Zombie
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Zombies are the walking dead of the city of Malton. They are either players who started out as zombies, or survivors who died and stood up as zombies. Zombies have access to the zombie skills tree, and pay 100 XP for all zombie skills. Characters that begin the game as a zombie start with the Vigour Mortis skill, which gives them +10% to hit on all non-weapon attacks. Initially, zombies move more slowly than the living, taking 2 AP to travel from one city block to the next. This cost is reduced to 1 AP, the same as for survivors, once they purchase the Lurching Gait skill. Because zombies are already dead, they cannot technically be killed. If a zombie is "killed" by being reduced to 0 HP or less, they will become a dead body which will rise again in zombie form. The cost for a "dead" zombie to rise is 1 AP if they have the skill Ankle Grab, and 10 AP if they do not possess this skill. If the zombie is killed by a survivor with the Headshot skill, it costs an additional 5 AP for them to stand up (6 AP total with Ankle Grab, 15 AP without it). A revived zombie that started out as Corpse class will revive as a Civilian. Zombies begin the game with the following combat abilities:
These may be progressively improved by obtaining zombie skills. At one point, the headshot had the effect of causing zombie players to lose XP; newly dead survivors started their lives as zombies with a 25% hit rate (the same as their living counterparts); more experienced zombies felt their maxed-out attacks were also somewhat weak compared to survivors' combat abilities; zombie coordination in-game was almost impossible; and in general it seemed the survivors were getting more attention in the game updates. This confluence of factors caused hundreds of zombies to go On Strike and cease playing altogether. However, many unassociated with the strike considered it to be unnecessary. With the ability to benefit from survivor skills and the ability to use survivor items, as well as the survivor's need to waste massive amounts of AP to search for supplies in order to remain viable, the zombie class was already far superior to that of an equivalent level survivor character. Since then several new skills and tweaks have been added, making the already powerful zombie class an easy choice for new or inexperienced players. Newly-dead survivors sport an equivalent hit rate to their survivor counterparts; experienced zombies can acquire Tangling Grasp to boost their combat effect; Feeding Groan helps bring zombie hordes together for community feasting; and, of course, there is nothing quite like seeing the panicked messages of fleeing survivors as they realize their comfortable safehouse is suddenly overrun with the hungry undead. CorpseStarting Equipment
Starting Skills Tactical Overview This is the only class available to zombies, thus slightly limiting choice. Before October 2008, some zombie players would choose to start as survivors to gain access to useful skills such as Body Building before switching sides. Once the Flesh Rot skill was introduced at that time, zombie players were able to reach their full potential without having to become revived as a survivor at all. Zombie strategyZombie players gain experience only by destroying things or eating people. As people tend to prefer to stay behind closed doors and barricades, and destroying barricades is a long, slow, and boring process, there are a number of things a zombie can do to aid themselves. Most survivors have learned to stay off the streets, and most buildings are barricaded, but survivors standing on the streets or traveling through your area should be seen as a welcome gift, and devoured immediately. Relying on this stroke of good fortune won't get you far, however. Higher level zombies can use the skill feeding groan to alert nearby zombies of the presence of survivors without protection, and low level zombies should head towards such groans whenever possible. Flares fired by survivors can also be seen at a distance and will indicate the presence of a survivor, but there is far less of a guarantee that the survivor does not have protection. In the absense of feeding groans, a flare can be a good target, but feeding groans are the best way to go. Zombies looking for large meals should seek out Necrotech buildings, malls, and forts, since these locations possess critical survivor resources and tend to be filled with plenty of meat to devour. Since these locations tend to be heavily guarded and their barricades actively maintained, they may require metagaming organized groups to break through. Once the defenses are down, feeding groans can alert nearby feral zombies that the feast is ready. Hospitals and police departments rank a close second as zombie objectives, for similar reasons. Buildings with signs of a functioning generator (such as lights on inside, or a mobile phone mast with blinking lights) should be attacked before others, as these require active survivor attention in order to stay lit, and will thus have meat inside. Buildings with the door open and a generator working is probably in the process of being attacked by another group, and joining in on the fun will be profitable. All in all, suburbs containing only ruined buildings will tend to have fewer survivors, but those survivors will be the easiest to catch, while barricaded and powered suburbs will have more survivors to eat, but will likely require concentrated effort by multiple zombies in order to reach any of them. Choose your feeding grounds as you would prefer. Class changeZombies that wish to live again must be revived by a survivor with a NecroTech syringe. This can be beneficial to a zombie after gaining extra experience, as there are three survivor skills that can aid a zombie. In particular, body building will permanently grant you 10 extra hp but can only be learned while alive. NecroTech Employment will enable you to identify NecroTech buildings from the street, even while a zombie. And Diagnosis will enable you to see the hp value of survivors, so you can devour the weak ones first and gain the xp bonus from doing so. Searching for a flak jacket while alive will also protect you while a zombie. Certain zombie skills, Flesh Rot and Scent Blood can replace Body Building, a flak jacket, and Diagnosis, and offer no stacking benefits requiring the survivor counterpart. However, There is no zombie skill that can replace Necrotech Employment. Survivors wishing to become a zombie need merely die via whatever means available, be that angering a large group of survivors by attacking generators, radios, or barricades (which will entice them into attacking you), running headfirst into a large horde of zombies desiring to devour brains, or simply jumping out of the nearest tall building. See Also
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