Sheltered – High Yield Expedition and Advanced Combat Guide

Defeat each enemy with finesse and maximize loot from expeditions in Sheltered. Battles are predominantly fought during expeditions with the occasional shelter raids. The latter is usually prevented by the home security system that kills all intruders before triggering one.

Starting Location

The shelter will always be surrounded by three buildings of a school, a farm, and a house.

If lucky, the shelter will have more locations to explore when spawning in the middle of the forest!

High Yield Expedition

Every party must consist of 2 members to carry more loot and increase combat efficiency in battles. Before going out, each member must have radiation protection, core equipment, and available extra storage items. Only the most useful equipment is described in the tables.

Radiation Protection
Anti-Rads can be used beforehand to substitute a Gas Mask and avoid radiation injury upon arrival.

• Gas Mask – One-Time Use Only and the Advanced version can be used infinite times.
• Anti-Rad – Treats radiation poisoning.

Core Equipment
Mandatory items to equip for almost all expeditions to ensure survival and more loot.

• Body Armor – Reduces combat damage and blocks bullets based on quality.
• Lockpick – Finds the vast majority of loot that includes firearms
• Metal Detector – Finds more metallic-specific loot, and is useful for scrapyards.

The lockpick is an early game item that finds firearms, hinges, and more gas masks!

Situational Equipment
Items used specifically to locate hidden military sites in the mountains for special equipment or more firearms from general expeditions.

• Verrekijker – Increases party vision range and is only effective for unexplored areas.
• Hacking Terminal – Finds more firearm-specific loot, if lockpicks are not enough.

Optimal Route Planning

Unexplored maps are difficult to navigate without having estimated guesses. Scanning frequencies indirectly reveal searchable locations when finding enemy factions. Cities become more apparent if the factions are found in open and clear terrain.

Major cities have at least one scrapyard and are needed to farm for RV parts. Shacks are also important for obtaining Tyres but they are much more difficult to find because of being isolated in forests or mountains.

Loot Management

Longer expeditions generate more loot than exceeds carrying capacity and force decisions to keep certain loot.

Item Class	Priority	Beschrijving
Rubber	1st	Most difficult to find and needed for more Water Butts and other important equipment.
RV Parts	2nl	Completing the RV for max carrying capacity and for the next Relative Quest.
Vuurwapens & Ammunition	3rd	To improve combat abilities and build home security
Radio & Workbench Materials	4e	Upgrade existing station to the next level for next tier equipment.
Metaal & Scrap Pile	5e	Any material that yields metal for equipment and ammunition.
Cement	6e	Build extra rooms when needed.
Voedsel & Water	7e	Build extra rooms when needed.Only carry when needed and keep leather if wildlife is encountered.
Plastic & Other Recyclables	Last	Most junk items yield plastic but is not worth wasting a carrying slot, such as empty petrol can.

When max carrying capacity is reached, junk items can be dropped from inventory including non-cement items (limestone), zaden, planten, enz.

Know Your Enemy

The quality of weapons and armor are only important in faction or special event fights. A pipe would be a satisfactory weapon to use until superior ones are found. A normal fight is typically against one opponent. Vandaar, two family members with basic weapons can most likely overwhelm the enemy on first turn.

If the fights involve 3-4 opponents, bring firearms in combination with grenade/pipe. The Corps will be the biggest threat since they carry firearms and rebar. To win these kind of battles, simply throw a grenade/pipe first and use a whole clip of ammo to defeat them in one turn.

Subduing

Free weapons can be obtained early in the game through using a picklock at certain locations or killing a disarmed enemy. If the enemy is holding onto a weapon upon death, the dropped weapon will convert into useless junk.

In het begin, family members have very little strength to inflict much damage and better to subdue the enemy instead. The latter does not generate trauma and still gain strength/dexterity upon victory.

Melee Weapons

The first line of weapons that are available to use in combat. Damage is determined by strength and weapon class.

Weapon Class	Lethality in Single Turn?	Beschrijving
Sledgehammer	Ja	Rare lethal weapon and can be found in scrapyards.
Rebar	Ja	Common equivalent of sledgehammer and still Inflicts lethal damage in about 2 hits.
Hatchet	Nee	Inflicts near-death damage with high chance of bleeding.
Mes	Nee	Inflicts moderate damage with high chance of bleeding.
Bat or Rock	Nee	Only use when nothing else is available and has a chance to cause bleeding.

Vuurwapens

The only lethal class of weapons that can attack multiple targets yet randomly in a single turn. Maximum dexterity is needed for the shots to connect and not miss.

Firearms have varying degrees of stopping power that is predominantly determined by ammo capacity versus ammo type.

Weapon Class	Ammo Capacity	Beschrijving
Pistol	12	Most common firearm with the highest bullet volley.
Shotgun	6	Better used as shotgun trap but still has decent stopping power in combat.
Rifle	3	Best used for rifle sentry traps due to lowest clip capacity.

Opmerking: The M16 is a rifle with 30 ammo capacity but was excluded due to requiring the pet fish.

Home Security

Without any traps in early game, the adults who are courageous can still defend well because of training so long on the punching bug while waiting for water. The ideal home security consists of only rifle sentries and shotgun traps.

Opmerking: Loot only drops from raiders who are defeated in combat only.

Epiloog

As time progresses, battles become harder when encountering tougher factions, especially Marauders and Corps. Both of them attack in groups of 3-4 and medkits are needed on expeditions when treading on their territory.

The Corps is the very last faction to spawn and are well-equipped with several firearms or higher-tier melee weapons. Grenades or pipes are needed to deal with them when they cannot be dealt with in a single turn.

Normal encounters are still consistent but sometimes random with a group of 3-4 and/or equipped with firearms.