Most of you probably know how this works, but here's the deal... first priority is to establish ranged capability. All other concerns are secondary. This is easier if you have a stone axe: one plant fiber, one small stone, and one stick. (type "stone axe" in the crafting screen's search bar to find the recipe easily) This usually takes no more than a minute to accomplish unless you just have terrible luck finding small stones. The scraggly bushes can be punched for sticks, and plant fibers can be obtained from grass. Small stones are usually lying everywhere... if you happen across bird's nests, grab those feathers and eggs! As many as you spot! Once you've got your axe, keep gathering small stones, they'll be useful for repairing it as you continue gathering sticks and plant fibers. Once you have enough of each, craft a bow. You should have some feathers by this point, so go ahead and get some arrows crafting. Once you've got 50 arrows or more, you can relax a bit... but you still have much to do. If at any time you spot any animals, kill them for the leather, leave the meat for now (it will attract zombies). Always check trash containers for books, it's rare... but not as rare as you may think.

Things to hold on to at this stage: sticks, small stones, feathers, ammo, eggs, wood, any tools/weapons you might loot, books (up to one stack), medical supplies, food/water, empty cans/bottles, cloth (for bandages/sleeping bag), scrap iron, and last but not least, iron pipes. Do *not* scrap empty cans, but *do* scrap everything else (casino tokens, candy tins, etc). Once you have 10 or more empty cans, you can scrap any more that you may gather. 6 scrap iron will give one iron ingot, try to save up at least 18 scrap iron.

Other things to be on the lookout for include moldy bread and brass... these aren't as important now, but will be important later on. Also be aware of your surroundings, make mental notes of signs of activity by other players and optimal base locations (more on that in another section).

Always keep some materials for making arrows in reserve, you never know when you'll get the materials to build a crossbow, and you certainly don't want to be stuck with 500 arrows, and no materials for making bolts when you to finally get the crossbow.

You don't wanna wait until nightfall to start thinking about sheltering for the night. You should be trying to find some sort of safety no later than 3 - 4pm. Nightfall will occur sometime around five or six in the evening. Once that happens (unless the settings are non-default) zombies will be much faster... they will probably run you down. The best plan for the first night is to keep hidden and quiet. Crouching (stealth mode) with ctrl can help you stay hidden. Waving a torch around isn't a good idea if you don't want to be found.

There are two main strategies, get higher up, and hunker down. Both can be effective if implemented correctly, and which strategy you choose should be a good reflection of your situation (tools, biome, materials on hand, etc).

Getting Higher: The best way is to get some simple wood frames (out in the country and well clear of any POI's) and build two towers, preferably 10 blocks tall at a minimum, though anything over 4 should work (anything over 15 will almost guarantee you stay hidden). Build these towers with no more than three blocks of space between them (three is best). The easiest way to build the first tower is to build two side by side, one will be the final tower and the other will allow you to safely get down. Once both towers are complete and connected at the top, the middle will be your perch, this way zombies that do happen to spot you will be less likely to knock your tower down. Many players opt for the famous "nerd-pole" strategy, just place blocks beneath you as you jump until you are very high off the ground. This method can be effective, but it can also be dangerous. Zombies can easily destroy nerdpoles.

Getting Lower: This is my preferred method whenever possible. It can take more time (especially with terrible tools) but the result can be more rewarding and potentially result in the start of a long-term base which can be easily fortified. Some cool facts about zombies: they cannot generally attack the ground directly beneath them; and they generally spawn at the highest local elevation they can potentially spawn on. This means that if you find a cave, and place a few blocks at the entrance (as long as they create a flat smooth surface that is no higher than the ground) you're pretty safe. The same result can be accomplished by digging down and then placing some blocks overhead. Be aware though, if your dugout is near a cliffside, the zombies may dig into the side of the cliff to get at you... so doing this at lower elevations is a far better idea.

If you've made it this far, your prime concern will soon become food/water. This is where most players split up into one of two groups: nomads and base-builders. There's a lot of talk in the forums about how base-building has been made impossible... well don't you believe it for a second, bases are still an extremely effective way to survive. Both methods work, which one suits you best is up to you as a player. Wanna build 4 small bases and wander between them, go for it! Just be thinking about what you want to do, and be understanding that the game may dictate your strategy to some extent. If you're out in the middle of nowhere, building a camp may be a necessity at least until you can find some good loot sources.

Food: There are three main "immediately" available food sources: edible plants, canned foods, raw meats. Each has its advantages and disadvantages. Canned foods don't smell, (and some can even hydrate you too) but can be tough to find if you haven't located a town yet. Occasionally found in random backpacks and dufflebags scattered throughout the world. Edible plants can be tough to find also (except cacti in deserts and corn in grasslands) and fill little hunger, the main advantages are that once found, they are usually plentiful; they have no smell; and can often be harvested in relative peace (as opposed to raiding a town which can be dangerous). Raw meats are often the easiest to find in the wilderness in many biomes, and a single kill can feed you for quite a while... they also provide valuable hides. The problem is mainly smells, carrying around meats is generally not wise, and raw meats even less wise (the smell radius is greater). This means that hunting really requires a camp with some place to safely store the food. This lends itself more to base-building and less to nomadic types. If you do choose to hunt for meat, the earliest available option is usually using a stick as your cookware, this gives "charred" meats... they make you quite thirsty, but it's something at least.

Water: You'll want to get your hands on a cooking pot and plenty of jars asap... but this early in the game, you may not have either yet. You should have several cans though, and cans can be used to collect water just like jars. They have another advantage, cans can be boiled without a pot... requiring only a stick in the cookware slot. Cans are still annoying, as they cannot be stacked once boiled. Each can of boiled water takes up one entire inventory slot... so don't go crazy, only boil what you need within the next twelve to twenty-four hours. Cans and jars alike can be filled from any water you can see, no matter the size. Rivers are no better than standing puddles. Toilets also work well.

After taking care of immediate food/water needs, your concerns will depend on whether you play more nomadic or more stationary. If you're planning on playing nomadic, it's pretty simple... keep your inventory light and organized, carry only what you need, and find a town. Roads often lead to towns. Find some place safe to hole up for the night. Practice makes perfect. If you're going to be more stationary, your next two goals should be getting a base started and finding some tasty loot to store in it. What you'll really hope for is a "Forge Ahead" book, a tanning book, and some better tools. As for finding a good site for a base, you'll want something that's relatively close to a good source of loot, but not so close as to be a constant source of zombies. Having a town around half a kilometer away is ideal. Having caves and water nearby will also be helpful. If you're on multiplayer, you'll probably want to stay away from heavily looted areas and/or areas with high levels of player activity. Getting somewhere off by yourself will ensure more peace and more loot. Also, ensure that your base doesn't leave a very visible footprint on the map, this draws other players to your base for potential loot. This can be achieved by covering your base with dirt such that grass grows on top. I build my bases at the bottoms of caves, this makes it quite peaceful and easily defended. Just make sure that it's a safe location. Once you have the forge book, the whole world opens up to you. Many players go straight for the pickaxe, but I *always* go for the crossbow first, and then the fireaxe if I have enough left over. This makes looting *MUCH* easier and safer... you'll need more recipe books, and any weapon parts you can scrounge up. You should be very busy the first week, and you should be finding plenty of loot/materials.

Once you survive the first week, the game starts to get a bit easier... just don't do anything foolish, and make sure you're ready for the seventh day hordes when they show up. Continue looting... make sure you empty out containers of items that you don't want. They won't spawn new loot if you don't. If you do come across some searchable loot container that doesn't say (Untouched), and still has items in it... try collecting or tossing the items and then rechecking the container. They will often spawn new loot on the spot (if the loot timer has reset since the items were left there). It pays to explore your surroundings thoroughly. Build out your base, improve your weapons. Managing the heatmap becomes a concern in the long run also, try not to have your tree farm too close to your base. Also, you might want to consider having your forge down in your cave/mine in a location apart from your base. Heat is generated on a "per-chunk" basis... and each chunk is 50 meters across... so if your mine and tree farms are both at least .1km away, you should be set. You can use waypoints in the map to check distances easily by right-clicking anywhere on the map.

Finding air drops: This can be very tricky if you're one of the unlucky ones (like me) who cannot see them in multiplayer. Try listening to the plane while turning side to side to get a fix on its direction from you if you have a good idea of how fast it's going you can get a pretty good idea of the path it took... this takes practice. Once you know about where its path was, trace that path on foot keeping an eye out for crates. Once you find one, mark it on your map, and continue the flight-path in both directions to find more. They usually drop two crates, sometimes three. Also, the planes often travel similar paths many times. If you're getting on a server that's been running a while, odds are high that there are plenty of crates lying around waiting to be discovered. Go off the beaten path.

• Zombies like to approach from *almost* cardinal directions. Study their movement to find the exact point... lining up with this will make your shots much easier. In my experience it's about five to ten degrees clockwise of each cardinal direction.
  
• Aimpoints: Each non-scoped weapon has a unique aimpoint when in "aim" mode (hold right click). Find them and use them. For the bow, it's just left of the arrowhead. For the crossbow it's just above the bar (use the thumb to help line it up). When in stealth mode, the eye can be used to line up shots effectively (aim a bit higher with the bow, as it has less power).
  
• Shooting from the hip: For most of the guns, this is self-explanatory. This is pretty difficult to manage with the bow. The crossbow bolt follows a path through its axis, so looking at that can give you an idea where it will go. I find that aiming about one "head's breadth" to the left and slightly above usually results in headshots. Practice this, it's difficult to master but may save your life. Being able to "run-n-gun" with the crossbow is also quite awesome. It's easier to learn how to do from closer up.
  
• Silent killing: No matter how quiet or stealthy you are, when a zombie dies other zombies will come around the site of the slaying to investigate. If you want to stay hidden, you'd best keep moving.
  
• Hordes: Sometimes noise can cause hordes to begin to form, always check your perimeter frequently to avoid being surrounded. Also check the ground frequently for crawlers... if you don't make a conscious effort to do so, they will happily remind you with a broken leg.
  
• First aid: Always keep first aid supplies on you. A couple of bandages and a splint *at a minimum*
  
• Organization: Always keep your toolbelt well organized while raiding/hunting. Every good survivor does this so that they always know where their important items are. Here's mine in order of number, starting at one and going up to eight: pistol, crossbow, melee weapon, shotgun, fireaxe, bandage/firstaidkit, hydration, rifle. I keep crossbow on number two slot because it's right above "w", and if I have something else in my hands (like an axe) and a zombie sneaks up on me, I can quickly bring it up without even having to think about it. Other players use different slots, use what makes the most sense to you.
  
• Stamina: *Always* save some stamina... *never* run it all the way down. You never know when a dog will come from behind a tree or building and give chase... having a little stamina may save your life... but having none will probably end it.
  
• Tactical Withdrawal: If it gets too hot, run away. Put some distance between you and the horde and go into stealth mode. Give it an hour or two and many of them will probably despawn.

There are three main points to consider that only really arise when looting; exit strategy, noise management, and tool/weapon management.
First, (and probably most important) is exit strategy. Always have one. If you're the first one looting a building, always open up a second exit when leaving. *Never* go back the way you came in if you can help it. No matter how thorough you were, there are likely curious zombies attracted by the sounds of looting through containers congregating around the entrance you hacked open. Looting is much safer if you cannot be cornered. You'll also find that this makes those same buildings easier to re-visit in the future.
Second is noise management. Some things make more noise than others. Glass panes are easy to break, but very noisy. Doors aren't as noisy, but generate noise for each stage broken down... becoming a real problem. Often walls are the best way in, especially if you have a fireaxe (notwithstanding concrete walls of course). When in a wooden house, I usually look for a wall near a door. Breaking walls also allow you to create a one-block-high opening that can help keep zombies from wandering in after you.
Third is tool/weapon management. It's always a good idea to keep some repair materials on-hand. If you're in a house with only one exit that's quickly filling with zombies and your axe broke... it may be over for you. Try to stay aware of the conditions of your weapons and tools. Guns can even break unexpectedly... if one of the parts breaks, the weapon will cease working. Each part has its own condition and weapon is different. The pistol makes a sound like a spring when one of its parts is broken. To get it operational you can repair the broken part or the whole thing.

(coming soon)

(coming soon)