Gunsmithing Review

[Dx421]

(Copied from Steam Forums, I've got 2000+ posts there played TLD since 2014 and logged 1,045 hours in the game, although none of that really matters )

I really liked this new gameplay.

The items all made sense and the journey to the Cannery was engaging.

The skill progression seems a little quick compared to other skills in the game - I had started a new game to gather materials and books, leveled Gunsmithing to 3 with just books, then spent two days in the Cannery assembling and dismantling ammunition to level to 5.

Things that could be changed:

1. Low skill bullet production should have a chance of producing good or perfect rounds. Or a chance of producing subpar rounds.

2. There should really be ammunition benches in other locations. It makes sense for the Cannery to have a Milling Machine if they do in house machinery repair. But who in a sardine packing plant needs bullets? Instead - The ammunition bench should be moved to the Hunting Lodge in Broken Railroad (This region needs updating anyways it's... well... Broken)

Edited December 27, 2019 by Dx421
Missed a letter

[ajb1978]

Assembling and disassembling ammunition to raise the skill makes sense to me because you're literally practicing the thing that the skill represents.  Same as catch-and-release fishing being used to level Ice Fishing.

What doesn't make sense though is the simple act of melting lead to craft bullets leveling the Gunsmithing skill.  I spammed out 500 bullets over a few days to level it to 5 without crafting a single round, then instantly jumped right into crafting perfect ammo.  I think to align it with Archery, we should only get a skill point when you craft or deconstruct an actual round, not just forge the bullet.

[Dx421]

Agreed!

Although there should be some benefit from crafting the lead. 

They could make a forging skill and lock a few recipes behind higher levels. But I think we'd just grind those levels with lead anyways

[wizard03]

They may add more benches, say on opposite ends of the map, or strictly near specific hunting areas/lodges. But for now, I think that they are more interested in keeping things in a very very dangerous area to provide both the "carrot and the stick" to prevent permanent farming in the game. If you want lots of ammo or the desire to run a game for an extremely extended amount of time, you have to enter a dangerous area with the most aggressive animal in game, with multiple choke points. Specifically designed to kill anyone unprepared for the encounter. 

[Dx421]

That's a good point wizard.

I think with a little work they could make Broken Railroad into that kind of map. They just need to add in the bolt cutters from story mode and a few Timberwolf packs. 

Maybe the region is still too small compared to Bleak Inlet though. Another reason to rework it. 

[DaPepster]

On a related note, has anybody made a list of any of the locations where the gun smithing research books spawn...?

[ThePancakeLady]

3 hours ago, DaPepster said:

On a related note, has anybody made a list of any of the locations where the gun smithing research books spawn...?

I haven't seen one yet. Might be a good topic for a separate thread, though. 

I've found one in the Maintenance Yard in BR, and one in the broken down shed in the Deadfall region in ML so far, and I know I had one somewhere else (too many runs going at once), but I can't recall where. PV, I think, but not 100% sure.  

(Yay, I can still edit this!)

Just found the Gunsmithing book in the Hunters Blind at Unnamed Pond in ML. 

Edited December 28, 2019 by ThePancakeLady
Additional info added

[ajb1978]

9 hours ago, DaPepster said:

On a related note, has anybody made a list of any of the locations where the gun smithing research books spawn...?

I did a sweep of the already-looted world in my current game and while I was able to find quite a few supplies for crafting gunpowder, I only found two books so far. One was somewhere in the Bleak Inlet itself (I forget where exactly), and the other was in Mystery Lake, that little passenger car near the Train Unloading area.

[Dx421]

12 hours ago, DaPepster said:

On a related note, has anybody made a list of any of the locations where the gun smithing research books spawn...?

I don't *typically encourage loot lists so I won't disclose any of the locations I found them in.

But I will say I found 5 (IIRC) *gunsmithing books total after exploring all regions without visiting all locations in each region.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Dx421
Clarification

[ThePancakeLady]

According to someone on Steam, they can show up in any location that any Research Book might spawn in. So, all of the usual possible locations for any book, if you are lucky enough to know where all of those may be, and remember them all. Apparently all Research Books now may randomly spawn in any of the possible locations, or so I was told. 

[wizard03]

On 12/28/2019 at 2:08 AM, DaPepster said:

On a related note, has anybody made a list of any of the locations where the gun smithing research books spawn...?

Iv had them spawn randomly all over.....Timber wolf mountain, coastal highway, haven't checked mountain town yet, but with that said, they just seem to be a typical common spawn like the other books.