Surviving in Knox Country is no joke. On the game’s loading screen, the phrase that greets you is, “This is how you died.” That should tell you something. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t be making it in this zombie-infested land. With a bit of patience, practice, a lot of luck, and a few beginner tips, you can survive more than a week in Project Zomboid Build 42, which is the aim of this guide we’ve prepared.
How To Survive Your First Week in Project Zomboid
Why week and not month, you ask? Well, some people don’t even make it past their first night. Project Zomboid, especially Build 42, is ruthless, and without a few tips, survival will be challenging but not impossible. However, instead of doing a month-long walkthrough or something of the like, we compiled a few tips that we hope are useful to get you started in Knox Country, at least for the first few days, and let you spread your wings as you aim for a longer survival time.
Preparation Before Spawning
Before you delve into the unforgiving world of Project Zomboid, you tweak your experience by changing a few sandbox settings. You can make the zombies weaker or stronger and even remove them from the map, but that would take away much of what makes the game challenging. However, before you spawn, we recommend doing the following things to make your start a bit easier:
Choose any town as a spawn, but we recommend Muldraugh or Echo Creek.
Muldraugh has a lot of interesting points and great base locations, while Echo Creek has one of Build 42’s best bases next to the trailer house park.
In the sandbox settings, enable the “All Clothing Unlocked” option and spawn with a Watch.
This is important to start keeping track of the TV schedule.
Since stealth is now a viable option in Build 42, you should pick Burglar as a starting occupation, which gives you a boost in sneaking and allows you to hotwire cars.
Day One
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If you followed our above tips, you’re ready to begin your playthrough in Project Zomboid, but since Build 42 is a bit more challenging, it is important to work on a few things during your first day. Using a checklist for the day you spawn is a good idea. Usually, we have the following things in mind then spawning:
Grab a weapon from your spawn point.
It might be difficult to find a good weapon as soon as your character is thrown into Know Country, but anything will work. Rolling pins, frying pans, or even meat cleavers will do the work. If not, the good old “fence and stomp” technique will do the trick. In any case, just find a suitable weapon and equip it.
Find a provisional base.
You’ll likely spawn in a house in the town you chose, but most of the time, it might not have all the amenities you need. When looking for a provisional home, you need a bathroom, a television, and something with at least two floors. If your house already has that, you can stay there. Just remember to turn on your TV and select the “Life and Living” channel to start working on your skills. It is important to be at home at 6:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., and 6:00 p.m. You’ll see the cooking, carpentry, and survival shows, which will boost those skills considerably.
Start looking for sheets.
While the stealth system is better in Build 42, one of the most common tips in Project Zomboid is finding sheets to cover up your windows. You’ll usually find them inside bathrooms, so whenever you find some, put them up to prevent zombies from looking at you from the outside.
Find a water container and some food.
The loot rarity might depend on your sandbox settings, but assuming you left them at rare, you should be able to find a bit of raw food and food cans. Always consume perishable food first. Food cans will last a long time, so leave those for after the energy goes out. Also, find anything that can hold water to drink while you explore.
Related: Farming Guide for Project Zomboid
Whether you found a provisional base or your starting home is already great, stay inside to watch the shows and do at least one hour of exercise, preferably choosing burpees. End the day once you’re tired.
Day Two
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For your second day, the routine won’t change much. However, we’ll get a bigger goal now: find a permanent base. Finding the ultimate base is challenging. While there are many spots on the map you can use, you need to look for one that isn’t too far away from towns, has protection like fences, and has all the necessary house amenities. Look at this as a long-term goal, but if you find a place like that, settle down and start bringing your loot.
While you’re at it, you can start working on your first loot run. The rule of thumb is not to go too far away from your provisional base. The days aren’t too long, so you’ll want to return to your first base before it gets dark. Aside from that, watch out for the following items:
A better melee weapon. Anything two-handed will do the trick.
A backpack to carry more loot. If you see a zombie with a backpack or duffle bag, kill them to grab it.
More perishable food. You’ll be eating things like vegetables and fruit during the first days.
A screwdriver, a hammer, and a saw. You’ll need these items to dismantle most things.
Any book that can help you with your skills. Check your skill panel and start searching for the necessary books. Your priority skills should be carpentry, electrical, and first aid.
If you find all those items, return to your base, read whatever book you have, preferably on the abovementioned skills, do another 30 minutes of exercise, and go to bed.
Day Three
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Let’s assume you’ve found a permanent base. We’re using Cortman Medical as an example because it got a fantastic upgrade in Build 42. You’ll need to continue working on your skills. TV shows won’t run forever, so watch the TV when needed. However, since you have a permanent base now, you can start doing something: dismantling. While Build 42 introduced new ways to level up skills, you can still dismantle furniture and other things. Do that between shows and do your daily exercise. Also, since this will be a more permanent base now, be sure there aren’t zombies around.
Day Four
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With a better base, it is time to start doing loot runs. By now, you should already have your daily routine of watching shows, doing exercise, and reading whatever book you find. With that in mind, you can now start searching nearby houses. Without a car, you should only go to the nearby areas and return to your base once your character starts getting over-encumbered. As long as you can still run fast, you can still loot. Once the Moodle gets bright red, return. When looting, watch out for these items: empty gas cans and a hose. You can find the former inside car trunks and the latter inside garages. You’ll need them for the next day.
Day Five
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This will likely take longer than a day, but today’s focus should be getting a car. Since you grabbed the Burglar occupation, you should be able to hotwire cars. The difficult thing here will be getting a vehicle with gasoline. If you find a hose, you can head to any vehicle, inspect it, and siphon gas. Only do this if the car you found is in poor condition. If it isn’t too bad, grab it and start driving it. You should remember that cars are loud and will likely attract zombies to you. A good tactic here is driving around a block to lure the zombies before returning to your base. Usually, zombies don’t travel that far when they hear a car, so you should be safe. Still, try to return before it gets dark.
Day Six
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So far, you should have a bit of food, some water, a backpack, a car, and a safe base. What’s next? Securing your base. Do you remember how we started dismantling things? Well, your skills shouldn’t be too great at the moment, but that doesn’t mean dismantling won’t yield results. You should have a few planks and nails, which you can use to barricade your new home. Always place planks on your windows, but never on a door. If you want to keep your home extremely safe, barricade everything, but create a sheet rope first. Nail the sheet rope to a window, and you can use it to climb down from any floor. Beware of this, though, as Build 42 has a new mechanic where characters can fall down when climbing, so don’t try this on high buildings. A fall from a second floor won’t kill you.
Day Seven and Beyond
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So, you’ve made it to day seven with or maybe without our tips, and well, Build 42 in Project Zomboid doesn’t look that scary anymore, does it? In truth, these are very basic recommendations for any run. Stay safe, loot carefully, and start securing a base. However, many forget to do them and can meet an untimely death just by entering a building without checking the corners. Even the strangest things can end your runs sometimes, and if that happens, well, you can always try again.
Related: Where to Find and Use VHS Tapes in Project Zomboid?
If we didn’t do a longer guide is because the appealing part of Project Zomboid is discovering everything it has on your own. The amount of things you can craft and build is wild, so try to see everything you can make for your base. On the other hand, you can try to challenge yourself and enter Louisville or attempt a survival run in the forest. Anything goes. Still, try to use these tips whenever you play because, while a bit basic, they can help you survive a whole week and get started with your foothold in Knox Country. Whatever you decide to do after, it’s up to you. Just stay safe out there.
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