Curious Tales from Blackwater

Bloodwater

Upon reaching Blackwater, your horse will stop just before the train tracks and John will dismount.

Blackwater is empty with random fires and debris everywhere.

Buildings are decorated with messages that explain what you already know. "The dead have risen".

Besides the warnings, you'll find Blackwater completely empty. You won't be able to call your horse though, so move on foot to the "U" marker.

When you approach the marker Professor MacDougal appears and is very glad to see John.

He has returned to Blackwater for more research but now wants to leave the area as soon as possible. MacDougal says he is going to retrieve his bags and get Nastas who is down the lonely deserted street. Even though John opposes, MacDougal runs over but gets attacked by Nastas who is now a zombie.

Kill Nastas if you wish (if you don't, he may still be roaming around Blackwater later) and continue to search the town for survivors.

MacDougal will rise up so kill him too.

Other zombies will now appear around town, so be aware of your surroundings. Zombies will constantly spawn in the game world from this point on. You'll also find zombie animals in the wilderness.

Head to the next marker through the alleyway and approach the open door.

A young woman is found hiding in a store.

She is very scared and says that her dead mother is among those now walking around.

After ranting about her personal life John decides to go to the source of the rising dead: the graveyard.

The woman gives John a torch and wants him to burn her uncle Mordecai real good.

When hell is full...

Head to the Blackwater Cemetery (green skull icon) and the cemetery clearing minigame will start.

Burn the first coffin and zombies will rise from the ground.

Kill them all while trying to burn the other coffins marked on your radar.

Remember to always aim for the head and conserve Dead-Eye. Each coffin torched yields ammo.

You can run around avoiding the zombies and burn all of the coffins, or you can take them out as they climb out of the ground.

Continue burning the coffins marked with yellow blips on your radar.

Once they're all on fire, you'll be told to clear out the zombies in the cemetery.

Using the torch can set zombies on fire, which will eventually cause them to die, but you may need to set them on fire a few times before they do. Occasionally John will use the bottom of the torch to perform an execution where he'll stab the zombies in the head, killing them instantly.

When you get near the end, Mordecai Robbard will rise up as the "boss" zombie for the cemetery.

Kill him and the remaining zombies to complete the minigame.

He's not much more difficult than any of the other regular zombies and you can kill him with a melee attack from the torch.

You are rewarded with a Repeater Carbine.

One trick I found useful was to sprint around and torch all the coffins first. Then you can have the zombies chase you right past the burning coffins which will ignite them. They'll continue to chase you until they burn too long and finally die (again). This trick works with the "boss" zombie too. The gravestones provide plenty of obstacles to help keep the zombies away from you while running around.

Save the town

With the cemetery cleared, return to Blackwater and continue to search for survivors.

In the pause menu map you will notice a hand icon representing the status of the town as "Under Attack". As you re-enter Blackwater gun shots are heard and a cinematic shows survivors on a rooftop yelling for help. You are instructed to help them lessen the undead presence in order to sleep here and explore more easily.

If you climb the ladder to the rooftop, you can speak to the leader who explains they are running low on Sniper Rifle ammo and wants you to dish some out to his buddies. You may have a few rounds already, but a chest is marked on the map with a green circle. It's on the upper floor of the bank at the end of the street.

Run along the road avoiding the zombies and head inside and up to acquire the ammo.

When rescuing towns you can either kill lots of zombies, or help the other survivors by handing them requested ammo. Obviously doing this depletes your resources, however there are numerous chests scattered around the area marked with green blips which allow you to stock up. You'll also find ammo randomly when searching dead zombies - particularly those with ammo belts on their corpses.

You'll notice a number of circles at the top of the screen and a bar which fills as you kill zombies. It takes around 5 zombies to fill the bar, which in turn completes one of the circles, otherwise handing ammo to a survivor will complete a circle instantly.

Once all of the circles are filled, you'll be tasked with clearing out the remaining 5 or so zombies.

Most of the zombies will come through the train station with others appearing on the street. This can change depending on your position and it's possible to lure zombies away from the survivors if needed.

In the pause menu map the hand icon has turned into a blue cross representing the status of the town as "Safe".

You're told the town is saved, but this isn't permanent. Over time, zombies will attack and try to take over again so you'll need to head back and fight them off occasionally or you risk the survivors being wiped out. Ultimately if this happens, it doesn't make much difference, you can still take back over the town but you'll need to do it by killing zombies rather than handing out ammo to the survivors.

Each time you save a town you'll unlock a safehouse which can be used to change outfits, save your game or fast travel to any of the other saved towns. You'll find the safehouse on the top floor of the Blackwater Hotel.

People is the craziest

Go to the next marker where a family is found on the roof of a small building.

Clearly they are not enjoying the chaos. Take note of the young woman staying near the back.

When asked about the situation, the mother blames the government and does not want to hear John's opinion before turning on her husband.

John sees that he won't get much help here and decides to move on. The mother and father will continue to argue as you walk away.

Head into the green circle on your radar/minimap and go to yet another "U" marker in the small lot at the southern end of town.

Another group of survivors is standing together around a barrel. Note the same young woman is among them. They are hostile towards John and fear he's a zombie (they've been fooled before... somehow).

When asked about what's going on one of the women says it was the "freak with the glass eye" (Seth). One of the men blames "the snake oil fella" (Nigel West Dickens). There are other excuses but they are not of interest.

It is stated that New Austin is having a much worse time than Blackwater before the whole group finds something worth bickering about. John says farewell as a zombie quietly approaches the group from behind.

It grabs one of the women as the rest scatter. After the cutscene it will likely come after you and be labeled a "Bolter" since it will scurry very quickly towards you. Kill it if needed and head out to find Seth and Nigel (both are "U" markers on your map).

Tips

• You can usually outrun the undead if you do not wish to waste ammo or get caught by a group.
• The torch takes three swipes to kill or getting close can produce an execution cinematic where John stabs it into the zombie's head. Simply igniting a zombie with a torch may not always be enough to slowly kill them and they'll need to be lit up again.
• For cemetery clearing, the order of burning the coffins does not matter. Use your torch to fend off enemies as much as possible to save ammo and Dead-Eye. A good trick is to have the zombies chase you past a burning coffin so they ignite and slowly lose health before dropping to the ground. Like the torch, they might need to be reignited a second time to finish the job. This works for the "boss" zombie as well. The gravestones make good obstacles for you to run around and gain distance from the zombies.
• When saving a town similar tactics can be used. Survivors aid in the fight but can cause you to miss headshots. You can attract zombies away from the survivors to take them all out more easily.

Mission Rewards

• Weapon Unlocked: Torch
• Weapon Unlocked: Repeater Carbine
• Safehouse Unlocked: Blackwater Hotel
• Mission Unlocked: Get Back in That Hole, Partner
  

  Get Back in That Hole, Partner

  The first person of interest as to the cause of the plague is Seth and his glass eye. He hasn't changed one bit since we last saw him.
• Mission Unlocked: A Cure For Most of What Ails You
  

  A Cure For Most of What Ails You

  The second person of interest as to the cause of the plague is Nigel West Dickens. Like a good businessman he's still peddling miracles at high prices during a disaster.
• Survivor Side-Mission Unlocked: Birth of the Conservation Movement
  

  Birth of the Conservation Movement

  An old man has shot the ultimate mythical creature and says they need to be wiped out before more humans are in danger.
• Survivor Side-Mission Unlocked: Dinner for Two
  

  Dinner for Two

  The Armadillo Deputies have gone missing as the town goes down the tubes. The Marshal wants them back in action pronto.
• Zombies will now spawn in all areas around the map
• Towns to Save are unlocked and ready to be rescued. Each time you visit a county for the first time, the included towns will be displayed on the map with a white question mark.
• Area Unlocked: New Austin. You're now able to cross the bridges to reach Hennigan's Stead and continue to the West.
• Undead Challenges Unlocked: Explosive Rifle Mastery
• Undead Challenges Unlocked: Tomahawk Mastery
• You may randomly encounter the legendary horse Pestilence while riding around West Elizabeth.
• You may randomly encounter the legendary horse War while riding around New Austin.