Guns are highly effective but expensive. For basic zombies in lower-level zones, use Melee weapons to clear rooms. They require zero ammunition, do not degrade, and generate zero noise (aggro). Save your guns and expensive ammo types for bosses and emergency situations.

When you must use firearms for general clearing or early-level leveling, stick to the cheapest ammunition categories on the player marketplace: .32 ACP (Pistols), 20 Gauge (Shotguns), 5.56mm (Rifles).

Keep a close eye on your Energy (Food) and Hydration (Water) bars. If either stat drops below 1,000, your character enters a starvation/dehydration state. This inflicts immediate, massive penalties: -5% Movement and Attack Speed, -10% Aiming Speed, -1% Health per minute until you consume food or drink.

Firing a gun or sprinting instantly alerts every infected inside a room to your exact location. If you enter a large building layout, try walking, sneaking (Ctrl), or using melee to pick off targets one by one without causing the entire floor to rush the doorway.

Your character can equip two weapons. Even if you only plan to fire one gun, your secondary weapon slot provides Global Stats that apply to your character at all times. Look for cheap marketplace weapons with global bonuses like +Sprint Speed%, +EXP Gain%, or -Incoming Damage% to leave sitting in your back pocket.

When dealing with massive hordes or Outpost Attacks (OA), do not aim for headshots if you are getting overwhelmed. Shoot or chop at the legs of incoming zombies. Knocking off a zombie's leg turns them into a slow crawler. A crawling zombie counts against the maximum server spawn limit for that area, preventing new, fast-moving sprinters from spawning in their place.

If you hear heavy, distorted breathing and the screen begins to warp, the Stalker has spawned. He is completely unkillable. Do not waste ammunition trying to fight him. Run to the nearest Outpost to instantly force him to disappear, or evade him continuously for 5–10 minutes until he leaves, which rewards you with bonus survival experience.

Upon reaching the maximum character level, you have the option to Prestige. Prestiging resets your character level back to Level 1, wipes your active skill points, and resets your world quest progress. The Benefit: Each level of Prestige grants a permanent, passive +5% EXP modifier and unlocks unique cosmetic rewards. Tip: Plan your endgame gear set before you prestige so you have a chest full of strong, low-level items waiting in your Account Stash to speed up the re-leveling process.

Do not blind-max skill trees without checking your gear stats first. Many passive skills give diminishing returns, or their bonuses can be fully replicated by cheap equipment enhancements on the marketplace. Use your limited skill points to hit critical mechanic unlocks (like unlocking specific weapon masteries) rather than raw damage padding.

While the Medic skill increases healing efficiency, investing points or finding gear with +Status Effect Recovery Speed% is often vastly superior for survival. This stat drastically reduces the ticking duration of lethal damage-over-time effects like Bleeding, Infection, and Burn, which are the primary causes of death in high-tier zones.

Containers (yellow glowing objects) are instanced per player. If you are playing in a party, searching a locker does not take that loot away from your teammate; they see their own separate loot pool inside that same locker. The Exception: Loose items dropped directly on the ground by defeated bosses, unique event zombies, or items physically discarded from a player's inventory are Global. Anyone in the room can grab them, so communicate with your team.

Street Farming: Best for raw Experience (EXP) and currency. Zombies spawn continuously outdoors, and bosses are easier to kite across wide avenues. Use a chainsaw or shotguns here. Building Farming: Best for Gear, Meds, and Upgrades. Target high-density sub-locations like Police Stations or Care Centers. Sneak through rooms to selectively loot containers without triggering floor-wide horde rushes.

When purchasing or evaluating gear, do not look solely at the rarity color. A "Rare" (Blue) or "Elite" (Purple) item with a perfect synergy of secondary rolls (e.g., +Sprint Speed%, +Reload Speed%, and +Damage to Infected%) is vastly superior and significantly more valuable than a "Unique" (Gold) item with mismatched or useless stat rolls.

Certain high-tier rewards, event items, and specific boss drops are marked as Account Bound or Soulbound. These items cannot be traded on the player marketplace or mailed to other accounts. However, they can be transferred freely between your own alternative characters via your Account Stash. If you find an incredible high-tier rifle on your melee character, do not destroy it—save it for an Alt.

The game engine enforces a strict maximum cap on positive character bonuses. No matter how many gear pieces, buffs, or skills you stack, positive character stat buffs are hard-capped at 300% from your base value. The Exception: Raw movement speed parameters (Jogging and Sprinting speed) can circumvent this cap via specialized gear sets.

Negative character attributes (such as Incoming Damage Reduction or Cooldown Reductions) cannot be stacked into infinity to achieve complete invincibility. Positive debuffs are hard-capped at -75%. On the flip side, there is no cap on negative debuffs applied to you (e.g., weapons can possess -400% Ammo Capacity or +300% Reload Speed penalties without a floor).

For ranged firearms, Reload Speed is vastly superior to Attack Speed. Attack speed only tightens the delay between individual shots within a single magazine. High-level end-game loops require you to sustain DPS against continuous room-flooding hordes, meaning your true DPS ceiling is dictated by minimizing your reload downtime.

When executing high-tier melee or glass-cannon chainsaw builds against end-game bosses, raw damage is useless without stun control. The Kickboxing skill (Default: Left Alt) dishes out an immense flat stun value and instant stagger capability. Experts use a micro-optimization technique known as Kick-Canceling: landing a heavy melee/chainsaw tick and immediately pressing Kick to cancel the weapon's post-swing recovery animation frame. This allows you to chain massive damage while locking bosses into a perpetual hit-stun loop.

During intensive Outpost Attacks (OA) or high-tier extermination anomalies, standard crowd control fails. Instead of shooting for headshots, expert players intentionally sweep the legs of incoming mutants to force them into a crawling state. The server operates on a strict maximum simultaneous active entity limit per instance. Leaving a ring of crippled, slow-moving crawling zombies alive effectively "clogs" the server's spawn queue, preventing fresh, fast-moving sprinters or high-damage spitters from spawning into the room.

To access high-tier crafting recipes for end-game items—such as the Gore Trimmer, Vicious Hoarder Backpack, Ronin's Blade, or Archivist's Clothing—you must initiate hidden crafting questlines from the four Wandering Survivors inside the Greywood Star Hotel (World Map: V4). The survivors change rooms daily between floors 1F and 3F. To unlock their blueprints, you must decipher their dialogues using real-world cryptography rules: NPCs like Sack Head and Bronze Face communicate exclusively through ROT13 ciphers, while Tin Head utilizes Acrostic ciphers (reading the first letter of each sentence).

When hunting down the highly elusive Council's Memo or specific blueprints required to transition into end-game crafting, basic looting stats are inefficient. You should construct a dedicated "Scholar Set" consisting of headpieces, hand gear, and weapons explicitly rolled with +Find Book Chance% modifiers. Equipping this specialized gear set prior to clearing library configurations or office sectors drastically shifts the server's loot tables in your favor.

These are the perks that will required to be activated by the player to trigger its effect. As of update v0.162, these skills no longer require a point and is now enabled for all characters by default.

Kick Boxing: Performs a Kick, knocking back nearby zombies and stunning them for a short duration [Alt key]. Affected by: Legs - Kick Damage, Kick Stun Duration, Kick Knockback, Kick Cooldown. Feet - Kick Damage, Kick Stun Duration, Kick Knockback, Kick Cooldown.

Lockpicking: Affected by: Head - Lockpick Chance. Hands - Lockpick Chance.

Hacking: Currently, only [ Silver Serpent's Head ], [ Gold Serpent's Head ] and [ Basic Hacking Tool ] offer the hacking chance.

Quick Reflexes: Dodge an attack, becoming immune to damage from all sources for 1 second while strafing backwards [Space key]. Affected by: Legs - Dodge Cooldown, Dodge Duration. Feet - Dodge Cooldown, Dodge Duration.

Sprinter: Perform a sprint for a short duration, increasing movement speed temporarily by 30% [Shift key]. Affected by: Legs - Sprint Speed, Sprint Duration, Sprint Cooldown. Feet - Sprint Speed, Sprint Duration, Sprint Cooldown.

Stealth: Crouch into stealth mode, reducing player visibility to zombies by X% amount (Surprise attack will still count regardless if you crouch or not just so long as the zombie has not noticed you yet.) [Ctrl key]. Affected by: Body - Sneak Visibility Range. Legs - Sneak Speed, Sneak Visibility Range. Feet - Sneak Speed.

These are the skills that are once obtained, it will be always on. And it doesn't need to be activated by the player.

List: Armourer, Assassin, Assault Rifle Expert, Apothecary, Brute Strength, Exterminator, Fast Learner, Head Hunter, Aim For The Heart, Hunter, Immune System, Jogger, Looter, Lead Magnet, Marksman, Melee Expert, Mule, Pistol Expert, Reloading, Quick Shot, Lumberjack, Rifle Expert, Shotgun Expert, Submachinegun Expert, Survivor, Thick Skin, Toughness, Trucker.

All skills can be upgraded from Tier 1 through to Tier 5. However, the higher tier ranks only unlock every five level.

Level 1: Tier 1
Level 5: Tier 2
Level 10: Tier 3
Level 15: Tier 4
Level 20: Tier 5

Prestige points can be obtained by gaining 5,000,000 experience points after reaching level 50, you will also gain an Elite Enhancer. This exp counter can be checked by opening up your inventory screen, and clicking on Full Stats. Previously you would have get reset back to level 1 after prestiging, but that no longer happens, and anybody who was below level 50 and prestiged in the past will keep their prestige but will need to level up to 50 before starting to gain prestige level again.

A character can prestige up to 10 times (for a total bonus of 10 extra skill points).

Skill	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Hacking	+10% Hack Chance, +5% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +2% Search Speed, +6% Find Upgrade Chance	+20% Hack Chance, +10% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +4% Search Speed, +12% Find Upgrade Chance	+30% Hack Chance, +15% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +6% Search Speed, +18% Find Upgrade Chance	+40% Hack Chance, +20% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +8% Search Speed, +24% Find Upgrade Chance	+50% Hack Chance, +25% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +10% Search Speed, +30% Find Upgrade Chance
Kick Boxing	+10% Kick Damage, Stun, & Knockback, -10% Kick Cooldown, +2% Jog & Sprint Speed	+20% Kick Damage, Stun, & Knockback, -20% Kick Cooldown, +4% Jog & Sprint Speed	+30% Kick Damage, Stun, & Knockback, -30% Kick Cooldown, +6% Jog & Sprint Speed	+40% Kick Damage, Stun, & Knockback, -40% Kick Cooldown, +8% Jog & Sprint Speed	+50% Kick Damage, Stun, & Knockback, -50% Kick Cooldown, +10% Jog & Sprint Speed
Lockpicking	+10% Lockpick Chance, +5% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +2% Search Speed	+20% Lockpick Chance, +10% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +4% Search Speed	+30% Lockpick Chance, +15% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +6% Search Speed	+40% Lockpick Chance, +20% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +8% Search Speed	+50% Lockpick Chance, +25% Find Unique & Elite Item Chance, +10% Search Speed
Quick Reflexes	-13% Dodge Cooldown, +15% Incoming Stun Recovery	-26% Dodge Cooldown, +30% Incoming Stun Recovery	-39% Dodge Cooldown, +45% Incoming Stun Recovery	-52% Dodge Cooldown, +60% Incoming Stun Recovery	-65% Dodge Cooldown, +75% Incoming Stun Recovery
Sprinter	+5% Sprint Speed & Duration, -5% Sprint Cooldown	+10% Sprint Speed & Duration, -10% Sprint Cooldown	+15% Sprint Speed & Duration, -15% Sprint Cooldown	+20% Sprint Speed & Duration, -20% Sprint Cooldown	+25% Sprint Speed & Duration, -25% Sprint Cooldown
Stealth	+10% Sneak Speed, -5% Sneak Visibility Range, +5% Suprise Damage	+20% Sneak Speed, -10% Sneak Visibility Range, +10% Suprise Damage	+30% Sneak Speed, -15% Sneak Visibility Range, +15% Suprise Damage	+40% Sneak Speed, -20% Sneak Visibility Range, +20% Suprise Damage	+50% Sneak Speed, -25% Sneak Visibility Range, +25% Suprise Damage

Skill	Tier 1	Tier 2	Tier 3	Tier 4	Tier 5
Armourer	+10% Armour Absorption & Durability	+20% Armour Absorption & Durability	+30% Armour Absorption & Durability	+40% Armour Absorption & Durability	+50% Armour Absorption & Durability
Assassin	+8% Damage vs Humans	+16% Damage vs Humans	+24% Damage vs Humans	+32% Damage vs Humans	+40% Damage vs Humans
Assault Rifle Expert	+5% AR Headshot & Body Damage, +5% AR Aim & Attack Speed, +5% AR Min & Max Accuracy	+10% AR Headshot & Body Damage, +10% AR Aim & Attack Speed, +10% AR Min & Max Accuracy	+15% AR Headshot & Body Damage, +15% AR Aim & Attack Speed, +15% AR Min & Max Accuracy	+20% AR Headshot & Body Damage, +20% AR Aim & Attack Speed, +20% AR Min & Max Accuracy	+25% AR Headshot & Body Damage, +25% AR Aim & Attack Speed, +25% AR Min & Max Accuracy
Brute Strength	+10% Melee Knockback & Stun, +3% Melee Body Damage	+20% Melee Knockback & Stun, +6% Melee Body Damage	+30% Melee Knockback & Stun, +9% Melee Body Damage	+40% Melee Knockback & Stun, +12% Melee Body Damage	+50% Melee Knockback & Stun, +15% Melee Body Damage
Exterminator	+5% Damage vs Infected	+10% Damage vs Infected	+15% Damage vs Infected	+20% Damage vs Infected	+25% Damage vs Infected
Fast Learner	+10% EXP Gained	+20% EXP Gained	+30% EXP Gained	+40% EXP Gained	+50% EXP Gained
Head Hunter	+5% Headshot Damage	+10% Headshot Damage	+15% Headshot Damage	+20% Headshot Damage	+25% Headshot Damage
Aim For The Heart	+5% Body Damage	+10% Body Damage	+15% Body Damage	+20% Body Damage	+25% Body Damage
Hunter	+5% Damage vs Mutated	+10% Damage vs Mutated	+15% Damage vs Mutated	+20% Damage vs Mutated	+25% Damage vs Mutated
Immune System	-20% Infection & Radiation Chance	-40% Infection & Radiation Chance	-60% Infection & Radiation Chance	-80% Infection & Radiation Chance	-100% Infection & Radiation Chance
Jogger	+5% Jog Speed	+10% Jog Speed	+15% Jog Speed	+20% Jog Speed	+25% Jog Speed
Looter	+10% Search Speed, +10% Find Unique, Elite, Rare, & Superior Item Chance	+20% Search Speed, +20% Find Unique, Elite, Rare, & Superior Item Chance	+30% Search Speed, +30% Find Unique Elite, Rare, & Superior Item Chance	+40% Search Speed, +40% Find Unique Elite, Rare, & Superior Item Chance	+50% Search Speed, +50% Find Unique Elite, Rare, & Superior Item Chance
Lumberjack	+8% Chainsaw Body Damage, +8% Chainsaw Attack Speed	+16% Chainsaw Body Damage, +16% Chainsaw Attack Speed	+24% Chainsaw Body Damage, +24% Chainsaw Attack Speed	+32% Chainsaw Body Damage, +32% Chainsaw Attack Speed	+40% Chainsaw Body Damage, +40% Chainsaw Attack Speed
Marksman	+10% Aim speed, +10% Min & Max Accuracy, +10% Range	+20% Aim speed, +20% Min & Max Accuracy, +20% Range	+30% Aim speed, +30% Min & Max Accuracy, +30% Range	+40% Aim speed, +40% Min & Max Accuracy, +40% Range	+50% Aim Speed, +50% Min & Max Accuracy, +50% Range
Medic	+20% Health Restoration, +7% Healing Speed	+40% Health Restoration, +14% Healing Speed	+60% Health Restoration, +21% Healing Speed	+80% Health Restoration, +28% Healing Speed	+100% Health Restoration, +35% Healing Speed
Melee Expert	+5% Melee Body Damage, +5% Melee Attack Speed, +5% Melee Knockback & Stun	+10% Melee Body Damage, +10% Melee Attack Speed, +10% Melee Knockback & Stun	+15% Melee Body Damage, +15% Melee Attack Speed, +15% Melee Knockback & Stun	+20% Melee Body Damage, +20% Melee Attack Speed, +20% Melee Knockback & Stun	+25% Melee Body Damage, +25% Melee Attack Speed, +25% Melee Knockback & Stun
Mule	+10% Inventory Capacity	+20% Inventory Capacity	+30% Inventory Capacity	+40% Inventory Capacity	+50% Inventory Capacity
Pistol Expert	+5% Pistol Headshot & Body Damage, +5% Pistol Aim & Attack Speed, +5% Pistol Min & Max Accuracy	+10% Pistol Headshot & Body Damage, +10% Pistol Aim & Attack Speed, +10% Pistol Min & Max Accuracy	+15% Pistol Headshot & Body Damage, +15% Pistol Aim & Attack Speed, +15% Pistol Min & Max Accuracy	+20% Pistol Headshot & Body Damage, +20% Pistol Aim & Attack Speed, +20% Pistol Min & Max Accuracy	+25% Pistol Headshot & Body Damage, +25% Pistol Aim & Attack Speed, +25% Pistol Min & Max Accuracy
Quick Shot	+10% Aim Speed & Attack Speed (All Guns)	+20% Aim Speed & Attack Speed (All Guns)	+30% Aim Speed & Attack Speed (All Guns)	+40% Aim Speed & Attack Speed (All Guns)	+50% Aim Speed & Attack Speed (All Guns)
Reloading	+5% Walk Speed, +10% Reload Speed & Ammo Capacity	+10% Walk Speed, +20% Reload Speed & Ammo Capacity	+15% Walk Speed, +30% Reload Speed & Ammo Capacity	+20% Walk Speed, +40% Reload Speed & Ammo Capacity	+25% Walk Speed, +50% Reload Speed & Ammo Capacity
Rifle Expert	+5% Rifle Headshot & Body Damage, +5% Rifle Aim & Attack Speed, +5% Rifle Min & Max Accuracy	+10% Rifle Headshot & Body Damage, +10% Rifle Aim & Attack Speed, +10% Rifle Min & Max Accuracy	+15% Rifle Headshot & Body Damage, +15% Rifle Aim & Attack Speed, +15% Rifle Min & Max Accuracy	+20% Rifle Headshot & Body Damage, +20% Rifle Aim & Attack Speed, +20% Rifle Min & Max Accuracy	+25% Rifle Headshot & Body Damage, +25% Rifle Aim & Attack Speed, +25% Rifle Min & Max Accuracy
Shotgun Expert	+5% Shotgun Headshot & Body Damage, +5% Shotgun Aim & Attack Speed, +5% Shotgun Min & Max Accuracy	+10% Shotgun Headshot & Body Damage, +10% Shotgun Aim & Attack Speed, +10% Shotgun Min & Max Accuracy	+15% Shotgun Headshot & Body Damage, +15% Shotgun Aim & Attack Speed, +15% Shotgun Min & Max Accuracy	+20% Shotgun Headshot & Body Damage, +20% Shotgun Aim & Attack Speed, +20% Shotgun Min & Max Accuracy	+25% Shotgun Headshot & Body Damage, +25% Shotgun Aim & Attack Speed, +25% Shotgun Min & Max Accuracy
SMG Expert	+5% SMG Headshot & Body Damage, +5% SMG Aim & Attack Speed, +5% SMG Min & Max Accuracy	+10% SMG Headshot & Body Damage, +10% SMG Aim & Attack Speed, +10% SMG Min & Max Accuracy	+15% SMG Headshot & Body Damage, +15% SMG Aim & Attack Speed, +15% SMG Min & Max Accuracy	+20% SMG Headshot & Body Damage, +20% SMG Aim & Attack Speed, +20% SMG Min & Max Accuracy	+25% SMG Headshot & Body Damage, +25% SMG Aim & Attack Speed, +25% SMG Min & Max Accuracy
Survivor	+25% Energy & Hydration Restoration, -12% Energy & Hydration Needs, -2% Incoming Damage	+50% Energy & Hydration Restoration, -24% Energy & Hydration Needs, -4% Incoming Damage	+75% Energy & Hydration Restoration, -36% Energy & Hydration Needs, -6% Incoming Damage	+100% Energy & Hydration Restoration, -48% Energy & Hydration Needs, -8% Incoming Damage	+125% Energy & Hydration Restoration, -60% Energy & Hydration Needs, -10% Incoming Damage
Thick Skin	-20% Bleeding & Burns Chance	-40% Bleeding & Burns Chance	-60% Bleeding & Burns Chance	-80% Bleeding & Burns Chance	-100% Bleeding & Burns Chance
Toughness	+15% Health, +5% Incoming Stun Threshold	+30% Health, +10% Incoming Stun Threshold	+45% Health, +15% Incoming Stun Threshold	+60% Health, +20% Incoming Stun Threshold	+75% Health, +25% Incoming Stun Threshold
Trucker	+20% Vehicle MPH & MPG, +20% Vehicle Inventory Slots	+20% Vehicle MPH & MPG, +40% Vehicle Inventory Slots	+30% Vehicle MPH & MPG, +60% Vehicle Inventory Slots	+40% Vehicle MPH & MPG, +80% Vehicle Inventory Slots	+50% Vehicle MPH & MPG, +100% Vehicle Inventory Slots
Lead Magnet	+5% Find Ammo Chance, +5% Find Ammo Quantity, +2% Inventory Capacity	+10% Find Ammo Chance, +10% Find Ammo Quantity, +4% Inventory Capacity	+15% Find Ammo Chance, +15% Find Ammo Quantity, +6% Inventory Capacity	+20% Find Ammo Chance, +20% Find Ammo Quantity, +8% Inventory Capacity	+25% Find Ammo Chance, +25% Find Ammo Quantity, +10% Inventory Capacity
Apothecary	+10% Find Medical Chance, +2% Health Restoration, +2% Inventory Capacity	+20% Find Medical Chance, +4% Health Restoration, +4% Inventory Capacity	+30% Find Medical Chance, +6% Health Restoration, +6% Inventory Capacity	+40% Find Medical Chance, +8% Health Restoration, +8% Inventory Capacity	+50% Find Medical Chance, +10% Health Restoration, +10% Inventory Capacity