Have the sledgehammer available at the hardware store.

[Socia]

So recently I have been playing on West Point with the intention of breaking into the Gun Shop and skipping over to Muldraugh. This would have been fine if I realized there's a shockingly abysmal amount of sledgehammers available in West Point.

 

Quite literally I spent 7 games wandering around West Point to all the places that have sledgehammers to no avail. What fascinates me though is how the hardware store seems to have every item except the sledgehammer, which is quite frustrating. Normally they would have one anyways.

 

Now, I love that loot is now on rare and I feel it gives the game the challenge it deserves. One of my greatest moments playing was fighting a huge battle to get into the police station only to find a few boxes of hunting rifle ammunition and a pistol.  But when there is a good chance that an item doesn't spawn anywhere in the town at all it destroys incentive to play long. I know I could just hike to Muldraugh, but I feel that you shouldn't trek the entire map to find an item if you are dedicated enough to look for three days.

[chthonic]

yep, sledgehammer barely spawns anywhere. It has always been like that

Sledgehammer is so op though... Maybe they shouldn't change it

[Bullwinkle]

I don't think the sledge is OP at all. It seems very well balanced to me. It does have a powerful strike, but it is virtually useless if you are fighting more than one zombie.

 

It is mandatory for certain jobs. It should be available with reasonable effort. 7 games on Rare Loot doesn't sound reasonable to me.

[EnigmaGrey]

The trouble is that loot is currently spawned once the player looks to a container. It's not generated in the beginning of the game, because only a small area of the map is loaded and live at any one time. Because what's been spawned previously isn't tracked, there's no way to guarantee the number of items in the game. Instead, a dice is rolled and the chance of that item appearing in that container is given.

Though chances are very good that, in specific containers, a sledgehammer will appear over the course of the game, there can be no guarantee in this system.

To fix this, the number of items spawned over the course of a playthrough would have to be tracked, and if a certain number of that item hasn't been spawned, it can be spawned. Though this wouldn't be perfect, either: there'd be no way to determine when something should appear . . .

Nothing is simple.

[Bullwinkle]

What if one container were added in the hardware store that had a specific loot table, just for the sledge with chance set at 100?

 

Or 3 containers added just for the sledge: one in the hardware store, one in the storage facility and one in somebody's garage, with chance set at 75% each? This wouldn't give a guarantee, but if added to the existing mix, would sure make it pretty likely.

[AnonPrime]

Looking at the distribution file, any wooden crate has a chance to drop a sledge. The only other location would be the Mechanics, specifically on the Metal Shelves.

 

Your best bet would be to check the mechanics currently as there are more rolls and less loot in the table compared to the wooden crates.

[gorolho]

Why do they throw lollipops on trashcans and keep knifes unorganized? What's wrong with zombies these days?

[BoogieMan]

I agree. I've searched literally *every* warehouse in West Point, Muldraugh, and scores of tool sheds and simply cannot find one. They are far too rare.