Don't Be Fooled by Other Players: "Bad Guns" are Hidden Gems!

[applejaxc 2500]

Lee Enfield.

What facial expression did you just make?

You cringed at the name, choked on your burrito, and spit-took your cold drink at the very idea of the Lee Enfield.

Makarov.

What reaction did you have?

Horrible retching, violent diarrhea, and you contracted AIDS.

At least, that seems to be how most players react on the forums (in my experience) to naming the "Bad guns" of DayZ... but I don't understand it. If you're new, forget what you've read previously about the guns I'm going to discuss. If you're experienced in the game and this article does not sway your opinion (you still think these guns suck) tell me why.

Lee Enfield

Extremely common spawns, plenty of ammo, and 1-hit kill vs humans and zombies. What more could you want? Sure, it's fire rate is abysmal-it's basically a bolt action rifle minus the scope-and has a bad track record, but since a few patches ago, the Lee Enfield makes almost no noise, or rather, the noise it makes has been nerfed considerably.

In ages past, the Lee Enfield was dubbed the "Dinner Bell" of the game, because zombies and players were attracted from all over the map when it was fired.

But that isn't true anymore!

The Lee Enfield is an amazing weapon, as long as you aren't at close range and fighting someone with a semi-automatic or automatic firearm. It takes some practice getting use to the slow fire non-scoped rifle, but if you play enough, you can make 300+ meter shots without a scope.

G17

This is another weapon that I've seen both defended and insulted. In my opinion, the G17 isn't that great, but it wasn't designed as an end-game weapon. Common spawns and common ammo, the G17 supports a 17-round magazine, 2-4 bullet zombie kills, 3-5 bullet player kills, and a flashlight. It's more powerful than the Makarov PM (although the Makarov has better ammo spawns... but the gun is TERRIBLE. DO NOT USE THE MAKAROV, for the love of God, Allah, Buddha, Moses, Jesus, Shinto, Fui-Shei, or whatever the hell else you believe in).

Fire Axe/Crowbar/Machete

The fire axe makes 0 noise and kills zombies in 1 hit. If you lay prone and sneak up behind zombies, you can clear a small town out without getting hit a single time. Unlimited ammo means you never have to worry about your weapon becoming useless mid-fight. If you find a gun, you can add the fireaxe to your toolbelt as an emergency back up, and for firewood, which is essential to cooked meat to regenerate lost blood between fights. I like the fireaxe... in fact, my very first zombie kill was with a fireaxe, my first player kill was with a fireaxe, and the first bandit vehicle I destroyed was by taking a fireaxe to its tires. My next goal is destroying a helicopter with one.

As for the crowbar... I can't vouch for the crow bar. I've never used it, and I've almost never seen it spawn.

I've never seen a machete used in-game (although plenty of youtube videos have shown it off).

I can't tell you whether the crowbar or machete is as amazing as the fireaxe, however I can tell you the fireaxe and machete do the same amount of damage whereas the crowbar does a few hundred blood less.

Flash Light

Right-click to unequip from tool belt. Replaces your hand gun slot.

So it's nighttime, and you don't have NVGs... turn your flashlight on! Low-population (or empty) servers won't shoot you in the back because you have a flashlight. If you see a zombie, quickly hit L and turn the beam off. Avoid flashing the light too much around towns and stay out of street lights, and the flash lights will let you loot the fire stations and air fields (for the highest level gear) safely and quickly.

Now if you're a real man, go onto a high population server (60+) and run through Chernogorsk or Elektro with your flashlight equipped. Sprinting (double tap W) causes you to flash it like a strobe light or search light.

Road Flare

I've never met a single person on the forums that likes the road flares, but personally, they're my favorite piece of equipment.

Hit "F" to cycle to the flare, and throw it like a grenade. It basically chucks a super-bright emergency flare that can be seen for one kilometer (1 thousand meters). Zombies, stupid and daft as they are, are attracted to bright lights; throwing some flares at the edge of town on a night server will (theoretically) clear a town out for you to plunder. You can also pick up flares and run with them to serve as a distraction (and target) for zombies to let other players loot.

Bandits and players, however, are attracted to flares, and most bandit pricks will go, "Oi, that bloody noob just went and threw a freakin' flare clear cross town he did! Saddle up'em rifles and lets go shoot'em why don't we?" (because bandits are a mixture of Irish, British, and southern USA to me). Be careful.

Smoke grenades can also be found, however they're rare and inventory inconvenient.

Flares last 10 minutes.

---there's a rare glitch that throwing a flare at someone/a vehicle will cause the flare to stick to them. I call this "Pegging" or "Sticking." In the middle of the night, about the greatest and meanest thing you can do to a "1337 ninja" bandit is peg them with a flare, so they spend the next 10+ minutes running from zombies and being shot at---

I don't only want to discuss guns and equipment, now that I think about it:

Car headlights.

If you're on a night server and you're running through town, what do you do if you spot a bus or car? Most people go searching for car parts and fix the vehicle, then get attacked by zombies as they fix the car up and ultimately die, or are shot at.

Me?

I run up to cars, turn the engine on, and turn the headlights on, then jump out and run behind the car. The engine noise will attract zombies, and then they'll stand around like idiots in the beam of the headlights. This makes them easy targets-or if you don't have a suppressed weapon, distracts them so you can go looting.

BUT BE CAREFUL:

Buildings and debris do not stop headlights; they'll stretch all the way across town if the car is parked right! This means that buildings in the light beam will be very, very risky to loot; the zombies and nearby players will be able to see you.

So remember, noobs: Just because the "Pros" discredit something doesn't mean it's not useful, it just means they aren't creative enough to make it useful.

EDIT

I wrote "Joked on your burrito" originally.

OrLoK says:- I edited out some ill thought out text. PM me if there's an issue

Edited April 1, 2013 by orlok

[diddums 3760]

Awesome post, being creative and using odd things to your advantage can be really fun. Have some beans!

[applejaxc 2500]

Awesome post, being creative and using odd things to your advantage can be really fun. Have some beans!

Good god, I was starving. Thanks, mate :)

[GOD™ 2795]

i like using the flashlight to blind people with nvgs...

[applejaxc 2500]

i like using the flashlight to blind people with nvgs...

Me, too, but flares work better; you can throw one and start shooting if they're a bandit.

[green_machine 179]

Bandits and players, however, are attracted to flares, and most bandit pricks will go, "Oi, that bloody noob just went and threw a freakin' flare clear cross town he did! Saddle up'em rifles and lets go shoot'em why don't we?" (because bandits are a mixture of Irish, British, and southern USA to me). Be careful.

:facepalm:

[toxicsludge 406]

I find the enfield to be a very valuable weapon, do people really discard this gun? And the mack, well it's ok to headshot zombies to clear your path but that's about it.

[_Anubis_ (DayZ) 139]

I discard the Makarov not because of any technical reason but simply because I do not like it from an aesthetic point of view (yes I know it may be silly). Nothing wrong with the G17 or the Beretta, on the contrary those are preferred back-up weapons (after the PDW).

Sometimes I think the SA should introduce some more side-arm such as the Desert Eagle and/or Sig-Sauer models, but that's another issue.

_Anubis_

[_Anubis_ (DayZ) 139]

Awesome post, being creative and using odd things to your advantage can be really fun. Have some beans!

OT - Isn't your bitmap the old "Carmaggedon" one?

_Anubis_

[diddums 3760]

Indeed!

[applejaxc 2500]

I discard the Makarov not because of any technical reason but simply because I do not like it from an aesthetic point of view (yes I know it may be silly).

There is nothing wrong with disliking a gun for purely aesthetic reasons! For one, guns that look bad are bad, should feel bad, and their manufacturers should feel bad. Second, there's a great placebo affect to using a nice looking gun over a crappy looking one. Third: If you cover iron sights/scope under aesthetics, instead of technical reasons, then aesthetics are super important; it's a lot harder to hit something with G17 iron sights than M1911, in my opinion. A big reason I choose the M1911 over the G17 is aesthetics, part of it is personal preference and history, and part of it is the increased damage.

I find the enfield to be a very valuable weapon, do people really discard this gun? And the mack, well it's ok to headshot zombies to clear your path but that's about it.

Yes, they do. I've seen people go into buildings and find a Lee Enfield + 2 or 3 magazines and not pick it up when all they've got is a fireaxe or makarov.

:facepalm:

Y-you d-don't like m-my bandit voice? *whimpers*

Edited March 31, 2013 by Applejaxc

[rossums 2190]

Lee Enfield is still hands down my favourite weapon, great range on it for such a low-end and common gun.

[applejaxc 2500]

Lee Enfield is still hands down my favourite weapon, great range on it for such a low-end and common gun.

If the DayZ SA includes the A3 equip/unequip attachment system, slapping a scope onto a Lee Enfield 1983 (I think that's what model ArmA 2 uses) would make me feel like a 1337 pr0 British sniper.

[BSB Jimmy 360]

the g17 is a great handgun in my opinion.

[applejaxc 2500]

the g17 is a great handgun in my opinion.

I'm not a fan. I don't like it in real life, I don't like it aesthetically in the game, I can't stand it's "iron" sights, which are actually just plastic. If the SA includes A3's method of equipping/unequipping attachments, the G17 should not be customizable; the zombie apocalypse in all its unlikelihood is more believable than somehow thatching a piece of plastic to another piece of plastic.

[_Anubis_ (DayZ) 139]

Interesting debate here.

I tend to favor high-capacity side-arms (G-17/Beretta) over the more powerful M1911 and revolver because ... I do not trust my aim too much (a PDW would be even better in dire straits/CQB) with a side-arm. A big magazine means not only a longer interval between reloading (and that may save your bacon) but also more ammo available for the same number of equipment slots (ideally 4 bandages and 4 magazines), so more efficient.

And yes, I "like" the M1911 sights more than the toy-thing of the G-17.

_Anubis_

[BwobBwub 660]

Makarov.

What reaction did you have?

Horrible retching, violent diarrhea, and you contracted AIDS.

Wow, I didn't it know it was that bad.

[applejaxc 2500]

Wow, I didn't it know it was that bad.

I remember my first Makarov.

It was the first gun I got that I also found ammo with.

I was like "Oh my God, zombies can't hurt me now!"

I died pretty quickly.

[ActionManZlt 160]

I love the G17 simply because it's got a flashlight glued to it. When looting at night, you can quickly flick it on and off again if you need to check a dark spot, with much less risk than a flare, and much quicker/safer than pulling out your actual flashlight.

I see it more like a flashlight with an attached pistol B)

[spiry3_ 50]

the lee enfield can also be called the sniper for the poor !

[leviski 2152]

bahaha flares the NV goggles worst enemy

[green_machine 179]

Y-you d-don't like m-my bandit voice? *whimpers*

Couldn't care less about your bandit voice. It's your ignorance & racism that's facepalm worthy.

Edit: I'm surprised you didn't throw the N word in there for good measure.. but I bet you do in the servers.

Edited March 31, 2013 by DaveZ

[green_machine 179]

. Zombies, stupid and special-needs as they are,

Got something against people with special needs too? Calling people with special needs stupid and comparing them to zombies..

[ShatnerBassoon 4]

Smoke some weed dave you grumpy shit.

Then go peg some riff-raff, my dear boy!

[applejaxc 2500]

Couldn't care less about your bandit voice. It's your ignorance & racism that's facepalm worthy.

Edit: I'm surprised you didn't throw the N word in there for good measure.. but I bet you do in the servers.

Can't tell if you don't understand comedy or what... British isn't a race, southern-state American isn't a race, and Irish isn't a race, idiot. And what was ignorant? Did I say anything is wrong? No, I stated that when I impersonate bandits, that is the voice I imagine. I stated a qualitative fact. I think you're ignorant to the correct use of both the word ignorance and race.

Got something against people with special needs too? Calling people with special needs stupid and comparing them to zombies..

Dude. Calm down. I wasn't comparing people with special needs to zombies, I was saying the zombies in the game are like people with special needs. If you're going to be mad and blow something out of proportion, at least be mad for the right reasons and really read the post next time.

Smoke some weed dave you grumpy shit.

Then go peg some riff-raff, my dear boy!

Or you can avoid the use of illegal dehibilitators because the only things they bring to society is nonfunctional stoners and a suction that drains money from the US economy in 2nd tier economical activities (ones that are not legally recorded, like garage sales). Marijuana sales have helped drain money out of the US economy and send it to foreign countries, who then control an increasing percentage of total US dollars in global circulation. This means that, as money continuously flows out of US ownership, the US government and the World Bank can only hypothesize how much US money is in circulation. It is because of illegal activities like this that the entire global economy is flawed; no one knows exactly how much any money type is in circulation, meaning that the value placed in each money system of the world is entirely arbitrary and assumed. One day Mr. Billy could go down to Mexico, find a vault with $3billion dollars, and bring it to the local bank. The bank then just made $3billion. The government lost the money to illegal activity; when Billy came into the money, there was no trade pro USA. In a normal transaction, a government manufactures a product or receives a service in exchange for money. Every dollar going out of the country creates a dollar the country will make by selling the product in question. Illegal purchases take money out without the US standing to benefit.

Although you're probably too busy getting blitzed like a dumbass deadbeat lowlife waste to have read this.