marathon around though for specific types of things you need to do like obtaining a car that you have to run to in 1player.

[@codiem3]

@@GitGudFox yeah, I know that feeling. I prefer backpacking and resourcefulness for the extra slots. But if those aren't available and there's no rare traders, I go marathon and discipline. I'm in the midst of making a donkey hoodie community at the moment. I think they're adorable especially the Hispanic ones who say things like "Hey look, I found a thing"

[@omarosuna3964]

flying strike could be usefull with screamers?

[@YKE_Zealous]

Hey fox can you add the flying strike at the end of a combo a couple hits before the flying strike? If so maybe it makes it do a little more damage

[@Jacob-jq8ox]

I know I’m really late to this video but what fighting skill goes best with powerhouse

[@GitGudFox]

They're all going to be fine with powerhouse, but I guess technically close combat is the best since you can throw the zombies into each other to setup ground executions.

[@perfection788]

Can you do an update video to this?

[@itsneo007]

Great video. Covers everything, thanks👍

[@GitGudFox]

Except nightmare zone. The ratings would differ there.

[@abominablesnowman64]

Sigh I have such a hard time lately retaining stuff I hear. I had to watch the video 3 times to retain all this knowledge. I'm wondering what effects the jumping acrobatics attack has with other weapons. Gonna test it myself and see if it does anything with different weapons.

[@GitGudFox]

Nothing worth optimizing a bad skill over. The truth is that this game's mechanics can be boiled down to very surprisingly simple strategies: running is OP / avoiding zombies is easy even without stealth.

[@abominablesnowman64]

@@GitGudFox Coming back to this a week later I'm seeing acrobatics does have somewhat of a use but could be better. On the harder difficulties I'm finding myself running away more and trying to climb anything I can to get a breather. I really really wish the acrobatics acted like an AC style parkour like skill being able to climb to the side of buildings. I'm currently trapped on top of a building waiting for the zombies to clear up. If the building wasnt so tall I could have probably existed from the otherside of the building with acrobatic but I'd make too much noise falling and waiting for my character to get up. For more experices or pro players this wont be an issue but for mid good people like me it would come in handy.

[@fo2821]

About that fast finishing whit the melee ,how you do it

[@fo2821]

I realy want to know how to do it

[@GitGudFox]

You mean the knife stab? It's the close combat execution, from the front, with another melee weapon equipped. It prevents you from using the judo toss and stomp.

[@its2ace193]

Power house is the best for combat the front grap is amazing for fighting hords you can grab one then hard throw knocking alot of them down at 1 time i knocked 6 down at a time with one zombie and you can spam it very easily with low stamina cost so it can be used as a get away to the drop kick is also very good for fighting ferals like you said and the 25 reduction with melee helps so much with combat especially with heavy wepons

[@carlosgonzalez-ko3hw]

If you have a big blunt weapon and the right skills the jump strike becomes a grand slam that costs less stamina and will pretty much always knock down zombies. Some guy made a video of it and you need to sprint first before you do the jump for the move to be done as I can recall.

[@carterwillis6624]

No mention of Marathon + Discipline?

[@GitGudFox]

Marathon and Stealth is typically the strong Marathon combo.

[@jordith01]

In response to Evan Roach's comment, there's actually 2 flying attacks that acrobatics gives you if you don't have a primary weapon equipped; the jumping knee AND a flying kick. The flying kick is a bit tricky to use because it's meant for long-range closing, good for stopping screamers from making their first siren, but it's super quick, has no recovery time and you can follow it up immediately with an execution. You have to be sprinting before you hit the button and the range is a bit tricky to judge at first but it's probably the fastest takedown in the game and it can knock back multiple zoms, but at the very least, if you mess up the range, the worst that'll happen is you'll do the knee rather than the kick which at least doesn't leave you vulnerable.

[@GitGudFox]

I'll try it next time I'm in my main community.

[@jordith01]

@@GitGudFox You have to hit the button a lot sooner than you would if you were using the flying knee. If there's sufficient distance from the zom, your character will lock on and do the kick... but of course, too soon and you'll just hop towards the zombie. I've had the game since day 1 and I didn't know the jump kick even existed until a few days ago.

[@dongibbs8586]

How do you do the move where you throw the zombie down and step on its head?

[@Jeremy-t2]

Thanks for the tips..love the channel, love the content.

[@GitGudFox]

Hey! Thanks for watching! I'm glad they're useful for you!

[@boomknight1015]

There is times where I lured a to me when I'm in the single stair way up, to the 2nd story of those houses that have a build zone on that one map. Those houses are just high enough to if you jump out a window you will get the fall damage. So having it when I know I will be looting a lot of those buildings can really save me some times

[@WikkeSchrandt]

I know Nightmare and Lethal weren't a thing back when this video was released, but on Lethal especially, Powerhouse is a game changer. Being able to grapple a zed and throw them into a horde of their friends to knock 'em over is absolutely vital to surviving that difficulty. Being able to do so from the front trivialises most encounters. I would probably not recommend it on the lower difficulties, but with how much damage even a single, normal zombie can do on Lethal, it's a must-have!

[@GitGudFox]

Vital / must have is overselling it. I go through Lethal on the regular rarely using the throw. Its main value is the power swing which does a lot of damage to the plague hearts. They way you kill zombies is by backing into them with your vehicle or burning them with the pyrolauncher. Much faster and more efficient than slowly killing them with the throw.

[@sirquest66]

I actually agree with everything here. The fall damage is something I never paid attention to with acrobatics

[@Kamokot]

I know this is old, but... Grappling is more than just comedic - even without close combat specialty, executing downed enemies with a close combat weapon (screwdriver, knife, etc.) is very quick compared to the execution animations of "proper" melee weapons. Even without powerhouse, there's times that I'll dodge, grapple an enemy, and throw them through a crowd - then I'll unequip my melee weapon quickly and execute 3 or 4 downed enemies. The Powerhouse and Close Combat skills make this a very viable option for dealing with crowds in my opinion. Also full disclosure I did not do this until I saw Brian Menard in action - this seems to be one of his favored combat styles and after trying it myself I can see why. Excellent video as always though - just wanted to contribute my two cents on this particular gameplay mechanic.

[@GitGudFox]

Yeah, I know about the throw. I've used it, but I still don't find it especially useful since I often just don't really fight zombies as I demonstrate in my 0 deaths, no DLC, play from scratch Lethal Zone. Basically, the higher the difficulty gets, the less reward there is from killing zombies meaning you should just not fight zombies unless there's a good reason. The influence penalty is like -75% for killing zombies, so it's pretty severe making zombie slaying a waste of time.

[@Kamokot]

@@GitGudFox Hah yeah that's a good point - the best way to win the fighting game is to not fight at all. I find myself constantly kicking myself for picking seemingly simple fights on lethal that escalate and don't end well... Also man was not expecting a reply - thank you for taking the time to respond. Love the content as always.

[@TheSpectralFX]

Acrobatic is great with stealth to crouch-roll super fast and backstab at ludicrous mouvement speed

[@GitGudFox]

You can do that without acrobatics. Stealth dashing has a faster recovery time and allows you to move quickly and still pass through zombies. Acrobatics remains a pretty awful choice.

[@GyorBox]

Backpacking and Resourcefulness DO stack. I have several characters with both of them. I use them as pack mules.

[@GitGudFox]

It gives you quite a bit of stamina and carry.

[@GyorBox]

@@GitGudFox --- Exactly. And when you Max them? You can stack First Aid Kits even..

[@BenignAndaHalf]

On standard I’d use backpacking, on Nightmare it would be either powerhouse or marathon. I don’t use acrobatics because I hate the somersault.

[@GitGudFox]

Acrobatics is one of my least favorite skills in the game... possibly the least of all.

[@killaviking7786]

As usual, completely agree with you, Fox 🦊

[@andrewwashere82]

Hey, great tips! Very informative for creating survivors for different tasks. Like Looters with scouting and I think either sharpshooting or gunslinger, etc... Anyway, you have over 5,000 PARTS!! Is there a video for that?

[@GitGudFox]

You need some CNC mills or someone with metalworking to make a forge.

[@andrewwashere82]

@@GitGudFox Hey, thanks for responding. So metalworking huh? Good to know, I have a craftsman that is ready to upgrade. On that note, I can't find a video from you on the Craftsmanship 5th skill?

[@GitGudFox]

I haven't done that one. The previous skills were done before I started doing the Nightmare Zone series which has made it harder to dedicate to just making guides.

[@andrewwashere82]

@@GitGudFox Ok, fair enough. Thanks for the other guides tho, very helpful! ✌️

[@TheFedeGamer99]

11:14 when using powerhouse you need a heavy weapon so you can do that finish move from the front at least is that on the new patches you should do this videos again man

[@9Hookr9]

So I haven't seen any comment about it, acrobatics with CQC, close combat, is insane. The wimpy flying strike becomes a guaranteed knockdown flying kick, allowing you to crowd control hordes and get fast back to back executes. It also activates more often, rarely does it fail for me. Idk if the devs intended that way or what. Plus, the dodge has outright broken I-frames. You can dodge early, phantom roll through enemies, and execute them from behind quickly, or get into perfect position behind ferals-juggernauts to stunlock them.

[@gamechanginggamers5388]

how do you get powerhouse because i only get two options

[@GitGudFox]

It's random. You just have to get lucky. If you don't want to get lucky, you can also use a cardio retraining manual, but they're pretty expensive at 1500 influence. They're sold by the mysterious trader, but he might not sell the exact retraining book you want since he usually only carries 2 out of the 4 skills.

[@Alex_H29]

Git Gud Fox He carried 3 for me recently. Cardio, wits and shooting. Kinda wanted to respec fighting on one of my survivors, though :(

[@benspooner7396]

Acrobatics flying strike is meant to be used from a distance. It doesn’t work like a normal attack at normal range, instead it’s a ranged melee attack. You only really use it once to get into the fight and then normal attacks to take out the horde. You would then use it to get a zombie running up to you so you get the jump on him before the zombie has the ability to bite you. Great video but this is the best way I use acrobatics.

[@GitGudFox]

I have tried it both at long and short distances especially since I grinded a ton of Daybreak which every character has the acrobatics flying strike option. The command just isn't consistent enough. If I did use it, I found using it with a close combat weapon worked for the best because it turns the flying strike into a flying knee which knocks zombies down in 1 hit which was at least fun to use.

[@likeablekiwi6265]

the jump strike allows you to quickly close the distance... ive used it indoors and id say it works better than outside with a crowd of zombies

[@IJDAI]

can you still grab zombies from the front with power house if so how do you do it.

[@yurishima3593]

So the red talons agents are not that good like I thought?

[@GitGudFox]

They can be extremely good depending on what stats they have.

[@yurishima3593]

@@GitGudFox I have 4 agents, they fight a lot, how do I know if they are good?

[@GitGudFox]

@@yurishima3593 You have to look at their skills and traits. It'll tell you what they do. Some of them have really strong red talon exclusive skills.

[@yurishima3593]

@@GitGudFox understood, they are too expensive lol, can you say one exclusive skill that I have to look for?

[@eldoncoleman5607]

What do you do to unlock backpacking tho

[@GitGudFox]

It's random. If you really want backpacking, you can use a cardio retraining manual to forcibly learn it.

[@Every_Thing_Counts]

Pair marathon and *discipline (which will INCREASE your light encumbrance bar) and you can get the most out of your perk

[@GitGudFox]

It's always worthwhile to have 1 guy with marathon in the community.

[@skippymcgroyne]

Its been my experience that Powerhouse is a Team skill first and foremost in that its best utilized with a follower. When playing with a follower or in multiplayer, the successful grapple allows the partner to one-shot-kill the grappled zombie with no execution animation and no special move on the followers part (of course, some stamina is expended by the grappler but much less than flailing away or special moves). Additionally, to add to the comments about Flying Strike, I have found that Powerhouse and Blunt weapons go hand in hand when faced with multiple targets when you lead with Flying Strike. It starts the combat with a good chance of a multi hit and knockdown which leads to getting the executions quicker. These are only *my* observations based on my playstyle so of course, YMMV.

[@GitGudFox]

The best use of powerhouse is the dropkick execution on ferals. It's actually super handy, handier than I realized when trying it in the video.

[@skippymcgroyne]

@@GitGudFox Charge a Feral?!? I truly never thought of that!

[@arnessmr5699]

Flying strike is not a close combat skill. Is designed to be executed from a short distance unlike ground slam. If you combine it with the fighting skill sword play, you can decapitate zombies with one strike.

[@GitGudFox]

I showed it in the video.

[@ColinH90]

A little late on the comment but grappling and throwing harder on powerhouse is for much more than comedic effect. “Zombie Bowling” as many call it is an effective way to take care of hordes. Grab one zombie and throw it into the others, they fall down. Harder throwing = more zombies getting knocked down and reduced stamina from grappling = doing it more times without fatiguing. Then you can go in for a executions, and repeat as necessary. And for acrobatics the reduced climbing cost can help with hordes as well, making it easier to keep going with the jump over the wall, kill a few, rinse, repeat. I find the flying strike more useful in daybreak because it allows you to close ground and hit a zombie quickly with less stamina than running to it and taking a swipe, which needs to happen somewhat frequently in Daybreak. It is still by far the worst of the skills though.

[@leuk3532]

Powerhouse is so good for cc, grappling from the front to throw into a horde will knock most of them down letting you escape or finish them on the ground

[@GitGudFox]

These days, you can just use striking since you don't need powerhouse for it.

[@leuk3532]

@@GitGudFox I like using both, it’s saved my ass in lethal quite a few times with how big some hordes can get.

[@averryaguirre2330]

try holding LB and click b that will work maybe 8:21

[@qihaoliang3345]

have you tried just keeps going -40% fatigue severity marathon -40% fatigue severity one of the standing reward（forgot its name）-20 fatigue severity What will happen, will you ever get fatigued.

[@qihaoliang3345]

Never mind I think it just slows the fatigue by 2 times

[@GitGudFox]

I imagine it'd have diminishing returns where each bonus wouldn't be as strong as the last.

[@Thelitletrainthtcud]

I think your issue with the acrobatics dodge can unfortunately be attributed to operator error. If you use the dodge key while holding a direction you will roll, but if you do it while standing still your character just sidesteps or ducks attacks, meaning it doesn't throw you out of position. It's mainly useful for having a long dodge window rolling THROUGH a horde. Allowing you to power through a sticky spot rather than having to search for a clean run to kite the horde. Useful in closer spaces not as much open fields. Definitely prefer powerhouse over it as well

[@GitGudFox]

Nah, that was added later. Originally, the tumble roll completely overrode the original dodge. Later, they would patch the game to let you choose between the original dodge and the tumbling roll. It's basically garbage though. You can gain the power of the tumble roll anytime you want by using the pyrolauncher. You use the pyrolauncher to set yourself on fire and tumble. While tumbling, you are invulnerable to the damage allowing you about 3 tumbling rolls through the zombies while simultaneously burning them. You can even kill zombies by setting them on fire, letting them set you on fire and tumble into the corner of a room. The zombies will continuously set you on fire allowing you to roll forever because you can roll without 0 stamina. The zombies will keep attacking and eventually burn themselves all to death. So basically, acrobatics is mega garbage.

[@shilo-cp4oc]

Power house is great for just a fun time for a bit its a one off for me if i have a larger 8 or 9 person community.

[@GitGudFox]

I didn't fully appreciate it in this video, but the dropkick execute feral that powerhouse gives is really, really good.

[@byronlinares3066]

Hey Fox, could you make a video on heavy weapons?

[@prabhakarraj6644]

I chose marathon today and it still cost stamina to run even when i am carrying light weight can you tell me why??🙁

[@GitGudFox]

Because you aren't at 7-Stars marathon.

[@prabhakarraj6644]

@@GitGudFox thanks for letting me know 🙂😊

[@likeablekiwi6265]

the hard throw of powerhouse is essential for the close quarters combat skills extremely fast ground execution

[@GitGudFox]

It wasn't during the time of this video. It didn't become an important skill until Nightmare Zone.

[@likeablekiwi6265]

@@GitGudFox It seems you haven't done a video about melee weapons yet

[@GitGudFox]

I should have a comparison of blunt, bladed, and close combat.

[@anggafestiyan5598]

i dont have powerhouse, only marathon and backpacking ? any clues?

[@GitGudFox]

Not every character will have access to every skill on their own.

[@anggafestiyan5598]

@@GitGudFox i want powerhouse so bad :D, can i remove current skill without buying book? maybe with trainer? cause it cost like 1500 haha

[@GitGudFox]

You'll need the book or continue to level up characters until one of them can learn powerhouse.

[@n1wakeboarder42]

Great video, covered very well thank you

[@GitGudFox]

I may have to revisit them for the Nightmare Zone, but I am happy with the ratings for Standard Zone.

[@LifeLikeSage]

You forgot to mention that if you use the flying strike from acrobatics while using close quarters weapons (like a knife) instead of a melee weapon, it does a flying kick that knocks zombies down. That has niche use for close quarter built survivors.

[@GitGudFox]

Thing is that once you have 7-Stars in close combat, you can just use the throwdown and stomp.

[@LifeLikeSage]

@@GitGudFox That's true, I said niche use because the only use I have for it is knocking down a zombie attacking another player before using moves like throwdown or the close range knee-strike.

[@rippersp]

Hi Fox! Where is the Shooting Skills Analysis?

[@GitGudFox]

It should be in there. Check the playlist. They may not necessarily go in order.

[@rippersp]

​@@GitGudFox Just found! This video was not in Strategies playlist... And thanks for your channel. Like+Sub

[@GitGudFox]

Okay, I will add it in then. I must have forgotten to add it.

[@TwentyFortySeven]

I also thought Acrobatics was the worst for cardio, but now that Nightmare mode is out, I'm rethinking everything. When you have that feral horde (plus another horde or 2 of regular zombies), Acrobatics is actually pretty good for getting out of being surrounded...or dodging 2 or 3 ferals at once. Also the fall damage helps when you're up a sign or building and don't want to go down the ladder since there's a bunch of zombies down there waiting for you. Honestly, Nightmare mode has made a bunch of skills I thought were useless in "Standard" (medicine, driving, mechanics, acrobatics, etc) seem pretty useful now.

[@GitGudFox]

That's the argument I made in my "Why do people want nightmare difficulty?" video. It's going to make some skills more useful and other skills less useful which makes a pretty different game experience.

[@lightfain199]

Man I miss the round house kick and the sweep kick.

[@primalraptor7538]

when i go and master the cardio skill i only see 2 different skills, is this how it always works?

[@GitGudFox]

Kind of. The skills you have access to differ from character to character. If you level up cardio on several different characters, you'll find they have access to different options. Most of the time you pick between 2 different skills, but some characters will have more options. I have seen a character only have 1 option as well.

[@primalraptor7538]

Git Gud Fox ok, thanks!

[@zedelle8215]

how to use skill 11.17

[@GitGudFox]

There are even more uses than the ones I discuss. Perhaps I will revisit the skills at a later time.