Watchmen
Watchmen are needed when the 
Zombie 
Attack numbers are higher than the 
Town's 
Defence. Any 
Citizen can join in to block the zombie overflow once the 
Battlements are built. The amount of blocked zombies can be increased by using 
Guard Weapons.
Basics[edit]
Each watchman has their own chance of survival, which is influenced by various factors. Not all factors are known yet and the survival chance is not directly shown as a number, so there is always the risk of dying on guard even with a theoretical 100 % survival chance!
- Building the Battlements will grant access to the Watchmen Tab in Town.
- Initially only max 10 watchmen are allowed, this can be increased by
Upgrading the Battlements.
- Initially only max 10 watchmen are allowed, this can be increased by
- Any Citizen can join the watchmen simply by clicking on I want to become a watchman.
- The assignment can be canceled and redone again at any time.
- Going into the
World Beyond will not cancel the assignment. - The next day the assignment has to be done again.
- Watchmen can take Guard Weapons with them to increase the Defence.
- The
Miniature Armory is needed for that, without it all guard weapons have 0 . - After the attack the Guard Weapons are broken, empty or they simply disappear (depends on the weapon).
- The Defence provided by the watchman still counts even if they die on watch, but the whole
Inventory will be lost forever.
- The
- A watchman can get
Wounded or 
Terrorised on watch (not both the same day):
- The chance of getting Wounded is 20% higher than the chance to die (rough estimation, no numbers known).
- The chance of getting Terrorised is 40% higher than the chance to die (rough estimation, no numbers known).
- The chance of getting
- Each night on watch will count towards the Watchman
Distinction. - If the Town's Defence is high enough for the attack numbers, the watchmen are of no use.
- They can still die by falling off the ramparts.
- No distinction will be earned.
Survival Chance and Defence[edit]
Note: Since the exact final survival chance is not shown ingame, the base value is not known yet, an estimation is 93 %. Also some other numbers are estimations, take them with a grain of salt.
After assigning as a watchman, there is an ingame text giving the player an idea of the final survival chance.
Only the first 2 sentences are relevant for survival (numbers are rough estimations):
- From the battlements, you're feeling invincible. Nothing's going to make you wobble tonight. (86–100 % survival chance)
- From the battlements, you feel at ease. You intend to be alive tomorrow. (71–85 % survival chance)
- From the battlements, you feel confident. You wait for the hordes that you're already seeing. (56–70 % survival chance)
- From the battlements, you look at the horizon. You hope to see the sun rise tomorrow, once again. (41–55 % survival chance)
- From the battlements, you're feeling hesitant and your spirits are low. There may be no tomorrow for you... (26–40 % survival chance)
The Defence of all watchmen are shown below that ingame text, each watchman has a base value of 10 .
Survival chances and Defence values are influenced by:
- Some Jobs
- Some
Status Effects - The number of previous nights on watch
- Some
Buildings - Guard Weapons
Jobs[edit]
| Job | Defence | Survival |
|---|---|---|
 Guardian
|
+20
|
+5 % |
 Tamer
|
+5
|
0 % |
 Technician
|
0
|
0 % |
 Survivalist
|
0
|
0 % |
 Scavenger
|
0
|
0 % |
 Scout
|
0
|
0 % |
Status Effects[edit]
| Status | Defence | Survival |
|---|---|---|
 Cheat death
|
0
|
0 % |
 Clean
|
0
|
0 % |
 Dehydrated!
|
-10
|
-3 % |
 Drugged
|
+10
|
0 % |
 Drunk
|
+15
|
+2 % |
| Exhausted
|
0
|
0 % |
 Fed
|
0
|
0 % |
 Ghoul
|
0
|
+5 % |
 Healed
|
-15
|
-5 % |
 Hooked!
|
+10
|
-6 % |
 Hungover
|
-15
|
-6 % |
 Immunised
|
0
|
+1 % |
 Infected
|
-15
|
-10 % |
 Learned Camper
|
0
|
0 % |
 Refreshed
|
0
|
0 % |
| Terrorised
|
-30
|
-5 % |
 Thirsty
|
-5
|
0 % |
| Wounded
|
-15
|
-10 % |
Previous Watches[edit]
| Watches | Survival |
|---|---|
| 1st Watch | 0 % |
| 2nd Watch | -2 % (-2) |
| 3rd Watch | -4 % (-2) |
| 4th Watch | -9 % (-5) |
| 5th Watch | -14 % (-5) |
| 6th Watch | -19 % (-5) |
Buildings[edit]
| Building | Effect |
|---|---|
 Sprinkler System
|
-3 % survival chance for all watchmen |
 Gas Gun
|
Likely negative influence on survival, but at least does not stack with Sprinkler System
|
 Guardroom
|
+4 % survival chance for all watchmen |
 Pool
|
0–3 % survival chance increase per usage |
 Tamer Experiment Center
|
+15 and +3 % survival chance for Tamers, +5 for all others
|
Guard Weapons[edit]
The 
Psychadelic Spiritual Counsel gives 15 per active watchman if in one of the watchmen's Inventory.
- Does not stack and disappears after the attack.
Notes[edit]
- In Season 6:
- The Watchmen was introduced.
- The
- In Season 7:
- Several bugs related to Watchmen were fixed, including players rejoining/leaving post, consuming items in their chest, and assembling incomplete items without using resources (such as
Radio Cassette Player (no battery) becoming a 
Radio Cassette Player, or 
Wonky Shopping Trolley becoming a 
Shopping Trolley).
- The
Flatpacked Furniture continues to assemble into an assortment of furniture, however.
- The
- Watchmen status bug was also repaired. During Season 6 statuses changed before attack but with season 7 bug fixes this was changed so that statuses take affect before the attack. This means that Drunk status will stay on during the attack and is changed to Hungover after attack.
- Several bugs related to
- In Season 8:
- Base survival chance was lowered from 95% to 92%. This made it so sober Guardians only have a 97% chance of survival, while Drunk Guardians can have a 100% chance of survival.
- Items are no longer converted when kept on the watch. Most are consumed and simply disappear ( Flatpacked Furniture included). Battery guns and water based weapons lose all ammo. Animals transform into 1x food item (
Unspecified Meat for most, 
Tasty-looking Steak for snakes and fat cats), similar to butchering an animal.
- Base survival chance was lowered from 95% to 92%. This made it so sober Guardians only have a 97% chance of survival, while
- Further changes in Season 8:
- This bug has been fixed: the defence of one random living watchmen will be ignored for 1 death on watch.
- Base survival chance is no longer visible. Guardians appear to have 100% survival chance.
- Survival chances decrease with consecutive watches. Guardians have a chance to die on watch on the third watch in a row.
- Psychadelic Spiritual Counsel was added. If a watchman holds it while on watch, every watchman gets 20 watchmen points. Disappears after use.
- There is a bug where items which should be broken (e.g.
Makeshift Guitar, 
Old Washing Machine) disappear on watch sometimes. It is later fixed.
- In Season 9:
- Watchmen system has been altered to favour construction more than defensive structures. The attack curve has also been modified and is less steep now.
- Chance of dying increases greatly each time you go on watch consecutively. The exact penalty is unknown.
- Citizen who dies on watch no longer blocks all zombies. The number of zombies they block is random and can be anywhere between 1 and max. Zombies which do not block will intrude into the town and attack citizens' house. The death of watchmen can be fatal to the town.
- The new adjustments are not welcomed by the community and attracts heavy criticisms. For example, they complain an unwanted citizen who signed up on watch can jeopardize the town.
- The new watchmen system is proved to be buggy. No overflow will happen if at least one watchman stands on watch and all survive, even if the numbers they block cannot cover the attack.
- The same bug about watchmen items re-occurs. Items which should be broken disappear on watch sometimes.
- Further changes in Season 9 (April 4, 2014):
- The developers patch and simplify the watchmen system. See the Patch Notes for details.
- Everyone faces the same risk of being attacked (but the number of zombies attacking at them is random and can vary a lot) if there is an overflow and they cannot cover the attack. In the past watchmen passed after the non-watchmen.
- The bugs of watchmen items which should be broken disappear on watch sometimes is fixed again.
- A new log is added in the Gazette. It indicates which citizens were on watch that night.
- Dead watchman is said to block off all zombies except 1. That single zombie will intrude into the town and attack the citizens' homes. However it is bugged and is not working, i.e. no overflow actually occurs.
- In Season 12:
- Ghoul defense lowered from 20 to 0.
- In Season 16:
- Battlements have to be upgraded now for more watchmen.
- Miniature Armory is needed for guard weapons.
- Watchman survival chances changed and are not shown anymore as numbers.
- Survival chance decrease per night on watch is now permanent.
- Some buildings now have influence on the survival chance.
- Some status values changed.
- Many guard weapon values changed, new boost buildings.
- More random effects, still unknown.
External links[edit]
- Watchmen - Official MyHordes.eu Help Section