Death Road to Canada Everything You Need to Know!

3 Short videos with written guide!
Basics, Weapons, Locations, Stats, Traits, and Perks.

Beginner Gameplay Tips/Guide

In this video I’ll go over tips I wish I knew when I started playing Death Road to Canada. I did a ton of research for you; make sure to sub and check out the links in the description to see more details.

Let’s start with the basics…

0:08 Basics

Always be on the lookout for sparkles. This means there’s something you can loot or a door you haven’t gone through yet.

When they notice you, Zombies will move in a straight line towards you; they’ll only go around walls if they’re pushed to the side by the crowd.

When they reach out and grab you, it’ll slow you down but they need a bit of time to officially bite you. Be quick and evade or kill them before that happens!

And you don’t have to kill every zombie since they don’t drop any loot or experience. But if you can’t run, try to melee them down and conserve your ammo. Gun fire and all noise like barking and horns agitate zombies. Save ranged weapons for sieges or when you’re overwhelmed.

If you attack too much your face will start flashing red and eventually you’ll start sweating buckets! In this state you move slower and your attacks do next to nothing so stop swinging and flee or pull out your firearm.

And you can set your party's stance in the Team menu to run or fight when needed!

Tossing furniture is way better than risking a weapon's durability. And when zombies fall, they can’t attack and take more damage so use this opportunity to flee or finish them off!

Also, look through doorways to see if there are too many zombies on the other side. It’s wise to fight them as they try to funnel through a doorway! You can even close doors which should buy you some time as the zombies try to break through!

You can have up to 4 people in your party but more fighters also means more food consumption.

Once you’ve looted everything, head back to your car. Note that you can access the trunk to change your loadout or to drop off weapons if you have enough time to run back and grab some more. Otherwise, hop in, Hold the action button to start the car and drive off! Giver EH!

1:35 How to Save

You can only save when your car is on the road. Just pause the game and quit to auto save. If you try to leave while on a mission, the game file will be deleted! However, forcing the game to shut down (with Alt+F4, pressing the X in windowed mode, or shutting it down in the task manager) will allow you to resume from the road just before your current event. This trick is amazing if a character dies on a mission or if a location wasn’t what you expected. If the entire team is killed though, it won't work, one person has to be alive.

2:01 Trader Camp

When given the option, always visit trader camps even if you don’t have enough food. Sometimes traders will feel sorry for you and give you free stuff, other times you might find weapons and supplies, and your characters might even persuade vendors into giving you free stuff with their charm!

2:14 Driving/Vehicle/Car Tips

Note that driving around uses gas but always improves the next options!

But be careful, losing your car opens you up to nearly constant negative events and bandit attacks until you get your next vehicle.

Some car types are easier to repair than others, requiring a smaller Mechanical skill. Engines lose health as you drive but the chassis will take damage when you run into Zombies or when your car is hit. If your engine dies, someone with good mechanical skills can try to repair it but if your chassis reaches zero, your car will explode; damaging everyone in and around the car! For this reason, you might have to clear the road ahead before driving off.

2:47 TIRED debuff

If a character has a bad sleep or is overused during random events, they can become tired! When this happens, their strength, fitness, and shooting is reduced by 3 points! This debuff will go away if you go to sleep, drink some coffee, or set the tired player as RESTING in the team roles before a mission which means they won’t go out with you. You can also just ignore the debuff and be smart about your engagements. Sure you’ll get exhausted faster due to the stat debuff and this unhappy face will taunt you when you’re over exerting yourself but just stop swinging and spend more time running.

3:09 AI and Weapon tips

Unfortunately, the AI isn’t smart about attacking. For example, some weapons can hit more than one enemy at a time but the AI tends to swing from max range even if it causes them so much fatigue. For this reason, lightweight weapons are very helpful. I cover weapons in another video but here are some good ones to look out for:

Many weapons have durability but others are unbreakable like these ones I’m recommending you keep! If you gather all your characters together you can pause the game and choose the swap meet to move weapons between characters and selecting a weapon and placing it in the same spot will lock it forcing the character to use it exclusively. And if you want to drop a weapon, just hold down the pick-up button.

I got into the habit of equipping at least one flashlight on a character since it makes them glow even when they’re not using the flashlight.

Alright, here are some final basic tips:

Remember how you can set party members to rest during a mission? Consider sending only a dog or character with high dexterity (speed) to solo loot a mission especially if the forecast says there’ll be few zombies.

4:03 When to leave?

Finally, rain makes zombies more aggressive but nightfall also increases zombie numbers and agitation. Always consider leaving before 10PM to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Helpful Links (Wiki/Fandom Pages)

Melee Weapons[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Vehicles[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]

Weapons/Locations Tips/Guide

Confused about which weapons to keep and locations to pick. I hear you. This simple guide will help you out especially early on. Sub and check out the links below to get all the details!

0:09 Unbreakable Weapons

Unbreakable Weapons[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Most weapons can snap between 1 and 10% of the time but some are unbreakable.

In the beginning you’ll likely have low strength/fitness, in that case, look for: Hammers, Hatchets, and Meat Cleavers.

Some better but more rare lightweight weapons are: Aluminum Bats, Nightsticks, and Xtreme Hockey Sticks.

Most spears have good range and cause fatigue at half the rate of other weapons making them great for your AI friends who swing at just about anything! If I had enough food, I always purchased a tactical spear for this reason.

Later on, with higher strength/fitness, try to get your hands on a: knight sword, sledgehammer, or Wooden Club so you can hit multiple enemies at a time.

Note that weapons like the Chainsaw, Flamethrower, and Weedwhacker are powerful but the gas they use up is essential for your trip to Canada. Unless you’re balling with fuel or are close enough to Canada, conserve this precious resource and skip or sell these weapons.

Sometimes you can find electric versions of some weapons. Use them up and then leave them behind since there’s no way to recharge them. Don’t forget you can drop a weapon by holding down the pick-up button.

Firearms tend to be loud and this agitates the zombies. Save your ammo and use loud weapons only during sieges or when overwhelmed.

1:17 Locations

Alright, now that you have a handle on weapons, let’s look at locations and what to expect when you pick them.

For your very first stop, I prefer the Rest Stop since it’s very easy to get around and feels like a quick stop. My second favourite was the Yall Mart.

Locations that are red or flashing are more rare and often have good stuff. They can also have their own challenges so be careful and don’t forget that you can Alt F4 to exit a mission without deleting your game file. This allows you to resume on the road before you picked that location.

Apartments, Houses, Cabins, Rest Stops, and City Locations provide a good variety of general resources.

1:50 Need Food?

If you’re low on food, hope for a Farm, Grocery Store, Yall-Mart, Convenience Mart, or Restaurant.

1:56 Need Gas?

Low on Gas? Try a Gas Station, Hardware Store, Locations with Cars, and Factories.

2:01 Need Medical Supplies?

Need medical supplies? Look for Medical Clinic, Hospital Raid, and Pharmacy.

2:06 Need Weapons?

If you want Better Weapons? Try Sporting Goods Stores, Camping Supplies Shop, Safehouses/Strongholds, Farm, Dark Mansions, and Police Stations.

2:14 Need Guns and Ammo?

Need Guns and Ammo? You’ll find them at the Gun Shop, Safehouses/Stronghold, and Police Stations.

2:20 Need a New Car?

If you’re looking for a new car, pick any location that says 'with car'. In these missions you’ll be looking for keys that look like this somewhere on the map. Note that Zombies bashing your car and even running into things as you flee can damage your car! This once caused my vehicle to explode in mid escape, hurting my entire party and potentially killing low HP characters! You can see your car’s chassis health in the pause menu. The engine will slowly break down as you drive and a good mechanic can fix that but you’ll need a repair shop to fix up the chassis!

2:48 Need Party Members?

If you’re looking for new party members, head to: Bars, Rescue missions, or if you have the Friend of Dog perk, you can also try a Pet Shop.

Side note, rescue missions that save people can be very useful since escaping with the new character will give you a choice to either add them to your party or grant you training or supplies!

3:05 Need Stat Training?

Bookstores, Gyms, and Arcades are great places to level up your stats!

Helpful Links (Wiki/Fandom Pages)

Melee Weapons[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Vehicles[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Locations[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]

Stats, Perks, Traits Tips/Guide

In this video I’ll go over all these stats and what they mean as well as tell you which Perks and Traits are definitely worth getting:

0:06 How Stats Work

Let’s start with an example of how the game calculates outcomes. Say an event will test a characters Strength; values from 0 to 2 will most likely fail or give a negative outcome while values from 4 to 6 will most likely be successful.

0:19 Morale

When someone’s Morale reaches zero, they have a chance of triggering a Despair Event, which may cause party members to leave or sap everyone else’s morale.
Eating a 'decent meal' will increase the morale of anyone who’s currently lower than 2 (a purple frown).

If the average party morale is very low, you might get an event where you choose between terminating the run or a very difficult indoor Siege. Survive this and everyone gets a +4 boost to Morale though.

0:45 Health / Vitality

Vitality is your total health. Most characters start with 3 HP but Dogs only get 2. If you have a heart with blue on it, it means that the survivor has MORE HP than the typical max of 3.

0:55 Speed / Dexterity

Dexterity is a hidden stat that determines your movement speed. Pets and some Rare Characters have great Dexterity.
Also, drinking coffee grants the 'Coffee'd Up' buff and this gives you three temporary levels of Dexterity for the current mission.

1:08 Strength

Strength affects a survivor's melee attack speed and energy efficiency. This also determines what furniture a character can pick up and how far they can throw it. You’ll need max Strength to properly use the heaviest weapons and to lift beds and wardrobes!

1:21 Fitness

Fitness is your athletic stamina and affects how quickly a survivor will get tired when swinging weapons and tossing furniture. High Fitness is needed to effectively swing heavy weapons; otherwise, the wind up will take forever leaving you vulnerable.

1:21 Shooting

High Shooting not only grants better accuracy but also makes it more likely that bullets will pierce zombies and bounce off walls!

1:40 Medical

High Medical skill uses fewer medical supplies and can treat more wounds per day. Also, at max Medical, you have a chance to heal wounds through improvisation using no medical supplies whatsoever!

1:50 Mechanical

Mechanical skill can help you repair a broken down car as well as with some random events. Just note that some vehicles (like hybrids) are difficult to repair and need a higher Mechanical stat than some of the other vehicles do.

Now onto the middle stats section. These stats don’t affect your combat but play a huge role during RnG events:

2:07 Wits

Wits determines how well a character is able to think on the spot. This can potentially save you from negative consequences - turning failure into success.

2:15 Attitude

Attitude is how friendly or cooperative the character is and this affects morale. A good attitude protects you from losing morale whereas a low attitude makes it harder to increase and you’re more likely to get into arguments with others while driving.

2:27 COOL IT and SAY IT DON'T SPRAY IT

If you have a character with 1 or less points in Wits and Attitude or if the character is Irritating or BERSERK they will get the option to yell 'COOL IT' or 'SAY IT DON'T SPRAY IT'. during dialogue action but this normally ends badly and can even kill off the character! The game keeps a tally of how often you’ve selected this option during a run and after 3 attempts you’ll get the chance to say “COOL IT!!!” or "SAY IT, DON'T SPRAY IT!!!" with 3 exclamation points and this is ALWAYS beneficial!

Since it’s risky to pick the COOL IT option, it’s recommended to build up your first 3 uses in a Trader Camp. First do all the shopping you want and then return to a trader who you can yell Cool It to. Except for the Weapon Fanatic, the worst anyone will do is kick you out of the Trader Camp rather than all the other nasty effects found in roadside events.

3:13 Composure

Composure is your ability to remain cool under pressure in stressful situations, and safeguards against meltdowns.

3:19 Loyalty

Low Loyalty can cause a character to sell the party out to bandits where high loyalty might cause them to risk their life to help out.

With low Loyalty (2 or less), amorale and selfish acts will actually increase your morale whereas altruistic or kind acts will lower morale.

Also note that with low enough Composure and Loyalty, you get the option to rob some people.

Some Rare Characters you’ll meet on your journey to Canada may have other negative effects like damaging the group, hostile events, or causing someone to die. Be sure to sub and check out the links in the description for more info on rare characters.

3:50 Perks and Traits

Visiting the Unlocks area will allow you to spend those Zombo Points you’ve been collecting on your journey. Be sure to talk to EVERYONE here. Some options even give you FREE ZP to spend!

4:07 Must Have Trait (Civilized)

If you can’t find what you’re looking for right away, just keep buying unlocks until it becomes available. A MUST have trait is Civilized. This thing gives the character superhuman Wits, Attitude, Composure, and Loyalty and afforded my party easy solutions to most random events on the road. A civilized person's morale can never go above the midpoint so do your best to keep them happy! This character's charm also lets them get free training and stuff from traders and events. Try pairing this trait with another important support Perk like surgeon or maybe mechanic to make a wicked support character!

4:34 Custom Characters

Making custom characters is important for a couple reasons. First off, you will know their perks and traits right off the bat. Second, you have a chance of running into them on the road and they never ask for food to be recruited!

Since fighting zombies is almost unavoidable, I found it helpful to unlock traits which increase strength and/or fitness like Warrior, Ultrafit, and Specialist.

Some perks that help you get strong and fit are: Athlete, Big Bruiser, Ex Wrestler, Fighter, Hidden Potential, Martial Artist, Ultrafit, and Mega Buff. Many of these make fighting more manageable and Martial Artists have a sick unarmed attack that can hit 2 zombies at a time!

After you have a solid fighting squad, check out the links in the description to find your next favourite Perks and Traits, there are some creative and cool synergies out there.

Helpful Links (Wiki/Fandom Pages)

Stats[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Traits[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Perks[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]
Rare Characters[deathroadtocanada.fandom.com]