State of Decay 2 News

The landscape of State of Decay 2 has changed. The next map you move to will be peppered with new and improved outposts, but to claim them, you must first defeat the plague hearts whose influence now spreads across the map.

Many of you have already spent some time in this new world by participating in our Public Test Realm on Steam, and it was your feedback that helped shape the final version of these features that we’re releasing today. Thank you!

• Plague hearts now possess the territory around them, requiring you to defeat the heart before claiming nearby bases and outposts.
  
• Resource outposts can now be upgraded by spending influence. This increases their benefits and unlocks skill training options.
  
• Each map has a new landmark outpost, which allows you to choose one of three powerful options to benefit your community.
  
• Survivors can now carry both a primary weapon and a sidearm, opening up new tactical loadout choices.
  
• Community skills now share many of their advanced benefits with the entire community of survivors.
  

NOTE: You must move to a new map, change your map difficulty, or start a new community to see the plague territory and outpost upgrade features.

Read further for all the details on these features, plus a whole lot more.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Plague Territory[/h2]

Plague hearts now project plague territory around them, filling the area with a nasty red mist and making it unfit for human habitation.

• Plague territory is marked by a deep red splotch on the map. Any site within plague territory has a red icon, indicating that you cannot secure or claim it.
  
• To free a site, you must destroy any plague heart that includes that site within its territory. In densely-clustered maps, that could mean destroying multiple hearts.
  

Plague hearts tend to congregate where humans do, so expect valuable bases and outposts, as well as denser neighborhoods, to be covered by plague territory.

This change means that defeating plague hearts is no longer just a checklist item you complete before starting your legacy. It’s a day-to-day concern as you plan your community’s expansion.





Resource outposts — those that grant an income of food, fuel, or another resource — can now be upgraded to unlock increased benefits and skill training options for your community.

• Each resource outpost offers a progression of two upgrades, with escalating costs and requirements.
  
• The second-tier upgrade doubles the resource income and offers a skill-training action that grants you ready access to strategic skills like Medicine, Mechanics, and Computers.
  
• A fully-upgraded resource outpost now offers three units of that resource each day (or more, in the case of Food outposts at higher difficulty levels).
  

Each map now also features a single landmark outpost — a unique claimable site that offers three distinct strategies, each providing a powerful benefit to your community.

• Some landmark outposts offer a choice of three distinct benefits, while others offer a single benefit, but allow you to choose which cost to pay.
  
• You select your initial strategy when you claim the outpost, but you can change it later from the base screen.
  

Particularly valuable outposts (landmark outposts, upgradeable resource outposts, and utility outposts) are now marked with distinctive backgrounds on the map screen, allowing you to identify them more easily. So get out there and explore your options!

Thanks to everyone who suggested outpost upgrades on the wishlist! Also to everyone who called out prominent sites that became landmark outposts!



Another benefit of the upgraded outposts is the fact that they can unlock three new achievements, for a total of 50 gamerscore!

• Biggest Ball of Twine in Minnesota (10) — Claim a landmark outpost.
  
• A Three Hour Tour (20) — Claim 3 landmark outposts.
  
• But It Can Be Better (20) — Fully upgrade a resource outpost.
  

For a limited time, earn Microsoft Rewards when you complete any one of these achievements! Read here for details.





Since you need to change maps to engage with plague territory and the new outposts, we’ve made switching maps much easier! Here is the new process:

• At the start of a new community, you can already see the exits marked with icons on the map screen. At first, they are locked.
  
• Hovering your cursor over an exit icon tells you exactly what you need to do to unlock it.
  
• What you need to do is simple — upgrade your Command Center.

That’s it! Once you have an upgraded Command Center (which follows you from base to base), your community has access to all map exits, without needing to perform any additional actions.





You now have two ranged weapon slots in your inventory — one for a primary weapon and one for a sidearm. Each ranged weapon in the game fits exclusively into one of those two slots.

• Primary weapons include rifles, assault rifles, most shotguns, crossbows, and special weapons like grenade launchers.
  
• Sidearms include pistols, assault pistols, revolvers, and short-barreled shotguns.
  

While aiming one ranged weapon, you can quickly swap to the other by tapping Y (on controller) or 2 (on keyboard).

• This has shifted the fire mode input to D-pad Down and 3, respectively, as highlighted on the aiming HUD.
• You can remap any of these inputs on the Settings menu.
  

ALSO! Weapon mods can now be applied to any weapon in your inventory (if they are compatible), including unequipped weapons in your backpack.

This was one of the most frequently requested items on the wishlist!




Community Skills now apply many of their advanced benefits to the entire community, not just to the individual with the skill.

• Nutrition now offers +10 Health and Stamina to the entire community.
  
• Metalwork now offers +15% melee weapon durability to the entire community.
  
• Automechanics now offers +25% fuel efficiency and +50% vehicle stealth to the entire community.
  
• Pathology now offers +50 infection resistance to the entire community (instead of +100 to the individual).
  
• Surgery now offers +20 Health to the entire community.
  
• Plumbing now offers +20 Stamina to the entire community.
  

This change led us to make additional balance tweaks to some skills that already offered community-wide benefits.

• Cuisine now offers +15% Influence gains and +6 Morale to the community (over the previous +10% Influence and no Morale).
  
• Electrical now offers +25 parts per day (over the previous +20 parts per day).
  
• Munitions and Pharmacology now offer +10 to Ammo and Meds Storage (respectively) because the +3 they used to offer was garbage.
  
  

We also made changes to some of the Red Talon fifth skills, though not all of them affect the entire community.

• Combat Medicine and Demolitions now offer +2 stack size to the individual (over the previous +1 stack size).
  
• Firearm Maintenance now offers -25% gun durability loss to the entire community.
  
• Logistics now offers +1 stack size to the entire community (instead of +2 to the individual) and retains its +25 parts per day.
  
• Mobile Operations now offers +25% fuel efficiency to the entire community (instead of +50% to the individual) and retains its +1 fuel per day.
  

As always, we’ve continued to make smaller-scale improvements to the game alongside the headliner features above.

[h3]Gameplay[/h3]

• We fixed a bug that could cause an exploding bloater to affect a vehicle that was well outside the range of its gas cloud.
• Rapidly damaging a plague heart will no longer cause its second gas explosion to fire improperly and ineffectively.
  
• Survivors no longer take infection damage from feral attacks that they successfully dodged.
  
• Followers now use grenade launchers more effectively against hostile humans.
  
• Followers no longer fix broken firearms for free.

[h3]Enclaves[/h3]

• When you search for a new enclave via the radio, we now try to spawn the incoming enclave close to your current position, rather than close to your base, giving you more control over where they are likely to arrive.
  
• The enclave you meet during your arrival on the map with a new community (after skipping the tutorial) can now be recruited immediately after their mission.
  
• We removed all remaining instances that we could find of an enclave with the deprecated, meaningless “Cold” relationship status.
  

[h3]UX[/h3]

• The host can now see the tether bubble on the map, helping them to avoid accidentally teleporting their multiplayer guests.
  
• We added an option to toggle in and out of aim mode, rather than having to hold the aim button down. You can find it on the Settings menu, under Accessibility.
  
• Hovering your cursor over a plague heart on the map now reveals what type of rucksack you will earn if you destroy that heart.
• The aiming HUD now displays icons for the Aim Snap and Assault Kick, reminding you when you have access to these special abilities.
  
• Enclave icons now appear when you survey enclave-occupied sites from a survey point.
  
• Surveying a site by aiming at it from a survey point is now much quicker.
  

[h3]Base Management[/h3]

• Survivors are no longer unhappy when their base is missing certain common facilities (Workshop, Infirmary, Garden, or Watchtower), giving you more freedom in your base-building strategy.
  
• Traits that cause survivors to argue more often now very specifically tell you how to avoid the arguments while retaining the survivor.
• We’ve reduced the number of notifications that pile up immediately upon loading your community.
  
• You can now withdraw rucksacks from the Storage facility while it is mid-upgrade.
• The parking slots in front of Camp Kelenqua are no longer swapped on the Base Screen.
  

[h3]Tutorials[/h3]

• The stealth tutorial now reiterates the stealth input multiple times to make players more likely to understand the process.
  
• The blood plague cure tutorial now actually consumes the dose of cure you use on your dying friend, instead of leaving it in your inventory.
  

[h3]Things We Fixed Earlier But Forgot to Patch Note[/h3]

• The Professional Deejay trait assigned by a travel conversation no longer applies the Music skill. This should be the final case of a travel conversation potentially filling that last skill slot. You need fear them no more.
  
• When deleting a community from a save slot, we now name the community in the confirmation dialogue, to help reassure you that you are deleting the one you intended.
  
• The Community Difficulty slider is now the one that applies modifiers to the Threat level at your base, not the Action Difficulty slider, bringing the mechanics in line with their description.
  

[h3]Miscellaneous[/h3]

• We closed an exploit that allowed players to (laboriously) duplicate ammo via the vehicle inventory.
  
• The RTX Cyclone now counts as a shotgun for the purpose of completing bounties.
  
• We’ve also made a raft of minor improvements to art, audio, UI, and localization.
  

[h2]Welcome to the Public Test Realm[/h2]

Do you dream of influencing your favorite zombie survival game? Do you love getting your hands on new features before anyone else and making them better? Do you secretly wish you could be a QA tester? Join the Public Test Realm, the open beta for State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition, open now!

[h2]The Life And Times of Playtesting[/h2]

We are continuing active development on the game, from mechanics to features. As developers, we always want player feedback as we make changes. There’s no better way to do that than by hearing from you before those changes even ship.

Once you’re in the open beta, you’ll be shown a QR code that links to a survey. The QR code and the button to take the survey are available at all times from the pause screen. You will use that to give us your honest feedback. Be sure to join the developers and your fellow testers in our official Discord.

Our primary goal is to make sure we’re creating changes you enjoy, that enhance your gameplay experience. The added bonus is that we get to be more transparent with you about what we’re making and why. Win-win!

[h2]Introducing Plague Territories, Landmark Outposts, and Upgradeable Outposts[/h2]

We’ve added three new features to enhance the strategic challenge of the game. All three affect the map in ways that won't show up for existing communities, so you must change maps (or map difficulty) to try them out. All new communities will have these features enabled by default.



Plague Territories are infected regions controlled by plague hearts. You cannot claim a home site or an outpost within plague territory until you have defeated the nearby plague heart that controls that location. Note that some locations may be “claimed” by multiple plague hearts with overlapping territories!

Landmark Outposts are unique sites that offer three different benefit strategies to choose from when you claim them as an outpost. Each map features one such outpost for you to try.



Resource Outposts (the ones that offer Food, Ammo, etc) now allow you to upgrade them to enhance their benefits.

When you've tried the new features, please follow the link to fill out the survey. We’re running this beta specifically to hear your thoughts!


[h2]
About the Public Test Realm[/h2]



On your first launch of the Test Realm build, your communities from the Retail version will be transferred over, if you had any. Note: from this point forward, your save is forked. Any progress or changes you make in the Test Realm will not copy back to the Retail version, and vice versa. You can freely return to playing in the Retail version of State of Decay 2 at any time. Your communities will be exactly as you left them.

Multiplayer will work in the Public Test Realm, but only with other Test Realm players. When we are not actively testing features in the Test Realm, we will push the Retail version of the game to this environment. The FAQ has more answers to questions like these.

Because this is a long-term open beta, you will be the first to playtest all ongoing improvements to State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition. The content and focus of the beta will change as we develop these new features and mechanics.

You can learn about the most recent beta content in future Steam updates and on our newsletter specific to beta test subscribers, so be sure to sign up to be notified.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

[h2]Getting Started[/h2]

Now that you're excited to get your hands on these features and give us your feedback, here's what you need to know:

1. Our FAQ about the Public Test Realm
2. A visual guide to opting in
3. Give us your thoughts in the survey by opening the QR code while your beta game is paused. We recommend a couple hours of experimentation with the new features first! ːsteamthumbsupː

[h2]Thanks for Your Help![/h2]

The Public Test Realm is open and available now. We appreciate the time and feedback you’re providing -- and so will the many players whose experiences are improved because of your efforts.

--State of Decay 2 Development Team

[h2]Toward Brighter Days[/h2]



Welcome to the latest update for State of Decay 2!

Winter isn’t done with us yet, but we can take heart from the ever-lengthening daylight that foretells the coming rebirth of spring.

We’re still hard at work improving the game in ways big and small. This update expands your options for recruiting new community members, adds mouse-and-keyboard support for Xbox players, brings back the Trumbull Valley Pack, and standardizes a monthly rhythm for returning content packs.

[h2]Celebrating Black History Month[/h2]



Before we dive into more details on the improvements to the game, we want to point out a special outfit item appearing this month. This unique t-shirt is inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement and the NAACP’s “We Are Done Dying” campaign. The image is designed by artist Ty Ferrell and portrays a figure kneeling in peaceful protest, with images of raised fists arranged behind him in a manner reminiscent of State of Decay’s familiar logo.

You can find the new Basic Tee (Done Dying) outfit in your Closet starting on February 8.



A physical version of this T-shirt is also available for purchase between February 8 and March 1 by visiting StateOfDecay.com/naacp. Sales of this shirt will benefit the NAACP.

The physical shirt will be available for purchase ONLY during this time-frame. No reprints are planned.



[h2]Recruiting from Neutral and Friendly Enclaves[/h2]

New recruits are the lifeblood of any community, but they can sometimes be hard to find. At least until today!

Starting now, every non-hostile ambient enclave offers you the option to recruit. This means as long as they’re not shooting at you, and they’re not busy with their own problems (embroiled in an ongoing mission arc), you can recruit from among their ranks.

• Allied enclaves still allow you to recruit for free, as they always have.
  
• Friendly enclaves now allow you to recruit for 750 Influence.
• Neutral enclaves now allow you to recruit for 1500 Influence.
  

So now if you need recruits, the simplest way to get them is to use the radio to contact a new Enclave, meet up with them, and then spend the influence to recruit from them that very minute.

[h2]
The Trumbull Valley Pack Returns[/h2]



This content pack celebrates the sleepy little valley where it all started. It features six weapons that first appeared in the Heartland expansion, plus four outfits worn by iconic survivors from that storyline! It also includes the Improvised Weapon Station, a fan-favorite facility mod that lets you craft an array of useful weapons from spare bits and pieces lying around your base. Visit the Bounty Broker to find out how to earn these items!

(We had previously indicated that the Critical Response Pack would be cycling back this month, but Trumbull Valley was a better fit for the schedule. A revised and improved Critical Response Pack will return later this year.)



[h2]Bounty Broker News[/h2]

Over the past year-plus, we’ve been adding new content packs to the game via the Bounty Broker. We now have 11 distinct collections of weapons, outfits, and other useful gear, each with its own theme, from pirates and soldiers to cowboys and movie monsters.

And now we’ve also implemented a new schedule for this library of content packs to automatically cycle in and out of the game. The first day of each month now includes an update of the Bounty Broker’s inventory, with one pack returning to circulation while another leaves. This provides you with a regular and predictable schedule to know when packs are coming and going, and does not require you to download an update to the game.

For example:

• On the first day of March, the Pawn Shop Pack will return, replacing the Fearsome Footage Pack.
  
• On the first day of April, the Plunder Pack will return, replacing the Stay Frosty Pack.
  

… and so on. We’ll keep you apprised of upcoming packs (especially any with new or updated content) as we go!

[h2]Mouse and Keyboard Support on the Xbox[/h2]

After this update, the game no longer assumes that console players are restricted to using a controller. Now if you hook up a mouse and keyboard to your Xbox, or connect to the game via Remote Play on a PC, you can control it using the same customizable mouse and keyboard controls that have always been available when playing the game directly on a PC.

Thank you for all the Wishlist requests! (There were so very many of them!)



[h2]More Fixes and Improvements[/h2]

• Zombies (especially Bloaters) are no longer allowed to spawn right on top of you when you are traveling at speed. They were abusing their spawning privileges, and have been punished.
  
• Non-hostile enclaves will now unlock all the doors when they move into a new site, so you won’t have to bash down their door when they invite you inside. This one came from the Wishlist!
  
• The CLEO Accelerator and CLEO Tumbler have been upgraded to take their rightful place among all the other recently-upgraded muzzle attachments.
  
  1. The updated CLEO Accelerator has increased impact, knockback, and range, at the cost of greater recoil. It makes a weapon more effective against big targets, and at longer distances, but you have to aim and fire more carefully.
     
  2. The updated CLEO Tumbler splits projectiles in half, increasing spread and greatly increasing the chance of dismemberment, at a cost to range and accuracy. It’s a great way to take apart a crowd, but not great for sniping.
     
• Active sieges now automatically pin themselves to your HUD when you return home and trigger the countdown to the assault, making it easier to notice the siege before you’re wading in Juggernauts.
  
• We fixed a problem that was causing Juggernauts to evaporate while attempting to chase a human into a building.
  
• Survivors with the Sexting skill are no longer weirding people out, and are instead using their wit and charm for the good of the community, earning a minor income of +5 Influence per day.
  
• Pressing the Map button a second time before the map has fully appeared will no longer close the map as soon as it arrives. This should make it easier for players using Remote Play to avoid accidentally re-closing the map when experiencing input delay.
  
• The Forge facility has been re-tuned so that even at higher difficulty levels, with all their added Materials costs, it is still a more profitable way to turn Materials into Parts than just converting them in Storage.
  

This actually came out in Update 23. We just forgot to mention it.

[h2]Shambling Through the Snow[/h2]



Winter is upon us, at least in our neck of the woods. The temperature is dropping, and darkness arrives earlier and earlier each day.

In response to the encroaching night, here’s a special mid-month content update full of cozy outfits for your survivors to wear. It also includes some useful gear to help you fight off any threats lurking in that darkness.


[h2]Holiday Sweaters are Back![/h2]



Just in time for the approaching winter, we’re bringing back five very special outfits that haven’t been available since a year ago.

If you open your Closet between December 18 and January 2, you’ll find these five glorious outfits for your survivors to try on!

• Candy Cane Sweater
• Blue Snowflake Sweater
• Decay the Halls Sweater
• Holiday Nightmare Sweater
• Reindeer Lights Sweater



It’s okay if you didn’t get us anything. We know we’re hard to shop for.


[h2]Bundle Up Pack Returns[/h2]

In addition to these lovely sweaters, we also have a pack full of wintry delights for you to enjoy. Each of these 9 items can be acquired by completing the appropriate bounty from the Bounty Broker.



• Logo Bomber Hat: Keeps your head warm and your post-apocalyptic brand loyalty on display.
• Crimson Bomber Jacket: Stylish, comfy, and barely shows blood stains.
• Olive Green Knit Earflap Cap: This snug-fitting hat is much cozier than the military helmet it resembles.
• Antler Knife: Carved with care by someone who understood the value of a sturdy close-combat weapon.
• M9: This rugged 9mm pistol is ideal for any survivor hoping to avoid experiencing a “long kiss goodnight” from the zeds.
• 1911 The Producer: This compact pistol may look cold and dark, but that’s only because it is.
• Ice Axe: A durable tool turned deadly bladed weapon.
• Fire Poker: Surprisingly lethal for an everyday household item.
• Wood Stove: Install this mod in any facility to keep your community warm and happy.



The return of Bundle Up means it’s time for the Go Bag Pack to hit the road once again. Don’t worry, it’ll be back before you know it.

Then in February, we’re bringing back the Critical Response Pack. At that time, the Open Range Pack will ride off into the sunset, so complete those bounties while you can.

[h2]A Cure for the Cure[/h2]

We’re also shipping two important fixes to bugs that became much bigger problems after players starting surviving in the Lethal Zone.

The core game now uses the quicker, simpler Cure animation from Heartland, rather than the longer Cure cutscene we’ve become accustomed to — everywhere except the Infirmary bed.

• On the one hand, this means you can no longer exploit the old Cure cutscene to despawn all the zombies around you.
  
  
• On the other hand, it means you’ll no longer be locked in place to be helplessly murdered by a Feral while trying to cure yourself.
  

When an Infirmary is wrecked because of a siege or a lack of maintenance, it now expels all of its patients.

• This replaces the former behavior, where the patients would be walking around believing they were still checked in, and refusing to do anything else, with no way to resolve their delusions.
  

Thanks for playing State of Decay 2. We wish you and your loved ones a safe and happy holiday season.

--The Undead Labs development team

[h2]A Lethal Shade of Winter[/h2]


As the nights grow longer, the darkness seems to grow deeper and more terrifying. For many of us, this provides a fine excuse to seek out the warm glow of a fire (or at least a light bulb). However, if you’re the type who faces danger with bravado, reveling in every surge of adrenaline... well, this update is most especially dedicated to you, my friend. Read on, if you dare!

[h2]Be Careful What You Wish For...[/h2]
For months, we’ve heard your plaintive cries.

“Nightmare Zones aren’t hard enough,” you said. (link)

“Where are all the plague freaks?” you asked. (link) And asked. (link) And asked and asked. (link link)


“We need a REAL challenge!” you insisted. (link)

All right, message received... and welcome to the LETHAL ZONE!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

This new ultra-hardcore difficulty mode presents the very toughest version of State of Decay 2 that you’ve ever seen. Zombies are even more dangerous, resources and weapons are even harder to find, and blood plague kills you even faster than in Nightmare.

And yes… all the freaks have blood plague. You’re welcome.



Just as with the other four difficulty levels, you can either set your entire game to Lethal, or you can move one or two difficulty sliders up to dabble with this terrifying new experience. Here are the challenges you can look forward to.

[h2]Lethal Action[/h2]

Combat is murderously unfair.

• All sources deal +100% damage to the player (compare to +60% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Infection gains from zombie attacks are +100% (compare to +60% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Infection from plague consumables is unchanged from Nightmare
  
  
• Blood plague kills survivors within 5 minutes of infection (compare to 10 minutes in Nightmare)
  
  
• Zombies can cause nearly twice as many different injuries as they do at lower difficulties, leading to deeper injury stacks piling up
  
  
• Duplicate injuries instead apply 80% of that injury as trauma (compare to 66% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Dodging costs +100% Stamina (compare to +50% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Vehicles take +300% damage from hitting or getting hit by zombies (compare to +160-180% in Nightmare)
  
  
• They also take +200% damage from other sources (compare to +125-150% in Nightmare)
  
  The undead are terrifying and relentless.
  
  
• All freaks are replaced with the blood plague freaks from Heartland
  
  
• You can encounter hordes with one of each plague freak. It’s a plague party!
  
  
• Gun noise is raised by +150% (compare to +75% in Nightmare), bringing even more zombies
  
  
• Zombies will now chase a sound for up to 5 minutes (compare to giving up after 1 minute in Nightmare). Got your running shoes on?
  
  
• The baseline siege threat at your base starts at 8 (compare to 5 in Nightmare)
  
  Plague hearts are extremely tenacious and dangerous.
  
  
• Destroying a plague heart does not kill all nearby plague zombies.
  
  
• Plague Hearts take significantly less damage. Note that melee is now (comparatively speaking) a bit more effective than other options, rather than less. Get up close and personal, if you dare!
  
  
• Melee = -50% Damage (compare to -33% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Ranged = -62.5% Damage (compare to -25% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Explosion = -62.5% Damage (compare to -25% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Fire = -62.5% Damage (compare to -25% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Vehicle Impact = -75% Damage (compare to-25% in Nightmare)
  

[h2]Lethal Map[/h2]

There’s almost nothing useful left in this town.

• About 70-80% of houses are pre-looted
  
  
• There are zero non-guaranteed resource drops of any kind
  
  
• That means you only get the resources you expect from looking at a site’s flyout on the Map Screen, if that, and never any surprise bonus rucksacks
  
  
• Other “lucky find” drops are similarly reduced to very low rates, or even zero, including a lot of mid-range guns
  
  Good luck finding a ride.
  
  
• The map has only 33% the normal number of vehicles (compare to 65% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Vehicles are always out of gas and seriously damaged
  
  Plague hearts are everywhere.
  
  
• There are 3 times the standard number of plague hearts (compare to 1.5 times in Nightmare)
  
  
• Plague hearts are hidden, and the radio command to find them is available (same as in Nightmare)
  
  
• Plague hearts are allowed to cluster up with each other like crazy (unlike in Nightmare)
  
  
  
  [h2]Lethal Community[/h2]
  
  Your survivors know they’re doomed
  
  
• All survivors have a -30 Morale penalty (compare to -15 in Nightmare)
  
  
• All survivors gain experience at -60% the normal rate (and Nightmare is now -30%)
  
  
• Nightmare used to be -50% but we reduced the penalty
  
  
• All survivors gain standing at -40% the normal rate (and Nightmare is now -20%)
  
  
• Nightmare used to be -30% but we reduced the penalty
  
  Resources are consumed quickly
  
  
• Survivors consume 2 Food each (compare to 1.5 Food in Nightmare)
  
  
• Food outposts provide 2 Food to compensate, and this time, they won’t break your entire community when the update launches
  
  
• Costs at the base are increased over Nightmare in a few areas:
  
  
• Ammo costs are +150% (compare to +100%)
  
  
• Materials costs are +150% (compare to +100%)
  
  
• Parts costs are +100% (compare to +50%)
  
  
• Weapons repairs cost +50% (compare to +25% in Nightmare)
  
  
• Vehicle fuel efficiency is reduced by 25% (compare to no reduction in Nightmare)
  

[h2]Other Difficulty Changes[/h2]

From the Wishlist (link): Nightmare Action now features blood plague screamers and bloaters in addition to the existing blood plague juggernauts

Blood plague bloaters now do half as much plague damage on exploding, because otherwise, they were literally instant death when hit by a vehicle at Lethal

This is balanced out by a more intense Burning Lungs injury (replacing the usual Gas Inhalation)

Blood plague screamers also have a new injury they apply to avoid a problem with one-shotting survivors at Lethal difficulty

Now they apply a single-shot Chemical Burns injury 75% of the time

We reduced the prevalence of crossbows across the board, as players have reported that they were showing up too often

They used to spawn more often at higher difficulties. Now they look like this:

• 75% standard on Dread
  
• 66% standard on Nightmare
  
• 50% standard on Lethal
  

Fuel efficiency (which is increased at Green difficulty and reduced at Lethal difficulty) now lives on the Community slider, instead of the Map slider.

[h2]Optimized for Xbox Series X|S[/h2]

To support the release of the new Series X and Series S consoles, we’ve been working hard to improve our performance and visual quality on these devices. Prepare for blazingly fast load times, improved image quality, tighter controls, and a solid 60 frames per second at full 4K (Series X) or 1080p (Series S) resolution.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

With these improvements, the Xbox Series X|S is by far the best console experience for State of Decay 2 players. We’re working hard to make even more optimizations, and also to bring these improvements to the PC platform as well.

[h2]Don’t Worry, Stay Frosty[/h2]

Just in case you’re freaking out over the new Lethal Zone, we’ve also provided a new array of equipment and outfits designed to help you keep your cool. The Stay Frosty Pack includes 11 bounties, plus 4 firearms you can find by scavenging. All 15 items are brand-new to the game, and we’ve designed these bounties to be a bit easier to complete so that you can earn bounty items more quickly.



• Cold Turkey: Line up a perfect shot for your holiday meal with this long-range shotgun, fitted with a choke, an oversized scope, and a large tube magazine. (Bounty Item)

• Midnight Solstice: A lightweight survivalist’s crossbow, fitted with a powerful scope for long-range shots. (Bounty Item)

• D-Bartini: The short-barreled version of the D-BAR, perfect for packing on long hikes. (Bounty Item)

• Samurai SMG: A globally popular submachine gun, with excellent handling, capacity, accuracy, and rate of fire. An all-around useful weapon. (Bounty Item)

• HB PDW: The Huntley-Basher Personal Defense Weapon is a submachine gun stripped down to the basics, resulting in an ultralight, snappy assault platform. (Found by scavenging)

• HB SD Blackout: This configuration of the HB submachine gun includes their patented integrated suppressor technology. Delivers significant power without the noise to match. (Bounty Item)

• HB Snow Fox: A top-of-the-line submachine gun from Huntley-Basher, featuring rapid fire options and quick reloads. Winterized and reinforced, with an extended magazine to boot. (Found by scavenging)

• Otoe Howlitzer: The last and most essential design of post-apocalyptic gunsmith “Bubba Fitty,” this lightweight .50-cal is a blast to use despite its slightly diminished range. (Bounty Item)

• Tactical Walking Stick: Basically an escrima stick made of durable composite materials. Don’t be caught on a hike without one of these close at hand. (Bounty Item)



• Yukon Pathbreaker: This lightweight titanium survival axe isn’t the fanciest tool in your arsenal, but it’ll probably save your life one day. (Bounty Item)

• Maintenance Bench: Install this facility mod and spend a few parts to temporarily reduce durability loss for your weapons. (Bounty Item)

• Winter Camo Tactical Uniform: Okay, we admit it: this is mostly for style. But even though it’s not snowing, you’ll still look cool wearing it. (Bounty Item)

• Winter Camo Boonie Hat: Goes perfectly with the matching tactical uniform. Or wear it with whatever you’d like, we won’t judge. (Bounty Item)



This also means it’s time to say farewell to the World War 2 Pack, at least for now. And be sure to finish up those bounties from the Go Bag Pack before it leaves circulation later this month. But on the bright side, we’re reviving the warm, toasty Bundle Up Pack, ensuring that it’s ready and waiting when the Go Bag Pack hits the gas and makes its escape!

[h2]Additional Updates[/h2]

Achievements
We’ve added four new achievements to the list, worth a total of 100 Gamerscore:

Lilac and Spoiled Gooseberries (25) — Kill 25 blood plague bloaters.

Bless Me Now With Your Fierce Tears (5) — Begin a session with minimum difficulty set to Lethal.

Barber Shop Quartet (30) — Kill one each of the four blood plague freaks with minimum difficulty set to Lethal.

Retrieve Biomass (40) — Kill a plague heart with minimum difficulty set to Lethal.

All existing achievements that required you to complete them at Dread or Nightmare difficulty now also allow you to complete them at Lethal difficulty … though why would you?




[h2]Systems[/h2]

From the Wishlist (linkety link): We’ve overhauled the value of prestige (the currency awarded in Daybreak) to make each Daybreak session more rewarding, and to make CLEO firearms more economically viable.

You should now expect a given Daybreak session to award about twice as much prestige as it did before.

All your means of obtaining ammunition for CLEO weapons in the core game have been made more affordable.

The Red Talon Crafting Station can now craft CLEO ammo without charging prestige — it only costs the Ammo resource.

The CLEO Relay can now call in CLEO Ammo Drops for an influence cost, not a prestige cost.

CLEO ammo sold by the Prestige Trader now costs half as much prestige as it did before.

We’ve also updated the reward tiers in Daybreak to loosen up the requirements.

This means you can now unlock more powerful items at Wave 3 and Wave 5.

The only reward item that requires you to win Daybreak to unlock it is the CLEO Relay.

From the Wishlist (sorta): The Mysterious Wandering Trader can now show up on Mondays (in addition to Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays), to fit into more players' schedules.

The Dread Action difficulty slider now correctly reports that zombies do not appear on the mini-map under normal conditions.

We also fixed several minor issues with UI readability.



[h2]Missions[/h2]


The in-world mission markers that we originally used for the opening missions in Providence Ridge now apply to all missions, throughout the game. That means you can see your current mission objective as an icon in the HUD, not just as an arrow on the mini-map.

If this isn’t your thing, you can disable Show In-World Objective Icons in the HUD section of the Settings menu.


When your survivors start a new campaign complaining that they are out of gas, you can no longer immediately open the trunk of their vehicle and find that it is full of gas, and that your survivors are idiots.


The built-in facilities found in the Prescott Fire Station now count properly toward progressing the Builder: Safe at Home and Builder: Strength in Numbers missions.

[h2]Facilities[/h2]

The actions on the Staging Area that accelerate build times now take only five seconds to trigger, rather than half an hour, which defeated the purpose.

The “Parking” indicator when driving a vehicle into a parking slot at your base now reliably appears very quickly, so you know for sure that you’re in the right place.

[h2]Gameplay[/h2]

We fixed a bug that was preventing multiplayer clients from busting open doors by sprinting into them in the host’s game.

We fixed a bug that made it possible to take a community member’s backpack without emptying it first, causing all the contents to teleport into the Supply Locker.

Throwing an explosive now cancels a heavy weapon swing, rather than turning the weapon invisible, as neat as that was.

We also fixed several minor outfit clipping issues.

Clouds no longer continue to move while the game is paused. Because that was just weird.