Today we saw Dacey Willoughby, Senior Producer on State of Decay 2, announce details during this month’s episode of Inside Xbox about our next free update, Choose Your Own Apocalypse, launching March 26! Here is a peek at what you can expect!
Q: What is the Choose Your Own Apocalypse update?
A new, free update for all owners of State of Decay 2 and Game Pass players, that adds two new difficulty levels to the game: Dread Zones and Nightmare Zones. That means you now have three ways to survive the apocalypse!
Q: Can I bring my community into Dread or Nightmare Zones?
Yes! If you have an existing community, simply select the zone of your choice from the in-game menu. You’ll be prompted to move your community, just like changing maps. If you don’t have a community yet, you’ll be prompted to pick your difficulty level prior to playing through the tutorial, at which point you’ll choose a starting map.
Q: My friend plays the regular difficulty and I want to play in a Dread Zone; can we still play multi-player?
Yes! Your friends can join you in any zone (Standard, Dread, Nightmare), and you can also join them across difficulty levels. You’ll see a warning before you join a game in Dread or Nightmare zones, confirming that you want to play in a different difficulty level.
Q: What if I start a community in one of these zones and then want to switch back?
No problem. You just use the in-game menu to switch back the zone of your choice.
Q: What zone should I start with?
It’s up to you! We recommend playing State of Decay 2 on its original settings (Standard Zones) if you’re new to the game or don’t play a lot of hardcore games. Dread Zones are great place for players who want a challenge, and Nightmare Zone is intended for our hardcore players who are ready for a more punishing experience. You can play in the apocalypse level of your choice!
Q: What makes the zones harder?
More zombies, more freaks, and more hordes for a start! We listened to our community and incorporated many of your suggestions. Resources and weapons are harder to find. Zombies are more persistent, more dangerous, and well, there are just more of them! Here is a peek at some of the details.
Dread Zones
- Threat level is elevated, making sieges at your base more frequent and more dangerous.
- Hordes are larger and more frequent, and some of them wear armor.
- Zombie attacks do more damage and cause more injuries.
- Zombies are no longer visible on the mini-map unless your active character has the Scouting skill.
- Zombies will spend longer chasing a noise before losing interest.
- Blood Plague is more infectious and kills you faster.
- Hostile NPCs can survive a headshot or two before dying.
Nightmare Zones
Nightmare Zones have all the same challenges as Dread Zones, plus –
- There are significantly more freaks and hordes in the world.
- Zombies have an extremely long memory for where noises came from.
- Bloaters, screamers, and ferals can travel in packs.
- Blood plague is even more virulent.
- Plague hearts are more abundant.
- Hostile NPCs can take even more headshots before dying.
- Hostile NPCs have a chance to headshot the player, bringing them near death.
- There are even fewer resources and items to be found out in the world.
- Many of the sites in each map have been completely looted before you can even get there.
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Vehicles are even rarer, and tend to show up broken-down and out of gas.
Q: Any new freaks?
We’ve brought the blood plague juggernaut from Daybreak into Dread and Nightmare zones. In fact, all juggernauts in these new difficulty zones are blood plague juggs! In Nightmare Zones, freaks can travel in their own groups: feral packs, bloater pods, and screamer choirs will hunt you, as well as all blood plague hordes.
Q: Are there any new achievements?
The update adds 16 new Achievements to the game, for a total Gamerscore of 275.
Q: When does this come out?
A: Choose Your Own Apocalypse launches on March 26. Check back then for the full patch notes!
