What New Players Do Not Realize... Maybe a little help for them :)

[djkling 5]

OK, so one of the issues I see with new players is that they get killed really quickly. Sitting on a hill and watching people spawn in and try to get into towns made me see that... the REASON people are dying is (in my observation only) mostly a result of lack of patience.

I move inland, found a deer stand, waited for the zeds to wander off... weapon cache taken.

Its not hard, but it takes TIME. New players should know that you should spend some time watching the town from afar, seeing where the zeds are, where they are going, etc... take your time, move slowly and purposefully, and you'll make it!

[xscottyt 4]

i agree with this completely everyone picks up this game and thinks they can instantly be rambo shoot everything and anyone and survive forever by just running everywhere and not observing their surroundings.

not all, but a huge amount of the player base has no patience.

such as if you hear shooting get to the nearest bush and look in the direction of the shooting and stay there for at least 5-10 minutes just because you don't know were they are. be 100% sure of your surroundings before you make your move.

[djkling 5]

Yep, most of this observation was undertaken today when I was just about to raid a little seaside town. First person through runs (UPRIGHT!) into a building, grabs a pistol (dunno how he wasnt seen) and on his way out elects to shoot a zed thats not even facing him or responding to him! ah! I yelled at him though local but probably I was too far. Bunch of shots, now a bunch of zeds home in on him. I got to loot some of town due to that. THen on my way out I realise I'm in a pinch and am waiting in a bush to the zeds to give me an aveue of escape, only to have ANOTHER noob run into town and aggro all the zeds who then eat him. I got back to the hill, drank some pepsi, and watched someone go from spawn directly into town (at least he was crouched) and not even survey the area. he came around a house right into a zed. I couldnt watch any more so I just left..

[Banicks 55]

3 day character, and have been playing for a month.

Had a DMR and L85A2 LWS, was trying my luck for NVGs at NWA and because I wasn't patient enough to wait for a single zombie, I pulled then broke my leg and was forced to open fire and draw even more. Ended up dying.

Patience is the key, simple, at any point in the game.

[tommo (DayZ) 0]

I've realised this the hard way.

Breaking your leg is ridiculously easy (which I think should really be fixed, but it's not at the moment so you have to take it in to account). And if you break your leg, you're gonna have a bad time.

Running around without looking a is going to end badly.

This could also be better if the zombies couldn't open doors and run through walls.

But you still have to deal with how to get out of there, which is easier if they aren't waiting at the door.

Also remember to use the coyote pack! It's a bit weird and sometimes doesn't open for some reason, but it gives you a lot of extra space which is pretty much vital.

Don't walk up to someone and start typing to tell them you're friendly. They will shoot you, coz you're probably pointing your gun at them. And they're probably just assholes too.

Instead, keep a distance, see how they react, what weapons they have etc. and try to use direct chat to get a feel for if they're trustworthy.

Most people don't respond to you at all, just avoid them. They will kill you.

The only time you should be running is when you're going a long distance, if you're near a town, crouch or go prone.

[xscottyt 4]

3 day character' date=' and have been playing for a month.

Had a DMR and L85A2 LWS, was trying my luck for NVGs at NWA and because I wasn't patient enough to wait for a single zombie, I pulled then broke my leg and was forced to open fire and draw even more. Ended up dying.

Patience is the key, simple, at any point in the game.

[/quote']

agreed. although i do find northwest airstrip is incredibly hard to loot solo :P

other day me and 4 other people spawned in just after a server reset and we got into a 5v4v2v3 fire fight. was amazing luckily we all survived :P and managed to kill most of the other people and got a dmr and a bispin sd with 8 mags out of it :D

p.s. our group was the 5 people :P

[Regicide 111]

Patience is definitely key. Today while looking over a town with my binocs from about 400m out, I see someone crouch run along the outskirts. He hides underneath a tree and disconnects, but I didn't realize that he had dc'ed until I walked up onto his body. I head back up to the treeline, and as I am about to get settled back in, I hear 2 nearby pistol shots. No idea where they came from or whether whoever was shooting them was going after me or the nearby zeds. I hunker down as best I can under a pine tree for about 30-45 seconds. Then, I crouch and scan to my left, where several zombies are. I notice that one of said zombies doesn't look like a zombie at all. In fact, this zombie is holding an AKM. He was slowly crouch walking toward my position, so now his intentions were clear. He was about 50 yards out. If I didn't shoot him now, he would find me sooner or later and make short work of me (I wasn't equipped for short range combat, all I had was an Enfield and revolver). I lost sight of him, zoomed, saw movement, and took a guesstimated shot at where I assumed he was. Of course, the Enfield (AKA the "Dinner Bell") had every zombie in the Northern Hemisphere hauling-butt to my position, but I had to confirm the kill. I ran over, heard the flies and saw the body. Murder Count: 1

Morale of the story kids: Be patient. Had he not fired those 2 shots, I wouldn't have realized he was there. If he had been patient, he could have easily hunted me down, given that he had the element of surprise working for him.

[SystemiK 366]

One of the things that I think keeps me coming back to DayZ it the severity which it places on our actions. It does not matter HOW long I have survived, it only takes one single mistake to spiral into a shit storm. You can always be one single mistake away from death, one moment of not paying attention and it can all be over.

Sure keeps things interesting.

[Heme (DayZ) 0]

Breaking your leg is ridiculously easy (which I think should really be fixed' date=' but it's not at the moment so you have to take it in to account). And if you break your leg, you're gonna have a bad time.

[/quote']

That's how it should be really. If the zeds couldn't break your bones what threat would they pose? Absolutely 0. As it is even a single zombie is a risk to be considered.

I haven't broken my bones once and I've been roaming the shore for 4 ingame days now, I've only around 20 zombie kills as well, most of those from helping other survivors in a pinch. Yet I've amassed excellent gear and been in several memorable incidents.

I understand it's difficult for a new guy but as you gain experience you learn to avoid the most common mistakes. Zombies are still mainly an annoying nuisance, but not the laughably non-existent nuisance they used to be before the gameplay was made harder. My tips for starters: Guns are littered everywhere, dont listen to the usual "avoid cherno and elektro" because that's where you'll get your gun. It comes with a risk, sure, but there are dozens of buildings that have a chance of spawning guns. Barns and small villages are safer way to get guns, sure, but the brutal reality is that your life is worth nothing until you find a gun and you have better chances of getting it in high-loot areas.

Note, gun still doesn't make you invincible. Grab the gun, some supplies and _sneak_ out of the town. Use 3rdp to see behind corners and check for hostiles. Crouchwalk or crawl or if you have to run find that red 2-story building and run thru it, that usually breaks zeds LOS. Now, when you're out of cherno/elektro and you have a gun and basic supplies you can start scouring the safer countryside for better equipment and learning the basics. This way your 1h long unarmed sneak won't come to sudden end when you accidentally aggro zombie and cant get rid of it.

[Banicks 55]

I've only played solo, I'd love to group, but most all aussies are douches unless you're in an Arma 2 clan with them.

Just gotta pick a quiet time or monitor NWA for the best time to go in. Even then it is a bit tricky, it only takes a spawner to appear in a barrack or a bandit to spawn and pick you off. I generally only hit NWA at night time, at least then 98% chance that you're on an even playing field against other players. 2% chance that there is a bandit with NVGs - I like them odds better than daytime.

[Dekatris 0]

it's really great that such a great idea for a game is being brought to life in such a myopically boring and seemingly masochistic manner...

really...

a zombie survival game would never be fun if you could go around blasting zombies. i mean, who would want to do that? it's not like most people have limited free time and can't afford to spend 45 minutes watching zombie movements to sneak into a firehouse that ends up spawning a bunch of ammo for every gun you don't have. it's not like there are OTHER play styles that people enjoy.

seriously, this is great news for new players; "oh, you thought you could spawn in and have fun? you know what's fun? sitting there and waiting. so much fun. sooooo, sooooo much fun."

c'mon...

i appreciate that the OP is trying to be helpful, and he definitely is for the present state of the game. but the present state of the game is NOT helpful to end goal of having fun.

[Surg3on 4]

Theres nothing wrong with you hating the game. Just go play left for dead as it lets you blast zombies heaps! Let this mod play out as a product you either like or dislike.

[Banicks 55]

it's really great that such a great idea for a game is being brought to life in such a myopically boring and seemingly masochistic manner...

really...

a zombie survival game would never be fun if you could go around blasting zombies. i mean' date=' who would want to do that? it's not like most people have limited free time and can't afford to spend 45 minutes watching zombie movements to sneak into a firehouse that ends up spawning a bunch of ammo for every gun you don't have. it's not like there are OTHER play styles that people enjoy.

seriously, this is great news for new players; "oh, you thought you could spawn in and have fun? you know what's fun? sitting there and waiting. so much fun. sooooo, sooooo much fun."

c'mon...

i appreciate that the OP is trying to be helpful, and he definitely is for the present state of the game. but the present state of the game is NOT helpful to end goal of having fun.

[/quote']

I don't think OP means to tell people how to play.

If people like to run into a town and gun away cool beans, but by the looks of it there are a few new players who do that expecting to come out geared and alive, but dont, and come on here instead complaining.

[djkling 5]

I think this game provided a nice relief from the "more of the usual" zombie shooters.

Now that I can find weapons my bigger issue is... uh... finding WATER and FOOD... all these damn empty cans... weapons are the least of our worry now...

[Robert Shannon 27]

Noobs are always in constant danger.

[theboat 35]

not all' date=' but a huge amount of the player base has no patience.

[/quote']

That's what gets them killed by me :D. I had a noob running at me with a train of zombies on him straight for me, I had to gun him down before he got to me because they would've swarmed me, once the crowd wandered away, I went to his body, had 4 blood bags, 2 Morphines, and a few other things that were quite helpful.

[ALICE666 0]

I am still considered a noob. Only 3 days since i got the game. The reason I run straight into town is of being partly impatient. At the moment there is basically no risk to me since if I die I will just respawn with the same items. I usually just run right into say Electro training all the zombies while looking for weapon spawns. Who wants to wait 1 hr or so crawling on your belly if you might die anyways? its a waste of time right of the bat. I rather spend 10-15mins quickly rushing as its so easy to lose line of sight from zeds by running around then proning at the docks. They hardly hit you if you know what your doing... Rinse and repeat each time til you succeed if you do die somehow. Its also pretty amusing seeing 50 zombies on your ass. Maybe that was me you killed boat.. :D

[K69 (DayZ) 2]

I think it's worth spending a few spawns just working out the lay of the land and the zombie detection radius when running, crouch running, walking and crawling. Notice how shadows decrease your visibility and some surfaces increase your sound. Work out which buildings are enterable, as these are where basic loot and some weapons spawn.

Once you've got started proper, don't obsess about finding assault rifles, they are just going to attract zombies and randoms, the latter are far more deadly and are almost certainly going to relish taking you out so they can brag about it.

Pistols, yes, especially the lowly Makarov due to its plentiful ammo spawn, will get you out of a tight spot without getting you noticed from half way across the map. The best thing about a pistol is that, once you've found one, you can equip an axe as your primary and silently take out any zombies that you aggro or that get in your way (click on axe in your gear menu then click 'remove from tool belt' to equip as primary), once you've done this you can use mouse wheel to scroll between them. There is a risk of broken limbs during hand to hand with Z's but remaining crouched seems to reduce it slightly. The axe/pistol combo will get you through any looting mission, provided you can avoid any bandits.

Don't try and take on multiple Z's in the open with an axe unless you are Chuck Norris, if you aggro a group, just run to the building you were trying to reach, that way they will form a more manageable queue, but remember to stay away from the walls as you can get hit through them.

[decoherance 0]

snip

Good post.

I've been using the axe as my primary lately, as long as you are crouched and keep a little bit of distance between you and the zombie then you can take them out without getting hit, and it will not aggro the horde.

I got lost in the woods up north last night and stumbled across some tents, no-one was around so I looted everything I needed but did not take any weapons other than a hand gun (and they had a lot of weapons), the axe is my new best friend.

[SnappingTurtle 1]

True. Until there's a way to pack away your primary so you don't have to drop it to equip a melee weapon I see no point in getting a primary, unless you have a geared group so zombies pose no threat anyway and ammo is plentiful. The axe can actually hit from much further away than the length of the axe.

[Graywolf4409 0]

I have been following that since day 1 and got some decent equipment. However, after a bandit death a few days ago, with nothing to lose, i started sprinting.

Outrun the zombies, grab gear in buildings as they walk (make sure they are two way buildings) loop through alleys or buildings, keep sprinting, hold alt to look behind you every now and then to see if they are still there/running.

Got a remmington shotgun with flashlight attachment, a makarov with an overflowing abundance of clips, all survival utilities(hatchet, matches, compass, etc) spare winchester for a friend with ammo, hoards of food and water bottles, spare utilities for friends, all sat snuggly in an Alice pack, after a sprint through south west airfield and Cherno.

I would suggest this is more of a 'few lives in' tactic, as you will need to know building layouts, but this is the absolute ideal way to deal with zombies and their presence around bountiful buildings, as long as you can recognize enter able buildings and their interior layout from external visuals.

This is NOT a run and gun tactic, there is no gunning while running. This is running and scavenging like you are being chased by Nemesis in RE3, only turning to take a shot if you ran into a church hoping to find something useful, and the number of zombies behind you is TOO DAMN HIGH

Bandits however, will not be repelled by this, so once you got some gear, something to actually be afraid of losing, then you should slow down.

And my advice, as far as coastal towns go, stick to Cherno, not Elektro. Venturing into Elektro/Stary Sobor, someone always dies, in Cherno, i have met nothing but friendly faces.

If Bandits are shooting at you(or you are very scared that they are) and you are in an open area, forget the zombies, you can deal with them later. Make sure you are safe from bullets.

Final note, why the hell do Bandits not seem to attract zombies? So many times when a friend has been killed and the zombies don't care. Would be nicer for pulling the trigger to have wider spread effects, especially when the gun sounds like it is being fired right next to my ear.

[NightRipper 284]

I'd like to echo the "patience is key" and "one false move is all it takes" sentiments in this thread. One of the reasons I keep coming back to this mod is that it's so brutally unforgiving and realistic, and yet.... now all my other games seem too easy. Case in point, I went into Nadezhdino yesterday while waiting for some mates (had just respawned at Prigo, so was unarmed), and with some patient stealth proning I went from hatchet to double barrel shotgun to winchester (also found a hunting knife and a canteen, the latter I filled up in the nearby pond), and then I got cocky. Decided to go further into the town, accidentally aggroed a few zeds through a wall, tried to make a break for it and ran up a hill (yes, beginner mistake), broke my leg, and boom, within 30 seconds of thinking "hey, let's press my luck a little and raid another building," I was dead. So yes, this game is a sly, sneaky b*tch, but if you treat her just right, she'll rock your world. Just never let your guard down, mates!

tl;dr: this game is unforgiving, don't let your guard down!

[xscottyt 4]

it's really great that such a great idea for a game is being brought to life in such a myopically boring and seemingly masochistic manner...

really...

a zombie survival game would never be fun if you could go around blasting zombies. i mean' date=' who would want to do that? it's not like most people have limited free time and can't afford to spend 45 minutes watching zombie movements to sneak into a firehouse that ends up spawning a bunch of ammo for every gun you don't have. it's not like there are OTHER play styles that people enjoy.

seriously, this is great news for new players; "oh, you thought you could spawn in and have fun? you know what's fun? sitting there and waiting. so much fun. sooooo, sooooo much fun."

c'mon...

i appreciate that the OP is trying to be helpful, and he definitely is for the present state of the game. but the present state of the game is NOT helpful to end goal of having fun.

[/quote']

I don't think OP means to tell people how to play.

If people like to run into a town and gun away cool beans, but by the looks of it there are a few new players who do that expecting to come out geared and alive, but dont, and come on here instead complaining.

I can understand what your saying is true not everyone has all the time in the world and so that is why a lot of people are impatience.

however in my opinion this game is kind of built up with stepping stones especially if you play with friends.

where the first step is to be patience and slowly loot buildings get gear and food and hunting knife hatchet matches to live off the land and then head inland then maybe get lucky get a crashed heli get a saw or fn fal and then try and get a vehicle.

however again in my experience I would rather play the game with limited time like I currently do, being a full time student becoming a game developer and having a part time job.

i would rather be patience and not risk my gear i've put the past few days into building just to lose it all because i was impatience for 1 second.

cause think about it, you become impatient for 1 second with really good gear such as a saw with 2k bullets and a lba sniper in your bag. that will end up taking you a lot longer to get back then it would take if you just played patiently and take in consideration in every step i take every choke point were i could die, the 100 different sniper locations were someone could be watching me.

i have only been playing this game for 1 week right after they took out the starting pistol and i have only died 2 times. my first character 4 hours were i was just learning the controls. and my second with a M16 Alice backpack and some alright gear lived for 3 days.

i am currently alive and well on my 3rd life with a character that has lived for the past 4 days 5th tomorrow and i have a saw with 1k bullets dmr in my back pack with alice bag. and have a camp set up with my mates with 3 tents 1 filled with weapons, 1 filled with ammo and car/heli parts, and the 3rd filled with 20+ of each medical suppliesexpect antibiotics they seem to be extermly rare :(.

Being patience is everything in this game it has even allowed my little group of survives to have a huge stock items we can use even if we die.

P.s sorry for everyone/anyone who reads this it is quite a big rant.

P.s.s yes i know there are different play styles for every type of player however depending on the type of game there also has to have that basic element of each play style, and in DayZ the element that is in everyone's play style whenever they realise it or not uses patience of some sort before running in and dieing instantly

[Bumble - RMG MEDIC! 14]

Beginners start ignorant to the game's mechanics and glitches, and in learning how to play lies all the fun. Taking the pistol away should help the lone newcomers to understand that the zombies are to be played with and out smarted. The gameplay is ultimately PvP and zombies are just the silver lining. The challenging learning curve and freedom of play style in the open world is what lures me.

We all figure out tricks to make it easier and more fun, some taking that to the extreme: http://www.dayzmod.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=21711&page=2

[smithy0815 6]

...New players should know that you should spend some time watching the town from afar' date=' seeing where the zeds are, where they are going, etc... take your time, move slowly and purposefully, and you'll make it!

[/quote']

zeds spawn and despawn, so if you watch a town and move into maybe all zeds got despawned and on a other place spawned.

You can do this at close enemies but not as you told from far far away.