Project Zomboid – Good Place to Start

Useful Tips for a Newbie

Pick Rosewood!

• Set peak population at the same number as starting population (as to avoid de disgusting spawning mechanic, which gives zeds teleporting powers). Set both numbers at 1 to begin with. Keep it that way until you get a hang on the fighting mechanics and basic combat tactics.
• Disable respawn (another horrible mechanic, at least with the rate of 100% respawning pop per month). 1%-5% is fine, but not for a starting player, imo.
• Just fight. Forget about finding interesting loot. Just take a sauce pan or a griddle pan and fight. You will improve and the game will slowly unravel before your eyes. Things impossible will start to seam standard day to day stuff. Even boring, even very boring. (Enjoy the beginner experience while it lasts).
• Fight outside whenever possible. Indoors reduces drastically your power level, which is mobility and FOV. It requires extra knowledge about the sneaky ways the game tries to silently kill you all the time. Expert players die mostly indoors.
• Learn how to fight one zombie at a time. Then two. Then three. As a starting character more than two is very risky without weapons or special tactics, and 5 or 6 can be also a hard task with a hammer, let’s say, at starting skill evel if you still dont master the combat system.
• Specialise in one type of weapon. I would choose short blunt (because of its abundance), and so pick the Construction Worker ocupation, as to level up faster.
• Choose strong and athletic as starter positive traits. Those are mandatory for a beginner. Keen Hearing is the best trait in the game, hands down. If anybody says otherwise it’s just because they are specially aware of the enviornment at all times and not prone to getting distracted. They are just too good and so they can’t see the advantage it brings. Fast learner is also very very good.
• Choose weak stomach, prone to illness, slow reader, short sighted, thin skinned, slow healer, as negative traits. I may get flak for this, but unlucky is also very good, especially when learning the game. Other traits I find more controversial.

Now, how to fight, I’am a very very defensive player (because of my careless nature), and it has paid off for me. I’ am pretty much always moving backward in combat stance. Even fighting one or two zombies. Hit when they get in range. Once they get too close push and leave the combat stance, back away and get into combat stance again once you have gain some distance. Repeat until every zed is down.

You want zeds following you always in a straight line. Reposition yourself to achieve this before engaging in combat. If they are coming side by side they are extra dangerous. 3 zeds coming at you next to each other (perpendicular to your character), is glooming death coming to get you. Don´t allow that until you get very proficient with long-reach weapons (crowbars, etc.)

Left-most panel of the skills/health/etc pop-up, says on the bottom below all your traits how long you’ve been alive, how many Z’s you’ve killed, and your most-used weapon. (Bare Hands is feet).

If you’re struggling to find a watch, an alarm clock in your main inventory will also tell you the time. But you will definitely find a watch before too long.

As for fighting (WASD): If you only use WASD, the gameplay in combat is very awkward, it is almost impossible to aim and hit. Use the right mouse button and hold it.

Pressing and holding the right mouse button switches to combat mode, allowing you to move precisely, go backwards, sideways and move forward…while constantly looking in the direction where the mouse cursor is. So you can strike at the right moment.