How do you not die

[AseaHeru]

Get food and either find a cabin, a farm or a shelter. bring a weapon as the first two often have not-so-nice former inhabitants still there. sewage plants can be nice, but dont play in the sewage.

[Rutilant]

I leave the town.

Staying inside the town means that you have to be rather familiar with smells sounds and general zombie behavior in order to pick a safe spot that conceals you, and be good enough at combat to kill any zombie that does try, and never, ever, ever step outside in the town during the daytime unless you have road runner and some adderall or other powerful stimulant. Chances are if one zombie finds your hideout within the boundaries of a town it’ll attract the rest by bashing the door down. A row of pits is helpful, but has this tendency to only stop me from digging when a Hulk punches me in the face, and that is a sketchy situation to be in.

Go out of the town after 9:30 AM - bring a knife of some kind to butcher with, and you can kill woodland creatures for food. Rocks can be thrown repeatedly to keep smaller packs of wolves at bay while they try to surround you and eventually kill them, and Cougars that usually travel alone are also vulnerable to unskilled rock barrages. Carry like 4 rocks and keep picking them back up as you throw, until you find a good melee weapon like a machete or a baseball bat.

Sewage treatment plants, houses in the forest ( they spawn there regularly) and several other locations outside of town make excellent places to camp out in relative safety (usually, watch out for anything that seems fungus-y.)

The first day from the time you escape the town to the time night falls, read books, eat food, build up some experience, and then that night go into town with an empty inventory, all your clothing from the first morning, and start stocking up on things you think you’ll need. You may want a vehicle and some jerry-cans to fill with water if you’re living far from a toilet or other water source.

[Asra]

Ideally you’re going to want to find a hardware store and clothing store as soon as you pop into existence, or get a book on mechanics so you can make a crowbar. If you don’t want to make a lot of noise a crowbar is pretty much necessary. Also if you do end up coming across a lot of zombies, you can usually kill them pretty easily if you trick them into bashing through a window(not a glass wall) to get to you, since it gives you 3 or 4 melee attacks on average against them. If you stay near a window doing this against a small horde, you can pretty much get out unscathed unless you’re wielding something horrible.

Also once you have enough of everything and are loaded up with food and drink and a book, you should probably head back to the survival shelter you came from(finishing the NPC’s quest is also a + since you can have them teach you things. Always make sure they do it right there) unless it’s only one or two tiles from the city, a swamp or something else that you don’t want to be next to.

[jimboblordofeskimos]

Fight hordes in town at 1 tile wide windows, use a hammer or the like and you can kill 100s as long as you can hide round a corner so spitters/shockers cant see you till they are in the window.

[theShaikan]

Avoid NPCs for now, they’re super buggy and don’t help you out enough.
(unless you consider firing a .44 wildly at a deer way off the road from them because they considered it a threat, calling in no less than 30 varied Zombies “helping”)
Oh, robots can’t see you in the dark, they rely only on visual confirmation so far. If you are exploring a lab with a flashlight on, turn it off when you see a turret and it won’t be able to fire on you unless you go up to it for a battering.
Zombies are also quite stupid, so the advanced types can wreak havoc among the regular ranks. The hulks won’t care what’s inbetween you and them, they will go straight through their zombie buddies for you. Spitters can also be used like that, other zombies will have to walk through their acid if they spit it at you. Make use of traps and the terrain as well, the dead will gladly walk through a burning house, a pile of jagged metal or barbed wire to get you, even if they are falling to pieces at this point.
And if you have to fight, don’t run into the zombies to attack, they will usually hit first that way. Use the wait button (5 on the numpad) to stay in place, making them expend their turn moving so you can batter their brains in, ideally when using the window tactic.

[Asra]

I would say NPCs are pretty good(but only if you like using them as mobile teachers. This is particularly good if you want to go unarmed, since(not sure if this is applicable anymore) they could teach you martial arts, even some aside from the starting ones), though for a new player any other than the one you start with is probably going to end up robbing or killing you if you’re not careful or used to the game.

[AseaHeru]

Its applicable. i ran in to a leopard style dude.

[Shades]

(unless you consider firing a .44 wildly at a deer way off the road from them because they considered it a threat, calling in no less than 30 varied Zombies “helping”)

You can tell them to use only silenced weapons

[Auspice]

Rocks can be thrown repeatedly to keep smaller packs of wolves at bay while they try to surround you and eventually kill them, and Cougars that usually travel alone are also vulnerable to unskilled rock barrages. Carry like 4 rocks and keep picking them back up as you throw, until you find a good melee weapon like a machete or a baseball bat.

I’ve been becoming a big fan of wood spears for fending off annoying wildlife. Wood spears are pretty easy to make – you just need a knife and a tree branch or a two-by-four. They do more damage than rocks and have reasonable range and accuracy. They’re also useful for taking out your slower zombies in small numbers. And since they’re easy to replace, you can always drop them if you need the inventory space, then make new ones once you’ve dropped off your loot. My current character carries three or four with him whenever he’s traveling on foot.

[size=8pt]This message paid for by the National Wooden Spear Council.[/size]

[warwolf0315]

Bah fuck all that planing just [size=36pt]FUCKING GO FOR IT![/size]

[sub]this prompt paid by yamgernade and warwolf and associates [/sub]

[jimboblordofeskimos]

Until you get good at the game, pretty much every char you make should have quick or fleet footed and the night vision trait, this will mean you can run faster than most stuff, and be able to see a few squares in the dark, which is super useful.

[Slicer]

Get 12 points of disadvantages, stuff you don’t think you’ll care about. Ugly, Truth Teller, etc. Get Fleet-Footed and Quick. You want every attribute at least 10. Especially Perception.

Don’t melee unless either you absolutely have to or your enemy is stuck in broken glass. Wood spears are excellent for throwing, steel spears even moreso.

Don’t let NPCs follow you around; they’re liabilities. Either get them killed or ignore them.

Stay away from guns, especially big guns. Your Remington is a dinner bell.

Don’t EVER sleep in town. You see that evac shelter you started out in? That’s your home. Bring your stuff back there, fortify it, etc. Unless it’s too close to houses, in which case it’s not home.

If you see anything you don’t recognize, RUN LIKE HELL. Mounds of dirt headed your way? RUN. Get on the pavement. Strange creatures with names you don’t recognize? Stay far, far away from them. This is not Diablo. You do not level up from fighting things that are bigger than you. If you absolutely must fight them, it’s best if you run them over in a heavily fortified truck going 70 MPH.

[Nopkar]

I run from everything. I have almost no combat skills except for a shotgun (despite what everyone says, in a pinch they’ve saved my arse many times)

only my own stupidity kills me. This includes Giant Bees…turrets…Giant Mosquito’s…car accidents and the occasional midnight run in with worms.

[Auspice]

I run from everything. I have almost no combat skills except for a shotgun (despite what everyone says, in a pinch they’ve saved my arse many times)

It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

Since shotguns are high damage and, at short ranges, really accurate, they’re great for dealing with wildlife, especially for a beginning character.

Also, if you have built up your shotgun skill, shouldn’t you also have built up your general firearms skill? You’re probably a decent shot with handguns and rifles, if so. Just limit yourself to shooting at point blank range (like 1-2 squares away) until you get up to a skill of like 4 or 5.

[Shades]

It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

On the other hand if you keep using the shotgun inside of town eventually the group population reaches zero and spawning stops as everything is dead.

[Auspice]

[quote=“Auspice, post:17, topic:328”]It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

On the other hand if you keep using the shotgun inside of town eventually the group population reaches zero and spawning stops as everything is dead.[/quote]

Provided the 00 buck holds out long enough

[DasNeko]

[quote=“Auspice, post:17, topic:328”]It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

On the other hand if you keep using the shotgun inside of town eventually the group population reaches zero and spawning stops as everything is dead.[/quote]
Can you actually conquer a town? If so does it stay cleared out? (id love to make my base in a garage)

[qurvax]

Specials will roast you long before then. For an “all out” operation i recommend a couple of turrets, a truck (plan B, sorts of), molotov’s (lots) and assault rifle for dealing with high-priority targets like spiters. Minefield is fun. And nukes are fine too

[The_Darkling_Wolf]

[quote=“Shades, post:18, topic:328”][quote=“Auspice, post:17, topic:328”]It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

On the other hand if you keep using the shotgun inside of town eventually the group population reaches zero and spawning stops as everything is dead.[/quote]
Can you actually conquer a town? If so does it stay cleared out? (id love to make my base in a garage)[/quote]
The new spawning system allows you to clear out towns area by area.

[DasNeko]

[quote=“DasNeko, post:20, topic:328”][quote=“Shades, post:18, topic:328”][quote=“Auspice, post:17, topic:328”]It’s fine to use shotguns outside of town. You just want to avoid using them inside town because they attract zombies (and cause more zombies to spawn). If you use a shotgun inside town, you had best get clear quickly.

On the other hand if you keep using the shotgun inside of town eventually the group population reaches zero and spawning stops as everything is dead.[/quote]
Can you actually conquer a town? If so does it stay cleared out? (id love to make my base in a garage)[/quote]
The new spawning system allows you to clear out towns area by area.[/quote]

Man… Now i have to try that. Dont fail me now bathroom window!