Guides:A Survivor's Guide
A Survivor's Guide by Grant Page
Hello. First off, well done for coming here. If you're new in Malton, reading this will help you stay alive. Even if you're an old hand, you might find something useful here. Post any feedback in my discussion area: Grant Page.
Part 1: First Steps
So, you've been dumped in this city, for some reason or another. If you're lucky, you'll have been dropped into an area where there are little to no zombies (or "zeds", as most call them). If you're unlucky, you'll have been dumped into an area with hundreds of the things.
Don't panic. Find a nearby building that hasn't been too heavily barricaded and get inside. Once inside you'll be safe as long as a mob of zeds don't knock the doors down when you're sleeping. If they do, go immediately to Part 3.
Part 2: Equipment and Weapons
Now that you're safe, find out what your building is. Is it a Police Station? Or just an ordinary building? Different buildings offer different things. For example, you'll find weapons and ammo in a police station, and you'll find First Aid Kits (or "FAKs") in hospitals. Below is a list of important buildings:
Police Station: Good for weapons, but don't rest here. Zeds will frequently kick the doors down. You can find Pistols and Pistol Clips, Shotguns and Shotgun Shells, Flak Jackets and Flare Guns here.
Hospitals: Hospitals are good places to rest in. I spent my first few nights in Malton in one myself. If you're hurt, more experienced survivors with the Diagnosis skill will frequently heal you. You'll be able to find First Aid Kits here. These are incredibly useful, for if you're infected, you'll need one to stop yourself from turning into a zombie. If you get bitten and you don't have one, do not despair. Simply enter a building and ask someone to patch you up. It works every time.
Fire Stations: Not much to do here, but it's pretty safe to rest in one. You'll find Fire Axes, Wirecutters, Flare Guns and Portable Generators inside these buildings. They are frequently HQs for the Malton Fire Department, so if you're a firefighter and you're looking to join a group, check here.
Necrotech Building: You'll not know if the building you're in is a Necrotech building unless you enter it or you have the Necrotech Employment skill. My advice is never rest in these buildings. This is the first place zeds will attack if they come in force, which they often do. You'll find useful science items like Syringes, Extractors and GPS Units inside. You may also find books inside.
These buildings are useful, so stay in safe ones or buildings that are nearby to them. There are many other buildings that you may find, but the most useful is a Mall. I haven't put it on the above list because they are nearly always Extremely Heavily Barricaded, so all new survivors, except scouts, will not be able to get in.
Part 3: Killing and being Killed
Right, you say, I've found a safe house, I've got a stack of ammo, now how do I kill zombies? It's simple: Go outside (not too far from your safe house), find some zeds and get trigger-happy. At first, it will be hard, even if you have Firearms training. Don't despair. Keep shooting, then returning for ammo. You'll eventually get enough experience to buy skills (see Part 4 for more information).
Just one thing: don't be reckless. When you're down to about 20AP, you'll want to consider heading back to your safe house unless it is very nearby. The worst thing you can do is run out of AP outside (I've done this very thing several times). You're guaranteed to get torn apart if you stay outside too long.
And before you ask, yes, you can attack other players, but don't. People hate it and they'll start tagging wanted messages on buildings. Then you'll get bounty hunters after your head, which is very bad. If you REALLY REALLY want to shoot other players and become a Player Killer (PKer) then attempt to join a group like DARIS.
Zombies fight back. It's a fact. You'll almost certainly be killed at some time during your stay in Malton. But that's were Necrotech come in. Good old Necrotech will revive you with syringes if they find you. If you're lucky, they'll randomly revive you as you shuffle about the streets. But if you need to be healed fast, find out the location of a revive point in your area and head there. To find the revive point, look up your district and see if any of the groups maintain a revive point. You'll be healed quickly that way.
Part 4: Spending XP
Now that you've filled several moving corpses with lead and have gained about 100XP, you're probably wondering what to do with it. There are many skills to buy with your hard-earned XP, so here are a few ideas:
Step 1: What is your class? Are you a soldier, a doctor/scientist, or a Cop/Fireman? Soldiers can buy combat skills quicker, needing to spend only 75XP to buy combat skills. The downside is that you need 150XP to buy science skills. And vice-versa with doctors and Necrotech assistants.
Step 2: If you're a soldier, start buying combat skills. I would advise buying pistol training so you get more hits with your pistol. Once you have full pistol training, you might wanna consider buying Free-running, otherwise you'll have to stay at the same safe house all the time. Meanwhile, if you're a scientist, get levels in Necrotech skills, so you can start reviving friends and other survivors. Once you've got full Necrotech skills, try some civilian skills like Construction. Civilians have the best choice, for everything costs only 100XP. So if you wanna shoot, buy combat skills. If you wanna heal, buy Necrotech or Doctor skills. Both are welcome in big groups, especially Necrotech people.
See? Easy.
Part 5: Joining Groups
So finally, you've come through the early stages and are now an ass-kicking (or healing) survivor. Now is a good time to start searching your district for local survivor groups. These people will happily take you in and put you to work killing or healing zombies.
Below are the links to some groups I know. They're all friendly folks who'll happily take you in:
