Traders: Trading and Reputation

Why Trader Encounters Decide Your Run

In Casualties: Unknown traders, a survivor resting inside a life pod can be the difference between a stocked run and a desperate one. The same NPC may sell medical supplies, offer a free dressing, or turn hostile because you approached with a gun drawn. This guide breaks down how Casualties: Unknown traders calculate reputation, set prices, and decide when to fight, so you can trade on your terms.

The core loop is simple: manage reputation, inspect each offer, and leave before a bad action traps you in combat. A survivor's behavior and trade options are governed by hidden rolls and visible choices, so small preparation steps matter. Holster your firearm, clean up, and check your speech status before opening a trade menu. Those steps protect reputation before a single item is priced.

Survivor Types and Starting Reputation

Not every survivor presents the same risk. Experiments, Milkys, and Dunes share the survivor framework but differ in durability, melee output, and inventory quirks. Knowing the type tells you whether a bad trade is merely expensive or genuinely dangerous.

Dunes are the standout risk. They have the highest health, hit hardest, and can amputate a limb during combat. Their inventory rolls fewer items, and their Friendly Bite action trades limb damage for reputation and value. Milkys are softer targets but often carry firearms and ammunition, making them valuable for ranged runs. In Casualties: Unknown traders, recognize the race before you commit to a haggle or hug.

Starting Reputation Modifiers

Your first meeting begins with a hidden random reputation roll from 75 to 135. Fixed modifiers are then applied in order. Because price scales with reputation, one preventable penalty can make every item more expensive.

At 100 reputation, the price multiplier is 1.0. At 0 it is about 2.003, and at 200 it is about 0.501. Higher reputation has diminishing returns, but the jump from 70 reputation, at 1.264, to 130 reputation, at 0.813, is substantial. For Casualties: Unknown traders, the practical lesson is simple: arrive clean, armed only when necessary, and able to speak clearly.

Trade Preferences and Price Strategy

Right-click a friendly survivor to open the trading menu. Every item is sorted into Wants to trade, Indifferent, or Prefers to keep. Buying from Wants is the best reputation-to-cost ratio.

Buying a non-free item grants +0.75 mood and 1 intelligence XP. If you cannot cover an offer, do not attempt it; a failed purchase costs 2 reputation. A clean Casualties: Unknown traders transaction starts with the cheapest useful item in Wants to trade, not the shiny item in Prefers to keep.

Two exceptions change the math. If you are bleeding, dressing-type items are free until you take one, and the trader gets an extra dressing. If you successfully threaten a trader, all items are free until you take two or three, then trading ends. In both cases, free items do not give reputation.

Reputation Actions and Safe Trading

Trading is only half the relationship. Actions can raise or lower reputation, and some carry combat risk.

Rest is the safest repeatable reputation tool. Haggle has an expected net value of 0, and only the first seven positive results grant 2.5 intelligence XP; after that, the survivor responds with "...". Hugging a Dune gives no benefit even on success, and a failed hug can still impose penalties after a successful Dune hug. For Casualties: Unknown traders, Friendly Bite is a Dune-specific boost: it can help your standing, but only if you can absorb the limb damage.

Hostility, Combat, and Loot Drops

A survivor starts at 0% hostility. Meeting one with a gun in your main hand starts hostility at 50%. While reputation is below 30, hostility rises 5% per second within 12 tiles. Warnings appear at 30% and 55%; at 100%, the survivor attacks and you can fight back. Breaking a light near a trader also costs 40 reputation, so keep pod lighting intact.

Threatening is the riskiest reputation action. It cuts reputation by 70%, needs more than 30 reputation after that cut, and can end in combat.

Success assumes more than 100 starting reputation. Dune halves the success roll, so successful threats are impossible. Even with a gun, a Dune still has a 46.667% combat chance. In Casualties: Unknown traders, lethal greed has a measurable mood cost: killing a survivor grants +60 resilience XP but costs -10 mood, and the player character visibly cries.

Friendly survivors do not fight back. You can only kill them with guns or explosives. Aggressive survivors can be attacked normally. When health falls below 200, the survivor dies and becomes a corpse. Each item has a 66% chance to drop, and ammo amounts are random between 0 and the maximum, almost never maxed out.

FAQ

How do I raise reputation safely with traders in Casualties: Unknown?

Rest until you wake with more than 45% energy for repeatable +8 reputation. Buy Wants to trade items for +7 each. Hug once only if you meet the race threshold and are clean. Avoid threatening, breaking lights, and approaching with a gun.

Can you kill friendly traders in Casualties: Unknown traders?

Yes, but only with guns or explosives, because friendly survivors do not fight back. Each item has a 66% drop chance, and ammo rolls are random. The kill gives +60 resilience XP and -10 mood.

Why do traders become hostile in Casualties: Unknown?

Low reputation is the main trigger. Below 30, hostility rises 5% per second within 12 tiles. A gun in your main hand starts hostility at 50%. Threatening or a failed hug can jump hostility to 100%.

What should I buy first from Casualties: Unknown traders?

Start with Wants to trade items that solve immediate needs, such as medical supplies, food, or water. Take free dressings if you are bleeding. Avoid Prefers to keep unless the item is worth 150% price and zero reputation gain.