When starting in nether, all you get is a butter knife, small backpack, and tutorial package. Don't worry, soon enough you'll be packing enough heat to scare off any scum in the server. Starting in the safezone is highly recommended since you can turn in your tutorial packages.

Regardless of your choice of the world or safe zone, you should head to the Lake Side Zone(LSZ) Center. In order of tutorial package turn-ins, the order should be Pink > Light Blue > Red > Green


Now that you finished tutorial turn-ins, you should have a nice amount of money. Now head back to the Global Inventory/Market. The first item to buy is a katana as it is the second strongest melee weapon at 450 damage, and you should sell your crowbar and butter knife afterwards.
I also recommend to store some of your shotgun shells in case something unfortunate happens. I usually keep 10 in reserve, and 1 in the chamber, for a total of 11 shots. If you shoot more than that on your first escort, there's usually a problem.


Once you've finished with that, it's time to look for packages. Packages tend to spawn near the North Entrance, and by the edges of the other gates. Each package is 20weight, but 0size. The current build lets you carry 1 package over your weight limit, if you picked it up at its spawn location. If you are over the weight limit, drop it, and don't have the strength to carry its weight, you will not be able to pick it back up.
In the city, there are four different trading outposts available. Westview Outpost(WTO), Riverside Outpost(RTO), Lakeside Safe Haven a.k.a Lakeside Zone(LSZ), and Museum Outpost(MTO). For your first escort, It's best to pick up packages from LSZ to MTO, since it's the smallest distance.

The last thing you should check are your character stats. Pressing "H" will bring up the character menu, and allow you to spend level up points on stats. While everybody plays differently, here is what I recommend to be the most self-sufficient.
While these are maxed level stats, it's up to you to decide what you may need, or if you would rather choose to work towards other Tiered skills. If you still have trouble, feel free to read my leveling path and reasoning.

• 1st point: MELEE :: The ability to block is crucial to survival, and being able to block all damage from swipes, and partial damage from nether projectiles is key.
  
  
• 2nd-5th points: STRENGTH or STAMINA :: Depending on your skill, the other players, and what's happening in the server, you may want to choose one of these two stats. Tier 2 of STRENGTH gives you an extra 250 health, and the ability to carry a bit more weight(from basic upgrading). Tier 2 of STAMINA will allow you to bypass most fences, and give a large increase in your max stamina(from basic upgrading), in turn allowing you to move quicker from place to place.
  
  
• 6th-10th points: STAMINA or STRENGTH :: Getting tier 2 of the one you didn't upgrade. Both of these perks are very important.
  
  
• 11th point: SURVIVAL :: Gaining extra nutrition will let you spend less on food, and more on important items such as health and ammo. It will also increase the effectiveness of pure water from restoring 50%hunger to 75%hunger.
  
  
• 12th - 30th: At this point, anything goes, but to follow what I do, I max out STAMINA, as the increased stamina bar, and the extra sprint speed will let you run from nether and hostile players with ease. Afterwards, I max out GUNS, as an extra 25%damage with firearms will put you at the highest damage output. Next, I level up to Tier2 of SURVIVAL, which lets you turn food into healing items once you are at full capacity of hunger. Finally, I put the last point into STRENGTH to carry more weight.

There's plenty of ways to get to MTO, but this route is the quickest and safest way to do it. You should only have to fight about 2 or 3 times, and then you can run past the rest. If you hear a shrieker, it is important to run, and NOT sprint. Once the nether start to converge closer, use sprints in short bursts to evade the crawlers, hunters, and golem as they dive and re-appear close by. This way you can effectively make distance, and move quick when you have to. It is also important to note that nether will attack as they re-appear, so you should block them if one appears within melee distance.

A good rule to go by is if it's not one-on-one, you should run. Of course, if you're used to shooters and melee combat, you can easily fend off two or three at once. The katana is able to kill crawlers in two hits, and hunters at three or four hits. However, you should never melee a golem. While slow, his punches WILL break through your block and deal roughly 100~200 damage, and will displace you. It is best to avoid the golem at first until you obtain a firearm.

Keeping these points in mind, you've probably made it to the MTO by now and are alive and well.

The good news is, your body and items are close by. The bad news? Every nether is probably sitting by your items. It never hurts to try though, and most of the time you can make it there and retrieve your starting gear. If not, then don't fret and try again. The starting items are not as good as you think they are.

Assuming you didn't end up like Aki-chan, welcome to the Museum Outpost! When you first enter, you'll realize how much smaller and condensed it is compared to Lakeside Zone. You can sightsee later, because the first order of business is to turn in your trader packages.


As we see on the map, there are 3 different trader shops. This is true for each of the four city trading outposts. To check which one you need to talk to, open the inventory and click the package. It should tell you in the description, but for the sake of reading, LSZ to MTO is the Blue trader.


Once they are turned in, you should jump up a few levels, and have a lot of weight off your shoulders(backpack). The next step is to find more packages, going back to Lakeside Zone, in other words, MTO to LSZ. If you're a bit more confident at running and evading, you can pick up the MTO to RTO or MTO to WTO packages for more money and xp. Being a courier between outposts is an effective way to quickly level up, but if you find being a courier tedious and aren't scared of getting your hands dirty, it's time to start the real game.

Heading on down to the end of the Museum outpost, you'll find the Order of the Cull, or The Cull, for short. At The Cull, you can trade in various nether body parts for better items and experience. What they do with those body parts? Who cares? What matters is that they're paying you.

When you first arrive, you might be overwhelmed by the amount of offers they have up. I have compiled this small list for you to focus on what is important, and what you should save up for.


The main highlights of this list are to pick up:

• Nether Blood :: Early on, you will need these to keep your hunger levels high. It's important to remember that pure water restores 50% hunger at first, and roughly 75% after the Tier1 SURVIVAL skill. You should only carry two pure water bottles on your person at most.
  Once you have enough pure water, you can use the blood to turn in for 9mm rounds.
  
  
• Nether Skin :: You should always be picking up nether skins to trade in for Pills. Pills will restore 275health, and are easily obtainable from all nether. Once you have enough Pills, you can use the skin to turn in for 9mm rounds.
  
  
• Nether Bone :: Only important if you plan on using the 45acp submachinegun. Bones will drop from every nether, and is easily collectable to have an expendable ammo reserve.
  
  
• Crawler Spine :: Only important at first, you can trade in six of them for a 9mm pistol. Spines are only obtainable from crawlers, but drop at a high rate. While it may seem weak, once the GUNS skill tree is upgraded, it becomes a powerful sidearm with a large magazine size of 19 rounds at 225damage each shot. However, 9mm rounds are very cost inefficient.
  
  
• Hunter Rib :: Only important at first, you can trade in six of them for a 45acp submachinegun. Ribs are only obtainable from Hunters, but drop at a high rate. The Lopes 45 is the main gun that you will be using, assuming you are not using the KB12 shotgun. With a high rate of fire and a large magazine size of 30 rounds at 180damage per shot, the lopes is a standard all around main firearm capable of dispatching Nether and hostile players alike. The SMG is silenced, therefore having a smaller sound footprint. This means that it will be harder to hear, and will attract nether in a smaller radius.
  
  
• Shrieker Tongue :: Only important for shotgun users. Three tongues will allow one to trade in for a 12 gauge barrel. A shotgun frame can either be found, or easily bought from the store for a small price. Shotguns are a powerful and effective PvE tool, being the most cost-efficient ammo in the store, but suffer greatly in PvP. Unless in close quarters, a shotgun can easily be gunned down and from mid-range against a submachinegun.
  
  
• Nether Claw :: Only important for 50cal Pistol users. Nether claws are obtainable from all nether, and can be easily turned in for side xp. The Warren 50cal pistol is obtainable as a drop from killing crawlers, or the magnum barrel can be easily obtained by turning in two lost tumors. Therefore it is advisable to turn in claws for the ammo early, to have an ammo reserve for if the pistol is obtained.

During the tutorial, you learned how to craft a Can Gun. It's as simple as getting the required materials, and bringing them all to his counter. However, you'll notice that it only shows improvised weapons, and none including real gun parts. This is because those weapons will not appear until you bring those exact parts to his counter. There are guides detailing each possible recipe, but to keep it simple, I'll be showing you how to make a KB12 shotgun, assuming you've had the shrieker tongues.

The first step is to get to The Cull and turn in your three shrieker tongues for a 12 gauge barrel.


Once obtained, return to the Global Inventory/Market and purchase a shotgun frame. The money can easily be obtained by turning in one or two trader packages.


Now that you have both a 12 gauge barrel and a shotgun frame, return to Vlad's Gun Crafting store, and a new option should appear. Confirm your selection, and craft your new KB12 shotgun.

Literally sprint all over the city. Crawlers are everywhere.

But if you want to be smart, grab a couple of >RTO or >WTO packages and kill crawlers along the way. Sprinting will make you more noticeable, and will attract all nearby nether. Be aware that Crawlers summoned by Shriekers tend to yield no items.

Being an all-around weapon, the Lopes 45 is my recommended pick. The area marked in red contains about 5 hunters, 3 of which are right next to the Museum Outpost, and can easily be sweeped in one go. However, beware of the shriekers that will call golems and many other crawlers while you are hunting.

When using Melee against hunters, it is safe to keep attacking, since their melee hits are very slow. They will often slash once, then shoot a volley of spikes. However, any weapon is able to slash before a hunter, and you can effectively lock it in place until it dies, if it doesn't decide to dive.

Unfortunately, Shriekers are one of the harder enemies to find. Listed on the image are the only locations that I can remember, but there's definitely a lot more than just those areas.

Shriekers have very low health and can easily be killed by any weapon. It is possible to kill unaware shriekers in one hit using a KB12 shotgun or a Warren .50 cal pistol, thus preventing them from calling for help. However, the hardest part about hunting Shriekers, is when they catch you unaware, and will more than likely fight it along with many other nether.

Flashbangs and pheromone jars help in crowd control when too many appear. Frag grenades can be affective as well, but can be harmful if you aren't careful of where you throw them. The throwing distance of a frag grenade is similar to underhand throwing a cinderblock.

Once you obtain your first firearm, you can start working on buying a bigger backpack, or gathering more resources and health items.

It is also important to focus on creating back up weapons, in case of death. About two weapons with 100~200 rounds for each gun should be enough.

Should you decide to start exploring, I recommend taking trader packages and searching buildings so you can have a steady amount of income for each visit you make.

To wrap up, the game is very open ended. The weapons you currently own are more than enough for self defense, but to enter full-on pvp would require you to upgrade to 5.56 and 7.62 rifles. Most of these weapons can only be crafted through Vlad's Gun Crafting Shop, or if you're playing on a modded server, you can usually buy them directly from the store.

The Cru-Zr 7.62 Sniper Rifle is obtainable by turning in Reaper Claws to the The Cull and is an excellent PVP weapon.

The MAG DR-15 5.56 Rifle is obtainable through killing Hunters or Golems, or through crafting by Rifle Stock, Auto Mechanism, 5.56 Barrel, 2x Scope.

The strongest firearm, the Heartburner at 1000damage, is obtainable through The Cull by turning in 15 Nether Bones, 20 Crawler Spines, 7 Hunter Ribs, and 3 Mantis Incindiary Glands. The Heartburner is a shotgun that uses Bone Slugs a common item between all nether, giving it a very abundant ammo supply. Bone slugs can also be obtained by turning in 4 Nether Bones to The Cull.

As for the strongest melee weapon, the Skullcleaver at 530 damage is obtainable by turning in 2 Nether Bones, 2 Crawler Spines, 4 Nether Claws, and 3 Mantis Membranes.

Now get out there, and conquer the server!
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