December Digest #1

Into the Dead

New start. Same team - Seb and Danielle. Unfortunately I have a knack for picking up any and every stray in this game. Just cannot say no. Wanted to start small. Wanted to concentrate on the Chiefway pipeline escape plan. Unfortunately, as if often the case, plans go awry.  Seb and Danielle collected a motley crew in their travels. And it seems the priority escape plan is now the airlift one. So they've headed for the hospital after collecting the air fuel. And as with some opportunity that seems too good to be true, so they've stumbled a bit at the hospital. Fuse blew out while accessing the roller door to the chopper pad. 

At least they have side missions to keep them busy - Seb hooking up with the Crimson Wolves, and the sudden appearance of the Network (again). 

Double scavenging is now possible after they've upgraded their work stations. Which is very helpful given the size of the group now; double scavenging always bring in a good haul of resources. For one can scavenge for the escape plan while the other scavenges for resources. Nice development by the creators which I like. 

Pipe bombs are excellent for clearing congregating zombies who are blocking your way. Does much the same with grenades and a face full of rounds unless you're an armoured zombie.

The motley crew now consists of Seb and Danielle, Joe (the mule), Barb (excellent multipurpose individual), Cooper (the pilot), Christine (green thumbs) and Robbie (good scavenging backup).

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Completed the airlift escape plan with Seb's and Danielle's crew today (Monday). Once the fusebox situation was sorted out - I needed a grenade to clear the room first and a stout bat to deal with the zombies that suddenly appeared out of the dark after the grenade went off. Surprising end (the airlift) because I was actually thinking I needed Cooper onsite but no, as long as he's alive and in your group, you're fine. And don't forget the aviation fuel when you visit the hospital. 

Kind of fortunate the airlift happened as it did because the group picked up another 'stray' - Isabel. 

I was also not sure where the fusebox was located in the hospital other than it was somewhere in the basement. I had three attempts at scavenging the levels before it was found. 

I was actually more focused with Seb's attempt to hook up with his old Army buddy at their new hideout than fulfilling the hospital visit. Wondering if the Crimson Wolves had developed an escape plan. But then I remembered, from an earlier playthrough with Seb, what the outcome was once the old army buddies met up again. 

In their wandering, the group had also just collected two of Chiefway escape plan clues. Mind you, no hazmat was obtained up till then so the team was not able to meet up with the foreman that triggers the event proper. Believe you need the third clue anyway.

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World of Warships

Started the new week by earning a quantity of Festive Rewards which were soon exchanged for steel. Played both Blyskawica '44 and Brisbane.

As per every year, there are the three basic crate types - Gift, Mega, Ultra. As one YT streamer explained, the cost of each (in USD) is 1, 5 and 10 respectively. The last type - Ultra - can only be purchased with money. You can spend dubs, cash, and Festive Certificates to acquire the other two.

There has been a price increase (of course) from last year. 

The Gift crate chances of dropping a ship is 1 in 100 while a Santa Mega crate is 1 in 15. Easy to see what WG is doing here. The former offer useful resources while the latter is your obvious choice if you want to chance it on a ship. 

While most will be aiming for Mega crates for the ship and steel opportunities, Gift crates "offer value for money" in terms of useful resources - coal, signals, economic bonuses. 

Haven't paid any attention to the Ultra crates because that's outside of my interest or price range. Will examine it more closely later anyway out of curiosity. 

Will see what the Festive certificates bring. Hoping to spend some dosh for Megas but that's up in the air at the moment (question remains, why spend when quitting?). I don't have much Voyage tokens left (less than two hundred) either. Got the feeling this year will be a lean yield ship-wise.

So after this initial post, I popped back into the game tonight to check out more fully what this year's Santa crates is all about. 

Much of what's already stated is true. Just clarifying a few points I glossed over or did not know.

AUD - 1 Gift crate costs 1.51. 8 Gift crates cost 11.21. And 20 Gift cost 27.16

With Mega crates the price rises to five times a Gift crate: 1 Mega crate now costs 7.55 while a bundle of 20 is worth 51.32 which is a savings I have to admit. 

Ultra prices rise even more: 1 Ultra crate costs 15.10 while 20 is worth 226.44 even with the discount!

If dollars are scarce for you this year, then doubloons might be an option. I am thinking especially all those Voyage tokens you've hoarded from months ago; now is the time to cash them in. Just remember only Gift and Mega are available this way: Ultra can only bought with real cash. 

1 Gift crate will cost you 250 doubloons while 1 Mega is 1250 doubloons. These amounts more or less match their real dollar value. If considering a 20-bundle lot, then it will set you back 4,500 and 18,750 doubloons respectively. 

The last option are Festive Certificates. Or snowflakes by their more common name and identity. If you have loads of Tier Xs then you're on your way. The exchanges rate is five Festives for one Mega crate. Or one Festive for one Gift crate. 

Drop rates. As mentioned from my earlier post above, drop rates for ship do improve considerably depending on what crate you open. Starting with Gift crates, you are guaranteed a ship drop at crate 100 (if not sooner); for Megas, it's guaranteed at crate 15. For Ultras the drop rate really improves to 1 in 7 (32%). Ready to gamble are we?

For resources assets it's the "either-or" approach as I call it meaning with Gift and Mega you have a chance for a ship or an asset. With Ultras however that opportunity is split three-ways: either a ship or an asset or another asset from a different group. WG are not that generous unless you're prepared to pay.

While researching I spent some coal (with the 25% discount coupon) to acquire the Tier X German premium CV Max Immelmann to add to my port fleet. Twenty-one ships to go. 

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