DayZ is currently in development and fans will have to wait a bit longer to get their hands on the final copy. But there’s some good news for them – Bohemia Interactive has released a pocket version of the game called Mini DayZ.
Created for smartphones and tablets, this pixel-art post-apocalyptic Android zombie survival game lets you explore a randomly generated map in search for food, shelter and weapons. You will have to scavenge for eatables, water, ammos and supplies and protect yourself from wild animals, hostile bandits and the infected. The game also includes crafting, allowing players to scavenge for materials inside buildings and vehicles and combine them to create makeshift tents, food, weapons and backpacks.
Mini DayZ’s status bars show whether your character is hungry, thirsty or feeling cold. You will have to keep feeding your character and provide a safe shelter so that the status bars do not drop to zero. If they do, it will affect his health bar. This, along with managing storage space to store important items and fighting enemies will make survival harder than one can expect. There are 3 difficulty modes and if you have just started playing, then choose “Novice” to know the game better. You can bookmark this helpful tips and strategies if you want to keep status bars above 50 percent, eliminate enemies and make the most out of perks:
1. Go with the Stick Control Scheme
If you have just started playing, you may have noticed that the game offers two control schemes: movement with stick and move by tapping/drawing. While it’s up to the player to decide which control scheme works well for him, I would personally recommend using the stick controls as it will help you have a better control on your character’s movement, especially when he is being chased by bandits, zombies or wild animals.
With a stick control scheme, it will be easier for you to run away from enemies. You can always change the control scheme any time. Just tap settings (gear icon) located at the top-right corner of the screen and tap “Movement”.
2. How to Increase Storage Space
In the beginning, you will have very few slots to store key items. Along with fixed slots, such as a slot for armor, main and secondary firearm slots, backpack and helmet slot, there’s a slot for your shirt, trousers, and two extra slots – one for storing a melee weapon and another for storing food or beverage. A pair of jeans has two extra pockets, where you can store food and water. Here’s how you can increase storage space to store more food and other important items:
Your t-shirt does not have any extra slots and hence should be replaced immediately with an upper body garment that has at least two free storage slots. Search for a raincoat as it has two slots. A jacket has only one slot. Assault vests have two more empty slots to keep bullets/ammo and can be found in military locations. Worker pants have three empty slots.
A backpack is a must-have item as it offers more storage space than your shirt or trousers. You might steal a backpack from a bandit after killing him. You can also craft backpacks. To craft a makeshift backpack, you will need a burlap sack and rope. It will provide three slots. Add 3 wooden sticks to your bag and you will get 2 extra slots.
3. Use the In-Game Map to Find Nearby Houses/Roads
The local map can be very helpful to locate nearby houses, buildings and roads. Tap the diary icon just underneath the gear icon and tap “Map” to know the current exact position of your character.
The map shows standalone houses, buildings and factories. The red X mark is your current position. Tapping the arrow icon at the bottom of the map will take you to the world map. Always use the local map whenever you feel lost or want to know if there’s a house or a building nearby as shelters usually contain food items, weapons or crafting materials. Cars are placed close to houses and buildings.
4. Eat Food/Drink Water at Regular Intervals to Stay Alive
The blood bar at the top of the screen shows your character’s health. Your character starts losing blood when the hunger, heat or thirst status bars hit zero. Try to eat food and drink water/beverages to make sure that the food and water bar does not drop to zero. It’s a warning sign when your character says he wants to eat or drink. You will have to be quick in searching food/drink and feed your character to increase his food and water bar.
You can also unlock certain perks such as “Hamster”, which decreases hunger rate by 15 percent and “Camel, which decreases thirst rate by 15 percent by tapping your character’s pic at the upper-left corner of the screen.
5. Hunt Deer and Rabbit for Food
Hunting is one of coolest features of Mini DayZ. You will need to kill deer or rabbit to get meat steaks. Use a ranged weapon, such a crossbow or a firearm to hunt them. After shooting, use your knife to get meat from an animal. To cook meat, you will need a fireplace. Build a fireplace using woodpiles, paper and rags and light it with matchsticks.
6. How to Stop Bleeding and Regenerate Blood
If injured, then you will automatically regenerate blood when the Hunger and Thirst Bar is above 50 percent. Once they drop below 50 percent, the blood regeneration stops. So make sure you eat food (apples, tactical bacon etc.) and drink water/beverages to keep both thirst and hunger status bars at fifty or above fifty percent.
You can, however, unlock “Survivalist” Perk. This will double the regeneration speed if your character’s blood drops under 50 percent. You can access a list of perks by tapping your character’s profile pic.
Your character may start bleeding when he is attacked by enemies or wild animals. To stop bleeding, you will need to find bandages or rags and use them. Use saline and blood bags to instantly regain health. Unlock the Red+ perk to lower blood loss when your character is bleeding or feels sick.
7. Create a Temporary Bandage If You Don’t Find One
Bandages cannot be found easily and you will have to search every house and car to get one. Fortunately, there is a way to make one. Although the temporary bandage won’t be as good as the real one, it can be used to stop your character from bleeding for some time. Here’s how you can create a bandage:
Your t-shirt can be turned into a bandage to heal your open wounds. All you have to do is hit your backpack located at the lower-left corner of the screen and tap your t-shirt.
Now tap “Tear into rags”. The rag will appear on an empty slot, read to be used as a bandage. Just tap to use it when your character is bleeding.
Remember: Not all clothes can be turned into rags. There are only a few cloth types, such as the t-shirt that can be used to create a bandage.
8. Ways to Keep Your Character Warm
The heat status bar at the top of the screen indicates whether your character is feeling warm or cold. You must make sure that the heat bar does not drop to zero. There are various ways to keep the heat bar up:
Start a fireplace. You will need a fireplace kit and matches to build one. Combine wood piles with wooden sticks, paper or rags to create a fireplace. Now drop fireplace kit on the ground by dragging it to the left side of your inventory screen and light it with matches.
- You can hide inside houses and big buildings/factories to stay warm
- Look for warm clothing and wear them. Make sure the clothing is in good condition. A cloth’s condition is measured in percentage. Warm clothing with 70% condition will keep your character warmer than one with 40%.
- Search for whiskey and drink it to restore the heat status bar.
- When it’s raining or snowing, quickly find an inflatable tent and place it on a safe place. Now you can stay inside your tent when it’s raining. Staying inside a tent will also help you warm up a bit.
- Select perks such as “Snowborn” – which increases cold resistance by 200 percent – and “Sweet Home” – which adds 50 percent more heat when your character stays inside homes. You will need at least 200 points to unlock the first perk, but after that, points required to unlock another perk will keep increasing.
9. Avoid Fighting a Pack of Wolves
Fighting a pack of wolves might not be a wise move, especially if you don’t have an assault weapon in hand. And even if you have one, your priority should be to flee instead of attacking them. Using the stick control scheme will make it easy for you to run away from wolves.
Wolves will keep chasing your character, so try to hide inside a house or a building. Look for the nearest building on your map and move towards it. If you are running through the woods, then try to run around bigger trees as they can obstruct a wolf’s FoV. The tree should come between you and the wolf to obstruct his view. You can also unlock the “Hunter” perk if you don’t want animals, especially wolves to quickly spot you. Also, don’t forget to get the “Sprinter” perk as it increases your run speed by 10 percent.
10. You can find Firearms on Military Locations
If you spot tents, a military armored vehicle or a tank, then quickly search the entire area around them. Chances of finding firearms are more in such areas.
Also, stock up ammunition that can be loaded to your firearm.
11. Can’t Find Food or Water? Request Support
If there are no cars or houses nearby and you are in the middle of the woods, then you should call for supplies by tapping the parachute icon just beside your character’s profile pic at the upper-left corner of the screen. Supplies will be dropped after you watch a 30-sec video. The box will contain a random item, so there’s no guarantee that you will receive food or water. You may also get ammo/firearm.
12. How to Earn More Points
Just underneath your character’s profile picture is the total points you have earned so far. The points can be traded with perks that can help you survive longer. At first, you will need only 200 points to unlock a perk, and then you will have to get more than 200 points to unlock every additional perk.
You will earn a few points while running, and get more points after eliminating zombies. Searching houses and other jobs also earn you some points. Your goal is to survive and the longer you survive, the more points you will earn.
13. How to Get Rid of Zombies
Fighting in Mini DayZ isn’t very complicated. Your character can fight enemies with bare hands or by using a melee weapon. A melee fight begins automatically when your enemy is every close to your character. If you are using a ranged weapon, such as an assault rifle or a shotgun, then you don’t have to aim as the target icon automatically appears on the closest enemy. Wait for the target icon to appear and press the shoot button to attack enemies.
1. Avoiding battle with enemies should be your priority if you want to survive longer. You can run away and hide inside a house if you spot them. If your character’s health bar is too low while fighting, then quickly hit the map to locate the nearest house and hide inside it. Enemies can’t enter houses so you will be pretty safe inside one. It’s safe to come out of a house when a zombie walks away or has his back turned towards you.
2. Don’t waste your bullets unless you are in a dangerous situation or need to access a house or a building to scavenge for food or other important items.
3. In case you have a firearm, then you can eliminate an enemy from a distance. However, the target icon should appear on an enemy. Save ammo for only those enemies who should be killed so that you can access an important location or building which is guarded by them.
4. Advanced weapons such as sledgehammer and pipe wrench can deal more damage and you can get a critical hit using such melee weapons.
5. Unlocking certain perks can help you improve your fighting skills:
- Scout: Unlock this perk to spot enemy survivors from a greater distance
- Sharpshooter: Chances of getting a head shot using a ranged weapon are more if you unlock it.
- Blocker: You should unlock it if you want to block enemy attacks in a melee fight more frequently.
- Puncher: Unlock this if you want to deal multiple attacks to enemies.