I'm not a comedian and I don't have any clever hooks, so I'm just going to preface this guide by getting right into the meat and potatoes. DayZ isn't so much a game as it is an underground social experiment. If there was ever a real apocalypse you can bet people would act the same in way in real life as they do in game - in other words - be prepared to be shot in the back and have your bloody corpse raided. Now without further stalling for time, I give you the guide.


**This is a fairly lengthy guide with over 20 sections and 80+ images. In Steam Overlay it can take awhile to load, especially on a slower connection (I'm working with base 768k DSL.) If you decide to use this while playing I advise pre-loading it right away before you get started.**

• Fresh spawn

When first starting the game you will spawn somewhere on the coastline of Chernarus+ (the name of the game's world. From here on out I will only refer to it as Chernarus, not Chernarus+. Saying the plus every time is annoying.) Your spawn will be somewhere between Chernogorsk all the way to Svetlojarsk (now excluding Elektrozavodsk.) For reference here's the DayZ Map[dayzdb.com]. I'd take a minute to look over the map, getting an idea of where the cities and what their names are. A few inland spawns have been added, they are: Klen, Chernaya Polana, Orlovets, and inland Berezino. You may not be able to immediately use the coastline as a guide if you're here, so find a sign as quickly as possible to see where you are. This is an absolutely monstrous[i.imgur.com] map, so prepare before running around all nilly in the woods.


This is what your character will look like when you first start your journey on Chernarus. Lots of work to be done, many places to see, and many zombies and players to be slaughtered along the way.

• Basic Controls

The first thing you'll want to do is acclimate yourself to the janky controls* and UI (you'll see what I mean when you start playing.) But for the most part they're standard FPS setup, and the keybinds can be changed in the Configure > Controls > Assignments menu. WASD keys move your character. If you double-tap "W" you can sprint faster. If you press the space bar while standing still you'll raise your hands for attack position. Space bar also raises and lowers anything that's equipped in your hands. In order to attack with any weapon, including fists, your hands must be raised. If you double-tap "W" while your hands are raised you'll run at maximum speed. This technique is known as Punch Running* and is very important to your survival. The Tab key opens your inventory. Left Mouse Button attacks. Right Mouse Button while having a weapon equipped will aim you down the sights (or scope) of the gun. Pressing and holding RMB will put you into zoom mode, which you can use while running. The (Q) and (E) keys allows you to lean left and right (or roll when prone) so you can get a better view around corners, without exposing your whole body. For other basic controls you have a crouch position (X), a prone position (Z) to keep yourself hidden, (C) is stand up from either, and (V) is for jumping over small fences and other things. Pressing the (Enter) key will switch between 1st and 3rd person view modes (depending on the server type.) For more information on view modes see the Server Browser Filtering section. The default action key is (F) and it's used for picking up stuff, opening doors, etc. The scroll wheel brings up the "action" menu, allowing you to choose from multiple things to do at once in your vicinity, ie, reload your weapon, open a door, drink from well, etc. Press the action key to complete the action. If you're having a hard time getting an action to work or can't figure out how to operate something, scroll the wheel to see what's available.

*As of patch .44 the mouse controls have been greatly improved.
*Punch running was supposedly "fixed," in that running with a weapon is now the same speed as punch running. However it appears it's still bugged, and so far our test results show that sometimes punch running is faster, and sometimes it's not. I still punch run all the time anyway out of habit.

• Basic Inventory Management

The clothes you are wearing will determine how much stuff you can carry with you. At the start of the game you only have some plain pants that hold 4 inventory items. To use an item from your inventory (like eating food) simply right click the item and choose "eat", or whatever the context of the menu is. The inventory also has a drag and drop system. By that I mean if you want to open a can of beans, you'll need to drag a can opener from your inventory over top of a can you want to open, then choose "open" from the menu. You also load ammo into magazines this way, add batteries to flashlights, and combine stacks of items, etc.. Items can also be dragged into your hands from within the inventory screen. Anything in your inventory can also be placed on your hotbar by dragging it down to the button you want, for quick access later. The (~) key turns the hotbar visibility on and off. Here's an example of some of the things you'll get in your inventory, and how the clothes system works:













Items in the "Vicinity" section of the inventory screen are any items that are nearby you on the ground. You can drag and drop them into your inventory, and overflow stuff can be dragged back to the vicinity section to drop it. You can also quickly transfer items from vicinity to your inventory by double clicking on the item.

• Familiarize Your Surroundings

As mentioned earlier you spawn somewhere along the coastline, and it's your job to find where you're at. If you don't immediately see any buildings, run forward a bit until you find a road then pick a direction to go and follow along side it, keeping some distance away so you don't get picked off by snipers. If you don't spawn at an inland town instead of the coast, quickly locate a sign. For new players I suggest sticking more towards the East, away from Cherno and the Balota airfield. There are signs on the road leading up to each city, so when you spot one see where you're at then reference the DayZ map.

Once you've figured out the controls enough it's time to forage for supplies. The game keeps track of how much food[8tracks.imgix.net] and water you have in your body, so the first thing you need to do is keep yourself nourished. As of now the only indication you have are different warnings that pop-up saying if you're thirsty or hungry, with a warning label in your inventory screen. Eat and drink as much as you can when you first spawn. When the warnings go away you still need to consume more. After you've had your fill your character will tell you he's stuffed, and eventually you'll get a "Healthy" status in your inventory screen. Don't worry if it doesn't happen right away, it takes a *lot* of food/water. For more information on statuses see the Status Effects & Blood section.

You get your supplies by raiding towns, random houses, military bases, and airfields. When you come to a town sneak up carefully to avoid detection (more on sneaking in the Survival section), and start checking out the houses. A telltale sign of someone being there already is if the all the doors are wide open. Nintey-nine percent of the doors in the game are closed to begin with, so if they're open watch out for other survivors in the area. If the town has been picked clean make your way to the next town. Here are some things you should be looking out for:

• Water/Soda

You already start the game thirsty so it's imperative that you find something to drink right away. Keep your eyes peeled for water bottles, canteens, sodas, and wells. Water bottles and canteens are refillable, so I recommend keeping 2 or 3 on hand just in case. To refill them you must be at a well or pond*, put the bottle or canteen in your hand, then scroll the mouse wheel and a menu on the screen will popup asking if you want to refill. Hit the action button to complete the refill. If it's raining outside you can also catch water in your bottles by right clicking on the item and selecting "catch water," which will refill 1% of your bottle per catch (note: the container must be in your hand to refill with rain.) You may also drink directly from wells and ponds to replenish your thirst.



*Note: As of the current state of the game, drinking pond water has no adverse effects on your character. However, at some point, water that's not collected from a well or the rain will have to be purified so you don't get sick.

• Food Items

When you first start the game you'll want to eat as much food as possible whenever you find it. It's much easier to maintain your character's health if you hit the energized, healthy, and hydrated statuses early on, rather than only eating when your character is hungry.

These are the statuses you should be aiming for:


There are many canned goods to find like tactical bacon, spaghetti, beans, and more. Canned goods require a can opener or some kind of melee weapon to open before consumption. To open and eat your food, drag a can opener to the can and select "Open" from the menu, then right click the food and select "Eat" or "Eat All". Note: canned tuna does not require a can opener, it's cool enough to have a pull tab. One word of caution, the "Eat All" animation takes several seconds to complete, leaving yourself wide open for attacks. Be careful where you decide to have your lunch. Fruits and vegetables (gross, I know. Stupid apocalypse) will also be part of your diet, as well as cereal and rice. Be wary of eating rotten foods, they will make you sick. For more info on statuses see the Status Effects & Blood section.

• Consumables Chart

I'm just going to link the DayZ Wiki here since I don't feel like writing this whole chart out, but this shows you how many uses consumables have, as well as how much water or energy they replenish. Consumables[dayz.gamepedia.com]

• Medical

Medical supplies are used to heal yourself, stop infection, patch up bleeding, and repair broken limbs. The most important thing you can keep on yourself, in my opinion, are bandages/rags to stop bleeding from attacks. Here are the various medical[dayz.gamepedia.com] supplies you can find.

• Clothes

Clothes serve multiple purposes so make sure to check everything you come across. Also, you want to be fashionable for the last lady alive on Chernarus, right? Clothes are your inventory in DayZ. The better clothes you find, the more slots of inventory you can hold. You can find things like hats/helmets, shirts, pants, jackets, hoodies, backpacks, and tactical vests. Headgear, including military helmets, motocross helmets, and cheese helmets don't provide you with more inventory space, however they will help protect you against headshots and melee attacks. Bukzpacks also increase your inventory size by up to 35 squares, depending on the pack. Like the rest of the items in game, clothes have a quality rating from ruined to pristine. I've heard from people that wearing ruined clothes have a chance to randomly drop your gear, but I have yet to actually see this happen for myself. Best not to chance it by wearing ruined stuff, though. At the start of the game I advise to turn your t-shirt into rags for healing. To do this drag the shirt into your inventory, if you have the open slots to hold it. Right click it and select "tear into rags", this will turn your shirt into a stack of two rags. Right click them to use on yourself if you're bleeding. DayZ also has a rudimentary temperature system, so if it gets cold out bundle up or you could get sick. You can tell it's cold out if you can see your breath. For a complete list of clothing, check the clothes[dayz.gamepedia.com] wiki.

DayZ is the official running simulator of the year. You travel, a lot. Running, always running. Sometimes you walk, but you mainly run, with a side of more running. With all this running going on you need a way to figure out where you are and where you're going.




lol nice running.

• Getting Your Bearings

As I've mentioned earlier in the guide, you will need to get an idea where you're at on the map. The easiest way is to quickly locate a town then reference your position on the map[dayzdb.com]. Towns have signs leading into them so check those out to verify where you're at. The sun moves east to west like normal, however given the extreme latitude of the game's world, the sun will always appear somewhere in the south (typically in a southwest-ish location.) Put it to your back and you'll be heading north. In addition, the wind always blows to the east so you can check the direction of cloud movement to get your bearings. And finally when you get the compass you should be all set to explore wherever you want without worry of getting lost.*

*You should check the quality of your compass often, as a ruined or badly damaged compass will point you in the wrong direction and get you lost.

I don't think the compass has any magnets in it.

• Road or not to Road?

Traveling alongside a road is the easiest way to keep track of where you're going. Because of the winding nature of the roads it can sometimes take longer to get to your destination, rather than just cutting off part of it by going through the woods. If you're not comfortable potentially getting lost in the woods with no supplies, stick to the road. However, there's an inherent danger when traveling the roads: bandits. Bandits like to camp in the hills and snipe fresh prey that's running along. The roads are far more open and exposed than the woods, and they leave you an easy target for sniping. Take that into consideration when planning your route to your next destination. If you have a compass on hand, and are decent at deciphering maps, you can make it to where ever you need to go without resorting to the roads.

• Faster Hill Climbs

There are a lot of hills in DayZ, and they're all annoying as hell. Someone on the dev team thought it would be a good idea to make your character run slower than frozen molasses trapped in a bucket of glue when going up hills. It's not realistic, it's annoying. Knock that ♥♥♥♥ off. Anyway, you can help alleviate this by running diagonally up the hill. By zig-zagging your character up hills you can "trick" the game into thinking it's a flat surface and you can run full speed (in most cases.) When I say "diagonally" I don't mean strafing, I mean run straight at the hill, then move the mouse to either the left or right, while still running straight. Find the correct angle and you will move at full speed, then at even intervals, switch the mouse to the opposite direction and keep going. It's kind of nilly but it gets the job done. This is also a good way to avoid zombies because they can't run full speed up hills.

• C Clamp Running

If you're lazy like me and you get sick of holding down the Run key for a million years while you run, try my patented C clamp trick. First go to your keybind settings and change Run to a single tap key. Grab a C clamp and gently clamp down the Run key on your keyboard or gamepad. Enjoy your hands free running! Now you can fire up a smoke and have a beer while waiting for your character to (slowly) make his or her way to the next town.

Survival is what this game is all about, and you'll be doing a lot of surviving in Chernarus. This section of the guide gives you some tips to follow so you can keep your character alive for one day longer.

• Encounters

-Other Players-
It's inevitable that you'll run into another player at some point. I'm not going to tell you how to play your character, that's up to you. But keep in mind that players will usually kill you on sight, so unless you're brave it's best to just avoid other players if you're unarmed. Players like to set up traps for newbies, so be cautious when entering towns. If you see someone on their knees in the road in the surrender position, be on guard. He will usually have his buddies hiding in the trees or in another house, waiting to shoot you as you help the "victim" in the road. Another tactic players like to use is telling you they're friendly and will help you forage for supplies. This usually results in you ending up with a bullet in your back. Now, sometimes you do get lucky and will just get robbed. You can announce friendliness over the mic system, or press F1 to wave, or F2 for a surrendering motion. But I say since you're going to get robbed or killed anyway you might as well take your chances running.

Every so often you'll find someone that's actually nice! What a concept. If you find a person that's not sending hot lead flying at your face, be a pal and return the favor. You'll benefit each other a lot more if you hang up the pitchforks and torches. Strength in numbers is a great asset for DayZ, which means you'll come across less trouble if you're rolling with a group. If you're having difficulty making friends, try hanging out by the coastline with the fresh spawns. It's much less stressful when you don't have to worry about people being armed. Try and find someone with a common goal: like both of you trying to reach a certain airfileld. You'll accomplish much more than just running around randomly without a clear objective. And it's reassuring knowing that a friend has your back while you're Alt-Tabbed into the DayZ map :P.

-Zombies-
Zombies are dangerous in the beginning of the game, and should be avoided at all costs. If a zombie catches wind of you, they will chase you relentlessly. To give them the slip, you must first get out of LoS (Line of Sight). As long as they can see you, they will keep chasing you. Try running up hills using the Fast Hill Climb trick, or dart behind a large shrub, or turn a corner and keep running. Once you get far enough away and amply hidden, quit moving and making noises. Once the zombies lose track of you they'll shamble around the area they lost LoS looking for you. After a bit they give up and go off alert. When sneaking into town, if you see zombies around, try crouching or going prone and making your way past them. You make less noise when doing this, and you can get really close to them if you're quiet enough (usually close enough to get a stealth kill from behind with an axe). Once you get weapons the zombies become a trivial threat. Don't forget that they're attracted to noise though, so if you're firing off rounds be prepared to deal with more incoming mobs that heard you. All zombies can hear any weapon you fire within 100 meters, regardless of it having a silencer or being a quieter .22 rifle. A respawn mechanic was recently introduced, but it's slightly buggy for the time being. Once you kill a zombie it will respawn instantly, but I'm not exactly sure as to where it respawns at. They definitely don't respawn right in front of you as you kill them, so I'm thinking they respawn in their original spawn locations. Keep in mind that zombies, at this point, can glitch through walls. So if they're on to you, hiding in a building will not save you. Zombies will climb stairs now, so take that into account when finding a hiding place. Taking hits from zombies will eventually deteriorate your gear and the items you hold in your inventory, so try not to get hit often.[www.weebls-stuff.com]

• Survival Tips

-Eating-
Eat as much as you can, as fast as you can, whenever you can. Get the healthy status as quickly as possible and stay healthy. Being in a healthy state pretty much trivializes the game at this point; it's nearly impossible to die by the hands of the game . Once you're healthy you can take more damage, recover damage faster, and can go on longer stretches without nourishment. Power slam all that surplus of soda lying around. Eat all the bacon and cereal you can. Food is pretty easy to come by once you're familiar with looting, so when you reach healthy you can start keeping less food on you, and more fun equipment instead.

-The 5 D's of Dodgeball-
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Keep moving and strafing like a crazy person when you come to a town. Duck behind dumpsters and dip behind bushes. There are snipers all over the countryside waiting to blast an unsuspecting survivor in the face. You are the player, they are the ball. Pay attention to your surroundings and check to your sides and behind you frequently.

• Drinking Your Own Urine

You can't really do this, although it would be sweet if you could. I just wanted an excuse to put Bear Grylls in here somewhere since he's related to survival.

Most of the melee weapons are garbage except for the fire fighter's, splitting axe, pitchfork, or farming hoe. The following list gives some information on each weapon, although I'd advise to not even bother with most of them just yet. Don't forget, you must now have your melee weapon raised (default spacebar) in order to attack with it.

Can Opener: Yes, the can opener can be used as a melee weapon. Just in case you need to open up a zombie's head to get to those delicious brains. The can opener does more damage than fists, but really, who's going to fight a zombie with one?
Spawn: Residential, industrial, military



Combat Knife: It's a knife, you stab things with it. Doesn't do much damage. On the plus side you can use it to open canned food, but it does spill some of it.
Spawn: Residential, military



Farming Hoe: Sorry, it's not the kind of hoe you find on a Saturday night. It has decent range, and has fairly high damage output. Its vertical swing animation makes is easier to line up headshots than most of the other melee weapons.
Spawn: Farms



Firefighter's Axe: This is where the money's at. One hit kill on zombies no matter what. The axe can be used to open canned foods, but at the cost of spilling some of it.
Spawn: Residential, farms, military



Splitting Axe: This is the firefighter axe's little brother. The splitting axe can take down a zombie in two hits, sometimes even one. It can also be used for opening canned food, at the cost of spilling some of it.
Spawn: Residential, farms



Hacksaw: The hacksaw can be used as a melee weapon, but it's one true use is for sawing off the IZH43 shotgun. A sawed off shotgun can be concealed in a backpack, which takes up 4 horizontal inventory spaces. The hacksaw can also open canned food, but at the cost of spilling some of it.
Spawn: Industrial, farms, military



Kitchen Knife: Another basic stabbing weapon. Doesn't do much damage, but it can open canned goods at the cost of spilling some of it.
Spawn: Residential



M91 Bayonet: The bayonet can currently only be used as a handheld stabbing weapon. It cannot yet be used as an actual bayonet. If you attach it to your gun it will be used strictly for cosmetic purposes only. The bayonet occupies the same slot as a suppressor, so choose wisely for your attachment.
Spawn: Residential, military



M9A1 Bayonet: See above.



SKS Bayonet: See above the see above.



Machete: The machete is a fairly weak melee weapon, similar in power to a basic knife. You can down players and zombies in several hits. It has a short range, but as a bonus can open canned food.
Spawn: Farms, deerstands



Pitchfork: Another fairly powerful melee weapon, it can take down zombies and players in just a couple of hits. It also has a longer range than most of the other weapons.
Spawn: Farms



Chrysler LeBaron: That's right, run your foes over with the same LeBaron used in Freddy Got Fingered! This is an ultra rare spawn, and in order to activate it you must do the following: Insert the Freddy Got Fingered DVD in your disc drive. Set the DayZ launch options in Steam with the tag '-fgflebaron', then launch the game and begin searching for the # 1 Son license plate. Once you have acquired that the LeBaron will spawn somewhere randomly on the map. When you find the LeBaron get close to it, right click on the license plate in your inventory and select "I'm the number one son" from the context menu. This will activate the LeBaron and make it useable.
Spawn: Random location on the map. Only one may be active at any given time. I don't see two LeBarons Freddy.

Shooting stuff is the best. Your whole DayZ experience and mindset will change once you have a gun; it completely reworks the dynamic of the game. You now have the power to easily take someone's life and gear, while simultaneously making yourself a more sought after target for others. Your character can't hold more than one primary weapon in inventory (ie, you can't store another M4 if you have one already,) but you can hold on to another primary if it stays in your hands. If you do decide to carry a second primary weapon with you, keep in mind that doing any action that involves putting another item into your hands (such as eating) will drop it on the ground. You must pick it back up after the action is done to avoid possibly losing it.

-Ammo Management-

You have to find a magazine for your weapon (if required,) then you have to find the rounds to put in it. You must drag the rounds into the magazine, then drag the magazine to your gun to load it. A lot of the ammo that's laying around will already be in magazines. You can use those mags if you want, or you can right click on them and select "empty ammo." That pulls the ammo out of the mag and sets it in your inventory, after which you can put it in your ammo box or put it in another mag. As long as you have extra magazines with some ammo in them you can reload at will by hitting the reload key. In addition you can carry an ammo box that holds up to 300 rounds. To store ammo in the box, drag and drop ammo to it. To pull ammo back out simply right-click the box and select "View Contents," then pull then drag the ammo to your inventory*. For weapons that don't require a magazine (like the magnum) simply drag the corresponding ammo to it and select "Load Ammunition" from the context menu. Speedloaders can be found throughout the game, which allow you to pre-load them with ammo, making for a much faster reload time. They function similar to magazines.

*Note: An alternate way to transfer ammo (or anything in the vicinity tab that's using inventory slots) can be double-clicked on to automatically transfer it to your inventory.

-Attachments-

The higher the quality of weapon and its attachments, the higher its accuracy will be. Once you have a weapon equipped it displays what distance in meters it's zeroed to in the upper right portion of the screen, which you can adjust with Page Up/Page Down. DayZ uses realistic bullet physics and trajectory, so make sure to compensate for bullet drop when shooting long distance targets, as well as leading a horizontal moving target.

-Pistols-

1911:

The 1911 uses .45 ACP rounds and has a 7 round magazine. It has the highest accuracy of the non-magnum pistols in-game, and can accept a flashlight attachment. The 1911 can down zombies and undergeared players in a single shot. A rare engraved version of the 1911 (pictured right) can also be found.
Spawn: Residential, military
Attachments: Pistol flashlight
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Low

FNX45:

The FNX has similar damage output to the 1911, but it holds a 15 round magazine. The FNX can accept an optic red dot sight attachment. Uses .45 ACP rounds.
Spawn: Military, fire stations
Attachments: FNP45 MRD optics, pistol flashlight, pistol suppressor
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Low

Amphibia S:

The Amphibia S is a .22 semi-automatic pistol. It does very little damage to players (a headshot sometimes only knocks a player out) and multiple body shots are required for a kill. It will take zombies down in one headshot however, but still requires mulitple body shots. Its advantage is it has a built-in supressor and fires sub sonic ammo, making it extremely stealthy. Players will have a hard time hearing this gun. At this point the stealth offered has no impact on the zombies though, as they can hear any gunshot within 100 meters, regardless if it's suppressed or not.
Spawn: Military
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Very low

CR75:

The CR75 is a semi-automatic 9 milla killa pistol. This pistol is the weakest of its brethren (excluding the .22) but it does boast a 15 round magazine, has very low recoil, and sounds cool as hell. Accepts 9mm rounds.
Spawn: Residential, military
Attachments: Pistol flashlight, pistol suppressor
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Medium

Magnum:

The classic cowboy six-shooter. The magnum does the highest damage and is the most accurate of all the handguns. Just firing this bad boy within range of another player will put the fear of [insert your God here] in them. The downside is that it has a really low rate of fire, only holds 6 rounds, and has a slow reload rate unless you have a speedloader. Accepts .357 rounds.
Spawn: Residential, military
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: High

P1:

The P1 is a 9mm pistol with an 8 round magazine. It deals a bit more damage than the CR75 at the expense of magazine capacity. One or two shots from this bad boy and zombies will be toast.
Spawn: Military
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Medium

The LongHorn:

The LongHorn is a scoped pistol that shares the same ammuntion as a Mosin. It has high firepower and scope zoom with only moderate recoil. The downside to this gun is that it's a breakaway chamber so there's no magazine, meaning you can only fire 1 round at a time. Try not to waste it all in one place! Accepts 7.62X51mm rounds.
Spawn: Residential
Attachments: Pistol flashlight - unsure if this is the case until we find another one for testing. :)
Firing modes: Single round break action
Noise: Very high

-Rifles-

Blaze 95 Double Rifle:

This rifle features the highest iron-sighted accuracy of all the guns in the game. You can easily pick off a target from 400 meters away un-scoped. It does moderate damage and can be fired as fast as you can pull the trigger. Pressing the "T" key puts it into double-barreled mode, which allows you to fire both barrels at the same time. Speedloaders can be found for the Blaze for faster reloading. Accepts 7.62X51mm rounds.
Spawn: Residential, farms, office buildings
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic, double barrel toggle
Noise: Medium

M4A1:

Your standard spray-and-pray automatic weapon. The stock M4 is highly innacurate at long range. Although this can be alleviated by getting pristine quality attachments equipped, you're better off using this as a close-quarters mow down machine. You can increase your range slightly by finding scopes and red dot laser sights, and a RIS handguard will allow you to attach a weapon flashlight. The M4 also has a high magazine capacity at 60 rounds if you find a double STANAG mag. Accepts 5.56x45mm cartridges.
Spawn: Helicopter crash sites
Attachments: Buttstocks (OE, QB, MP), handguards (MP, RIS, plastic), optics (BUIS, ACOG, RV1, M68, carryhandle), weapon flashlight (requires RIS handguard), suppressor, ATLAS bipod, M9A1 bayonet
Firing modes: Automatic, semi-automatic
Noise: Medium

AKM:

I didn't even have to use my AK, I gotta say it was a good day. The AKM is a high capacity rifle that delivers considerable power. It has the highest magazine size of all the guns in game, with the drum mag coming in at a whopping 75 rounds. The downside is that it has a high amount of recoil, so its accuracy takes a major hit when shooting long distances or firing in fully automatic mode.
Accepts 7.62X39mm rounds.
Spawn: Residential, military
Attachments: Buttstocks (wooden, folding), handguards (wooden, rail), PSO1 scope, weapon flashlight (requires handguard rail), ATLAS bipod
Firing modes: Automatic, semi-automatic
Noise: High

Mosin 9130:

The Mosin is a bolt action, internal magazine-fed rifle. This rifle does a high amount of damage and can be outfitted with a long range scope for making shots at 800+ meters. The Mosin can also be spray painted black and/or green to help match your camouflaging. Accepts 7.62X51mm rounds.
*As of patch .45/.46 the mosin with a long range scope is still the only "true" weapon for sniping. A fully pristine M4 with all MP parts and an ACOG does give it a run for its money though.
Spawn: Residential, military, farms, shipwreck
Attachments: Optics (PU scope, long range scope), M44 compensator, M91 bayonet
Firing modes: Single round bolt action
Noise: Very high

SKS:

The SKS is considered an alternate choice between the M4 and Mosin and spawns more frequently, making them easier to find. It features an all-around average damage, range, and reload speed. It can be loaded manually or with a 10 round clip. A PU scope can be attached to increase your accuracy when shooting from longer distances. The SKS can also be painted green or black to match your camouflaging. A 10 round clip can be found for the SKS which behaves similar to speedloaders. Accepts 7.62x39mm rounds.
Spawn: Residential, military, farms, industrial
Attachments: PU scope, bayonet
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: High

Sporter .22:

The Sporter is the weakest of all the rifles due to its small caliber. It will take several shots to down players and zombies. The advantage is that is makes very little noise, allowing for stealth kills. It also has virtually no recoil so you can spam the trigger as fast as you can without having to adjust your aim much. The Sporter can also carry either a 20 round or 30 round magazine. Accepts .22 rounds
Spawn: Residential, shipwreck, police stations
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic
Noise: Very low

-Submachine guns-

MP5-K:

It's like a submachine gun; it's the best kind of gun. <--- don't pay any attention to that, it's an inside joke for Bukz and me. I had to put it in for our sake. Anyway, the MP5 is a submachine gun that delivers a high rate of fire and decent damage output. It can be used with a 15 or 30 round mag and accepts 9mm rounds. The MP5 is also the only other primary gun in the game (besides the sawed-off shotgun) that can be concealed in your inventory, taking up 4X4 slots. Accepts 9mm rounds.
Spawn: Police stations, police cars
Attachments: ACOG Optics, M68 CompM2 Optics, RV1 RDS Optics
Firing modes: Automatic
Noise: High

-Shotguns-

IZH-43:

A double-barreled side-by-side shotgun, which is absolutely devastating at close quarters. Speedloaders make reload times a snap, and ammo is very plentiful, making this a good choice for beginning players. Pressing "T" will put the gun into double-barreled mode allowing you to shoot both barrels simultaneously. The shotgun can be sawed-off which changes its attributes slightly. Accepts 12 gauge buck shot and 12 gauge slugs (for slightly increased firing distance.)
Spawn: Residential, farms
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Semi-automatic, double barrel toggle
Noise: Very high

IZH-43 Sawed-Off:

Finding a hacksaw will allow you to saw the barrel of the shotgun off. Doing this makes the buckshot spread wider at close range, and allows you to conceal one in your backpack, taking up 4 horizontal spaces.

-Bows-

Crossbow:

Now you can live out your fantasy as a less attractive Daryl Dixon[cdn-ugc.cafemom.com] while you stalk the woods looking for unsuspecting prey. The crossbow is a powerful weapon capable of killing players and zombies in one head shot. It has a slow reload speed and can only shoot one bolt at a time, so take that into consideration during your next firefight. Spent bolts cannot be recovered from the ground or bodies.
Spawn: Residential, military
Attachments: All M4 sight and optic attachments. Currently unknown if this is intended or not.
Firing modes: Single shot

Ashwood Bow:

The ashwood bow is an easy to craft weapon that has a low rate of fire and low range, but puts out moderate damage. It can be crafted at any time by combining an ashwood stick with rope. Accepts composite arrows.
Spawn: No where, must be crafted
Attachments: None
Firing modes: Single shot

Coming soon.*

*I wanted combat in here for .47, but they went and janked it all up. Hit detection is broken, guns are randomly thrown, and legs have a tendency to break during all the desync. GG .47 patch.

Coming soon.

DayZ now features a rudimentary crafting system, along with a hunting system (next section), that could allow you to live in the woods indefinitely without having to venture around town and expose yourself to trouble. I will break down what can be crafted and how it will affect you.

To craft items you simply need the correct items for the recipe, then drag and drop them together to pull up the action menu, which will give you your crafting choices. Select the option you want to complete the craft.

• Crafting

-Clothing-

-Rags-

Requires: t-shirts, check shirts, bandanas, or hoodies
Use: Stops bleeding

-Medical-

-Wooden Splint-

Requires: Rags or bandages, wooden stick
Use: Repairs broken limbs. These are extremely useful to have on hand, I'd recommend keeping one on you at all times.

-Saline Bag IV-

Requires: Saline bag, IV start kit
Use: Replenishes 10% of a character's blood level. Can be used to pull a player out of unconsciousness due to blood loss. Cannot be used on yourself.

-Blood Bag IV-

Requires: Blood bag kit, IV start kit
Use: Give blood transfusions to other players who are low on blood. Warning: always do a blood test first with a blood test kit. You don't want to receive nasty, infected blood from a sick player. Nor do you want the wrong blood type. Both will cause sickness and eventually death. Cannot be used on yourself.

-Food Preparation-

-Fireplace Kit-

Requires: Sticks, rags or bandages, stone, firewood, and matches. The kit is first created by combining the sticks and rags. Then place the kit on the ground and add firewood and stone. You must then light the fire with some matches. The ease of getting the fire lit will depend on wind speed and rain. The more firewood and stones you add, the longer the fire will last.
Use: The fireplace can be used to cook raw meat that you get from hunting and fishing. To cook, place the meat on the fire place and watch the meat icon change colors. After roughly 30 seconds the meat will become cooked, allowing its consumption. Warning: do not eat undercooked or overcooked meat. For more information on how to get meat see the Hunting/Fishing section. Be wary of your surroundings, the smoke from the fire could attract attention.

-Stovetop Cooking-

Requires: Gas canister, portable gas stove, frying pan or cooking pot
Use: These items can be combined together to create a stovetop cooking environment for all the female characters in DayZ. Huzzah! Place your raw meat in the frying pan or cooking pot and cook to perfection. As usual, don't consume raw or overcooked meat.

-Miscellaneous-

-Improvised Courier Bag-

Requires: Burlap sack, rope
Use: Combine these to make a backpack with 12 slots of inventory space

-Leather Courier Bag-

Requires: Boar or deer pelt, rope
Use: Combine these to make a backpack with 16 slots of inventory space

-Improvised Backpack-

Requires: Improvised courier bag, wooden stick
Use: Combine these to make a backpack with 20 slots of inventory space

-Improvised Fishing Rod-

Requires: Rope, ashwood stick
Use: Combine these to make a fishing pole. For fishing.

-Improvised Ashwood Short Bow-

Requires: Rope, ashwood stick
Use: Combine these to make a bow for hunting.

• Gathering

In order to craft you first need to find the materials for the recipe you want. Below is a list where you can find the items you need.

Firewood can be made from cutting down trees with an axe, and sticks can be made from cutting down bushes with an axe or a machete.* Sticks can also be found randomly on the ground underneath some trees in the forests, or in houses in residential areas.

*Cutting down trees and bushes will deteriorate the quality of your tools over time. Extended use for these purposes can even ruin them, rendering them useless.

Rope can be found all over residential, military, and farming areas.

Stones can be made from mining larger rocks with a pickaxe.

Worms can be dug up from the ground to use for fishing bait. Requires hoe or shovel for digging.

Apples can be picked from apple trees.

Berries can be gathered from bushes.

Animals you killed can be skinned and quartered for their meat. Requires a knife or some other sharp instrument. The quality of the instrument being used will determine the quality of the meat cuts. For example, a pristine kitchen knife will yield more raw meat than a badly damaged one.

Remember to pay attention to what the action menu says when you want to perform one of these actions. Keep in mind that some of these tasks require a fairly lengthy animation to complete, so make sure you're safe before you start.

• Hunting

Animals are roaming freely about Chernarus, and it's our job as people to hunt and eat[static.fjcdn.com] them. Why else do we have animals, right? They're usually milling about outside of towns in the woods and plains, so it shouldn't be too hard to find some. The animals don't have the greatest AI and pathing yet so they're pretty easy to kill. They can be taken down with a ranged weapon, melee weapon, or if you have the patience you can punch them to death (obviously the best way to hunt.)

My steak's walking away! Shoot it!

The animal can then be skinned and quartered via the action menu, provided you have some kind of knife. This will yield you a few pieces of raw meat and a pelt you can use to craft those nifty backpacks. Do not consume raw meat, you will die. Meat must be cooked to avoid chance of illness just like in real life. Now that hunting/cooking has been implemented I can recreate my world famous drunken hamburgers! If this doesn't make you want my meat I don't know what will.

• Fishing

I once caught a fish thiiiiiiis[www.hwdyk.com] big. Just kidding, fishing is boring. I wouldn't even do it in Zelda, except to get the piece of heart. Anyway, if you insist on fishing here's how it's done. First you need to locate a pond because fish sometimes live in water. Next you need a fishing pole, which I show how to craft in the previous section. Once your pole is crafted you need to find a fishing hook, which are usually lying around in residential areas. Dig up an earthworm using a hoe or a shovel. To do this the equipment must be in your hands, then look down at the ground and select "dig up worms." Once you have worms dug up, attach the hook to the pole, then the worms to the hook. With baited pole in your hands go to the edge of the pond and select "start fishing" from the action menu. Once your character casts the line, the action menu (scroll wheel to initiate) will have "check bait" and "pull line." Keep checking the bait until you get the message "Something has just bit the bait!" Quickly select the "pull line" option to reel in your fresh fish. If you have a knife the fish can be filleted and cooked on your fireplace or cooktop stove.

Your character's "health" is determined by the amount of blood you have in your system. There are no indicator bars as to how much you have, but the screen will begin desaturating when you start losing blood. Once you get near black and white it's pretty much game over. When you get your blood levels back up, your character will start regenerating health, and the screen will slowly return to normal colors. The desaturation is currently bugged though, so the only way to see it is to turn on post processing in the options menu. Blood is regenerated by keeping your character healthy, or by getting blood transfusions from another player. Here's a handy blood[dayz.gamepedia.com] link that shows how the system works.

This is what a desaturated screen looks like when you're near death. You can also see the bleeding and fracture statuses. You'll want to patch these up immediately or death will swarming at your door like a group of vacuum cleaner salesmen.













There are various statuses related to your character's health that you will have to maintain. This list will show you your character's variables when you spawn, and throughout this section will show you how to maintain them.











-Bleeding-
Bleeding is bleeding, it only has one stage. When you run out of blood you die. This can only be cured by bandaging yourself.

-Hunger-
Hunger has three stages, and each stage has its own set of symptoms that popup on the screen. Hunger can be fixed by... you guessed it.

Hungry: Energy below 600
Symptoms: My stomach grumbles, I'm feeling hungry, I want to eat something, I feel hungry.
Status text: Hungry

Very Hungry: Energy below 300
Symptoms: I'm extremely hungry, My stomach grumbled violently, I'm starving
Status text: Hungry

Starving: Energy below 100
Symptoms: I'm dying of starvation
Effects: -1 health/sec. -.5% blood/sec
Status text: starving

-Thirst-
Thirst has three stages, and each stage has its own set of symptoms that popup on the screen. Note: you start the game in a state of light dehydration. Thirst can be fixed by... you guessed it.

Light Dehydration: Water below 2000
Symptoms: I feel thirsty, I'm thirsty, I need a drink, I feel like having a drink
Status text: Thirsty

Medium Dehydration: Water below 1000
Symptoms: I really need to drink
Status text: Thirsty

Heavy Dehydration: Water at 0
Symptoms: I'm dying of dehydration
Effects: -5 health/sec. -1% blood/sec
Status text: Thirsty

-Healing-
When you're fed and watered you gain a healing status. Healing also has three stages.

Light regeneration: Energy above 3500, water above 3000
Effects: +1 blood/sec

Full Regeneration: Energy above 5000, water above 2500
Effects: +3 health/sec

Healing: Energy above 5000, water above 2500, blood at 5000
Effects: +3 health/sec
Status text: Healing

-Stuffed-
Being stuffed is cause by eating/drinking more than your stomach's capacity. There are three stages to stuffed.

Stuffed: Stomach above 2500
Symptoms: My stomach feels stuffed, I feel really full, My stomach feels completely full

Fully Stuffed: Stomach above 3500
Symptoms: My stomach feels absolutely stuffed, I feel over-fed, My stomach feels much more full then it's normal (I always lol at that one. Nice english :P)

Vomiting: Stomach above 3900
Symptoms: I am close to vomiting, I think I'm going to vomit..., I'm going to vomit...
Effects: -500 stomach, -600 energy, -1000 water
Status text: Sick

-Unconscious-
Unconsciousness only has one stage, which causes loss of control of your character. It can be caused either by shock, or lack of blood. Shock comes from damage to the head, and can be reduced by protective helmets. Epinephrine resets your shock level, which will revive you unless your blood is too low.

Cause: Shock above blood or blood below 500

-Food Poisoning-
Food poisoning has six stages depending on how severe the poisoning is. You can get poisoned from eating rotten fruit, which has a 50% chance of minor poisoning, and a 5% chance of moderate poisoning. Alcholol tinctures have a 75% and 20% chance respectively to induce poisoning. Eating charcoal tablets will instantly cure poisoning.

Stage One
Symptoms: I have a funny taste in my mouth, My mouth tastes funny, I noticed a weird taste

Stage Two
Symptoms: I feel nauseous, I feel queasy, I feel like throwing up
Effects: Minor: -13.3% water/sec
Moderate: -13.6% water/sec. -.2%blood/sec
Severe: -19.5% water/sec. -.3%blood/sec
Status text: Sick

Stage Three
Symptoms: I feel Dissy, I feel light-headed, I feel faint, I feel unsteady
Effects: Minor: -13.6% water/sec
Moderate/Severe: Vomiting: -500 stomach, -600 energy, -1000 water
Status text: Sick

Stage Four
Symptoms: I feel Dissy, I feel light-headed, I feel faint, I feel unsteady, I feel cramps in my stomach
Effects: Moderate: -14.3% water/sec. -.1% blood/sec
Severe: -26% water/sec. -.2% blood/sec
Status text: Sick

Stage Five
Symptoms: I feel tired, I feel run-down, I feel worn-out, I am close to vomiting, I think I'm going to vomit..., I'm going to vomit...
Effects: Vomting: -500 stomach, -600 energy, -1000 water

Stage Six
Symptoms: I feel exhausted, I feel extremely tired
Effects: -19.5% water/sec
Status text: Sick

There are many places to see and loot in Chernarus, and this section will show all the best loot spots in the game so you know what to look for. Branch out, explore the world, and see all that things that the game has to offer. If you're into sightseeing there are hundreds of kilometers of land to cover. You don't have to camp the coast 24 hours a day. :) So grab your compass and gear and let's go on a road trip!

• NWAF

- Northwest Airfield
The NWAF is the biggest one of its kind on the map, and home to a lot of great loot. You'll find backpacks, food, canteens, and weapons galore. There is also a large military base just to the north, and a well beyond that through the woods. A second pair of hangars and another jail lie inbetween the base and the set of six hangars. This is a very popular airfield so be careful when raiding it. NWAF's coordinates on the map[dayzdb.com] are roughly 045, 050.


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• NWAF Military Base

A large military base sits at the north end of the NWAF, along with another two hangars and a jail. The usual military loot applies here.

____________________________________________________________________________

• Balota AF

- Balota Airfield
The BAF is the medium sized airfield on Chernarus. It spawns plenty of supplies, and has a huge military base immediately south of it. The AF is also near the town of Balota (hence the name :P) which contains a well and medical supplies. There's another city area directly NE of the base that contains two supermarkets, two wells, and an abundance of medical supplies. You could live off this area forever. It has a downside though. BAF is the closest airfield to the southern spawn points, and in my experience is the busiest of the AF's. You'll almost always run into someone here, or be two seconds too late and find out it's already been looted. And it gets looted a lot. Be extremely wary of other players here. Another hurdle to get over is trekking your way through Cherno and Elektro to get there - two of the bigger and more dangerous cities on the map. I recommend only hitting BAF after you've got some experience under your belt. Keep a weather eye out for bandits. BAF's coordinates on the map are roughly 049, 130.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Balota Military Base

Balota is home to the largest military base in Chernarus, coupled with a medium-sized airfield, and surrounded by a large city. If you can't find what you're looking for here, then it doesn't exist. Except for that damned M4 :). This is also where Bukz and I like to do our nude PvP. Balota is a dangerous place so use much caution when entering.


____________________________________________________________________________

• NEAF

- Northeast Airfield
The .46 patch saw a major nerf to the NEAF. It no longer contains any hangars and the jails were replaced by a warehouse. There's a small pond behind the relocated ATC, and a few abandoned cars now sprinkle the remaining area. Decent starter loot can be found here like pistols, magnums, clothing and food. This is still a good place to hit if you're a fresh spawn in Svetlo, but it doesn't really have a place in end game anymore. The NEAF coordinates on the map are roughly 120, 025.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Vybor Military Base

The Vybor military base, which is located just southeast of Vybor, is home to three barracks and a jail. Traveling due north from this military base will land you in the middle of the north west airfield. This military base is surrounded by random helicopter crash site spawn points, which can net you the elusive M4A1 assault rifle and hand grenades. All things considered this base is badass, and is definitely worth a visit. Just keep your guard up. Vybor military base's coordinates on the map are roughly 045, 070.

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• Zelenogorsk Military Base

There's a small military outpost on the northern outskirts of Zelenogorsk, sporting the usual military equipment. Weapons, food, clothes, etc. This is a good starting loot spot if you happen to spawn towards the western end of the map, as it's not too terribly hard to navigate to Zelenogorsk from the coast. Zeleno's coordinates on the map are roughly 027, 100.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Pavlovo Military Base

A decent sized military installation lies southeast of Pavlovo, tucked away in the woods away from leering eyes. Two barracks are here along with a hospital and some kind of other building whose name is still a mystery to us. So far we've just been calling it the mental health facility since it kind of looks like one on the inside. AKs will spawn here along with the usual military goodies. Pavlovo to Zeleno makes for a good loot run. Pavlovo Base's coordinates on the map are roughly 021, 120.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Air Traffic Control Tower aka the ATC

ATCs can be found at all of the airfields on Chernarus, and they spawn weapons, food, clothing, and medical suppplies.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Hangars

Hangars can be found at some of the airfields on Chernarus, and they spawn weapons, food, clothing, medical supplies, and other miscellaneous items.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Jails

Jails can be found at some airfields and military bases, and they spawn weapons, food, clothing, medical supplies, and if you're lucky even some magazines for the AKM.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Barracks

Barracks can be found at most airfields and military bases, and they spawn military grade weapons such as the AKM, along with medical supplies, food, and clothing.

In this part we will detail all of the important buildings that can be found in cities throughout Chernarus.

• Fire Stations

Fire Stations are in the bigger cities like Cherno and Elektro, as well as the NWAF, and are home to some decent starter loot. You can find fire axes (duh :P), medkits, canteens, sodas, clothing, magnums, and pistols. Looting a fire station will help insure your success of looting the airfields. Be careful though, fire stations are a fairly popular place to visit. Watch your back.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Hospitals

Hospitals are excellent places to find your defensive supplies. They carry medkits, food, drink, and clothing. Search around the larger cities for these as well. Hospitals are marked on the map by the red crosses. In addition, hospitals can now spawn weapons.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Mental Health Facilities

Similar to hospitals in size and appearance, mental health facilities can be found throughout Chernarus, and one is actually inside of the Pavlovo military base. They carry medkits, food, drink, and clothing.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Clinics

Clinics provide good supplementary and starter gear including medical supplies, clothing, and food.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Police Stations*

In addition to donut holes and coffee, police stations can spawn a nice assortment of clothes, including: tactical vests, military gear, and the ever-elusive "Press Vest."[dayz.gamepedia.com]. A large variety of weapons spawn here as well. Police Stations can be found in the various large cities across the map.
*Bukz likes to call these the "Spiral Staircase Buildings." :D


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• High Schools

The high school spawns good starter gear like cargo pants, hoodies, backpacks, and a variety of food. Weapons also spawn in the school. Go figure. There are three floors and a roof access area so be sure to do a thourough check of everything.


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• Hotels aka piano buildings

Hotel everybody, even the mayor, reach up in tha sky for tha hozone laya.
Hotels offer a variety of starter weapons, ammo, food, clothing, and continental baked beans breakfasts. There's no pool though. If I'm staying at a hotel I at least want a pool.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Supermarkets

Supermarkets are located in the larger cities and spawn a variety of food, clothing, backpacks, starter weapons, and ammo.


____________________________________________________________________________

• Orange brick buildings

Due to the lack of a better term at the moment, we call these the orange brick buildings. They can spawn weapons and ammo, food and drinks, clothing, and other miscellaneous items.

This section contains all the miscellaneous nilly in the game. While some of the places offer decent loot, others are merely a distraction, offering somewhere out of the ordinary to visit.

• Rify aka the Shipwreck

The shipwreck is a massive tanker that crashed and beached along the northeast coastline. A wide variety of items can spawn here including food, nearly every clothing article, melee weapons, an assortment of ammunition, road flares, fishing hooks and much more. Due to its close proximity to many spawn points on the east coast, don't be surprised if you find that you're not alone once you get there. If you dare come here be careful while walking around in the ship, it has caused many broken legs and deaths to clumsy survivors falling off. Snipers also love to perch in the captain's lookout on top and shoot players coming in. Rify's coordinates on the map are roughly 138, 042.


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• Green Mountain

Green mountain, which is located just northeast of Zelenogorsk, is the highest point above sea level in Chernarus. Featuring a massive tower and a jail, this place not only provides you with an amazing view, but some decent loot as well. Green Mountain's coordinates on the map are roughly 036, 093.


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• Devil's Castle

If you're into medieval stuff then this is the place for you. A large, crumbling, broken down castle from King Arthur's time awaits you, nestled amongst the mountains NE of the NWAF. This is the largest castle on the map and spawns weapons and supplies. Devil's Castle is a fairly popular area of tourism, so be ready for a fight. Its remote location makes it a lengthy trip so be fully stocked if you decide to head here. Its coordinates on the map are roughly 068, 039.


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• Rog Castle

Rog Castle is a diminutive version of Devil's Castle. There's not a whole lot going on here in terms of supplies, but it's a fun diversion if you're looking for somewhere to go. You can also get a breathtaking view of the landscape from its highest tower. It's really close to south coastal spawn too, so it's easy to navigate and doesn't take much time if you want to hit it up. Rog's coordinates on the map are roughly 112, 110.


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• Topolka Dam

Oohhh, you couldn't dam that river, and maybe I don't give a damn anywaaaayyy. There's not a whole lot to say about the dam, other than it's kinda neat to see something different. Loot doesn't spawn here, but for the time being you can drink from the nasty, dammed up lake water. Sometimes you just want to relax and not be bothered with people, and this is the perfect place to do it. Topolka's coordinates on the map are roughly 102, 116.


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• The Edge of the World

I can't be the only one that's curious as to what lies beyond the boundaries of this massive landscape. So Bukz and I went out there to see what would happen. Once you pass the "out of bounds" point the landscape just keeps stretching out into the nothing. When you reach the "end," DayZ boots you off the server and restarts you with a different character from a previous server. It's really strange. Once you exit back out of the server and select a new one you'll be back to your character you just went out of bounds with, but you'll be placed back in the "in bounds" portion of the map.


Crossing over the out of bounds point.


Continuing into the nothing.

In the next two sections we will detail all of the important cities in Chernarus. Bukz is also being sneaky and playing Where's Waldo in these sets of screenshots; can you find him in all of them? :)

• Novodmitrovsk

Welcome to Lagovodmitrovsk, the largest city in Chernarus. If you thought your video lag was bad in Cherno, just wait until you cross the border of this place. Novo contains pretty much all the good buildings you could want in the game, however it's a cumbersome pain in the ass to navigate through. Given its large size and close Cernaya spawn you'd think it would be busier here, but being so far north I don't think most players have a real reason to go this far. But that could bode well for you if you just want to stay around in the northern end of the map. Novo's coordinates on the map are roughly 114, 009.
Buildings: Supermarkets (2x), police station, hotels (2x), hospital, orange brick building.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Karmanovka, Cernaya Polana


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• Cernaya Polana

Like Svetlojarsk, Cernaya is another good spawn point. It puts you directly south of Novo, the largest city on the map, and directly north of the NEAF, with a road even going to it! Decent starter loot is contained here, however the downfall is that it's one of the few cities that doesn't have a well. There's not much action going on in Cernaya so you can play a bit more relaxed here. Cernaya's coordinates on the map are roughly 121, 015.
Buildings: Supermarket, fire station, hotel, orange brick building.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Novodmitrovsk, Svetlojarsk, Krasnostav, NEAF


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• Svetlojarsk

Thanks a lot Svetlo, you and your delicious spawn is what got the NEAF nerfed (lol, say neaf nerfed fast, it's funny) in the first place ;). Svetlo is one of the more awesome spawns on the map. It's a decent sized city and contains two wells and plenty of weapon spawn buildings. It almost sort of makes up for the NEAF nerf (lol.) You can navigate south along the coastline, or travel to the NEAF via way of Olsha, all without a compass. Watch for other players here as this is still a pretty hot area.
Buildings: Police station, hotels (3x), clinic, orange brick buildings (2x).
Noteworthy Neighbors: Cernaya Polana, NEAF


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• Krasnostav

Krasnostav is a small town just southeast of the NEAF. Don't let its size fool you though, there are good loot spawns residing in here, and it's just far enough out of the way that it doesn't see a whole lof of traffic. Cernaya to NEAF to Krasno and vice-versa makes for a great starting loot run, and due to the roads and tree lines, it can be easily navigated without a compass. Unfortunately this is one town without a well, however the redesigned NEAF now contains a pond which helps make up for the lack of readily accessible water. Krasno's coordinates on the map are roughly 112, 031.
Buildings: Supermarket, high school, police station, hotel, clinic.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Khelm, Gvozdno, NEAF


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• Berezino

Berezino is a large east coast city that's fast on its way to becoming the new Elektro. This place is a hotspot for PvP right now so be extremely cautious when trekking through here. There are plenty of lootable buildings here, a well, and a nearby river for replenishing your water. it also contains a myriad of apartment buildings, warehouses, and towers for snipers. Make sure you bring enough hot dogs for everyone too, because there's plenty of camping here. Berezino also makes for a good landmark as it's roughly halfway up the coast, and also a fresh spawn point. Berezino's coordinates on the map are roughly 120, 062.
Buildings: Supermarkets (2x), police station, high school, hotels (2x), hospital.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Khelm, Gorka, Polana


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• Elektrozavodsk

Elektro is the original party town. If you were looking for some PvP and general banditry, this was the place to do it. While not quite as glamarous as it was in the old days, you can still be sure to find some action here. There's plenty of cover provided in the form of large apartment buildings, good sniping points, a well-rounded selection of lootables, and multiple wells to refill your water supply. Elektro's coordinates on the map are roughly 103, 132.
Buildings: Hospital, fire stations (2x), police station, high school, supermarket.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Chernogorsk, Kamyshovo


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• Chernogorsk

Cherno is the all around classic Chernarus city, and it was the largest on the map until the introduction of Novodmitrovsk. It even sounds like something from classic Russia. Chernobyl anyone? Cherno contains iconic buildings like the plane-destroyed hotel, and large central factory which are featured in the screenshot. I wouldn't say Cherno is a heavy PvP area, but you'll still want to be careful because it's a transitional city between east coast spawn and Balota. There are a lot of good lootables here, and once you get some experience under your belt it makes for a good stop on the way to Balota. However, due to its large size you might experience considerable video lag when entering this city, which can hinder your PvP and general exploration. If you want to skip it you can skirt north to Dubky, a quiet little town with two unknown supermarkets and very little traffic. Cherno's coordinates on the map are roughly 067, 128.
Buildings: Supermarket, fire stations (2x), police station, hospitals (2x), orange brick building (3x), hotels (3x).
Noteworthy Neighbors: Chapaevsk, Novoselky, Dubky, Elektro, Balota


____________________________________________________________________________

• Dubky

Dubky is Cherno's north eastern neighbor. It's a quiet little town and doesn't have much going on in terms of player traffic. You would want to visit Dubky if you're hungry/fresh spawn and you don't want to deal with the larger cities. You can quickly run in, loot the two back-to-back supermarkets, then be on your way out in the blink of an eye. Dubky also has a powerline running through it, which will either take you to the northern outskirts of Elektro, or right into Zelenogorsk. This makes navigating from Dubky very easy and you don't need to rely on a compass. Dubky's coordinates on the map are roughly 066, 117
Buildings: Supermarkets (2x)
Noteworthy Neighbors: Chernogorsk

• Zelenogorsk

Under construction.
Buildings: Supermarket, hotel, clinic, orange brick buildings (3x), military base (barracks (2x), jail).
Noteworthy Neighbors: Pavlovo, Green Mountain


____________________________________________________________________________

• The Sobors

Starry and Novy Sobor are two medium-sized sister[www.magxone.com] cities in Chernarus. They are located near the center of the map, thus providing a good landmark for navigation. The Sobors are easy to spot from a distance due to their lower topology, and the giant water tower jutting out from Starry only further helps their visibility. A powerline system runs from Berezino through Dubrovka, then cuts right in between the Sobors and then wraps around down to the west side of Zelenogorsk. From there it travels down and skirts around the north side of Dubky, finally ending up at the power plant in Elektro. Following the powerlines and keeping an eye out for the water tower will help insure your navigation to the Sobors, and from there on out will help you branch out to anywhere else on the map. The Sobors don't have the greatest loot in the game, but we felt like they were worth mentioning because of their unique features and geographical location. Novy's coordinates on the map are roughly 070, 076. Starry's coordinates on the map are roughly 061, 076.

-Novy Sobor
Buildings: Police station, hotel.
Noteworthy Neighbors: Starry Sobor, Gorka



-Starry Sobor
Buildings: Supermarket, hotel, clinic, orange brick buildings (2x).
Noteworthy Neighbors: Novy Sobor, Pustoshka, Vybor, Grishino

Once you've reached a certain point of scavenging in DayZ (at least in the current Alpha state) there isn't much else to do. Zombies are of little threat, there's only so much you can forage for once your inventory is maxed out, and let's face it, there's not a whole lot of action going on in the long stretches between cities. So I've compiled a few activities you can do to keep things interesting, and this is what I like to call the "End Game."

• Be a Hero

Let's face it, every apocalypse needs a good guy[i3.kym-cdn.com], and this is your calling. The hero's job is to protect the fresh spawns, new players, and take down bandits. If you're going the hero route you've already experienced most of what there is to do in DayZ as far as scavenging and survival. You've got mulitple guns, hundreds of rounds of ammo, food, medical, and water that you're willing to dole out to people. The hero's job is to keep the bandits at bay and help some poor person just try to make a living on this lonely island. You'll probably spend the majority of your time around the coastline seeking out those who need you. If being the good guy isn't your thing then head to the next point.

• Be a Bandit

Bandits are the "antagonists" of the game, so if you like being the enemy, this is the job for you. As a bandit your job is to torment everyone else. You kill on sight (KoS), camp the shoreline looking for fresh spawns to harass, rob people and steal their pants, and generally cause mayhem wherever you go. Bandits have bad reputations, so consider that when deciding to be a bandit - you'll be greatly hated by everyone if you go this route. Ain't no rest for the wicked.

• Be a Tourist

Maybe you don't want to get into the politics of Hero vs. Bandit and you want to do your own thing. That's totally fine too. There are all kinds of neat locations peppered throughout Chernarus that you can visit. Try making a log and screencap all of the places you've been to, until you hit the entire map. Someday you could start your own DayZ travel agency, and for a small fee, take people on a color tour of Chernarus. In the Places of Interest section I show a few of the locations you can aspire to make it to.

• Be OCD

Just because your inventory is maxed out doesn't mean you have all the best stuff. A fun goal to reach is to get pristine level quality out of all your gear, including all weapon attachments. This is quite a difficult task to pull off, and should keep you busy for some time. You will more than likely have to hit multiple air fields, military bases, and supermarkets before you complete your quest for OCD'ness.

• Be a Bukz

If you want to play like Bukz your only goal is to get KOS'd and lag out of everything.

Dynamic Events are random events that occur on the map, and they are a new addition to the standalone. These serve to break up the monotony of running the same looting paths constantly, and although just in the infant stages, already provide some more interesting game play choices.

-Helicopter Crash Sites-
*currently bugged and do not spawn. These were supposed to be fixed in .47, but Rocket2Guns is getting scared and they still don't work. No ETA yet for when they'll be re-implemented.
The M4 used to spawn in all the airfields and was quickly becoming too OP (overpowered) in its use. To increase rarity and decrease homogenization amongst the playerbase, the M4 (and its attachments) now only spawn in helicopter crash sites. As of now there are three fixed helicopter spawns and three random spawns. The fixed spawns are near Balota, Rify, and Kumyrna. The other three locations spawn somewhere randomly on the map. This image will give a better idea of where they are:











As of now the crash sites are the only instanced, random events on the map. When more are introduced I will update this section accordingly.

Every survivalist needs a bag of tricks shrouded in mystery if he or she is to survive properly. Practice these skills, they could save your life in a pinch.

• Look Behind

This isn't a crazy trick, but for some reason it tends to fly under peoples' radars. If you press the Alt key the camera goes into "Look Behind" mode. This effectively turns your head into the camera, so when you move your mouse it only moves your head for viewing, instead of turning your whole body. This is useful for running while looking around at the same time. This also leads nicely into the next trick -

• Compass Running

Stopping to check your compass direction all the time can be quite irritating during long travels. To get around this you simply need to be running already, hit Tab (default key) to bring up your inventory, then right click on your compass and choose "inspect." This will allow you to check your direction without having to stop. While the compass is being inspected you can change your direction while running by pressing the Delete or End keys without the need to stop and orientate your character.

• Safe Logging

DayZ features a persistent world, so wherever you logout at is where you log in at - even across servers. You'll want to make sure you logout in a safe place because you never know who's waiting for you while you log back in. With the load times you're vulnerable to attack for a few seconds after joining a server, so make sure you join in a safe place! A 30 second logout timer has been implemented to help stop combat loggers. This means that when you logout your character still sits on the server, open to attack, for 30 more seconds. So be cautious when you choose your next spot to exit the game.

• Reduced Character Resets

You might have noticed that when you login to a server your character has been unexpectedly reset to fresh spawn. This is the cause of the server not syncing properly with the "hive." The hive is the central database that stores all of your character information, which is then accessed by the servers. Character resets happen when the server you join isn't syncing properly with the hive, so it gives you a "new" character. When you start playing with the new character it overwrites the data on the hive, effectively erasing the character you had before. To help stop this, when you login to a server, don't touch any of the controls. If you are a fresh spawn when you login, immediately hit Esc and get out of the game. Once you make any kind of movement with your character the server will see it as played, and your old one will be overwritten. Once you're out of the game, select a new server and log back in. With any luck you'll be back to your old character.

• Recovering From House Glitching

Sometimes when raiding multiple story houses you have a chance to fall through the floors and stairs, glitching to the ground. You'll be "inside" the house, in the sense that you're actually *in* the models. To escape, get a running start and head towards a wall, then spam the jump key just as you make contact with the wall. This will allow you to go through the wall, pulling you outside. If there's a door you can line yourself up with first it works even better.

• Ping

By default the DayZ server browser only shows servers that have 100 ping or less. Depending on various factors (your geographical location, ISP and connection speed, etc.) you may see very few servers or even none at all.

To change this setting, click on the "Filter" button at the lower left hand portion of the screen. The option you want to edit is "Max Ping" and I recommend setting it to some insane value like 10,000 - just so you can see all the servers currently available and do further filtering from there.

• Host

Filtering by host essentially allows you to filter servers based on their name. You will probably notice a lot "3PP:ON" or "3PP:OFF" in the names of servers in the browser. 3PP is acronym for "3rd person perspective", "3PP:OFF" means only 1st person is allowed on that server. Some people find 1st person perspective only servers more enjoyable, if you are one of those people you may want to filter for "3PP:OFF". Servers listed as hardcore will always have 3rd person turned off no matter what.

There are other things you can filter for via host, like "24/7 Day" or "Daytime" to hopefully find only daytime servers, etc.

• Min Players

The number you filter for will cause the server browser to only show servers with at least that many players currently on it.

• Max Players

The number you filter for will cause the server browser to only show servers that have at most that many players currently on it.

• Full Servers

This option allows you to show or hide full servers in the server browser.

• Passworded

This option allows you to show or hide servers that require a password to connect in the server browser.

• BattleEye Require

BattleEye is an anti-cheat system used in DayZ. You have the option to only search for servers that have BattleEye disabled.

• Mission

The mission filter in the server browser currently does nothing.

• Server Sorting

It is possible to sort your current list of servers by host, map & version, number of friends playing, number of players, and by ping. Simply click the corresponding tab at the top of the server browser, click again to reverse the order.

Coming soon.

I thought it would be helpful to glossarize the more important terms and acronyms for easy reference.

• NWAF

Northwest Airfield

• NEAF

Northeast Airfield

• MB

Military Base

• KoS

Kill on Sight

• LoS

Line of Sight

• Low Pop

A low population server (few players, 0-6)

• Med Pop

A medium population server (7-14 players)

• High Pop

An high population server with lots of people (15-max capacity)

• Punch Running

A technique where you put your fists up, then double tap the run key to move even faster. It may not look like it, but you will run faster than someone who isn't punch running. Bugged, see the Getting Started section for more information.

• Buke

Anything involving buke, Bukz, bukz, buking, Bukizzle, or bukey-buke. The process of getting buked on. That's some serious buke you have there.

This section is specifically for use with the in-game overlay. This is just a listing of tidbits you can quickly reference while playing, without having to search through the whole guide.

DayZ Map[dayzdb.com]

Embedded bukzographical map:





Embedded helicopter crash site map:


Weapons wiki[dayz.gamepedia.com]
Clothes wiki[dayz.gamepedia.com]
Status wiki[dayz.gamepedia.com]
Blood wiki[dayz.gamepedia.com]
Medical wiki[dayz.gamepedia.com]

South coastal cities from west to east (these get mixed up often):
Kamenka > Komarovo > Balota > Chernogorsk > Prigorodki > Elektrozavodsk > Kamyshovo

East coastal cities from south to north
Kamyshovo > Solnichniy > Nizhnoye > Berezino > Rify (shipwreck), Svetlojarsk

Blood regeneration:
Slow Regeneration (1blood/second):
-Energy > 3500
-Water > 3000

Full Regeneration (3blood/second):
-Energy > 5000
-Water > 3500

Epinepherine heals unconsciousness
Morphine auto-injector heals broken legs
Splints heal broken limbs.
Charcoal tabs heal feeling sick

• Consumables

Drinks:


Canned goods:

Dry food:

Fruits:

Berries:

Vegetables:












**This is a fairly lengthy guide with over 20 sections and 80+ images. In Steam Overlay it can take awhile to load, especially on a slower connection (I'm working with base 768k DSL.) If you decide to use this while playing I advise pre-loading it right away before you get started.**

Thanks for reading the guide and I hope you enjoyed it. This is the first one I've written so if you have any comments or suggestions on formatting, content, etc., feel free to let me know. If you have any follow up questions leave them in the comments for me or Bukz and we'll get back to them as soon as we can.

I'd like to thank Bukz for assisting me with the construction of this guide. If you happen to run into him in game, make sure to call the airfield the airbase. Thanks for the hard work you've put in dude.

I'd like to thank Loki for letting me use his DayZ artwork for my guide's avatar. Kick ass job.

I'd like to thank my pal Valbjorn for giving me pointers to use in this guide.

And finally thanks to the tireless efforts of the community for constructing the Wikis and maps.

Since this guide is for Early Access Alpha, I'm not sure how long it will hold relevance as the game evolves. But I will keep updating this for as long as I have the motivation to, so keep checking back for more changes and additions. I try to be as thorough as possible, but much like the game it's a continuous work in progress. If you see any glaring errors or omissions please let me know so I can make the correct changes.

Love,
Bukizzle



P.S. I love DayZ. It's brilliant. I've never played a game that could evoke such emotions when encountering another person. Do yourself a favor and play at night with the lights off, phones off, headset cranked up, on a night time 40/40 server.

--Game Changelog--
"It's time to make some changes." - 2Pac
I'm adding this section to the original guide to try and catalog the changes in one easy to access place. It would be in your best interests to read the changes after reading the guide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Changelog v.32[forums.dayzgame.com] |1/22/14|
Changelog v.33[forums.dayzgame.com] |2/5/14|
Changelog v.34[forums.dayzgame.com] |4/8/14|
Changelog v.35[forums.dayzgame.com] |4/8/14|
Changelog v.42[forums.dayzgame.com] |4/8/14|
Changelog v.43[forums.dayzgame.com] |4/9/14|
Changelog v.44[forums.dayzgame.com] |4/23/14|
Changelog v.45[forums.dayzgame.com] |6/23/14|
Changelog v.46[forums.dayzgame.com] |7/2/14|
Changelog v.47[forums.dayzgame.com] |7/30/14|
Changelog v.48[forums.dayzgame.com] |8/13/14|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
--Guide Changelog--

1/23/14__________________________________________________________________
Added changelog to guide for easy viewing of game updates

1/24/14__________________________________________________________________
Added more controls descriptions to the Getting Started section
Added more areas to the Places of Interest section
Updated the "Clothes" point under the Gathering Supplies section
Updated/reworded "Weapons" point for clarity in the Gathering Supplies section

1/27/14__________________________________________________________________
Added to the "Encounters" point in the Survival section
Revised/added some feels to the Guide so I don't sound like a total a-hole

1/29/14__________________________________________________________________
Added to the Misc. Tips and Tricks section
Added new section Steam Overlay to the guide

1/30/14__________________________________________________________________
Split Weapons off into its own section

4/15/14__________________________________________________________________
Split Status Effects off into its own section and added to it
Updated zombie encounters in the Survival section

4/16/14__________________________________________________________________
Buked up the guide a bit

4/18/14__________________________________________________________________
Split the Weapons section into separate ranged and melee sections; added to them

4/21/14__________________________________________________________________
Added to the Ranged Weapons section
Updated the Places of Interest section
Updated the Gathering Supplies section

4/24/14__________________________________________________________________
Updated the Misc. Tips & Tricks section
Updated the Getting Started section

6/30/14__________________________________________________________________
Added new section Dynamic Events to the guide
Added new section Crafting/Gathering to the guide
Updated the Places of Interest section
Updated the Ranged Weapons section
Added to the Steam Overlay section

6/30/14__________________________________________________________________
Added new section Hunting/Fishing to the guide
Added to the Ranged Weapons section
Added another Ranged Weapons section
Updated the Crafting/Gathering section

7/2/14__________________________________________________________________
Added new section The Good Old Days
Added to the Survival section
Minor section tweaks and misc. spelling/grammar fixes
Added to the Traveling section

7/3/14__________________________________________________________________
Added to and updated the Places of Interest section
Added another Places of Interest section
Miscellaneous section tweaks for word flow and ease of reading

7/10/14__________________________________________________________________
Updated inventory management in the Getting Started section
Added to the Ranged Weapons section

7/17/14__________________________________________________________________
Added more locations to the Places of Interest section

7/24/14__________________________________________________________________
Split Places of Interest into several sections and added to them. Now contains all important places on the map.
Added new consumables charts to the Steam Overlay section

I'm designing this section as more of a "time capsule" type thing for DayZ, a history if you will. This has no walkthrough or strategic value to it, so feel free to skip this piece if you want. Bukz and I are huge suckers for nostalgia, and I wanted a way to remember the various stages of the game, along with our adventures, throughout its infancy. I'll also be cataloging all the major nerfs/changes so someday we can look back and go, "Ohhh yeahh, I remember that." Maybe some day two years down the road (or whenever the game is officially released) a new player will stumble across this section of our guide and gain a higher appreciation and understanding of the game. I'm sure the final product will be quite different from what we have today, and I want a way to keep those old school memories close.

-Bukizzle, 7/2/14

• The .46 nerf

This is what really got me going on the idea of doing this section, and from here on out everything will be documented after this patch. The .46 patch stands out to me because it feels like the first major content nerf of the game. The NEAF has been stripped of its former glory; it no longer really feels like an airfield. The hangars and jails have been wiped away in favor of a warehouse, and with it most of the decent loot spawns. I understand why the changes were made, people were abusing the loot spawns here because of the close Svetlo and other north east coast character spawns. Server hopping and KOS'ing is rampant in the NEAF. I believe a better solution could have been implemented, but here we are. I bring this up because I don't really see a reason to go here any more. Bukz and I spent a ton of time here - camping, killing server hoppers (in fact the last day before the .46 patch went live we killed our last server hopper right there in the first hangar,) hanging out by the pond bull sh!tting, and doing Krasno runs. The NEAF was like our "home" point for the longest time. Now there's not really any incentive to go there anymore. As it stands most players hang out in the west anyway because that's where the best and most abundant loot is. Now with the nerf to the east side of the game it's going to continue pushing people away from that area. With only two airfields left things are going to get hectic! Enjoy the last screenshots of the NEAF everyone. :)



Bukizzle, 7/2/14____________________________________________________________

• .46 shenanigans

Bukizzle tries to explore the Skalisty island for the first time to get screenshots for this exact guide. Notices me way off in the distance.


Bukizzle takes my 7.62X39mm AK round to the arm, breaks his arm and somehow manages to injure his leg in the process. I only had iron sights too, quite the lucky shot.

Quit being lazy and read the damn guide. You don't see authors with a "too long; didn't write" do you?