[ZS] Coming Soon: New Zombie Slayer Squad Slot

The What:
We will be adding new hired squad only slots that will be visible and accessible from "Squad => Hired Squad Members". We plan to add 20 slots spread out over 150 levels. We currently have 2 hired squad types, Striker and Defender. We plan on adding +3 more types in the short term with different abilities and/or upgrades.

1 @ level 150
2 @ level 300
3 @ level 450
4 @ level 600
5 @ level 750
6 @ level 900
7 @ level 1050
8 @ level 1200
9 @ level 1350
10 @ level 1500
11 @ level 1650
12 @ level 1800
13 @ level 1950
14 @ level 2100
15 @ level 2250
16 @ level 2400
17 @ level 2550
18 @ level 2700
19 @ level 2850
20 @ level 3000


The Why:
We have a lot of items that can be collected in ZS but with a top squad capped at 20, a player only needs a total of 60 items. Adding another 20 hired squad slots will 2x the number of items that can be brought into battle. Adding to hired squad instead of top squad was desired as to not increase the number of friends required to play which is a big differentiation for ZS versus our other games.
Since initial release, we had always planned on offering different hired squad types, opening up hired squad only slots now gives us the ability to add some new types with new powers
Ability to continue to grow in strength beyond the 20 squad members as players level

The When:
We plan on introducing this feature later this month (February).

 

epic ....shame im off for a bit BUT WAYYYYYYYYYYY TO GO

 

Will the hired squads att/def be calculated when you attack/are attacked or will they only add items to your total score?

 

Is this a type O or am I just reading it wrong?
It appears that you are adding 20 slots over nearly 3000 levels :/

And.... If filling those slots with strikers and/or defenders will that increase the attack and/or defense boost to greater than 10%?

 

So your pretty much expanding the top squad up to 40 at level 3000? So a few questions about this 1.Will your max top squad strength go up by how many members you have when the change goes in? Like right now its 20 times total att/def at 3000 will it be 40 times? 2.You said the slots will be hired squad only? So pretty much anyone who is high level and doesn't have several hundred UN saved up when this change comes in will be at a big disadvantage? I'm curious about these as I have a bet with someone how high I can get my win streak to go (2370 so far) and just think it would be a little silly if new top squad slots opened up and I couldn't afford the UN to fill said slots.

 

Will hired squad only be allowed in the hired squad only slots?

Reason i ask is that most people will already be playing with 5 Strikers and 5 Defenders. So until you reach level 1500 you would have strikers/defenders you cant actually use?

Also any idea what these additional hired squad abilities and/or upgrades are going to be and will they all cost 25UN as per striker/defenders?

Can you please answer all of the questions which have been asked in this thread.

 

Fantastic, just what we needed. Another UN money sink. Not to mention now I have to get even more of the best boss drop weapons to equip these new squad. Plus ultimately 20 more of each category of UN item. Yes, we had a bunch of useless items, but that didn't bother me in the slightest, and since most of those items won't be equipped even with the addition of new squad it just seems pointless to me.

 

Oh my... what I see here is... ridiculous. 3000 lvl for 40 squad? This is just another "cheap" thing to throw some moar money away.

STOP RUINING THIS GAME, ITS FINE AS IT IS! I came for the 20 squad limit, now you extend them for money... Jesus Christ!

 

Are you guys serious? you want me to buy another 20 hired squadmembers for 25 UN each? how about you finally start to add some useful stuff instead of ruin this game more & more? still waiting for a level 20 boss achievement for example.
PFFT! First you screw all the HI5 players and now you really have the guts to ask us for more?
GET REAL! WE ALL LOST OUR FAITH IN YOU!

 

Hi5 was out of their control, don't blame them for that.

 

Personally I'm afraid that this is going to screw up the equality of the game between the average daily players and the "pay to play" players...
this means we will need 500 credits to buy 20 hired squad, 3,200 credits to fully equip all 40 squad members with limited items, and 200 credits to up-grade the 20 hired squad when needed.

Good Lord Guys!!!
I don't mean to be negative but I'm not sure (yet) if I agree with this change

 

aww midnight? you are going to immediately jump up to level 3000? maybe you didnt see the scale, one gets increased every 150 levels, if you havent saved 25 un every 150 levels then what the hell are you spending it on????? and who says you have to equip them with un weapons? your reading too much too into this, remember the world was flat too.....

 

simple, dont buy UN weapons use boss drops i have a few UN weapons but not enough to cover my whole ass and i do just fine

 

It's not that simple, Lance. Some of us like to have UN equipment to fill out all our slots. I was just about done equipping all my slots to be more competitive. This is a game about stats and some of us value different stats more then others. I like my win/loss ratio for example. I've worked hard to attain it, just as you worked hard to attain your fight kills stat. When this goes live, I'll need 175 UN immediately just to fill my new slots. Others will too, in my level range I suppose, but I know for certain that some will purchase the UN points to fill them, putting me behind the curve.

How about this for a compromise? Go half and half. Start with a real live person at level 150, then at 300 an extra hired squad member and go back and forth until all the slots are filled. I don't think having a top squad of 30 real people at level 3000 is unreasonable. I still play this game, after all this time because I don't need hundreds of people and I'll still continue to play it if I have to add a few more.

I'd also like to see them delay the implementation of this and reveal to us the abilities of these new squad members so we can begin debating the merits before this change goes live.

The other issue I have is the fight range issue. At my level, it's getting wider every day. I'm going to be at a disadvantage fighting against people that have one squad member more then I. I like the parity this game has to offer. A salary cap if you will. It's one of the reasons I prefer football over baseball. I'm a fan of equality. 20 was simple. It was neat and precise. That's no longer the case. Now it will be a game of numbers, just like every other game. And the gulf between paying players and those that do not or cannot will suddenly grow wide. Imagine someone one tier above me with an extra squad member all equipped with UN equipment. I managed to save enough UN before this went live to have 7 and I've even managed to equip those 7 with the top boss drops; San Francisco soon, which won't be easy because everyone is in such a hurry to kill those bosses, the early ones go fast. If you blink, you miss them. Already, most of my squad if not all of them that had access have killed their level 10 Dr. Voodoo co-op.

In the end I won't be able to compete with that person on a level playing field. And skill points can only take one so far. You know I've made huge sacrifices to be where I am today so I could have both a decent attack and defense. I was looking forward to addressing those issues soon as well. I was nearly at the point where I was content with my att/def, and could begin working on the other three stats. I may have to change those plans.

I'd prefer if my top squad didn't double in size. I'd be much happier if at level 3000 we had 10 new squad members, rather then 20. There was no need to address our useless inventory items. 20 is a drop in the bucket when one has 1000's of items gathering dust. So, how about adding a new squad member every 300 levels instead?

Kendall, how about letting us have the time we need to discuss a drastic change in basic game play such as you are suggesting?

 

Thanks! Its about time we added some new hired squad.

 

There will be different variants, with current ones the striker / defender if they are not in you top squad but in the hired squad ones with the most attack when attacking and/or most defense when defending will be used and they will be equipped with items as the top squad is today.

We should have some teasers of the new hired squad members to be released in advance of this feature.

 

Attack and defense boosts will not exceed as they do today, good question with respect to the boost I will have to get back to you but it will not exceed the 10% that is set currently.

 

1. Your squad strength will go up depending on the number of hired squad slots that you have filled, yes it could be up to 40 times.

2. Yes. That's why we are introducing it before the change goes live.

 

Prices and abilities will varie, we will try to have some covering different price points. Teasers to follow before release.

 

There will be various costs for the new hired squad members at lower / same and maybe even a higher price point.