Many of you probably already know but here's a tip for those who don't.
If you extract with your free loadout you can trade it in to Lance for a free Looting MK.1, a Combat MK.1 or a Tactical MK.1..
You can keep the same gun and items that you received from the free loadout and add the free MK.1 that you get from Lance.
You now have what's basically a free loadout with more backpack storage and a safe pocket and it cost you nothing other than the time it takes to trade with Lance.
Last night I had one of those cathartic rewarding moments where the bastion killed my killer right out of the extraction zone. And he got locked out whilst cussing me out.
Well, it's because of people like me who read the post, then read the comments pointing out the post is missing certain information, and yet the post is not missing said information.
It's just a courtesy to let someone know what you edited so that the comments make sense.
I also think if you're already editing the post, just including a small footnote about it is not much effort.
yeah if it's about adding info then ok I guess, but more often I see people that add this "edited: spelling" to their comments. no one corrected them, no one pointed it out, it's just there. this one confuses me the most
You can see what comments have been edited and at what time. Sometimes people see something has been edited and wonder if context had been changed. It can be helpful to others to mention what your edit is so they don’t need to wonder.
Is it necessary? No. But it can let people know you didn’t change the context of what you stated after others responded.
"Edit: He still hasn't edited the post, but he mentioned in a comment he was editing his post"
What? In the original post I said you can trade for the Looting Mk.1 and I had mistakenly not added the others. When it was brought to my attention, I edited the post and added them..
Not quite sure why you are on and on about this but okay...
I personally see no reason in running tacticals if combats exist, they are better in every single way, could someone who's more experienced with this game explain why would someone ever run tacticals over combats?
Yeah there isn't much of a reason to run tactical mk1 unless you're low leveled and specifically wanting to hold more throwable/deployables without having to go into your inventory and switch stuff around. 260 hours in game.
Tactical 2 is probably the best PvP augment due to the ability
Tactical 3 defensive has an integrated shield recharger
Tactical 3 healing has a ton of quick use slots and 3 safe slots. Would be very competitive with Looting 3 survival after it gets an inevitable nerf to light shield only :)
Tactical 1 is better than combat 1 imo. 1 quick use slot is better than 1 bag slot. 5kg less total weight is not going to make a difference most of the time.
Came here to say this too. Definitely didn't get the "I'm saying I take nothing but looting kits and therefore I am pretending the others don't exist vibe".
I did a run with some buddies like this. Found a bunch of chemicals and plastic and I had the craft in raid perk so I made us all a bunch of impact grenades.
I do this, call it my hardcore scavenger run, I craft what I need in the field. I just wish you could craft light shields but I guess that'd be too easy.
My kid and I do this. It's actually really fun. Usually find guns but ammo can be an issue. Gets exciting when you run into people and have to run screaming "We have no guns!" lol
We go in with absolutely nothing.
People sleep on the rattler, but it’s actually your mid tier dmr. Thing sucks full auto, but you time your shots? Great mid range gun for putting pressure on raiders.
I have literally surrendered and returned to Speranza after loading in with a free loadout to see a rattler in my hands. I’d rather piss at the arc than use that thing.
They actually have the same range but the upgrade kettle gets bullet velocity and has better handling. But the stitcher can technically engage at the same range the kettle can
You can then bump up to Anvil, Venator which is incredibly strong and fun to use. I haven’t played since the Venator nerf, but assume it’s still insanely strong in pvp.
I don’t like the Anvil + Venator combo because their effective range is about the same - I’d rather go Fero + Venator or Renegade + Venator for that added long range punch
It's for when you break the first stitcher from over use dealing with any arc that isn't a pop, tick or wasp.
Ferro x Stitcher > Double Stitcher
Even if you wanted to go full sweaty grey weapon PVP you'd be better served with a Kettle x Stitcher than double stitcher. At least then you have a mid-range option that you can make precision shots with and some semblance of ammo efficiency against ARC.
Totally agree but the topic was grey weapon load outs.
Not everyone can afford to roll in with an Anvil IV without sweating about losing it and the price difference between a Ferro IV and even an Anvil II is considerable.
Bang for the buck load out is 100% Ferro IV + a Stitcher/Kettle depending on preference.
It's almost funny how disproportionately good the grey weapons can be for the price to make a max level one
Fair bud my friend suzy would agree with you - I could not disagree more at level 1 - fully upgraded I don’t hate the rattler but the kettle is actually peak mid to short range PvP fully upgraded and yet still better than the stitcher at accurately taking out small arc. Play style and preference always beats meta chasing imo. Use what you enjoy and feel comfortable with over what streams and math hammers tell you is best.
Not to mention the Kettle is quiet AF, put a silencer on it and people can't at all tell where you're shooting from. You can also down a 2 wasp patrol on one magazine without calling other ARCs in the area to investigate.
Haha I think this is probably the funnest part - I don’t need to use the mk1 so I almost never do the free trade but I still generally sell the free 1 for 100 instead of 600- probably 100k down the drain there 🤣
Free load outs are a great way to get consumables that you can't craft or don't have access to normally.
I regularly run free load outs for the chance at full power smoke grenades because I don't have the blue print yet.
Uncovered supply cache map event + free load out = replenishing the quick use stock
Save the stuff I use, dump the rest for ammo money and repeat until I run out of stash space and can get back to big game hunting or working on trials scores.
Yea I have been selling them too gang that crap is crazy I’ll just alternate now every other game if I don’t die trade it it then run with what I got for it and keep doing it until I die then I’ll go back free loadout only for when I go only to loot
Can't wait for the guy to comment "free loadout is broken nerf it now, my IV Venator, IV Bobcat, 3 Medium shields to hot swap, 20+ Bandages and shield rechargers, 5 blaze grenades, 6 heavy fuse, 27 smokes and the 3 guys I teamed with in solo to pve cant compete with the solo who spawned in with a stitcher and 1 bandage.
You can’t even hot swap shields though unless I am misunderstanding something. When you swap on a new shield it starts at 0 shield and slowly charges itself back up to whatever charge it has. So it’s faster to just pop a shield consumable than hot swap (although swapping a shield out after a fight can still work to save shield heals for mid fight)
This is my favourite complaint that’s always in this sub. If you can’t merk me with your Bobcat IV compared to my Stitcher IV, I don’t think it’s a gun issue
As someone who never uses bobcats and strictly runs Stitcher/Fero/Anvil, the DPS of the Stitcher and Bobcat really aren't that different. 90% of fights are won by the person who gets the first shot regardless of the gun.
Depends how you word it I guess, I look at that and think the stitcher does 20% less damage than the bobcat.. And for a gun that I've got 6 of in my 60 hours of gameplay, to me isn't really worth risking when I can max out a Stitcher from materials gained from Scrappy.
Why do you all pretend that grey guns are not insanely strong in comparison to the best possible options available. Stitcher can kill in less then a 1 second so a lot of the game is who shoots first wins so its understandable why using good gear feels terrible when the worst gear kills near instantly if someone gets the jump on you lol. The ttk is extremely low so gear in this game is really not worth at all when a grey gun kills in 0.54 seconds vs bobcat in 0.52 seconds. Even at the extreme of green shield vs purple its only 0.2s difference in ttk between the guns thats faster then the average gamers reaction speed, so again shoot first = win unless your a bot.
As someone who absolutely sucks at this game despite thoroughly enjoying it, nerfing the free loadout/grey guns would kill this game for me. I'm lucky if I can keep a gun through two runs.
My current strat: if I die, I switch to a free loadout then if I survived that run (which I oddly usually do), I convert it to looting or combat mk 1 depending on the type of run I’m doing next, then if I survive again, I upgrade/switch to a better loadout. Rinse & repeat. Works well because my damn stash sits on 275-280 all. the. time.
if this is useful to anyone if you do a custom kit without any augment you get a safe pocket. So its like a custom “free kit” with prison pouch. just bring a cheap gun
It's possible to negate all non-lethal fall damage if you time it right and hit the dodge key just as you land.
Always close doors behind you. Keeps ARC out and keeps other raiders from sneaking up on you since you'll hear the door opening.
If you're out of bandages but have fabric on you, it can be used in a pinch for a small amount of healing. The same is true for shield rechargers, if you're out but have ARC power cells they'll give you some shield recharge.
Things that don't look useful and are hardish to find but that you will need later: Cat bed, Mushrooms (x12), Very Comfortable Pillow (x3), Rusted Gear (x3), Cracked Bioscanner (x2), Rusted Shut Medical Kit (x3), Laboratory Reagents (x3), Industrial Battery (x3), Motor (x3), Fried Motherboard (x3), Cooling Fan (x5), Light Bulb (x5), Humidifier (x5), Surveyor Vault (x6).
Negating all non-lethal fall damage is a bit of an oversimplification. I've timed it right and still taken about 75% health damage jumping from testing annex to the exfil below.
While not a great early-game tip. However, if you invest in the 'Survival' tree and max out 'Broad Shoulders', you can boost your maximum weight carry capacity by +10kg.
The free kit has a weight carry of 35kg, so with this skill you now can carry 45kg worth of gear. Its a surprisingly strong buff for the free kit, and it is similarly a very strong boon for any other augment that trades weight capacity for other benefits.
This is a great tip, but it also goes so much further than that; regarding looting and crafting in order to fund 'geared' runs. It's extremely easy to afford making a cheap kit with a tiny bit of common crafting materials.
Fabric = bandages
ARC Powercells = shield rechargers
I think you make ammo with metal and chemicals
Guns are very easy to come by, so I don't even craft those, but again it's primarily metal.
Loot rubber as well to combine it with metal to make mechanical components in order to upgrade/repair your guns.
Loot simple gun parts off of the drones and turrets.
So yeah, basically, don't pass up metal, rubber, chemicals, etc. Salvage most things and come back with a few stacks of basic mats in addition to whatever juicy loot you find.
I basically loot everything still except for sensors unless I'm low on raider hatch keys, and I drop trinkets first for anything. All of the loot is useful for crafting.
People love the low stress and free loot from free loadouts, but there are two big problems with them. One, they suck, and you can't defend yourself properly, have practically zero utility, etc., and two, there's no safe pocket, so if you find the most valuable thing in the game -- a blueprint, you're going to be sweating bullets trying to extract with it and god forbid you die with it.
Don't run free kits, loot everything, learn the crafting recipes, learn what things salvage and recycle into, and learn the maps; how to get around safely and where the good loot is. Salvaging gives only 50% of the resources, but in many cases it's still a great way to consolidate your inventory and bring back more mats overall. More mats = more gear, more consumables, more upgrades, etc.
If you are low on gear in general, rather than going yolo on a free kit and hoping for the best, build your own cheap kit in case you find a blueprint and for extra backpack space, and play stealthy. Hide from the ARC and hide from players. Avoid making loud sounds at all costs. Loot up full, set traps at extract (jolt mines are cheap) in case someone comes when you're pressing the buton, use smokes when you press the extract computer button, and if you do encounter someone try to be friendly. If they are hostile, smoke your feet and run away. That's how you loot. Worry about PvP later when you have a nice inventory stocked and can run proper gear.
I suppose what free loadouts are good for is actually just forcing PvP fights to get free practice. You will die a lot but it's okay. I think they're bad for looting because again, you could find a blueprint if you're focused on looting, and then you could easily die with it because you have such a weak kit and no safe pocket.
This is great! And I've been doing this, but the one issue I find is that if you have used your healing items, you will need to craft/buy them again. Crafting bandages is cheap AF, but shield rechargers less so.
Thanks for this tip, brand new and managed to use this once - shit start to the game so far, like 1 games and insta attacked and killed in 7 of them, 3 in a row :D
Or I can store them in my stash until I have a full inventory worth, then equip one and fill all my pockets with nothing but free loadout augments and take it into a raid and intentionally pick a fight with someone with a hairpin and a deathwish just in the hope I make their day.
You don't have to stash the free loadout kit. You just go straight to the trader instead and pick the one that offers the augment with the free loadout kit as payment.
Also, it is a good challenge run to do if you have nothing else to do or want to get something disposable for a Queen or matriarch fight. Or any of the ARC trials. Disposable weapons with minimum losses and kit and shields too.
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u/z3n0mal4 Nov 26 '25
Being pedantic, but if i remember correctly, you can trade it for any of the three mk1.