Beginner Guide

This beginner guide will give you a crash course into the world of Zelter so you can quickly get into the action!

Introduction

I've also made a YouTube Video that'll cover this!

To get started first you’ll name and customize your character, take note that at the time of this recording the only thing you can change after game launch is clothing.

HUD

• Top left is the clock, note day starts at 6am and night starts at 9pm also that zombies can find you easier at night
  
• Health is the red circle, less health bad, if health depletes you get a game over
  
• Green half “J” is your stamina bar, when it gets depleted you move a lot slower and can’t roll either, always be mindful of your stamina level when you venture into town to prevent yourself from getting swarmed, sleep in bed to restore stamina and save

Note: As of now sleeping is also the only way to save your game

Keyboard Layout

• You’ll use WASD for up/down/left/right movement
  
• You’re default movement speed is running and you can use Left Shift to walk
  
• Use Right Mouse Button (RMB) to Dodge/roll when not in the inventory menu
  
• In the inventory menu, after selecting “pick up” on a stack, right mouse button will cancel selection of the stack
  
• The Left Mouse Button (LMB) is used to fire if you have a ranged weapon equipped, swing if you have a melee weapon, and use/consume if you have food, water or medicine selected on the tool belt
  
• 1/2/3/4/5 – are the key bindings for your toolbelt that you can use to interact with the world, this is how you select your weapon, place furniture in “item placement” mode and is one way to eat, drink and consume bandages
  
• T – Brings up the tablet that’ll show your stats, your crew stats and crafting tree unlocks currently
  
• C – Brings up your crafting menu, note this is the only place you can make cloth until you unlock the sewing station
  
• I – Brings up your characters inventory menu
  
• Spacebar – How to interact with doors, sinks, NPCs, beds, etc when prompted
  
• Will reload if you have a gun out regardless if it needs reloading, will also rotate an item if you have it in the “item placement” mode

Resources

• Wood – Most used resource, you need this for basically everything so do not cut down trees in the starting area, instead simply run around and collect the fallen branches, this is a sustainable resource
  
• Stones – Least used resource, very early on they might seem a bit rare and you need them for the furnace and bonfire, once you get one furnace up you’re probably fine all game, even with NPC’s to help with crafting wood shortages will be a bigger limiting factor
  
• Iron ore – Most used “advanced” resource, will need this to craft things from steel, to pipes, blades, screws but is thankfully somewhat abundant on the map and can be found from smashing cars, metal items, and from killing zombies just note there is currently no sustainable way to harvest this resource (besides killing zombies) so if you live long enough you could potentially deplete your map of all iron sources
  
• Plastic ore – While far rarer than Iron ore it’s also far less used, it’s required for shotgun ammo crafting as well as some clothing items, it can be found killing zombies and breaking plastic items, also not sustainable with the exception of killing zombies
  
• Copper ore – The rarest of the three ores, required for rile ammunition (which is very good), can be found breaking down cars, some doors, some signs and killing zombies, also not sustainable with the exception of killing zombies
  
• Rags – Fairly rare, used to make Cloth which is needed for bandages, beds, clothing and bags, can be found by smashing stuffed toys or from killing zombies, in my experience you’ll get most of this from killing zombies
  
• Leather – Fairly rare, used to make clothing and bags, can be found by smashing items like couches or killing zombies, in my experience you’ll get most of this from killing zombies

Food, Cooking and Farming

At this time there are very few food and drink options; Water, Red Blue, Apples, Potato’s, Meat and Meat Skewer
Note: Meant skewer takes 1 cooked apple, 1 Cooked meat and 1 branch to make

• Apples can be found from apple trees (don’t cut them down) and should be cooked before eaten for additional hunger boost
  
• Potato’s are the only renewable (plantable) food source, while you can’t cook them they have the added benefit to recover some health (10hp per potato)
  
• Raw meat is rare, if possible, it’s best to hold onto it and turn it into the cooked meat skewer for the most mileage, note there is a limited amount on map and no way to make more as it doesn’t drop from zombie kills
  
• Red Blue is also rare, this will quench thirst and recover stamina without sleeping while they’re easy to collect from vending machines and sometimes drop from boxes they’re limited as well and there is no way to possibly make more

You need to unlock and craft the Hoe to be able to plow the ground and plant potato's, at this time they're the only crop you can grow.

Crafting

• You have to craft certain items in the correct order to unlock other items, the big ones to push for are the general workbench, a Crossbow and some arrows, drawers to increase storage capacity, a bonfire for cooking food, the furnace, the metal workbench and then the sewing workbench
  
• In the very beginning you’ll need to pick up a stone to unlock the furnace
  
• And pick up a branch to unlock the plank
  
• You can just drop and pick up your pistol ammo to unlock the SMG
  
• Craft a plank from two branches to unlock the crossbow and general workbench
  
• Start with the general workbench to get the furnace, drawers, crossbow and arrows
  
• With the furnace down you’ll need to make iron ingots (using iron ore and charcoal) to get the metal workbench
  
• With the metal workbench down, you’ll need to make a pipe > blade > Iron Axe then Iron Hammer to unlock steel Ingot crafting
  
• To unlock the sewing station, you just need to turn rags into cloth and have the general workbench down
  
• Craft a stone hammer to unlock the simple bed, with the simple bed unlocked you’ll have to build a chair then a table to unlock the proper bed, this is desirable as it’ll recover stamina faster using less hours so you get more of your day back

Weapons

• You’ll start with a pistol and some ammo, try to save this for a tight situation and instead focus on getting a crossbow as soon as possible
  
• Always be mindful of your ammo, you want to avoid melee combat
  
• Try to push for a crossbow and arrows as soon as possible, this weapon is the most silent gun in the game and at 14 dmg a shot it only takes 3 hits to kill all zombies (besides the boss) the other big benefit is the ammo is cheap and renewable
  
• The pistol is a nice starting weapon but if possible try to avoid making ammo for it and instead focus on crafting the SMG, to make pistol ammo takes one iron ingot for 10 rounds whereas the SMG ammo takes two iron ingots for 30 round and both ammo types do the same 13 damage
  
• The SMG will be your bread and butter horde dealer, even after you unlock the rifles and shotgun it’s relatively cheap ammo and increased clip size will likely keep this on your hot bar your entire playthrough
  
• The RM1 Rifle is great for larger hordes in tighter clusters as the bullet can penetrate and hit multiple enemies at once, while this is also true for the RM16, to get that you first have to build the RM1 and some Rifle ammo, note doing that will unlock both the RM16 and the shotgun, the RM1 does 17 damage per shot with a 30% crit chance
  
• While the shotgun has a nice spread it only does 10 damage per shot and no penetration so since it cost 1 steel and 1 plastic ingot it’s not as effective as the rifles but is still very fun to kill zombies with
  
• The RM16 is the best weapon in the game for dealing with hordes, with 19 damage per shot you can two shot zombies

NPC

Who doesn’t want friends in the zombie apocalypse? While they can be a bit buggy they’re a great addition! You can see their stats in the tablet (T) after you’ve charmed them to your side and brought them back to your base at least once. Note, if your charm isn’t high enough, they might not join you

• To interact with simply walk up to them and hit the spacebar, from here you can check out their inventory or assign tasks
  
• in the inventory menu you can give or take away items and make them use items to heal, drink or eat
  
• In the task menu from top to bottom you can have them follow you around, craft something, harvest resources and be on patrol
  
• With the follow option selected NPC’s will follow you around and kill zombies that get to close, provided they have a ranged weapon, to cancel the follow simply re-select and hit the red X
  
• With the crafting option selected they can help you craft at your various workstations; you’ll also need to designate a storage location for the goodies
  
• With the harvest option selected, they can smash rocks or chop trees but since this is one at a time and they also need the right tool equipped you probably wont be asking them to do this a lot
  
• I’d avoid putting them on alert as in my experience as long as they have a ranged weapon out and ammo they’ll kill zombies anyway and this command will have them ignore food, drink and sleep needs

My two cents is to give them crossbows and arrows as it’s the only sustainable ammo resource and if you get enough NPC’s they’ll be able to one shot zombies with their volleys

You’ll need a bed per NPC as well as a bed for yourself, sometimes they’ll fight over beds and when that happens normally all you need to do is have one of them follow you around a bit and then stop following to resolve this

Note, the eye above NPC’s means they’re tired and need sleep

Combat and Zombies

As a solo fighter, simply don’t let the zombies hit you. Use roll to dodge as needed. The basic ones are melee only, the Spit Zombie can vomit at you with a ranged attack and the Boom Boom Zombie will blow up if they get close enough
Note: Once the Boom Booms start their explode sequence it can not be stopped

• You run slower if you try to run a direction, you’re not facing so make sure to turn around to get more space between you and the threat while you reload
  
• Always be mindful of your health, stamina and ammunition as it’s easy to forget and the results are painful
  
• Meat skewers will restore health instantly whereas bandages will take some time to apply, this can be very helpful later
  
• When in the city be mindful of using firearms, try to use the crossbow and save the powder arsenal for when things get a bit more hectic. Also, firearms are louder and will attract more zombies
  
• Be mindful of fighting inside or anywhere space is limited, if you have ammo to shoot and room to move around, you’re much more likely to be able to kite and kill the zombies
  
• If possible, try to focus on the Spit Zombies because if they cluster up, they’ll be much harder to deal with and can deplete your health quickly
  
• If with NPC’s always be mindful of their health, the horde size and that they will not dodge like you would

[РlohCoЯę]

after a few updates, this guide is no more useful

[MECLokie]

Thank you! XD

[Adriano]

nice guide