With a name like DayZ, you would expect zombies to be the biggest threat the game has to offer. They’re close, but we still feel like players are the scariest creatures roaming around Chernarus, and that’s why we’ve spent countless hours helping you survive them. Bandits aside though, the zombie problem in DayZ is real, and it doesn’t help that they have eagle eyes, can clip through walls, and are prone to d-syncing like an online gamer with a dial-up connection. Lucky for you, we’ve been there and done that, and here are some tips we’ve picked up to help you survive the hoards of undead.
Run for Your Life
When you first spawn into the game you’re not going to have anything but your fists to fight zombies with, and given the current state of the servers, that’s a horrible option. It’s only a matter of time before you take three or four hits from an undead monster that appears to be looking the other way on your screen, but is somehow actually behind you tearing the flesh from your bones.
Your best bet is to simply move with some measure of stealth, trying to stay out of their line of sight. If you do hear one flip its biscuits and tear off after you, don’t bother trying to hide in a building… zombies can walk through walls. Don’t even bother trying to hide upstairs… Bohemia was able to fix it so zombies could climb those, but apparently not stop them from ghosting through solid objects.
When a zombie sees you and you don’t have a melee weapon, run away. Don’t run through town, run into the hills and trees. They will absolutely pursue you, but they can’t catch you when you’re sprinting, and soon enough they’ll give up the chase and you’ll be home free. Well… aside from bandits that is.
Go Rick Grimes on Them
Let’s say you have a melee weapon or a gun with plenty of ammunition. In that case we advise that you kill your zombie stalkers, then get back to the business of finding your Press Vest. However, we will never condone shooting them. They are easy enough to kill with a Firefighter Axe, Splitting Axe or Machete, and the sound of gunfire attracts too much attention (from both the living and nearby undead). By taking them out quietly you avoid all forms of unwanted attention.
To kill a Zed, take out your (preferably bladed) melee weapon, raise your fists (Spacebar) and enter into the first-person view (Enter). If you were lucky enough to sneak up on them, target their head and drop them with one precision strike. If they saw you and are charging like your favorite aunt the moment she spots you each holiday season, let them get close and then side-step their attack like a bullfighter. Their momentum will carry them past you and give you a chance to attack them from behind. Don’t ever try to take them out while standing in front of them, the d-sync (lag) can be so bad that even when they don’t connect you’ll end up taking damage. This is a particularly sensitive subject for us since we managed to ruin two pristine Riders Jackets in about two hours of in-game time.
The only time we would advise shooting zombies is if you are on an empty server, have a lot of backup, or are simply outnumbered. Staying quiet is all well and good, but taking damage is not a good tradeoff. You can also use zombies to dial in your scope. Let’s say you’re perched on a rock overlooking Novo and want to get a solid idea of how far away the Police Station is. Use a nearby Zed to figure out the distance, then wait for a bandit to put your calculations to good use.
As always, we here at Prima Games plan to keep pumping out the DayZ content as fast as we can make it. Make sure to check back often, and love of all that is post-apocalyptic, find yourself a Firefighter Axe.
