As a fresh spawn, how do you deal with Zombies since the latest Patch?

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

just run until you have a weapon.

 

Basically this.

 

I lost my month old character yesterday due to my own stupidity (against a player, not a zombie), and thus had the chance to experience the new zombies as a fresh spawn as well. You can still do the Benny Hill and go from building to building to loot avoiding them, but there is a greater risk of being cornered by them on account of their speed. I found a bayonet, and managed to kill one zombie after 20 stabs or so, not a viable solution. So I ran until I found a shovel, which allowed me to deal with up to 3 zombies at a time (although it takes a bit of time to kill them with that). Luckily not much later I finally found a splitting axe, and at that point zombies cease to be the greatest risk in the game.

 

So yes, finding a useful melee weapon has become one of the most important priorities in the game as a new spawn, ranking amongst quenching your thirst and satisfying your hunger. Your movement in towns are severely limited until you do.

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

I deal with them like this....

 

 

Kudos for saving that guy, but that is not really dealing with them though. You will soon find yourself out of ammo and surrounded by a minor horde if you stick to that zombie dealing strategy. 

[SpiraxSarco 23]

Kudos for saving that guy, but that is not really dealing with them though. You will soon find yourself out of ammo and surrounded by a minor horde if you stick to that zombie dealing strategy. 

 

It was for a good cause, since this new patch, the zombies got faster, and smarter, everyone (fresh respawners) are having troubles...so i help one...

[Captain Cornhole 14]

I had the funny experience of trying to run away and ditch a zombie in Svetlojarsk, this soon ended up in me with a garden hoe running away trying to bandage while 15 zombies were chasing me through town.  Thankfully I got to a safe spot up in some scaffolding and bandaged, then found a 1911 and some 45 rounds so I could chamber one round and kill one at a time with a perfect headshot (I did not have a lot of ammo)  A better strategy I have found is to seriously think like your a commando sniper in hostile territory, if you are in a building and the zombies are looking your direction, crawl.  Also crawl slowly so that you are quieter.  Avoid crawling into bushes because they rustle.  Stealth is not broken, because I've avoided zombies with stealth where I otherwise would have gotten zombie aggro if I was sprinting by them.  The zombies respond to sight and sound so stay behind them if you can, or if you can't stay low and move slow.  I ended up logging into a new server because someone was in Svetlojarsk with me and he was armed and I really wasn't so I just pussed up and logged, searched around the town all ninja like and got a fireaxe now I have no problems.  Stealth is really the best way to avoid everything nasty in this game, if you can't be seen you can't be killed.

[Shingara 1]

I shot a zombie at the militery base and they ended up chasing me, and alot of them all the way to the ship wreck on the other side of the map, Dont know what they have done with the los on zombies but now with the one hundred yard punch zombies and the jumpers one zombie was always able to keep los on me, and god only knows where they came from, 90% of them popped up out of thin air or coming up from the very earth. I did end up getting killed by a group of bandits but the zombies i brought in toe heard there gunshots and went after them. I was a little peeved that i had been attacked little old me vs 6 bandits but the crying of bandits over the local voip was music to my ears.

[_Lynx_ 0]

I run up the nearest hill then run back down the steepest part I can find.

 

Has anyone attempted to heard a bunch of them? I'm curious how many will chase you at once.

[CardinalSins 11]

Last week I was whining about his latest patch.  After stepping back and rethinking things I love it.  Both have to do with the 'new' zombies.

 

What do you do about Z until you have an axe?  You have options:

If the zombie has not noticed you and it is far away just stay out of its line of sight. 

If its right next to you walk away and stay out of its line of sight.

If it has noticed you and is running at you there are different options all of which involve running

first is run.  You need to zig zag your running because the zombies are actually faster than you but are not able to turn.  If you zig zag enough you'll open a gap on them and eventually lose them for a while.  I've noticed that even after I've lost the zombie it will show back up after a while (5 or 10 minutes).  So always stay on alert.

 

The next two observations are probably cheating:

Find a house that is slightly raised and run in to it.  The big house with 2 large rooms each having 2 doors in to the main hallway is the best for this.  Once side wait on the zombie, there is a good chance it will glitch and be halfway in the floor.  Just run around in the house for a bit and it will eventually just stop.  I'm pretty sure this will get fixed eventually, but for now it works.  This is also related to my biggest gripe about the game: zombies shouldn't be able to just pass through walls.  So the glitches kind of even the score.

The next glitch is to run up a hill and then just lead the zombie up and down and around trees.  I've have 4 zombies chasing me at once and I managed to kill 3 of them just running in circles on the side of the hill.  No idea why they die, but they eventually do.  I've done this several times because it's funny, even with an axe I'd chose the above options rather than standing to fight them.  I'm not a particularly good player so even with an axe I get hit too often.  Using the glitches saves me bandages.

 

Almost Final note: Once you do have an axe, walk up behind the zombies and kill them before they notice you.  However, take your time to look around, in several cases there were other zombies who could see me while I killed one. 

 

Sort of final note (until I think of something else): Once you do have a gun of some sort think twice before you use it on a zombie.  First you don't have an unlimited supply of ammo.  Second it attracts more zombies so you use more ammo.  Other players in the area will hear you "Dude, he has a gun, I'ma gonna take it!".  Save your ammo for other players (defensives purposes only of course ;).

 

One more thing: If you see another players walking up behind a zombie with his axe raised, wait until after he has killed the zombie to shoot him.  That saves your ammo.  Some idiot KOS player decided to kill me just as I was about to kill a zombie. 

Edited March 30, 2014 by eagerDog

[sokaku 50]

All I'll say is the zombie glitches really ruin it for me. Not just glitching through walls, but even through floors. I cannot even get anywhere to find an axe or any sort of useful weapon on any of the servers I have joined, low or high pop without having 1 or 2 zombies spot me and give chase. I can lose them easy enough out in the open but when trying to look for something useful one usually spots me through a wall or some other nonsense and the next thing I'm bleeding again. I even got desperate and ran to Electra on a high-pop hoping Zeds might be more pre-occupied with other players so I might find at least some bloody food, but of course one spots me so I bolt off to the school and head upstairs. I can hear the Zed beneath me when all of the sudden THUMP! ow.  Again  damnit so I dart out of the room and the she-zed starts bubbling up through the floor.

 

Great game.. Geez. So basically at this point it is a great starving simulator out in the woods. Trying to draw away zeds from places of interest to double-back and have a look but so far when I do get a bit of peace to go through buildings they're empty or already looted. That and monochrome sucks. :)

[pskitz 1]

I run, until I get some sort of melee weapon, splitting axe, fire axe, hoe, etc. Then I can take them on one at a time while I loot every building in sight looking for firearms.

[StoutAle 69]

 I'm thinking most people have yet to try to play as a fresh spawn since the last patch (I died on purpose to see how the new patch worked from new spawn to fully geared).  I love it though "get a fire axe" "shoot them".  Really? Fresh spawn.. no gear and two bandages (your t shirt).  Zombies now cause bleeding really easily.  Two fights and you are out of bandages.  It's fun as a player who knows what buildings are good and what are always empty.  When you know where to go it's still a bit of a challenge, as a new player just joining the game this would suck a bit.   Especially if the server was fully looted in the respawn area.  I said from the start if you have respawning zombies you need to have respawning loot.  I'm not a game developer at all, but if you have an newbie area that's fully looted in 20 minutes (or less) but you still have an endless supply of zombies that's a bit of an issue.  For most of us that have played it's not bad, think of a guy that just bought the game and it's a whole different story.

 

  Oh, and zombies don't give up as easy as some are saying on here.  They chase you for quite a ways before they give up and at some point you have to go into an area and loot it, you can't "find and axe" without going to an area that might have one and that area is going to have zombies you have to deal with.

[Irish. 4886]

It was for a good cause, since this new patch, the zombies got faster, and smarter, everyone (fresh respawners) are having troubles...so i help one...

Excellent! 

 

I did this on a server, and wouldnt you know it.. the freshies I saved just ran away as soon as I got the Zeds to aggro me. So I made the most of it ;)

[TheHuntsMan87 194]

I normally head inland away from the coast line and look in th smaller places and farming outlets

[sokaku 50]

....  I'm not a game developer at all, but if you have an newbie area that's fully looted in 20 minutes (or less) but you still have an endless supply of zombies that's a bit of an issue.  For most of us that have played it's not bad, think of a guy that just bought the game and it's a whole different story.

 

I definitely fall into this category. I had been pondering over the game for a while, have watched various videos including Frankie & Blackout, and reasonably comfortable with the engine having played a few older Bohemian titles. (Downloaded the free Arma2 just to be sure :)

 

I've tried several servers and obviously the spawn areas are going to be empty but even in inland areas the only weapon I've come across is a wrench, beside that I did find a couple .45 ammo, a bit of clothing, (no shirts or backpacks) a few cans of food and soda, one part of a map, and a box of matches. No axe or guns, and any attempt to get near good loot areas they are either already looted or Zeds chasing and glitching after me.

[DiaperLoad 2]

A lot of Fireaxe love going on.  I picked up a hoe and like it more than the axe.  It still does a 1 hit kill and the range seems bigger.

 

Messed around with the pitchfork and it seems to be a 2 hit kill.

 

If I don't have a melee weapon I just run.

[sokaku 50]

Well, day 2 and I fared a lot better. Followed the advice online and tweaked my video settings which helped spot Zeds a lot easier. Still agroed a few but had more of a head start and avoided a few surprises. Managed to finally find a server/spawn where the nearby area wasn't completely looted. Found a pipe wrench and then a crowbar plus a motorcycle helmet. Zeds take a few hits but I've got the basic hang of letting them approach, circling and whacking them, plus hitting them in the back. THe helmet definitely helps as I took a couple hits without bleeding. Overall a good day. found enough food to get stuffed, a water bottle that I was able to fill at a well, a kiddie backpack, helmet, hoodie, holster, crowbar, full med kit, and even a gun cleaning kit. Plus managed to kill 6 Zeds that came to bug me. Compared with day one BIG improvement. :)

[Happy- 41]

Honestly dont get all the whining about the new zombies etc.

 

as a freshspawn i dont even care i just run around looting. the trick is all about moving and looting fast. you can have a horde of them chasing you if you just keep dodging and weaving  running in to a house loot quick, dodge them on your way out again.

 

i like that they changed stuff around and if anything i would like to see more zombies and variation on them.

so my tip. run forrest run, and learn to loot on the run lol

Edited April 1, 2014 by Happy-

[Kestrol 7]

To handle the new "modified" zombie's I did make one chase me into water... It glitched and sunk, still walking like normal but only took one punch once it finally resurfaced.

 

I also managed to make a zombie start hitting another zombie at the foot of a ladder when I had 3 below me, so I kept lowering myself and going back up lol but this took ages -.-

 

I do want to mention I'm finding the zombies see me from far too far away, they are not this observant I am sure..... But when I do get in melee with them they are still hitting me from metres and away and I'm missing when it looks like I'm continuously bashing them in the face! This is annoying.

[darthbane67 92]

Nope nothing changed for me always was cautious around zombies and if I get attacked I just punch the SHIT out of their pie holes!

Edited April 1, 2014 by KaserinSmarte67

[sokaku 50]

Honestly dont get all the whining about the new zombies etc.

 

as a freshspawn i dont even care i just run around looting. the trick is all about moving and looting fast. you can have a horde of them chasing you if you just keep dodging and weaving  running in to a house loot quick, dodge them on your way out again.

 

i like that they changed stuff around and if anything i would like to see more zombies and variation on them.

so my tip. run forrest run, and learn to loot on the run lol

 

Once you've played a while, gotten used to the zombie mechanics, have some idea of where you need to go for the best chance to find loot, and are familiar with the controls, then absolutely!  New players to the game are stuck at 0-for-3 so the learning curve can be a bit daunting. IMO the only real issue with it is the glitching zombies. Situations where you should have a moment or two to check thinks out only to get hit through a wall or a floor do spoil the mood.

[Nonapona2 26]

Run

[barnabus 1708]

As a new spawn w/o a weapon I prefer to run them around docks in such a way as to make them fall off the dock into the water.  They tend to run in straight lines so it's pretty easy to do and kind of fun to watch them, very "World War Z" of them, if you get my meaning..

[sokaku 50]

 

I do want to mention I'm finding the zombies see me from far too far away, they are not this observant I am sure..... But when I do get in melee with them they are still hitting me from metres and away and I'm missing when it looks like I'm continuously bashing them in the face! This is annoying.

 

Yes, i noticed that they spot you over 300m away sometimes. Sometimes I'll come across one about 100m or so but looking the wrong way, but if they are looking at you they spot and give chase well before you can even hear them. :)

When dueling them in melee it helps to avoid attempting to back up when they are lining up to attack, use circle-strafing instead. The Zeds generally attack where you "were expected to be" given your last motion as they start their attack so moving in 1 direction they can sort of predict where to land a hit even if the rendering doesn't put you/them in that actual spot reliably. I find circling them one direction then switching back to the other direction just as they're about to strike while swinging at them as they pass will land a hit on them more often than not.

[pilgrim* 3513]

People have already given you this kind of advice, here in the thread, but..

PLEASE Try this link: the ABC of killing zombs for Fun and Survival

 

..//../topic/183586-new-player-having-a-hard-time/#entry1894173

 

It tells how to deal with zombs as an inexperienced player.. you need a fireaxe or a pitchfork.. and an ordinary axe is ok... but everything other melee weapon (and your fists) is no good at all for a beginner. And DO NOT try to shoot them uness you intend to leave the area real fast... more and MORE will come.

 

Anyway - the link is the Primer for Dealing with Zombs and Staying Alive. You get the hang of it pretty soon, it works well.

 

Unfortunately there is NO STEALTH in the game (YET)  - You can be lying down in a bush not moving and a zombie wil suddenly run STRAIGHT up from further away than you can see him (just about limit of sight) and whack you.

 

Once STEALTH comes into the game [ hey DEVS... STEALTH... ya know? coming SOON right? Good lads! ] then zombies will be a lot more interesting and exciting and immersive. But for the moment, a few practice runs using the right technique will soon get you used to taking them out without much difficulty. You can definitely take on 4 at a time and always win, even if you loose a little blood.

 

Check the link. Enjoy yourself.

 

xx pilgrim

Edited April 3, 2014 by pilgrim

[sokaku 50]

Aw, my first real character died today... 2 zombies got the jump on me, was doing ok until a big hit hurt my leg. Tried to run but sprint was slower probably due to the leg, couldn't shake 'em.. So stood my ground, took both of them down but was bleeding through the fight... readied bandage was ruined with blood, went to get another out of the kit "you are unconcious."   .... "you are dead." Sad end to a life too short. :)

[AzrailCross 48]

While others have covered it all in detail I'll just put my version in anyway!

 

Step one : Spawn

Step two : Sprint through buildings in search of a weapon

Step three : Find a crap weapon by odds unless I'm near a Firehouse/Police station - favorite 'crap' weapon so far is the fire extinguisher; bash a zombie just once and they hit the floor; then get easy head-shots while they're laying down, 2-4 should do, haven't counted really ;3

Step Four : Find a Fire Axe

Step Five : Never be bothered by a zombie again.