Guides:So you've decided to become a zombie

So you've decided to swell the ranks of the undead huh? This certainly is an interesting career move, and one which poses many problems and dilemmas. After all, it's a zombie-eat-human-shoot-zombie world out there in Malton, and you want to get to the top of the pile as quickly as possible. So what's the best way to do this?

Go it alone, or be a team player?

A certain children's TV character once said "It's not easy bein' green", and that's especially true when the green bit just happens to be your brain. The basic key to getting stronger is racking up experience points, and when you're a baby zombie the only way to do this is to attack and kill survivors.

And this brings up your first problem - how do you find your targets? Many zombies in Malton are feral, just living the outdoors life by wandering around town on the off-chance that they'll stumble across a foolish human sleeping in the street after failing to ration their Action Points properly. You may have a limited amount of success doing this, especially if you're in a relatively safe suburb and the locals are living in a false sense of security, but this is unlikely. If you happen to come across a building that is only loosely barricaded, you could try knocking on the door a few times but unless you have the required skills, you'll quickly find out this is a complete waste of time. Living (or rather un-living) this way will just mean slow progress and one bored and hungry zombie.

If you want to find plenty of juicy targets, you need to join one of Malton's organised zombie groups (or at least tag along). Yes that's right, organised groups - despite what you've seen in the movies, Malton's zombies are not mindless shambling oafs. They're intelligent beings capable of co-ordinated, organised attacks, and it's only through a joint effort that zombies have any real hope of breaking into an extremely heavily barricaded building.

These organised groups rarely stay in one place, roving from one suburb to another, tearing down the local defences en masse, gorging themselves on the yumminess inside, then moving on to redder pastures. Some groups actively help baby zombies to grow big and strong by opening up buildings, attacking the survivors inside until they're almost dead, then dragging them out into the street for the young'uns outside to finish off. When you're a fresh-faced zombie looking to make it in this crazy world, groups really are the way to go - after all, a kill equals 10 XP, and getting fresh meat delivered to you allows you to quickly rack up these points with minimal effort.

Zombie skills - u haz dem

So you've been feasting away on the locals, you've made a few kills and your zombie has reached the 100-XP milestone. Now you're left with a happy dilemma - what fruit to pick first from the tree of skills? Some of the skills available are absolutely vital for turning you into a lean green killing machine, others are good for helping you help others, while others are just plain fun.

Happy feet

One obvious disadvantage faced by new zombies is their lack of mobility - it takes twice as much effort for them to move from block to block compared to survivors and older zombies. Therefore, when it comes to selecting your first skill, Lurching Gait is an absolute must. After all, if your horde is moving to a new suburb, you'll need to keep up with them to gain the maximum benefits. On the other hand, if you've chosen to go it alone, Lurching Gait will allow you a bigger hunting ground as you'll be able to cover a larger area each day.

Unfortunately, this isn't the end to all your problems in the department as zombies have yet another weakness - they simply aren't endowed with the hand-eye co-ordination of a human. Walking with a healthy lurch is all well and good, but what happens when you've fallen? Getting killed then getting back up takes a lot of effort - 10 AP in fact - and it gets even worse if you've been Headshot. This is where Ankle Grab, the second essential zombie skill, comes into play. With this, a bullet in the brain will never bother you again... well, it will (having a bullet rattling around in your skull must be an odd sensation), but it won't cause you to waste a sizeable chunk of your daily action points.

Get your claws out for the lads

Okay soldier, we've got your legs sorted out, now let's work on those arms! A zombie's claws are their primary weapon - for starters, they're the only thing they have to attack barricades with (zombies attempting to nibble on barricades will quickly find out they're not at all nutritious). For low level zombies, claws are the only effective weapon so it makes sense to max these out as quickly as possible.

If you started out as a zombie, you'll already have Vigour Mortis - if not, you'll have to get this skill in order to further develop your attack capabilities.

Summary

1. Lurching Gait
2. Ankle Grab
3. Vigour Mortis
4. Death Grip
5. Rend Flesh
6. Tangling Grasp
7. Scent Fear
8. Scent Blood
9. Neck Lurch
10. Digestion
11. Infectious Bite
12. Memories of Life
13. Feeding Drag
14. Feeding Groan
15. Ransack
16. Scent Trail
17. Scent Death
18. Death Rattle
19. Flailing Gesture
20. Brain Rot
21. Flesh Rot