HELP!

[cameron_mac 2]

First off let me start by saying that not only is this my first day playing DayZ...it's my first computer game EVER. Yea, I know...crazy right? Well we do exist. lol I've been a console gamer for the past 15+ years and with recent boredom and months of watching this game being played on Youtube I decided to take a crack at it.

 

I've played for about 6 hours(split-up) today and I've died like 20 times..no lie. Four of those 20 times I got lucky and found a backpack. What kills me so much, you ask? Well I'm sure that ya'll have figured it out by now...that's right, zombies. I've tried everything that I know to do to avoid them. When avoiding them fails, I proceed to do everything that I know to do to get away from them. Nothing works(for me). I have literally went prone and crawled my happy ass through entire towns and villages trying to find stuff to kill these bastards. Still die. I've watched ton's of tutorials on youtube showing what their behavior is, how to avoid them etc. and nothing works.

 

Now, I'm not naïve. I do know that I'm a complete Noob when it comes to computer gaming and trying to figure out Keyboard controls has been difficult as you can imagine. I'm getting the controls down but the staying alive long enough to see another living person...well that's another story. Getting sniped would be a breath of fresh air by this point.

 

Any suggestions or words of wisdom or maybe some hero's that could get me started. I desperately want to play this game but I can't keep going at this frustrating rate.

[NuckFuts 265]

My advice is to join a full server, chances are people will have dispatched of most of the zombies near and around the towns already, giving you ample space and time to meet people, rather than them relentless Zeds all the time. it's not always a good thing meeting other survivors in this game though, but I'm sure your aware of the mindset most people have when playing, especially if you watch YT vids.

 

Also, check in sheds, even the small ones for an axe or hoe, just anything to defend yourself with that's better than your fists, it feels like it takes forever to kill with bare hands. I find circling the Zombie works quite well, not giving them chance to hit you face on while you bash them while circling.

[cameron_mac 2]

Thanks NuckFuts! You pointed out something that I was definitely doing wrong. I was joining servers with only like ten people because I thought that getting a feel for it first would be best. What you said about the zombie thing makes perfect sense though. I'll try and join a new full one. Thanks again!

[therandomredstone 431]

Thanks NuckFuts! You pointed out something that I was definitely doing wrong. I was joining servers with only like ten people because I thought that getting a feel for it first would be best. What you said about the zombie thing makes perfect sense though. I'll try and join a new full one. Thanks again!

Another useful tip is. Find a group of bandits who lock you in a church with 9 or 10 zombies with no weapon and see if you get out alive and are awarded a magnum! that's what happened to me!

[cameron_mac 2]

Wow. Seriously? With my KB skills and the fact that I seem to be prone to die in this game(just died twice more since my last comment)...that wouldn't turn out well for me. lol

[therandomredstone 431]

Wow. Seriously? With my KB skills and the fact that I seem to be prone to die in this game(just died twice more since my last comment)...that wouldn't turn out well for me. lol

Here's a tip for these forums, when you reply to someone's comment or post on here, you have to click "quote" first before you respond to them, that way they are notified when you have replied to them

[DemonGroover 8836]

Stealthy play doesnt really work atm. Zeds can see from miles away.

Get an axe. Tear shirts into rags. Run around a lot.

[cameron_mac 2]

Here's a tip for these forums, when you reply to someone's comment or post on here, you have to click "quote" first before you respond to them, that way they are notified when you have replied to them

 

Thanks dude. I'm kinda new to that too.

[GrandHeron 21]

When I first started playing, I used to join deserted servers, just to get used to the controls, practice with melee weapons and guns to understand the mechanics, explore the map to acquire a sense of familiarity all over Chernarus and how to deal with zombies (you can just lure them in a house and close all exit doors) in a way that they become an annoyance more than a threat as other players tend to be the real menace to your survival. Once you feel comfortable enough you can join busier servers and gain experience dealing with other survivors. Worked for me though.

[jukaga 271]

Make sure you have a mic and use it around other players. Most will at least give you a chance if you talk to them first. If spoken to, reply as silence freaks people out and will earn you a bullet. When melee fighting zeds without a weapon, go to 1st person view, it's easier to land headshots with your fists that way. For now, you can drink from ponds/lakes/streams, do so as the water pumps are broken and you can't always rely on pop.

 

other tips

 

tear shirts into rags as bandages

best melee weapon are axes, avoid pitchforks as they are useless

you can forage fruit and berries from trees and bushes

avoid 'bandit' gear like payday masks, welding masks

head inland asap, and start learning the map

military camps are generally KOS zones

[cameron_mac 2]

Make sure you have a mic and use it around other players. Most will at least give you a chance if you talk to them first. If spoken to, reply as silence freaks people out and will earn you a bullet. When melee fighting zeds without a weapon, go to 1st person view, it's easier to land headshots with your fists that way. For now, you can drink from ponds/lakes/streams, do so as the water pumps are broken and you can't always rely on pop.

 

other tips

 

tear shirts into rags as bandages

best melee weapon are axes, avoid pitchforks as they are useless

you can forage fruit and berries from trees and bushes

avoid 'bandit' gear like payday masks, welding masks

head inland asap, and start learning the map

military camps are generally KOS zones

 

Thanks Jukaga! With all this good advice I have managed to get myself a dry bag, I have plenty of food in it(Thanks for the tidbit about wells also, because I did not know that). I also have a firefighters axe, a Blaze 95 Rifle with about twenty rounds(haven't had the need to shoot it yet), and also a .380 pistol with no ammo yet.

 

I figured the military bases were where most of the killing went down and I was sure that I would more than likely get killed but that's where I was going to head today. Try and snag me one of those M4's if possible. If I get killed I now know what I need to do.

 

Also, What's up with that Dayz DB Map? I was checking it out last night and I noticed that there's a way that you can set markers. How does that work? Do you see the marker when you roam around Chernarous(spelling?) much like you would in other open world games when you set waypoints?

[jukaga 271]

M4s only spawn at NATO chopper crash sites these days, but you'll be better off with an AK series rifle anyways. Much more common ammo, and the AKM is just a beast. The notations on the DayZ DB map do not translate in game, they are useful for gauging ranges for sniping and general distance measuring.

[pilgrim* 3514]

Steep learning curve - DayZ

 

In general - moving from consoles to PC is like .. the film Matrix .; so ...Welcome to the real world Cmac86

 

First thing to do when you spawn is throw your torch away, tear your T-shirt into rags so you can bandage, and head for basic loot ... if you know where there is a pool, drink water till you're stuffed, that will keep you going a while.. then you need more bandages, food, clothes, a weapon (axe is best, some weapons are crap against zeds) and a backpack of any kind.. then you're starting

 

If you keep moving in circles around a zomb all the time he can't hit you. You can punch him in the head by aiming slightly above the top of his head (2 or 3 inches). This takes practice, and maybe its worthwhile getting killed 10 or 15 times just going looking for a zomb to try it out. If you body punch them they dont care a lot, but one or two head hits will knock them down, then bend over them and punch them in the head a heap of times to make sure they're dead, otherwise they get up again after about 20 seconds.

With practice this works with 1 zomb, you have to be good to deal with 2 or even 3 with your bare fists (some players are GOOD at that, and they can take down a bunch of zombs with not a scratch). I don't know why they do it so easy, but I've seen it done.

 

I prefer to escape zombs by only going into villages near a steep slope - to escape you can run backwards and forwards across and up the slope and the zomb will follow you, if you turn in zigzags and run past him he cant hit you.. when you're high enough, run down the slope and with luck the zomb will fall trying to follow you and kill himself.. if not, try it again..dont run in a straight line with your back to them( anywhere), they can hit you, sometimes from pretty far away, keep changing the angle on the zomb.. as I said run zigzag up the hill..

 

Zombie hits is why you need to tear your shirt into rags at the start.. probably you will be bleeding even if you survive an attack. go in a house and make sure all the ground floor doors are closed before you bandage.

But hey - I'm not good at barefist zombie fighting, I can't guarantee I'll win against 2 without getting hurt. a bad hit and suddenly your leg's broken, then .. they eat ya..

 

apart from that - I have one little tip, out of about a thousand useful things to know:

You know that zombies 'mainly' dont come through closed doors anymore.. and you know that unarmed you don't have much chance against them ..

So:

I set my "interact" key onto my middle mouse button. That way I can keep running AND maneuvering  AND open and close doors fast with the mouse button.. if you are chased, you can close the door in the zombs face with this trick.. easier and faster than using the keyboard. Doesn't always work.. zomb will maybe come through a door as it is closing.. if so head out the back of the house and shut him in, or dodge around and open the door as you're moving and escape again, shut him in if you have time..

 

Being a newspawn is the most difficult part of the game.; once you have bandages, an axe, (you can open cans of food with an axe) clothes of any kind, any backpack (kid's satchel is ok) and a little food, and you can find ground-water.; then you're past the worst.. you can head out where you like.. now you can get killed in a whole NEW set of interesting ways.. Starting the game from newspawn is the hardest - if you don't already know the game, its definitely hard, for sure..

 

Plenty of advice in these forums... look around. Also a couple of nice guides here on the forums.

 

glad you could join us.

Edited December 2, 2014 by pilgrim

[cameron_mac 2]

Steep learning curve - DayZ

 

In general - moving from consoles to PC is like .. the film Matrix .; so ...Welcome to the real world Cmac86

 

First thing to do when you spawn is throw your torch away, tear your T-shirt into rags so you can bandage, and head for basic loot ... if you know where there is a pool, drink water till you're stuffed, that will keep you going a while.. then you need more bandages, food, clothes, a weapon (axe is best, some weapons are crap against zeds) and a backpack of any kind.. then you're starting

 

If you keep moving in circles around a zomb all the time he can't hit you. You can punch him in the head by aiming slightly above the top of his head (2 or 3 inches). This takes practice, and maybe its worthwhile getting killed 10 or 15 times just going looking for a zomb to try it out. If you body punch them they dont care a lot, but one or two head hits will knock them down, then bend over them and punch them in the head a heap of times to make sure they're dead, otherwise they get up again after about 20 seconds.

With practice this works with 1 zomb, you have to be good to deal with 2 or even 3 with your bare fists (some players are GOOD at that, and they can take down a bunch of zombs with not a scratch). I don't know why they do it so easy, but I've seen it done.

 

I prefer to escape zombs by only going into villages near a steep slope - to escape you can run backwards and forwards across and up the slope and the zomb will follow you, if you turn in zigzags and run past him he cant hit you.. when you're high enough, run down the slope and with luck the zomb will fall trying to follow you and kill himself.. if not, try it again..dont run in a straight line with your back to them( anywhere), they can hit you, sometimes from pretty far away, keep changing the angle on the zomb.. as I said run zigzag up the hill..

 

Zombie hits is why you need to tear your shirt into rags at the start.. probably you will be bleeding even if you survive an attack. go in a house and make sure all the ground floor doors are closed before you bandage.

But hey - I'm not good at barefist zombie fighting, I can't guarantee I'll win against 2 without getting hurt. a bad hit and suddenly your leg's broken, then .. they eat ya..

 

apart from that - I have one little tip, out of about a thousand useful things to know:

You know that zombies 'mainly' dont come through closed doors anymore.. and you know that unarmed you don't have much chance against them ..

So:

I set my "interact" key onto my middle mouse button. That way I can keep running AND maneuvering  AND open and close doors fast with the mouse button.. if you are chased, you can close the door in the zombs face with this trick.. easier and faster than using the keyboard. Doesn't always work.. zomb will maybe come through a door as it is closing.. if so head out the back of the house and shut him in, or dodge around and open the door as you're moving and escape again, shut him in if you have time..

 

Being a newspawn is the most difficult part of the game.; once you have bandages, an axe, (you can open cans of food with an axe) clothes of any kind, any backpack (kid's satchel is ok) and a little food, and you can find ground-water.; then you're past the worst.. you can head out where you like.. now you can get killed in a whole NEW set of interesting ways.. Starting the game from newspawn is the hardest - if you don't already know the game, its definitely hard, for sure..

 

Plenty of advice in these forums... look around. Also a couple of nice guides here on the forums.

 

glad you could join us.

 

Thanks a bunch Pilgrim! A lot of great advice! I will say that everybody has been very helpful to me thus far, well besides the one bandit I ran into. :) Since my first post on here I have managed to survive pretty well so far. Ya'll have been a great help.

 

I truly do enjoy this game and I look forward to exploring the map. I have many hours of play time in my future, I can see that already. Thanks guys!

[jukaga 271]

You'll find the DayZ community is both very helpful and very unforgiving at the same time. A new guy, honestly looking for help learning the game is always welcome; we've invested both money and time into this project and want as many active players as possible. But once you're settled, if you meet 75% of us off the coast you'll likely be killed or robbed at the very least. So with that in mind, rule #1 is DONT GET ATTACHED TO YOUR GEAR, rule #2 is DONT GET ATTACHED TO YOUR GEAR. You will gear up. You will be killed. Accept this and treat each time you die as a learning experience. The Army mantra of react, adapt and overcome is very appropriate to DayZ. Have fun bro!

[kmmu 1]

Hey Cmac I sent you a message   Check it out and lemme know!

[maconnolly 0]

Any suggestions or words of wisdom or maybe some hero's that could get me started. I desperately want to play this game but I can't keep going at this frustrating rate.

 

Let me just say...I know how you feel. But it isn't only completely new players who are feeling this learning curve.

 

I've logged about 3-5 hours on DayZ Standalone so far, having been an avid player of the mod. I'm actually really glad how difficult I'm finding it, as it makes it a whole new game for me. Thus far, I've relied on my memory of the game map and have yet to use an online map for navigation; but given that I'm fairly certain there are new spots that weren't in the mod, I might succumb soon enough.

 

Perhaps Standalone has a bias towards helping others, but I've always employed a trust-no-one policy and - in all my time playing the mod and SA - that has kept me alive much more consistently than adopting the complete opposite policy. I've been killed by a human once in Standalone and that was enough to make me remember why I generally keep my distance. Which is a bit of a shame for me, as I think I'd be more likely to be friendly (or at least indifferent) rather than hostile.

 

As a really basic starter-for-ten, I match my character's clothes to the environment I'm going to spend most of my time in. So my default character has a green shirt and dark trousers. In my head, if I crouch deathly still, from a distance, I can probably look like a shrub.  <_<

 

Cmac86 - if you want a fellow new player to run around learning things alongside, feel free to private message me and I'll be happy to try and join up in-game.