What sort of level do you realistically have to be to finish the hard distance?

nipular · July 2018

I currently have 2 level 22 guys with tara in training. What sort of levels/characters/weapons should i have to have a shot at finishing the thing, or at least getting to level 16 of the thing?

Jenng · July 2018

I’m just guessing here because im new to playing the distance but with enough survivors ( quantity , quality is negligible kinda) the thingy is doable. ..........Of course gear and badges are a plus

Phalanx44 · July 2018

This is advice coming from a free to play player who now regularly beats the Distance, on Hard, on all four sets. I have all my survivors at lvl 24, with decent badges across the board, so bear that in mind when i say beating the Distance can be done.

TIPS AND TRICKS:
1) use the earliest missions to build charges on ALL of your survivors, but prioritize Assaults, Scouts, Shooters, Bruisers, Hunters, then Warriors last. Whenever possible, always end a mission with full charges on all characters. You never know when you will need another charge ready.
2) dont take damage where its not necessary! Only do so, if it protects a must-save character. If you really want to make it far in the Distance, Sasha must be protected at all costs! Losing her early on can mean big trouble down the road! Virtually all other heroes are expendable, if necessary.
3) fire weapons like incidiary rifles for Hunters, the BBQ for Assaults, and the flare gun for Shooters are essential for late missions as fire easily does more dmg than you can, even with charges! Stock up on those.
4) it will be necessary at times to sacrifice one of your survivors to save the other two. Whether its to restart a level, or to distract a horde with a feeding frenzy allowing the others to run safely. Get used to losing characters, but do so strategically.
5) beating the distance requires around 80-100 gas. ( i usually do it on three full tanks, thats 29x3= 87 gas, with a few to spare) that's all well and good on Tuesdays when you might not have anything else to do, but it's a major investment on Saturdays if you also plan on doing challenges that day. Choose wisely.
6) Badges make a world of difference. More so than levels and even stars in many cases. Make sure you build some tanks with Damage Reduction and Health% badges (Assault and Bruisers), Glass Cannons with Damage% and Crit Dmg% badges (Shooters and Scouts) and some general foot soldiers with combinations of Health, Dmg, and Dmg Reduc. badges (Hunters and Warriors) All are necessary in different scenarios.

Now if your goal is just to make it to lvl 16 for the Summer tokens, I'd suggest getting charges on just your assaults, hunters and shooters. Skip the rest early on.
When you think you've hit your wall, remember that you can make progress on a level, sacrifice one character, then resart with partial of your goals already complete. That can mean a few turns on opening a gate, or killing a few of the big bad targets. Restarting will clear the field of all "spawn wave" walkers, and usually gives you a free couple of turns to continue on the mission objective. Dont just throw away all three characters on one/every attempt. Loosing too many, too fast, will leave you without options later on.

Lastly, there is no A-team in the Distance. You will need to mix and match available survivors to meet the mission's needs. That means when it comes to badging, you really should try to spread around your badges. Dont leave your stragglers helpless just to boost 3 or 4 primaries. A well rounded roster is more beneficial in the end.

NerfZone187 · July 2018

You'll shoot your eye out kid

nipular · July 2018

What i really want to know is if i can actually do it with lvl 22s

msapaev · July 2018

My guildmate did it for the first time when he had lvl 21 survivors (with distance #3). I managed to beat the distance with lvl 24 survivors only (actually I had not tried to do that earlier).

bladgier · July 2018

Check out @crambert_nec and @JayZ YouTube channels.

Those changed my approach to the Distance from impossible to somewhat easy doable.

Only one map gets me trouble, the one where you have to kill 5 armored with 150k health.

Other than that easy.
Edit. (it's also worth to mention that if you make one bad move, it can go from easy or hard to impossible in the matter of seconds)

I think with 22 lvls it's absolutely doable.

ShadowaceAz · July 2018

nipular said:
What i really want to know is if i can actually do it with lvl 22s

Normal Mode, yes.
Hard Mode, not bloody likely.

Japes87 · July 2018

I managed to beat 2 of the distances with level 22 survivors, but I never would have been able to without help and videos from some amazing players in the community (as mentioned above by @bladgier) having Dixieland BBQ and at least 2 strong survivors of each class is a must to beat all 4 .. and of course , Sasha

DrUnpleasant · July 2018

msapaev said:
My guildmate did it for the first time when he had lvl 21 survivors (with distance #3). I managed to beat the distance with lvl 24 survivors only (actually I had not tried to do that earlier).

Which is, to be fair, a pretty big achievement. My lv21 survivors are relatively well geared but wouldn't get close to finishing Distance Hard... well, not without spending a LOT of gold. I'm just about to skip to lv23 which I reckon gives me a shot.

DBones · July 2018

I fully agree with those who say it's doable. Certainly not easy with 22's, but definitely doable. The advice from @Phalanx44 is spot on, and the videos mentioned by @bladgier and @Japes87, as well as the videos from @mimica, are absolutely invaluable. I went from getting my ass handed to me on the late maps every single time to beating it twice a week, every week, often quite easily. Granted, I have well-badged survivors, all L24, but I definitely believe I could do it with L22's and those videos. Those guys are absolute whizzes, and their videos show how the Distance is 100% about strategy, and not just brute force.

JayZ · July 2018

It'll be tough but definitely doable. There are some weeks where all you really have to do is light things on fire and survive, which you can obviously do at any level. It helps to have a lot of gas and deep benches so you can cut bait and flee early if a mission looks like it's going bad so you don't lose all of your survivors.

Shut_Up · July 2018

I always thought it was obvious to use the early missions to charge up your survivors and heroes as well as don’t take damage when you don’t have to!

Another skill you need at higher levels is learning how to bait enemies with one sacrificial survivor while the other two get to live. Those 3 rounds a walker spends eating a survivor can be key to buying you some extra time.

ATLAS-Z · July 2018

Doable YES! Hard YES! Worth it? YES!

And it's important to remember that even if you don't "Beat it" the rewards you get along the way still make it worth while. And each time you try you'll go a little further.

Hard Mode isn't an all or nothing game mode. Every hard fought step is its own reward.

Undertaker · July 2018

Even after playing the distance and watching the announced video channels over and over again, my record so far was map 19. Cheap one call survivors to sacrify are a good way, but when I finished map 19 this one time I used around 15-20 one callers and lots of gas. It´s nearly impossible to make it with free gas this way, as you have to replay lots of higher levels over and over again.

ShadowaceAz · July 2018

With level 22 I could beat Normal Mode Distance everytime due to advice in the forums. With level 23 survivors, I can beat Normal Mode with the same 3 survivors, (Maggie lead, Abe second, Shooter third), everytime with only minor damage at the end.

At level 23 I can hardly get to the Legendary gear on Hard Mode.

However more than just survivor level, it will be determined by survivor/hero rarity and traits. Gear traits and badges will make all the difference in the world.

If you have question, doubts, or concerns, post up a question to the forums and also you might want to checkout @OneLessTitan's site https://twdnomansland.wordpress.com/the-distance/ for suggestions on each version of the distance.

@TJS keeps a running thread on which version as well as what rewards are available. https://forums.nextgames.com/walkingdead/discussion/33229/the-distance-rewards-hard-normal-modes/

Those, as well as taking your time going through, should see you beating Normal Mode any day now.

Good luck, and remember what Daryl (and forum members) taught you.

*edit to add
And I just now realized you started by asking about Hard Mode in the subject! I totally missed that, so mark my comments as irrelevant. Sorry to waste bits and bytes on this one.

Danski_46 · July 2018

@ShadowaceAz, my level 22 and below survivors can get to the 2nd Aaron tokens every week. I highly recommend that you have a look at the videos by @crambert_nec, they're so helpful in choosing your squad and tactics. With more level 22s and better gear I am confident I can get further. Also the line group distance bizonly is well worth joining, great for asking advice and awesome info in the notes.

Firekid · July 2018

I'm currently doing normal with my level 20's (easy it should be called) when some tokens event finishes my goal is to see how far I can get in the hard distance on Tuesdays and try and better it each time! Looking forward to beating my current best of 16 (map set 2) regularly.

ShadowaceAz · July 2018

@Danski_46 yep, Aaron is about as far as I get also. I stopped upgrading armor a couple levels back though to save XP while upgrading. Just reaching 23 and most of my armors are from my 19&20 levels. Trying to decide if I stick with this up to lvl 24 as the RSL on challenges won't be increasing with my levels anymore.

Also, I have @JayZ and @crambert_nec both on my subscription/notify list, when I mentioned that I recently started watching videos, those are the two I'm starting to learn from.

Thank you though, in case I hadn't, I would. 😝

hiboy111 · July 2018

I took my a-team, which is Darrell, Rosita, and Tara all level 20 and I beat it on normal only losing Rosita in the 20th round as she was opening the gate . 1 different move and I would have beat it with no survivors lost. The hard I can only get to round 9. I'll make another run at the Hard once I'm at 21

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What sort of level do you realistically have to be to finish the hard distance?

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