I very heartily suggest you play extraction shooter Escape from Duckov. Do no be fooled by the foolish identify or cartoony presentation: this can be a very in-depth recreation with an infinite variety of mechanics to familiarize yourself with, particularly should you’re newer to the looter-shooter format. However worry not, for I’ve spent so very many hours making so very many errors that I’m now expertly positioned to warn you the way not to comply with in my footsteps. Listed below are 12 issues I want I knew earlier than enjoying Escape from Duckov.
You’re going to die, rather a lot, and that’s OK
Your aim in Escape from Duckov is to discover an overworld populated by murderous geese, to be able to loot the tools it’s worthwhile to construct up your base, enhance your weapons and armor, and head off ever-further in pursuit of recent quests. Nonetheless, on each journey, you’re risking completely every thing you’re taking with you, alongside something you decide up in your manner. Whereas many extraction shooters play out as multiplayer PvP video games, the place lack of progress feels way more regular, Escape from Duckov is a purely single-player shooter. This could make the losses nearly insufferable till you develop a zen-like strategy to failure. Since you will fail.
Each journey is fraught, with the overworld’s inhabitants of enemies altering every time you head up there. The big explorable areas keep the identical structure, albeit with lockers and chests in various locations, however the place sure gangs of marauding geese hang around can change, together with the spots the place you would possibly discover a number of named boss sorts. Let your guard down and you may be simply ambushed. Enterprise too far with not sufficient first assist and you may be simply taken down. Deliver the flawed ammo kind on your present weapons and yow will discover your self helpless. Or simply utterly goof up and let a hand grenade explode at your toes and also you’re additionally accomplished for. The purpose is, you’ll die.
You’ve obtained one likelihood to get your stuff again
Now, you do get one likelihood to recuperate your misplaced objects. Each loss of life returns you to your base, your character stock nearly emptied, and your spirit dented. However worry not: every thing you died with remains to be up there, subsequent to the positioning of your loss of life. All it’s worthwhile to do is head again up and seize it! Besides, keep in mind why you died? That’s more likely to nonetheless be an issue. And should you die once more earlier than you decide all of it up, then it’s all gone eternally*. So you may’t simply be working again up there in your duck underwear and hope you’ll be superb. You’ll all the time wish to be sure to have back-ups of important tools like armor, weapons and ammo stashed in your base’s monumental warehouse.
Even then, don’t get cocky. Consider this journey as a restoration solely, regardless of how tempted you may be to tick off one other quest en route, or take an additional threat for the sake of some huge loot. Mess this up and all of your finest tools is gone-gone. It’s about getting out and in, ideally with out ever being seen. Discover your loss of life web site, transfer every thing over as shortly as you may, after which extract on the nearest exit. The rest is hubris, and consider me, you’ll need to shut the sport down and take a stroll should you screw this up since you didn’t focus.
*OK, there’s a solution to save scum
Sure, OK, it’s not essentially gone-gone. There’s a somewhat scummy solution to get your stuff again should you’re prepared. As long as you’re immediate (often inside one real-world hour) after you final had the tools, you may return to the principle menu, select your save slot, after which click on “Restore Backup” within the backside proper. This allows you to decide from the final ten autosaves you by no means knew the sport was making and overwrite your present place. It’s clearly dishonest, and I actually suggest towards it: lots of the enjoyable of Duckov is dealing with as much as these losses, and rebuilding from meager components with a number of early-stage runs to collect tools for crafting what you’ve misplaced. However then once more, nobody else will ever know.
You wish to improve your carrying capability ASAP
For a recreation with 48 billion-trillion items of loot to collect, Duckov doesn’t offer you lots of area to hold them. By default you have got 22 slots in your stock, which can in a short time be taken up by spare weapons, varied kinds of ammo, first assist, and foods and drinks, and that’s earlier than you’re vacuuming up the objects within the overworld. Some loot stacks, different loot doesn’t, and juggling what you may carry is a continuing concern. So the very first thing you wish to do is add area.
The simplest manner to do that is with the assorted luggage yow will discover and craft. The primary of those, a make-up pouch, provides a really welcome further row of stock slots, however you’ll nearly instantly be craving extra. As you discover additional out, you’ll discover bigger luggage that not solely add an abundance of recent slots, but additionally improve the entire weight you may carry earlier than you turn out to be encumbered. However luggage are solely the beginning.
It’s all the time price noticing what varied bits of armor can do for you right here, too. You’ll often need to sacrifice further safety for bigger numbers of additional slots, however physique armor may give you a really welcome handful of extra areas. The sport additionally has barely mystical objects referred to as Totems, two of which you’ll be able to put on at any time that can increase varied skills and defenses. One among these is known as Sturdy, which at stage 2 will enhance your stock slots by 25 p.c.
There’s a fast solution to get extra totems
Talking of Totems, one thing Duckov completely doesn’t clarify is that there’s a fast solution to entry extra of them by way of some peculiar incantations within the sewers. Within the high proper nook of your base is a hatch that leads right down to some sewers beneath. From right here you may attain a “secret” passage to a location within the first overground space, and a ship that’ll take you to city as soon as yow will discover or afford the tickets. However there’s additionally an odd little space with chalk circles on the ground. In the event you’ve performed in any respect, you’ll discover you’re selecting up an terrible lot of Fading Feathers out of your killed enemies, and whereas promoting these can get you some much-needed money, saving them up additionally affords this huge profit. As a result of down right here you may “sacrifice” them, eight or 80 at a time, in alternate for random Totems.
What you get may be very unpredictable, however it may be game-changing. That Sturdy II I discussed was one thing I obtained this fashion, and it’s made such a distinction. Others will enhance your well being, your armor, stamina limits, notion potential (the cone of sight in which you’ll be able to spot enemies), and the way your weapons work. It’s nightmarish selecting solely two to put on at a time, truthfully, however the extra alternative the higher.
Night time is just not fairly as dangerous as the sport suggests
In the event you attempt to go away your base anyplace near nightfall, the sport will warn you that it may be a greater thought to sleep the evening away somewhat than threat the elevated hazard. And proper firstly, that’s recommendation price listening to. Nevertheless it gained’t cease warning you, even while you’re prepared. As soon as you are feeling snug with some stable armor and highly effective weapons, you may start to courageous the darkish. The distinction is robo-spiders, which come out at evening and are very highly effective foes. However not loopy powerful, and should you be certain that to make use of cowl and high quality ammo, you’ll mow them down shortly sufficient. And their robotic cores are key to unlocking lots of the mid-game goodies.
Your doggy chum has no weight restrict
Accompanying you in your expeditions is slightly, loyal pup. He doesn’t appear to do something in any respect, till you discover he’s able to carrying stuff. As you improve varied components, you may improve these slots to 2 or three after a good few hours, and so they show to be tremendous helpful. Firstly, something your doggo is carrying isn’t misplaced while you die. Presumably he bravely scampers again to your hideout with no matter you gave him. This implies he’s best for carrying objects you need to by no means lose, like the important thing pouch yow will discover that’ll maintain all types of keys and paper passes whose loss could be terrible. Like, the worst. Hideous. Sure, I actually simply did it. I swapped out the Key Case for a super-heavy set of physique armor I needed to deliver again as spare, after which every thing went horrible flawed.
Nonetheless, my stupidity apart, the canine can be improbable for its obvious infinite energy. Typically, even while you’ve extra stock slots than you want, you’ll end up over-encumbered as larger stage weapons and armor begin to weigh 4 or 5 kilograms every. However hand them over to dog-chum and so they’re out of your stock, and he’s unbothered. Simply keep in mind to additionally take them again off him while you get again to base. I’m embarrassed by what number of instances I’ve set off on a brand new journey with the poor factor already carrying an enormous plastic barrel and a set of stage 5 armor.
Storms are an actual ache
Each few hundred hours (which translate to real-world minutes) the overworld is consumed by a peculiar purple storm. And it’ll kill you in seconds. For the longest time, there’s merely no manner round this. You would possibly detect some injections that purport to assist early on, however don’t even strive. You’re going to have been enjoying for a hefty size of time earlier than braving storms is even price contemplating, with specialist armor and tools. Within the meantime, simply sleep your well past them.
Incessantly test your Construct station
Your base begins with a Construct station, represented by what appears like a big blueprint on a stand, and it’s by way of this that you just’ll study what loot it’s worthwhile to construct the various stations that can fill your base. Nevertheless it additionally sometimes provides new and really helpful builds with out bothering to inform you. It’s price commonly checking the board to see if one thing new—maybe an ATM or perhaps a Black Market storefront—is out there to collect for and construct.
You may’t have an excessive amount of of something
You’ll sometimes discover you have got so many of 1 specific merchandise that you just really feel satisfied it is smart to promote or dismantle them to make more room in your Warehouse. And typically you’ll be proper, however oftentimes you’ll want you hadn’t. Later quests can shock you with a sudden want for each of these pointless footballs you discovered earlier, otherwise you would possibly suppose your Talent Enhancements not want the Chilly Core Fragments now that you just’re discovering Crimson Core Fragments, however you’d be flawed. It’s all the time price attempting so as to add more room than delete stuff to create it.
Right here’s find out how to mod weapons
One other component the sport forgets to show you is now to mod weapons, and whereas should you detect it you’ll suppose it’s blatantly apparent, till you do it may be very irritating. Including the mods like grips, muzzles, scopes and magazines is not accomplished while you’re crafting weapons, regardless of how a lot it would look as if it ought to be. It’s accomplished after, and it’s accomplished simply in your common stock. To adapt a weapon, open your stock, left-click on the weapon, and a window will seem with all its particulars. There shall be containers for obtainable mods, and also you then want to tug and drop the mods out of your stock or Warehouse into these slots. That’s it. However it might have been good if it had mentioned so.
There actually aren’t gamepad controls
It feels unimaginable that anybody would launch a recreation in 2025 with out gamepad controls, however that’s genuinely the case for Duckov. It’s totally mouse/keyboard, and it really works splendidly that manner, particularly with all of the shortcut keys. Nonetheless, that is basically a twin-stick shooter, and it might make a lot sense to play it in your most well-liked controller! To date there hasn’t been any trace that including gamepad choices is a precedence for the builders, and given it’s bought a rare two million copies in two weeks on PC, it’s clearly not hindering something. It does counsel console variations are a good manner off, nevertheless.
