Ch.1

This is a hostage situation where you need to juggle 3 essential things The Police, Hostages, Hacking
Green actions take no time while red do, keep that in mind as using Shaman to switch cameras is a free action.

The Police- The Police tend to advance fairly rapidly and it's best to use Negotiation over Shooting every couple of actions for two reasons. While Negotiation stalls their advance for a few turns and shooting moves them back to start.

1- Shooting tends to upset your hostages, while this can be desirable sometimes it also tends to throw on a bit too much pressure for the more fragile hostages. You should really use this as a last resort when the police are on your doorstop or if you can keep your hostages in an easily controllable state (this usually comes down to the last one).

2- You have a chance of Jack arguing with you if you choose to shoot, this essentially wastes 2 precious actions as he won't fire first and then you waste another reprimanding him.

Hostages-
Each hostage builds up tension and relaxes at different rates. While talking to them individually calms them, sending them to the break room is also calming. When they get too calm you have to put them on edge. I would recommend shouting if you want the effect to be weak, kicking moderate/weak, leg shooting moderate/strong, and finally shooting or executing for strong.

You can also trade them for more network stability, police reset, or medicine. This is not a recommended path unless you really need it. Such as a hostage on the verge of rebellion and you simply need him out of your hair.

This portion is really the hardest juggling part of ch.1 since each individual is different. Sadly put trial and error seems to be the best way if you want to keep all 4 alive.

Hacking- Hacking is straightforward, strengthen the shield around the 60-70% region at the least, otherwise you'll stand a good chance of losing progress and time is not on your side.

Boost while useful should really be done when everything is secure since Liam naturally hacks by himself.

Ch.2

Ah Torture, this is a truly nerve wracking chapter since there is one portion that relies almost entirely on luck. So even with a perfect play you can still get screwed by lady luck. Chin up and try again since trial and error makes a huge portion of this part.

What's important to note is that on the 3rd day's night Liam can get stuff for you the following night over. Painkillers make you more resistant but lower your natural healing rate, medkits heal you from that day's damage, information gives you 100% lie for 1 lie only.

Also you get 3 confessions, use them well. I recommend the gun scene myself since it will delay lady luck by that much more. Or the axe sequence if you don't have enough Lie.

So the torture goes through several different types. There is a set pattern for the first couple of days that usually goes (Fists,Hammer,Teeth,Flame,Wall,Gun) or some variation and continues onward with another wall thrown in, and an axe scene if jack is still alive.

Overall there are 9 days of torture

I'll try to describe the ideal form to get through a scenario.

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Fists- This is the weakest and least threatening of the bunch, It's better to use this time to think and work your lie up to around 90% then swap off provokes using Jack more since he's tougher than Burden. You should be able to pass these no problem even during round 2.

Hammer- Hammers hurt. Painkillers would be nice if you have them. Since this is the method of choice of the wall too. In this case you need to continue bouncing provokes off Jack and Burden and if your characters start to lurch over around the belly area you can throw in some begs to hope you can buy time to recover. Note you can bounce beg actions between the two characters and if they don't work there's a chance you'll get a warning both times, which means more time for you to survive.

Teeth- Teeth really hurt, this is the time to use lies if you have any after the gun sequence. You can usually afford to think through one action or two, but afterwards you'll want to use the beg options over provoke if you can, once you hit medium damage and your men are lurching over. If you really have to Confess since these sequences don't last too long due to the damage they bring.

The Wall- This is dangerous territory. Whoever is on the wall can only take 2 pulls and then he dies. So you'll want to load up with painkillers the night before and then provoke until the day is done. If your guy is lurched over spitting blood then you might want to try the beg option to try for time, be warned of the two pull limit though if it doesn't work. Unfortunately there really isn't a way around this.

The Gun- Lady Luck decides your fate, if you're really lucky you might get a respin in chance which resets the 1 in 7 odds which in turn wastes one of his torture actions (good for you). Really you'll want to use Lie if you can and then think for a better lie around 50-60%. You'll want information the night before if you can get it, or build up to it using think the previous day.
Cross your fingers and hope you don't win Russian Roulette.

Fire- Fire hurts, but you get a rest period between each application. If you're hopped up on painkillers I usually like to take the first freebie to think. If not you can pass the pain between the two. It shouldn't be too hard unless you're already wounded from the previous day.

The Axe- This is similar to the wall in that Jack only has 1 freebie then his arm comes off on the second swing. Lie if you can, confess if you have to. Since this is the last scene of this chapter.

Ch.3


The Cave is actually a fairly simple scenario that needs a pen and paper to write down your guesses. This is also trial and error so my guide here will be briefer.

Note: There are two portions to the Antidote. After you find the first three letters you need to find one more in a combination of 4.

If you're absolutely certain on your choice you can use the 100% lethal to achieve that last serum.

For the robot keep him focused on the battery more and repair him every say 7 intervals for about 3 intervals. Once the battery passes the time left, repair him to full then have him dig. He does not fatigue like everyone else while digging.

Have Sarah and the Doctor pump out antidotes. My favorite percentage was 20%, since you can get a few done in a reasonable amount of time. Production of antidotes is based on fatigue level of the Doctor and/or Sarah and how lethal the dosage is. Also if you have a corpse autopsy bonus or not.

In all honestly there are few times you need to bump up to 40%+ for an antidote unless you're really rushed for time and have a very good idea what the final combinations are.

Also keep note that weight effects the Antidote. So Donald is actually the ideal subject assuming he's not busy. Since he usually is, using Jack or Marvin works too if you can't give up his time.

In between antidote results try to get someone to make 1 sedative and 1 adrenaline. Sarah tends to have less stamina than the Doctor, so that adrenaline can come in handy during the twilight hours.

Marvin, Jack and Burden are made for mining, have them dig away. Use the antidote samples on Jack or Marvin if you want. Usually whoever is more fatigued (UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES INJECT BURDEN WITH THE ANTIDOTE, HE'S AN ANOMOLY)

Donald should spend his first couple of hours making 2-3 defib charges, and then he should spend the rest of the chapter repairing the robot or resting. During the late hours you can either use him as a test dummy or have him dig if you need that last push.

Overall pay very close attention to the statistics the robot gives as that's the key to judging how close you are to being free and how efficient the doctors are making antidote samples.

Ch.4- This is the classic Gods Will be Watching level where you are mostly trying to get a handle on your resources and is still very difficult like the original level with some slight difference.

I'll note them here.

You get a constant 5 actions no matter if members die

The Robot now shuts off on the 4th actions

1- Fire: Wood now takes an action to gather. Which in turns funds other actions such as cooking or spearmaking.

2- Spears: This is now an alternative way to hunt with Jack and to fight off predators. Try to have some in your base at all times.

3- Meat: You can now cook meat and give them to crew for a small morale boost. You can now divide up meat during the night, I suggest a combination of cooked (for low morale) and raw for tougher guys (like jack). Cannibalism is still an option and starvation is a huge morale plunge so try to avoid it.

4-Night activity: Note the only guys who seem hardy enough for night activity is Jack for hunting and Donald for repair. The Doctor hates making medicine at night, so I highly discourage it.

5- Speeches: Sarah's speeches now only take half a day to prep. Teamwork and Saving the World are good general speeches, while Starvation and Death should only be used when those occasions pop up. While generally useful don't rely on them too much, sometimes talking to people and cooked food would go further.

6- Balancing: This isn't as obvious but now your time to repair the radio is greatly enhanced. In fact the robot could easily do it even if you could only afford to repair maybe once or twice a day since he repairs at 5% a day where you need 20 actions from the robot to fully repair the radio.

If you really want to survive to the next chapter though you can also take the route of killing almost everyone except jack, the dog, and the robot after having at least 2 medicine and maybe some repair done. While going the Donner party route is mentally straining, chatting with Jack and giving him cooked food can work miracles as you still have your 5 actions.

Your brave cannibalism shall not be forgotten.

Note: Don't feed Marvin anything other than raw meat since he has no morale rating. In fact he could also not be fed for a day or two if things are really bad. Try not to let him die however since Jack's morale is tied to him. Also if you need bullets badly you could always kill the robot (preferably after the radio is fixed).

Ch.5

This is probably the most frustrating chapter as it relies the most on luck and there isn't much advice to give.
So first off try not to kill Abraham even though he'll slow you down. About 30 or so hours in if you find a shelter or wiped out a base and use it for 3 hours he'll off himself and free up the time. If you kill him 1 soldier and 1 scout will automatically leave putting you at a disadvantage.

Initially Abraham sets your speed rate at 2 hours so everyone can afford to go without water for a little bit until he dies.

Afterwards be free with your water; use Burden to give water to everyone when they need it. Not only will you move faster but you'll tend to raid enough bases and run into cactus or watering holes to be ok.

I like to point out that you should generally scout everything before you move, if you take a risk you run the chance of wandering into patrols (which kills one of your soldiers) or enemy bases (which is a game over). Scout in levels of 1 in your desired direction first. By keeping 1 scout hydrated you can keep his downtime to a minimum of 1 hour. That way if your scouts are late exploring you can generally afford to wait.

This way you can head in the generally direction of the base and play it safe. There's no point investing all the time into the chapter just to screw up because you got impatient and ran into an enemy base.

Take the time to scavange bases as they provide both ammo and water usually.

Cacti are a free action to harvest water from while watering holes take time to dig, so you don't need to dig every watering hole. Especially if your water supplies are 40+.

Use soldiers to lead attacks on exposed patrols or bases, the less fatigued they are the better they'll fight, this is mostly your judgment. (Note: No time passes during an attack) Remember to keep them hydrated!

Most importantly use Burden's mission info and check signal to see if you're getting closer to the base or not after every travel option. It's free to use and gives you a better sense of the situation.

Also note that you're allowed to be late to the base at about 20-30 hours overdue. Don't rely on it, but you do have the time interval if you need it.

It really comes down to plain luck and perseverance at the end I'm sorry to say.

Ch.6

I found this is actually a really fun level. You have to balance breaking people for their passwords and then kicking them out the escape pods/killing to preserve oxygen.

What's interesting about this level is that even if everyone dies you can still try to guess from the 5 choices on the computer (note if you're doing this the passwords can consist of the same word mutiple times.)

The important thing is to keep an eye on rebellion. Put this down by shooting in the air with Burden or persuading.

If you really need to break morale (someone is around 20%) you can choose to threaten. Be warned however if you don't actually kill the guy the rebellion jumps up quite a bit.

First guy to pick on is the guy on the floor. He's fairly weak willed so you can kick him a 2-3 times then persuade another 2-3 times and he's done and out.

Next focus on Claire as she's the second most weak willed. They're around 50% you can also hit (increases rebellion, moderate drop for the parents), free (drops their morale about 10%), or threaten the child (huge morale drop but beware if it's not enough) for massive point shifts.

(Be careful not to go too far such as kiling the child while she has low morale, otherwise she'll enter an unhelpful state and be utterly worthless for the rest of the playthrough)

Her husband tends to also be tied to Claire's well being.

You can mostly ignore the wheelchair as he cares more about everyone else and can crack through general pressure and a threaten if he's quite low and you have the space to spare.

Shaman cannot be dropped through hitting. You should really leave him for last.

When everyone is around 40% and you have oxygen to spare (around 40% as well) you can blow open the medusa virus.

This combined with persuasion erodes Shaman's morale very quickly. Just try to be sure he's the last one left otherwise you'll most likely run out of oxygen.

This level really encourages open experimentation out of all of them.

Ch.7- This is an interesting little finale between Liam and Burden.

Most of his moves are random so it's a matter of trial and error but you can start to recognize his moves after a while.

Blue Fist- He always opens with this move, just duck.

Fist high- When he holds one of his fists a little higher with what looks like a triangle sticking out of it. PUNCH always works.

Medium Extended arm- He usually kicks twice then blocks with this move. So BLOCK TWICE, then use a FIENT

Low arm- I haven't found a good way to counter this move yet so the safest move seems to be a jump back.

Red Fist- This is a slight range attack, try a PUNCH

Yellow Fist- This is defensive move, try a FIENT

There may be others out there but I have not run into them yet, also this section has the least amount of testing done by myself so I feel there could be more counters available.

Once you push him off the stage twice you win!

Enjoy the rather meta ending and existential angst it brings.

I hope my guide was useful for finding a way through the odds.

This bonus DLC chapter takes place 20 years after the epilogue and has quite a bit of expository dialog to accompany it.

This is an old fashioned hiking expedition with some slight twists and variables.

1) Warmth, everyone's heat is constantly falling with the exception of whoever has the Igniter on their back. Keeping others close to the Igniter only slows down their warmth loss, recovery only happens to the bearer.

2) Stamina, stamina decreases by order of position. With whoever is in 5th place being able to recover stamina assuming they're not holding any items on their person.

3) Guns, ammo is based off of your Igniter, relative skill of the person using it, and also carries a weight.

Each party member also has specialties.

Liam- About average in terms of stamina and aim. He does well leading the pack but tends to tire out fairly quickly. In terms of shooting he's better at it than Dr.Z or Donald but not as good as Jack or Sarah.

Jack- The toughest guy in the group once again, Jack can climb the mountain all day long even dragging Shaman or the Igniter along. Also as a bonus he's a great shot with a gun on the team. He even makes for a decent lead. (Too bad Marvin isn't with him). He's so strong he can even get a 2% recovery in 5th place while carrying both a gun and a commitment stone.

Sarah- The second toughest member of your team. She has very decent stamina and good aim. She can generally rough house it. However that said she doesn't carry any immediate vital role of status updates.

Donald- Still being fat, Donald has poor Stamina and he's not a very good shot either. Still he's not completely worthless since he's able to give status updates on how much longer to walk.

Dr.Z- Dr.Z's advanced age has made his Stamina brittle. That said he provides a service both through stimpacks and through status updates on everyone's stamina and warmth.
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Throughout the walk there seems to be stages attached combined with rest stops.

You should note that resting does recover everyone's stamina but not their warmth.

Also note that if you're on the verge of making it to the next rest stop but are also on the edge of stamina failure. You can make it to the rest stop without the stamina reaching zero so long as you make it at the next time advancement.

General advice would be to keep the igniter near the middle to prevent warmth loss on the fringes. Also keep Jack, Liam, or Sarah in the front since they're the strongest. Keep guns with either Jack, Liam, or Sarah since they're also the best shots.

During my run I tended to have Liam lead with the gun, Sarah with the rifle, and Jack was front loaded with carrying all sorts of junk like Shaman or the Igniter. However I also handed off items multiple times to keep everyone rather balanced since progress is determined by your slowest team member and not the group as a whole.

Leg 1: Seems to be fairly straightforward, no monsters either. Keep the group balanced with stronger guys leading the group and weaker guys towards the back. Bounce around the pack and Shaman as needed whenever someone gets too tired.

Stop 1: Committing to the Op'Mahun- It will require you to carry yet another object along for the ride.

Leg 2: You start running into some of the floating monster head things. This leg is very difficult if you brought the commitment stone along. So be prepared to use a stim if you have to.

Stop 2: If you brought the stone it will recover your warmth and improve your resilience. The new cap for stamina and warmth is now 110%

Burden: "Do you want to get the love of your life back?"- If you say yes Donald and Sarah's skills sets will shift as Sarah becomes her old psychiatrist self. This makes Donald strong but Sarah weak versus the other reality where Sarah is strong and Donald is weak.

In short, in the alternative timeline Donald is no longer fat and is in decent shape. However Sarah is no longer a crack shot and is merely in decent shape as well.

Leg 3: Assuming you brought the stone with you. The new cap for stamina and warmth should be 110% making this leg fairly easy. However the number of attacks will now increase by quite a bit. So make sure to keep your guns loaded and your odds high.

Stop 3: Shaman: Temptation of the Wise Man- This will "teleport" Shaman away to the top of the peak supposedly. However there is a noted increase of enemies, even moreso than if you didn't teleport him.

Leg 4: You will start seeing the monsters in increasing amounts now. Even in pairs or three attacks at once. Be careful.

Keep your bullets loaded in one at a time in groupings of about 4 in each gun.

Stop 4: Sacrifice of the Gambler: Picking a name- The character you choose vanishes (dies) and the rest of your group's stamina/warmth increases to 130%

Leg 5: This is a straight walk with no enemies. Keep everyone warm and moving and you'll do fine. Hopefully with the rest up you'll manage just fine.

After that you've reached the end and the game kind of hits home the idea that none of it really mattered. Choices are a false illusion.

Hooray Nihilism wins again!