The Layman guide to Surviving and Thriving in Nuclear Nightmare

A guide for those who struggle to stay alive and make the most of the items, mechanics and objectives you'll encounter.

Game Basics

Your objective/s are to gather as much "Classified Material", activate the satellite and exfil before the nuke goes off. Simple, yet can be quite the endurance run depending on circumstances both in and out of your control.

At the start of each game you'll be placed in a random location, with your other teammates if you have any. Your first step should be to orientate yourself with the Map. The map is your best friend, it'll give you all the information you need to make sound judgements on what to tackle, what you need to do in an area to complete the objective. Loot the surrounding zone (share and divide between your teammates), pray there's a vehicle nearby and complete the objective. Plan where to go next and continue with the loop of looting and completing objectives.

Beware the night, for the monsters come out to feast!

Once you're satisfied with the Classified Material you've collected (Should be no less than 2 on easy, 4, on normal 6 on hard and 8 on Nightmare.) get to a terminal, call for extraction and GTFO with your team.

Ripping the bandaid off

In reality, its not that simple.

Your first handful of games will leave you confused, lost and daunted.

There's a lot that the game does a poor job of explaining and clarifying, most of your discoveries will be from your back seating friends, teammates who are willing to play babysitter (You'll be lucky to find one) or trial and error.

The experience you'll have will drastically vary depending on RNG, who you're playing with (or without) and if the game decides not to do you dirty. If you've ever played a game like Lethal Company, you know that a round can easily be a God run where RNGesus has personally blessed you or an instant throw.

With time, you can bend the bad runs into your favour and still do a good job. I've completed multiple runs with 10/10 CM, both solo and with randoms, with varying levels of odds. The point of this guide is to give you the pointers that will make it easier to get those high CM games for that sweet sweet XP and the satisfaction of knowing you're doing a fine job.

Solo/Private VS Public games

The biggest factor to consider is weather you'll be playing solo with friends or in a public game.

Solo

Playing solo is a double edged sword. You have the freedom to get all the items, plan around your choices, knowing that you alone are responsible for getting things done. The other side of that sword is the fact that You are the be all end all of the run. You'll have to go to each area yourself and deal with any and all threats understandingly, its a good way to learn via trial by fire as it allows for little mistakes, but the unrestricted access to all items allows for a good amount of leeway. A side not for those who aren't a fan of horror, this is a horror game. Playing solo for your first handful of runs, or perhaps for your whole experience, can be quite stressful when night falls. The uncertainty, crushing isolation and looming figures in the storm can create a sense atmosphere.

Friends

Playing with friends is the most fun way to enjoy the game, not much else to say. You can (Hopefully) trust your companions to not get you or themselves killed and teamwork is a breeze. Plan together and you'll cut down a lot of time for completing objectives, especially if you split up.

Public

Take what I say with a grain of salt, as everyone has their own experiences.

Currently, the majority of players you'll meet are new and fresh. Some will have experience, but not vast amount which can still keep it fresh and fun. They'll usually be quite vocal and friendly and can work together with you.

Unfortunately, if you're like me you'll bump into quite a few amount that are the greed and hatred of mankind personified. Expect to get no loot, no snowmobiles and a few bullets inside your pretty little head.Always keep in mind that anyone can get you killed in a variety of ways, as by default Friendly Fire is on. Your best bet is to grab the first transport out of the starting area and loot ahead, you'll be at an advantage and likely to avoid any bad actors causing mayhem in the first moments.

If you're dead set on making an early run for the other areas, you can consider "leapfrogging" by making your first stop two or three down the road as to not have to worry about other players tailing you. This gives you plenty of time and access to loot and objectives to do at your own discretion. Keep in mind that if your other teammates aren't quite assembled correctly, they may not do the objectives between you and them which can lead to some painful backtracking.

If your company isn't lethal going to cause issues, plan with them the where and whats to get as much done in the quickest time possible.

The Bread and Butter

The best thing you can do is always be on the move.

Hunkering down for the night and waiting long periods of time for teammates is a sure way to burn daylight and invite the locals to pay you a visit. Despite seeming like the safer option, staying inside during the night and waiting it out will not only make your games go on far longer and waste time, it will make the likelihood of running into any creatures almost guaranteed. You'll want to avoid bumping uglies with anything to conserve ammo and minimise the risk of being infected or killed. If you do encounter a creature on foot, you're better off killing it to avoid being jumped down the line as they are more than capable of showing up at the least convenient of times and places. Avoid fighting in confined spaces as they can close the gap fast and will 9/10 know where you are before you know.

Your loop should be to grab the essentials such as weapons, ammo, healing and Soda. Don't waste time picking an area clean unless you are desperate for a weapon or meds, check a building or two and get to the objective. Once the objective is done, go to the next area, try to avoid as much backtracking and always focus on getting the Satellite done ASAP, as without it you won't be able to complete collect two CMs and call for the evac chopper.

If you're solo, keep going until you feel like you're not going to make it to the other objectives without dying or are simply satisfied. In MP, try to coordinate with your team where to meet for exfil and when to meet.

The best way to spend nights is to be on your vehicle of choice and getting from area to area. Most creatures cannot catch up to you and have a hard time hitting you while at high speeds. Saying mobile also makes the spawning of creatures fewer and more spread out, avoiding multiple encounters at once. (Cannot fully confirm: If there are a good amount of living teammates spread apart in different areas, you can go for a while without anything spawning in your area. Was playing with a friend where most of the game I saw little to no creatures while he was fighting for his life. Picture the Doom cover art.)

Let there be light

Now this may seem like common sense, but we all know that is few and far between in this day and age.

When going from area to area, it is a smart enough move to stick to the lights and use the signs as directions. I have too often seen someone claiming to know a "Shortcut", only to spend the rest of the game either lost in the mountains, picked off by a creature or getting well acquainted with the icy waters. With how much time you have to complete objectives, and the general fast pace you are likely to be going at, there is no real reason to make undue shortcuts. If you insist on learning some super duper speedrunning shortcut, do it in a solo lobby or when it won't inconvenience your teammates.

If you're ever lost in the frigid tundra, take a moment to look around and see the warm red glow.

Pumping Stations

Between areas, you'll find Pumping stations. Always top up by parking your Snowmobile next to one and filling it till it stops making the gas guzzling noise. You can also find Jerry Cans that can be filled here for fuel on the go. Likewise, the flamethrower can be refiled, making it the easiest weapon to maintain. only times you shouldn't top up is when you know you're full or have a limited time via infection or creature hot on your behind.

Terminals

The terminal will be your one and only way of calling for exfil once the satellite is up, the rest of the functions are only useful in MP.

The other functions are:

• Checking the time left on the nuke. Unless you have lowered the timer, you should never have to worry about it going off. In my 20+ hours, not once did I see it in action.
• Status Check allows you to see the total CM collected (So does the map), and more importantly it shows you who is alive and what their standing is. (Yet to confirm if this a means of checking if they are turned or hostile to other players)
• Calling reinforcements can be done once per CM completion. If any teammate has died, the first one in order will be respawned near to you. The only time this doesn't apply is for infected teammates that have already turned, not those who died while infected.

Generators

Generators are vital to the operations of nearly all the areas. To turn one on, simply approach and interact with it.

Without Generators, all doors are locked from both the inside and out. All forms of equipment inside buildings such as Terminals and Computers for completing CMs are turned off and unusable until power is restored. Generators that aren't disturbed will run for a long while, but not indefinitely.

Creatures will go out of their way to attack generators, requiring them to be restarted. This can be used as both a distraction and alarm bell for you. it's best to assume if the power is out then something is lurking outside.

The only area that doesn't have a Generator and Terminal is Shelter, which is important to keep in mind if you do it last. Unless you feel like backtracking to the Oil Fields, you're gonna want to do this early.

Laser Mines

The rite of passage for the fresh player.

This will likely be the cause of your first death.

Laser mines are traps that can randomly spawn inside almost any building, especially behind doors and corners. They emit a reddish/orange glow that can be spotted with a keen eye (even behind a closed door) and are only activated once the generator is powered on. They can be disarmed and rearmed by interacting with them. For best results, approach at an angle and wiggle your mouse around them to get a prompt. Avoid jumping over the laser or crouching under as that will get you killed.

Trust me on this: You're not gonna scoot around it. You're not gonna tony hawk skate over it. You're not gonna limbo under it. You're not that guy.

One man's impatience can get many others killed.

Mines can be used against creatures if they walk into them, their radius is large enough to take out a group of people if a single person triggers it. Always check doorways when the power is active and don't run past a teammate if they're fiddling with something on the ground. Eyes and Ears peeled.

The Kool-aid Man special

If you've found a pickaxe, and are in a rush (Or just lazy), you can employ the tactic of going at breakneck speeds and breaking down any and all doors that stand between you and a fat payout. A single swing of the pickaxe will break any door off its hinges and can be safely walked through and pushed aside. This is exceptionally effective when not turning on any generators, as no pesky mines will stop you from sprinting around like a maniac to the objective.

The areas this works best with is those which don't require power to complete the objectives.

These areas would be:

• Slaughter House
• Research Centre
• Oil Fields
• Underground Silo
• Medical

Of course, feel free to do this anywhere. Just keep in mind that once the power is on, there won't be a door to stop you from running over a mine you didn't notice.

Man's best friend and worst Nightmare

Huskies can be found all over the map, usually in areas with objectives. They're initially hostile, biting you if you interact with them by hand. If you find yourself beef jerky, you can tame one to have a loyal companion. To the bitter end.

By default, they will simply follow you around and keep you company. Working as a mobile alarm as they'll bark/growl when any creatures are close by. The husky can also be given commands.

Follow: Self explanatory, it'll simply follow you everywhere and keep you company.

Sit: It's in the name. Good for keeping it from blowing you and itself up with a laser mine, or simply getting in the way of tasks.

Find item: Your dog will frantically run around and look for items, either leading you to them or bringing them to you. Can be handy, but you still have the agency to pick what you want. Good way to also have your loyal companion blown to bits.

Guard: The dog will remain stationary, or on a small patrol. If there's monsters, it'll attack them.

The downsides: If your dog attacks something, there's a near guarantee it'll be Thing'ified.

If your Husky turns, it'll chase you to the ends of the Earth. Loyal to the end in an ironic way.

I recommend not bothering with them, unless you're just that much of a dog person.

Research Station - The Objective that sold the game

Quick tip to make your future runs not as painful:

The task at the Research Station needs you to scan an infected player in the MRI. Due to how random infection can be, alongside the possibility of just dying on the spot from some creatures, it's usually skipped and most games end with the shameful 9/10 CM.

The easiest way to circumvent this would be to allow Infection Growths to spawn when changing the server settings. They appear as almost bush like growths around the whole map, black with what looks like tendrils coming out the ground. If any player makes contact with it, even a small step, they'll instantly infect them. This can get the task done nice and easy without playing the RNG lottery. Worst case someone has to bite the bullet with no Vaccine around.

Vehicles

Snowmobile

The Snowmobile will be your go-to from getting to point A -> B as they are plentiful and dead easy to use, with a second seat on the back for a buddy. Each snowmobile will have a different level of fuel in the tank, so check the top of the right gauge to see how much gas it contains. With a stop at the pumping stations, you'll be hard pressed to run out of juice. The snowmobile has a built lights which can be activated with F. (Bumping into too many things will cause them to shatter, making nighttime drives far more dangerous.)

Helicopter

The real man's transport.

These babies are few and far between, and can be quite the challenge to learn how to pilot. (Let alone land) Learning to utilise these can be a massive boon, allowing you to completely circumvent any creatures on the ground and transport far more teammates. You won't be fuelling them at pumping stations, as any slight touch to the blades will case them to shatter like fine china, rendering the chopper useless. You'll want to land these on helipads and open/flat ground to have the smoothest landing. In the case that you are about to crash, or the blades shattered. Just before you make impact, jump out and you have a chance to survive the fall. Staying inside won't kill you from fall damage, no. The resulting explosion will.

Important note: The helicopter has a mind of its own, as I like to put it. They'll spawn on helipads and have been known to "Go for a walk". You might often see the choppers listing off the helipad like it slid off or just decided to give up on life. If it does that, you'll have a real hard time getting it off the ground as the blades are likely to hit the floor and instantly shatter.

When it comes to flying, I am no expert. The easiest way I've found to fly is to start by not moving your mouse and hold "W" as this will send you straight up. Once at about 4000FT above ground, tilt your chopper down with the mouse to move forwards, up for backwards and turn it with "A and D". Keep it mostly level unless doing a hard turn to avoid plummeting and remember to keep it high in the air. Use the camera built inside to avoid mountains and rougher terrain. When landing, keep it as level as possible and go in third person. Lower yourself slowly with the "S" key and you should be golden. Don't forget to turn off your engine with "I" and voila, you just got across the map in record time and creature free.

If you're willing to put in the practice, this is something of a flexing right on those Scooter peasants. Most people will avoid piloting them, so you'll have a monopoly.

The best way to practice would be in the tutorial. (it's all its good for in its current state.)

Winter Jog

Going on foot? You'd be surprised.

Getting on foot shouldn't be your ideal way of getting to point to point, but it's not as bad as some people might think. Currently, the "Heat" mechanic is little more than a suggestion. You'll only be negatively effected if the bar turns all blue, and it'll take quite a while, you'll start taking frostbite damage which does very small damage over time. Never have I personally seen anyone die to frostbite, so don't be too afraid. Before you book it on foot, be sure to warm up inside and keep sprinting, there is no stamina as of right now and you'll get to where you need to go in no time.

Items

Beef Jerky

Used to tame dogs, simply hold it in your hand and interact with a Husky for it to follow your commands.

Can alternatively be used as healing with a perk.

Jerry Ca

Used to store fuel for your vehicles. Currently the only way to fuel a chopper and is quite handy in a pinch, filling up your vehicles far quicker than a pumping station.

Can be topped up at said pumping stations by interacting with a Jerry Can in hand.

Glow Stick

A simple and infinite source of light. Gives you a small circle of green light to help with visibility.

Flare

Emits a bright red light once activated. When dropped, it marks it's location on all other player's map for a convenient way of signalling to others that you're alive, alongside your location.

Flashlight

A good source of light that runs on batteries. Once it's dead, they become useless.

Pain Pills

Used to restore your health for about 1/4.

Vaccine

Used to cure the growing infection inside a player.

Motion Detector

When held in the player's hand, and creatures are nearby, it will start beeping. The louder and more frequent the beeping, the closer the danger.

Weapons

Before jumping into the specific weapons and their qualities, it is worthwhile to discuss how the aiming mechanics work in this game.

Unlike in most FPS games, the aim of your gun is not where your crosshair is but where the gun itself is angled. Your movement will make the gun shift and jostle in your hands, making it a bad idea to take a shot while moving. Standing still and aiming down sights (On the Flare gun, Revolver and Hunting Rifle) will make your shots hit the mark. For best results, make good space between you and the enemy and steady yourself. Even back peddling can cause enough shake to make a shot go wide. The creatures will make a B-Line towards you, taking them out far away is the safest bet.

Pickaxe

More of a tool than a weapon, it can be used in a pinch to get a creature off a teammate. (But not recommended) Otherwise, stick to using it to bust down doors.

Flare Gun

A one time use weapon. The single shot does high damage, usually killing in one shot, and burning the target for extra damage. It cannot be reloaded and is useless after being fired. The flare can be hard to hit, and punishes you heavily for missing, but it can be used for its intended purpose: Signalling your teammates and lighting up the area temporarily. Better than nothing, but best to find a real weapon.

Revolver

The revolver is an easy to use weapon, it contains 6 shots with a decent rate of fire and accuracy. Ammo boxes for the revolver are coloured white and will give a decent amount of bullets, making it less punishing for missing and good for clearing weaker creatures. With a deceptively good amount of punch, it can reliably fend of all manners of creatures. Reliable and safe.

Grenades

Like any other grenade you've seen. Can't cook it, long fuse time, high damage and decent splash range. Situational at best, you'll find a hard time hitting anything with these as most the creatures have ADHD and move at the speed of a crackhead.

Hunting Rifle

The skillshot.

The hunting rifle is borderline unusable without being scoped in and perfectly still, with a painfully slow reload to boot. To make up for it, it has the highest single damage of any of the guns, able to reliably one shot anything from a very long range. The bullets are in orange ammo boxes. It comes with a nightvision scope which makes it far easier to hit targets at night or far in the storm. (Keep in mind that in bright light it can be hard to see through the scope. Smart positioning and awareness can make this a deadly weapon in the right hands.

Flamethrower

You either love it or hate it.

The flamethrower is an interesting weapon as its ammo is plentiful and its simple to use. It can however, get you hurt or killed when paired with a small room and relentless creature. It's upfront damage isn't that high, needing to be held for a while on most creatures. It's able to set targets on fire, causing DOT and leaves lingering flames that continue to deal damage to anything that steps inside. (Including other players) It's a risky but rewarding weapon that you need to get used to, but it sure does feel satisfying to hear them scream. Additionally, it's the only weapon that has multiple perks that can modify and boost how good it is. (Full flamethrower build is nasty)

Shotgun

The be all end all.

This bad boy packs a serious punch even without needing to connect all the pellets. It's easy to use and hold a whopping 6 shells that can be rapidly shot, the reload being almost instant. A powerhouse of a weapon that will carry your trash aim to the finish line. The shells are in a multicoloured box and can be hard to come by, so it might be worth carrying more than one if you have the slots, dropping it once it's empty or when you have shell to reload the fuller one. Don't skimp out on this one, it's The Weapon of all time.

Soda my beloved

Soda machines can be found in most areas.

They are used in-game to get perks, which can be bought with XP from the customisation menu. At first, you have to buy most of a tree to unlock another one, once complete it opens the others up for you. Once you buy a good amount of perks, you'll fully unlock the trees and from there you can sell the ones you don't like for a 100% refund and build yourself a nice build of sorts. I don't recommend more than 5 or 6 perks to be selected as it can make using the soda machines a bit annoying. The sweet spot I like is 4-6.

XP is earned by completing runs without dying in the end and leaving with 4 or more CM. The XP varies on if you have any XP boosting perks and the amount of objectives done. Dying and ending a game results in tuppence worth of XP, ranging from 50-300, while the rang for winning can be anywhere from 2K to upwards of 11K for my best games.

A large amount of the perks, imo, are rather redundant and have little to no benefit. Early on you'll want things that will help with fuel, they do usually have the downside of screwing you late game. And anything that can help you survive without gutting you with it's downsides.

Once you have your perks, approach any soda machine and it'll roll a random perk from the ones you have bought. You can either accept it, re roll it up to three times or ignore it. If you've already got some perks or had little selected, you'll start getting duplicate rolls in the machine, which you can't take twice and must either re-roll or be forced to ignore it and waste the soda.

My go to perks are:

• Health Regeneration = + Health regenerates over time - Can't use painkillers to heal lost health. (Painkillers can be far and few between, healing about 1/4 of your health. The regen is quite strong, healing you to full in a few moments.)
• Rocket Booster = +Pressing space on the Snowmobile gives it a boost - 20 second cooldown (Not even a downside, the boost makes crossing the map a breeze and lets you do some tony hawk air time with the speeder.
• Winter Mystery = + You no longer lose temperature - Fire instantly kills you (The penalty seems quite rough, but unless you yourself get burned by a flamethrower or other player's you'll be fine. If you're worried about hostile players, get the Fire resistance perk for 3 seconds of fire immunity)
• Nightmare Detector = + Allows you to see the thermal signature of creatures through walls - actives only for a moment every 10 seconds. (The downside isn't a big factor, as simply being alerted that something is nearby is enough of a helping hand)

Infection

Infection mechanics are a lot more simple than it first seems, but the cost comes from its RNG nature. Whenever a creature attacks you, you have a chance to become infected. Sometimes once is enough, other times you'll get attacked 4 times and still be fine. Chance of infection can be altered with certain perks, making you potentially more or less resistant to being infected.

The way to check if you've been infected is by finding a tester station.

Interacting with it will draw some of your blood, damaging you every so slightly. By default, everyone in the lobby will be notified of your status as healthy of infected. You yourself will also know, especially if you are infected.

Before you start panicking, there are a few things to note about being infected. You can in fact cure yourself if you find a vaccine, a glowing white syringe that is one time use. Keep in mind that it only cures you, getting attacked again can result in an infection once more. If you don't have a syringe on hand or nearby, you are on a timer that is counting down towards your demise. The timer can vary, sometimes it can take around 10 minuets or be near instant. (Still need to do more testing, but it tends to be the former over the latter.)

Firstly and most importantly, if you're close enough to the Research station you should make your way there immediately and get yourself scanned. Research is arguably the hardest CM to get due to how risky it is to try to get infected. Get yourself inside one of the buildings and lay on the MIR, your team will thank you. If you can't get scanned, or have already with no cure in sight, you can take your life without having to turn. most reliably way would be with a grenade or laser mine. Dying while infected, but not turning, allows someone to reinforce you back into the game.

Secondly, there are these tendrils that will follow players around when they come into proximity with them. Despite it seeming like it, they do not infect players (To my understanding) and are more of an indicator that a creature is close by, usually the nastier variety.

Thirdly, you can find dotted around the map (Only if enabled by the host) what look to be growths. They resemble almost a shurb made out of black tentacles and are stationary. When a player walks over them, they become instantly infected. Avoid at all cost, unless going for the research objective and/or you have a vaccine on hand.

Lastly, "keypads" can be used when the power is on to unlock the door. Think of it as more of a scanner that acts as another layer of security. Using the keypad while infected keeps it locked and damages you, so its another way of checking your status.

Notable Creatures (SPOILERS)

This section is an optional bit that covers some creatures that can be problematic, at least more so than the others where they cause more issues and confusion for newer players.

Turned

The result of players dying to a creature or the infection timer running out. They aren't controlled by players, and in dense weather effects the name tag can confuse some players into walking up to them. They make a B-Line to the closest player, but are rather slow. They instantly kill players they get into contact with them.

Headcrab

The headcrab can be a quick run ender if not dealt with quickly. Upon killing any creature, there is a chance that one of these will come off their body. It will do one of two things, either run straight at you if the creature you killed was close to you and kill you instantly. the other option is that it runs off at a high speed, once far enough it will transform into another creature, usually the more dangerous ones.

Can be easily dealt with by double tapping if you got the ammo, keeping your distance or using a flamethrower as the lingering fire will kill it swiftly.

Screecher

The Screecher will run around on all fours, when it detects it's target it'll stand up on it's legs and start screaming. Once it starts, it goes into a mad dash towards the player it detected. Best way to deal with them is Long Range with the hunting rifle or a well places shotgun shell if it gets too close. The flamethrower may not kill it in time before it reaches you.

Big Donnie

A very large creature that is surprisingly fast for it's size. It's main draw is that it can quickly close the distance and kill a player with a grab and transform them into the Turned. Donnie is quite resilient as damaging it may not always kill it, only crippling it to a slow crawl. I've also noticed that after being killed, every time it has had a headcrab come off it, adding to the danger and making it arguably the most dangerous creature as of now.

Discount Winter Lantern

These foul creatures can be quite the headache. Once they attack you, they make you drop the weapon you've got in your hands. It's not lost, but finding it in the thick layer of snow can be damn near impossible. Easy to blow their heads off with a sniper or revolver.