A compilation of Tips for those new to SA!

[Morgasm (DayZ) 10]

I've played about 8 hours on a single character now after dying four times within 2 hours beforehand. I've learned quite a bit about the alpha since beginning and I'm here to share my hard-learned lessons!

 

- Do not raise (press space bar) your melee weapon when attempting to hit anything. I've found that if you leave your weapon un-raised that it is far more accurate. If you do raise your weapon your hit box will become unreliable.

 

- Certain foods dehydrate/re-hydrate you. For instance sardines will hydrate you and a box of dry cereal won't.

 

- Even if you don't find a can opener you can still open cans. Simply put an ax/screwdriver into your hands and go to your inventory and right-click on a canned item. It will give you the option to open it. I died on my second character because of starvation... If I had only known.

Note: If you use an ax/screwdriver you will drop some of your food onto the ground. This makes having a can opener incredibly advantageous so keep an eye out!

 

- Based on my personal experience you cannot find the largest backpack (mountaineer) in non-military buildings. Search firehouses, military bases, airports, etc. 

 

- If you're bleeding and have no bandages simply tear your shirt into rags. Go to your inventory, right-click on your shirt and there's an option to tear it into rags. 

 

- DO NOT CARRY AROUND:

Shotgun shells (there aren't any in the alpha yet)

Note: I could very well be wrong about there being no shotguns in the game, however I have yet to find one ANYWHERE. I have been all over the map in hundreds of buildings and have yet to see one, including on another survivor. 

 

- In my experience the ax is the strongest melee weapon in the game. Only takes 1-2 hits to kill a zombie.

 

- If you log in and have a blurry screen simply open up your menu and click on video settings. That instantly fixes it for me. 

 

- You cannot access the contents of portable cases/ammo boxes in your inventory. You need to drop them first. This makes them a bit of a liability issue.

 

- There are no animals yet, stock up on beans!

 

- While loading bullets into the M4 the bullets will sometimes "disappear" into your inventory. Move around your items a bit. I found that sometimes they are just being overlapped by another item. Yay for alpha :)

 

- If you're having problems loading bullets/ attaching attachments into an M4 magazine here's a checklist for you.

     - Is the magazine still attached to the gun? Remove it and then load your bullets via drag and drop into the mag.

     - Did your magazine disappear when re-attaching it to your gun? Attach another magazine to your gun. The magazine you tried to attach should reappear attached to your gun.

     - Do you already have another magazine attached? (I seriously spent 20 minutes before figuring this out hurrr durr)
     - If you would like to swap out an attachment with your M4 with one that is currently on the ground simply open up your inventory (tab) while standing over said M4. There should be a table with the attachments under the M4 in the inventory menu. Right-click on the attachment you desire and click the "swap out" option.

 

I hope this has been of help to at least somebody. Happy surviving!

Edited December 26, 2013 by Morgasm

[intensity (DayZ) 312]

All of these can be foud on this forum in the new players section, but thanks for the effort.

You are wrong about the ammo tho. 7.62 is for the mosin and .45 is for the pistol.

[Max Planck 7174]

- In my experience the ax is the strongest melee weapon in the game. Only takes 1-2 hits to kill a zombie.

 

There are two different axes, the splitting axe and the fire axe. The first kills in two hits, the latter in one.

 

- You cannot access the contents of portable cases/ammo boxes in your inventory. You need to drop them first. This makes them a bit of a liability issue.

 

Equip the boxes in your hands, then you can access them. No need to put them on the ground.

 

 

Maybe you should play a little more before making guides?

Edited December 26, 2013 by Max Planck

[ninjan777 104]

There are two different axes, the splitting axe and the fire axe. The first kills in two hits, the latter in one.

 

 

Equip the boxes in your hands, then you can access them.

 

 

Maybe you should play a little more before making guides?

Hey don't be mean, I actually appreciated his effort even though it can already be found in the new players section.

[Max Planck 7174]

Hey don't be mean, I actually appreciated his effort even though it can already be found in the new players section.

 

I'm not being mean, just giving advice.

A good deal of the info in the guide is wrong, that can't be in the OP's best interest.

[V0rador 11]

Not everything is accurate but overall it is very good tips. Thanks for taking the time to share!

[Morgasm (DayZ) 10]

I tried. If you let me know what's wrong I'd remove it. If it has already been posted for the most part then just ask for it to be removed.

[K J 0]

You CAN access stuff in containers while they're still in your inventory.

 

If you put items on your hotbar you can still grab them with the hotkeys if they're in containers.

Also, you can put the containers into your hands you can access their contents that way.

Edited December 26, 2013 by K J