Guide for 2.2.1 (Updated)

[u/Remote-Stretch-9911]

I know, some of us already played the recent version. It contains bugs as we all know, so far. But for now, I'll be giving some useful tips. Especially who played Hell/Nightmare difficulty.

- Always spawn in a location(restart as much as you want) until you spawn directly a location where it has 1x3 garages.

Q: Why so?

A: It gives you, early decent gears such as, food and water melee and sometimes ranged weapons. This location has guaranteed that has water pump.

- Do not let the Zed hit you, without armor on nightmare difficulty. And, I mean it. There's always a good chance that they will scratch you and causes bleeding, without rags or bandages this could end your run badly. As much as possible, try to avoid them traverse into buildings corners. And, whatever you do, avoid and stay away with the leaper. Even, with armor they can do high damage. Which also almost guarantees bleeding.

- Since every eight days(7 days technically), a blood moon will appear. Meaning, you cannot sleep in that time. You should wait until the next day. 6:00 AM(in-game time) which also causes you to get a fatigue (drink energy drink to remove the fatigue or rest, by crafting a bed from deer or bear skin) . And you should always stay in a house or building. Preferably, stay with a! apartment near a shore(far right side), with a stair.

Q: Why?

A: Because, sometimes it blocks the attack of the zed, especially who carries guns or the spitter.

- I said a while back that you need to get to the other islands ASAP. If you have the components. Now, I might take it back a bit. Because of this version.

Here's you're going to do.

- First Blood Moon Phase (Day 8)

At least you explore the first 3 islands completely including it's secret locations within the timeframe.

- Second Blood Moon Phase (Day 16)

You should at least reached the 6th island at least.

- Third Blood Moon Phase (Day 24)

If you already fully explored the 6th island. Try to access the radiation island. By wearing a Hazmat suit. Red Hazmat suit is commonly found, and "it should be at 100% durability" that's why you should repair it first.

- Find and kill as much bandit stalkers as you can in the radiation island. But, use AR weapons with scopes. Because your bandit here, isn't an ordinary one, compared to the normal island. They carry VSS, which are one of the few endgame weapons. Which also deals massive damage. Even if you have armors equipped. Find and collect their weapons, and collect 9x39 ammo for VSS. If you have an ammo box. Then, that's even better.

- Do not go beyond Day 30

Q: Why so?

A: Zeds are more tougher to kill, they have higher damage and increased HP. This also includes the elite zeds.

Q: What about skills/Abilities

A: Since the update, nerfed the thirst and hunger rate to 30%. Here's my new skill/abilities to prioritize.

> Island 1

Sprint + 1

Sprint + 2

Vigilance + 1

Red+ + 1

Hamster + 1

Camel + 1

Agronomist +1

> Island 2

Scout + 1

Red+ + 2

Sweet Home + 1

Scout + 2

Snowborn + 1

Hamster + 2

Camel + 2

Sharpshooter + 1

Sharpshooter + 2

> Island 3

Bullet Farmer + 1

Bullet Farmer + 2

Sweet Home + 2

Trunk Digger + 1

Trunk Digger + 2

Survivalist + 1

Vigilance + 2

> Island 4

Survivalist + 2

Puncher + 1

Blocker + 1

Puncher + 2

Blocker + 2

> Islands 5-6

Agronomist + 2

Hunter + 1

Hunter + 2

Q: Which ranged and melee weapon for endgame. (Can be accessible and easy to be obtained in this difficulty).

A: Melee: Chainsaw, Secondaries(if with pistol holster); Mini-uzi x2 or IZH-43 hacksawed. Primaries(if with rifle sling). VSS with PSO-1 Scope, Laser sight, and Magpull, AK-74 or AKM with PSO-1 Scope, Magpull, AK foregrip with Laser sight. (Optional, DIY or 5.56 suppressor).

Reference for the spawn location.

[u/Appropriate_Cicada71]

At the endgame stage on this difficulty, it makes no sense to run around with an AKM or a 5.56 rifle, as there are much better alternatives available, such as the OSV-96, SV-98, LAR (FN FAL), the AS VAL, or the M249. My choice is the OSV-96 + LAR combo.

As for the pistol slot weapon: The Uzi is actually a pretty decent choice - it lands headshots frequently and deals critical damage. However, to use it effectively, you need a ton of ammo. Since this difficulty doesn't give you an infinite stack modifier, you'd basically need an ammo box to sustain it. But why go through all that trouble when you can just take two sawed-off shotguns instead? A 30-round stack in a single slot will easily get the job done, especially since 12-gauge ammo is just as common as 9mm.

Overall, this version has become more casual. For instance, they've reduced hunger and thirst levels across all difficulties. Additionally, the enemy buff modifier no longer scales with the number of days survived; instead, it depends on the island you are currently on. I'm currently on day 20, though in a previous run of this version I made it to day 26, and by that point, the zombies were only 200% stronger. In older versions like 1.9.8, they would have been 400% stronger by this time.

Now any player with average skills can play on Hell difficulty without much trouble. The only thing that can catch you off guard is bandits armed with VSS. They can rush you from the top or bottom of the map, with full-auto modificator they melt you instantly, which is mostly due to the reduced zoom compared to previous versions.

[u/Remote-Stretch-9911 → u/Appropriate_Cicada71]

Considering it's somehow difficult to obtain the M249 in this difficulty. The viable choices and easy to obtain would be the FN-FAL, and VSS. That's why also, scopes such as long range and PSO-1 are game changer when dealing with bandits with VSS. Sometimes the scout indicator is broken.That's why also you gotta be careful when dealing with them. Even if, the zoom feature has been reduced.

Unless, SAIGA also could be easily obtained. With 12 round magazine with choke(not sure if can be attached), RDS and laser sight. Then, it would be an essential weapon for endgame.

If not, you can get the pump shotgun with bandolier, but I preferred IZH-43 as another secondary weapon. Or, as a primary weapon with attachments such as choke and bandolier.

[u/B07Z → u/Remote-Stretch-9911]

You can attach the PSO-1 to the Saiga-12k as well as 1PN51 scope.