(Jaw Stabbing) Here's another approach to engage Zed's effectively

[Nightsinger]

My fellow zombie killers,

 

PZ is a great game. The risk of getting an infection from a scratch even when you are geared up and cleaned most of the map is always keeping you on your toes.

 

The hardest part of the zomboid is the beginning of a new game. With no decent weapon, low weapon skills and no pre-cleaned corner to back up can seal the deal even on your first day.

 

Using fire to clean an area was a viable method, before the IWBUMS branch hit build 31, example https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/2a78he/i_love_the_smell_of_burnt_zeds_in_my_first/

As you see, fire did a quick work of a horde in previous versions. You could even loot the corpses after the fire was over. But the change; Build 31 -> Reduced a lot the dmg of fire on zombies has made this approach obsolete. In my current tryouts, zombies take minimal damage from fire. I've even seen ones burning, went to a 6 hour nap, went to check and seen them still standing there, burning

 

Also in earlier builds, finding a frying pan or rolling pin did save your life. Unfortunately, those weapons are not "that" good in the new versions, because of the new skill/stamina system and zombie behaviour.

 

Build 30.12 -> Zombies now clump together into groups more.

 

In other terms, zombies now not only react to the player made sounds, but also to the other sounds zombies make. The sounds they make while chasing you, when detecting you, and while being killed by you can quickly gather a horde around. A group of 2-3 zombies can easily ruin your first day, if you are not wielding an axe / nailed bat. The hard-part here is; while dealing with multiple zombies, you cannot deliver high-damage ground hits, simply because there is always some zed on their feet chasing you. And longer the process goes, more zed are attracted to the point.

 

So, with the fire out of the question, and the inferior swing weapons (plank, nailed plank, frying pan, hammer, baseball bat) not closing the deal fast and effective enough, what to do?

 

The answer is; butter knife, kitchen knife, screwdriver and hunting knife

 

These weapons are risky weapons to use indeed. They have no knockback, even inferior damage compared to swing weapons. But they have an alternative attack, called in the game code as ** "CloseKillMove = Jaw_Stab" **. This is an instakill move, and performed appropriately, is even more effective then wielding an axe in the beginning of the game (low skills, low stamina).

 

Long story short, here is my "how to" and "rules of engagement" while using those closekill weapons.

 

1-) Stand still, hold aim. Let the zombie approach you. When the zombie attack animation begins (the zombie head will bob towards you) , hit your attack key while facing the zombie. DO NOT MOVE BACK, AND ONLY ONLY ONLY BEGIN YOUR ATTACK AFTER THE ZOMBIE STARTED TO ATTACK YOU. There is a half a second window you need to attack, before you take damage. Check your health panel afterwards. When correctly performed, you stab before the attack is complete, and you shouldn't be damaged (health=OK). After you get the hang of it, you can start to practice on multiple adversaries or while on the move (move in & stab). Thick skinned and construction worker (previous versions) will help you during your practices.

 

2-) Kitchen knife = approximately 15-20 zombie kills, butter knife = 5-6, screwdriver = 50-70 and hunting knife = 150-200. Plan your cleaning accordingly.

 

3-) When engaging multiple adversaries, do not attempt to stab unless there is "at least 1 body length distance between adversaries". That distance will allow you enough time to prepare for the next zed in the queue.

 

4-) Do not sneak in and stab one, if there is another zed next to it. Instead, try to seperate them by your footstep sounds, or getting yourself in the desired target's cone of vision.

 

5-) Beware of the change of motion speed some zombies have. While walking towards you, they may raise their hands towards you and have a speed burst. This type of zombie can catch you off guard, if they are next in the queue. If you are not sure about the following zed's speed, try to have at least 2 body length distance between adversaries.

 

6-) In some point, you'll have 2-3 zeds clumped together, and they have the same movement speed. In this occasions, try to seperate them. Jam them around a tree to slow some of them down, get close and check if one of them is the "arms ready to grab, speed burst" type, sneak around the corner of a house and approach from the other side. Usually, letting them chase you a bit will spread them in a nice, stabbing queue.

 

7-) Another tactic may be equipping your swing weapon with "1" key, take a swing to pushback / knock down some of them, in order to seperate groups. You can equip your stabbing weapon back with "3" key and contine the fun.

 

8 ) Collect every butter knife, kitchen knife, screwdriver and duct tape you can. Hunting knives are very rare. You cannot repair screwdrivers. You can repair kitchen knives using duct tape. Only repair when the kitchen knife is broken (for max durability restoration), and do not repair a knife 3rd time, if you are not desperate.

 

9-) Feel free to ask anything if you didn't understand something I've mentioned here. English is not my native language, so there may be some grammar issues

 

TL;DR: Common blunt weaponry lack the effectiveness to deal with zeds in the beginning. With a little practice, results of using butter, kitchen, hunting knives and screwdrivers with "closekillmove" is an effective and easy to reproduce method. Note to game producers: We need some craftable/forageable Jaw_Stab weapons. A wooden stake comes to mind

PS: I made a mod that adds crude stake, wood stake and fire hardened stakes in the game. Feel free to try/give feedback or suggestions about it

Link updated for my wooden stakes mod. Here you go! http://theindiestone.com/forums/index.php/topic/13355-wooden-stakes/

[jefferyharrell]

Holy cow. It works. I just one-shotted two zombies in a row with a butter knife. But yes, it takes either a great deal of confidence or an utter lack of any sense of self-preservation. If you don't time it exactly right, you're dead.

 

EDIT: Make that four zombies in a row, then the butter knife broke.

[GothicGhost]

Nice guide will give it go

[Geras]

The only thing is that there is (was?) no 100% chance to kill a zombie with a jaw stab - it happened to me a few times. The jaw stab animation was played, but zombie does not die and gets a free munch on you. Or was that fixed?

[Svarog]

The only thing is that there is (was?) no 100% chance to kill a zombie with a jaw stab - it happened to me a few times. The jaw stab animation was played, but zombie does not die and gets a free munch on you. Or was that fixed?

Happened to me too, with a hunting knife no less. Knives are great way of dispatching zombies... and getting bit when you least expect it.

[Nightsinger]

The thing you mentioned (jaw stabbing failure) happened to me also. However, it's a very rare thing, and happened to me maybe 2-3 times out of 1000 stab kills, during the run I screenshotted below. In those 2-3 failures, I recall bending my rules of engagement, and either my distancing or timing was wrong. Otherwise, it worked pretty well.

 

[PrPleGoo]

Have you guys considered unarmed combat? It may be a little slower than using weapons but it costs no durability and as long as you are fighting no more than three zombies it's 100% safe.

[Carzen]

Omg! Someone give a medal to this man!
I've been playing PZ for a loooong time by now, and I never knew you could do that! I just tried and it works! Thank you a lot!

[Nightsinger]

Have you guys considered unarmed combat? It may be a little slower than using weapons but it costs no durability and as long as you are fighting no more than three zombies it's 100% safe.

 

I only use unarmed combat if I am against a single zombie.

 

3 zombies would be pretty hard to brawl I guess. You need to land the foot smashes while they're down. And the "unattended" ones tend to get up pretty early. This would be a long fight, and  would cost a lot in terms of daily stamina.

[Rass]

I don't use this as the only metod of disposing of zombies, but I always carry a knife for use against runners. The only problem with this is how unreliable it is in multiplayer. There are servers where you can start stabbing when the zombie is like 2 meters away from you and you have like 50% chance of getting the timing just right. And even if you somehow can do this, lag can be incredibly lethal.

[PrPleGoo]

Have you guys considered unarmed combat? It may be a little slower than using weapons but it costs no durability and as long as you are fighting no more than three zombies it's 100% safe.

I only use unarmed combat if I am against a single zombie.

3 zombies would be pretty hard to brawl I guess. You need to land the foot smashes while they're down. And the "unattended" ones tend to get up pretty early. This would be a long fight, and would cost a lot in terms of daily stamina.

If one zombie goes down you can use it as a shield against the other two and just hold your LMB down to shove them away and stomp. You can shove twice between stomps without the downed zombie getting up. Ergo: fighting three zombies is fine.

Sure you use up a bunch of stamina but always sneaking instead of walking does a lot to bring this back up.

[Josko]

Sorry, I don't like this method at all. It's too risky. I will always prefeer my axe. Even on level 0 it's just fine just aslong as you have Strong and not the Pacifist trait! and I always get an axe within a minute. Start in Muldraugh, go to the Large warehouse, if no axe there, go to Mcoy logging corp. You will find atleast 2-4 axe's.

[jefferyharrell]

Start in Muldraugh, go to the Large warehouse, if no axe there, go to Mcoy logging corp. You will find atleast 2-4 axe's.

 

If you're playing with the zombie count set to "high" or "insane," those destinations can be days away from your starting house.

[BoogieMan]

In my current game, (first since like 28?) I found a few kitchen knives early on and went on a head stabbing rampage, discovered it on accident. It was fun. I didn't know they were so rare or dangerous for some people, I saw them nearly every zombie I killed that didn't get knocked down and ground stabbed once I discovered how to do it. I'm thinking that perhaps I got uncharacteristically lucky after reading the posts here.