By request, some tips on starting out:
My best advice is live by the online maps. http://dayzdb.com/map is the best I've found.
Other important tips:
- How do you know how far zombies can see/hear you? While this tends to change from patch to patch (as it is fine tuned), my basic rule of thumb is to consider each line (beside your ear/eye on the right side of the HUD) is approximately 25 meters. So, if you have 3 bars next to the ear and 1 next to the eye, zombies can hear you approx 75 m's away and see you approx 25m away.
NOTE: Sight is based on line-of-sight... If the zombie is not facing you, he is MUCH less aware of your presence, but he can still hear you.
- When you're looking for a gun early on, stick to deer stands (there are loads in the south-west portion of the map). Also, they will constantly re-spawn gear if they're empty, so it's usually best to take the crap you don't need and dump it on the ground elsewhere. This will allow new loot to spawn.
- When you're looking for food/tools/etc, look for high yield loot spots. Theese are typically large 3 story barns, long animal stables, or 1 story log cabins.
- Stay away from towns/cities until you're in a group AND properly armed. That being said, the Enfeld is the best 1-hit-kill weapon early on and they appear quite frequently. Find this and some ammo, and you can defend yourself quite well.
-NEVER corner yourself. You can always run away from zeds, but if you're cornered you're a dead man.
-Zeds always glitch inside doorways- they drop to a slow walk. Use this to your advantage. Find a building that has an entrance and an exit, and make them chase you through it. Once they drop to a walk, sprint out the other side and they won't follow.
---------------------------------------------
*How should I play when I die and respawn?*
Here's my personal strategy. Use it if you like.
-Spawn in the south-west corner of the map, west of Kamenka (keep spawning until I'm here)
-(This is optional) I loot the west-most corner of Kamenka. Near the coast on the west side, there is a log cabin with decent goods. Next I walk across the street to a gate. On the other side of the gate is a porta-potty (where I've found countless 1911's) and a small shed. Once these have been looted, I crawl back over the fence into the field, where I head north to the north-west corner of the town. This has another log cabin and a small shed.
*NOTE: if at any point there are too many zeds or ANY players at all, bail. It's not worth dying.
-Next, I hit all 3 deer stands between Kamenka and Pavlovo.
-Next, I hit the 3 deer stands south-west of Bor.
* I will run in a triangle between these 3 stands until I find a decent weapon. Usually end up with an AKM before I continue on.
-Next, if I'm hungry/thirsty, I will usually hit the barn that is south-west of those 3 deer stands near Bor. It's actually directly in between Bor and Kamenka if you look on a map.
-By this point, I try and meet up with a group or just explore places I've never been.
*Castles are awesome to check out and there's one a few clicks north east of Bor (called Zub), just south of Vshnoye.
*On the other hand, if you want to make it to the NW airfield, hug the far west side of the map (in the forests) and travel north under the cover of the trees.
Anyway, I hope this helps any new starters.
[This message has been edited by kbassil (edited 7/27/2012 2:03p).]
My best advice is live by the online maps. http://dayzdb.com/map is the best I've found.
Other important tips:
- How do you know how far zombies can see/hear you? While this tends to change from patch to patch (as it is fine tuned), my basic rule of thumb is to consider each line (beside your ear/eye on the right side of the HUD) is approximately 25 meters. So, if you have 3 bars next to the ear and 1 next to the eye, zombies can hear you approx 75 m's away and see you approx 25m away.
NOTE: Sight is based on line-of-sight... If the zombie is not facing you, he is MUCH less aware of your presence, but he can still hear you.
- When you're looking for a gun early on, stick to deer stands (there are loads in the south-west portion of the map). Also, they will constantly re-spawn gear if they're empty, so it's usually best to take the crap you don't need and dump it on the ground elsewhere. This will allow new loot to spawn.
- When you're looking for food/tools/etc, look for high yield loot spots. Theese are typically large 3 story barns, long animal stables, or 1 story log cabins.
- Stay away from towns/cities until you're in a group AND properly armed. That being said, the Enfeld is the best 1-hit-kill weapon early on and they appear quite frequently. Find this and some ammo, and you can defend yourself quite well.
-NEVER corner yourself. You can always run away from zeds, but if you're cornered you're a dead man.
-Zeds always glitch inside doorways- they drop to a slow walk. Use this to your advantage. Find a building that has an entrance and an exit, and make them chase you through it. Once they drop to a walk, sprint out the other side and they won't follow.
---------------------------------------------
*How should I play when I die and respawn?*
Here's my personal strategy. Use it if you like.
-Spawn in the south-west corner of the map, west of Kamenka (keep spawning until I'm here)
-(This is optional) I loot the west-most corner of Kamenka. Near the coast on the west side, there is a log cabin with decent goods. Next I walk across the street to a gate. On the other side of the gate is a porta-potty (where I've found countless 1911's) and a small shed. Once these have been looted, I crawl back over the fence into the field, where I head north to the north-west corner of the town. This has another log cabin and a small shed.
*NOTE: if at any point there are too many zeds or ANY players at all, bail. It's not worth dying.
-Next, I hit all 3 deer stands between Kamenka and Pavlovo.
-Next, I hit the 3 deer stands south-west of Bor.
* I will run in a triangle between these 3 stands until I find a decent weapon. Usually end up with an AKM before I continue on.
-Next, if I'm hungry/thirsty, I will usually hit the barn that is south-west of those 3 deer stands near Bor. It's actually directly in between Bor and Kamenka if you look on a map.
-By this point, I try and meet up with a group or just explore places I've never been.
*Castles are awesome to check out and there's one a few clicks north east of Bor (called Zub), just south of Vshnoye.
*On the other hand, if you want to make it to the NW airfield, hug the far west side of the map (in the forests) and travel north under the cover of the trees.
Anyway, I hope this helps any new starters.
[This message has been edited by kbassil (edited 7/27/2012 2:03p).]