Starting out in DayZ Standalone can be a challenge for a new player. First you have no clue, mostly, where you are. Second you have nothing but a flashlight and a battery. There are a few ways to figure out where you are and what way you want to head. First things first, drag that battery into that flashlight. Not only will it save you an inventory slot, you are going to need that light when it gets dark out.

Now, let's figure out where we spawned.
Listed below are a few ways to try and figure out where you are.
First thing and most important, use the DayzDB map for reference, Located Here[dayzdb.com]

Now, if you wake up on the coast, turn so the ocean is to your back and head forward.
General Directional rules of the map:
Cross railroad tracks first - you should be WEST of CHERNOGORSK
Cross a road first - you are EAST of CHERNOGORSK. (There is an exception - read below)


The ONLY exception to the Road/Railroad tracks rule above I have found so far is, if you spawn between Priorgodki and Elektrozavodsk but should be easy to tell because you should see the HUGE PIK KOZLOVA mountains to your left - a huge rocky mountain outcropping that is hard to miss.


If you spawn inland, Your best bet is to find a road, and run along it until you see a sign. (a sign name tells you that you are ENTERING a city. The sign name with a red stripe means you are LEAVING that city).

The more you die, the more familiar you will be with the entire map and spawning points.

IMPORTANT: High traffic areas now are all located in the north east area part of the map, along the coast, slightly inland and down past the factory. These are spawn spots, and well traveled roads used by new players. You have a great chance of an encounter in this area.


Once you find out where you are get moving in the right direction to get to where you want to be.

Many people don't know you can use the night sky to tell N=S=E=W directions.

If it is night time you can use the night SKY as a guide. http://youtu.be/jqelc7x70vQ

When all else fails, although its sometimes hard to tell, remember these three things for general Direction control.

Look at the clouds and see which way they are moving. They move Eastward
If your breath if visible - it blows east normally.
If you see debris, leaves blowing...they should all basically be blowing east.

Understand, there is swirling winds depending where you are and i have been lost using this method. So double check your direction with all three techniques to make double sure you are headed the right direction.

Face the way the wind, breath and clouds are going, and turn left. Now that should be basically north.

Once you have aligned yourself and understand where you are on the map, it is time to make your first move.

Now that you know where you are, kind of, you have to figure out what you are going to do.
When you spawn in DayZ you barely have enough food and water in your belly to make any run any place. My first thoughts are always in this order

• Make bandages/tear clothes into rags
  
• Find water
  
• Find Food
  
• Find Matches
  
• Find Axe
  
• Find weapon

When you find clothes, rip them up right away. Stopping a bleed will save you. Worst case, you can take off your own shirt that you spawned with and make a bandage. If you can find actual bandages from a med kit or hospital, great. But you need rags to make splints, firepits and a host of other options in game. Rags can be cleaned with alcohol tinure.

Imagine my shock when I was actually killed by a zombie attack!!! Right now they are few and far in between, but do not attempt to take them on unless you have no choice. Bad things can happen when you fight zombies. They are fast. They can run you down or at least keep up in a straight run. They ruin your gear, clothing, etc. Losing blood means grey screen, and loss of color making it harder to see enemys. Only shoot them if you must - shooting spawns more zombies. Use a melee weapon whenever you can. Avoid if you can. Fighting zombies in the street can catch the eye of other players. If you hear a zombie start groaning around you, there is another player near.

Fluids are your friends. Soda will help a bit but the real deal here is water. Plan your first trip to a water well. Once you get there drink and drink plenty. This is also the time to fill any canteens or water bottles you came across scavenging.
Drinking outside water right now is 100% safe. Water Purification tabs do not work in game yet. So drink everything you can from anyplace you can without issues. Drink until you see the stuffed message in the bottom left.

Next on your list of, how the heck do i live is food. You can do without food much longer than water but remember, you spawned starving and thirsty. Eat up all you can. Remember that not all food is created equal. I tend to sit down near a water well, eat up, then drink up. Doing this will give you the ability to run longer distances. DO NOT EAT ROTTEN FOOD.

0.49 introduced heat and cold effects from weather. Matches have now sky rocketed to the, I need to survive list. Without matches you can not make a fire which might be the only thing that will save your life. I have gotten caught in no mans land before, when it started raining, and we lost a memeber to the cold. Weather is more deadly than zombies.

If you eat all you can and drink all you can, you wil get a healthy status, or if you get hurt, a healing status. If you do not see these status on the top right of your character screen, you have not eaten or drank enough. If i find a bag of rice, i instantly will eat the entire thing to achieve this status. This will make you much tougher to be killed or grey screen.

Eating rotten food is dangerous. You are taking a great chance in getting sick. This is a last resort option when you are reading RED starvation and thirst indicators. Basically, if you are about to die anyways, better to eat or drink what's there and take your chances with sickness then to just die. Now if you planned right, you never have this problem!!!!

Why? You can use it to kill aggressive players, zombies. You can open cans. You can chop a tree down for firewood, or to make splints. It is the most multi useful tool in the game. Hint: You can fit it in your backpack and still carry another item if you want. We hope soon to be able to cut it down to make a hatchet.

Funny that weapons are last on my list of survival tools. But lets face it, if you run into other players early you are pretty much a dead man. If you avoid zombies like I suggested earlier, and are careful you really have no need of a weapon very early on. Fireman's Axe is my favorite - 1 hit zombie killers and will deal out some punishment to weirdos that get too close. They are also good for opening canned good, albeit you will spill some contents and lost a bit of food until you get a can opener. For me weapons are more of an end game scenario - once you are able to eat and drink at will, have medical supplies to heal, friends to help - then having armor and ammo makes sense. Before that? Your best bet is to avoid other players, scavenge houses, get food and water and get settled in. Players that run directly for military bases end up dead players.



This will really depend on where you spawn. Obviously you want buildings to search. The more the better. That means cities. However, the coast is a very dangerous place to be. Frankly 95% of all spawning players, spawn here, Just like you did.. The chances are they got to that axe before you did and that food and water. Move fast and move towards an inland city - your chances of finding food and gear are so much better.

Airfields will have weapons and military gear. Perhaps Medical gear as well. However, understand that people head there all the time. You are going to probably encounter some players, and worse. Killers who gear up, lay down someplace and wait for nooblings to wander across the field, and be killed. It is a very risky enterprise - but if you can hit one one early you can get some good gear fast and plenty of ammo.

The bigger cities are often more helpful. Elektro has fire halls that spawn weapons, and gear. Normally a 45 pistol and ammo. Mosin rifle and also ammo - in the school or the hospitals.

If you spawn in Kamenka, you might have the best luck heading north to the military base there. Again, you are not alone thinking this, and DayZ pro's know this as well. Expect encounters.

OK - So you are fat as a cow, and have so much water you slosh around when you walk. Now what?
Well here is what you need to figure out. How are you going to play DayZ? The main focus of players and player interaction in DayZ comes down to a few simple concepts

• You are a survivor
  
• You are a killer
  
• You are a helper (Hero?)
  
• You are an Empire builder

The basic concept of this method of play is to basically survive - to live. The main 2 types of survivor are

• The Home base
  
• The wanderer

The home base survivor will stake out an area of the map and make it his home base. Take over an out of the way cabin, house, or whatever and base all his operations from here. His day to day tasks are simply, making trips here or there to scavenge for supplies, food, weapons. The game for him, is avoiding zombies, and other players. He continues to scavenge and game play is dictated by what he encounters while doing this. Since the Alpha version of this game has no way of storage, and stocking of equipment, you are pretty much stuck with what you have on you. This player tends to log in and out from the same exact 'home' he has created for himself. One word of advice here, make sure you are basing your home on an out of the way place or you may log in one day to a situation you rather not deal with, as in other players being in your house.
This style of play allows you to learn the area you live in, and to continue to scavenge items from the same places, over and over. You should make your home base bear a water well to assure that you always have fresh drinking water at hand. Hospitals and fire halls make great places to have near by as well. Shopping centers also provide great base of operations.

The Wandering survivor is basically the same as the home base one, except he continues to trek and survive. He moves from area to area scavenging items as he goes. The big exception here, is he is coming across new landscapes, new terrain and is much more likely to encounter players and zombies as he treks along the vast wilderness. Dangerous! more so then the home base. You will not be familiar with the terrain around you. Make sure you plan your movements from water well to water well, using the map. Nothing worse than getting stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no source of water.

The helper is a player, who can be home based or wandering who has made it a mission to help other players either by giving them medical aid, weapons, food etc. This player seeks out other players in an attempt to help. unfortunately for this player - he ends up dead more often than not. Most players that have weapons will kill you right away (Called KOS) killed on sight. Weak players with nothing are far more reasonable (cowardly) and more willing to work with you and accept gifts. Killing Bandits makes you a hero. However not easy to do. You never know who is a Bandit and who is a hero.

NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOU DO NOT KNOW A GUN. More often than not, it will be used against you. Food, water, and medical aid should be more than enough, maybe a melee weapon as well.
You never want the person you help to become equally or more heavy armed than you are.


We all know him. The only thing worse than a killer is many killers. These players head for Military bases, wander around, setup ambushes and basically kill and loot everyone they come upon. The goal for these players is to be bandits and live by scavenging loot off dead bodies instead of searching houses. You never see them in buildings other than ones known to offer military weapons and gear. Typical killers depending on level of achievements here will range from full combat equipped military fighters to some half naked schmo staking out spawn spots for noobs to some weirdo with an axe trying to get close to you and bash your brains in.
Love them or hate them - they are important part of the game.

While not possible in Alpha, the empire builder is someone who is going to create his own community. The goal is to have many players providing items, scavenging, defending and helping to create that walled off city and create their own new post zombie empire. They can be ruthless, or gentle - matters not but if you generally are able to help out, and are willing you can normally join the community with them. These players tend to role play a bit more and have created goals for themselves and the community. Of course, empire building has a some draw backs.

• You have to trust many people
  
• Bad guys want your stuff
  
• You are in a static place and will become well known
  
• You can not be on guard 24x7

Trying to Enjoy The Game

Warning!
When Playing this game, you have to have a different mindset. Everything in this game is temporary. Your gear, your weapons, friends you come across, bandits, even your life. Understand that, and you will enjoy the game. Think of it as a hording of items type game, and you will be angry all the time. The game experience, is from the story unfolding for you, as it happens. Killed and lost everything? Great, go get more. People freaking out they were shot, or glitched and fell off the roof, or joined a server and lost their character, then posting hate in the forums is crazy. They are misunderstanding the point of this game, and that is creating your own survivor story. Sometimes it ends fast. Sometimes it takes days, but you will die. No matter what. You will lose all your items. Accept that with a smile, and you will love this game.

No matter how careful you are, and sneaky you appear to be, you are going to come across other players. Now let me say, how YOU react can often determine if you are going to live or die.



Many times I have come across a noobling, and highly suggested, GET DOWN! or PUT YOUR HANDS UP! and many times I have ended up killing said nooby just because he refused to follow directions. Here are some things you should remember, as an unarmed noob when someone gets the drop on you

• Use direct speak to say FRIENDLY! (you DO have a MIC, right????)
  
• Do NOT run around in circles, or try to run away (most of us are like cats - we chase things that run)
  
• Do NOT start rumbling around your inventory - We can see animations, and when we see you

cycling items in your hands it makes us think you are drawing a weapon

• DO put your arms up, kneel down. Be compliant.

If you are trapped by a killer, you are probably dead anyways. You will not out run a man with a gun.

You can normally tell if someone is friendly, if they yell at you to freeze or get down. Doing so first means at best they will help you out, or maybe they will steal from you, or take your blood. At worst they will torture you by force feeding you disinfectant or rotten food.
Tidbit: When you see a dude carrying around rotten food, it is normally because he is a killer, and likes to force feed it to people. Do not hesitate to kill these people.

Killers tend to shoot you first, and ask questions later. More often than not, you will be dead before you realized what happened.


Move around at night - most players, even if well equipped hate the night. Lack of nightvision is a hinder. So if you have the stomach for it, moving around at night is a great alternative, especially if traveling from one area of the map to another.

To this end, the little things will help
Avoid using your flash light if you can - this light draws unwanted attention
Never fire a gun if you can avoid it. Zombie killing is best done silently with an Axe. Firing a gun to kill a zombie only attracts other zombies, as well as alerts players in the area that you are there.

If you are scavenging a high risk area (known for good loot like a military base or firehouse)
make sure to scout it out before going in. Find a nice hidden spot, and watch for a solid 5 mins or so to make sure you see no movement before going in. Doors that are closed are a nice indicator that nobody has entered the area however do not rely on this as fact. Many people close doors behind them as they move about structures. Check rooftops, and look in windows. When moving stay close to the walls, do not run down the middle of the street.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Ammo is deadly in this game. 1 shot can kill you instantly. To that end, the person who sees someone first, is normaly the person that wins the encounter. A smart fella once said, you can not be Killed On Site, if you are not seen. Be fast, do not hang around deadly areas. Get in, search get out - keep moving. Do not drink, and eat while hiding in a dangerous zone. People can hear that. Never log out in a danger zone. You may log in to the, YOU ARE DEAD screen. Why? Because as anyone that has played with others knows, your character gets in game way before you do - for a few seconds you are standing around there waiting to be shot. I have killed many a player who spawned into the millitary base as we were searching it.

The problem with DayZ is you spend long periods of time running around until you are convinced there are no other players around you - then when you least expect it - BOOM.

One other mistake many, including myself have made, is assuming people are alone. A few times I have gotten into a battle with someone, moved to a better position only to get shot from another side as his teammate flanked me. Always assume you are not alone - always assume your enemy is not alone. You will live longer.

When you survive a battle after being ambushed, you wil have a great feeling.

Video for understanding Food/Water/Engery

Explaining your Health in DayZ patch.54

https://youtu.be/zxKb8iVzLag

Your health in general - MEDICAL SUPPLYS



Quick note for those who keep asking questions: Syringe is for taking a medical blood sample of another person and using a test kit to find out that persons blood type - Usually this is an involuntary involvement for the person you are taking blood from and will help you realize if you should or should not take this persons blood to heal yourself

Status effects, or modifiers as the scripts call them, usually have multiple stages that become increasingly more dire. An example of this is hunger, where you go from hungry to very hungry, and then to starving. You don't start losing health or blood until your starving, so the earlier stages serve as warnings.

Your character's health is described by several variables, which the status effects modify over time. When you spawn, you start with the following default values:

• Health 5000
  
• Blood 5000
  
• Energy 1000
  
• Water 1800
  
• Stomach 1000
  
• Hunger 0
  
• Thirst 0

Check out this video to learn how to cure people.
http://youtu.be/URJdMRrnypI


Bleeding only has a single stage, but the amount of blood you lose is still based on how badly you're bleeding - that gets tracked separately.

The Cure
Bandaging.

Hunger goes through three stages: hungry, very hungry, and starving.

The Cure
Eating food, or for smaller gains, drinking soda.

Hungry
Cause Energy below 600
Symptoms "My stomach grumbles" "I'm feeling hungry" "I want to eat something" "I feel hungry"
Status text hungry

Very Hungry
Cause Energy below 300
Symptoms "I'm extremely hungry" "My stomach grumbled violently" "I'm starving"
Status text hungry

Starving
Cause Energy below 100
Symptoms "I'm dying of starvation"
Effects -1 Health/sec
-0.5% Blood/sec
Status text starving

The Cure
Drinking water or soda.

Light Dehydration
Cause Water below 2000
Symptoms "I feel thirsty" "I'm thirsty" "I need a drink" "I feel like having a drink" "I want to drink something"
Status text thirsty

Medium Dehydration
Cause Water below 1000
Symptoms "I really need to drink"
Status text thirsty

Heavy Dehydration
Cause Water below 0
Symptoms "I'm dying of dehydration"
Effects -5 Health/sec
-1% Blood/sec
Status text thirsty

When you're fully fed and watered, you gain a healing status. There are three stages of healing: light regeneration, full regeneration, and healing. In the regeneration stages, you only regenerate blood, while in the healing stage, you regain health.

The Cure
Finish regenerating to full blood and health.

Light Regeneration
Cause Energy above 3500 and Water above 3000
Effects +1 Blood/sec

Full Regeneration
Cause Energy above 5000 and Water above 2500
Effects +3 Blood/sec
Healing


Unconsciousness only has one stage, which causes loss of control of your character. It can be caused either by shock, or lack of blood. Shock comes from damage to the head, and can be reduced by protective helmets. Epinephrine resets your shock level, which would revive you unless your blood is too low.

The Cure
If due to shock, epinephrine will revive you. If it's due to blood, a transfusion or saline bag. You can't easily tell if you passed out to due to shock or blood loss, but if your screen wasn't gray when you passed out, it's probably shock. If no one is around to help you, your shock level decreases at 30 per second, so it is still possible to revive on your own.

Unconscious
Cause Shock above Blood or
Blood below 500


Food poisoning has up to six stages, depending on the severity of the poisoning. The most likely source of poisoning is from eating rotten fruit, which has a 50% chance of minor poisoning, and a 5% chance of moderate poisoning. Alcohol tinctures have a 75% and 20% chance for minor and moderate food poisoning as well.

The Cure
Eating charcoal tablets will immediately remove minor or moderate food poisoning.

Stage One
Symptoms "I have a funny taste in my mouth" "My mouth tastes funny" "I notice a weird taste" "My mouth tastes weird"

Stage Two
Symptoms Minor
"I feel nauseous" "I feel queasy" "I feel like throwing up"
Moderate/Severe
"I feel nauseous" "I feel queasy" "I feel like throwing up"
Effects Minor: -13.3% Water/sec
Moderate: -13.6% Water/sec, -0.2% Blood/sec
Severe: -19.5% Water/sec, -0.3% Blood/sec
Status text sick

Stage Three
Symptoms Minor
"I feel dizzy" "I feel light-headed" "I feel faint" "I feel unsteady"
Moderate/Severe
"I am close to vomiting" "I think I'm going to vomit..." "I'm going to vomit..."
Effects Minor: -13.6% Water/sec, -0.1% Blood/sec
Moderate/Severe: Vomiting: -500 Stomach, -600 Energy, -1000 Water
Status text sick

Stage Four
Symptoms Moderate
"I feel dizzy" "I feel light-headed" "I feel faint" "I feel unsteady"
Severe
"I feel cramps in my stomach"
Effects Moderate: -14.3% Water/sec, -0.1% Blood/sec
Severe: -26% Water/sec, -0.2% Blood/sec
Status text sick

Stage Five
Symptoms Moderate
"I feel tired" "I feel run-down" "I feel worn-out"
Severe
"I am close to vomiting" "I think I'm going to vomit..." "I'm going to vomit..."
Effects Severe: Vomiting: -500 Stomach, -600 Energy, -1000 Water

Stage Six
Symptoms Severe
"I feel exhausted" "I feel extremely tired"
Effects Severe: -19.5% Water/sec
Status text Severe: sick


Blood transfusions and blood types.

Blood Type Compatibility
(to find out what blood type you are, you must be lucky enough to find a blood test kit. Use this to tell what blood type your character is. Each respawn will net you a new blood type)

To perform a successful blood transfusion using a Blood Bag Kit, a donor's blood type must be compatible with the recipient's for the transfusion to be beneficial. Incompatible blood type will lead to instant death for recipient.

Blood Type Compatibility Table


As a rule for memorization:
O can transfer to O, A, B or AB
A can transfer to A or AB
B can transfer to B or AB
AB can only transfer to AB
(-) can transfer to (-) or (+)
(+) can only transfer to (+)


Restore Your blood/Health Eat, drink til you are full

http://youtu.be/e9WucL9Y9Sw

Combat in DayZ is a complicated thing. I will do my best to explain things related to combat in the world of DayZ.

Choice of weapon -
I realize that weapons are hard to come by and sometimes it is luck - all you can do is take what you find. But in rare times when you DO have a choice.

• Your game style will determine your choice of weapon. Everyone dreams of using a mosin and sniping bandits from 500m. It is not that easy.
  
• The later patches have many factors in your aim - Out of breath, injury status, cold. All of these things can make your aim sway and make your shot unreliable.
  
• Mosin is for the higher level players, who understand DayZ and the way the game mechanics run.
  
• 
  
• Handguns are nice short range weapons, easy to carry and offer plenty of ability to reload, shoot and run.
  
• 
  
• Automatic weapons are nice, but finding mags and ammo is tough and they make you a target. Players that might not think about killing you, will normally take you out if you are running around with an automatic weapon.
  
• 
  
• Axe, pickaxe - brass knuckles - are about the only melee weapons i would take into PVP combat.
  
• 
  
• Location Location Location
  
• Combat is a location game. Make sure you have the location and terrain in your favor. Switching between third and first person views is a good way to scout your surroundings
  
• 
  
• Fighting should be done in first person mode most of the time - Your aim is much more accurate this way and you are less likely to miss your shot.
  
• Third person mode should be used when reloading, scanning area, hunting for players during combat. Once you get a target locked on, switch to first person.
  
• 
  
• Always make sure your weapon is reloaded. Even if you have ammo, when you get a quick chance, reload to full capacity - you never know when that 1 extra bullet means you live
  
• 
  
• Health is a factor - make sure you have a splint on you. Make sure you eat well and stay hydrated. All this will help steady your aim during a fight.
  
• 
  
• Take YOUR shot. Sometimes it is in your favor to take horrible shots, if for no other reason to distract a player or pin them down. When a player hears bullets wizzing past them, they tend NOT to stand there but to retreat to cover - that may be the opening you or a friend needs to make your escape.
  
• 
  
• Make sure to check and double check your weapon range (number in the top right when you equip a weapon)
  
• You should be set at 100m, unless you are long ranging someone and need to adjust. Most fights happen at less then 100m
  
• 
  
• Don't stop to loot people during the fight. Looting is done when you are sure nobody else is around or alive
  
• 
  
• kill new players that enter the area, and try to loot bodies. I know this is controversial but I have never had any benefit from letting a newbie loot during combat.
  
• Most times it is one of the people you just killed returning to his body because of a favorable respawn. Sometimes it is a legit noob but all that is happening is you are putting
  
• yourself in more danger - warning and talking only shows people your location and if you are in the middle of a battle it is the last thing you want to happen.
  
• 
  
• Never underestimate the crouch and prone positions - They really DO make you harder to see.
  
• 
  
• TRAIN! Use your weapon on zombies and train. Find out the recoil, the spread. Find the feel of the gun, how fast you can reload, how accurate you are. Enter low pop servers
  
• and shoot zombies - more will spawn. This is the only way to get better without players returning fire on you.
  
• 
  
• It is very hard to hit someone running across you - or as we call it, crossing the T. A player moving from your left to right at full speed is VERY hard to hit even with automatic fire.
  
• Use this to your advantage both when attacking or defending yourself. Position yourself so that your enemy is moving away or toward you. If getting shot at, do not run directly away, zig and zag randomly.
  
• 
  
• Aim dead center mass - if your bullet rises on you it can be a head shot, if it dips you break their legs. Dead center mass gives you a MUCH better chance at scoring a hit.
  
• 
  
• When under fire from a Sniper DO NOT stop, crouch or laydown. All you are doing is giving your sniper friend an easy target. Run, and take cover behind something to avoid being shot.
  
• The Mosin is very hard to master, and shooting moving targets is very tough.
  
• 
  
• Movement - The Human eye is designed just like any predators - to catch movement. Standing still behind a tree is a good way to remain undetected. Moving even in thicker brush can catch someones attention. When scanning use the ALT key to ONLY move your head, not your entire body!!! This is very helpful especially when you are laying down.

There is not much more I can add to this, other than, remember that just because you see one person, does not mean he is alone.

When in doubt...any doubt. Shoot first, question later.

Avoid shooting unarmed people.

• Wells are your friend. Use a bottle to drink - It is faster and you can cancel action if need to
  
• Searching houses, should be done in 1st person mode. Look under beds, on chairs, behind doors.
  
• Fighting should be in 1st person mode, using 3rd person mode to look around or shoot close up
  
• Eating and Drinking as much as you can until you reach a HEALING or HEALTHY status. Carful not to over do it, or you will throw up - When you see orange stuff indicator in the top right it is time to stop eating
  
• Zombies only grunt, groan and make noise if they see a player. Pay Attention!
  
• You can lock zombies behind doors in most cases
  
• Learn what gunshots sound like. Understanding what and where you are being shot from can save your life
  
• Remember to lay down to search under beds for gear.
  
• 2 or 3 bullets is enough to kill anyone. Take small burst shots at medium to long range - never full auto
  
• Trucks are LOUD! I suggest against them unless you plan on playing low population servers or have friends to help
  
• Inside a truck you are almost bullet proof - ALMOST. Raise the hood of the truck as a bullet shield. Running players over is deadly for them - every getting close...
  
• If you hit someone, hold back and let them bleed out. If they try to bandage, rush in finish them off
  
• Most backpack slots should be for water and food, and medicine.
  
• Interact with items by right clicking. Some items require other items to work (iv starter kit, and blood bag)
  
• Sometimes if you can not pick something up, make sure your hands are empty.
  
• Kill zombies in town with an Axe. Gunfire attracts players.
  
• Stay off main roads. Keep to the woods on either side with road in sight. Walking down the middle of the road or railroad tracks makes you easy to see.
  
• Train Tracks make great navigation shortcuts as do Electrical Wires. Following these can keep you from harms way and allow you to travel between areas quickly while avoiding main roads.
  
• Drag items on top of other items to interact. (The M4 Scope replaces the Carry handle, by simply dragging it over to swap it out)
  
• Gas pumps blow up if damaged. You can use this to your advantage

Status---- Cure
Bleeding ----- Bandages/rags
Low blood----- Blood Bags/Saline Bag
Broken leg----- Morphine/Sticks & Bandages
Unconsciousness----- Epi-Pen/Saline Bag/defib
Food poisoning------ Charcoal tablets
Infected wound----- Alcohol tincture/antibiotics

WOBO tips are amazing. Watch his Youtube videos to learn ALOT


https://youtu.be/ozqFLef2koQ

• http://dayzdb.com/map/
  
• http://www.dayztv.com/map/
  
• http://www.izurvive.com/chernarusplussatmap.html#

Now, each of these maps is useful for different reasons, find one to use and make that your map
Add it to your in game steam window by doing this

• Steam
  
• Settings
  
• In Game

In the section where it says Browser home page - paste one of the above URLS into that area.
Now when you ALT-TAB in game, and choose WEB BROWSER at the bottom of the page, you will open the DayZ Map of your choice and STILL be in game.



The Russian signs can be hard to read/translate -
I suggest you print this copy of town pages off, so that you easily find where you are based on signs.

http://dayz.gamepedia.com/Towns_and_Cities


I have tried many and so far this has been the best balance for PVP and Game play.

https://youtu.be/PsWkYExFvIE

MY SETTINGS
Textures:
-Video Memory: Auto
-Texture Detail: Normal
-Texture Filtering: Very High

Quality:
-Objects: Normal
-Terrain: Very High
-Clouds: Very High
-Shadows: Normal

Rendering:
-Antialiasing: Normal
-Alpha to Coverage: All trees + grass
-Edge Smoothing: SMAA Normal
-HDR Quality: Low
-Ambient Occlusion: Disabled
-Postprocess Quality: Disabled

-Vsync: Disabled

CONFIGS
Find the configs using this path:
C:\Users\yourname\Documents\DayZ\your_da­yz_profile\your_dayz_profile.DayZProfile

sceneComplexity=150000;
shadowZDistance=100;
viewDistance=1600;
preferredObjectViewDistance=1200;

C:\Users\yourname\Documents\DayZ\DayZ.cf­g

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1;
GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1;

STEAM
Use the following command line in the Launch Options:
-nosplash -noPause -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=8192 -exThreads=8 -malloc=system
Make sure you customize the command line to fit your specs.


In your configure screen, under FIELD OF VIEW
Dragging left, to narrow your view allows you to see much better distance, however it stops you from seeing around you, while dragging the bar all the way right allows you to have a much better 3rd person view - however seeing distance is hampered.

Play with it and get used to it. Narrow view allows a much better view of distance when sniping and can bring into view someone that is not in view normally.