Project Zomboid – Guide for New Players

Hello, i have logged almost 50 hours, so i feel like i should be qualified to give some advice. This guide will focus on the basics of Project Zomboid.

Newcomers Guide

Note: Credit goes to chemical bio hazard

1. Level up

When you spawn in, one of the first things you should do is switch on the TV and switch the channel to life and living while reading a skill book, skill books usually have a profession name in them like for example “Farmer vol 1” But you must do this within a few days at most because after 7 days, the channels stop playing and after 14 days (assuming you didn’t change the settings) the power and water will shut off.

2. Take advantage of power and water

Like said in the last sentence, the power and water will shut off after 14 days, Take advantage of this. Watch the TV to level up, if possible, create a water stockpile in your safe house.

3. Safe houses

When you first spawn in, the house you spawn in should be your first safe house. Go to every curtain in the house and close them, zombies can see through the windows and it will increases your safety and security of your safe house. Like said before, stockpile water and food. You can also find generators around the world of Project Zomboid. However you must find the “how to operate generators” manual in order to use them. And never place them inside, place them in the backyard, it is extremely dangerous to put them inside as they will poison the air. Keep in mind generators will attract zombies, so try and keep it as far away from the street as possible. Generators are found often in sheds and garages.

4. Food and water

Never and i mean NEVER eat rotten food or dirty water. This will almost always kill you (It is okay to drink pond water IF DESPERATE) As said before stockpile food and water and never run out.

5. Survival tips

• This one is a common one, Never climb through broken windows unless you cleared the broken glass using the action menu, you will cut yourself and bleed!
• Never use guns, they make a WHOLE lot of noise and attract half the map, the worst of these, is the shotgun. It can make noise that can go up to 100 tiles! (That is a lot) So never use them unless you have enough ammo and can finish the fight. Or just don’t use them, especially in the beginning.
• Put on socks in the character creation menu! This may seem very random but serves for a good reason. If you get injured in the beginning, you often wont have medical supplies. So you can rip your socks to use as make-shift bandages. Just right click them in the inventory and Voila! You can safely apply them to your wound.
• Check wounds often! Do this because bandages WILL get dirty, and when they do, it only needs to sit for a short time to become infected (Infected wounds aren’t the same as being infected by zombies) Infected wounds can be treated with disinfectant, alcohol, or alcohol wipes, but the best way to treat infections is to not get infected at all! So always check your bandages. (don’t leave wounds open too long or they will also get infected)
• Wound severity. If you get injured in any way, you will most likely bleed! So what are the different types of injuries? You might ask. Well there are 3 main ones (from zombies) Scratches, Lacerations, and bites. They will all bleed so make sure to bandage them fast! However there is always a chance you will get infected (zombie type) from a zombie injury. If you get a scratch from a zombie, you will have only a 7% chance of being infected. Not so bad right? Well it gets worse. Lacerations carry a whopping 25% of being infected. So if you get a laceration the odds are in your favor! But they do take a long time to heal. (up to a week) However bites are the end of your run. They are a 100% of infection and there is no way to stop it. So i recommend if you get bitten to just drink chemicals like bleach to die faster and start over. Or you could just go crazy on a slaughter fest, your choice.

So that’s about it for my survival guide, i hope this guide helped!