Whether you select a residential or commercial structure, a high-rise office building or a sprawling farm, there are a few things that will make your stay in Knox County more comfortable; having a fortified safehouse is key.

A two-story (or more) building is the most important thing, in my opinion, and we'll go into greater detail on that later when we begin fortifying. Other important factors are proximity to resources ( farming / fishing / canned food / water / lumber / tools / weapons), population density of undead, and the number of doors and windows-- as well as some other less-obvious characteristics.

The second most important thing is proximity to resources. Eventually, the power is going to go out, and when that happens, the food supply is going to run out very quickly. You can farm your own food if you prefer the rural lifestyle, fish the local waters almost infinitely, or rely on the pantries of suburbia to sustain. Eventually, if you intend to live longer than about 3 years (my rough estimate), you'll need to grow your own food. If you don't farm, be prepared to hit at least one house every two days or so in-game. It really depends on how much food you find at each location, and how effectively you manage your inventory. The perfect structure is going to be remote enough not to be overrun with zeds but less than a half-day walk to more heavily-populated areas (so that you can leave your home early in the morning, find food/supplies, and make it back before dark). If you choose the 'athletic' perk, your range will be significantly increased, but you will be noticed by many more zeds, which could be an issue. That's up to you-- personally, I favor the athletic route and outrun the zeds until I'm close to my destination, at which point I take a more stealthy approach.

The third factor that should be considered is the local population density of the undead. Nobody wants to go to sleep at night listening to the pitter-patter of undead banging on the window. Personally, I prefer the most remote of possible locations, my absolute favorite being the "Farm to the West," which you can find here:

Farm to the West[map.projectzomboid.com]

It's a very, very long walk out of town, which means that the undead population density is among the lowest you can find anywhere on the map. It's also got a well, which is immensely helpful when the water stops coming out of the faucets and completely eliminates the need for rain collection. There are significant downsides to this farm which should be considered before making a selection, though. It takes a full day to walk there from Muldaugh, which means that trips into town for supplies will require you to stay the night somewhere less secure. To deal with this, I have a secondary safehouse in town where I can hide out for the night and get organized. Rather than spend a day running to town, a day gathering supplies, and a day running back, I prefer to stay a few nights in town gathering resources and bringing them back to my secondary safehouse so that, on the next trip, I don't have to run around town-- I can just hit the safehouse and head back after a nap. The secondary safehouse is much less secure, but can be fortified extremely well in a single day if you have the right tools, which I'll cover in the next section.

Now you've got an idea of what you're looking for in a structure, and are ready to fortify it. First, you'll need some tools. From most rare to most common, you'll need the following in order to sustain for any significant length of time:

• A sledgehammer
  
• A saw
  
• An axe
  
• Lots of nails
  
• A hammer
  
• Sheets

Hopefully, you've selected a two-story structure and gathered the tools you need to secure it. What I would suggest is this: barricade all of the first floor windows and doors as tightly as possible, effectively locking yourself in.

[For each window and door, you need a hammer, nails, and between one and four planks. The more planks you use, the more effective the barricade will be. You can either find planks or use an axe to chop down a tree. Chopping a tree down will yield logs, which you need a saw to turn into planks.]

Once you have the necessary tools and supplies collected, go up to the second floor and hang a sheet rope out of the window to the ground. It might be easier to find a structure with a flat roof that you can walk on by exiting the second story window (like the Farm to the West has, for example). Be very careful walking on the roof, as it's very easy to fall through to your demise. The first time I tried this, I fell off the roof about five times in the first two days and had one character die this way, so proceed with extreme caution.

For exit and entry, you can build a window frame on the roof (or use an existing open / broken window) and dangle the sheet rope from it, which the zeds will not be able to climb up. To do this, make sure you have a hammer, nails, and 2+ sheet ropes in your inventory, then right click on the window frame and select "hang sheet rope."

Since the first floor is completely boarded up, it will be much more secure than leaving a single door or window as your entry/exit point. It is wise to place your sheet ropes away from where the zeds are crowded below (thanks to Headshot Honcho for the tip).



Next, use a sledgehammer to remove all of the stairs inside of the structure. Exit the structure, climb up the sheet rope you just placed, and build floor tiles where the stairs previously were.

Congratulations, your structure is now fortified!