Best priorities when starting?

[austin9898 0]

Hello, im new, and i was wondering, when i join a server, what are the best priorities to start with?

[zorkmid 2]

For me, it's this:

-get a primary weapon (Assault Rifle if possible)

-get a compass

-get matches and a hatchet

-get a bigger bag

-get up north

[FunkyHermitCrab (DayZ) 95]

Hello' date=' im new, and i was wondering, when i join a server, what are the best priorities to start with?

[/quote']

First:

VERY IMPORTANT: Look at the bottom right of your screen when you spawn to see where you are!!! I cannot stress this enough!

Look up your location on a map, and decide where you want to go.

Proceed to make your way there and feel free to scavenge food from buildings on the way.

Your goal here is to get inland (away from the DeathMatch) an towards some good loot, and more food/water.

Once you have done this you can proceed to find survival tools (maps, compass, knife) which will make it much easier to survive.

ProTip: Dont go near Stary, Airfields, or coastal towns by yourself and always watch towns for player activity before entering, some people want to do nothing else but ruin your fun.

[lunakhod 8]

Get a compass, it supersedes every other priority. Knowing which way you're going ensures future food, water, weapons, medical supplies, tools, ammo, ect.

[Trout (DayZ) 67]

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That pretty much covers it.

EDIT: no no no. Not the compass guy's post. The one above it covers it. lol Compass is handy for sure but no way that is a "1st priority". And "supersedes every other priority"... You're kidding right? Doesn't matter if you know where you are going if ur dieing of thirst or have no weapons to defend yourself.

Where are all the Boy Scouts? very easy to navigate this game with a topo map if you know how to use dead reckoning. basic skill man, basic.

Search on line for maps of Chenarus and have it open in the back ground so u can alt+tab out of the game to check it quickly. Personally I have a 2nd monitor beside me that I have it open on.

Far more important thing sthan a compass...

[Tekk (DayZ) 0]

Stay the hell away from Chernogorsk and Electro

[clever 12]

Compass isn't relevant considering you can easily find out what direction your going by simply knowing what time it is in-game and by looking at the sun, and at night it's even simpler if you know how to find the north star.

Frankly, I suggest looking for food/drink that you can stow around in case you need it, a better gun, and possibly a better backpack if you're lucky.

[Wüstenfuchs (DayZ) 105]

1) Get off the coast

2) Avoid big cities (they are killzones at the moment)

3) Avoid military areas (killzones)

4) Be extremely cautious when meeting other survivors. At the moment many have adopted kill-on-sight attitude.

5) Look for enterable buildings in smaller towns, and deer stands

6) Items you might want to find: matches, hatchet, map, compass

[austin9898 0]

Alright, thanks guys!

[luciddose 23]

Get a compass' date=' it supersedes every other priority. Knowing which way you're going ensures future food, water, weapons, medical supplies, tools, ammo, ect.

[/quote']

I couldn't agree more, the compass taks priority.

[Trout (DayZ) 67]

Couldn't disagreee more. :)

[dallas 5195]

I'd say drop into the game with both eyes closed.

After your initial shock. Get comfortable with the UI, especially the ear/eye icon.

Get comfortable with shooting mechannics.

Get comfortable with inventory managment.

Learn when to shoot and when not to shoot.

[lunakhod 8]

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That pretty much covers it.

EDIT: no no no. Not the compass guy's post. The one above it covers it. lol Compass is handy for sure but no way that is a "1st priority". And "supersedes every other priority"... You're kidding right? Doesn't matter if you know where you are going if ur dieing of thirst or have no weapons to defend yourself.

Where are all the Boy Scouts? very easy to navigate this game with a topo map if you know how to use dead reckoning. basic skill man' date=' basic.

Search on line for maps of Chenarus and have it open in the back ground so u can alt+tab out of the game to check it quickly. Personally I have a 2nd monitor beside me that I have it open on.

Far more important thing sthan a compass...

[/quote']

Well no, it's not easy to find NSEW in DayZ accurately without a compass. If you have no watch, you won't be able to tell if the sun is rising or setting, and won't be able to use that to find NSEW. Most people also don't know how to find Polaris at night, and it's rather difficult because the Arma II engine doesn't properly show star magnitudes or the distances between stars.

You can attempt to use landmarks, and simply hold one direction for as long as possible, but this will oftentimes backfire and get you lost. The thing about the compass is even if you get lost - the compass will always help you find your way back. No landmarks or other references required. It also lets you navigate accurately, something that using reference marks won't let you do. I can't run from Kamenka to Berezino accurately using only the stars or the suns position, but a compass will do it no problem.

Additionally, no weapons are required. You are going to be alone in the forest, and the compass will ensure that you find weapons when you do actually need them.

[austin9898 0]

Well, in that case, are there any tips on where to find a compass?

[Arkham 0]

Figure out where you are.

Go here: http://dayzmap.info

Do the rest of the above to gather the basics.

[Trout (DayZ) 67]

Get a compass' date=' it supersedes every other priority. Knowing which way you're going ensures future food, water, weapons, medical supplies, tools, ammo, ect.

[/quote']

I couldn't agree more, the compass taks priority.

Well' date=' in that case, are there any tips on where to find a compass?

[/quote']

Thats the thing. You never know where or when you'll find a compass. Its by pure chance. So by default these other skills I mentioned (being able to navigate on your own by dead reckoning) becomes far more important than wandering around in circles lost looking for one paticular item. You will spend days worth of gaming checking every house/building you come across for this one item.

Like I said, if you find one (by pure luck) than great! It will make things easier. I'm just saying this is a survival game and you better learn how to survive when you're not fully kitted out.

Simple. Learn to navigate with a topo. It's elementary.

[lunakhod 8]

Well' date=' in that case, are there any tips on where to find a compass?

[/quote']

General stores and apartments are the best places. It's because of this that I go to Berezino immediately after spawning. Berezino has two general stores and 3 apartments right next to the northern general store. You're pretty much guaranteed a Winchester/Enfield, revolver/1911, backpack, tons of ammo, most of your tools (hatchet, hunting knife, compass, map, matches), food, water, and binoculars. Not many people go to Berezino as well, so it's pretty safe.

[oldpainless 1]

Get a compass' date=' it supersedes every other priority. Knowing which way you're going ensures future food, water, weapons, medical supplies, tools, ammo, ect.

[/quote']

lol.

It's useful, but not the #1 priority.

[lunakhod 8]

Get a compass' date=' it supersedes every other priority. Knowing which way you're going ensures future food, water, weapons, medical supplies, tools, ammo, ect.

[/quote']

lol.

It's useful, but not the #1 priority.

DayZ is 99% running/navigating and 1% everything else. Maps are easily found online, so the compass will save you time and will get you where you need to be. Nothing else is as critical, once you have the compass DayZ is a completely different game.

[Dyre 0]

I want to add on to peoples' comments that are saying "...matches, hatchet..." and not adding in the hunting knife:

Matches+hatchet will allow you to make a fire which can warm you up, but I haven't found temperature to be a huge worry most of the time.

Since you will likely be lost and confused and not really know how to handle zombie or survivor/bandit encounters, you will frequently get injured. Being able to gut (knife) and cook (fire) an animal so you can eat the meat and restore 800 blood is very useful. That said, matches are very rare compared to a hatchet and rare compared to a hunting knife.

---

Here are my priorities, being unable to compare map topography to game topography very well:

1. Look at the name of the place I'm in when I spawn. Important to know whether the coast I'm on is a southern or eastern coast. Also important to note is that the game is fairly general when saying where you are.
   
2. Map. Using a map marker, a directional marker with distance will appear on your hud. -- (on servers that allow map markers [shift+left click to place; hold left click+drag to move])
   
3. Compass. Even keeping in mind the coast/sun/stars/whatever and trying to head in the correct direction very difficult. At some point you'll probably veer off course slightly and end up almost looping around back to the coast or just end up lost. A compass (double tap K to keep it out) will at least have you going in a straight line. -- (on servers that don't allow map markers)
   
4. More Makarov ammo and/or a primary (usually Winchester because its easy to find ammo for and the gun itself is common).
   
5. Matches, since I've probably gotten a hatchet+hunting knife by random scavenging.
   
6. Canned food/water. Always try to keep 1-2 cans of food and a canteen and or 1-2 sodas. I usually keep more, but it's one of the first things to be ditched in favour of primary ammo or whatever else I need more. Cooked meat takes priority over canned food.
   

Tips for a new player that I would have found useful to know:

• Sprinting within ~200-300m of a zombie will probably aggro it. ( You can sprint by double tapping W.)
  
• Buildings, including deer stands, will almost always have zombies around them. (2-3 per building)
  
• Crouch+walk when around buildings, but not too close to zombies.
  
• Go prone when zombies are coming too close, you won't aggro them unless they are less than ~1-2m away (you can toggle off walking to go faster as it doesn't seem to matter right now).
  
• Shooting will draw (A LOT) more zombies and possibly players.
  
• Always keep an ear out for shots fired and an eye out for other players. You should probably avoid them, but you can try using direct chat or a global channel to find out their intentions. Best to say where they are/what they're doing so they know you're talking about them, but don't mention anything about where you are, that way you're only revealing that you're in the area.
  
• You don't need to eat/drink until your hud icon for the corresponding status is RED. Not sort-of-red, but red. The hud flashes the symbol when that status is critical.
  
• Eating canned food restores ~200 blood. You can eat even when full right now.
  
• This wiki page will help you understand blood levels and their effects.
  
• This wiki page may help with figuring out what the hell is wrong with you and fix it.
  

[Hostile (DayZ) 0]

1)

Get to some bigger city,

Loot few flats for primary weapon, preferably Enfield, due to it's effectiveness at range compared to winchester.

Hunt few people leaving the town, if you are lucky you will get yourself set with a map, compass, knife, hatchet, matches and alice bag.

Go inland, kill few carebears on the way and eat their precious 2*200 blood.

2)

Pass the first villages and cities and rush straight for the inland.

You will get over half the way to NW Airfield with just 1 water bottle and 1 can of beans, thus leaves you with 1 bean can + you can refil your bottle on nearby water pump or a lake.

Then:

Visit few deer stands on the way to NW airfield, you can find neat weapons and supplies in there, also check bodies of military zombies, they tend to drop interesting ammo for military grade weapons, you can have some problems finding that ammo later on.

Try to get into barracks at the airfield, top end stuff is there, not that's so important to have it right away...

You will find M4A3 CCO veeeeeeery fast, it's so common weapon and pretty good... Well, AKM imo is way better... but hey, it depends on what suits you more, I don't mind ironsights at all, actually I prefer them.

Don't forget to kill carebears on the way and fill your water bottle with their tears if you are thirsty.

That's my way of playing, mostly going for #1 right now, for some "Action" at the beginning.

Currently, 3 days survived, 10+ murders, running near NW airfield and SS with just Enfield (I just love that gun).