Chud Network

The Chud Network is a loosely-defined network of zones that connect together through a series of tunnels that are only accessible to Chud mutants. Together, they provide an "express road" for chuds moving on foot, and contribute greatly to a chud's mobility.

Technically, "chud network" is a zone unto itself, and is the transition zone between two zones that are linked by the chud network, such as Weezer Sewers and the Remote Church. In common parlance, "chud network" also refers to all zones connected by these transition zones, taken as a whole, and sometimes also called "chud tunnels".

Coverage and Composition

The chud network itself is composed of the following zones:

• Weezer Sewers
• Underground Jerkway (and Remote Church basement)
• Sewers
• New Clearwater Sewer System
• Maas Subway
• Sub-Sewers

The chud network connects several high-traffic zones together:

• Weezer Village
• Lurleen (plus Remote Church and The Acres)
• Freedom City
• Gangland
• Slagtown
• Corpclave
• Wasteland
• New Clearwater
• Maas Neotek
• Screaming Chasm

Any of these zones can be reached directly from the chud tunnels. Zones that are adjacent to those zones (such as the Abandoned Highway next to Lurleen), can also be reached very quickly. The chud network does not connect all high-traffic zones, however. The Necropolis Sewers, despite being a sewer zone, does not have a connector to the rest of the network, and Botany Bay, Luskentyre and Macero are also inaccessible.

Speed and Chokepoints

The tunnels are intentionally designed to be quick, and players who are familiar with their layout can queue movement through them with great speed. The connectors between each chud network zone are the same speed as aboveground connectors (like that between Slagtown and the Chemical Plant, but are much less frequent. Climbs are also rare, which saves time, but there are a few chokepoints which can slow chuds down:

• Underground Jerkway has several tile transitions towards its western end which take longer than normal exits to pass through; flavor messages depict characters struggling to get through on account of the narrow paths. Despite the reduced size of chuds, their movement through these exits is still slowed.
  • The Jerkway also has several water tiles which must be traversed to pass through the network. If movement is queued and quick, chuds can pass through these tiles before water-weight penalties kick in, but if they linger too long in these tiles, movement will be slowed or even brought to a stop by encumbrance penalties from water soaking into clothes.
• Maas Subway and Sub-Sewers cannot be reached without killing the bug queen. Chuds cannot skip the bug queen fight, and this adds considerable time to passing through this part of the network; the queen is not strong, but she has a lot of health, and chuds with poor dodge will find themselves swallowed whole, which costs even more time.
• The Sub-Sewers often holds arachno queens, which are extremely dangerous opponents to lower-level chuds.
• New Clearwater Sewer System contains aggressive turtles, which can attack chuds and slow them down, or even pose them dangers. This can also happen in the Screaming Chasm, adjacent to the network, with ash beasts.
• Maas Subway has two inconvenient doors that must be opened, costing two seconds or so for each door opening.
• Lurleen holds the exit to the Underground Jerkway, which must be searched out, costing several seconds just to enter the network. This exit has received a light buff: After being discovered through search, this exit will not need to be re-discovered through search for a cooldown of several minutes, and can be entered or exited at will, but since chuds generally only go through the exit once in a given span of time, this buff is of no practical help.
• The Sewers have a pipe in the far southwest which can occasionally collapse. While chuds will typically be moving too fast to be damaged by the collapse, causing it to collapse or stumbling upon it after another player has collapsed it is very time-consuming, as rubble must be manually dug out to progress.
  • The Sewers also technically has a connector to Corpclave, but in practice, there is a shock trap and a locked gate in the way; assuming the chud has corpclave access, it is always faster (though counter-intuitive) to head to the surface and then go north through the above-ground gate.