|
This page is not finished. This page covers new content or unfinished work and therefore contains limited information. The quality of information may not be to a suitable standard and is subject to change. You can help by expanding it. |
Halloween's ZDC event (colloquially named after the ZOMBIE_DEAD_CITY server the event takes place in) is an event game mode that shares similarities with Capture Point. It is commonly referred to as 'Antidote mode' and 'AZDC' (short for Antidote ZDC). In some cases it is also referred simply as 'Halloween ZDC', or H.ZDC for short.
Players aim to collect 7 Antidotes from Antidote Printers that spawn across the map. Each Antidote Printer needs to be "captured" for 30 seconds. Players can earn prizes by collecting Antidotes, but Antidotes are not required to win.
This was the first event game mode to include an active participation requirement: a mandatory kill quota. Players that do not kill enough enemies in the given time will immediately die.
Rules[]
- No natural health regeneration
- Duo partners are available from lobby
- Special abilities are present to select from lobby
- Players join match with a Shotgun and 35 spare shells
- Upon initiation of a match, 2 mins are given for players to join and loot—joining is not possible in the last 30 secs
- Players are given time to gather at a safe zone before gas fills the map outside of the designated circle
- Kill the required number of enemies to progress [MANDATORY]
- Stand within the charging zone of the Antidote Printer in the middle of the safe zone to create an antidote [OPTIONAL]
- Repeat for 7 waves to win
Each round is given 16 minutes and 40 seconds of game time to complete. Players are tasked with culling the enemy numbers while attempting to produce 7 antidotes (one per wave). The map is set at night and all players are given a flashlight to see in the darkness.
To achieve a full victory condition, players must make it to the end with all 7 antidotes. Making it to the end without all 7 results in a partial victory. To progress players need to meet the mandatory kill requirement. A total number of kills will briefly be displayed in between waves, but will not show again until that player approaches the Antidote Printer.
Failure to meet the kill condition in the given time will result in immediate death. The minimum number of kills are unique to each player; you cannot work with a duo partner to meet the quota together. If the kill requirement says "2 kills needed", each and every player must get their own two kills. This was done to promote active involvement and stop players from slacking off on the side lines trying to get carried for a free win.
| Wave 1 | 2 kills |
|---|---|
| Wave 2 | 10 kills |
| Wave 3 | 12 kills |
| Wave 4 | 11 kills |
| Wave 5 | 16 kills |
| Wave 6 | 14 kills |
| Wave 7 | 16 kills |
Mechanics[]
Waves[]
Overview[]
Matches all start with an initial looting phase where players can join within the 2 minute window. Players are then started on wave 1 upon the conclusion of the looting phase. Each wave has four phases that last 30 seconds each: a loot phase, a travel phase, a lockdown phase, and a combat phase. The exception is Wave 1 which has an extra 40 seconds in its travel phase for a total time of 1:10 for the travel phase.
- Initial Looting Phase
- Waves 1 - 7
- Clear/Loot Phase
- Travel Phase
- Lockdown Phase
- Combat Phase
Printing Antidotes and killing enemies to meet the kill quota can be done at any point of a wave. It may be wise for players to begin killing and/or creating an Antidote early before the gas closes them in.
Loot Phase[]
The first phase of each wave starts by clearing all enemies from the map (except invulnerable Ghosts). All gas is cleared from the map. A new safe zone is spawned and players are informed to go to the new white circle. A jet flies overhead and drops supplies somewhere in the safe circle. Players may use the time to heal, collect dropped loot from enemies and fallen allies, or loot some nearby buildings. Depending on the distance to the next safe zone, players may want to begin traveling straight away.
Enemies are not cleared in the transition from the initial looting phase—ahead of the round's initiation—into Wave 1. An extra 40 seconds allow any late joining players some extra time to work with so they can be well-equipped for the round ahead of them.
Travel Phase[]
30 seconds are given for players to complete their journey to the safe zone. Players should either be in the safe zone or be on their way to it in this phase. If players do not move, they risk getting caught by gas.
Lockdown Phase[]
Gas begins to fill the map up to the edge of the safe zone. The gas fills at a constant rate. The full 30 seconds are used reach the edges of the circle at exactly 0 seconds remaining in the phase. Any players still outside the safe zone are forced into the circle or are killed by the gas.
Combat Phase[]
Players survive against the threats of monsters while confined to the circle. If players have not begun to produce an Antidote, they will not have time to produce an Antidote for that wave. Once the 30 second timer ends the wave is completed. On the conclusion of Wave 7 the match will end.
Enemies[]
Enemy frequency changes with each wave. For example on Wave 5 there are 50% Frankensteins and 16.6% each of Skeletons, Chainsaws, and Ghosts. All enemies have a chance to blow up once killed, making it dangerous to shoot enemies that are close to players.
| Skeleton | Chainsaw | Witch | Vampire | Frankenstein | Ghost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | ||||||
| Wave 2 | ||||||
| Wave 3 | ||||||
| Wave 4 | ||||||
| Wave 5 | ||||||
| Wave 6 | ||||||
| Wave 7 |
The enemy count scales with the number of players and how many waves have been completed. For solo (the bare minimum enemy count) this is reflected as:
| Wave 1 | 8 |
|---|---|
| Wave 2 | 12 |
| Wave 3 | 13 |
| Wave 4 | 18 |
| Wave 5 | 23 |
| Wave 6 | 23 |
| Wave 7 | 23 |
An example spread of enemies in a solo run:
| Skeleton | Chainsaw | Witch | Vampire | Frankenstein | Ghost | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wave 1 | ||||||
| Wave 2 | ||||||
| Wave 3 | ||||||
| Wave 4 | ||||||
| Wave 5 | ||||||
| Wave 6 | ||||||
| Wave 7 |
Antidotes[]
Making and Collecting[]
Antidotes are purely optional. To collect an Antidote players must charge the Antidote Printer at the middle of the safe zone. A small yellow circle surrounds the machine to show how close players need to be to charge it. Each player must charge the machine separately to make their own Antidote. Antidotes are only visible to the player who created it, meaning Antidotes cannot be stolen from others. Dropping Antidotes from the inventory also does not show to other players.
When charging the Antidote Printer, players must charge the machine for 30 seconds. This can be done from anywhere within the charging zone, meaning that players can choose to charge the machine from high up if there is a roof within range of the machine. Once charged, an Antidote will spawn directly at the feet of the player.
Rewards[]
The purpose of Antidotes are to earn cosmetics. Players can only earn one cosmetic at a time and cannot obtain later cosmetics until they have earned the cosmetics earlier in the order. This means that if there is a prize for 5 Antidotes, a player will get the reward associated with only 1 Antidote if they do not own it yet.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE REWARDS ARE BROKEN. ORDER OF COSMETICS MAY VARY. The reward order and the number of Antidotes needed to earn the next in the list is as follows:
| Cost | Reward | |
|---|---|---|
 |
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| WIP... | ||
| Intended Prize Order | ||
| Cost | Reward | |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
Winning will grant the player the Slime Trail cosmetic. Winning with all 7 antidotes collected (the "full win") will grant the player the Headless Horseman skin.
Strategy[]
Antidote Dead City's "Monster Royale" requires players to be quick on their feet. It is important to focus on finding and eliminating enemies efficiently. Notable ability choices include: Radar, to quickly identify where monsters are to hunt them; Ammo, to take an aggressive front against larger swarms in the middle waves and; Speed, to make traveling easier and to evade monsters with higher jumps. Players may also find some success with Stealth but should be careful as it is a double edged sword—earlier on it can be important to be seen by enemies so players can meet their kill quota. Later in the match when enemy counts are higher, Stealth can definitely help more especially if a player wants to collect Antidotes. Shield can be somewhat useful if the player has healing items and stands on top of the Antidote Printer—players can't be knocked off by Skeletons, Witches, or other forms of explosion knockback, so players are out of reach of melee enemy swarms and only have to worry about killing nearby enemies and healing regularly.
During the initial looting, players should keep an eye on the timer. Once Wave 1 begins and the first safe zone appears, players should immediately begin to move. It is a good idea to open the map with N and right clicking in the middle of the circle to set a beacon. This makes it easier to identify where to run towards without getting lost. It is recommended for players to make this a habit for all waves.
It is a good idea to leave monsters alone if possible when playing with others. This allows fellow players to reach their own kill quotas and help in later waves. Hogging monsters may result in their death and could make it harder to progress without their support. If a player is on their own in the server or has nobody else nearby to share kills with, then killing extra enemies may help to stock up on healing items and ammo ahead of time.
For Wave 1 players will want to kill any monsters they find along the way to the circle as there will be better luck finding the kills out in the open rather than in the circle. As there is a generous period of time to make it to the first zone there should be no concern for players to spend the time on chasing some monsters. Only two kills are needed, so once two kills are achieved the player can focus on making it to the safe zone if they have not already. The quicker a player gets their kills, the sooner they can move to the Antidote Printer in order to create an Antidote. Antidotes should remain a low priority to the player, as focusing on Antidotes may lead to coming up short on monsters kills and consequently result in the player losing. Players can progress without an Antidote, but an Antidote will not fill in for missing monster kills.
Wave 2 is simple and requires no special strategy. Players should quickly move to the next circle and kill enemies by the Antidote Printer. From Wave 2 onward the enemies are forcefully killed and new enemies are spawned in the safe zone. This makes traveling to the next circle as soon as possible a high priority. Some nearby Ghosts may still be alive if they were in their invulnerable phase when the server tried to kill all enemies. These may help collect a few extra kills along the way but can easily be ignored if the circle is a far distance away. If the next circle is close, players are encouraged to use the spare time to safely heal and loot a little.
Wave 3 begins to introduce true difficulty to the mode. All enemies are Skeletons and Witches (plus any Ghosts left alive from previous wave). Both of these enemies are unaffected by Smoke Grenades. Players should avoid using Smoke Grenades in Wave 3 as they will only blind players and make it harder to stay alive. It is important to be aware of surroundings in this wave because Skeletons do not count to the kill quota if they self-destruct. This means that Skeletons need to be killed at a distance. Skeletons should always be the priority before killing Witches. Use of Stealth may help if players are looking to remain hidden and would normally rely on Smoke Grenades.
Wave 4 has a large melee enemy focus. Smoke Grenades will help in this wave. Vampires are especially dangerous in large numbers as they attack the fastest out of all enemies and will very quickly bring the players' HP down. They should be the priority. As all enemies blow up—or may blow up—upon being killed, it is best to kill swarms from a distance. Circling around groups will not work very well with the knockback from explosions (unless using Shield), so players should instead aim to run away when being overwhelmed and use parkour to lose enemies. If needing to heal quickly with the help of a Smoke Grenade, players should opt for using a second one shortly into healing to keep the smoke fresh. This is important as shooting enemies in the smoke to make the immediate surroundings safer is a bad idea: the explosions can lead to a quick death in the low HP scenario.
Wave 5 will take a lot of ammo from players due to the high number of Frankensteins. It is a good idea to have optimal weapons that use a low amount of ammo (ideally 5 head shots) and can take magazine extensions (the 50 Round Mag or 100 Round Mag). Use of the Ammo ability is also best saved for this wave if possible. Frankensteins do not attack as often as other melee attackers and are the easiest to avoid. The main difficulty is the large number of them. As each one takes a while to kill, it can be easy for a swarm to catch up to players. It is a good idea for players to put obstacles in the way or to walk backwards as they shoot at Frankensteins.
Wave 6 is a very easy round as Witches do not attack regularly and deal low damage. Ghosts also have a very long attack which does low damage and is easy to dodge. Players should find it easy to collect the required number of kills and even get their antidote in this wave. The odd Skeleton or two may pose an annoyance but do not provide any real threat. Players should make sure to keep an eye on their HP and heal regularly. As the majority of enemies are ranges, there is no risk of being swarmed. This means standing still or moving slowly while healing is not an issue. Players should be comfortable with using items like Small Heal while they stand next to the Antidote Printer and shoot at the distant Witches and Ghosts.
Wave 7 returns to a full house of enemies with everything in equal numbers spawning again. The threat of this wave is the high number of enemies. There shouldn't be any issues for players to find the number of kills they need. Players should instead focus on not getting swarmed and keeping their HP up. This wave is much easier if Antidotes are ignored.