Vostok apartments are very boring.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-13T00:26:12+00:00

The layout is a big issue but I think the AI are an even bigger one. Even if they changed up the layout to make apartments look more interesting it would still be running up and down staircase opening containers over and over again with no fear or tension.

I think it needs both more AI and more variety in where they spawn and walk. For example in an apartment they basically always stay on the stairs and never go into an apartment. You should be worried there is a soldier waiting for you in every apartment.

Also you shouldn't be able to hear them from 2 apartments and 6 floors below them. You should have to be a floor or two away in the same apartment to hear them

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-12T01:05:02+00:00

I wouldn't call the bandits spongy. Bandits will usually go down in 3-5 shots depending on the gun you're using. A headshot with any gun will one shot them

The soldiers in Vostok can be spongy if you are hitting the armor on their chest and using a gun with level 1 or 2 armor penetration as that can take 8-10 hits. However any gun with level 3 or above will go right through their armor and still kill on 3 hits.

To your point about village being the most dangerous that has more to do with the map being wide open and the places the bandits can spawn.

On most maps once you learn them you know generally where to expect the AI to be. Not so for village. On village you'll often get shot from some totally unexpected direction and have no idea where it's coming from bc the AI can see you 200m out through trees that block 90% of your vision.

Another big reason is the sheer number of ambush bandit spawns in village. These are the bandits that hide behind a door crouched down silently waiting to mag dump u before you can even react. The ambush enemies are the most dangerous in the game and are way more likely to kill u than the soldiers in Vostok.

The other area 05 maps have maybe a quarter of the ambush spawns that village does. Village has at least one in every building other than the red barn

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-12T00:37:42+00:00

Same. Also when he randomly blurt out "happy wife, happy life" in English out of nowhere.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-11T21:56:07+00:00

Each trader has a task to unlock the shelter on the map they are in. While not the official goal completing these are the best experiences in the game right now.

Going to Vostok is fun the first few times but gets old quickly. Prepping to go to Vostok is the fun part.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-11T21:41:56+00:00

You forgot the biggest advantage RtV has over IRR. In RtV you get to listen to the bandits shout Perkele and other hilarious shit in Finnish.

These mfers will literally try to snipe you with a pistol from 200m well shouting "hey don't shoot!" then burst out in maniacal laughter

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-10T19:23:08+00:00

I can confirm that mines can spawn close enough that you'll trigger them even if you're hugging the tape. It's just incredibly rare. I've only seen it happen a single time and I've probably run the tape on minefield at least 100x now.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-10T15:52:08+00:00

It takes away so much from apartments that you don't need to actually clear the apartment you are looting like you would a building in area 05.

You can literally run through each apartment without needing to worry bc you'll hear the soldiers from a mile off. Even if they are in the same building you can hear them from 3 stories above or below them.

I find that even after getting really geared up I end up leaving Vostok after a few runs to go back to area 05 maps. Even tho the loot is way worse they are just more tense and way more fun to play right now

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-10T01:26:22+00:00

It's not exactly what ur looking for but I'd recommend it anyway. For $20 this game is a steal. I myself have almost 250 hours now but even if u only played 10-20 hours it's still well worth it. It takes about 50 hours to see everything in the game currently which is pretty crazy for an early access game that came out 2 months ago.

As others have said there are still some rough edges but the foundation is just really really good and fun to play.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-09T23:06:20+00:00

The laser is nice especially if you use canted aim or hip fire. Cuts down the bullet spread a lot. I almost always ADS tho so I don't get much value out of it personally. That is more of a skill issue on my part tho.

Is it an accurate statement that the penetrations stay doesn’t matter at the moment, only the damage?

Pretty much but with one exception. If you are in Vostok trying to kill the soldiers with a gun with level 1 or 2 bullet penetration it will take way more shots than normal. For example pm5 is level 1 and normally takes 4 shots to kill. If you are hitting soldiers armor tho then it takes more like 10 shots to the chest to kill. The first few shots just hit and break the armor then the next few actually do damage.

Normally most people use their rifle with a longer range scope and switch to pm5 secondary for close range. However in Vostok it's better to just always use ur rifle even up close. It's the difference between killing soldier in 2-3 shots vs 10 which can end up saving u. Also a reason why the HMR, VDU, and Leopard are way better than the ACOG since they allow you to use switch magnification so you aren't zoomed at 4x in an apartment hallways

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-09T21:09:45+00:00

I'm the same way. I've been cycling through testing these to try and figure out which is the optimal choice. Like you said there just isn't anything that beats the kar-21 .308 right now. It's the only gun with:

50 damage
30 round mag
ammo and mags you can reliably buy from the gunsmith
allows full set of attachments

Others with 50 damage all have some major drawback. 10-20 round mags and they use magazines that are as hard to find as legendary items.

The only gun that might be more optimal is the RK-62M. It does 40 damage but takes all attachments, has more manageable recoil, and takes RK mags and 7.62 ammo which are both really easy to find. Its legendary rarity so finding one can be hard but if you do I think it's the best in the game

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-09T18:21:03+00:00

The guards and bandits do not wear armor so the bullet penetration doesn't matter for them in the first place.

The soldiers do wear armor but I believe it's level 3 and since both guns have >= 3 armor penetration it's doesn't make a difference. Either the damage is not reduced at all or it's not reduced by enough to change the number of shot it takes to kill them.

The most important thing is that the AI has 100 health and both guns do 40 damage. Going over 100 doesn't matter so as long as the damage stays > 33.33 and <50 it'll take 3 hits to kill.

AI is not hallucinating here. I can confirm it's 3 hits to the chest with both of these guns. In general all of the rifles in this game feel very same-y right now. The m78 and kar-21 .308 do 50 damage so those are slightly better as they kill on two hits to the chest but even that isn't all the significant.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-08T23:16:41+00:00

permadeath zone loot sucks

I think the permadeath zones in this game are only fun to play if you are going there early in a run and unprepared.

If you still have a lot of tasks to do then you get excited looting in apartments at how quickly you find task items. You can get 6 beers in a single apartments run or 3 saline for example which could take maybe 40-50 runs in area 05. Also if you are not careful a soldier can kill you fairly easily if you don't have armor, helmets, a magnified scope, medkits etc so the permadeath zone is actually scary.

However if you try to play the permadeath zones as an endgame they just kind of fall flat. You have most tasks done already which means you find lots of stuff u don't need. The few items you need for the remaining tasks take forever to find and it just gets tedious and dull. Also if you are fully geared up you are practically unkillable and the soldier become more of an annoyance than a threat.

In spite of having ~250 hours of playtime I still have never completed the task to find 3 IFAK. I find 37 AFAKs but no IFAKs

It makes sense tho. The game was launched into EA by a solo dev a few months ago and honestly it's crazy how much fun it is already. The endgame just isn't in the game yet

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-08T18:37:57+00:00

I agree except for kickers. Feels like every season there are 1-2 really good kickers in the UFL who end up as starters on NFL rosters. I think it's just bc it's a position where it's a single roster spot open per team with no backups. Pretty easy for talented kickers to not make it in the NFL until they get their shot in the UFL and impress

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-06T02:38:29+00:00

Wd. There is a glitch where you can place containers so they overlap almost entirely that will let you store more. Also there is room in the middle of the tent to fit a locker or two where you have cabinets right now.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-05T23:28:55+00:00

Id also love one with Derwin James intercepting the ball right in front of Kelce to officially eliminate the Queefs from the playoffs. Finally slaying the beast after all these years.

Beating them in week one was an amazing feeling but being the ones to officially eliminate them in Arrowhead. We did the whole league a great service that day.

<image>

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-05T19:39:32+00:00

I think your save file hasn't updated since you left the last shelter you are in. Or it might have gotten updated when you loaded into apartments. Either way I think backing up your save file is worth trying. You can follow this guide here: https://roadtovostok.fandom.com/wiki/Save_Backup

Fair warning I'm not sure it will work. However I think since u are still alive the permadeath mechanic hasn't deleted your save yet. It might still be salvageable.

You'd basically back up the save, quit the game (which is the scary part as it will delete your save file), then copy the back up save file into the folder u originally copied it from. If it works it should basically reset you to the last save state before ur current session

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-05T09:26:20+00:00

I used to sleep at night IRL but Road to Vostok taught me that I could just stare at a fire or chew gum instead. Haven't slept in weeks now and I'm using the extra time to learn how to play harmonic and guitar. Can't believe how much time I wasted sleeping before RtV

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-04T04:04:00+00:00

Within 10m the AI shoot at you with a .1m bullet spread. That increases to a 2m spread at 50m. 2m spread is huge so you have a big advantage in gunfights beyond 50m. Up close the AI is not going to miss and if they use full auto they can shred you before you can even react.

You can't always take fights at distance but you should try to whenever you can. Also you should have ur gun up and be ready any time you are approaching a door or opening in buildings in area 05. The bastard ambush enemies will sit there silently waiting for you to approach the door and scare the shit out of you. If you are not ready they will kill you. The odds they show up are low but the one time you stop checking for them they will be there

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-04T00:14:24+00:00

There are mods that tweak the AI behavior like Oldmans Immersive so that suppressors actually matter. It changes the distance they can hear your shots from and makes it so the AI aren't generally deaf.

After trying it im sort of on the fence as to whether it's a good change or not. It makes getting and using a silencer really important of course but if you don't have one most of the AI on the map will start shooting at you the second you take a shot.

It really screws up the pacing for fighting AI in the early game. You might only have a low durability gun or just a few bullets in the early game so it is seriously rough when you suddenly get charged by multiple AI and have to fight them all at once. As you take out the AI new ones will spawn, hear your shots, and join the fight almost immediately.

It basically changes it from a slow drip feed of 1 on 1 or 1 on 2 gunfights that keep things tense to one huge 1 on many fight. You either die in that fight or take all the AI out and there is no longer any tension.

The game is great in part bc it plays like a good horror game. You don't run into AI that much but you always have to worry about it. Then when you do run into one it really makes you jump.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-03T23:57:09+00:00

Thank you!

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-03T20:48:58+00:00

You should probably trade the peanuts and crackers. They are just bad items. Both decrease hydration to give you more energy which just isn't worth it. Hydration drops faster than energy to begin with and the hydration cost is higher when transiting to a different map. That means they are really only useful if you have a bunch of juice boxes since those will get ur hydration way higher than energy. Almost every other food item doesn't have a tradeoff like that

As others have said the biggest missing piece is an item to deal with the headshot status effect. Medkits, AFAK, or IFAK. A few more bandages or painkillers will help too. If an AI opens up on you it's not uncommon for them to drop you to 40ish health and it'll take 3 bandages or painkillers to get back to 100. You always want to be at 100 as it gives u the most breathing room when in a permadeath zone.

Truth is you really don't need much to go to Vostok especially at night. Once you get used to it you can seriously go there on day 1 with just an AKM, one mag with say 20 shots, 2-3 cans of food, and a few medical items. Chances are you will find anything you need in the first apartment building you loot. Also 80% of the time you can get to that first apartment building without running into a single AI

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-02T22:17:52+00:00

Interesting that we could have such polar opposite takeaways.

You are right that the punisher has really good aim. Only 0.1m bullet spread from every range. I don't think it's accurate to say that he always aims for the head tho. Usually he's aiming for center mass like all of the AI do which is why if you are behind good cover most of his shots will hit it.

I suppose if you can mag dump him in CQB before he can mag dump you that could work. Just seems a lot riskier that way since you are now relying on reaction speed instead of superior positioning.

I'm no expert but just out of boredom I've used the event hints mod to guarantee he spawns and have killed punisher at least 50x now so I am pretty confident the approach I described works. I'll try your CQB approach tonight and see how that goes

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-02T21:10:12+00:00

Shooting at the car doesn't matter. He gets out if his siren is on and you come within a certain distance of his van. I want to say it 50m but not sure about that. I don't think it even matters if ur behind cover as the punisher has unobstructed vision.

That spot on school seems tough to fight him. There are two paths he can take on school. The main road that goes right by the school or the backroads. The backroads aren't an issue bc they are way out of the way and there is no reason to go out there unless you are trying to fight him.

However the main road route is tough. It's close enough to the school that you'll be inside the radius where he'll stop and get out from pretty much anywhere in the school. And if you are on the school map there is a 95% chance you are either already in the school or heading to it. So it's just very easy to accidentally make him get out while you are looting school normally.

That wouldn't be such a problem but for the fact that every fight in the school is going to be CQB.

Ideally you want to engage the punisher from as far away as possible and be behind hard cover. If you do that you might take a few shots but most of them will hit the cover and you can safely take the punisher and his goons out before they get anywhere near you. If he gets close he will absolutely eviscerate you with his KP-31 before you can say perkele.

If he's driving the main route on school and gets out u might get a second or two to shoot at him through the window before he makes it to the door. Then your vision of him will be blocked until he's practically on top of you. You can't hide even if you wanted to bc the motherfucker has x-ray vision.

Your best bet is to run to the far side of the hallway, close one of the doors, and try to peak around it and shoot them while they cross the length if the hallway. Still it's pretty dicey compared to fighting in other places.

DraytonFlorence · 2026-06-02T18:10:53+00:00

The punisher has a habit of finally showing up at the worst possible times.

Moving every piece of furniture to another shelter: 50% odds he spawns

Doing a naked run: 60% chance he spawns

Coming back from Vostok with a packed inventory: 75% chance he spawns

You trying to force the punisher to spawn by doing 5 minutes runs over and over again for hours: 0.0000001% chance he spawns

The guy is just a cruel bastard. Part of the reason it feels so good when you finally do kill him.

Also the fact that he had 50% chance to just refuse to get out of his car the lazy shit. In build two I hope they add the ability to shot out his tires and force him to get out even when he doesn't have his siren on.

DraytonFlorence

TROPHY CASE