Initial Infected
Antagonists
Initial Infected
- Access: Standard/Job-related
- Difficulty: Medium
- Duties: Convert as much of the station as possible, at all costs.
- Supervisors: N/A
- Subordinates: Initial Infected, Zombies
- Guides: This is the guide
The Zombie is a conversion antagonist that can either come from the Zombie game mode or be randomly created through the Zombie Outbreak station event. It is a player controlled entity whose only purpose is to seek out living characters and convert them into undead. Zombies do not have any faction alignment nor can they communicate coherently with other characters, but they are able to work together with other zombies in order to achieve their goals.
It is typically deemed OOC for a zombie to destroy non-barrier objects such as APCs. A blockage such as a wall or door is fair game as it will hopefully lead the hungry zombie to brains. Pointing and other emotions such as laughing and sighing are also often deemed OOC. Instead, a zombie is deemed a mindless entity that wanders the halls often following other zombies to create a horde, following noises and generally milling about.
Zombie Propagation
There are two main methods of creating new zombies:
- Zombies can bite a crit/dead body in order to instantly convert it into a new zombie.
- A crew member or animal can die after getting the Zombie Infection, which will cause them to instantly turn into a zombie upon falling into crit.
A key note about the Zombie Infection is that, while it is spread through bite, it may not always infect you on the first bite. Wearing large amounts of clothing reduce your chances of being infected after a zombie bite.
Zombie Infection
Though the main way the infection is given is through zombie bites, it can be transmitted in other ways. Notably, it can be gained through ingesting Romerol, a Syndicate poison. Additionally, Initial Infected in the Zombie game mode start out with a passive version of the infection.
Once a crew mate has gotten the infection, they will experience symptoms of coughing and extreme physical and poison damage. They will also then be disposed to turn into a zombie upon death, even if the infection is cured. Due to the infection's high Spaceacillin resistance, the only way to neutralize the infection is through consuming 5u of Ambuzol. This will nullify the dangerous symptoms and grant you immunity to future infections, but you will still turn into a zombie if you die later.
Physical Traits
Zombies boast a variety of traits, most notably, their damage resistances. Zombies have resistances to physical damage as well as a high resistance to cold damage and immunity to poison. They also do not need food or drink and are able to survive in a vacuum without air. The main weaknesses of zombies come from their vulnerability to both burn and shock damage.
Zombies can be visually identified through their dark green skin and their red eyes. They also move noticably slower than average humans, meaning they can be outrun. Miasma is also emitted from zombies, due to them rotting, though they do not experience negative effects from this.
Survival
The main methods of survival for a Zombie Outbreak will involve securing supplies, equipment, and a safe location. Because much of the station facilities may be shut down due to an outbreak, having a large source of nutrition and hydration is key to staying safe. Additionally, access to medical equipment is useful in the event that a survivor is bitten, as it can be used to stave off the infection. For equipment, heat based weaponry is most effective. This not only includes lasers, but also extends to flare guns, incendiary shells, and Phlogiston chemical weapons. A location that is safe against zombies can be created by reinforcing possible entry points with electrified grilles. Additionally, blocking off windows can prevent zombie swarms coming in from the outside. Your ultimate end game is to survive until a shuttle is called, an ERT team arrives, or a CBURN unit comes to "save" you from the threat. Or, if you're such a lost cause, CentCom may just nuke you to save the trouble. When a zombie outbreak starts to spiral, rules typically go out the window. Most of the time Security is too busy being eaten alive to care about you making baseball bats.
Interaction
A player-controlled zombie loses the ability to pick up / equip items. It can use a few of the action buttons such as enabling and disabling Harm mode and turning on/off the PDA light. A core thing to note when playing a zombie is that you can right click on people in non-harm mode to see what their name is. Zombies will have a "Zombified" prefix. A zombie's goal is to not harm fellow zombies but harm non-zombies. They also gain the ability to pry open doors.
