ALIFES

Zombie Tactics

The information on this page or section discusses a zombie strategy.

ALIFES is an acronym representing an immersive zombie tactic, attempting to emulate "Classic" zombie behaviour.

Breakdown

ALIFES zombies will pursue the following actions, in this order:

1. If they see a Survivor, they will Attack it.

2. If they see Lights in a building, they will attempt to break in.

3. They will follow their Instincts. EG. scents or feeding groans.

4. If they see a Flare, they will shamble towards it.

5. If they discover a corpse while injured, they will Eat.

6. Otherwise, they will Shamble a random direction.

Advantages

ALIFES primary advantage is that it consists of easy to remember steps that generally lead to productive zombie behaviour. More notably perhaps, it provides a simple way to roleplay a mindless undead, as opposed to the intelligent direction frequently displayed by Zombie players.

It is a reasonable choice for Feral and Dual Nature Zombies, and can even be palatable to Pro-Survivor players.

Zombie players will often find it does not deviate far from their standard gameplay loop, and can easily be tweaked while remaining in the spirit of ALIFES to be more narratively or tactically sound. Optional 'rules' might include:

• Issuing a feeding groan immediately upon locating a human.
• Using only bite attacks after establishing a hold.
• Giving priority to familiar groans and scents.

Survivor leaning players may also find ALIFES useful. It provides a much more interesting time than standing at revive point. The gameplay being thematic, productive but not overly effective contributions to their temporary team. Arguably, a small reward for the zombies successfully killing you, without being overly punishing for the remaining survivor population.

Most notably however, ALIFES will rarely wander far from the action or their point of death. Making you easily and predictably located by your allies. Providing minimal, if any, delays in revival and return to the world of the living.

This adds to a strong appeal to Dual Nature players, who may relish the opportunity to frequently and repeatedly change sides.

Drawbacks

The major drawback to ALIFES behaviour is obvious: it is not fully optimised.

It largely ignores Metagame communication popular with organised zombie groups. Some groups may find it tedious to herd their own members like a Feral cloud.

More pressingly, ALIFES zombies most glaring drawback is their impact on local infrastructure, or rather the lack of it.

Zombies following this tactic have little to no interest in destroying generators or ruining buildings. There is no explicit direction to ruin or occupy strategic buildings, although these buildings are significantly more likely to be powered and draw ALIFES attention.

While this acutally works in favour of a temporary zombie, the potential delay in their return to their preferred state (by leaving designated revive points) may still be deemed unacceptable.