Livonia and Sakhal run Inedia Pain and Inedia Infected. Together they make injuries matter and turn zombies from a nuisance into a real threat. Here's what changes and how to stay alive.
How pain works
Each limb (head, torso, arms, and legs) has its own pain level from 0 to 100%. Pain causes the debuffs, not the injury itself, so painkillers make debuffs go away even before an injury heals. Pain fades slowly on its own.
| Level | Pain | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Yellow | 10–30% | Minor: some weapon sway, slower movement, or stamina loss depending on the limb |
| Orange | 30–50% | Serious: noticeably slower, can't jump high obstacles with bad legs, weaker melee |
| Red | 50–100% | Severe: can't sprint, constant shock, and above 90% you start losing health |
What pain does to each limb
- Arms: weapon sway, weaker melee, no combo attacks, and at higher levels you can't stun infected.
- Legs: slower movement, then no high jumps, then no sprinting, plus shock while moving.
- Torso: stamina drain, and at extreme pain you're forced to crouch.
- Head: hearing things that aren't there, vomiting, blurred vision, and at extreme pain you pass out.
Injuries and how to treat them
| Injury | What it does | Treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Fracture | Keeps pain at red until splinted, orange once splinted. Triples shock from pain. | Splint (arms and legs) or Splint Kit (any limb). Calcium caps speed up healing. |
| Deep wound | Keeps pain at red until bandaged, orange once bandaged. | Bandage, or better, Hemostatic Dressing. Stitch it with a Surgical Kit (about 90% success) or a sewing kit (about 30%). Tranexam speeds healing. |
| Bullet wound | Pain can't drop below yellow, then gets worse over time and causes heavy metal poisoning. | Extract the bullet. You need Morphine, Tramadol, or to be unconscious first. A Surgical Kit works best. A knife works rarely and costs a lot of blood. |
| Internal bleeding | From gunshots or stabs to the torso. You slowly bleed out until it's fixed. | Morphine plus a Surgical Kit, with a low success rate and heavy blood loss. Good body armor prevents it. |
Medical items worth carrying
- Morphine: removes all pain for 90 seconds and allows every surgery.
- Tramadol: halves pain for 3 minutes and allows stitching and bullet extraction.
- Painkillers or codeine: cut pain by 30% for 5 minutes and allow stitching.
- Hemostatic Dressing: stops bleeding for an hour and triples limb healing.
- Surgical Kit: the best tool for stitching, bullets, and internal bleeding.
- Splint Kit: stabilizes any limb and triples bone healing.
- Tranexam: slows bleeding and reduces blood loss during surgery.
- Sorbifer Durules: speeds up blood regeneration.
- Calcium caps: double bone healing speed.
- Metoclopramide: stops vomiting.
Vanilla bandages, rags, splints, and sewing kits still work, just less well. In a pinch, vodka dulls pain too.
Smarter infected
Inedia infected see, hear, and smell better, hit harder, and search for you for a long time after they lose sight of you.
- They react to noise and light: doors slamming, car engines and headlights, generators, fireworks, flashlights, and campfires at night. Close doors quietly.
- They react to you: coughing, sneezing, laughing, vomiting, and groaning in pain all draw them in. Wounded players are easier to smell, and your scent carries on the wind.
- They call for help: a zombie that spots you screams, and the scream pulls in others nearby.
- They're harder to escape: they can climb up and down obstacles, knock you off them, and break doors down.
- They can hurt you through blocking: they can stun you even when you block, break limbs, cause pain, and pass on diseases.
- They see worse at night but still hear well.
- Loot needs a search: you have to search a body to loot it.
- Vehicles aren't safe: hitting creatures slows and damages your car, and zombies can reach you through broken windows.
Staying alive
- Carry a splint, a good bandage, and painkillers at all times. Add a Surgical Kit and Morphine once you find them.
- Treat pain before you fight. Arm pain wrecks your aim and melee.
- Move slowly in towns, avoid sprinting past groups, and don't fire unless you have to. Every noise brings more.
- At night, kill your lights near infected.
- Don't head out sick. Coughing and sneezing give you away.