Radiation and hazmat

#Where it is

Not across the whole map, only in deep places with good loot.

• Underwater labs. The lab itself is a strong zone; the vault, generator room and reactor room are medium. The hall where you surface, the living quarters and the armory are clean. Armed guards are there too.
• Palmer-Taylor power station. The boilers and the eastern part of the station are a weak zone, the substation is medium, the red room is strong. The radio post for calling cargo is outside the zones.
• It also turns up in other deep places: tunnels, locked rooms.

Zones are weak, medium or strong. They are stronger towards the middle and half as strong at the edge.

#How to tell you're in a zone

There's no dosimeter and no numbers. Inside a zone a Geiger counter clicks: the stronger the zone and the closer its middle, the faster. The screen hisses and ripples, and with heavy exposure it keeps doing so after you leave. A radiation icon appears in the HUD: its fill shows how irradiated you are, and it blinks while you're in a zone. At high levels the status bar shows "Radiation".

#How it kills

• In a zone your radiation level climbs from 0 to 100. Once you're out it fades on its own, 5 points a minute: from 100 to zero in 20 minutes. It stays with you even if you leave the game.
• While the level is above zero it drains blood, inside the zone and after: 1,500 a minute at 100, 375 at 50, 60 at 20. From 100 with no treatment you lose about 10,000 of your 12,000 blood before it fades.
• Inside the zone radiation also burns, and the faster your level climbs, the harder. Unprotected in the middle of a strong zone you hit 100 in 25 seconds and die in about a minute; in a medium zone in about 2.5 minutes, in a weak one in 4–5.

#Protection

Even weak protection slows radiation down a lot: without any, it builds up 4.24 times faster than normal. Protection stacks: the multipliers multiply.

Normal build-up in the middle of a zone: weak 11.9 points a minute, medium 23.7, strong 57. With just a gas mask you hit 100 in the middle of a strong zone in about 2 minutes, unprotected in 25 seconds.

• Hazmat suit: the main protection. While its durability is above 0%, no radiation gets through at all: your level doesn't climb and fades as if you were outside. You wear it like clothing, and it doesn't keep you warm, so you freeze faster (cold).
• Suit durability: −3% from any hit (bullet, melee, zombie, explosion) and −2% for every minute in a zone, so 50 minutes in radiation wears it out. You get a warning at 50, 25 and 10%.
• Hazmat repair kit adds 90% durability, up to 100%, to a suit you're wearing or carrying. A suit at 0% doesn't protect and can't be repaired.
• Radioprotector: a pill to take before you go in; for 20 minutes radiation builds up half as fast. A second dose extends it to 40 minutes.

Hazmat suitLong rubberized hooded parka and heavy trousers with shin guards, seams taped. Lets no radiation through while durability is above 0. Wears out: −3 % per any hit (bullet, melee, zombie, blast), −2 % per minute in a radiation zone. A hazmat repair kit restores +90 %; at 0 % it does not protect and cannot be repaired.2.5 kgHazmat repair kitPatches and sealant: +90 % durability to a hazmat suit (worn or in the inventory), up to 100 %. A suit at 0 % cannot be repaired. Used up.1 kgGas mask helmetSteel helmet with a gas mask and a headlamp. While intact, a shot to the head won't kill. Holds 12 pistol rounds, 3 rifle rounds, 1 sniper round. Take off: /takeoff helmet.2 kgAnti-tank reinforced suitBest against explosions, shrapnel and bites, body damage 70% lower. No sprinting and very loud. Take off: /takeoff.10 kgRadioprotectorTake before entering radiation: for 20 minutes the dose builds up half as fast. A second dose extends it up to 40 minutes.0.5 kgAnti-radRadiation pill: almost all radiation goes away in 10 seconds. The next one no sooner than in 2 minutes. Does nothing without radiation.0.5 kg

#Treatment

• Anti-rad removes 85 points of radiation in 10 seconds: from 100 down to 15. You can take the next pill 2 minutes later. It does nothing if you aren't irradiated.
• Medkits and transfusions bring back lost blood, see blood.
• Anti-rad and radioprotectors turn up in hospitals and at military loot spots, on medic zombies, in plane wreckage and knocked-out vehicles. Hazmat suits and repair kits come from heavy military spots and events. More in loot and events.