Project Zomboid Starter Guide: Mastering Early Game Survival Strategies

Project Zomboid starter guide is definitely a great help for new players! As the beginner’s guide in the game leads you through very basic steps of how to move around and loot, additional tips and information are still necessary for a better early-game gaming experience for new players. So, if you just start the game and know nothing about the game, this post can teach you the survival tips and prepare you for the electricity and water outage, which marks the end of the early-game phase!

How to Fight Zombies With Inefficient Weapons or No Weapon at All?

The first part of the Project Zomboid starter guide must be how to fight zombies with inefficient weapons or no weapon at all! This is the most difficult part for new players because the game usually spawns players in a residential house, and players will be facing some zombies or a zombie horde soon, if not immediately.

How to Fight Zombies with No Weapon

What if players couldn’t manage to find any weapon in the house? With no weapon in hand, it is still possible to deal with 1 – 2 zombies at a time; 3 zombies is a bit risky. Usually, players cannot put the zombie to the ground with one push. Dealing with 3 zombies risks being injured by others when trying to push 1 zombie to the ground!

1. Players can walk or run towards the zombie and press “space” to push the zombie.
2. Repeat the push multiple times until the zombie falls to the ground.
3. Press “space” targeting the zombie’s head to smash its head.

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How to Fight Zombies with Short Blunts / Blades

What if I’m lucky enough to find a proper weapon? If players manage to find something like a baking pan or a screwdriver that is for fighting but still works as an improvised weapon, players can consider fighting 3 zombies, maybe. Yet, if players find a machete or a hammer, that’s a different story. Now, we can fight 5 – 6 zombies with a strategic move!

The most important thing about fighting a small group with a short blunt or a short blade, is to pull back, keep your distance, and line the group up. Project Zomboid designs the zombies to chase the players using the shortest route, a straight line to the players’ location. That means, if players keep pulling back, zombies will eventually form a line in front of players, making it possible to strike them down one by one. The only thing is that players need to check from time to time whether there are zombies coming from behind during this process.

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Where to Build the First Base?

Building the first base is very necessary for putting down collected items, and resuming the previous progress as soon as possible if players die. The reason for setting up a temporary base is that it is very likely that players will die more than once in the early game.

Usually, players will not die immediately unless they encounter a horde. That gives players time to rush back to the base, put down every important loot, die, and pick up all the previous loot when players return to the base as a new character.

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To make it easier for the gaming after the power outage, try to pick a location that is near the river or a pond and close to the woods as well. Forest gives players resources for trapping and foraging for food, and players can use the foraged insects for fishing in a pond or the river. This kind of base gives you a direct solution to the food in the later gaming stages.

It would be nice if there were TVs, washing machines, and dryers in the base, but it is also fine without them. Players can set up the base slowly, move the furniture and appliances from other places to the base, and build and expand the base gradually. So, no need to stress out about picking a perfect base!

Generally speaking, Mauldraugh and West Point have more zombies than Riverside and Rosewood. Players can scout out the good locations on this map!

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How to Learn Skills and Recipes?

In Project Zomboid, the mechanism of picking up skills is through reading skill books, magazines, and other books, watching TV, listening to VHS, and practicing.

1. Skill books: Skill books give an XP increase bonus to each skill level accordingly. Reading skill books does not increase the players’ skill level directly, but makes the skill XP increase faster.
2. Magazines, other books, VHS: Some books, magazines, and VHS teach players certain recipes. The recipes they teach are listed when the cursor hovers over them.
3. TV and radio: Players should try to catch the TV shows about carpentry, cooking, and others as much as possible, because the shows stop at some point later in the game. TV shows and radio can significantly increase the skill level.
4. Practicing: Practicing the skill directly is the primary source for XP. For example, if players want to increase the electrician skill, try bringing a screwdriver and starting to dismantle TVs around the neighborhood!

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List of Must-Collect Items

The table below lists items needed for the early game. As it is impossible to carry all the items with you, it is quite necessary to select a temporary home base to gradually collect all the loot.

Item Name	Usage	Where to Find It
Any Food	Food, especially canned food (can be preserved for a long time), is mandatory for the survival.	Kitchens, supermarkets, restaurants
Canned Opener	For opening canned food	Kitchens
Water Bottle	For solving thirst	Kitchens, supermarkets, restaurants, offices
Backpack	Use any backpacks to carry more loot	Bedrooms, zombies
Melee Weapons	Fight zombies in early game, and avoid making noise like guns	Residential areas, zombies, tool shops
Skill Books	Multiply the XP increase speed	Book shelves in houses, book stores, schools
How to Use Generator	Unlock the ability to connect and use the generator, after power outage	Book shelves in houses, book stores, schools
Ripped Sheets	Can be used as bandages	Rip the clothes on zombies or in the closets
Medicine	Bottles of disinfectant or alcohol wipes are useful against infection.	Bathrooms or medicine stores
Generator	Necessory for electricity after the power outage	Some backyards or storage units
Tools	Collect all at least 1 tool of each kind, such as pipe wrenches, garden saws, etc.	Garages, tool shelves, tool stores
Gas Cans	Necessory for collecting gas from gas stations for cars and generators	Garages, tools shelves, car trunks

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Conclusion: Project Zomboid Starter Guide

This Project Zomboid starter guide introduces the basic tips for surviving the early game until the water and electricity outage. To put things simply, new players mainly need to pick up how to fight, what to loot, and where to build a base to survive the first month in Project Zomboid. The main goal is not just to survive, but also to prepare for the later stage of surviving when players need to generate electricity, collect water, and find food in the wilderness.

In a way, Project Zomboid is similar to Don’t Starve, which heavily relies on players themselves to explore the mechanisms of how to survive and thrive in the game. All in all, players should expect to spend about 10 – 20 hours to get used to the game at the early game stage.