DayZ Beginner’s Guide: DayZ Tips and Tricks for 2022

by Mike Alexander / Game Guides, Popular Posts, Tips & Tricks / 08 Apr 2022

DayZ is one of the first games of its kind, an online zombie survival shooter that puts a focus on emergent gameplay, crafting, and resource management. It began as a mod for ARMA II in the early 2010s, which then underwent a 5 year early access period before being released in 2018. All of these years later, the full game still brings in tons of new players regularly, maintaining the momentum it has had since its standalone release.

Because it has been around so long, there are a lot of die-hard DayZ players. People who have the best equipment, surround themselves with the best players and often are not very kind to newbies. If you’re looking to get into DayZ in 2022, you have something of an uphill battle to face, but the reward for overcoming this adversity is a truly awesome gaming experience. To help you along, I have a few tips in this DayZ Beginner’s Guide that will help you get on your feet and not be taken advantage of by other players.

If you’re ready to dive into your journey to becoming a DayZ pro, let’s get started!

Stay Hydrated

One of the most important aspects of DayZ is maintaining your hunger and thirst levels. It’s easy to overlook this when you’re dealing with hostile players and hungry zombies, but you’ll need to keep an eye on these things or risk losing all of your equipment anyways.

You’ll find water sources scattered throughout the environment. You’re able to drink with your hands, which is fine, but not the most effective way to hydrate. Using a canteen or water bottle to drink will fill up your hydration meter much faster than drinking from your hands.

This is important as it will allow you to take care of that need quickly so you don’t stay a sitting duck for very long.

Food Sources

As you’ll need to manage your hunger as well, you’ll want to keep some long-lasting food on you for when you’re in a pinch. You can do this by drying meat, vegetables, and fruit.

Dried meat lasts much longer than raw or cooked meat before going bad, and dried fruit and veggies will never rot, so it’s a good idea to keep a steady supply of that on your person.

It’s worth noting that the cooked versions of these foods will fill your meters better, but unless you’re eating them right away, they will more than likely go bad in your inventory.

Collecting Loot

When you drop into any server (unless it’s a hardcore mode server), you will be able to find loot fairly easily. It will be scattered all around, but most often found inside buildings.

If you explore a building looking for goods and gear, you’ll probably find a bunch of great stuff worth picking up. But, if you stumble into a room where the door was already open and it’s empty, it’s very likely someone has just been there and grabbed all the good stuff.

They might also be close by, so be careful of bumping into someone who might be hostile towards you.

Weapon Readiness

A very helpful tip, one that I wish someone had told me, is that you’re able to draw your weapon faster if it is in your bag, versus if you have it slung on your shoulder. It’s a fairly small difference in timing, but it only takes less than a second for someone to get the drop on you and take you out.

Additionally, having your weapon in your bag will make you appear non-hostile to other players. If you’re planning to be one of those players who is all about trickery and deception, this tip is helpful for you as well.

Un-Jamming Your Weapons

The weapons you pick up throughout your sessions will not always be in perfect condition, especially if you pick them up from a fallen player. Damaged weapons have a tendency to jam, and the more damaged they are the more often they will jam until they are unusable.

To get around this, you can press the reload button twice to un-jam your weapon. It isn’t a permanent solution, but if you’re already in a shootout with a skilled player, you won’t have many other options besides dying and losing everything.

Conclusion

There you go, potential new DayZ fans! This is only a small sample of the things you will encounter in DayZ, and often times the best way to learn is by doing. The more time you spend in the game, the better you will get. And then, maybe you can take other new players under your wing and help them along as well.

Or you can kill them. It’s up to you. Good luck!

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.
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