In this guide I will be going over gameplay, characters, items, weapons, crafting, achievements, quests, and basically anything else I can currently think of. You can share, post elsewhere, I don't care. It is literally just a steam guide.

If you wish for me to add something or notice I made a mistake somewhere feel free to correct me or ask to add it and I will as well as credit you for the info. I am still checking and adding things as necessary with a few small things being finished.

Obviously Spoilers, this is a guide, although achievements give away pretty much everything anyway.

EDIT 4/26/2020
Filled in a few missing things.

All Characters you can find in the game are actually listed under the challenges section in game. I will go over that in more detaI later in the guide. Here is everyone you can get and how. Almost all encounters are random. I've had a play through where some characters never showed up and one where everyone showed up.

Main Character
Class
First Playthrough
- Student
Starts with nothing
Second Playthrough Possible unlocks
- Soldier
1 point in melee, assault rifle, survival : Uzi, 30 rounds brass
- Medic
1 point melee, medic, medical : medical supplies
- Bodyguard
1 point melee, shotgun, cunning : shotgun, 10 rounds brass
- Engineer
1 point melee, engineer, crafts : engineering supplies

These four classes can be unlocked with medals you can achieve throughout your first playthrough. More details on medals in the achievements section.

Trish
Bartender
NPC that mostly points out quest oppertunities that pop up.

Sheriff
NPC basically same as Trish

Merchant
NPC that does what his name entails. Has a shop you can sell and buy from.

Hank
Quest "Hanks Better Half" or
Given by Trish or given by Lydia
First one he starts with you. Second one you have to find him.

Lydia
Quest "Hanks Better Half" or
Given by Trish or given by Lydia.
Found during first quest. Starts with you on second.

Bill
Randomly joins the community

Jennifer
Quest "The Jealous Ex"
Given by Trish
I believe if you don't get her before getting James you get a quest from James to find her. Not sure. Haven't had this happen yet.

Jamal
Quest "Drunken Soldier"
Given by Trish

Liz
Quest "Meeting at Night"
Given by Trish
Quest "Treason" Trish gets stabbed and you need to banish a survivor from your camp. It seems to always be Liz. I haven't had it be anyone else.

Larissa

Quest given by Trish

Must Complete "The Radio Tower"

James
Quest "Call For Help 1"
Given by Trish

Mary
Quest "Call for Help 2"
Given by Trish

Mason

Quest given by Trish

Sharon

Quest given by Mason

Terence
Aquired during story quest "A Trap"

Ammo
- Tier 1
Rifle Ammo Brass
Pistol Ammo Brass
Shotgun Ammo Brass
Engineering Supplies
- Tier 2
Armor Upgrade
Weapon Upgrade
Shotgun Ammo Steel
Rifle Ammo Steel
Pistol Ammo Steel
- Tier 3
Rifle Ammo Gold + Fire
Shotgun Ammo Gold + Fire
Pistol Ammo Gold + Fire

Gear
- Tier 1
Cap
Undershirt
Hand Brace
Casual Pants
Flip Flops
+1 Stat
Tobogan
Shirt
Gardening Gloves
Jeans
Sneakers
- Tier 2
+ 2 Stats
Bicycle Helmet
Jacket
Fingerless Gloves
Camoflauge Pants
Leather Boots
- Tier 3
+ 3 Stats
Helmet
Survival Vest
Combat Gloves
S.W.A.T. Pants
Combat Boots

Weapons
- Tier 1
Club
Glock
Shotgun
Uzi
+ 1 stat
Steel Plated Club
P9
Combat Shotgun
MP5
- Tier 2
+ 2 stats
Baseball Bat
Revolver
SPA Shotgun
AK 47
- Tier 3
+ 3 Stats
Night Stick
Colt
Military Shotgun
AK 47-2

Medical
- Tier 1
Small Medkit - 30%
Medical Supplies
- Tier 2
Medium Medkit - 50%
Small Reflex Syringe - 50% blocking
Small Healing Syringe - 5% for 4 turns
- Tier 3
Large Medkit - 100%
Reflex Syringe - 75% Blocking
Healing Syringe - 10% for 4 turns

Universal
Materials
Tools

Ammo
Bullet Casings
Gas
Gold
Steel
Trap Parts

Gear
Old Cloth
New Cloth
Leather
Military Cloth

Weapons
Old Weapon Parts
New Weapon Parts
Rare Weapon Parts
Military Weapon Parts

Medical
Bandages
Serum
Syringe

In all honesty you can reach literally anything no matter what you click into with the only exeption being choosing where to travel to. Whether you click onto Cantina, Jobs, or Challenges they all open up a notebook with tabs on the left and right sides that take you everywhere you'd need to go.

"Inv" or Inventory tab allows you to view a characters currrent equipment as well as what you have collected. Each slot is pictured showing what gear goes where and weapons. While in the "Inv" screen you will need to also click the "Gear" tab on the upper right to see what equipment you have to swap in and out. The arrows next to the character name swaps you between characters.

With the "Gear" tab checked you can click any slot on your character and (unless it bugs) will only show what can be put into that slot if you have anything to begin with. So clicking the nightstick which is melee weapons would sort the right side of the notebook to only show melee weapons you have to be able to equip. Clicking the backpack icon shows everything you have. Weapons, gear, materials etc.

The "Party" tab basically is an overview of all your characters. It is quitre pointless however it can be useful in seeing who you haven'ty assigned a job to yet. In this screen an icon of the job you selected will appear on the right side next to the character HP/EXP gauge.

The "Shop" tab brings you to your local Merchant. Every three days you can select the "New Wares" icon to refresh and update his supply.

The "Stats" tab keeps track of just about everything you've done. It shows your current playthrough statistics as well as your best run. The other cool thing is on the right side it will list "Challenges". These are literally every achievement in the game layed out for you in game. Each one is labled with medals which are awarded for completing the challenge. Medals can be used to unlock some helpful stuff on your next playthrough. Do note it only counts for your current save game. If you switched to a different save slot it does not carry over that way.

The "Med Help" tab lists all healing items you currently have. For some odd annoying reason the max amount of HP items you can carry is 6.

The "Combat Skill" tab shows all the different skills useful in combat. Each have their own strengths so try and be diverse with your characters. Having a mix of abilities pays off. Do note that strength and intelligence are used for some events in the game. Melee increases STR by 1 point for each block you pick and INT is increased by 3 for each point in engineer.

The "Job Skills" tab shows the different skills that effect the different jobs you can assign your survivors.

"Survival" effects the "Hunter" and "Blacksmith" jobs and also gives a better pass on survival based events while traveling.

"Crafts" effects the "Outfitter" and "Gunsmith" jobs allowing more powerful gear and weapons to be made.

"Medical" effects the "Doctor" job as well as giving a better pass on medical based events while traveling.

"Cunning" effects the "Guard" job protecting your base from threats both living and dead as well as give a better pass on cunning events like lockpicking.

The last tab "Cantina" will bring up your quest list showing only what you currently have. You don't have to always come check this as you can also see the quests you have if you go to the travel screen before you pick somewhere to go.

Here I'm listing every enemy I've encountered in each area. I won't go into detail on the enemies as you can hover your mouse over the name in game to get a full on description of the enemy as well as the stats and any special moves. Because the lvls of the enemies can change the stats do differ along with what difficulty you are playing on.

Highway Day

Bitten Police Officer
Bitten Pedestrian
Infected Police Officer
Raging Vagrant
Suit
Undead Nurse
Underhanded Suit
Unsteady Vagrant
Zombie Cheerleader
Zombie Leader

Area Boss
Infected Major
Undead Grenadier
Infected Soldier

Highway Night

Bitten Police Officer
Bitten Pedestrian
Infected Police Officer
Raging Vagrant
Suit
Undead Nurse
Underhanded Suit
Unsteady Vagrant
Zombie Cheerleader
Zombie Leader

Area Boss
Infected Major
Undead Grenadier
Undead Soldier

Woods Day

Bitten Police Officer
Bitter Pedestrian
Darkwolf
Head Nurse
Infected Police Officer
Infected Prisoner
Infected Sooldier
Rager
Undead Wolf
Underhanded Suit
Unsteady Vagrant
Zombie Cheerleader
Zombie Leader

Area Boss
Zombie Butcher
Darkwolf
Undead Wolf

Woods Night

Bitten Pedestrian
Darkwolf
Head Nurse
Infected Grenadier
Infected Nun
Infected Police Officer
Infected Prisoner
Infected Soldier
Rabid Prisoner
Rager
Undead Nurse
Undead Wolf
Underhanded Suit
Unsteady Vagrant
Waking Prisoner
Zombie Cheerleader
Zombie Leader

Area Boss
Zombie Butcher
Darkwolf
Undead Wolf

The City Day

Head Nurse
Hideous Rager
Infected Civilian
Infected Nun
Infected Patient
Infected Police Officer
Rabid Prisoner
Raging Vagrant
Undead Assassin
Undead Brawler
Undead Civilian
Undead Groupie
Undead Gunfighter
Undead Hobo
Undead Scavenger
Waking Prisoner

Area Boss
Zombie Clown
Undead Brawler
Undead Assassin

The City Night

Bitten Police Officer
Head Nurse
Hideous Rager
Infected Civilian
Infected Nun
Infected Patient
Infected Police Officer
Rager
Raging Vagrant
Undead Assassin
Undead Brawler
Undead Civilian
Undead Groupie
Undead Gunfighter
Undead Hobo
Undead Scavenger
Waking Prisoner

Area Boss
Zombie Clown
Undead Brawler
Undead Assassin

Desert Day
Punk Assassin
Punk Avenger
Punk Botanist
Punk Grenadier
Punbk Warrior
German Shephard

Area Boss
Dexter
Punk Botonist
Punk

Desert Night

Chainsaw Butcher
Head Nurse
Hideous Rager
Infected Civilian
Infected Patient
Infected Soldier
Undead Brawler
Undead Cowboy
Undead Cowgirl
Undead Grenadier
Undead Groupie
Undead Lab Assistant
Undead Scavenger
Undead Scientist
Undead Soldier

Area Boss
Titan

Randomly Encountered at borders/military encampments
Soldier
Lieutenant

Randomly Encountered in most events during travels
Living Scavengers/Punks
Living Civilians

The game is pretty basic. You try to survive day to day aquiring new survivors when possible, assigning jobs, and just farming whatever area you need specific mats from. At times you can be easily overwhelmed. Nothing like getting a night quest that you have to do solo day one.

PLAN AHEAD

Don't just throw points when you level up all over the place. When you get a new survivor decide what you want them to do. Some come with points already placed more so in certain skills and sticking with those skills is usually the better point saving option. For example focus one survivor on the cunning skill and one combat skill and the same for the rest of the job skills for other survivors. Diversity is helpful especially when you can have all the jobs covered.

Also take a look at the different abilities in each combat tree you can unlock. All of your party members should at least have breakthrough from the melee skill. This reduces enemy armor by 75% for 2 turns. Also have one get up to the eliminator skill. This allows you to KO non immune targets for 2 turns and if you have someone with ground volley from AR you'll do a nice high damage combo.

Another good skill to get is Medic to lvl 3 to be able to heal 10% to a team member. You use Medical Supplies for this skill however, if doing a 20 area run and low on medkits, tied with the eliminator skill from melee you can KO one opponent after wiping the others then heal, KO when he gets up, heal again. Beneficial when close to the end of an area and desperately need healing.

Read all the different abilities and pick what fits best for you.

PICK TWO TO MAIN WITH

Obviously your main dish is taking a slot so as soon as you can make 2 more survivors your go to party. Try and have them focused in different things. EX. main is focused on melee and survival, next is focused on Assault Rifles and medical while the last one is shotguns and cunning. This setup covers quite a wide area in skills and event checks. All new/good gear should go to your main character first followed by the next two. If you have to swap one out for a quest move the gear over.

MEDICAL JOB LVL 2

Do try to get a survivor to Job Skill Medical lvl 2 as early as possible. Being able to make medkits that heal 50% is IMO the best hp item in the game. 100% is nice however I don't believe it's worth the materials and depending on difficulty I doubt you would want to risk letting your survivors get so low in health to make it worth using. You can find free ones now and then.

CRAFTING GOOD GEAR

I haven't played on hardcore much but good gear is a god send. Get a survivor craft up and start making high end tier 1 or tier 2 stuff for your peeps. Never make the basic stuff with old weapon parts as they are base weapons with no extra stats making them useless. Tier three is harder to make as resources are almost non existant until late game. Leather cloth and tools can be found in Woods Night making the farm not as time consuming when you have a few free days.

GUARDS!!!

Guards are essential to the game. They reduce the possibility of being robbed during the night. If your guards aren't high enough in skill its still possible to be raided and lose some items. You'll just lose less then if you had no guards. Once you get a lvl 3 guard you'll have almost nothing to worry about. Just make sure to try and assign 3 survivors in the guard job each night later in the game. With a lvl 3 guard and 2 others I never got raided. Attacked but never successfully raided.

Because the RNG is crazy every playthrough you may find difficult situations unique to your game. So keep an eye on things and think before clicking randomly. On casual you shouldn't have any problems even if you get a night mission day one. Normal and Hardcore especially are where RNG may definately decide your fate that game.

SIDE WITH SURVIVORS/COMPLETE SURVIVOR MISSIONS

This seems like something one would always do regardless, but I've found out (making my own mistakes and running out of time) that if you skip a survivor quest/request they can die or leave and kill another survivor. An example is Jamal. If you don't do his quest when he first appears he shoots himself. Liz's quest involving her AK if you complete it but don't give her the gun she leaves and kills a fellow survivor.

Challenges are achievements in the game. They also reward medals that can be used once you complete or die in your game. You'll be given the option to make another attempt or upgrade.
Clicking the upgrade option takes you to a skill screen of 4 different classes for your main character. Besides the classes you can get bonus startings stats, stronger starting base weapons with no stats, higher starting lvl specific to chosen class, and even more tools/materials to start with. As far as I can tell every bonus you grab with the medals applies to all characters no matter what you pick. The only difference I've noticed is starting weapons and starting lvl that is specific to the class you pick. Foor instance the soldier skill tree has starting soldier job lvl 4. If you pick that class you'll start at lvl 4. Any other class would not unless you grabbed it in that classes specific tree.

Max Medals you can get 127. 85 in Story Challenges and 42 in Combat Challenges.

Combat Challenges 39
All of the combat challenges can be aquired just by playing the game. It is still possible to miss some due to only appearing in events that you fail in. Check the Area and Enemies section if you can't find certain enemies for the challenges.

Bitten Pedestrian Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Bitten Pedestrians

Bitten Pedestrian Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Bitten Pedestrians

Boss Fighter - 3 Medals
Defeat 3 Bosses - Must clear Area 20 of any zone 3 times

Cheerleader Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Cheerleader

Cheerleader Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Cheerleader

Cowboy Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Cowboys - Can only be done once you unlock Desert Night

Cowboy Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Cowboys - Can only be done once you unlock Desert Night

Hound Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 German Shephards

Hound Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 German Shephards

Patient Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Infected Patients

Patient Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Infected Patients

Prisoner Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Prisoners

Prisoner Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Prisoners

Punk Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Punks

Punk Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Punks

Rager Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Ragers

Rager Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Ragers

Scavenger Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Scavengers

Scavenger Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Scavengers

Soldier Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Soldiers - Can only be done at borders/military posts after failed event or attack

Soldier Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Soldiers - Can only be done at borders/military posts after failihg event or attack

Undead Civilian Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Civilian Fighters

Undead Civilian Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Civilians

Undead Cop Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Cops

Undead Cop Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Cops

Undead Punk fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Punks

Undead Punk Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Punks

Undead Scavenger Fighter -1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Scavengers

Undead Scavenger Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Scavengers

Undead Scientist Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Undead Scientists - Can only be done after unlocking Desert Night

Undead Scientist Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Scientists - Can only be done after unlocking Desert Night

Undead Soldier fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 undead Soldiers

Undead Soldier Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Undead Soldiers

Wallstreet Shark - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Suits

Wallstreet Assassin - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Suits

Wave Rider - 1 Medal
Survive 3 encounters in which attackers approached in waves

Wave Fighter - 1 Medal
Survive 10 encounters which attackers approached in waves

Wolf Fighter - 1 Medal
Defeat 3 Wolves

Wolf Killer - 1 Medal
Defeat 10 Wolves

Story Challenges - 85 Medals
These are all story related challenges referencing advancment in the game, multiple endings, and survivors.

Civilian's Protector - 2 Medals
Rescue 3 Civilians

Civilian's Savior - 3 Medals
Rescue 6 Civilians

Civilian's Hero - 4 Medals
Rescue 10 Civilians

Craft Rookie - 1 Medal
Craft an item

Craft Adept - 2 Medals
Craft 3 Items

Craft Master - 3 Medals
Craft 6 items

Resilient - 1 Medal
Turn down 3 offers made by the hungry family - The hungry family is a random encounter after a day has passed. Getting this one and the other 2 are most likely going to take several playthroughs
I've gotten them only once so far.

Family Samaritan - 2 Medals
Accept 2 trade deals made by the hungry family

Family Bleeding Heart - 3 Medals
Accept 4 trade offers made by the hungry family

Shop Newbie - 1 Medal
Make a purchase at the shop

Shop Regular - 2 Medals
Buy 3 things at the shop

Shop Expert - 3 Medals
Buy 6 objects at the shop

Survivor - 1 Medal
Survive for 3 days

Survival Expert - 2 Medals
Survive for 10 or more days

Survive Master - 2 Medals
Survived until day 20

Survival Grandmaster - 3 Medals
Survived until day 33

Survivor Bill - 2 Medals
Bill reaches camp alive

Survivor Hank - 2 Medals
Hank reaches camp alive

Survivor Jamal - 2 Medals
Jamal reaches camp alive

Survivor James - 2 Medals
James reaches camp alive

Survivor Jennifer - 2 Medals
Jennifer reaches camp alive

Survivor Larissa - 2 Medals
Larissa reaches camp alive

Survivor Liz - 2 Medals
Liz reaches camp alive

Survivor Lydia - 2 Medals
Lydia reaches camp alive

Survivor Mary - 2 Medals
Mary reaches camp alive

Survivor Mason - 2 Medals
Mason reaches camp alive

Survivor Sharon - 2 Medals
Sharon reaches camp alive

Survivor Terence - 2 Medals
Terence reaches camp alive

Unromanceable - 2 Medals
Complete the game without falling in love - Don't pick anyone

Romance Jennifer - 2 Medals
Complete the game in love with Jennifer - On day 32 you are tasked with choosing someone to spend the day with. Pick Jennifer and complete the ensuing mission.

Romance Larissa - 2 Medals
Complete the game in love with Larissa - Same as above. Make sure you do any missions involving these ladies in their favor just to be safe.

Romance Lydia - 2 Medals
Complete the game in love with Lydia - Same as above

Failed Ending 1 - 3 Medals
Unlock the Early ending on day 20 - Just fail the quest "The Radio Tower"

Failed Ending 2 - 3 Medals
Unlock the early ending in the desert - In the quest "Its a Trap" just die

Failed Ending 3 - 3 Medals
Unlock the ending in which you fail to reach the bunker - self explanatory

Successful Ending 1 - 3 Medals
Unlock the bare minimum success ending - Don't kill Dexter and don't get the secret weapon

Successful Ending 2 - 3 Medals
Complete with game and defeat the punks - I'm 100% sure that is a typo. "with" should be "the" Just defeat Dexter to achieve this.

Successful Ending 3 - 3 Medals
Complete the game and save the world - After making it to the bunker continue on with Terence in your party and complete area 20 of the desert. Ending 2 and 3 can be achieved at the same time.