Silver Side 4 Posted January 3, 2013 Hi guys, I started DayZ a few days ago and have been playing and watching Frankie's videos non stop, so I decided to join the forums.I've only had a serious encounter with other survivors a couple times so far. Any time I encounter (or think I'm about to encounter) someone, I get pretty jittery.The first time was when I was attacked by a hatchet wielding maniac.. Luckily, I also had a hatchet and was able to take him out promptly. He gave me no time to try and communicate, as I had no mic on at the time and couldn't stop fighting to type.The second time was a bit more interesting. I was in Cherno after accumulating a nice loadout, including a map and ALICE pack. A friend (another noob) and I had been trying to set up a spot to meet for days, but with no knowledge of the area, and no map, it was pretty hard. We finally decided we would meet in/near the church in Cherno... I know, risky business. I was on my way there when I heard some AK shots. I stopped by the market anyway for some reason... I spotted a guy with a hatchet looting some crap so I aimed my M1911 right at his face and told him that I didn't want any trouble, and that if he approached me with that hatchet, I'd have to shoot him. I told him to lean side to side if he understood, since he wasn't saying anything back, and he obliged. I was going to ask if he wanted to tag along when I noticed someone else lean around a nearby corner with an AK. I didn't have a shot on him so I told him I was just going to walk backwards, out of the market... He shot me in the face, then he shot the hatchet guy.In the first event, I know there wasn't much else I could do but take the guy out. But the second event is what breeds my question. What should I have done in that situation? I knew there were at least two people in Cherno, not including my friend and I, because I heard them talking in direct com nearby but they were friendly and getting ready to head out. I then heard the gun shots, and that made a third. I then saw the hatchet guy, which made a fourth plus my friend and I. Clearly, at that moment, the area was dangerous. I know I should've probably continued to proceed stealthily to the church to rendezvous with my friend instead of stopping at the market, but I'm asking about after I saw the hatchet guy... Should I have backed off before he noticed me, thus avoiding the risk of hearing me over direct com? Should I have just shot him (I probably wouldn't have)? Needless to say, as a naive little bambi, I was quite afraid of dying and losing my half way decent gear, especially considering my friend and I were finally close to meeting up, and thus gaining a nice force multiplier. Any tips are appreciated guys. Thanks in advanced! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigdogsco 143 Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) The moment you saw the ak guy you should have thought 'outgunned, no cover'. Then you should have ran like buggery and hoped he went for hatchet guy 1st. Then you should have made a resolution not to meet your buddy in the Cherno church. Meet up in remote locations (even that ain't 100% safe) and don't go into cherno or elektro or Stary etc until your well armed and willing to shoot 1st. People generally don't take chances in the cities even if they are friendly elsewhere. Edited January 3, 2013 by bigdogsco 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
klesh 2423 Posted January 3, 2013 Going to the market when you heard shots being fired was a mistake. It's a popular location, so you basically ran to a spot that would present a high probability of running into another player. Running to a smaller building, especially one with only one entrance/exit is better as you can keep tabs on who enters and exits. At this point, you should've abandoned meeting up with your buddy for the time being and focused on getting away from other players and listening for the action to settle down. Microphones are essential. Indeed, you do not have the time to type out greetings and warnings to people, it's so much easier to simply talk to them. Random encounters like that are tough any way you slice them. For instance, the guy in the store that acknowledged friendship with you could've run with you for 2 minutes until the opportunity presented itself to axe you in the back while you looked around a corner or some such. I would not have offered for him to tag along, until you really know how to handle yourself and have a friend to watch your back. Setting a rendezvous at the church in Cherno is not so hot either. Meeting in a random low loot value residental on the outskirts of town would be better, or off in the woods would be best. Use an offline web-map to determine a meetingplace, and orient yourself by using landmarks in game. You'll learn how to do this in time. Again, you're trying to minimize the encounters with other random players, so don't go where they are going to be unless you're fully geared and with a partner. Additionally, once you are geared with a partner, not having a mic and being able to communicate on coms outside of the game (so no one in game can hear you guys) is making it extra difficult on yourselves. Don't try to recreate Frankie's experiences in your games yet. You should be wary of everything and supremely paranoid. Don't start shooting on site unless the other person has a bandit skin, lest you want to become a bandit yourself, and any time you get the jump on another player that doesn't see you, consider the quickest way to avoid a confrontation with them by heading somewhere else. Just some thoughts there. The fact that you're even asking these questions is good. :) 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silver Side 4 Posted January 3, 2013 Awesome, thanks guys! I think it's clear at this point that I need to be a tad more cautious til I'm more experienced and more geared. Cherno and Elektro distract you so easily when you're running up and down the coast trying to find your buddy, but luckily we met up at Cape Golova and held up in Prigorodky. Not sure where we're going to go from there, but definitely staying away from the urban areas until we have some better gear (I have a double barrel and a Makarov, he has a hatchet and an empty crossbow xD ). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
themurdertrain 33 Posted January 3, 2013 (edited) Travel inland, my friend. I have a tendency to spawn near Kamenka or Komarovo a whole lot when I respawn, so what I usually do is hit up whichever town I spawn near for food and water, and perhaps a hatchet if possible. Komarovo has a bike spawn, in a bush by a shed about 200m East of the Church which is usually not taken so I go for it whenever I can. Great way to travel. You won't get cover, but it's pretty silent and great to get around as you can use hills to go pretty fast. There's six Deer Stands between Kamenka and Bor, which will usually net you at least one decent primary and at worst enough gear and a secondary to get yourself up further North to take advantage of the other less-traveled loot spots. Heading from Kamenka to Bor if you go North, and then East following the road to Bor you'll cross all six of them pretty easily. I tend to find enough gear there for a fresh spawn to go from zero to hero in a matter of about 20 minutes. They aren't TOO frequently traveled, but I've had shoot outs near them before. Typically I play a survivor first, friendly second so I will scope out an area before going into it and look for other players before making the choice to move on.The first thing you want to do is avoid the open planes that make up the lower half of the Western side of the map, which is generally sniper food. Someone with decent aim and any kind of rifle will be able to take you out easily, as there is very little cover save for the odd stone wall here and there, and concealment is limited. While you travel take time to look at where you are going, much before you get there. If you come along to a deer stand with zombies close to it, that is a good sign, if they are no where to be found or have all ready started wandering away, someone was just there and it isn't safe. Stay low and move on.If you spawn by the cities, you're going to want to get out as soon as possible. Chernogorsk and Elecktro are the two most heavily populated areas on the map, and you're going to want to get away from there as fast as possible. Edited January 3, 2013 by themurdertrain 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chaoseffect 18 Posted January 4, 2013 If you spawn by the cities, you're going to want to get out as soon as possible. Chernogorsk and Elecktro are the two most heavily populated areas on the map, and you're going to want to get away from there as fast as possible.I disagree with that part. If you spawn in a city, you might as well hit the outskirts or maybe just head in if the server isn't near capacity; you don't have anything to lose but you have a lot you can quickly gain. I'd suggest this more for Cherno than Elecktro though, as Elecktro is always more of a killing ground than Cherno. For Cherno the apartments by the hospital and then military tents by the second hospital are both very nice places to loot as you can easily get in and out without going deep into the city (especially so for the apartments, where you can get to them in less than a minute from the woods around the city).Besides that, if you hear shots it is usually better to just not investigate. No matter how well armed you are, if someone gets the drop on you you will most likely go down, so walking down the street where potentially unfriendly armed people are is a mistake. If you see someone armed and they also see you, try to get away, perhaps while yelling "friendly" while you get to cover. Don't wait for them to answer before getting your ass to safety as their answer might be bullets. Talking down a gun man works better if you ininiate the conversation while you have the drop on them, as opposed to turning a corner and finding someone there. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Silver Side 4 Posted January 5, 2013 Well guys, you've been quite helpful, thanks a lot! I've had a few successful encounters now, and I feel comfortable enough during interactions. I've only seen a few players since the last time I posted, but all went well!I did have to kill a guy once though... I was in the midst of raiding the barn in Prigorodky one last time before heading further inland when someone with a hatchet ran in from the rain to hide from some pursuing zombies. I had a Remington pointed at him as he ran up the stairs, not noticing me. I got on direct com and told him I was hanging out here, and that I'd help him take care of the zombies but he would have to leave right after... He turned around and looked at me, which I allowed, because he only had the hatchet. Then he ran up to the third floor and picked up a CZ and aimed at me... I called him a a silly goose and took him out. He then was all "what the hell? on side, but I told him I gave him multiple warnings and was friendly enough over direct com... He then said he didn't realize I was talking to him. So I explained how he can tell the difference between side and direct coms, and he was all "whatever"... I'm sure he was just trying to steal the loot I had a claim on.But anyway, thanks again everyone! Feel free to post more tips and trips, or any other noobs reading in, feel free to chime in as well! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigdogsco 143 Posted January 5, 2013 Somebody points a gun at you, shoot them. If they don't know the diff between side and direct then that's their bad :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
herrjon 478 Posted January 5, 2013 One thing I would recommend if you get a spawn near Cherno/Elektro is at least get to the hospital and get some morphine, bandaged, and blood since you play with a friend. Bloodbags only spawn in hospitals which are only in coastal cites, and while mophine does spawn elsewhere, I think you're better off going for the sure thing of a hospital than hoping that next dearstand has morphine, you don't want to get caught up north with a broken leg.Apart from that, I may recommend the Berezino area if you're looking to get a bit better geared. It's a bit of a run, but it's worth it imo. It's a large city with 2 supermarkets, a pub, hospital, apartments, and 4 military tents as well as scattered deerstands. However, not many people go up there, as people don't spawn up there, and if memory serves the closest spawn is Three Valleys. And with no fresh spawns, that means no bandit snipers up on a hill. Also a bit North of Berezino is NE Airstrip, which is also not very populated. I'd still take caution ovbiously, but there's less shenanigans than Balota Airstrip, and NW Airfield is a death sentence for a new player. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites