Can Hostile Enclaves Become Friendly in State of Decay 2?
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The short and direct answer is no, hostile enclaves in State of Decay 2 cannot become friendly. Once an enclave or an individual survivor turns hostile towards your community, that relationship is permanent. There is no path to redemption; they will remain actively hostile and will attack you on sight until they are eliminated. This is a core mechanic of the game designed to create meaningful and lasting consequences for your actions and choices. The game offers a variety of ways to engage with enclaves, and while most can be brought into an Allied status, once they become Hostile there’s no turning back.
Understanding Enclave Relationships
In State of Decay 2, enclaves are a major part of the world. They represent other groups of survivors struggling to get by, just like your community. These enclaves have various starting statuses:
- Neutral: This is the most common starting status. These groups will largely ignore you unless provoked or if you engage in trading or other interactions with them.
- Friendly: You can achieve this status by helping enclaves with their requests. Friendly enclaves will offer better prices for your goods and can eventually become Allied.
- Allied: Allied enclaves provide valuable benefits like passive bonuses, unique trader inventory, and the option to recruit one of their members into your own community.
However, there’s one relationship status to actively avoid:
- Hostile: Once an enclave turns hostile, it’s a one-way street. They will attack you without provocation and cannot be brought back to a friendly or neutral status.
What Triggers Hostility?
Several factors can trigger hostility from an enclave:
- Threatening Enclaves: When interacting with friendly or neutral enclaves, you have the option to threaten them. This can be useful for getting them to hand over resources or simply to remove them from your map. However, it will immediately turn them hostile. Some enclaves can’t be threatened without certain circumstances but it’s a risk.
- Aggressive Actions: Attacking an enclave member, stealing from them, or damaging their base will instantly trigger a hostile response.
- Failing Enclave Missions: While not as direct, consistently failing an enclave’s requests can negatively impact your standing with them and could potentially escalate to hostility in some cases.
It’s critical to understand these triggers to avoid accidentally turning an enclave hostile.
Dealing With Hostile Enclaves
Since there’s no way to reconcile with a hostile enclave, your only course of action is to deal with them directly:
- Combat: Hostile enclaves must be eliminated. They will pose a constant threat as they will attack you on sight. Fighting them can be dangerous, as they often have better gear and tend to use ranged weapons effectively. It’s advisable to utilize ranged combat and strategize before engaging them.
- Strategic Planning: Consider luring zombies to their location to weaken them or use environmental advantages to your favor.
- Accepting the Loss: Understand that once an enclave becomes hostile, their unique potential benefits, like trading or recruiting a member, are lost forever.
Why the Permanence of Hostility Matters
The permanence of hostility is an essential design choice in State of Decay 2. This feature serves to:
- Create Consequences: Actions in the game have real, lasting consequences. Threatening or attacking an enclave carries significant risks and makes you evaluate your choices carefully.
- Increase Realism: The concept of irreconcilable conflict adds a layer of realism to the game. Not all relationships can be mended, reflecting the harsh realities of a post-apocalyptic world.
- Drive Strategic Thinking: The inability to make amends with hostile enclaves forces you to be more deliberate and strategic with your interactions.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Here are 15 frequently asked questions related to enclaves and their hostility in State of Decay 2:
1. Can I recruit an entire enclave?
You can recruit members from certain specialized enclaves like medics, mechanics, drunks, and soldiers. This requires you to complete their missions to the point where they offer to join. Accepting will bring all three members to your base. Not every enclave can be recruited.
2. How do I prevent an enclave from becoming hostile?
Avoid threatening them, do not attack any members, do not steal from them, and complete their mission requests to raise your relationship status and prevent them from becoming hostile. If you have to take action against one, it must be absolute.
3. Can I threaten allied enclaves?
No, you cannot threaten allied enclaves. Only friendly and neutral enclaves have the threat option available.
4. How many allies can I have in State of Decay 2?
You can ally with multiple enclaves, but this is more for long-term strategy. You cannot recruit multiple from all enclaves as your max community size is 12. Opportunities to recruit become scarce after 9 survivors.
5. Which leader is the best in State of Decay 2?
Many consider the Warlord to be a top choice. They have the Armory leader project, enabling you to produce any form of ammunition which is vital for defense against the hordes.
6. What is the best base in State of Decay 2?
There are many great bases depending on your style. Pterodactyl Ptark and Farmland Compound in Trumbull Valley are some of the most popular options, alongside the Barricaded Strip Mall and Mike’s Concrete in Drucker County. Each has advantages and disadvantages.
7. How do you befriend an enclave?
You befriend an enclave by helping them with their requests. This can range from resource gathering to zombie elimination. The more you assist, the friendlier they become.
8. What happens if I disband my community?
Disbanding your community sends your survivors to the legacy pool, allowing you to use them in future games. However, your inventory is lost, so if you are not going for the legacy pool then continuing may be a better option.
9. Can I join the Enclave faction in State of Decay 2?
No, the Enclave faction referenced is a different franchise. There is no option to join the faction. They exist solely as groups of survivors to interact with.
10. Can I recruit cannibals in State of Decay 2?
Yes, under some very specific circumstances. If you kill the person they want in their mission, they become friendly and can be recruited after doing the trader legacy mission.
11. What happens when I send a survivor to the legacy pool?
Sending a survivor to the legacy pool means you can use them in future playthroughs. They are removed from your current community, but you keep your locker contents.
12. How do I get rid of a neutral enclave?
To remove a neutral enclave, you must either ally with them and recruit a member or threaten them, turning them hostile, and eliminating them.
13. Do enclaves respawn?
Enclaves do not respawn. Once they are gone, they are gone.
14. What is the best trait in State of Decay 2?
There are many powerful traits, but Volunteer Coordinator and Officer Material are very strong due to their boost to morale, and Red Talon Operative due to their skills and powerful trait.
15. What is the easiest map in State of Decay 2?
Meagher Valley is considered one of the easiest maps. The topography is easy to traverse, and it has some excellent base locations.
Conclusion
In conclusion, hostile enclaves in State of Decay 2 are a permanent threat. There is no way to revert them to a friendly status. This feature forces players to consider the consequences of their actions and make thoughtful choices when engaging with other survivor groups. By understanding the mechanics of enclave relationships and how hostility is triggered, players can navigate the challenging world of State of Decay 2 more effectively.