ZimbabwePetes guide for Newbs Infestation:SS

Some tips for a game that has no learning curve, or forgiveness.
No info on the California map, just some tips and tricks i used while playing back in 2013. Some of the tactics i use may help in the newer map, but i dont think so. i havent had this game installed in over 6 months

Intro

Ok first off, i am in no way stating i am a master at this game. NOT AT ALL. I AM BAD AT THINGS.
After over 45 hours of gameplay i still get hosed by the occasional zombie, and lose a backpack full of gear and supplies.
But there are some tips ive seen left out of guides on here and on youtube videos.
Im NOT going to give out places to glitch. i used one place, and it kind of took a bit of the game away from me, though renting a server also took the fear of death out of me (more on the money pit marketplace later).
I hope to get quite a few things layed out so that anyone who is curious about this game, can read this and make a decision on wether to buy it or not. Im a bit of a fanboy now, after being able to actualy play without fear (I rented a server) of random Douchebags shooting me for my bandages. Its just my friends' shotguns i have to worry about :)
Ok, lets get to it shall we?

Screens

First off: Im editing this on March 9 2015, due to seemingly having lost most of my screenshots from when i originally made this guide, so sorry for lack of pictures to go along with the wall of text.

Expect to see that skull a LOT.

So, youve decided to make a toon. There are some helpful things in the character menu. Starting with the bottom right of the screen:






1. The Inventory Screen can let you peek at what each toon has, AS WELL AS serve to get into your global vault. Its your bank for all your toons.
As long as one of your toons is near a settlement (more later), you can access the vault in the menu. If you arent close to one, youll see a message on the right of the screen stating you dont have access, and a lovely picture of a zombie next to a lake. How peaceful.

2. Skill Tree is where you *duh* unlock skills. Now, this isnt your normal RPG style experience system. Zombies only give you 5 exp. per kill. yeah. And the skills range from 100-20000 exp. Each skill takes away from the exp earned, like currency. Example: you have earned a total of 2500 xp. you buy 2 skills at 1k each, and a low skill for 300. you have 200 left over towards your next skill. you dont "lose" this exp, its just spent like cash as you earn it.
You cant just save up 20,000 xp and buy the super skill. You have to work your way up through the 3 different paths.
You also have to be out of game, in the character menu to buy skills from the skill tree tab.

3. Outfits is where you can play barbie with your toon. not many options per character. You can unlock (buy) new characters on this screen also.

Moving to the top left of the screen:

4. Survivors is well, the screen you're looking at there.... your list of your 5 toons and such.

5. Marketplace. oh the evils that abound in there....
I bought the game during the Steam summer sale of 2013. i have more than quadrupled (twice) the price i paid for the game in GC (thier currency you can buy with your hard earned real money)... like i said before, you die a LOT. Back to seriousness, you earn money from killing zombies. they randomly drop cash. Today (8-9-13) i found 2 $10,000 drops. so, drops range from $1-$10,000. Some items you can buy with this cash in the marketplace AND there is a General Store in each of the settlements. The ingame one has the exact same items, its just someone (NPC) to interact with instead of logging out to buy things.

6. Play Game. hmmmm sounds chinese or something... Your place to go to find a server to go die on.

7. Community is where you can see the leaderboards for both clans and individual stats around the globe.

8. Options. i mean, im thorough... but really do i need to describe this?

9. Quit. throw in the towel. go cryin to momma. or go to work.

Made a toon, and picked a server?

Here we go, lets go whack some stuff over the head!
This game is a First/ Third Person MMO Shooter, that originally was suposed to be a co-op game, but went south towards strict PvP, thanks inpart to our wonderful community of jerks lol.











No really, you have to whack stuff in the noggin. More damage that way. Just like in the movies and books, Headshosts are where its at.
Now, accomplishing this with a starter flashlight......
If you notice on the screenshot above, the center of the screen isnt where im hitting that Z.
Each Melee weapon hits in a different area just below center screen. There is also length of the weapon you have equipped that makes a difference in how close they can get to you. I.E. Tactical Knife versus a Canoe Paddle. youll get in an extra swing before they close to swing at you.

Ready? Get used to waiting to respawn...

A few quick Rules of thumb for surviving on a public server

Lesson 1
When on a public server, where you know noone; dont take random group invites. You WILL get them. As i stated above, its PvP. People use the group to find your location on the map, and come shoot/ loot you. VERY rare is it an actual person who wants to group up for safety.

Lesson 2
As with lesson 1, another thing to add to that rule about people is if you hear gunshots, either run or dive into some tall grass. TRUST ME. Those Minisaints you found wont last long if youre running around scavenging while there are other survivors mobbing through town guns ablazing.

Lesson 3
Rarely, if ever, have your flashlight actually turned on. Not so much for zombies, but for people to see you and gank your hard earned chips and water.

Lesson 4
When you chat, you post in either Proximity, Global, Clan, or Group. Try not to talk in global, unless you are WAAAAAY out in the middle of nowhere. When you chat in global, if anyone gets close to your position, your chat (on THIER screen only) will change to Proximity. We all should know that word refers to "close to you". In this game, it means close enough to find and shoot you.

Lesson 5
Do not, unless you are strapped with a LOT of ammo and bandages, attempt to do a "Mission". Missions can be started by anyone, in the ESC Menu. Its a way to ask for help from people on the map. Like, youre stuck on the top of an ambulance in the middle of town, surrounded by zombies. You could set up a mission asking to be saved, offering up items or whatnot.
BEWARE: Setting a mission puts a location marker on the map. And, like im going to repeat over and over again; people will come kill you for your stuff, or if you respond to a mission; it could be a trap to get your precious Minisaints.

Quick look at the map, spawn info

Colorado map

(found this picture here: http://www.myzombieculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/u3z6cpH.jpg )
I like this map cause it has both the old and newer Colorado map in one.

As you can see here, its a decent sized map. The scale only seems bigger when youre auto running for 5 minutes in one direction just to make it back to a settlement to drop off your fat lewts.

The 3 areas circled in red are the settlements. These are safe zones where you cant attack other players, you can access your vault and the store. There is an area roughly the size of the red circle around the base (on the map) where youre "safe" in game. As in walking around outside the walls of the settlement, you cant attack or be attacked....
Now, i said you cant attack inside the settlement, but that doesnt stop other people from sitting just outside of the safe area and taking potshots at people. yeah....
You get a bonus to health and damage reduction while in the safe area, but a few well placed shots will kill you even in a base (as of the game prior to the update on 8-5-13, that i know of. I havent been on a public server for 2 weeks). I know this because i was walking along the outter wall of a settlement and was sniped from the woods outside of the base. Nice guy... He scored himself a $5 backpack...

Spawning in
If youre just starting your adventure into zombie-filled Colorado, you will be randomly spawned somewhere on the map. Its your choice to either head towards the closest town and attempt to scavenge, or head away from the bigger areas and focus on the smaller stand alone areas, for example, Emerald Peak Retreat, just south of the northern settlement.
Personally, before i cheated and bought stuff with real munnehs, i would head towards the town that was closest. Public server aside, it was the only way to get supplies. I made the same mistake EVERY TIME. I got GREEDY.
If you manage to loot for longer than 5 minutes, you better start heading out of town. i notice there is usually at least one person farming any given small town, and they would LOVE to have your help in getting all the stuff they didnt; via a bullet.
Also, if you walk into an area and you find nothing in any buildings, chances are youre coming in behind other scavengers.

Looting/ Farming
When you manage to get on a decent server, either with minimal people or minimal bandits (more later), youll end up getting good enough to start Farming. Most people are familiar with this term, but for those of you who arent, farming is the term given to an in game "rinse and repeat" action. You hang out in the same area, killing stuff as it respawns; and gathering the items as they respawn.
Zombies respawn twice as fast as items. So basically, on the timelime i run while farming Smallville, i can loot the police station, the church, the grocery store, the medical building, and the closest house to the buisnesses; and the first places i looted will be respawning random items.
Yes, random items. So, if you do run across that 10 bilionth Bat, pick it up and drop it from your inventory. Every item you pick up chances a different item spawning there in about 10-15 minutes (roughly).
I have picked up a bottle of water in one place, came back later and found an AK47 spawned in its spot. There are also places on the map that have RARE loot drops, but its only a 5% chance. totally worth it.
I will be adding a section about random places for rare spawns in the coming months, so stay tuned.

All this talk about Dying...

Woops, you got eaten. Or you got shot.
ALL your things just littered the ground near your body.
That nice shiny new backpack you found/ bought? yeah, it falls too. You go back to a small bag when you respawn.
"Oh its ok, ill just run back to my body, ala every other mmorpg/ mmo/ game."
NOPE.
Not for an HOUR.
Your stuff disappears after 5 minutes.
You can pay 14 GC ( roughly about $.10 USD if you buy $48 worth of points. They "give you more for buying more") to instantly spawn in a safe zone not too far from your corpse, but if you dont remember what server you were on.... D'OH!
If you quick join a server, remember to check what server you joined by pressing ESC and looking on the bottom of the screen

Uh huh.... like i said, youll be seeing that skull a LOT. Unless you want to buy in like my addicted self...
Oh yeah, and when you do go to respawn, get ready for more of your favorite skull...











IMO
This is why i have at least 4 toons. I try to keep 2 near each other. I have 2 at Blue Ridge (Norhtern Settlement), and 2 at Castle Pine (Southern).
If im running by myself, i run one toon down close to town, then log onto the other and run it to the same spot. Then i will start my run with whichever one i have the best MELEE weapon on.
I suggest a Tactical Knife or a Katana.
At no exp or skills, a Tac knife can drop a Zombie in 2-3 headshots, whereas the Katana can drop one in 2 hits.
Oh, and if youre running with a friend, dont turn left while swinging the Katana. Dr. Satan wasnt amused :/
Remember: This tactic i use is on a private server, so it may be difficult to get both toons to a town on a public one, unless you lucked out and noone is being a jerkface.