Goal: Taking a break from Punisher 4, attempting The Pharmacist quest where I simply need to pick up a package from room 114 in two story dorms on Customs
Raid 120 - Thermals
Loadout: Class 4 armor, Ash-12 with three 10 round mags of PS12B, Monstrum scope, ears, meds. Extra ammo and the 114 key in my secure container.
Spawned next to Old Gas. Hit the stash and immediately scored a class 5 Korund armor-set! Off to a good start. Killed a bit of time waiting for the scavs to spawn and let other players move, then headed out. Sniper scav on the big tower is up, but I forgot my range finder. I don't feel comfortable eyeballing the range to him and without the scope dialed in correctly there is no way I can hit him. Made my way north towards big skeleton, and when I next checked, someone else had killed him already. So I guess I'm not alone on this map.
Bus depot and road were empty. Made my way past them and started ascending the hill behind, hoping to get a look at dorms before approaching. I thought I heard something, so I crouched into a big fat bush to listen. This hill is on one of the bus depot scav routes, so it's likely just a scav.
Footsteps through the brush. I aimed down sight. I can't see much, the foliage of my own bush is blocking a lot of my sight. I could just make out the outlines of the scav. I centered the weapon on his mass and let go. Took four shots to bring him down, which is a lot more than normal, I didn't think I was missing, maybe hitting his arms?
I almost jumped on the body, but I resisted the temptation. Instead I drew further into the bush, to listen. If that was a PMC, then he might have a friend, or maybe my unsuppressed weapon might draw attention. Zhing! Zhing! Zhing! Zhing! Someone was firing rapid suppressed shots my way. My decision to withdraw into the fat bush was now a huge liability - I struggled to get out of the bush, my hopes for survival pinned to the Korund. Zhing! Zhing! Zhing! I died to a volley of M995 - the Korund no help at all to that. While being fired upon I heard the sound of breaking glass, which suggests that my killer was likely firing on me from dorms, probably with a thermal.
Time In Raid: 10 minutes, 46 seconds
Exp: 189
Shots: 4, Hits: 3, Accuracy: 0.5, Armor: 17, Body: 238
Kills: ??? ( BEAR, Level 31-50)
Killed By: MikeOxLong2121 with 5.56x45mm M995 to the thorax. GG MikeOxLong2121 !
Mistakes
- no real mistakes, just bad luck.
- arguably, not running a suppressed weapon might have contributed to my death
- bushes impede movement
- forgot to bring range finder
Successes
- killed a PMC, without him firing a shot!
Raid 121 - Paying A Visit To A Recent Acquaintance
Loadout: same as last raid.
I had to choose between 5:30 AM and 5:30 PM when joining the raid. I chose 5:30 AM, figuring it'd be better to have it getting lighter as the raid progresses than darker. I spawned in the industrial section, it was pitch black outside, much darker than anticipated. I started to work my way north when I heard footsteps. I didn't have good cover, and instead just dropped into a bush for some concealment. The footsteps just kept approaching. They sounded scavvish. Between the foliage and the darkness I could only imperceptibly make out the shape of my visitor. I aimed at his center and fired a single shot. Down he went. Gotta love the Ash-12.
It was a scav, he didn't have anything worth taking except some bandages which I prudently took. Near the edge of the industrial section a scav spotted me and shouted but I couldn't see him at all. There is no way I'm going to attempt this fight. I ran to the opening of the wall and plunged through to the road. I normally don't like to do this, jumping into a place I haven't cleared, but it beat the alternative.
I made my escape and made my way to dorms. As I went, the sun began to rise. The hills at the back of Customs were softly illuminated with gold light. The gold sunlight and the deep black shadows were very pretty. It was a lovely walk. By the time I reached dorms, there was enough light to see properly.
I listened outside dorms. I heard footsteps and a regular scav voice. Sounds safe. I flipped the Ash-12 to autofire and turned on the flashlight. I ran into the courtyard and came to the door of two story dorms. There was a Zavodsky waiting, I flipped up the gun and dumped autofire into him while stepping left out of the door frame. He went down, other voices and footsteps were coming, my magazine was spent. Instead of entering, I turned and ran back the way I came. Ran to the big rock in the corner. Reloaded, packed a mag. Then I did it again. Ran back to the doorframe, leaned out and cut down the guy crouched waiting for me. Is that a Zavodsky? More shouting, grenades. I ran again, going around the other side to the big rock. Reloaded, repacked. Switched to single fire. Ran up to the side door and opened it as I passed, then right leaned it. There's a Zavodsky down there waiting for me at the front door. I aimed down sight at the side of his head and fired. He seemed unaffected. I fired again and again and again. The shots seemed to be hitting him, but not doing much. Can I not fire through this chain link fence? I need to finish this, before one of the Zavodksy's runs over here and flanks me. BAM! I was dead. Shot in the side of the head by a Zavodsky who ran over and flanked me. Are the Zavodsky's breeding with the cultists? Why did I not hear his footsteps?
Time In Raid: 14 minutes, 54 seconds
Exp: 639 (seems low)
Shots: 36, Hits: 10, Accuracy: 0.22, Body: 881
Kills: Vitalya Zadneprivodnoy (scav), Stas Zavodsky (guard), Mitrofan Sloupok (scav)
Killed By: Gena Zavodsky with one round of .366 TKM AP-M to the head
Mistakes
- sound or no sound, I knew a Zavodsky would be coming. Took too long firing down that hall
- probably should have rushed into a room inside the building after killing that first Zavodsky. The Ash-12 is murderous at those really close ranges (though I didn't have any 20 round mags with me).
Successes
- It's cool to have run into the Zavodky's twice in three raids. Just wish I had prevailed.
Raid 122 - Loot run on Shoreline
Too many deaths lately mean a shortage of funds.
Time In Raid: 17 minutes, 51 seconds
Exp: 648
Raid 123 - In Which I Finally Complete The Quest
Loadout: same
Once again, the raid time choices were between 5:30 AM and 5:30 PM. The last AM raid against Reshala's crew was a lot of fun, maybe I can reattempt? I spawned on the road across from the customs house. I ensured my gear was set up right, keeping the laser off for the moment, and set out.
Crossed the river, crossed the road near the Sniper Checkpoint extract. As I did, I heard a scav shout. It's still fairly dark, I can't see well. I ran down the slope towards dorms, hoping to evade. Footsteps seemed to pursue. Shit. I turned on my flashlight and began to scan. The footsteps were unusual, and the scav shouted again, but not from the same location the footsteps were originating. Shit, that's a player! I turned off the flashlight and ran - need to displace. Hit the treeline and took up hard cover. Peeked around the tree trunk. No sign of anyone. No scav. No player. But it's so dark.
I continued towards dorms, stopping frequently to scan the surroundings. It was getting lighter. I arrived at two story dorms, and listened. Very quiet. Well, showtime! I flipped the Ash-12 to autofire, turned on the flashlight and ran to the entrance. Empty. I ran across the foyer and threw myself into a room. Quiet. Scanned the hall in both directions. Nobody. Sprinted by the staircase, nothing. Ran by the kitchen. A scav shouted. I jumped into a room to get out of the hall. Turned, stepped back into the hall and opened fire on the scav that was now also in the hall. But he was too far away and the Ash-12 is too much of a beast in autofire. Bullets were flying everywhere, neighbors at Interchange phoned to complain, but I doubt a single one of those rounds landed on the intended target. I stepped back into to room, reloaded, switched to single fire. Stepped back out. There were now two scavs in the hall, instead of one, dressed identically. No problem for the Ash-12. I put a couple rounds in one, downed him, stepped to cover, rinse and repeat. Returned to the room and packed mags, listening for more activity.
After that the raid went pretty smoothly. Got my package, looted the safe, hits some stashes on the way to ZB-1011. Sniper scav on the rail head building was up. I estimated him at about 120 meters from the hole in the wall. So I left the scope on 100 meters and aimed just a scotch high. Two shots and he was down. Turns out I misestimated the distance and instead of the headshot I was attempting I got him in the thorax. But dead is dead and nothing deads them quicker than the Ash-12.
Time In Raid: 18 minutes, 50 seconds
Exp: 1463
Shots: 23, Hits: 9, Accuracy: 0.39, Body: 693
Kills: Nayk Duk (scav), Sanyok Strimer (scav), Erast Kasha (sniper - 162 meters)
Mistakes
- should have used range finder and correctly zeroed the scope
- should also practice estimating ranges "by eye" with and without the Monstrum scope
Successes
PostScript
It took me six raids to complete this quest. Normally, I'd be disappointed with myself for taking such a long time to finish such a trivial quest. But as I look back on these six raids they were mostly fun, or at least remarkable. I encountered:
- a cheater (alleged)
- Mr. Grenades (who I evaded and survived)
- the Zavodskys and other PMCs
- a thermal optic enthusiast and a BEAR
- the Zavodskys
And, funnily enough, the raid that successfully completed the quest was the most boring of them. Go figure.
Reddit is alive with rumors that the game will be wiping soon. I certainly hope not. I really want to finish the Punisher series and get that secure container epsilon. So I'm returning to Shoreline to try my hand at it again. But if it's a big series of empty raids or pointless fightless deaths, I may switch to something else, maybe spend some time chasing fights and rogues on Lighthouse or Reserve. If I had money it'd be fun to try my hand at Labs, but I can barely afford between raid meals.
Comments
Post a Comment