Why Watchtowers will get Your Community KILLED??? State of Decay 2

[@StateofDecayScience]

Watchtowers are re-evaluated with the changes they received in Update 33. Here's the link. kzbin.info/www/bejne/e3KQmp6Xqrx6ias Frequent Comments: 1. If you are about to say things like, "the best way of defending the base will be this or that", remember! this video is not teaching anyone how to defend the base. It is about how to make the AI members better. By making the AI better, there is a less chance of losing a member during siege while every player follows their own "best" method of defending a base. 2. Also Members dying because of the watchtower doesn't literally mean people dying on top of the tower. It means, members dying because of the lack of proper support from unoptimized watchtower AI.

[@TacticalVodkaOperator69]

True I lost 2 member on 2 different maps base with built in watch tower, one npc and one I was in control of the AI will get killed and allow you to be killed at any given time no matter your skills levels, thanks again for the vid🏆

[@orionpeterson3042]

Your tower was nice but didnt look like something post apocalyptic or homebuilt.

[@StateofDecayScience]

My design is just a 3D model that is made under 3 hours. I didn't add any textures to is. I didn't paint it. I only showcased an ideal model for watchtowers. So complaining about it doesn't make any sense...

[@SioxGreyWolf]

@@StateofDecayScience If there was a way to mod it in, or convince them to make this a form of watch tower, upgraded or otherwise, I would install it ASAP

[@StateofDecayScience]

Even if we make a great watchtower in the game, the AI is not good enough to utilise it. They will climb up and down for no reason. For example, the Loch & Keogh base has a good watchtower (still not an ideal design). It still sufferes from bad AI. So until the AI is fixed, no watchtower is good. So it is better to avoid the bases with built in towers. UL don't need to fix the AI. It is not an easy task as we think. But they can easily make the watchtower defensers under our control. If they did this, the ladder watchtowers will be insane!

[@phylippezimmermannpaquin2062]

the man went out of his way to design a functional watchtower. thats worth smashing the like button

[@blumilkBW]

Agreed

[@grinchiestgrinch7289]

Modders are unsung heroes in this age of gaming indeed. They can turn of pos into thee shit, and a great game into an amazing game. Some will go above and beyond and fix a developers mistake they were too lazy to fix or some other excuse themselves. And the craziest pert they do it for free in most cases.

[@TheUnit270890]

Not only that, but one that’s optimized specifically for zombie defense.

[@JoelEmmettMcGarrity]

I think they intentionally put the watch towers with stairs because it would be too over powered to have a ladder since zombies can’t climb. Not sure though.

[@averageedpenjoyer1692]

They could make it so that common grunt zombies can climb but the juggernaut can’t fit

[@bluscout1857]

⁠@@averageedpenjoyer1692eh maybe not grunt zombies, maybe feral zombies however

[@119Agent]

Yeah a ladder is the ultimate defense against zombies and has been since NotLD. Even in State of Decay, roofs are the safest place to take a break and regroup or snipe. The watchtower ramp is obviously a design choice to avoid overpowered bases.

[@pyratewolf3689]

I've been playing SoD2 since lockdown & still learning something new. Keep up the good work!

[@zacharyrogerssr9331]

I've been playing since the release and I still feel the same way

[@yoloyogurt7678]

@@zacharyrogerssr9331 literally the same, go to map and base is rusty rosie on providence ridge cause it has that built in watchtower/fuel storage thing. Currently on a new playthrough at day 20 and fully self sufficient on meds food and ammo only use 3 material and 1 fuel a day. Meds + 3 Food + 7.5 but have community at 10 so they all chowing down. So its at 4.785 Ammo + 3 Parts + 75. Game gets easier when your community is self sufficient.

[@yoloyogurt7678]

Do you guys know if you can change maps and keep your while community?

[@Bad_Place_Alone]

I’ve been deeply suspicious of watchtowers for a while now, and this is the evidence I’ve been searching for. I had a TPK recently where some survs were standing uselessly on the WT (with 50 cals) while others were being torn to bits in their blind spots. I won’t build another WT again, and bases that come with them go down in my estimation. Seriously, HUGE thanks to our guy here.

[@familiar1618]

The one thing I appreciate about watchtowers, even with the disadvantages they have is that they actually help passively level up your base members' shooting skill. It might not be a big deal but I think it does help a lot for Nightmare - Lethal zones. Also there are really weird cases where freaks and hordes spawn out of nowhere (even in front of a player sometimes) and they can help deal with them when they have lines of sight of zombies. Wish they'd improve the watchtowers and the AIs. And if they continue letting us use watchtowers in SoD3 hopefully it would be miles better.

[@wowdozer]

you can also get bounty progress from watchtower kills as well. like "zombies killed with assault weapons" or "kill feral with crossbow"

[@lordnub926]

Personally for me I love watchtowers mid game to late game. Usually I’m able to equip my guards with high tier weapons and a lot of times they kill hordes like it’s nothing. (Also it’s not really the weapons that helps but how many skills you have for shooting)

[@janellebantillo2127]

Me too, watchtowers are boosting my community morale

[@grinchiestgrinch7289]

Shit with BP juggernauts, and ferals running up In there together you better have a bunch of terminators in that mf

[@pt8292]

this is high quality content man. love these deep dives into one of my all time favorite games

[@alfonsorodriguez9055]

Just got back into this game and I forgot all the mechanics. These videos help to relearn them again.

[@titolovely8237]

One thing I always do is make sure one survivor has the hygiene skill. It makes your npcs extremely resilient to blood plague. Couple that with giving them full auto weapons of higher calibers (7.62 usually) and I don’t even return to my base during sieges. Gotta keep looting!

[@Darkjonny79]

I know you just did a Trumball base guide, but I'd be interested in a worst to best guide for the other maps that's updated with the information that Watchtowers are dangerous for your base.

[@StateofDecayScience]

I will do them. But after completing the current ones. Plague heart guide and Lethal zone guides. Testing for those videos took 40 days and editing the same type of video over and over felt so repetitive. So I planned doing them after the above mentioned ones.

[@panzerhound6264]

always give ai's full auto/burst weapons (weapons that are locked to full auto/burst and cant switch to 1 single shot full auto to burst is also fine) then add some adv muzzle or any muzzle that can pierce totally destroys hoards and juggs at the highest level difficulty.

[@andrewdrennan9436]

I like your tower improvement suggestion. I also think a dynamic slot setup would be ideal as some bases don’t have great positioning for towers, RT or otherwise. (Cp Kalenqua is a favorite, but towers are a little weakly positioned there). I will say that in their current iteration you can offset the poor AI with planning. One hero simply chooses a spot either in the courtyard proper or slightly outside the base immediately inside the weapon ranges of the tower(s) that the fellow survivors are manning. A good mix of automatic weapons and .50 cal is good, but have at least one starshank launcher available. While your hero dances around killing a few at a time and keeping the zombies engaged, the rockets will draw them in clumps. Sure, you’ll get shot in the a** occasionally but sometimes I don’t get any breaches at all to the compound, only taking damage to the survivor who immediately goes into quarantine afterwards.

[@TacticalVodkaOperator69]

I see your point but I gotta have my sniper and watch towers installed to punch down spawned in Zeb and parade walk throughs around my base, and your design watch towers would be a better fit, I feel that UL place the Ramp on all the towers just so the Zebs can run up them first that's way I like using watch towers in bases with built-in towers to give a little cover support with over lapping fields of fire😉👍🏾

[@QueenCallisto]

I am the same. I must have my sniper tower. It has gotten me out of some dangerous situations.

[@lukefleming3782]

I am just getting into SOD2 and your videos are really well done and very useful, thank you!

[@TxDigitalGaming]

Awesome video man. I am thrilled that the small slot Haven worked out for you.

[@griffonclaw]

This is so great. Excellent work and even better researching. I'm electing you as leader of my community when the zed apocalypse kicks in.

[@StateofDecayScience]

Similar to what I wrote in this script: It is natural to assume that I can do better in zombie apocalypse. It is true in state of decay 2 but it is not in the real life!!

[@blakefitzgerald1170]

Love the watchtower design 👍

[@StateofDecayScience]

"Fitzgerald" Interesting name!!!

[@Wibstozbin]

This video was excellent. Thank you for sharing these tips. I always wondered about why the survivors would wander outside during sieges. Now I need to find the diagrams for each base's invisible base boundary. This was happening to me with bridge fort and container fort. I stopped playing them because I kept losing survivors to their stupid decision to walk outside.

[@StateofDecayScience]

It won't happen in any of the Trumbull bases unless a zombie pushes them outside. Because Trumbull bases have boundaries contained perfectly inside the walls. But other map bases have this issue.

[@nonyabiz1285]

Strip Mall has this problem. I've lost two survivors to feral packs because they went out the back close to the water tanks.

[@TheChris7554]

Hands down you make the best instructional videos for this game.

[@joshuacabral2348]

I've learned it the hard way on my first lethal run. I lost my great mechanic and Cook. Besides that watchtowers will not even significantly reduce my threat levels, I decided not build one at all. Best decision I made for the rest of the game. All my allies are firing at will with 50 caliber weapons while I tank most of the zombies. That gives you 220 Influence all the time.

[@ReiCaixa]

I honestly would prefer if it was like in SoD 1. Preferably with 1 mandatory Watchtower that only one or 2 people hold off. You can still increase the safety area or train other people in there. But losing one area that could be something else isn't really that interesting.

[@mrredisa.d.d.8566]

Good point. And it ties back in with what he said that your teammates need BETTER A.I.. If they could take orders and/or guard the towers more intelligently, then the ramps would be less of an issue

[@mrhappyface4181]

Your data was on point. By reducing the melee attack distance from those in towers from 300cm to 50cm (no longer detecting AI in a bubble underneath them), and increasing their task ranges for overwatch + outer combat circles, the watchtowers begin to function as intended. With the siege mechanics as they are, modded watchtowers hold up the later game. For whatever reason, there is something in the AI that doesn't always engage the overwatch principles. There is a tradeoff to be made between the most trigger happy survivors who will sink magazines into a crawler with one arm, or survivors who will occasionally just watch hordes walk past the front of the base while having a durry and not giving a damn. If you end up digging any extra behaviours on towers, they would be appreciated. It makes for better mods.

[@JohnnyKimchi]

OMG! This helped me figure what I've been doing wrong in lethal now! I was using them to increase shooting exp, but I didn't need it! Thank you for making my game easier!

[@BenjaminoBest]

Personally I’ve been leveling up all my people in my “forever” base in green zone and then once they are maxed out I send them to legacy pool with decent weapons and good skills so they are ready to be called into action wherever needed. Started a nightmare community and it’s perfect. In the green zone community I have a perfect farming base also with level 3 lounge, shooting range and fighting gym. With those 3 things leveling up a character is easy and I don’t even have to actually even use them at all to max them out.

[@JohnnyKimchi]

@@BenjaminoBest LOL, I feel so stupid for not actually doing that now... would've made my initial runs for all the legacy boons much easier. I've only just started doing this recently.

[@samuelantoniocastillomeza5034]

Learned how bad watchtowers can be when losing a survivor at the Knight base. Except it was by Ferals instead of Juggernauts.

[@alreddy13]

If you gain the aim to snap benefit on your shooting skills, this will greatly help with dealing with your feral problems, even during lethal.

[@samuelantoniocastillomeza5034]

@@alreddy13 I use it at times but here was because some of them infiltrated without me noticing and happened the effect of the survivor going down the tower to face them 3... with melee attacks...

[@shmodzilla]

The "full house" mod is the only reason i play the game still. Like you said, have a siege and only 4 of my 12 commubity shows up to fight. Now its straight uo awesome. Edit, full house and community editor to fix issues caused by terrible glitches such as i was driving my truck yesterday, fully repaired and suddenley it blew up .

[@bokvarv1926]

There is ONE exception to this applying to Cascade Hills container fort. ONE of the small slots, if fitted with a watchtower block the only place the zombies can climb inside, this leaves them to have to go through the two doors only. The lot is the 2nd Small slot, on noth/upper wall closest to main entrance, or the opposite side of the large slots

[@StateofDecayScience]

But zombies entering through that wall makes no difference in container fort. Besides, that place has worst line of sights for a Watchtower.

[@bokvarv1926]

@@StateofDecayScience yes, the watchtower there will really only serve a blocking purpose and the threat reduction. Container Fort is not my favorite to defend, but as for funneling Z and making the entrance points only the tow doors, it hepsla little but of course you have the LOS from tower that again does not help so as a block is what I meant for that base ebing a "small" exception, given it does block and in that base this helps some, though I would agree not much

[@StateofDecayScience]

so instead of wasting a slot for tower, a car will block the fence well!

[@swordre5805]

One of the most important tips during siege. Please carry at least a few molotov. Juggernaut and feral is hard to kill because your survivor is too busy killing normal zombie, a simple molotov throw into a group of zombie will solve this problem.

[@StateofDecayScience]

You are missing the point. This is a not a guide of how to defend your base. It is about how to make your AI members better at defending. So there is a less chance of getting them killed during sieges.

[@mayckonwolf]

Maybe the devs look your idea and take it on consideration great video mate.

[@mr.cheese6896]

I've had problems where I block the doors, in Trumbull valley I usually do this with the base with medical tents anyway when doors are closed off then there's a siege, somehow my suvivors fall outside and stay out there's no way to let them in unless I open the doors that I've blocked which is annoying during sieges It's possible to block all doors even the one you use to get in side the base best car for doing this is the ultimate car

[@andermedievil]

having a watchtower with a ramp in a zombie apocalypse seen pretty stupid to me,heck,the watchtower in state of decay 1 was even better,even when it was just scrap made.

[@ashleyrawiri8406]

Im actually trying without watchtowers being built (inbuilt fine) and found yes you are right, the AI is so buggy when NPCS are on the watch tower, there is a small 6 meter zone i found watching npcs on the towers when shooting they will most of the time engage on ground level in hand to hand. Effectively renders the structure useless. I will keep trying on playthrus and see how I do without it but so far the sieges aren't that too difficult without building watch towers. Cheers Rvidd for your scientific analogies.

[@orionpeterson3042]

Early on in my playthroughs back in 2019 I lost an 8 member enclave at the Lock and Keogh base. I also blocked the doors and ended up funneling 2 bloaters, a screamer, a feral and a juggernaut into a small killzone spot. The bloaters are what killed me but ever since I am wary of small enclosed bases.

[@DutchGabbers]

I keep underestimating those bloaters.. Lost some good people to them in tight spaces.. They are one of those things you ignore until one literally blows up in your face.. The blood plague + damage is ruthless

[@shmodzilla]

It doesnt help that back then and sometimes still but more rarely, a screamer outside your wall will scream and threr bloaters spawn inside the base and explode.

[@SuperStorma]

Awesome video. I learned a lot thank you. Followed.

[@NOLAgenX]

It’s interesting that any watchtowes built in to a base (other than Fort Marshall are only reached by ladders. So UL obviously knows what’s needed for a safe watchtower that keeps zeds from coming up to destroy them. I’d love to see you publish your watchtower as a mod! I would install it.

[@StateofDecayScience]

My design is not a functional one. It's just a 3D model.

[@NOLAgenX]

@@StateofDecayScience Too bad, what with using ladders like the built ins do! Question: How to make up for the -6 threat reduction the RT tower provides. I know you said that it's multiple small siefes or several bigger sieges, but IO like to try to get the risk low regqardless. That -6 is hard to beat. I appreciate your work on this! I'm looking forward to your base defense rankings beyond Trumbull.

[@StateofDecayScience]

The built-in ladder towers still suffer from bad AI. You saw how it was in RT FOB. But don't worry about higher threat levels. If you take care of the regular zombies and ferals, AI can easily kill the juggs if you don't have watchtowers (even if your members have pistols and SMGs).

[@Del-Canada]

In SOD1 the watch towers were great from what I remember and they were ladder only.

[@StateofDecayScience]

The AI should also be good to not suck! I don't have SOD1 experience. So don't know anything about SOD1 watchtower performance

[@alreddy13]

What I like doing is blocking off side and back dours that could be used by zombies to sneak in. I will bring a vehicle and block that dour to force them to use another entrance such as a short wall. While they use that short wall the zombie will slow their attack and give your enclave valuable time to shoot them dead in the head. I personally do not prefer to be without a watchtower because it will allow a ton of more zombies to be closer to your base and gather around for a seige. Using the method I listed above forces zombies to attack from the front where the watchtower is and thus killing off much more zombies and preventing a large siege.

[@StateofDecayScience]

"it will allow a ton of more zombies to be closer to your base and gather around for a seige" I just said, that is not a thing in the game.

[@JB-kk4pv]

So, what about the Snipper Tower, on lethal the support fire over the radio is very helpfull

[@hornetwithagun3083]

the builder sniper tower tho is worth the buff

[@phyoekyawkyaw6733]

The base I hate the most is the Corner Office in Cascade Hills. AI are just climbing up & down while seiges are happening and there always a community member loss after that. AI still have a problem with shooting from higher positions.

[@StateofDecayScience]

It is the worst ranked base in my upcoming base defense guides

[@mkorman01]

Lol ill never forget my first lethal run comunity wipe. Trumble vally, the trailor park base, 3 members, had a snioer tower that lured in 3 hoards from the dirt road came in and gunfire lured 2 jugs or they were in the hoards idk, but with only 2 9mm and 1 55.6 gun it was not a fun time lmao

[@spikestips6034]

That problem never happens to my watch towers their heads turn green then explode before they get into my base

[@gurugamingkiwi]

Great video RvidD! Amazing!! 👍😎

[@Deadnvrsleep]

Makes sense I've always kinda looked at watchtowers kinda like a cosmetic after the haven device came out 🤷‍♂️

[@atikunchaisuekun2378]

I wish you could build kill box at entrance gate, just drop in molotov would make defence a lot easier.

[@StateofDecayScience]

Or a meat grinder in doors!

[@coelhorosafps2600]

man after this video i started to realize that vijia towers are useless but i'll keep using it because of the sniper that for me is a very useful ability

[@landenwillard844]

Combine blocking the doors with a good positioned watchtower and during sieges the watchtower will thin out the siege by the time it gets to your door and they are mainly forced to stay on the watchtower so going outside will be less of an issue only thing you really have to worry about are jugs but a few of your guys with a 50 cal. will handle that

[@StateofDecayScience]

If few of my guys have 50 cal, why would I need watchtowers when they can kill the zombies instantly while on ground?

[@landenwillard844]

@@StateofDecayScience if you have more than a few characters equipped with a 50 cal then yeah but you'd have to be playing for a good bit for that to happen and I have played and beat lethal and done all four legacies and the method i spoke of I've done nearly everytime. The problem with the jugs is when they get in your base if you have a watchtower and guys equipped with 50 cals then they are usually almost dead by the time they enter your base and taking out the other types of zombies are pretty easy so this option almost negates zombies getting under the watchtower or causing your guys to be attacked when you block certain doors a have a good placed watchtower

[@StateofDecayScience]

When you block certain doors to avoid zombies reaching the towers, the watchtowers will have poor line of sights to the spots where zombies enter the base. Only few bases allow the watchtowers to have clear line of sights across the whole base. Most bases don't. Just because what you did worked for you doesn't mean it is the best. You have just followed one method without even considering the other. Have you conducted multiple tests on how the defense will be with and without towers and compared the results? No. And don't you know that watchtower defenders will often be standing idling on the towers even if there are zombies inside the base within their line of sights? And watchtower defenders will also abort their positions when the zombie they are focusing went out of sight. You will only know these if you have conducted multiple tests.

[@landenwillard844]

@@StateofDecayScience when you block all but one door or access point the zombies are forced to spawn at or near the only point of entry allowing the guys on the watchtower to pick them off at a distance and while they may not be tests they have worked even on lethal at most bases so my method works idk why you're trying to invalidate how someone does their game and my idea might even allow for someone who can't survive lethal hordes the ability to do so.... but if you have a haven device in the current version of the game sieges do not happen unless forced

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@landenwillard844 You are just repeating the same again. You follow one method. Obviously yours do work. But you have not compared it with other methods for the effectiveness. Without any comparison, how can you say one method is better than the other But I have tested multiple scenarios, compared the results and I found, the bases without watchtowers are better. So you are the one invalidating my points without proper research. For example, if I use 50 cal to destroy the plague hearts, it will obviously work. But just because it does work doesn't mean it has to be followed all the time. There are better ways than this. If I say 50 cal weapons are the best for plague hearts without even using any other methods, how crazy would my suggestion be? And you are contradicting to your own points. Your 1st comment said "few of your guys with a 50 cal will handle that". When I asked, "why would I need towers if I have 50 cal", you said, "you'd have to be playing for a good bit for that to happen". And then in the same comment you said, "if you have a watchtower and guys equipped with 50 cals then they are usually almost dead". So now I have the same question again. If few of my guys have 50 Cal, why do I even need watchtowers? Just watch 2:45 again. I guess you didn't even watch the full video or even tried to understand anything said in this video. Backup your point with a proper proof. I am ready to accept it.

[@jimmymorris6409]

wow nice to see you posting vids again dude!!

[@StateofDecayScience]

When did I stop?

[@jimmymorris6409]

@@StateofDecayScience The notifications stopped, do not know why, sorry dude

[@StateofDecayScience]

I am taking longer to make because these guides take a ton of time to make. Also you can see the difference in editing. Well edited videos take 2-3 hours to make each minute.

[@jimmymorris6409]

@@StateofDecayScience Thanks RviD's you are doing a fantastic job.

[@jimmymorris6409]

@@StateofDecayScience 1st videos Sir! as always

[@SuperStink]

There's only a one or two bases that benefit from watch towers only to a max of nightmare difficulty after you block the doors.

[@broskie9362]

What is it?

[@ncamon]

Door blocking does not work for me as the cars and trucks get teleported to a spot away from the walls.

[@Nicky_Inspired_By_Freedom]

Try parking them next to the gate. Then, destroy them(fire bombs, explosives)

[@sidmonitch]

It does that if you park to close.

[@SAVATRON84]

Thanks for this. I have been trying to complete a Lethal zone for ages and keep having community wipes from sieges. Very annoying!. Hopefully this advice will help get me across the finish line!

[@StateofDecayScience]

You had watchtowers??

[@nu-nisamiracle2401]

Don't let the screamer scream.. that's usually what makes your community wiped off.. even with yellow siege risk, after the 3rd day.. the scream will call another screamers and buggernuts.. in your 1st base..

[@anhnguyenhoang210]

The actual best tip for making your base more defensible: get an *Independent crafting station* ASAP and make Bouncing Boris bomb. Throw one under the jugg's nutsack and watch him collapse from intense CBT. One bomb is enough to kill a jugg as long as he gets hit by more than half of the "popping" (about 7-8). Each "popping" also stunlocks the jugg so once he gets hit, he's literal dead meat.

[@StateofDecayScience]

This video is not about how to defend the base. It is about how to make the AI members better.

[@anhnguyenhoang210]

@@StateofDecayScience Yet your video claims to teach people tricks to "easily make your bases self sustaining and more defensive in the harder difficulties." Or is it a clickbait?

[@anhnguyenhoang210]

@@StateofDecayScience Anyway, having a cheap way of killing juggs (the most likely reason for a base wipe) does make the base more defensible. And since it saves ammo/part on killing juggs and meds on healing survivors, it also makes the base more self-sustaining.

[@StateofDecayScience]

This video is not claiming to be a base defense video. It is base building video.

[@AreaAlien-db8jp]

I mean if you don't want zombies to be attracted to the watchtowers then give them silencers on the guns, give at least 2 of your survivors 50 cals with 1 bullet and of course if you have a sniper tower then juggernauts aren't an issue even in lethal zone

[@StateofDecayScience]

Why are you repeating the same I said in 2:45? Don't you know that the AI members don't make that much noise to attract zombies? Also you should read the pinned comment too!!

[@kestutisstugys1189]

Sniper tower is a different story though. Can get you out of lots of sticky situations.

[@rodinjones2625]

Great video as always!

[@Zephyr007]

Have u made any video on your expected features or things you want to see in SoD 3? If not you can make one as it will be very interesting to see your perspective after playing this game for a long time.

[@StateofDecayScience]

I have a lot of ideas. But I only made one. You can check SOD3 map idea in my channel. Reminder. That was one of my early videos. Voice will be terrible than this

[@Zephyr007]

@@StateofDecayScience oh, I will surely check it out

[@sleepy00682]

But watchtowers give you morale bonus which can be useful in nightmare & lethal zone?

[@sergefreeman3729]

Got shocked when I saw how many prestige points you managed to collect. WOW! Incredible dedication to SoD 2 title.

[@StateofDecayScience]

That's from my 250+ Daybreak victories! I also have a Breachless Solo Daybreak guide!

[@sergefreeman3729]

@@StateofDecayScience I watched them all. Tried to follow but can't get past wave 5 so far. Keep forgetting to utilize the mines. But I haven't unlocked them weapons you recomend to use. I play using mouse and keyboard and you play using controller. I should be ashamed of myself. I'll make sure I rewatch and follow them guides again. But mate! 89k prestige. Just a rhetorical question - do you play any other games? I suppose you've spent some prestige already to get red talon soldiers.

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@sergefreeman3729 I usually buy prefabs for other players when they ask. I rarely spend my prestige. Now you are in Discord, when you want someone to join your game, you can ping the Daybreaker role. But keep in mind that most players don't play Daybreaks these days. I will join when I am free. No, I couldn't find time to play any other games. Last game I played was Sekiro. It was 3 years ago.

[@sergefreeman3729]

@@StateofDecayScience Oh thank you for that! That is brilliant to say the least. I'm not really enjoing much that Daybreak. I play it mostly to get steam achievements and red talon guns for my compain playthrough. But as for a challenge it is a very decent part of a game. Thank you very much indeed RvidD! Much obliged!

[@carllanger8873]

Thank you for your videos. They really help.

[@Stranzua]

They should definitely change the watchtower design. In my opinion they are just not tall enough. If they are not taller than the buildings in your base, then what's the point? Some slots don't make sense to build a watchtower on bc it's either too short and/or it's facing one side of the base that's protected by a cliff for example. Also, putting a ladder is a great idea but it seems like it's going to be OP. Maybe it can be managed in a way where you can select who goes up there so you can choose to protect 1 or 2 characters from a community wipe.

[@StateofDecayScience]

If watchtowers have ladders and the members don't get down themselves, there won't be any silly community wipes!!

[@Stranzua]

@@StateofDecayScience I thought that's what I said, but I also made the suggestion that you can choose who goes up there so you can protect your favorite/most valuable characters.

[@aronsturz4665]

might need to recheck watch towers do to the new seag system

[@daveb.4383]

WOW very informative to say the least!

[@GhostSalty]

Nice one! Ladders on watchtowers are a great idea, maybe they didn't do it so there's some risk to our survivors

[@StateofDecayScience]

But watchtowers' primary purpose is avoiding risk!

[@The_Makr_]

@@StateofDecayScience In this game primary purpose is just random morale bonuses, lol...

[@mHANIF-xl3rx]

@@StateofDecayScience in first game any watchtower have ladders

[@nerdaholic3000]

Did they change the effectiveness of cars blocking base doors and jumpable walls? I always use watchtowers but only with blocked entrances and a mix of Raider’s AR15 with Brake and 50 cal. But also I always use cars to block whenever possible, though on Lethal there’s probably like 3 cars on the entire map haha.

[@StateofDecayScience]

Nothing has been changed!

[@DiagolonRider]

i just got the base at whitney field in meagher valley with 2 built in watchtowers and it's a constant base siege... but it makes a lot of money lol

[@StateofDecayScience]

because those sieges will only be 60 seconds long!! So defensive capabilities doesn't matter!! But the influence is great!!

[@Zlobota]

Thanks for the video. It was very interesting.

[@xxtoptigerxx8758]

Amazing advice. Definitely turning my gun tower to something better

[@Old_Man_Pool]

Every time I block doors with cars my stupid people open the doors and move the cars

[@rijidernacht1157]

I had the watchtowers on the military base on the (valley idk I forgot the name, the og map sorry its been awhile). Had a community of 12 that went down to 1 because they all got trapped up top and I was on nightmare. Got attacked by a horde with 4 juggernauts that just climbed the ramps and trapped my peeps in there. I had zero defense.

[@StateofDecayScience]

Yeah, that sucks. They are not optimised fir defense. We can even disable the built-in towers in some bases.

[@gangmaster744]

Very nice video, but i want to ask you a question : Should I equipped pyro launcher for Al members during the zombie attack ?

[@StateofDecayScience]

Don't use pyro launcher. Use the highest caliber guns you have.

[@gangmaster744]

@@StateofDecayScience can you give some Example ?

[@StateofDecayScience]

50 cal > CLEO weapons > choke attached shotguns > brake attacked 7.62 or 5.56

[@gangmaster744]

@@StateofDecayScience ok, thank you so much ❤️❤️

[@gangmaster744]

Very nice video, but i want to ask a question. If i don't build watchtowers, I won't have 50 cal sniper support. So How can I kill a feral or a juggernaut if i don't have or forget to bring pyro launcher or 50cal guns ?

[@StateofDecayScience]

If you are relying on sniper support, you can go for sniper tower. But a tower is not good for base defense anyway. A much better way to kill the ferals is using spiked cars. Also you can avoid the juggs most of the time. But if you wanna kill them, you can do it easily with your car. Also use CLEO support transmitter if you have unlocked it. It provides rapid 7.62mm support. Check my "Only State of Decay 2 Guide you need" if you have not. It will uncover a lot.

[@FroogyMcDoogy]

Do sniper towers have an advantage compared to watchtowers?

[@StateofDecayScience]

I made an updated video about watchtowers in my very recent video. It will have all the info.

[@grudgebearer1404]

Damn, something may have changed since update 28 when I last played because a watchtower and a few .50 there means no zombie even gets close to your base

[@grudgebearer1404]

And yes, I prefer they shoot the zombie from over the tower because they can even assist me when I am clearing things close to the base, if they are on the ground they can't help, I mean, why is range importance right?!

[@StateofDecayScience]

That's what I demonstrated in this video. Why do you waste a slot for watchtower when your members have 50 cal?

[@grudgebearer1404]

@@StateofDecayScience because they can assist me from afar with things I may not want to busy myself doing for a start, also, I prefer if the fight keeps controllable, this means letting the zombies close by and enter the base is dumb, with people in the tower I just need to find a high ground outside the base and they do the job by themselves without risking anyone inside the base. You even say later about keeping the fight on a open space, what open space is better than just outside the walls at sight of every watcher I have there? I sure need to see those wandering hordes that look to be something new but to the last time I played my towers were the safest option to deal with invaders by far, letting people on the ground and the zombies close usually means a big mess

[@grudgebearer1404]

Funny thing is, he puts the "love" reaction on every comment except the ones that disagree (with reason) with his video. It's a shame because this usually is a channel with good tips and pretty direct to the subject, but this passionate and irrational hate for watchtowers just messed all the respect I had previously.

[@StateofDecayScience]

Watchtowers should not be built in any community. You are talking about the situation of your well established community in which you will have bunch of 50 cal weapons for all your members. You are talking about the slightest advantage of 50 cal equipped watchtower members that kill everything that don't enter your base anyway. Even without watchtowers, all your 50 cal members will be invincible. You cannot say watchtowers are best without seeing how it is without watchtowers. But that is not the case in new games. When people start fresh communities, they think watchtowers are must and build them without knowing they handicap the AI. That's what leads to some community loses. Besides if you wanna talk about absolute best base defense in your established community, use a slot for haven device instead of watchtower. About members going outside, it maybe open space but they will lose their teamwork there that's why it is dangerous. And most of the time, only one or two members will go outside which makes all the incoming zombies aggro towards them which is extremely deadly. This is the problem in this comment section. Most people I argue here only talk about something they assume. You have to conduct a lot of tests to see how this game AI has been programmed and how they react in each situation.

[@theelordpyro]

im learning! :)

[@nikman1979]

What will happen if you block all the doors?

[@StateofDecayScience]

Juggs will run around base and move some cars

[@nikman1979]

@@StateofDecayScience Thanks didn't know that

[@ahmedraza2706]

you can farm unlimited cleo drops with watchtowers and container forts and 2 cars

[@broskie9362]

What’s the base on 6:05?

[@StateofDecayScience]

Church on the hill - Cascade

[@hackernohacker46]

Hi thanks for your helpful videos. However there has been some different opinions on other youtubers on the effectiveness of watch towers if tested with .5 weapons equipped. Would watch towers function/contribute better in that case. Any alternative strategy would help the effectiveness of the watch towers for example the human player defending the base of the watch tower while the AI shoots from above.

[@StateofDecayScience]

2:45 Why do you need watchtowers if your base members have 50 cal weapons? Defending the watchtower from ground? Aren't the watchtowers supposed to defend the members that are on ground? If we should protect the watchtowers, what's the point of building them?

[@hackernohacker46]

@@StateofDecayScience you are right. I’m just thinking in terms of effectiveness, like in mmorpg where the tanker tank and archers shoot from behind, lowering the risks and producing effects larger than the addition of the two in that scenario.

[@guimello00]

Is there other way to decrease threat level instead of watchtowers???

[@StateofDecayScience]

Watchtowers will not reduce threat from update 33. Update will be released within the next 24 hours.

[@St.CrimsonTweets]

How does one capture footage away from characters? Does this camera control have a name?

[@StateofDecayScience]

I have installed free cam mod to capture cinematic footages

[@St.CrimsonTweets]

@@StateofDecayScience thank you!!

[@starfighter1043]

The RT watchtower gives you an overpowered CLEO sniper support tho that's the only reason I build it.

[@StateofDecayScience]

They don't

[@starfighter1043]

Oh I thought it was for sure off that. I dunno how you get the cleo sniper then lol it's been a minute since I actually played

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@starfighter1043 You get that by installing CLEO support transmitter facility mod in any of your facilities. Only in RT FOB, you get that pre installed in your watchtower.

[@danielp5226]

is there mod to bypass community member restriction? having a huge base but only with 7 guys in there is just stupid

[@danielp5226]

and thanks for the tip, I'm gonna rip off that dumb tower right away : (

[@StateofDecayScience]

There is a mod called "Full house" or something. That will render all your members.

[@asmokingp3005]

wow good video. Too bad i left the game. Gona wait for state of decay 3. But i still watch some sod 2 videos. good stuff

[@AbdulHannanAbdulMatheen]

👏🙂 Great video

[@wyattbusch]

That's why I made my base at the Red Talon FOB

[@StateofDecayScience]

Those watchtowers are bad too because of bad AI

[@mephisto04]

Do AI with better shooting skills aim better?

[@StateofDecayScience]

With sharpshooting, they might. Because they will reload faster with Gunslinging.

[@crsasdffs]

i'm also annoyed at the watchtower as I sometimes like to keep a shotgun in my base defense but the idiot climbs the tower with it.

[@dctjsnapper]

How do you get that all those supplies...I keep grinding & can't reach those numbers...

[@s8nwulf]

mods

[@kilo6436]

or trade

[@StateofDecayScience]

This community is 260 days old and I have 256 Daybreak victories. All legit ones.

[@faru077]

Certain watch towers are useful because they help u escape sticky situations

[@skiadrum4047]

I build sniper tower for sniper support when i raid plague hearts

[@RoySTYX]

How i get heaven capsule to build heaven divice?

[@StateofDecayScience]

By playing Trumbull story missions.

[@johns818]

Build the Tower next to a roof that's low enough to jump onto. You're welcome 🙂

[@smarth1313]

Hello, my dad plays this game, for some reason he fell on your video that is not his native language, he is saying that he does not recognize this map and says that maybe it is something new and wants to play in it, can you tell me the name of the map and if in fact it is something new? Thanks.

[@arcanumelite4853]

the newest map is called trumble valley... its the map from state of decay 1 but with different bases (the farm base is the same but larger in the second game)

[@TheFedeGamer99]

Yeah watchtower in first sod were better 1:50 they were something like this one maybe not that tall, i never builded one cause im always interested in factories

[@jesselee2792]

If the zombies get on the tower can’t you just destroy it to have the survivors move.

[@StateofDecayScience]

That is an interesting question. that's why it is better not to build it because watchtower AI is very dumb

[@jesselee2792]

@@StateofDecayScience very true. You re right it’s better to not just build it. I like having the watchtowers just to roleplay. So how does the castle doctrine work with the container fort? It has 4 guards on top? I think undead labs definitely need to increase the npcs defending the base to at least 8. With the container fort I like to put the watchtower at the upper level in the middle southern small slot in the middle. No zombies are able to get up there and the survivors can shoot at both entrances while the other 3 defenders are defending the corners.

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@jesselee2792 Container fort is bad at defense because the defenders do not have clear line of sights inside the base. CF does not have perper layout, so our AI members cannot have good teamwork. Most importantly, juggs can't get inside the base, so sometimes 1 or 2 members will go out and fight them which is very dangerous unless the doctrine defenders have 50 cal.

[@jesselee2792]

@@StateofDecayScience gotcha. Thank you.

[@jesselee2792]

I watched your video regarding watchtowers. I wanted to make a potential suggestion that watchtowers enable you to reload your gun from the ammo in the storage or have infinite ammo. This would not require a massive revamp of the tower design. It won’t fix a.i of the npcs but it will allow the player to maximize active defense for home bases.

[@Katniss0000]

did they fix this?

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@Katniss0000 I have made an updated watchtowers video. It is in the pinned omment

[@Katniss0000]

@@StateofDecayScience thank you. I have already watched it. It seems they do not fix it with the Final Update v38.

[@StateofDecayScience]

@@Katniss0000 What were you expecting to be fixed? the tower design or human AI?

[@Katniss0000]

@@StateofDecayScience just make using a watch tower not a liability. Like not make the AI in the tower die or become useless when there is a siege. maybe too late to fix that and we will just wait for a MOD or SOD 3.

[@Leandro-zf8ej]

I hope that in state of decay 3 they add a free construction system type fallout 4. Honestly the bases of the game are horrible to look at, on the whole they have no defense at all.

[@TheFedeGamer99]

I have a trick when siege is coming to home i come to it to trigger it on and i leave i know that they cant die if you are not neat them am i wrong? So instead of using ammo from stock i do this

[@StateofDecayScience]

Yeah. It will work. But you can't do the same when a large horde enters the base.

[@TheFedeGamer99]

@@StateofDecayScience what you mean?

[@TheFedeGamer99]

So ill get +200 influence for free e no ammo loss

[@TheFedeGamer99]

@@StateofDecayScience why? If i leave the range nobody's gonna die

[@StateofDecayScience]

When a large horde enters the base, you can go out of range. But when you come back, they will still be inside the base. You have to quit the game and reload to despawn them. BTW, if you are in Discord, you can join there. I don't receive notifications in KZbin. So I am searching all the comments manually for new comments.

[@sweetbrown89]

So basically this is more applicable for higher difficulties And if you just spam .50 cals on your survivors I’m not sure why you’re not protecting the base of the watchtowers by kiting zombies

[@StateofDecayScience]

But why do you even need watchtowers in lower difficulties?

[@sweetbrown89]

@@StateofDecayScience every huge base except for Barricaded Strip Mall and Lundegaard Lumber Mill come with built-in defenses anyway, so the problem still exists as a matter of pathing more than the Watchtowers, themselves Pathing has been buggy since Update 27 or 28 (I played 26 and when I came back in 28, AI has gotten worse) In real life, it’s a basic tactic to focus on defending the watchtowers from the ground, so this is really only a problem if you’re not helping the AI by kiting the zombies below them at all Yes, the watchtowers are useless if you’re not playing ground defense

[@StateofDecayScience]

First of all, watchtowers should be the one protecting the ones below. Not the other way around! Pathing issue? Never really experienced any problems in my game. If the base has open fighting area, the AI will perform real good. If it is dense like strip mall, obviously they will struggle. It is not easy to program the AI to make their pathing like they are sentient. That's why I made this video explaining the things the AI struggle with so we can avoid them.

[@wowdozer]

from what I've seen, its only bad on higher difficulties. I never go above dread and I always have watchtowers and never has anyone died on them Tip 3 is useless for me on Xbox, zombies will run right through parked vehicles like they don't even exist or game will teleport cars I use to block away from the base when I log out and back in or drive far away from base.

[@StateofDecayScience]

It is not about members dying on top of towers, but about the stupid AI which abandons its position when there are nearby zombies and the unoptimized tower design which allows zombies to reach the top. And you are right, if we are far from the blocked entrances, zombies will pass through the cars. Sometimes the game will reset the car positions.