7 days to die

{strait from the pimps mouth... a couple of tips to help you.........not die}

I’ve seen some people having difficulty with Alpha 11. It’s a little more challenging in some ways than before but easier in others.

First thing, when you are low level and do not have a sleeping bag yet (day 1) you will spawn in a safe zone. This means no zombies are in your immediate area so as long as you don’t move to far you have a few hours to gather materials to survive. Get the materials for a stone axe (plant fibers from grass, a small stone found on the ground and a stick from a bush or old dead branch) and craft a stone axe. Stone axes are not good for melee any more so use it only for gathering wood. Small trees are easier to cut down so look for the shortest tree you can find.

Item quality. Items have quality now so if you craft a 1 quality stone axe craft another few and hope to get one in the 40′s at least. Use the 1 quality one until it breaks then switch to the 40′s quality one and repair it with other stones as needed. Break some resource rocks and look for feathers in birds nests. Craft a wooden bow as soon as possible and some arrows. Make cloth armor from all the cotton you have gathered. Craft an iron reinforced club from the metal you gathered from the rocks and some sticks.

Next I would find a road and look for a point of interest. Also look for black spots on the map, these are caves. If you cannot find a poi you can resort to a cave for the night, but beware there are zombies down there, get in there by 4 so you have time to clear a section of the cave before 6 when zombies start running.

Level up! Level up by killing zombies, unlocking new recipes and crafting stuff. Use the bow as much as possible, as melee is dangerous especially early game. Zombies are now stunned based on how much stamina you have. So hit them when you are rested up and they will not be able to hit you back. Attack them when you are exhausted and they will hit back and if you get stunned you lose wellness and risk death. Zombies sometimes have books on them now and gunpowder which is very handy.

You can build a sod fort that first night if all else fails by crafting a stone shovel and digging dirt with a stone shovel. A sod fort won’t stop zombies very well, but your just wanting 4 tiny walls so they can’t see you anyway. Or dig a hole in the ground and put a frame over your head if you get caught in the dark and wait until dawn. I tend to look for a cabin in the woods or camp site to take over rather then build a wood fort.

Mining. Ore is not found on mountain walls as much as it used to be. Look for a cave and search cave walls for ore or gravel. Gravel always leads to ore so clear the gravel and mine away all the valuable resources. Pottassium nitrate is in caves but if you cannot find coal, you can chop up the burnt forest large hot embers to get coal and make gunpowder for the blunderbuss which is crafted with just two pipes and a plank and is a great early game weapon.

After leveling, recraft some stuff you already have to get a better version. Item quality is your level X 10 plus or minus a random amount of 50. So at level 10 you will make a 50 to 150 quality range item. So recraft your cloth armor for better stuff, recraft your stone axe for a better one, etc. Every few levels you gain, try making a better version and melt down your old pickaxe etc.

Cabin in the woods. If you find a cabin in the woods there should be a forge in the fireplace. If you haven’t found the forge ahead book this place is a haven. I always grab clay on day one if I see some, two blocks of it is enough to make some molds to make ingots.

I hope this helps some people. The game is a little slower to get started now but much more rewarding in the long game with a steady flow of progression.