Casualties Unknown survivors and traders

Life pods also hold loot and sometimes a battery in the ceiling light, so they are worth checking even when nobody is home.

How do you trade with Casualties Unknown survivors?

Walk up to the survivor and open the trade menu. Items have a trade value, shown at the bottom of an item’s description, such as “Trade value: 15” on the combat pen in an official screenshot. confirmed You pay by handing over items worth at least the price of what you take.

Things that hold value but weigh little are the best trade goods. Players carry spare scarves, which can be crafted cheaply in the desert and sell for a decent amount, and they can also be ripped up for bandages if you get hurt. confirmed

How does reputation work?

Each trader has a reputation with you, and a recording of a co-op run shows prices shifting as it goes up. confirmed

Raises reputation	Lowers reputation
Selling and buying	Breaking the pod’s ceiling light confirmed
Giving gifts	Taking items from their pod confirmed
A friendly bite from a Dune confirmed	Threats and attacks reported

Traders also started reacting to some of your words in version 7.0, so what your character says during the exchange can matter a little. confirmed

How does haggling work?

The haggle button tries to improve the deal. It relies on Intelligence, and a failed attempt can sour things. A popular tip is that haggling is also a good way to raise Intelligence. If you are at a trader you do not plan to buy from anyway, spam it. Guides name this as one of the better ways to train the stat, alongside crafting and reading blueprints. confirmed

This does not apply to Dunes, whose menu offers a bite instead. confirmed The haggling thread on the Steam forum has 199 replies if you want to see how the dialogue plays out for different people. reported

Why does breaking the pod light matter?

Life pods have a light in the ceiling. Break it and you can use a tool to take the battery inside, then use that battery to power an E-PDA. Reading an E-PDA gives a large amount of Intelligence experience, 35 INT as of version 7.0, so this is a strong early move. confirmed Blueprints give 25. confirmed

The catch: a survivor in that pod will not like it. The guide that popularised this trick shows the reputation hit on screen, and notes that some bulbs do not give a working battery. confirmed

Is it safe to attack survivors?

Usually not. Survivors have much more health than small enemies, and a pod’s stock is worth more than whatever you would loot from a fight. Attacks and threats also turn them hostile. reported If you do start something, expect them to keep attacking while you stay close.

Picking up items that are already theirs counts as theft, and a recording shows how quickly that goes wrong. confirmed Take your time in the trade menu instead.

What should you buy from Casualties Unknown traders?

Priorities change by depth, but players consistently rate these highly. reported

Item type	Why
A larger bag or backpack	Early inventory is very small
Medical items you cannot craft	Antibiotics, blood, chest drains
A reliable digging tool	Saves energy on every layer
Light sources and batteries	Getting caught in the dark is deadly
A weapon before layer 5	Layer 5 is where fights become the main threat

See the item guides for what each one does.

How do you avoid trade menu mistakes?

A few interface details cost people items. Opening a container in the trader menu closes the trader menu, a behaviour added in 6.0. confirmed Items you have favourited with F are protected from crafting recipes, which is worth doing with anything valuable before you start swapping goods. confirmed

If a survivor has what you need and you cannot afford it, look around. Lots of pods have loot chests, and drop pods nearby often have the scrap and circuits that traders value.

Do traders appear in every layer?

Pods appear throughout the layers players have reached. In the wasteland and desert they matter even more because food and water are harder to find. You can also sleep near a survivor in some cases, and a recording shows “take a nap with the trader to build trust” as a dialogue option. confirmed Save and quit points are at layer ends, not at pods, so do not assume a trader means safety.