State of Decay 2 X018 Announcement Wrap Up

Among all the other things, Microsoft's recent X018 event brought us a number of announcements for Undead Labs' zombie survival RPG State of Decay 2. They include a new difficulty setting and map coming to the game sometime in 2019, as well as a major “Zedhunter” free content update launching in less than a week on November 16, 2018.

Here's the official trailer for the update:

And some additional details:

We just announced not one, not two, but THREE major updates to State of Decay 2. First, we’ve got a new difficulty setting coming in 2019. This will bring you a more challenging player experience, and allow you struggle through increase difficulty in new or existing communities. Keep an eye out on our social channels for more info on that in the coming months! Next we brought you news about one of the most asked for updates to SoD2, a new map! Return to Trumbull Valley is also coming in 2019, and will bring the setting for State of Decay 1 into the second game. It’ll give you a ton more exploring to do, all while hitting you right in the feels with nostalgia for your old zombie stomping grounds. Last but certainly not least we’re talking about Zedhunter, a huge content update coming in less than a week, on Nov. 16th! Read on below for all the details!

Zedhunter is the first free content update for State of Decay 2.

It unveils an iconic weapon that every bad-ass zombie slayer wants in their arsenal: the crossbow! Zedhunter also adds new melee and close-combat weapons to help you fight your enemies, a new option to reset a survivor’s core skill specializations, new quirk skills for your survivors, and potent new plague consumables that grant your survivors special abilities, such as night vision! (Also: new achievements!) To discover this new content, simply explore the world as normal. New missions also help you acquire some of the choice items!

So, let’s walk through what’s what in the new update (and yes it is FREE). There is a ton of stuff including:
  • Eight new crossbows
  • Three new melee weapons (aka SWORDS!) – the Wraith, Mamba, and Masterwork Bokken (which is a blunt training sword)
  • Three new close combat weapons (aka knives)
  • Five brand new blood plague consumables – the Zedbait (attracts zombies), Zedeye (allows you to see in the dark), Zedrenaline (gives a temporary boost to health and stamina), Scentblock (makes you invisible to zeds), and bloater gas grenades + launcher
  • A facility mod to craft additional blood plague consumables
  • The ability to craft crossbows + bolts in your home base
  • A new re-spec option (to reset a survivors core skill specializations)