H1Z1 Guide: The Ultimate Beginner’s Handbook
So you’ve played Rust, you’ve played DayZ and now are looking for another survival apocalyptic game to play. H1Z1 was announced in mid-2014 and was released on January 15th 2015 on Steam for Early Access. The ambitious zombie apocalyptic survival game focuses on player cooperation, crafting and changing environments to present a realistic experience for the player.
This is not an ordinary survival game, and the new concepts will confuse even the veterans of the genre. Despite the copious hours players have poured into DayZ and similar games, H1Z1 brings something more. There’s a great deal of new features, challenges and dangers shuffling into the mix of H1Z1.
Your aim is to survive, but everything in the world wants to kill you. From other players, zombies and even animals, you are in the center of a merciless food chain where death is literally around every corner. Nobody survives in a zombie apocalypse, but this guide may spare you a few more minutes of enjoyment before the undead get to you.
First Spawn
You will spawn in the complete wilderness, have no sense of direction and idea where or what to do. There are no quest markers, NPCs or maps to guide you, this is all down to your instincts and decision making. However, there are a few things to help you gain some idea of your surroundings.
Every player starts off with some basic clothing, supplies and importantly a flash light. Especially at night, the flash light is the easiest way to navigate an area but beware as you become immediately noticeable by other players and the undead.
Around you there will be trees, bushes, maybe even a stream of water, all containing valuable resources early on. Blackberries can be picked to aid your hunger and hydration, branches attained for weapons and even sticks for crafting. That nearby stream could be your only source of water in miles so keep track of where it is. Grab everything you can and start learning the fundamentals of crafting.
Pressing ‘tab’ will bring up your inventory which reveals your health, energy, hunger and hydration levels along with crafting and discovery. The latter is crucial in learning how to make new items and even weapons to aid your survival. The further you travel, the more your vitals are going to decrease, but a town shouldn’t be too far away.
Finding Civilisation
There are towns, villages, hunting cabins and even cities scattered throughout the world of H1Z1. Finding them can be a bit difficult at the start, but you’ll soon get the hang of it. No matter where you’ll spawn, a road will be nearby and are the best way of locating nearby towns for loot and precious supplies.
You may pass dozens of broken cars, which of course you should search, and even small farms or bungalows you can attempt to loot. Resources will always be scarce and players often have looted most of the larger towns. There is always something though, either a weapon or even a bottle of water, that can keep you alive.
H1Z1 has a variety of different building types, and players are able to loot cabinets and similar storage containers. Strip down every single building you find and grab everything you can carry. Crafting requires the use of many items and materials, and so even the smallest scrap of metal can be useful further down the line.
Tread carefully around the main city areas by crouching and using your light only when necessary. Zombies and other players can be merciless, and so you have to search quietly instead of running around and attracting attention.
Crafting
Unlike many other survival zombie MMOs, H1Z1 employs a diverse crafting system using the items found around you. Traps, weapons, clothing, even backpacks can be created, with many more to appear in future updates. Everything you find has a use in some way, and it’s up to your own instincts what you decide to carry or leave.
Crafting is the basis of everything you do and even affects the food or water you drink. Finding a bottle of ‘stagnant’ water might be good but it’ll will hurt you when drank. When heated up on a crafted camp fire, will become purified and healthy.
Base building, repairing vehicles and barricades are all created from items around you so don’t be afraid to pick up a new item and test what it can do.
Threats
H1Z1 employs several types of dangers from players, zombies, and the wildlife. Wolves or bears will not hesitate to chase you down, and the zombies will come at you in hordes and waves. DayZ veterans will be familiar with how guns and axes can take out zombies easily, but this is very different in H1Z1.
The first weapon you will probably find is a tree branch, and this can take out a zombie after a few meaty swings. However, you may wish to attempt to craft something with a bit of range so you can kill from a distance away from threat. This is where the bow and arrow comes into the picture, and is one of the easiest weapons to craft early in the game.
Sticks can be found scattered in the bushes and small plants surrounding towns or within forests. Combining these aspects along with a bit of cloth will give you a bow. Arrows are created simply from sticks, and soon your own primitive bow will be ready to use. Silent, deadly, and effective, this bow is a great weapon to have early in the game.
Meeting Players
Hunger and thirst are a major aspect of surviving, but the numerous other threats may seal your fate before you pass out. Meeting other players should always be done with caution and through constant communication. If you come across another player, attempt to talk and converse with them and then decide what action to take.
If you see a player mercilessly gun down another, it may be a good idea to stay well clear and quiet. Your movement and footsteps can give you away instantly so always crouch down or crawl when nearby enemies. Patience and stealth is the key to surviving in the long run, no matter how loaded up you are with weapons.
H1Z1 promotes cooperation, and the game is made a lot easier when players decide to join forces. Towns get raided faster and surviving becomes a lot easier. Give people a chance, but always be ready to escape and be aware of your surroundings.
There are plenty more aspects in H1Z1, but this guide covers most of the basic aspects and features for newer players learning the game. More detail around the kind of players and enemies you meet can be found on our other H1Z1 feature here.
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