DayZ
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The basics for "how not to be owned as a newbie"
By baddoggs
I wanted to write a guide to help new players Actually Survive. IE:
1: how the game works.
2: What is likely to happen to them and why
3: How to avoid 2
This is not about how to light fires and build stuff or where to find stuff, there are already good guides
that cover that well enough.
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The start of your journey
Choosing a server:
This is an important moment in your DayZ career so a wise choice really matters.

Vanilla or modded?
Personally i recommend vanilla at the start. Jump in on a high pop server.
The reason? To learn the game in it's entirety, not just "aspects" of it that you get
on low pop and modded. The result, you will be a MUCH better player on ANY server
you choose later. Also, if you can't handle the base game then, respectfully it may not
be the game for you. This of course is just MY personal opinion, take it or not.
This is the "Hardest" way to learn the game according to some but if you persist,
i think you will eventually agree with me.




The Very beginning:
When you spawn in, as a "freshie" or a Bambi* you will nearly always be near some settlement.
The worst thing you can do is walk/run up the main street. Remember you can only be Kos'ed
if they SEE you. So, don't be seen.

The first thing you should do is hit Tab and see what you have. If you have food IE: an apple,
eat it, I will tell you why later. Then press MMB and get a good look around you. You need to loot. So, head for town at a WALK, only run if you have to escape something, You burn through food and water fast when you run. SNEAK around the houses on the outskirts of the settlement
you spawned near, close the doors behind you when you enter a building so you don't get
ganked by infected if they aggro at you or someone near you.

IMPORTANT: When looting, just get it done, don't muck about and don't play "inventory tetrus"
standing next to a window or door..EVER. This WILL get you shot.




Tactical Movement.
Learn how to move tactically. Don't just run from point A to point B, PLAN your progression.
Learn that cover will hide you AND stop a round, Concealment will only hide you.
IE a bush is concealment, not cover. Move in short bounds while you are new, move from cover
to cover. Use any "dead ground" (Gully's etc) and concealment (trees bushes) to mask your
advance if you can. DON'T Zigzag, that just gives me more time to shoot you, Run fast to the
next cover. If you do this in small bursts it won't mess your stamina too much. When traveling
long distance, do the same just extend the length of the "bounds" and walk.
"Bopping" like you see on U-Tube just ensures the Skilled guy with the long gun and scope will
notice you. The human eye is awesome at detecting movement, even at long range. You are
better off, especially newbies being still and limit your exposure time. "Bopping" won't throw
off a good rifleman enough to save you. There is a reason soldiers IRL DON'T do this..Lol.
Last, do not EVER "skyline" yourself by running along the top of a ridge line, mountain top,
large tall building, Large fuel tanks or towers. If you do, your career will be short.
If you MUST go to these places, don't muck about...Plan it out and.... Be fast.
Try not to travel valley floors either they can be deathtraps and kill boxes.
Travel about 2/3 - 3/4 of the way up slopes Try to work trees, shadows or
dead ground as much as possible. Always be mindful of WHO may be watching you.

Tactical Part 2.
Here are a couple of things i learned that may help.

1: Drop your backpack before combat/ambush, it restricts your movement and
movement speed and makes NOISE when you move.

2: If you are going to ambush someone close.. Remove your shoes,
you can walk silently then. If you have to cover distance, remove shoes/boots
and replace with rags/wraps, they make much less noise.

3: to equip a weapon quietly, first place on the ground THEN pick it up.
Make sure it is loaded BEFORE hand. Loading is also noisy and time consuming.

4: A take grenade that is badly damaged into your hand and hit someone.
You should get a 1 hit KO.




Living off the land.
One of the most important skills you need to learn to "Git Gud" on Vanilla servers is
Hunting. This cannot be overstated. Fishing is also a good way to feed yourself but
you need a whole gear set for it whereas for hunting you should already have what
you need as part of your basic kit.
Firstly, be careful hunting around towns, Sound carries and Zees, AND players will hear
it and investigate. So, If you HAVE to do it near a town or city.. Don't muck about, get
it done quickly and get to cover. Bears and wolves may also be attracted to your activity
so bear..Ha ha, that in mind.
You will also find packets of seeds, These are always overlooked and underrated.
You can make a garden with a shovel or pick and use water and seeds to grow
crops to feed yourself. These crops grow quickly 15-20 RL min and the harvest
can feed you for a long time. You can also "cook" veggi's.
It seems hard at first, when you are new you don't notice animals until you are right
on top of them. This is normal. All you have to do is slow down a bit. You can HEAR
most animals long before you see them so pay attention. Walk don't run andyou will
see way more and use MMB to "ZOOM". Also remember, stop from time to time and
look BEHIND you.

Pro Tip: You can open cans with ANY tool. Even a hammer.
This can however cost you a % of the food as wasted.
For example Can opener = 0% loss,
handsaw = 20% loss, hammer = 80% loss




Maintain your gear:
Checking your clothing and equipment seems like a basic thing but so many seem
to forget. Badly damaged gear turns into "ruined" fast. this can cause serious issues.
1: ruined boots, will cause cuts to your feet. depending on the situation, you may not
notice until you bleed to death, i personally have had this occur a couple of times.
2: ruined gloves: You will get cuts on your hands if you "slide" down ladders often
causing death if unnoticed, like the boots.
Also, they won't protect you if you have bloody hands and eat or drink from a well.
3:Firearms: Damaged gun's jam, the worse the damage the more likely they will jam.
causing your untimely death. Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Don't forget to reload after a "contact".
4: check and re check protective clothing and the filters for your masks BEFORE
entering those zones affected by the gas clouds.




Health Care:
Basic ailments can be prevented by taking vitamins on a regular basis.
These can be found at hospitals, clinics and some households.
They "beef up" your immune system that helps fight most ailments and prevents
some like colds.
Food prep is important, when prepping raw meat, either wear gloves or wash
hands BEFORE eating. This will prevent salmonella. The cure is charcoal tabs.
Also eat/drink small amounts at a time to get nutrition. Eat/drink too much and
you will throw it all up.
Tetracycline will cure mostly everything else. This can also be found at hospitals
and clinics. Be advised, i have found medical supplies in houses near hospitals
and on infected around them.





Making Friends:
It is not a great idea to try to "connect" with players by running up to them and saying hi...
Especially along the coast. Why you ask? read the section on KOS.
The BEST way i have found to go about this is.
Travel inland a bit away from the coast, players are less stressed there. Don't "run up"
on people, especially with a gun or any kind of weapon in your hands. This, more often
as not, is taken for a "hostile" act and you will probably get KOS'ed.
Put some kind of "Cover" between you and "Introduce" yourself using your Mic.
I often wait until they are in a house.

Pro tip, Holding a firearm or ANYTHING that can be considered a weapon is
looked on as a threatening act by most experienced gamer's. this is the main
reason for KOS.. Basically, self preservation. I mean, honestly, if i walked up to you IRL
pointing a gun at you... How would you feel....





*"Freshie" Fresh spawn: someone who just spawned in.
"Bambi" a "first timer": someone new to the game.



The "WHY and WHAT ?" of it all
Ok, in this section i am going up offer up some reasons why certain things happen
and how some stuff, like servers work.


Servers:
Official servers:
Official servers are the most basic. They do NOT have active admins, basically you
are on your own. You CAN report things you see but are unlikely to gain a satisfactory
outcome. To survive on these you need to learn, adapt and overcome, THIS will
make you a better player in the long run so that is why i recommend "Official"
to start with. Unfortunately on Hi pop you are more likely to encounter hackers/cheaters
due to the lack of admins. Personally i consider these characters an "envronmental"
issue and not a serious threat. and they are not as common as some make out.
The main advantage of "officials" is they are "hive" servers. Meaning, they are all connected.
This allows you to de spawn in one and re spawn to another and carry any loot between them.
Meaning, you can base on one and loot ALL the others and bring your loot back to your
main base on the main server you play, as long as it all fits in your inventory or you are
physically carrying it.

Modded:
Modded servers are another thing entirely. They include everything from
A: start with utterly nothing in the harshest possible conditions with bugger all loot
spawning in, wild rampant bears and wolves and extra tough Zee's. These are generally
considered to be "Hardcore" servers.
to
B: What i call "Barbie goes shopping sim" servers where you either spawn in "full gear"
and just Fight. On some you will need to get to the trader and access your account
at the ATM and withdraw funds (anywhere from 100K upwards) and buy whatever you
want/need including things like helicopters. These are Generally considered PUBG
style servers. They can be great fun but, personally i find them "limited".
And,
pretty much everything you can imagine in between like for example
RP servers. There are PvP servers, PvE and PvE with PvP zones...
It is really YOUR choice to pick out the one that suits you.

Server Admins:
Firstly, be respectful, they donate there time, for the most part for free
to HELP and PROTECT you from Hackers, cheats and general idiots.
Most modded servers have a discord that you can join. There you can
learn the server rules. One rule that is VERY common on modded/community
servers is names. They WILL for the most part require you change your name
from generic "survivor". They do this to help combat cheats/hackers and idiots.
You will generally get a visit from an admin if you don't and get a chance to
rectify it. Failure to comply WILL result in getting kicked and a possible ban.



KOS:
Kill ON Sight, there are a LOT of comments/complaints in the forums on this topic.
Here i will provide some basic reasons why this happens.

Firstly, not every "Freshie" on the coast is a NOOB or a "Bambi". It is more likely
they just died in a fight and are merely running back to try to recover there gear.
THAT means, YOU are in there way and just killing YOU is quicker than trying to talk
to a scared, unpredictable individual that will probably try to kill you with a stone knife
or a shovel. PLUS, they get a free apple... Unless you ate it like i suggest.

Second, Don't walk up main street.. It's a PvP game what do you THINK will happen?

Third, Don't camp the well and light fires or stop to sort out you gear in the MIDDLE
of TOWN..

Fourth, Don't hang out on rooftops, seriously, don't

Fifth, If we are truly honest about it, most of the "salt" stems from the fact that
THEY killed YOU. I would be willing to bet if THEY had seen ME first they would have
no issue KOS'ing me and enjoying MY apple.
When i was "New" to the game, and once i understood the "basic's" i tried, for a while
to "white knight" as a style of play. The amount of times i approached a freshie, to try to
help, and they attack you as soon as you are within arm's length.. Even though you are
1: friendly and trying to be helpful.
2: Clearly "Geared up" and they are not.
3: Just as clearly, they are not going to win the fight.
I literally had the "white Knight" beaten out of me. Most veterans of "officials" will
tell you the same thing.

Last, Don't be a princess about it and fill the forums with salty rants. Learn the lesson
and evolve as a player.



Hackers:
The bane of any on line gaming community.
Yes, they ARE a thing, they DO exist, you WILL encounter them in this game eventually
if you play long enough. I have seen them in DayZ in the past and have no doubt i will
see more in the future. Here are a few things i have learned about them during MY
adventures.
1: They are cowards that generally lack skill in the game and need "Help" to survive
in this environment.
2: They are no where near as common as the forums would have you believe.
3: For the most part, they are attention seekers, they crave attention, THAT is there
reward, not your loot. I mean, they can usually spawn in whatever they like.
4: they generally hit high pop "Vanilla" servers because there are plenty of targets and
no admins.
5: 80-90% of hacker/cheat claims are from bad/mediocre players killed by better more
skilled players.
Number 5 is the MAIN reason we will NEVER be rid of them. There are just too many
"claims" to check and verify. It's "the boy who cried wolf" syndrome.
If you must post about hackers in the forums, there is a "right way" and a "wrong way"
to do this. 80-90% choose the "Wrong way" (Starting to see a trend?). that is, a salty
abusive rant. With utterly nothing to back it up. This will not make you any friends
in this game, nor will it make players inclined to help you.

NOTE: In the time since i wrote this guide i have seen a trend regarding cheats
on "Community" servers. They are becoming more active as the "official"
servers have lower Population numbers. Admin abuse and Bambi safari*
servers are also becoming more common.

*Bambi Safari is a term that describes servers set up with the intent for a handful
of players to hunt Bambi's or new players, aided and supported by the server
owners/admins.



Performance issues:
OK, assuming you have a decent rig that meets the RECOMMENDED specs for the game.
I personally have had few issues with this but there is a lot of talk about it in the forums
so i will cover some basics here.

Stutter/lag/dropping FPS:
2 main causes that i see for this.
1: Bad connection/internet. This can be solved in a couple of ways. CAT cable connection
is generally better than wi fi. This fixes around 40% of issues.
2: the server itself.
2a: Vanilla servers. You get performance issues with cars, Nothing you can really do about it,
that's just how it is for now. Hoarder bases are an issue, travel near one, especially in a car
and ♥♥♥♥ happens... Lag, stutter the works. Cars will often fly... Back in my Vanilla only days
that's how i used to find big bases to raid..he he.
2b: Modded servers. All the reasons listed for vanilla plus...
The mods themselves. Remember, they are not created by developers or coders,
they are basically "hacks" of existing code with little or no consideration to the
"side effects". Also 95% of the time they are un optimised turning some into real
"Lag monsters" Also, the more content you add to the server the stronger the
system needs to be to run them so, meeting min requirements for the game
may not be enough for the modded server you wish to play.

Remember, if you have issues, check your basics...
Check ALL plugs, cables and sockets.
Check your "Ping" to the server you play on, Recommend 150 or under.
Check internet connection
Check windows updates have not re set your settings to default.
Check your drivers are up to date.
29 Comments
mwalker754 Apr 1 @ 8:14am 
I watched a ton of vids before starting and I was baffled by the bopping. As ex forces your comment on it cracked me up. You are spot on :steamthumbsup: Excelllent guide btw
baddoggs  [author] Jan 26 @ 2:42am 
@Vega Count, My pleasure and cheers for the kind words.
Good luck out there mate.
Vega Count Jan 26 @ 2:40am 
Helpful, clear and concise. Well done and thank you.
baddoggs  [author] Sep 27, 2024 @ 5:06pm 
For what exactly?
Rambo Squad Leader Sep 27, 2024 @ 7:57am 
please delete this, i have reported
\m/ May 3, 2024 @ 2:30pm 
Thanks.
baddoggs  [author] Feb 17, 2024 @ 4:40pm 
not a problem mate. Good luck.
Jackson45 Feb 17, 2024 @ 2:44pm 
thanks for the guide
October themed Big Boss Jan 21, 2024 @ 6:00pm 
Yeah it’s hard but in a fun way. Just gets frustrating when you’re geared up, get sick and can’t find anything to drink or eat. But I’m starting to get the hang of it
baddoggs  [author] Jan 21, 2024 @ 5:57pm 
@BigBoss, No problem, it has a hard learning curve and U tube vids,
for the most part, do not reflect actual gameplay.
Someone had to do something.. It was my turn this time.
:lunar2019grinningpig: