Guide: Fungal Bloom

Guide based on the 02Feb Bugfix version of Cataclysm DDA, with minor updates from 0.5.
Some of the information present here might not apply to future versions.

WARNING: This page may contain spoilers and ruin the joy of adventure. Conversely, being killed out of nowhere can also ruin the joy of your adventure. Reader discretion is expected.

Fungal Blooms are areas where the Blob has infested local plant life, Cordyceps in particular. Between the Blob's tenacity and Cordyceps' behavior-modification capabilities, these are probably the single greatest long-term threat to rebuilding civilization.

More immediately, even one fungaloid can create a whole army of them, and they tend to travel in packs. Cutting off the source is the only realistic long-term solution.

You'll need to get in quick, strike hard, and then get back out quickly.

Preparation

This assumes that you know where the Bloom is located. If you can't find something, you'll have trouble killing it. Binoculars, a rifle scope, or various traits can help you reconnoiter more effectively, as can a vehicle.

The fungus' primary threat is the spores its personnel give off: their Fungal Parasite can deal crippling damage to an unprepared player. By comparison, the spore clouds seen flying around are harmless--the most they can do is grow a Fungal sporeling. With this in mind, the first thing you'll need is a way to remove fungal infection...just in case. The most obvious way would be Fungicide and Antifungal drugs, but a supply of royal jelly or the Blood Filter bionic will also eliminate the parasite.

Your barrier-method comes next: if the spores get on your skin they may get into your bloodstream. Full coverage on every body part is recommended; something like a cleansuit would be ideal.

OK, that's the infection sorted. In order to successfully assault the Fungal Bloom, you'll need:

• A way to destroy the heavily armored Fungal Spire. Incendiaries don't affect the Spire itself, as the core fungus is functionally indistinguishable from rock and effectively fireproof. High-powered explosives--dynamite & up--are one option. If you're a melee fighter, you need a good way to stun the spire or the walls will respawn and push you away. The most practical solution, though, may well be a simple high-powered rifle and a load or two of ammunition: the Spire is surprisingly vulnerable to bullets if you keep your head and shoot quickly and effectively.

• A crowd-control solution. Despite its inefficiency at killing the Spire, fire works wonders on the rest of the fungus. You can get away with a simple lighter applied in a few key spots, if you don't mind walking into the bloom, lighting it, standing off, and waiting an hour or so for the flames to get going. A Molotov or three can be handy against crowds, as will any sort of flamethrower. Important safety tip: Flamethrowers shoot a 3x3 (9-square) fireball centered on the square you targeted, with a trail leading back to you. DO NOT aim them at a square adjacent to you!

• A way to quickly get to/from the target area. Even a Bicycle lets you move your gear to a good jump-off point for the actual assault. Maneuverable vehicles like a Motorcycle or Quad could be used, in conjunction with grenades or other such weapons, for bombing runs on the Bloom itself, thought their noise might draw even more fungal opposition to the area.

• Bear in mind that you'll be fighting while encumbered. If you can take a day or two and practice fighting in your gear, that's probably time well spent, both for the experience in fighting and for you as the player.

Some additional gear isn't strictly necessary, but it helps:

• Bringing a fire extinguisher might not be a bad idea. Though it won't help clear the fungus any, it's nice to be able to go attack the Spire once the flames die down, rather than waiting for the bloom to finish burning entirely.

• If you can install CBM: Thermal Dissipation, that's a good contingency-bionic. Blood Analysis can tell you whether you've got a Fungal Parasite going, potentially saving your resources.

• Extra food and water isn't a bad idea. Fungal blooms can take a while to burn, and getting out may take longer than planned. (Fungal sporelings' plant marrow is Tainted, and the "fruit" of a Fungal Bloom isn't precisely safe to eat.)

• If you're using a chainsaw or JHammer, best of luck with that and remember to bring spare gasoline. Ditto for bionics and your fuel source.

• If your plans involve a mininuke, remember to pack Potassium iodide tablets. You may have to go through your handiwork and there's no sense in being unprepared.

Once you've got your gear together, look at your map and decide how you want to go about the attack. If you're a melee fighter, a clear road about 10-15 map squares from the Bloom may make a good jump-off point. Vehicle-users will want to avoid Forests, but melee-users may prefer to have cover against fungal zombies seeing their approach (fungaloids are theoretically blind, though they can hear and smell.) Since fungaloids' spawning tends to rapidly alter the situation, there's no need to account for everything--but at least know how you're going to get out once you've completed your objective.

And as with all serious undertakings in Cataclysm, it's good form to go in Full, Slaked, reasonably well-rested, in good shape and free from pain. Once you're satisfied, pack up and roll to your staging point.

Violent action ensues.

The Hit

Melee-fighters may be able to do this entire op in one long siege. Road-warriors and ranged-fighters may have to set up a parking/staging area and work from there, but don't go too far lest you break map-tracking.

Paving the way

Even if you're piloting one of those multi-V8 doommobiles, it's probably not a bad idea to torch the Bloom first. Fungal terrain costs around 150-300 move points, which may make driving in it tricky. Piles of ash left over after you burn the thing to the ground only cost 100. (Besides, if this is your first Fungal Bloom, you owe it to yourself to at least try for a Marloss berry.) A covert approach shouldn't be too difficult if you keep in mind that fungaloids are blind: just keep moving, stay 10 or so tiles away, and they won't know you're there.

Once you reach the Bloom, check for Marloss berries and if any are present in the first two or so outer layers, go for it. Once you've got the berry/berries, STOP and decide where to send the Molotov or flamethrower shot:

• If there's a large group of fungal troops near you, retreat and torch them once they're at least one tile away. If any fire got on the fungal terrain, it'll spread, no worries--though feel free to help it along a little.

• If the Fungal Spire is between you and the largest concentration of fungal troops, torch the Fungal Walls nearest the concentration. The Walls will block a direct attack on the Spire anyway and you'll want to stop the mobile fungus from getting at you.

Once you've started the fire, back off--sticking around risks both fire damage and continued fungaloid attacks. You can safely give the Bloom a few map squares of distance if you'd like, but don't go too far, either--fire and critter HP-tracking only happen when you're around. If you need to reload or get your vehicle into position, now's the time.

The Spire

Your previous work paved the Bloom and ensured that there's nothing of value left in that grid square. Now, you'll need to get in there and do your damage--fast, since the Fungal Walls regenerate quite rapidly. Bear in mind that the Spire has significant armor against both cutting & bashing attacks, so an unassisted combat knife...literally isn't going to cut its walls, let alone the Spire itself. This is why you brought that heavy-duty weapon along, whether it be a grenade launcher, the railgun, M72 LAW rockets--even a mininuke isn't overkill here. Just do your damage quickly, since the Spire will continue to release spores and thus spawn fungaloids.

The Flight

Though killing the Fungal Spire will stop the continued spawn of fungaloids, those already present will probably have closed in. Feel free to use additional flame shots where needed, but bear in mind that a typical human is faster than they are, so simply running can work if you've got the room.

The Payoff

Well, there's no artifact involved, but you helped make the world that much safer and may have picked up an exotic fruit or two in the bargain. Betcha can't wait to try it...but you might do so a map square or two from base.