Survivor's Guide to DayZ SA
by NeedsFoodBadly (official DayZ forums) / BossGalaga (Steam)

"WARNING: This game is early access alpha. Please do not purchase it unless you want to actively support development of the game and are prepared to handle with serious issues and possible interruption of game functioning."

This is stated in the game's description that hopefully you read before you purchased it and it's also stated in-game when you run it.

Due to this you may experience several bugs related to hunger/thirst, blood regeneration, random unconsciousness, zombies clipping through walls/geometry, getting stuck and items not combining/working to name a few. You should expect regular updates, character wipes and server restarts.

If you played the DayZ mod for Arma II you may notice changes to hunger/thirst mechanics as well as features from the mod not yet present in DayZ SA.

This guide contains basic tips and suggestions for new players. This is by no means a definitive guide for "How to win at DayZ." DayZ is a sandbox survival game. Don't be afraid to just start walking in any direction or to say hello to other players you meet in game. The worst thing that can happen is you die and respawn…and even that isn't so bad.

DayZ began as an independent mod for Arma II, created by Dean "Rocket" Hall. DayZ SA takes place in a roughly 230 kilometer map. This is not a "twitch" shooter and it's not Left4Dead. It is an extreme survival simulation…with zombies.

In DayZ you play the role of a survivor, featuring a persistent character and permadeath. What this means is that you can switch servers at any time and whatever gear you have on you will remain across servers. If you die, you respawn as a normal survivor with default gear, i.e. flashlight/basic clothes.

As a new survivor (or a respawn) you will spawn randomly along the coastline of Chernarus, either on the south or east coast.

The first thing you should do is familiarize yourself with the basic controls. You can access these from the menu (esc) and selecting controls-assignments. Additional controls can be accessed from the dropdown at the top of the control assignment menu. You can reconfigure the controls based on your own personal preferences.

The main things to know starting out are how to switch between run/walk mode (default: shift/w-twice to run, shift twice to change mode), prone/crouch/stand (default: z/x/c), vault/jump (default: v), raise item/weapon (default: spacebar), use/activate item/climb up/down (default: f, scrollwheel to select between multiple actions), attack/fire (default: mouse1), zoom (default: mouse2) and inventory (default: tab).

Most DayZ veterans recommend new spawns should move inland as soon as they can. You won't find many supplies on the coast and it generally makes you a nearly defenseless target for bandits and zombies when you're just starting out.

With nothing held, you can ready your fists with spacebar (default) and punch with mouse1. Generally speaking though, you want to avoid fist fights with zombies or other players as you will most likely sustain damage and start off in bad shape or dead.

You can crouch, prone or just walk to avoid the attention of zombies. Running will attract their attention but if you see one you and they're already coming after you, you probably should run.

Be aware though that running will make you hungry/thirsty quicker than walking.

Avoid towns/military camps/airfields near the coastline. They are usually camped by bandits and zombies that have a tendency to spawn out of nowhere.

Don't be afraid of the dark, scary woods as you usually won't meet a lot of zombies out there if any.

The first thing to do is determine your direction. There are tools in-game to help with this, such as the compass, gps, maps, etc. but if you don't have any of these you can use the northern star/cloud/sun cues as well. See the link below for basic navigation tips:

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Navigating

Note: Currently, compasses do not glow in the dark like they did in the original DayZ mod, however if you hold it in your hand and then open your inventory, the compass will show with what direction you're facing. The long line on the compass indicates north. Also, the DayZ wiki at gamepedia is still in process of changing over from the DayZ mod to DayZ SA so some information in the wiki, may still be throwback to the DayZ mod or talk about features that haven't been fully implemented in DayZ SA yet.

If you're near the edge of a town, look for signs on the road going out or in to the town for the town name. Just be aware that these names will be in Russian, i.e. if you're in the town of Bor the signs will actually read "Бор."

If you don't mind spoilers, then take a look at the interactive map here and familiarize yourself with Chernarus. Once you know where you are you can plan where you want to go next.

http://www.dayzdb.com/map

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Chernarus%2B

A good goal for new survivors is to find a small town and look for water, food and general loot.

Some good items to keep a lookout for are clothes with extra inventory slots, backpacks, refillable water bottle/canteen, food, drinks and weapons.

You generally won't find guns in towns but you may find items like a splitting axe. Once you have at least a basic splitting axe you will at least be able to handle zombies one on one.

Currently, there are some issues with loot not respawning on servers unless the server is restarted however you can log out of your current server, select another server and then loot the town again if it hasn't been looted on that server already too. While this isn't necessarily in the spirit of the game and I wouldn't recommend it normally, it's a work-around for heavily looted servers at the moment. Alternatively, there are some servers that are running server restarts every X hours, to work around the loot respawn issue. You may try finding one of those servers to play on.

If you're having trouble picking an item up, while close to it open your inventory (default: tab) and on the left you will see a 'vicinity' box. From there you can drag items you don't want to vicinity or drag items from vicinity to your inventory.

The first conditions you will experience in DayZ SA, especially if you've been running around are hunger and thirst. When you first spawn you will already be hungry and thirsty. Towns are usually good places to find food however you're usually more likely to find rotten fruit. It is highly recommended you not eat rotten fruit as it will cause more problems than the hunger.

If you eat rotten fruit, it will make you sick.

You may find various canned foods and sodas. Some food items (including some can food items) can be opened without a tool by simply right clicking on them and select open from the context menu however, many canned items require a can opener or other tool to open.

To open them, drag a can opener, axe, knife or similar object on top of the canned food item then select open from the context menu. Using something besides a can opener may slightly damage or "spill" some of the food out. (Personally, I wouldn't be too proud to lick beans off of the floor)

Don't' worry about conserving food and water too much. The more you eat and drink, the longer you will be able to go without being pestered by hunger/thirst messages. You will get a message in-game if you're feeling full or over-fed. You should stop eating/drinking at that point to avoid getting sick.

When full (It will say "Healthy" on the inventory screen), you should begin regenerating blood (health). This may be currently bugged at the moment though.

You can find water in forest streams or from spigots in towns. If you can you should find a water bottle or canteen. Canteens can usually be found around military camps. Plastic bottles can be found in various towns.

If you tangle with a zombie or another player and make it out alive but bleeding, you can select a shirt from your inventory and right click and select tear into rags from the context menu. These rags can then be applied to stop bleeding.

If you have an alcohol tincture or disinfectant spray it is recommended to use this before applying a rag or a bandage.

Be aware, that alcohol tincture is currently bugged and will give you a "sick" status message after using which will resolve after a short period of time.

There is a chance when wounded to get infected, which can be treated with antibiotics or vitamins however infected status may not display properly. There are other ways to cure infection which are not currently implemented.

Other status effects may require more serious medical attention. Be aware, that not all status effects and treatment for status effects have been fully implemented yet.

A new mechanic for DayZ SA are how blood bags work. Blood bags can be used to restore blood to a player however these generally require various medical supplies and a blood test kit to find out your blood type or another player's blood type. If you do not do a blood type test on yourself or another player, the blood may not be compatible. This feature is still a work in progress as well.

You can read more about hunger/thirst and other status effects including bleeding/broken bones/etc. here:

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Status_Effects

Okay, okay…so you want to know about guns. Generally, these can be found along with various weapon attachments in military camps or airfields. Bolota which can be found along the southern coastline is a popular one. However, it's also popular for bandits and you will also have to deal with some zombies spawning there as well.

The other two popular spots are NWAF (North Western Airfield) and NEAF (North Eastern Airfield), however there are many other military camps peppered throughout Chernarus.

Once you find a gun, you will still need a compatible magazine and bullets for it as well.

You should be aware that firing guns may attract zombies/more zombies as well as alert other survivors to your position.

You will find all sorts of survivors in the wastes of Chernarus. The type of survivor you're most likely to encounter is the bandit. They will either KoS (kill/shoot on sight) or may feign friendliness in order to get you to let your guard down. Working in groups, one may greet you and try to talk to you while another attacks you from behind. Some may even kill you just for fun even if it's apparent you have nothing of value.

You can give another player a friendly salute (default: f1) or raise both hands to signal you're just giving up.

You may also encounter blood bandits, players who will capture you alive usually using handcuffs to forcibly take your blood for use in blood transfusions. They may either employ a catch and release program or just take your blood and then kill you too.

Note: Logging out while captured or unconscious will cause you to die/respawn. If you are unconscious and wish to respawn immediately you can also do so by opening the menu and selecting respawn.

You may also encounter lawful or ambivalent players or groups. A group may accept you as a member or may just be passing through and not want any trouble. They may tell you to drop any weapon you're carrying and may steal some items too.

Sometimes, someone may offer to group with you and at some later point or when you find some good loot, betray you and kill you.

There isn't really any black or white in how you choose to play the game or how others do. The choices you make are up to you.

Currently, there don't appear to be any game mechanics implemented that reward or punish player interactions but there may be some type of karma system implemented later.

Seriously, get off the coast. To sum up, DayZ is a work in progress and again, this guide isn't definitive but it should get you off on the right foot. Now, go have fun, eat some beans and explore Chernarus!

If you have any suggestions on changes/additions to this guide or general comments feel free to comment!

Additional Resources:

DayZDB Map
http://www.dayzdb.com/map

DayZ Wiki
http://dayz.gamepedia.com

Official DayZ Forums
http://forums.dayzgame.com/