Zombie survival mod for Arma 2, DayZ, becomes more and more popular as people hurry to the servers trying their luck in the zombie infested world where survival is not guaranteed by the number of weapons you have (it would be, but there’s always so few!) but by a mix of strategy, good thinking and luck. And since the last two are totally up to you, I am here to share with you a survival strategy for DayZ, some tips and tricks to use if you want to survive longer!
Please have in mind that these tips to survive longer in DayZ won’t guarantee that you’ll actually make it, but having all of them in mind when you play certainly improves your chances and makes the game more interesting!
Rule #1: Trust nobody!
Probably this is the most important rule to have in mind when playing DayZ: there are many human players in the game world and some will probably claim or even help you at first, but unless we’re talking about your best friend in real life, don’t trust anybody in DayZ! The truth is that there are very few people (like myself) who want to really team up with others and help. Usually these guys are the first ones to die, back-stabbed by their “partners” for loot, for food, for weapons or just for fun, because humanity is lost in this post-apocalyptic world.
Rule #2: Crawl!
Don’t forget that we’re talking about a simulation here and zombies hear and see, so the best way for you to move (when you’re in towns, at least) is by crawling: this way you will avoid getting a tail of tens of zombies that WILL kill you, especially if you’re just starting and you have no weapon or not enough ammo to defend yourself. So stealth (aka crawling in DayZ) is your key to survival.
Rule #3: Gather Supplies
Unless if you are a bandit and you like to kill innocent survivors, then you won’t have to stay too much in towns/industrial areas. The basic thing for you to do is to gather supplies – enough of them to make sure that you’ll survive as long as possible – and then head to the woods where you will eventually build your camp. So make sure that you gather the following before you go out of town:
– Axe and knife (silent melee weapon & hunting instrument)
– Medical supplies (morphine and bandages are a must, also as much blood as you can!)
– Matches are also a must
– Optional, but highly useful: a Gun and ammo, Crossbow arrows, Flares as well as food and drinks (soda)
Rule #4: Inventory Management
It would be nice to be able to carry all you can find, but you usually won’t. This means that you will have to learn to manage your inventory (there are three areas and all have limited space: body, backpack and tools). So make sure you don’t carry too much: you don’t want to find a sniper and have no space to put it in!
Rule #5: Stay Aware!
There are a lot of indicators in DayZ that you should always keep an eye on. For starters, we have the HUD where you will see information about your current state (if you are hungry, thirsty etc) and you should always make sure that all these are on green. Also, very important here is to make sure that you’re always unseen and unheard. Next, you should pay close attention to everything that’s happening around you: notice zombies, animals (to hunt for food), places with potentially sweet loot and most important: BANDITS. These are the lowest scum players in the game and their only goal is to kill as many others as possible. They usually hide in high spots in cities or behind windows and they have a sniper to take you down from a distance. It’s hard to spot them, but keep your eyes open! This might save your life!
And these are the very important rules of surviving in DayZ. There are a bunch of other tips to survive that I want to share with you, so check them out below:
– Always try to use a Risk vs. Reward strategy when you play. Is the loot too low and too many zombies or the trip to town simply isn’t worth it? Then don’t do it! If you don’t need it, why put your life in danger?
– Get Camping supplies (from Supermarkets) – as soon as you learn to stay alive for long enough, you will need to start camping!
– Stay in the forest and keep an eye out for animals. They are a great source of food if you manage to hunt them down.
– If you have more weapons and you are crouching, you will make more noise. So only crouch with a pistol or no weapon to be as silent as possible!
– If you have a horde of zombies following you (or just too many for you to handle), you can still lose them if you run far enough and use the terrain to your advantage (gain some distance and hide in the shadows, go behind corners and so on)
Hopefully these tips to survive longer in DayZ will help you achieve your goals. If you have other strategies or tips to share with fellow survivors, don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comment section below!
