I am finding it very difficult starting out

[bdm634 7]

Well when i start off on the beach I of course start looking for food and water in the nearest buildings i see. Well unfortunately these areas seem to be over loaded with zombies. I can't fight them until i find a weapon which I can't find because zombies don't seem to give up the chase. 

 

I'm i just doing something wrong?

[Steak and Potatoes 13480]

No your not doing anything wrong, Dayz has a very steep learning curve and you have to throw yourself to the wolves a few times before you get the hang of it.  Try surveying an area for a bit before entering watch the town and feel out how you want to move through and loot it,  the more fluid your loot path the quicker you can loose zeds if they fall in tow.  If you want any help with the ropes and getting some gear together I would be happy to team up with you, just PM me.   Also, welcome to the forums and search any and all guides for looting and whatever needs you may have.

Edited January 26, 2014 by Steak and Potatoes

[(SATX) Ranger 0]

Just run as fast as you can. Run thru trees and bushes. The best melee weapon is the ax. The zombies sight is very good directly in front but not behind. Avoid standing straight up and always stay against walls and in the shadows. Hope this helps.

[DropBearChick 1217]

Check out my sig

[soulfirez 901]

They are actually not to hard to kill with your fists currently . Takes some time but they will go down ( for me i find it easier to punch them down than use a melee weapon well unless its an axe.

 

Check the new players forum section plenty good starter guides there id imagine best of luck mate.

[WrecklessMEDIC 129]

Well when i start off on the beach I of course start looking for food and water in the nearest buildings i see. Well unfortunately these areas seem to be over loaded with zombies. I can't fight them until i find a weapon which I can't find because zombies don't seem to give up the chase.

I'm i just doing something wrong?

Not gonna lie, it took me an extremely long time to figure out how to finally survive in this game.

My current strategy after a fresh respawn is to follow the coastline until I find a freshwater stream or marsh and fill up on fluids ASAP. After that I know I've got quite a bit of time before I get hungry.

I then head inland and find a small town to look for an axe and food. Once I've found those 2 things I know I'm good to go for the long haul.

Most important thing is to get away from the coast. Too many Zeds and too many players over there. :)

[crazykage 1063]

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/167998-crazykages-6-step-survival-guied-for-newbs-how-to-not-get-kosed/

OP, read that, and give it a try. Adjust the various steps as necessary to your situation at that moment.

[Solopopo 330]

Zombies can see you from a very far distance away, but they can't hear you even if you are right behind them. You need to break line of site to get away from them, but your best bet is just not to be seen in the first place. Crouch walk as you search through towns to reduce your chances of getting seen. Pay attention to your surroundings because you could have a zombie coming at you from a long way away. Keep in mind that they will chase you for a very long time if you don't break line of site, but you can always run faster than they can. If you do find yourself up against a zombie with no weapon, aim for the head. This will knock the zombie down and give you a chance for some free hits. The idea of the game is survival, so don't throw yourself at every threat you see.

 

Personally I never fight zombies as a fresh spawn, because it's almost impossible to avoid getting at least hit once, and it takes forever to regenerate health before you find food/water. It's not worth it. Sprint until you find a weapon. Even if you have zombies at your heals, keep sprinting for weapons. They can't catch you so don't make it easy for them to kill you by engaging them with nothing to defend yourself. 

Edited January 26, 2014 by Solopopo

[djporternz 644]

It can be a catch 22 situation, but rest assured, once you master this part, the rest is easy.

 

Don't worry about food. Your only priorities are water and a weapon ATM. If you are a complete noob (no offence intended) have a look at the map at: http://dayzdb.com/map. Turn of everything except 'Other' by right clicking on the buttons 'Supplies', 'Equipmen', 'Weapons' and 'Clothes'. TBH the loot spawn info given for the map is worse than useless. Rely on your own knowledge gathering. Now you should be looking at a clean map with labels and water sources (the Tap icons).

 

The closest one of these should be a primary target. You can avoid the houses at this stage and look for industrial looking buildings or garages adjacent to houses. You're looking for a melee weapon: Pipe wrench, Baseball Bat, Crowbar or best of class one of the two axes. Don't be too fussy, Anything at this point is better than your fists.

 

If the Zs are an issue, and they will be for the first few forays, remember that you can outrun them. Double tap w and hold to sprint. You can lead the Zs of into the wilds and as long as you can get ~100 m away from them AND out of their LoS AND stop running and make as little noise as possible, they will hang around the area you leave them. Circle back to the original target, hopefully sans friends.

 

If you must melee a Z, the A and D keys are your best friends. Use them and your mouse to constantly run circles around the Z. They are crap at turning and you'll be safely at their back always when you master this dance. Use the right mouse button to take swings at the Z whenever you think it is in range. It's a slow battle (4~8 hits depending on weapon and strike zone) but can be done.

 

Best advice: It may seem counter-intuitive, but hit a server with a lot of people. Chances are you will not spawn at the same time as anyone else, and if the server has not just reset, the Zs may already have been taken care of, or at least lead off into the wilds already. You'll have a clear path to the well for water and drink your fill there. Immediately move inland. Stick to roads at first until you are confident you can dead recon the different towns. Once you're a way off the coast, Start hitting every building you can get into.

 

This is nowhere near a comprehensive guide but get these basics right and the rest is easier.

Edited January 26, 2014 by DJPorterNZ

[Timecharge 28]

I have found the best way to get experienced with this game is to die, a lot no matter how many guides you read the best way to learn in my opinion is to go out there and experience it first hand.. I do not know one Day Z player that hasn't died at least once. Every time I have died I have learned something from it, which is why i encourage you to learn something from it, whether its from zombies or another player, examine how you died and learn to do said task better next time.

 

If it is from being shot by a guy with a Mosin that was hundreds of yards away, learn how to prevent that next time, stay near walls more and move faster across open fields near he coast.

 

If you died in a firefight go to a low pop server, find a lot of zombies and use them as target practice if you really need to, or get into more fire fights and just learn what to do better next time. 

 

Also, everyone has their own style of killing other players, some will charge them head on, some will ambush them, some will wait until the opportune moment and hit them with a Fire Axe when they least expected it, others will shoot them from hundreds of yards away and not even give said person a chance to fight back. I could go on with methods of killing people but that would get redundant.

 

I wish you the best of luck.

 

edit:

 

Having a weapon is useless if you have no experience using it, you can have the best gear in the game and get killed by players with splitting axes simply because you were inexperienced with your gear. Don't get attached to your gear either or work to hard to get it if you don't need it if you play your cards right you can kill a lot of players with a Fire Axe.

Edited January 26, 2014 by Timecharge