Stonedflame

One of the biggest causes of Shoot on Sight is paranoia. New players are the single greatest threat to Hero humanity, because they either can't distinguish a potential ally from some trigger-happy asshole, or are trigger-happy assholes themselves and force a hero to murder in self defense. This is a guide for the former. First off is a short guide on humanity. You can raise your humanity by healing other players and killing bandits whose humanity is below 0 (killing ten or more zombies per minute will yield humanity in Origins). This is a time-consuming process and progress can be undone very quickly by murder. Someone who has put that much time into helping others will genuinely feel bad if they are forced to lower their humanity because of you. Killing any non-bandit player comes with a big penalty to humanity that makes murder not worth the price. Now for a lesson on recognizing them on the spot. A Hero will be wearing a blue checkered shirt under a bulletproof vest and have a humanity of 5000 or more (except in the variable DayZ Origins, which I will cover in a later guide). You can usually trust them not to kill you if you are unarmed and may approach you to offer aid. If you hear someone talking to you on direct chat, it will almost always be a hero, as it alerts you to their presence and gives away their position, removing the element of surprise. Heroes can sprint a bit faster than Bandits and Survivors before they get winded, take only half damage from zombies, and are protected from some low-caliber guns, such as Makarovs. A Bandit will be wearing a black tactical vest, but are most easily distinguished by their shemagh, or head-scarf. These are players who have killed other survivors or heroes, and have humanities below 0. There is no penalty for killing a bandit, and may sometimes boost your humanity. Sometimes, a friendly player will get unlucky and dodge all incoming bullets in a fight with an attacker, causing a penalty. An unrepentant killer will rarely, if ever, give up a stealth advantage by talking in direct chat. They'd turn you into swiss cheese as quickly as look at you. Bandits, like survivors, get no benefits for their actions aside from what they pull off your carcass. When wearing a Ghille Suit, a hero's entire body will be covered by it, whereas a bandit's pants will be exposed. Feel free to give feedback and offer suggestions, not that you need my approval.