sokaku

Dispersion is needed to add a bit of randomness to the result because take lipemr's example, how many people take that long in-game between shots, and what do you think the result would be rushing shots out faster? Even then his grouping isn't that remarkable and he's probably somewhat familiar with that gun. Now try that again after jogging around the block for 20 minutes in a potentially hostile environment where you know someone could be hunting you. Guaranteed you'd be harder-pressed/lucky to hit a head-sized target at 40m. Guns aren't about "the first bullet goes where it's pointed", between the time you start pulling a trigger and the bullet leaves the barrel there are all kinds of forces/counter-forces in-play that determine exactly what path that bullet will take. Human beings are not robotic firing platforms, and though some people can train themselves to come close, it's a not reasonable assumption that a character in this game would have anywhere near that level of timing and skill. Even if they introduced dispersion after the first shot (reticle bloom) you don't want first-shots too accurate because often it just takes 1 shot to take someone down and the game devolves to a twitch-shooter where the penalty only applies if you miss your first shot. I prefer games with dispersion randomness added, even if it sometimes doesn't work in your favour it's probably the fairest thing to handicap mouse-snapping accuracy to something that more reasonably reflects real-world accuracy.

Polana is a *long* hike from NWAF. If you're not 100% of your orientation (compass equipped) you may have headed south from the NWAF and ended up in Vybor. Often when heading South from NWAF to Vybor I get disorientated and end up at Lopatino. If there is a water tower you are in Stary. Stary is not a very big settlement, but as my fellow Canadian out in the middle of the Pacific mentions, check for a road sign. DayzDb's maps give both English and Cyrillic spellings.

According to Steam I'm at 52 hours, haven't killed anyone (that wasn't already (un)dead) or been killed by anyone yet. Been shot at and chased a few times, quite a few friendly-ish encounters early on. Only deaths so far have been to starvation x1, and bleeding out after a zombie 3-on-1 vs. crowbar x1. So this character has been alive about 44 or so hours, mostly on low-mid-pop servers (<20) Still waiting for the knots in my stomach to stop forming every time I catch a glimpse of another player. Running into 2 bandit/hunter groups in a row a month back and barely making it out alive really had an effect on me. I'd probably be far better off if they'd actually been competent shots and killed me. I've actually been looking to help people out, joining near full servers, even carrying a few spare can openers, cans, and canteens to hand out, but every time I spot another player I literally start shaking and end up stalking them to see if they're alone and never actually make contact before they run off after looting the area. Don't get attached to your gear, they said. Meeting other players will be fun, they said.

Bullets are too cheap. Think of it potentially being like a Mad Max scenario. Bullets become very valuable commodities, and the decision to "spend" them on a certain situation becomes a much bigger decision. I don't think they need to get rid of the M4, but ammo needs to be made a lot less harder to come by, and magazines should be found with either empty or with rounds. Then a decision to fire at another survivor becomes a question of "If I spend 20% of my ammo getting the drop on this guy, will he be carrying at least that much?" Right now with maybe an hour travel time and scavenging on low-pop servers, that question is over < 1% of your ammo. But the game is in early, early stages and loot doesn't spawn. Server hopping is already more time consuming which is a good thing. I'd love to see a much more restricted ammo model implemented for the hardcore game mode. I think it would definitely change player interactions.

Has anyone tried the M4 suppressor at night? Curious if it cuts down muzzle flash in alpha yet. I don't run with an M4 so no idea. As for the silencing effect on firearms by a suppressor a factor in the overall noise heard by the shooter depends on how the round is chambered and ejected. Suppressors can be fitted to various weapons, but the design of the gun and type of ammunition has more to do with how silent it will be. For something like $70 you can get an adapter for oil filters to turn one into a fairly effective suppressor.

The blaze is a lovely gun, even without a scope. I prefer it if in medium range to a Mosin. But the SKS is a better situational gun due to the 10 round internal mag. With strip loaders if you can find them it is a beast by lessening the reload hassle. Starting out I try to get either an SKS, or a Magnum + Blaze. Once I have a LR scope then I'll swap out for a Mosin. Blaze->Mosin is an advantage because you don't have to swap out ammo. By then I should have swapped the magnum for a FNX with magazines. I've tried carrying the M4 as a primary and swap-secondary but I don't really like it. I like the stopping power of the SKS/Blaze, and feel vulnerable at range if the M4 is my primary.

What I personally find funny is watching the Youtubers talking about going "bandit hunting." However, what that typically means is "heading to Berezino and getting into a fire-fight with other probable bandit hunters." Group A: "Hey, look over there, bandits!" Group B: "Hey, look over there, bandits!" Whichever side doesn't survive was surely the bandits. But what can you expect. Attempting to actually communicate would exonerate you from probably being the bandit, but you'd still be dead. Stalking them to see if they actually do something bandity would get old pretty quick, and is risky. Finding armed players in the game and shooting them isn't bandit hunting, even if they fire first, especially if you outnumber them.

aside from "friendly, friendly." Which in Russian translates to "Screw you, English dog."

I can attest to it being real. I have experienced it twice. They seem to spawn you in as a woman regardless of your character settings. However, it is reversible as long as you spot it early. Be sure every time you log off you will recognize your surroundings next log-in even if you log in on a night cycle. (I.e. in a bush or looking at a tree/rock) If you do join a server that spawns you anywhere other than where you last logged out, do not move or even look around, exit immediately. Don't panic if your startup screen shows a fresh spawn. Don't attempt to change settings etc. Just rejoin a server from your History or Favourites list and you should spawn back in with your past hive character. If you hit a server that reset your character and you move that character, the hive will be updated and the change will not be reversible. Now what I don't know is if in that 30 second log-out after getting the reset, if some twit or zed spawn-kills you, if that will register on the hive triggering a dead/respawn against your hive character. As far as I can tell, where this has happened to me is on certain servers that appear to have been customized, usually having low pop. (likely because no one wants to lose their characters!) I don't know if these have been set up as honey-pots for spawn jumpers, griefing hacked, or what. Best thing to do is make a note of them, and try and find a core set of servers to play on if your common one gets full or you need a lower pop server to loot up in.

Somewhat off-topic, but has anyone tested whether the zig-zag will actually get up the hill any faster? It's a relatively moot point because your relative speed to a potential aggressor may save your life so zagging up the hill is a better option. Just curious if anyone's tested whether it's any faster than chugging up in a straight line at walking speed.

Damn, man. Punctuation is your friend.

Strange, my encounters are few, but have mostly been the opposite. I have run into players on 5 occassions in the last month. (not a huge number, I keep to myself :D) But of those encounters, all but 1 have been friendly and I haven't died to a player encounter. I'd been robbed of my rags & knife once when starting out, mostly due to having not set up my comms keys properly and my mic being muted. (A group of kids, they were more interested in hunting other groups) I've encountered 3 friendlies without needing to draw a weapon, and was ambushed once by a friendly who thought I was tracking him. The hostile encounter was while retreating from an area I was trying to scope in on some bandits in an apartment building. While retreating I came across 2 groups of bandits/hunters that merely just opened fire. Not a word said. Fortunately, for what I lack in stalking/ambush ability, I make up for in evasive retreating. :) I like watching how players like Frankie can seem to control a situation, but I know that it's an edited production, and he has more than enough current general shooter experience and DayZ experience to back himself up if things do turn a bit pear-shaped. It's been about 9 years since I'd played shooters online prior to DayZ. :D

IV's and transfusions are for group play otherwise you're gambling with your life. If you're playing solo, don't waste the inventory space. Just keep your energy and hydration levels topped up and you'll recover in no time. Spend the time traveling to a new location or looting inland away from trigger-happy buffoons. (Better than risking a buffoon's idea of "help" :)

If you choose to log out in a heavily populated area, and quite likely, a popular lookout spot, or loot spot (military, police station, school, hospital, or those green & red 2-storey houses) then expect to be shot on sight when logging in. It is simply a matter of people's self-preservation as the people that typically log in those areas are server hopping looters, or ghosts. Neither are the type of player most people hold in the best of light. In their position they're going about their business and ensure the building is clear then they hear that dreaded log-in reload sound... What would you do? There is a potentially armed and hostile player jumping in metres away, not spotted approaching the area where you can either avoid them or have time to set up a proper ambush to gauge their intent. Chances are, you will be met with KoS. The most stressful time is when the server restarts while I happen to be looting around a potentially contested area, because I know if I log into another server there could be people in the area that I'm putting into exactly that predicament. Head to an abandoned area out in the trees well out of ear-shot of anyone to log out. Then when you do join you stand a far better chance of joining without getting killed, and can scope out the area to hopefully find someone that's not intending to slit your throat and spit down your neck. :)

+1 tents in NWAF. Though they can be hard to spot because of their colour and shape. The RNG is a bit skewed it seems depending on the server. I find some days you can be tripping over an item, and other days you cannot find one for love or money. Took me a while to locate my 2 magazines, haven't really been looking hard for more, but haven't come across any by chance since. Plenty of 30 round ones for the sporter though.

Large towns off the coast are generally safe on low population servers. The riskiest from my exp. are Berezino, Electro, and Svet in that order. Always be on the listen for any gunfire when approaching a town. Airfields and military bases are dangerous on every server, regardless of pop. These are prime spots for server-hoppers so keep your time in these locations to a minimum and be constantly on the lookout, even around buildings you've just been in, and listen for the reloading sound of someone logging in. I'm not exagerating when I say that every single time I have visited the military base between Stary and Vybor I have heard someone log in. That's generally my cue to book it and leave, but if I do run into someone logging in at that site, it will be a KoS encounter as my thinking is they are merely bandits restocking. Usually I hole up somewhere a ways away with a good view of the compound. Not once have I seen someone leave. They just head back to where-ever they logged in, and then hop to the next server. The generally safest areas to find supplies are NW towns, west of Stary. Vybor, Putoshka, and Lopatino are my typical haunts when I'm re-stocking. My advice if on a high-pop server is not to spend a lot of time searching for stuff anywhere near the coast, but scavange whatever food you can find, and top up your hydration, and start treking inland to the West to get kitted up.It's good to get familiar with the map and landmarks.

Ah... muchas gracias! I do that from time to time, especially with fruit and canned drinks, didn't correlate the effect with it.

Additionally, different gear seems to generally wear at different rates, or maybe there is just a % chance issue. But an example was that I was carrying around a pristine SKS Bayonet for yonks to open cans, and then I came across an M4 bayonet, dunno it looked easier to spot in the backpack when I sit down for a snack so I swapped it for the SKS Bayo which was still Pristine. I maybe opened 6~8 cans with the M4 Bayo and it was ruined?! After 4~5 cans it was badly damaged, and after opening a can or two later it went to ruined. I would have opened over a dozen cans with the SKS bayo. I suspect that compasses will also wear automatically, or just faster if you leave them open when you put them away. I had one go from badly damaged to ruined for no reason. (No zed hits, etc.) I was just walking along, went to check it and noticed it looked even more crappy than usual and saw that it was now "ruined". Fortunately I found a worn one in Vybor last night, I'll be trying to keep it closed before I put it away and see if I notice it taking any damage for any reason.

At least from my experience, on clothing/backpacks it affects the carrying capacity slightly as well. With badly-damaged backpack and ruined jacket I have lost the use of 1 slot in each. It shows up as "filled" but with nothing in it and you cannot drag anything onto it. The slot will "move" if you drag something over it and there is another free slot. My assumption is that this behaviour is due to the damage, but it may just be a bug. I have been looking for a sewing kit to see if I can repair my backpack (no idea if that will work) as well as a new TTsKO jacket but cannot find hide-nor-hair of either. The RNG seems to get "stuck" where some days you find groups of specific items, and others it's a completely different set. A couple weeks ago I was finding sewing kits all of the time, but no mosin's or mosin parts. Yesterday I was tripping over compensators, rifles, and TTsKO pants, but no jackets or sewing kits.

Head-shots with melee weapons are now a must as they'll take 6~8 body hits to go down with a fire axe. I have managed to 1-shot them in the head with a fireaxe a couple times, but usually a head + 1 or 2 body shots does the trick.

+1 for moving outdoors. 2nd floor is no safety as I've seen them "swim" up through the floor and still be able to hit you. Axes are very risky indoors because they can hit nearby walls and such, My guess is a bayonet/knife would be more effective due to the stabbing motion. Outdoors is best, but be wary if in a populated town because someone may spot you dancing with the zed especially now that it can take a bit longer to clean them off.

+1. I was curious to see what to expect after the patch. I actually prefer them this way since they're a bit more of a worry for other players so they could be a helpful distraction if you catch the attention of a bandit. Circle of death works every time. Zeds will predict motion so moving in a straight line forward, back, even sideways when they are about to start an attack will get you hit. You need to significantly change your position relative to their facing as they are starting an attack, then by attacking the position you just left, you can land a blow on them. Sometimes you can circled behind them and they just try and turn around to find you, without attacking. The only change you need to make now is to simply get in the habbit of aiming high (head level or a tad higher) and ensuring that they're dead if they go down. Axes aren't a guaranteed kill on a head, I've knocked a few out. I've killed a couple dozen since the patch and I get the occasional hit landed on me, usually a glitch/lag issue, only drew blood once so far. Main thing with Zeds is that if they seem to glitch out, get stuck, or keep running off past you, *don't* stand still, chase them, or turn your attention. They often "snap" back, so keep evading and pretty soon they will be heading back after you.

For Morphine, focus on schools rather than hospitals, typically ground floor storerooms. I come across one every other day in non-looted areas.

Well, at least you helped buy some time for the rest by leading them that far out of town. :) A couple of times I headed to Electro on populated servers expecting to find bandits and it being all quiet... But Berezino/Svet? Jeez! Suicidal to get near there on some servers. My goal as a fresh spawn is to try and get some food into me and hydrated, enough to get me to Vybor, maybe finding some useful gear on the way. Vybor has the police station, school and 2 hospitals, plus plenty of large houses to get completely kitted out enough to risk NW airfield and the nearby military base to the SE.

My additions: Eat everything you find, and don't drink your stomach full like you see in some videos. Drink until you get a light-green Hydrated indicator, then 2 more for good measure. Eat until full when you get the chance. Carrying more than 1-2 tins of food is pointless, just water. Go into town if your Energized drops to dark green or disappears before you notice. Aim to maintain light-green energized/hydrated and Healthy. It will save your life. I survived a double-ambush when I made the mistake of trying to counter-snipe with a PU scope. Backtracking to safety I ran into a bandit taking pot-shots at me and scoring a hit, then after bandaging and retreating I encountered a group of bandits/hunters that opened up without warning and I was hit again. I sprinted away, bandaged again, and headed south. By the time I entered a familiar inland area I already had most of my colour back. Several minutes later I was Healthy once more. Blood bags aren't really an option when going lone-wolf. Jog rather than sprint. Sprint does burn down your energy/water considerably faster than the time you save. Use it when you're in trouble, but conserve it because staying healthy for when you find yourself in trouble can mean the difference between life and death. (Sprinting away while bleeding, you will last longer when regenerating 3 blood a second.) As for disinfectant or any type of poisoning, inducing vomiting does not help. If you're healthy and fully hydrated, you will survive it, just keep your water level up. Check out videos from Merino on DayZ, very informative stuff for avoiding wasting inventory and surviving things like poisoning and illness.