Pro Tips For New Players *Spoiler Warning!*

[Falke]

*WARNING!*

This post contains heavy spoilers, how this game is most effectively played in its current state (last update 27.2.).

Some would call it a guide.

If you are a new player and want to discover the game by yourself and

develop your own tactics at how to survive, then please dont continue reading!

It could take some fun out for you.

 

Hi!

 

I figured after some starting problems, it would be helpful for new players searching the interweb for help, to find one single source with all they need to start out with decent knowhow. So, if you think you can add something to the list that is worth it or want to correct existing points, feel free to post. I just added the things and strategies that i came across till now and that seemed important, but surely there are more noteworthy things.

 

Note that i play since Steam-release, so i dont have horde experience yet,

and have to rely on the information i read from others in this case.

 

Character Creation:

 

Most powerful char-build currently seems to be:

 

Construction worker:

Thick skinned gives less chance to be scratched.

It can happen any unlucky moment,

even if its not that likely if you take all safety measures.

The other professions seem pretty much useless.

 

Traits:

 

On the plus side i recommend: Strong, Lucky and Athletic.

On the minus side i recommend: Agoraphobic, Claustrophobic, Brooding, Cowardly, Light Drinker, Short Tempered.

 

You have to weigh for yourself whether some traits are worth it or not.

 

I just show you why i pick those.

 

Strong: Best trait.

Knockback is very important, mostly inside houses when they get close to you,

but it can come in handy in any fight. Most importantly you can carry more,

which is a musthave in my eyes.

 

Lucky:

The chance to get bitten and scratched is reduced.

You can find rare items (Fireaxes, baseball bats, trowels, shotguns, etc.) more often.

 

Athletic: Absolute musthave.

There are no cars, so you have to run the whole game.

At times you run big distances, so it safes you a lot of time when you are able to run long distances easily. Moreso if you try to get away from a horde.

 

Claustrophobic, Agoraphobic and Cowardly: They all make you hit bad with fireweapons.

Since you normally ALWAYS use melee weapons (and those seem not really affected), except for escape situations against a horde, this aspect of the trait can be ignored. The view when not completely tired is pretty good (even when in full panic mode all the time), so these are good negative traits to pick.

 

Brooding: As long as you stay relatively active through the game and

dont eat food that gives you plus on boredom or depression, you should be fine.

 

Light Drinker: Very little downside, since there are not so many whisky bottles, and those you have,

you only consume in save times, to lose a depression.

 

Short Tempered: Will only have a downside, after NPC`s are back. So its a nobrainer to take now.

I cant say if its really bad to have after they return, or just okay to use like others.

 

Combat Tactics:

 

.) Blunt weapons are your friend. Durable, and with higher Skill fast in killing.

Hammers are the best in slot weapon for in house action.

They are by far the best for close range combat,

with their ability to knockback without "loading" the weapon long, easy knockdown and fast killing.

They never exhaust you character cause the hammer is a light weapon.

If you dont have any then use frying pans.

Dont try to use any heavy weapon (golf clubs, baseball bats, crowbars, etc.), they exhaust you pretty fast.

 

.) Never ever use blade-weapons, except axes,

cause they have no knowdown! Knockdown is key in controlling the combat.

The axe is the best in slot weapon for outdoor melee-combat. It can oneshot enemys.

In close range combat, you dont have a chance, if many opponents are there,

cause you cant "reload" the weapon that fast and its weak and without knockback with the normal swings.

So take my advice serious to change to hammers for in indoor combat.

You can kill Zeds at safe range, without risking anything.

Beware though, that the axe, like any heavy weapon, can drain you pretty fest and make you exhausted.

In this state, you get tired very fast.

So if your char has the first or second stage of tiredness, you should abort combat, or change to a lighter weapon.

 

.) If possible, fight only one at a time.

 

.) Only fight with hard hits. If not possible retreat a bit.

 

.) If you have a group of Zeds, seperate them by knocking them down

and only beat on them them when you can do that safely, or try to lurk some away.

You will get the hang of it soon enough.

Warning: If you kill a group, and already put the fast ones down,

and only have the slow ones moving behind you (those stay very close to each other normally),

be sure, if you knocked one down and cant finish him, that you get out of leaprange fast.

If they lose too much energy, they stay on the floor and turn into a crawler.

If a player is in range they will leap at him and can easily scratch him (happened to me).

With hordes of little groups in the game now, these are a big threat.

 

.) If a body lies on the floor and you dont know if its dead or a crawler, turn away from it.

If its a crawler, he will vanish. If not, its a dead body.

Best way to avoid getting biten/scratched by them is by sprinting through them.

They will leap and miss you then.

Circle him, and beat him in the back.

If in house and bad position, play safe and lurk him out before you engage him (got bit once when i was in front).

 

.) If there are just too much zeds to seperate (horde), then run.

You can use fire weapons to make noise and lurk them away if they are at your safehouse.

Therefore you would need a fireweapon not only in the main safehouse, but also in a second one.

 

Looting:

 

.) If you have the opportunity, check the corpses of the zeds you kill. They carry random things that you might find useful.

Such as ammo, axes and other useful stuff.

 

.) You can jump over normal obstacles with the e-key.

 

.) If you want a high chance for the best stuff, you need the Lucky trait.

 

.) Dont ever run distances overpacked. Any fast shambler that comes by accident, can kill you easily (happened to me).

If you ever have to (carrying logs for example), be ready to drop heavy stuff from your inventory any time.

 

.) Before you engage a house, see into it from all sides. Always break into it from the window nearest to the door and sprint to the door to be safe in case inside is a fast shambler. If a fast shambler or a group of Zeds are inside, you can escape easily (if you ever have to escape fast through windows, dont click them, hold the e-key when the window is open - use the window you came in).

If you have seen Zeds inside near the door, or want to make sure there is non (i.e. if you cant see inside) kick down the door with your weapon (yes, its possible to destroy doors). If they are not an easy kill (i.e. fast and/or not alone), lure them outside.

 

.) Zombies can get you through windows if they are open, and so do you. Be careful.

 

.) In a building: Open doors always with the e-key and with ready weapon in case a fast zombie jumps on you.

 

.) Early in the game take pots, bowls and cups with you, and fill them with water.

You dont know when the water gets shut down (you click drink, but nothing happens), so make sure you have enough water for an early game shut down (can be 0-60 days as far as i know), before you are ready to build rain barrels (tier 2 for little and big tier 4 carpenter in next build).

 

.) Take stuff you find like trashbags, glue, tape etc. with you.

You can use some things to craft or to repair weapons.

 

.) Important rare stuff you HAVE to loot:

Fireaxe: First axe only use for cutting wood, or axing an emergency exit, if the horde comes.

Sledgehammer: Needed for destroying stuff in the game.

Tent peg: For crafting a tent you can use for long travels.

Trowel: Needed for farming.

As this is important for a profession, here is how to find it:

Grocery store and otherwise crates, crates, crates. Those seem the only places where it could spawn so far.

Its a really really rare item, and since loot is random, it often is hard to get.

There is no place in the game with a big chance, thats why places with lots of crates are your best opportunity to get it.

Therefore go to a any big warehouse.

 

On The Run:

 

When you are exploring your neighborhood, or even far away destinations, you can take a few things with you, to be safer.

Always put those things in the luggage.

Choose for yourself which one you think are necessary:

 

.) First, its always good to have a reserve weapon. Even if you find new ones in houses, sometimes you dont and come across many Zeds. Before you go into houses, its always good to clear out the area in case an alarm goes off. Sometimes you need more then one weapon for that.

 

.) After water shutdown its good to have a bottle of water with you.

When you put it into your main inventory, the character uses it automatically in case he/she is thirsty,

so only do that, when you get dehydrated (2nd stage), to not use it too early.

 

.) Always take a towel and something to eat with you if you travel far and explore the map.

You can use that to get dry and make sure you are

not going to get ill when you were too long in the rain.

 

.) Also for long runs (especially for the journey Muldraugh <-> WestPoint), you will need a tent to not get wet and be able to sleep.

 

Right Location to Stay:

 

There are different philosophies within the community, as to which are the best places.

 

Some prefer far far away locations like the farms, where they dont have a high population of zeds and can farm away in freedom, others prefer normal neighborhoods, where they can set up multiple safe houses and make escape routes in case one gets overwhelmed by a horde.

 

In the current game-build its relatively safe in a normal neighborhood, you can make one safehouse and dont need more.

After the next update, when hordes are back you may have to build up 2-3 safehouses simultanously, to avoid hordes.

 

Barricading:

 

.) Early on, the first move should be to put sheets all over the windows (and close them) in the house you want to stay,

so bypassing Zeds dont get attracted to your safehouse.

 

.) You can barricade doors and windows too if you want (i let all doors normal as escape route),

so Zeds are not able to slip in easily.

 

.) You should make an enclosed area at your main safehouse, where you have more security and can farm in peace.

ATTENTION: Dont make your wall in the texture of the fences. Its possible to climb over them, if you do this! (this bug might get fixed)

 

.) You can use sheets to make ropes and hang them out of 1st floor windows to get away when overrun.

Doesnt work with double windows like in the sunstar hotel.

 

Eating and Drinking:

 

.) Save the orange juice and whisky for the times you might get depressed later in the game.

 

.) Save the non perishable food (chocolate, chips, thuna, dogfood, can of anything).

 

.) Dont EVER eat burnt food, it can just like the rotten food make you sick. Sick = chance of death.

 

.) ALWAYS check the perishable food before you eat it.

What one hour ago was an okay food might be rotten now.

 

.) If the food-status goes from fresh to normal and has bad boni like +unhappyness

(never had a problem with +boredom till now),

dont eat it, if have something else. Its hard to get a real depression away.

 

.) Soup is the king of the kitchen. You can (currently) make a tasty soup from early on.

In the current game build you can prepare the soup, and it doesnt start to rott until you cook it.

It has lots of good boni, and you should always split the pot into 4 bowls after cooking, so you have 4 meals, which gives you 2-4 days to eat. (a player reported you can cook rotten soup and get it fresh again)

You can even use it in the lategame, if the rotting gets fixed, when you use farming goods like carrots with non-perishable ingredients like flour or sugar.

Details in the crafting section.

 

How to Cook:

 

Recipes: http://pzwiki.net/wiki/Crafting

 

.) Put the ingredients in the main tab (where your clothes/weapons are).

Now rightclick on the item you cook the stuff with (for example, the cooking pot filled with water, the frying pan). You see the option to prepare what you want now.

 

.) To actually cook it, you put it in the oven/microwave and turn it on.

Some stuff gets burnt pretty fast (like the grilled cheese sandwich), so you have to overlook the cooking process, others like the soups take 1,5-2hours before it gets burnt, so you can use the time inbetween. If electricity is shut down, you suddenly cant rightclick the oven anymore.

 

.) ALWAYS check you turn off the oven/micro after use, otherwise your beloved house might lit up in flames.

 

.) How to make fire:

Later on, when there is no electricity you need to start a campfire.

You have to craft sturdy sticks and knotted boards (right click on the craft item and select) to make kindle (alternatively if you have a gas can, you can use that to prepare the campfire).

You will use these, to start the fire.

You need to craft a campfire kit too, and get a woodlog and a lighter.

When you have all of this in your main inventory tab, you rightclick on the floor and select the place you want to make the fire at. Then rightclick the campfire and start it with the kindle and lighter.

You see it burning now. Then you should immediately right click it a second time, and fuel it with the woodlog, so it doesnt get out after a few minutes.

Now put the thing you want to cook into the small box tab you see, and enjoy.

 

How to Carpent Things:

 

http://pzwiki.net/wiki/Crafting

 

.) Always use the right skillbooks to level the skill faster (beginner/intermediate/advanced/expert/master).

 

.) You need a saw, hammer, planks and nails for most things.

If you cant find any saws or hammers, look in garages or in house additions.

 

.) Dont put nails in boxes.

You can have as much as you want in the inventory, and they dont have any weight.

 

.) To get planks you need wood.

Its always good to make your safehouse near a wood, cause you need a lot for barricading.

The best way to cut wood in the early game (when you have no axe), is to take a hammer.

You dont get exhausted with it, so all in all you cut it faster than heavy weapons.

 

.) Right click on the floor when you have what you need to craft, and carpent away.

 

.) You can turn walls with the r-key.

 

.) To push your carpent skill (if you have enough free skillpoints), you can barricade and afterwards unbarricade.

This just costs you nails.

 

.) To craft rain collectors, you need skill 2 for the tiny or 4 for the big one.

You also need trash bags, so start to collect them as soon as you can,

so you have enough to do like 2 collectors at every safehouse.

 

Farming:

 

I link a guide: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yyxgjreprkq0dhr/Farming%20Guide.docx

 

.) Carrots and radishes are for the birds (in terms of farming). Too much water kills them (and you can't stop the rain, placing their survival in the open outside of your control, for the most part). If you are hellbent on growing them, the south facing awning of the farm house west of the smaller town (about a full day west of McCoy logging) keeps one block clear of rain, right next to the little wooden fence bit you can jump over. I reckon you could grow them there, if anywhere.

 

.) Also, don't get carried away. A single planting can produce many fruits/veggies per single block of growth. Don't do what I did and wind up with a pile of hundreds of rotten tomotaes because you got crazy with the trowel. It's wasteful. Speaking of wasteful, plants can sit in the ground for only a few days before rotting there so remember to harvest them. And as your farming skill levels, you get more info on your plant; for starters, plants grow on stages (right click, info to see this) - wait to harvest till the last one and you get seeds back from the harvest along with food.

[imortalz]

very nice guide overall, good job man.

[SoWeMeetAgain]

nice guide, any tips on where I can find a trowel? got through half the city now without seeing one

 

and to the issue of getting out of a house, windows not clickable - just hold e and your char will jump through the window

[Brick]

I think all this stuff is on the wiki???

[Merrick362]

No curtain? No problem! Just hang a sheet over the window instead! (Don't forget to close it once you do though)

[FearTheAmish]

nice guide, any tips on where I can find a trowel? got through half the city now without seeing one

 

and to the issue of getting out of a house, windows not clickable - just hold e and your char will jump through the window

 

in Muldraugh the warhouse has it for sure. Also look for sheds they usually will have also.

[Falke]

Will add & correct tomorrow.

 

@imortalz:

Yeah i use agorophobic, i just overlooked it.

 

Hypochondraic doesnt make you sick.

If you are careful, this trait is not much of a problem to deal with.

In the worst case scenario you may not be sick in rare cases, when it seems you get sick.

Have not had much trouble with it so far.

 

The underlying problem is, you need the points for all the really good traits, so this one seems to be a better tradeoff than others.

If you know one that makes more sense and that i dont already use, pls tell me.

 

Looting:

If you have the Graceful trait this shouldnt be a big problem.

I normally open the door before doing anything in case someone i didnt see before tries to grab me (already happened to me).

 

The rest are good points so far, i will work on it tomorrow.

 

@SoWeMeetAgain:

 

Depends on where you are.

 

Warehouse on the North Highway

http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.5383933588925044,0.18192887490118526,71.4449016918153

 

GIGA Mart or large warehouse

http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.8227821854853387,0.1438920223822457,25.762027955149488

 

Grocery store, and otherwise crates, crates, crates. Those seem the only places where it could spawn so far.

Its a really really rare item, and since loot is random, it often is hard to get.

There is no place in the game with a big chance, thats why places with lots of crates are your best opportunity to get it.

[American Steel]

1. Make a bolt hole a high priority.  This might not be the house you started in.  You want location with minimal entrances and exits.  Also you want a place to sleep with its own door and no window.  Why?  When you go to sleep and IF Zed comes a knocking, they have to break into the house and THEN break into your room.  This will give you multiple opportunities to wake up.  If they can just break a window and get you, it may be to late.  Now if you live in a multi story affair, just make sure you have 2 doors between Zed and you taking 40 winks with Spiffo.
2. When you go looting early on, take a pair of sheets with you and a can opener (if you can lay your hands on one).  If you get cut off from your base, you can try to make a small place a bit safer from prying eyes.  Also, it is a shame to be dying of hunger and staring at a can of anything.
3. Your first fort might not be your bolt hole.  Also, just because it is a fort it might NOT be your final fort.  If you find a sweet spot in town but gardening is not going to happen... take it.  You can use it as a place to consolidate your goods until you find that next sweet spot.
4. If you plan on foraging a good distance from your fort, go out with the intent of making a secure bolt hole.  Take a few extra sheets, some nails and a hammer (an axe too if you have it).  Find a good location, secure it from prying eyes and barricade it up some (a sheet + 1 board per entrance is better than nothing).  You can then invest some resources in making a really secure bolt hole by just canibalizing doors nearby and barricading the place up.  You don't have to take it ALL with you.  If you plan on leaving "for good", barricade the entrance but leave yourself some supplies (food, water, a few extra weapons).  It is better to be on the run with a safe place in mind than be on the run and flying by the seat of your pants.

 

My objective to start out with is a bolt hole and then a fort.  After I secure the fort (with some sort of outer wall), I go back and secure my bolt hole (barricade up all the door and windows) and stock it for emergencies.  I then forage for my fort in a completely different direction and search for another good bolt hole (2 to 4 blocks away at the most).  I then secure & stock that bolt hole.  Now I have a base of operations and two secure & stocked bolt holes.  Decision time: is the fort is going to base of operations or if I really need a better location?  I believe it is better to leave a bolt hole in place and find a whole new location, than turning it into a fort.  Given time, you could easily have dozen secure & stocked bolt hole and more than one fort.  You may even want to have you final fort FAR removed from the city:

McCoy Logging -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.4582148212738823,0.2321579787175524,43.72743828191227

Tavern -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.4582148212738823,0.2321579787175524,43.72743828191227

Fenced House -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.5553382159293132,0.19586801727736386,60.83140432098765

 

Or someting a bit closer, but easy to secure.

Warehouse -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.46245941717164013,0.22610557240057533,162.71367340031992

House w/ Shed -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.5202569308480569,0.20592476009348942,84.48806155692729

Large Warehouse -- http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.537619454006964,0.18169121316811646,162.9785138058011

 

I am not as familiar with West Point, but I have held this is a great centrally located fort.  It even has a patch of grass, if you can keep zed from dying all over the lawn.

http://pzmap.crash-override.net/#0.8118276360019494,0.144548105151142,157.1937826059039

[American Steel]

If you can stand the trip, McCoy Logging is definately the place to loot.  You can easily make the warehouse here a bolt hole with minial effort, it only has a front and back door.  I think I grabbed over 300 nails, a half dozen hammers and 3 axes out of the place.  Not to mention a storage box of shotgun shells and four shotguns.

 

While this might not be centrally located, it can be a secure farm pretty darn easy.  As soon as stair come back into play, you could have the building to the South be your gatehouse, fortify the space between the open storage container and the building as your steps up.  Have a platform connect the two.  Then have the stairs come back down in the farm area and save the front door as your postern gate.

[SoWeMeetAgain]

 

nice guide, any tips on where I can find a trowel? got through half the city now without seeing one

 

and to the issue of getting out of a house, windows not clickable - just hold e and your char will jump through the window

 

in Muldraugh the warhouse has it for sure. Also look for sheds they usually will have also.

 

thank you! the big warehouse finally had one for me... exactly one! soo many crates there

Did anybody try destroying the first row of crates to see if anything is in the ones behind them at the wall? I didn't, was loaded fully from the trip there and the crates are still full... maybe will try later if no one else has tried

[Cl0nec0mmand0]

Hi!

 

I figured after some starting problems, it would be helpful for new players searching the interweb for help, to find one single source with all they need to start out with decent knowhow. So, if you think you can add something to the list that is worth it or want to correct existing points, feel free to post. I just added the things and strategies that i came across till now and that seemed important, but surely there are more noteworthy things.

 

Character Creation:

 

Most powerful char-build currently seems to be:

 

Construction worker:

Thick skinned gives more chance to not be infested,

if you ever get scratched by accident. It can happen any unlucky moment,

even if its not that likely if you take all safety measures.

The other professions seem pretty much useless.

 

Traits:

 

On the plus side i recommend: Strong, Keen Hearing, Athletic and Graceful.

On the minus side i recommend: Claustrophobic, Brooding, Cowardly, Hypochondriac, Light Drinker, Short Tempered.

 

You have to weigh yourself whether some traits are worth it or not.

 

I just show you why i pick those.

 

Strong:

Knockback is very important, mostly inside houses when they get close to you,

but it can come in handy in any fight. Most importantly you can carry more,

which is a musthave in my eyes.

 

Keen Hearing:

You can hear the Zeds early if they make noises.

(sometimes they dont when they are in passive state, so be on your toes when you enter new rooms).

Overall i think you are more aware of your surroundings which gives you an advantage in reacting.

 

Athletic: Absolute musthave.

There are no cars, so you have to run the whole game.

At times you run big distances, so it safes you a lot of time when you are able to run long distances easily. Moreso if you try to get away from a horde.

 

Graceful: Big plus is, the Zeds dont notice you if they dont look directly at you.

So you can easily sneak into houses and kill them, without having to risk your life everytime they hear you coming through the window/door. In my eyes a lifesaver.

 

Claustrophobic, Agoraphobic and Cowardly: They all make you hit bad with fireweapons.

Since you ALWAYS use melee weapons (and those are not affected), except for escape situations against a horde, this aspect of the trait can be ignored. The view when not completely tired is pretty good (even when in full panic mode all the time), so these are good negative traits to pick.

 

Looting:

 

.) Dont ever run distances overpacked. Any fast shambler that comes by accident, can kill you easily.

 

.) Before you engage a house, see into it from all sides. Always break into it from the window nearest to the door, then sprint to that door and open it, when you are inside. If a fast shambler or a group of Zeds are inside, you can escape easily (note that windows are sometimes not clickable, and you cant escape easy through them).

If you have seen Zeds inside near the door, or want to make sure there is non (i.e. if you cant see inside) kick down the door with your weapon (yes, its possible to destroy doors). If they are not an easy kill (i.e. fast and/or not alone), lure them outside.

 

.) In a building open doors always with the e-key and with ready weapon in case a fast zombie jumps on you.

 

.) Early in the game take pots, bowls and cups with you, and fill them with water.

You dont know when the water gets shut down (you click drink, but nothing happens), so make sure you have enough water for an early game shut down (can be 0-60 days as far as i know), before you are ready to build rain barrels (tier 2 for little and big tier 4 carpenter in next build).

 

.) Take stuff you find like trashbags, barbed wire, glue etc. with you.

(i add all that seems useful later on if i get more info whats needed for later crafting)

They might not be useful now, but many can be used in later builds (your savegame will get updated)

to craft nice or even mandatory stuff with it.

 

.) Always take a towel with you if you travel far and explore the map.

You can use that to get dry and make sure you are

not going to get ill when you were too long in the rain.

 

.) Important rare stuff you HAVE to loot:

Fireaxe: First axe only use for cutting wood, or axing an emergency exit, if the horde comes.

Sledgehammer: Needed for destroying stuff in the game.

Trowel: Needed for farming.

Tent peg: For crafting a tent you can use for long travels.

 

Eating and Drinking:

 

.) Save the orange juice and whisky for the times you might get depressed later in the game.

 

.) Save the non perishable food (chocolate, chips, thuna, dogfood, can of anything).

 

.) Dont EVER eat burnt food, it can just like the rotten food make you sick. Sick = chance of death.

 

.) ALWAYS check the perishable food before you eat it.

What one hour ago was an okay food might be rotten now.

 

.) If the food-status goes from fresh to normal and has bad boni like +unhappyness

(never had a problem with +boredom till now),

dont eat it, if have something else. Its hard to get a real depression away.

 

.) Soup is the king of the kitchen. You can (currently) make a tasty soup from early on.

In the current game build you can prepare the soup, and it doesnt start to rott until you cook it.

it has lots of good boni, and you should always split the pot into 4 bowls, so you have 4 meals, which gives you 2-4 days to eat.

You can even use it in the lategame, if the rotting gets fixed when you use farming goods like carrots with non-perishable ingredients like flour or sugar.

Details in the crafting section.

 

How to Cook:

 

Recipes: http://pzwiki.net/wiki/Crafting

 

.) Put the ingredients in the main tab (where your clothes/weapons are).

Now rightclick on the item you cook the stuff with (for example, the cooking pot filled with water, the frying pan). You see the option to prepare what you want now.

 

.) To actually cook it, you put it in the oven/microwave and turn it on.

Some stuff gets burnt pretty fast (like the grilled cheese sandwich), so you have to overlook the cooking process, others like the soups take 1,5-2hours before it gets burnt, so you can use the time in the meantime. If electricity is shut down, you suddenly cant rightclick the oven anymore.

 

.) ALWAYS check you turn out the oven/micro after use, otherwise your beloved house might lit up in flames.

 

.) How to make fire:

Later on, when there is no electricity you need to start a campfire.

You have to craft sturdy sticks and knotted boards (right click on the craft item and select) to make kindle (alternatively if you have a gas can, you can use that to prepare the campfire).

You will use these, to start the fire.

You need to craft a campfire kit too, and get a woodlog and a lighter.

When you have all of this in your main inventory tab, you rightclick on the floor and select the place you want to make the fire at. Then rightclick the campfire and start it with the kindle and lighter.

You see it burning now. Then you should immediately right click it a second time, and fuel it with the woodlog, so it doesnt get out after a few minutes.

Now put the thing you want to cook into the small box tab you see, and enjoy.

 

How to Carpent Things:

 

http://pzwiki.net/wiki/Crafting

 

.) You need a saw, hammer, planks and nails for most things.

If you cant find any saws or hammers, look in garages or in house additions.

 

.) You can pack and unpack nails into a box, if you find one.

They have 100 in it.

 

.) To get planks you need wood.

Its always good to make your safehouse near a wood, cause you need a lot for barricading.

The best way to cut wood in the early game (when you have no axe), is to make a spiked baseball bat.

It doesnt lose any durability in the current build, and chops them down pretty fast.

 

.) Right click on the floor when you have what you need to craft, and carpent away.

 

.) You can turn walls with the r-key.

 

Farming:

 

I link a guide: https://www.dropbox.com/s/yyxgjreprkq0dhr/Farming%20Guide.docx

 

May get more easy to read tips in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More to come....

could you/ i post this on steam? (if i post this i will include your name saying that i did not make this)

[Falke]

Corrected section character creation, looting and carpenting.

 

Created section combat tactics, on the run, right location to stay and barricading.

 

Please feel free to comment or add anything you think is worthwile.

If it makes sense i will try to correct or add it.

 

@imortalz:

You erased the post before i did the correction.

As i recall you had the window e-key thing and the carpenter skill pushing in mind.

Did i forget something?

 

@Clonecommando:

Feel free to post it as you like. Maybe the post should get updated sometime later.

Its a very good idea, since many people might just look on the steam forum, and not into this one.

I dont care for my name being involved (therefore no need to post my name). What is a internet synonym worth anyway?

Only important thing is that other gamers have a nice and easy entry into the game.

Its not fun to search for half an hour in forums and youtube to find a way to cook a soup, or how to make a campfire.

[imortalz]

carpentry: its baricading and unbaricading. baricading =3xp, unbaricading =5 xp. so all you need is a bunch of nail and 1 plank.

 

also when u cut tree u can get in the middle of the tree then start swinging and press f5 to swing ultra fast.

 

in the same order of idea if ur walking emcumbred with like  5 log on u u can  rigth click on a far away place and select walk to.  then press f5 to get there super fast.

 

for window u press e to open window and u Hold e to climb trough

[plekpot]

 

thank you! the big warehouse finally had one for me... exactly one! soo many crates there

Did anybody try destroying the first row of crates to see if anything is in the ones behind them at the wall? I didn't, was loaded fully from the trip there and the crates are still full... maybe will try later if no one else has tried

 

Yes, I usually destroy them all, it takes a few days though. With loot rarity on rare, I find about 250-300 nails the first time without destryoing the crates. After I destroy all the crates I find maybe a 100 nails more, worth it IMHO. You can also just skip destroying the crates and going to Mccoy if you aren't going to build an enormous safehouse.

[Falke]

Didnt know about the hold e thingy.

 

Added this as tip and also barricade/unbarricade, but decided to let the fast forward tip out, cause i think in rare cases it could be dangerous

(not in current build, but with zeds walking all over the place).

[ApolloDiaspora]

Here's a few of my own:

> Zeke has poor eyes but good ears. When in doubt, sneak! Only sprint when the area is clear, or when your life is at risk.

> When traversing heavily infested areas, move slow and steady. Once again, sneaking is your friend. If it drops in the crapper and you have to evade, mobility is the key. Sprint in short bursts, break line of sight, than sneak off in an entirely new direction.

> No axe? No problem! Use a hammer or crowbar and start breaking down the doors on neighbouring houses. Remember this is noisey, and planks weigh a lot.

> If you have the bag space to spare, carry a can opener and two bags of chips at all times. A backup weapon like a crowbar or kitchen knife is also good. You never know when you'll need to camp out.

> Don't forget about knives, pens and pencils. They might be terrible for clearing out a horde, put the humble pencil can be a lifesaver when your baseball bat snaps in half.

> Let Zeke come to you. Hold back, ready a swing, spin to check your surroundings, then let fly when they get close.

How'd I do?

[American Steel]

Here's a few of my own:

> Zeke has poor eyes but good ears. When in doubt, sneak! Only sprint when the area is clear, or when your life is at risk.

> When traversing heavily infested areas, move slow and steady. Once again, sneaking is your friend. If it drops in the crapper and you have to evade, mobility is the key. Sprint in short bursts, break line of sight, than sneak off in an entirely new direction.

> No axe? No problem! Use a hammer or crowbar and start breaking down the doors on neighbouring houses. Remember this is noisey, and planks weigh a lot.

> If you have the bag space to spare, carry a can opener and two bags of chips at all times. A backup weapon like a crowbar or kitchen knife is also good. You never know when you'll need to camp out.

> Don't forget about knives, pens and pencils. They might be terrible for clearing out a horde, put the humble pencil can be a lifesaver when your baseball bat snaps in half.

> Let Zeke come to you. Hold back, ready a swing, spin to check your surroundings, then let fly when they get close.

How'd I do?

 

Solid!  You make an excellent point about waiting for Zeke to come to you and 360 to check your 6.  Getting tunnel vision is a good way to get bit.

 

That said, Zeds can be crafty.  If you move toward an enemy who has a bead on you and a Zed past away from you... check your 6 and make sure you AWAYS have an escape path.  They like to go around buildings or even grab a few friends.  The one you had a bead on alerts three or four friends and you turn around to see two or three more are closing in from behind, panic can ensew.  You may feel the path where no Zed is visible is the best choice, when it can be the worst.  Better to beat back a few Zed on a mostly safe path than rush down the unexplored path.

[Baconlovar]

Also a good one is when your going to be constructing and being overemcumbered use a kitchen knife to defend close range

[Falke]

Updates:

 

Erased the Hypochondraic trait (either bugged or a really bad trait. when on paper sounded promising).

Therefore had to erase the Graceful trait too. Bye bye ninja stealth. :-/ (i hope this can be overcome in lategame by the sneaking skill)

 

Advice to never use blade-weapons (not safe in use).

 

Advice to be careful when you knock down zeds (in groups) and they dont stand up, because they are now lurking crawlers.

[ApolloDiaspora]

Bit of an update, based on my own experiences of late.

 

> Don't be Alarmed! If the area is reasonably clear when that burgular alarm goes off, and if your need is desparate enough, hop inside, do a quick run around to check for what you want, then bug out. Remember to assume all the exits are now covered by Zeke. Don't overload yourself. You will need to sprint and evade when you exit.

 

> Stabbing is Magic! If you've no weapon, kitchen or butter knives can one-shot kill a Zed with a jab up under the jawline. If all you've got is a pen, pencil, or spoon, you might be better off without a weapon.

 

> Know your limits. If you're only armed with a supply of blunt cutlery and pencils, you might be better off shoving Zeke back and caving in his skull with a boot. But this takes time. Time for his friends to wander over and investigate. If you're only armed with butterknives, remember how flimsy they are. A pencil or butterknife breaks very, very quickly. If you've not grabbed a proper weapon by now, avoid combat at all costs. A pair of zombies is peanuts to a baseball bat, but a death sentence to a spoon.

 

> Prioritse, prioritse, prioritise! Yes, that fire axe is something you desperately need. Yes, you want to get that fortified compound up around your farm today. But you're starving. The food in your fridge has already started to rot. That axe isn't going anywhere. Man up, take those cans instead, and come back when you're able to afford carrying that axe around. This is particuarly true for entertainment material. Yes, you need it. No, you don't need it now.

 

> Zeke doesn't need food and drink. You do. Always carry two water bottles with you at all times. You never know how long you will be away from your safehouse. Empty pop or soda bottles weigh less than empty whisky bottles, but hold the same amount of water. Save canned food for the safehouse, use chips while out looting. When you open that can of beans, pour it into a bowl first. You get a bit more nutrition, and a small amount of happiness.

 

> Murphy's Law WILL come up and bite you on the ass. Plan for the worst case. Always go in with an escape plan. Always have a backup. Most of all, remember when to let go. The loot will still be there. Your safehouse will still be there. You can always clean out the zombies later.

[BlackPaladin]

Updates:

 

Erased the Hypochondraic trait (either bugged or a really bad trait. when on paper sounded promising).

Therefore had to erase the Graceful trait too. Bye bye ninja stealth. :-/ (i hope this can be overcome in lategame by the sneaking skill)

 

Advice to never use blade-weapons (not safe in use).

 

Advice to be careful when you knock down zeds (in groups) and they dont stand up, because they are now lurking crawlers.

 

It's just a really bad trait. Hypocondriac is probably the worst trait you can have next to weak.

Keen hearing also isn't really needed at all. Graceful is far more useful.

Your traits should buff your earlygame, where they matter most. For this, strong and graceful are 2 of the best choices. Athletic is also a good choice but I prefer not to have too many negative traits. All those negative traits even now can mess you up, and later on when this game is more developed will only be worse.

Strong is probably the best trait there is. More carry capacity, more damage, can open windows easier, etc. Graceful allows you to get by early game, sneak around easier, and get into places undetected to loot when it matters most.

 

Also, the Axe is considered a "blade" weapon. You probably mean the kitchen knife? If so, while I agree the kitchen knife is probably the most dangerous weapon to use, it's still a good earlygame weapon if you can't find a baseball bat within the first 1-2 days. I actually prefer to use a baseball bat as my main weapon because they're plentiful and also it means I don't use up all of my axe's durability.

[Bojanglatron]

+ Pots of soup seem non-perishable but the bowls of soup you can make out of it are. That said, if you do wind up with bowls of rotten soup it seems you can cook them for a bit and they become fresh cooked soup once more. Not sure if this is supposed to be the way it works or a bug though (so this advice might wind up being useless later - in fact, go ahead and assume this for everything you read while the game is being developed, generally).

 

+ Avoid using the sledgehammer (or any weapon that tires you out quickly/in one swing) as a weapon.

 

+ A zombie that moves like it is constantly tripping (leaning forward, unsteady gait with heavy movement in the shoulders) should be priority. They shamble fast and tend to lunge (arms outstretched, near sprint speed toward you when they close to three or four meters). These will end your game in a hurry if not prepared.

 

+ Twirl. Do it a lot. Checking your six is paramount and the best way to do it is by holding the right mouse button as if readying a weapon and circling your cursor, quickly, around yourself a few times. If your eyesight is bad or you are sleepy, slow your roll as you may have zombies phasing in and out of your sight. This happens a lot when very tired and exhausted.

 

+ Avoid building your walls of your fort right next to low fencing as it seems you can "jump" through the wall by jumping the fence. Not sure if a zombie can just bipass your wall this way, yet, but can do my own walls. So, consider this a tenuous tip.

 

+ Carrots and radishes are for the birds (in terms of farming). Too much water kills them (and you can't stop the rain, placing their survival in the open outside of your control, for the most part). If you are hellbent on growing them, the south facing awning of the farm house west of the smaller town (about a full day west of McCoy logging) keeps one block clear of rain, right next to the little wooden fence bit you can jump over. I reckon you could grow them there, if anywhere.

 

+ Also, don't get carried away. A single planting can produce many fruits/veggies per single block of growth. Don't do what I did and wind up with a pile of hundreds of rotten tomotaes because you got crazy with the trowel. It's wasteful. Speaking of wasteful, plants can sit in the ground for only a few days before rotting there so remember to harvest them. And as your farming skill levels, you get more info on your plant; for starters, plants grow on stages (right click, info to see this) - wait to harvest till the last one and you get seeds back from the harvest along with food.

 

+ After the water is turned off, you can still drink out of each toilet bowl you find once, I am finding. After this, they no longer grant the option. Better than nothing(?)

 

[Hardly Protips as I have 20ish hours of experience, but here are some ways to avoid what killed me. Sorry if any were mentioned - I did read through the topic and hope I didn't foolishly repeat anything]

[BlackPaladin]

Yeah I think the cooking of the soup is a bug atm.

As for the toilet bowl suggestion, while it is true, that normally will make you sick. It's best to, after maybe a week or so of play, to try to find as many cooking pots/buckets/watering cans as possible and fill them and store them, in case you can't find enough garbage bags and get your carpentry to 2 in time. It helps to have the extra water around just in case something happens.

[Bojanglatron]

Ah that is a good point. My current and longer running character is strong to sickness at the cost of eyesight and clumsiness, so I may just have lucked out on the toilet bowls. Still, beats being dehydrated if worse comes to worse, I suppose. Water collectors are the best, though, for sure. I build a gazillion of them when I could. Of course, this character dates back to when you needed no real talent to make them so I had it a bit easier (Lv 2 now, as it were).

 

Also, just remembered one.

 

+ Bored? Wake up so early it is too dark to do anything useful? Run back and forth in place (assuming you are in a safe area) till the lungs appear, wait till not out of breath, repeat - leveling up sprint probably isn't a bad investment. Sometimes the best defense against an orgy zombies is making like tree and getting outta there, I am finding.

[Falke]

@Blackpaladin:

I think Graceful is pretty cool and useful, but Keen Hearing is key.

For me it is better to know where the enemy is, even when i am not able to be stay as undetected as i did with Graceful

(if my testing shows otherwise, i might reconsider).

There is nothing in lategame that can give you that advantage via skill.

There were several occations, when it safed my life.

 

Axes could be a special case, but i didnt test them in combat (dont have one currently, so couldnt even test if i wanted).

But since i checked with the wiki and they dont have knockdown

(cause this is a blunt weapon thing), i doubt it is a 100% safe to use weapon.

Maybe with high weaponskill if you can onehit every zed. But on the way to that high weaponskill it would probably too be risky to use.

So even in the best case, if its really an outstanding weapon (axe), i think its not recommendable to use blade weapons.

Blunt weapons are plenty in the game, i think its not possible to run out on them (only in earlygame like you described),

and as i already noted, they deal plenty of damage with high skill.

 

@Bojanglatron:

You got some good points. Thanks for the input.

I will take some of your suggestions.

 

Out of curiosity:

How are your experiences with shortsight?