NAZI ZOMBIE ADVANCED STRATEGY GUIDE Version 1.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I. Introduction & Overview ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -Welcome to the Nazi Zombie Advanced Strategy Guide. It is assumed you know basic knowledge about the call for duty world at war, and have some basic familiarity with the nazi zombies level (ie: pull the trigger and your gun fires, etc etc). This guide focuses on more advanced, and more detailed strategies on how to play and survive in the nazi zombie level. This guide also does not include anything that has to do with "glicthing' to get to level 3000. If you want to find glitches and use them to get far, this guide is not for you. Instead, it is a realistic guide to get you as far as you can go LEGITAMITELY. This guide is also not an all inclusive, got-everything guide. I will add and correct items, and welcome input from others. I'd like to thank wikipedia for some of my information and Treyarch for making a great addition to a great game. This is also copyrighted to me, and cannot be duplicated or copied without my permission. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- II. Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Introduction & Overview 2. Table of Contents 3. Updates / Versions 4. Elements of Strategy a. Mobility b. Proximity to Mystery Box c. Proximity to Grenade Room d. Long views e. Doorway f. Staircase g. More / less windows/walls h. More / less control of stream of zombies i. Player communication & teamwork 5. Defensive Strategy a. HELP Door Defense b. Hallway Defense c. Grenade Area Defense d. Stair Defense e. Zombie Split Strategy f. Roaming Strategy g. Grenade Door Defense g. Return to First Room strategy 6. Additional Strategies a. Zombie Point Value b. "Leaving the Last Zombie" strategy c. Knifing Zombies d. Window/Wall repair e. Blowing up fuel cans and Trucks f. Dealing with "crawlers" g. Zombies "glitching" through windows h. Ammo control i. What to do with the "30 seconds" in between rounds j. The art of reviving k. Causes of Death. l. MG42 vs Browning m. The Mystery Box 7. Using Powerups Effectively a. Insta-kill b. x2 c. Bomb d. Ammo Box 8. Contact info & Thanks ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ III. Updates / Version 1.1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 12/21/08 - This is version 1.0. Hope you like it! 8/15/09 - Upgraded: Roaming Strategy 5f, Zombie point value 6a, Mystery Box 7m, Causes of death 6k, Contact info & Thanks 8. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ IV. Elements of Strategy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ a. Mobility ----------- Spacial mobility is the amount of space you have to manuever. You need spacial mobility to create time and space to avoid zombies for long enough so you can reload. Spacial mobility also gives you the chance to push forward more easily during insta-kills, and the flexibility to withdraw or retreat if being overrun. Having little spacial mobility, and you run the risk of getting cornered. And, the map has a lot of places you can get cornered. Personal mobility is how fast you can move and run. For example, equipping the MG42, Browning, Panzercheck slows your movement to a large extent, while the Colt m1911, .357 magnum, and the Ray Gun, allows you to run real fast. Other weapons fall somewhat in between. If you plan on running back and forth to guard windows / walls, having a lighter gun equipped can be helpful, while a heavier gun may give zombies more time to tear apart the boards and rocks to get into the room you are in. b. Proximity to Mystery Box --------------------------- The sooner you get to the mystery box, the better. The more points you have, the more chances you can make a successful draw at the mystery box. The closer you are, the easier it is to do this. The farther away you are, the more difficult it is. Proximity can be useful later on as a tool to exchange your out-of-ammo weapon, for a fully loaded one, if you have enough points and time to do so. c. Proximity to Grenade Room ---------------------------- A strategy that uses closer access to the Grenade room, gains the benefit of their use (see using grenades). For 250 for 4 grenades, it can make it a great benefit later on in the game. d. Long views ------------- A long view is when your line of sight through your weapon goes far. For example, looking from the HELP room through the door all the way to the other side of the first room. Long views enable you to shoot zombies way before they get close to you, and also give you the ability to judge whether you have enough time to reload / switch weapons / or throw a grenade. e. Doorway ---------- Doorways can be difficult to defend because if zombies get through the door, they can disperse in every which direction. This can lead to a disruption of your defenses and more chaos. Having more than one person watching a doorway can be helpful in reducing this possibility. f. Staircase ------------ There are 2 staircases: the first room, the root cellar. The advantage of the root cellar staircase is that the zombies have to go around a corner, and straight down the staircase. The narrowness of the pathway is an advantage, however it is not that long. The first room staircase is not as straight at the root cellar staircase, however you can view the zombies running up it easily from various directions and also funnels them right at the top (useful for the Balcony defense strategy). g. More / less windows/walls ---------------------------- Do you defend 3 windows? or just one? or none? More windows to guard, the more there is to manage. But, then again, defending less windows / walls may reduce mobility. h. More / less control of stream of zombies ------------------------------------------- There are ways to control the main stream of zombies by use of which combination of ways you decide to open (stairways and help door). Combine this piece of strategy with a long view, you may be able to lessen the chaos of zombies everywhere and may last longer. i. Player communication & teamwork ---------------------------------- This is a vital aspect of the game. Key aspects are: warning of an attack from behind, coordinating use of mystery box, coordinating who is watching what window / wall, hallway, doorway, staircase, etc., requesting help due to being overrun, coordinating reloading of weapons. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- V. Defensive Strategy ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- HELP DOOR DEFENSE ----------------- Where: Open the HELP door and defend the doorway, while others watch the 2 windows / rock wall within. How: Open the HELP door as soon as you can (usually between level 3-6). Have the player with the most points open the door, or if you are going to open the door, make sure you have at least 1950 points, so you can make an immediate draw from the box after opening the door. If you are able to get enough points (see getting more points) you can make it through the HELP door by level 3. Some people say they do not like opening the HELP door early, because it opens up a bigger area which could make it harder to cover if you do not have sufficient weapons. However, I encourage you to do so as soon as possible so as to use the mystery box sooner to get better weapons. The worst that can happen per se, is you get a sniper rifle along with your colt pistol and suffer through a round or 2 with them. But at these earlier levels, it shouldn't make much difference. Plus, you have 3 others with you and it is likely that one of them will get a good weapon early rounds, hopefully the Ray Gun. So, while doing this strategy try to make draws from the mystery box when you have enough points: generally in between rounds, or when you sense a lull in the volume of zombies (ie: after a bomb, or near the end of the wave). Try to avoid making draws from the box when x2 or insta kill are in play because it is more valuable at that time to acquire points. From the time you go through the HELP door to about round 9-10, decide who will stay in the HELP room and who will stay in the First room. Usually, it can be 1 person in the Root Cellar, 3 in the First Room, but as levels progress you may want to have 2 in the root cellar and 2 in the first room (perhaps level 7-10). Deciding who will cover where will reduce the possibility of a surprise rush of zombies coming out of either room because and reduce the margin of error that someone will have forgotten to cover the areas. A common mistake is to fail to keep the window with the bars built, and as a result they will run unsuspectingly into the HELP room to attack unexpectingly. The other is to fail to cover the Rock wall in which case they will lurk over to someone with their back turned at the mystery box or out into the first room to attack someone at the window with the bars next to it. At some point hopefully you will get better weapons. When you do, you have some additional options to move on to another strategy. If you open the stairway in the Root Cellar, you can expand into the GRENADE AREA DEFENSE, or Hallway Defense. If you open up the stairway in the first room, you can expand into the Hallway Defense or the Grenade Door Defense. You can decide to do this anytime, but you should make preparations by level 14-16 latest, whether you will go to a different strategy or make your stand in the HELP room. If you choose to make your last stand in the Root Cellar, try to open the stairs in the first room. This will lessen the flow of zombies, because some will come in through windows on the second floor and will have to run downstairs to attack you. The best way to defend the root cellar is to have 1 person defend the 2 windows, 1 person defend the rock wall and to keep an eye on / provide emergency support to the other 2 players who will be guarding the door. The 2 players guarding the door should switch off when they need to reload. You can get a view of the window in the middle, and can shoot or throw grenades at the right time when the zombies are jumping through the window. If thereis a heavy flow of zombies, you can have one player crouch while the other player fires standing up right behind him or her. Be careful though, it can be more difficult for the crouching person to get head shots, especially when using the machine guns. If you still need weapons try to have the person watching the wall be the person who most needs to make draws from the mystery box. Try to keep the window built in the first room outside the HELP room on the right to direct the stream of zombies only to come from down the hallway. If you are rebuilding that window during a lull in the zombie flow, be aware that most of the zombies will come running towards you, instead of towards the HELP door. Make sure you don't get caught off guard by them and turn to look that way as you rebuild the window. Also, be careful backing up from the first room into the HELP room. There's a tendency to not to judge it right and back into the wall and getting stuck. Make sure you have enough time to run back into the Root Cellar without the zombies right behind you. Also, try not to stand directly in the doorway because other players who are in the first room will not be able to get by you to retreat into the Root Cellar. Advantages: Proximity to the mystery box. Flexible strategy: can develop into the grenade strategy or hallway defense. Easy to switch between watching the door, rock wall and mystery box. Good long view into the first room. Lots of room to maneuver. Disadvantages: Difficulty defending door due to zombies tendency to disperse if they get through. Blind spot on right when defending door. Many windows to defend. Not close to grenades. HALLWAY DEFENSE --------------- Where: Open help door, then either staircase. Defend at the end of the hallway on the 2nd floor next to the window with the burning plane outside close to where the trench gun is. How: After the HELP DOOR DEFENSE, open either staircase (preferably the first room stairs). Move to the end of the hallway on the 2nd floor described above. Have 1 player guard the window with the plane outside, while the others shoot at the zombies coming from down the hallway. if looking down the hallway, have 1 player on the very left, and the other 2 players in the middle. The "main stream" of zombies will tend to run down one part of the hallway depending on how you position yourselves and the stairways opened. Be careful of zombies coming out of the middle window on the right. It will be only one or 2, but forgetting to aim in this direction often results in a zombie getting in too close. In this particular strategy, you want to avoid zombies getting to you close because there is very little maneuverability room. Switch off positions guarding the window, and do not forget to cover it (which can happen due to the temptation to want to get a piece of the action on the main flow of zombies). Although there is an options to snipe off the balcony it really is not that effective. Don't waste your time shooting off the balcony. Advantages: No doorway to defend. Long views, make it easier to shoot zombies. Only one window to defend. Can exert control to funnel stream of zombies down one part of hallway. Some proximity to grenades. This strategy can serve as a retreat point when other strategies go bad. Also, you can advance into the grenade strategy or grenade door strategy. Disadvantages: No maneuverability or place to retreat to. If many players can be crowding may cause more confusion. No proximity to mystery box. Tendency to miss zombies running in from right side. Forgetting to protect the window. GRENADE AREA DEFENSE -------------------- Where: Open the HELP door first, then go up the stairs in the HELP room. Station yourself in the room that the grenades are in. How: Begin with the HELP DOOR DEFENSE. At rounds 11-16 open the stairs in the Root Cellar (hopefully in between rounds) and go up to the room with the grenades in it. Try to make sure everyone has a ray gun before going up stairs (or at the least have 2 players with the ray gun). The Browning and MG42 are good secondary weapons, but as the levels progress, relying on them solely will place you at greater risk of running out of ammo. Position one person at the window to defend it. It is good for this person to have the flamethrower, because they can also flame through the window and ignite the zombies that come running up the stairs on the outside. Be careful not to back up into the First Room staircase and accidently opening it. Have a second player stand next to the player guarding the window, but behind the wall that comes out on the left side of the window. Do not stand on the other side of this protruding wall, it is a death zone. If a player goes down here, its more difficult to rescue him or her. Avoid standing there. Anyways, the second player aims towards the door and shoots at the main flow of zombies. This player needs to ensure no zombies gets through to attack the player defending the window. Do so at all costs. The 3rd player can stand somewhat in front of the grenade refill, with the option to move up to the left of the pillar or to retreat back or move slightly to the right. This player can adjust where he or she is at to control the flow of zombies. If the player moves up to the left of the pillar more zombies will be diverted to attacking him or her. If the player moves back, more zombies will flow into the center. Use this control to your advantage and to help with reloading. The last player, or the grenader, takes a position where he or she can have access to getting grenades. This player's purpose is to throw 4 grenades, turn to the grenade refill, pay 250 points, refill grenades, turn again, throw 4 more grenades and repeat. The grenader position should be rotated every round. Whoever has the most points becomes the grenader (Unless the player has a flamethrower, in which case the flamethrower player should be covering the window). The grenader should also have a mimimum of 3000 points, but hopefully the grenader will have much more (usually 10,000+ is good). There are a variety of places to aim while throwing grenades including: throwing 2 grenades to bounce off the left, and 2 grenades to bounce off the right of the doorway; aiming high to throw grenades outside the door; aiming low to throw grenades just inside the door; throwing grenades to explode outside the far window outside the door. It seems throwing grenades just inside the room works the best, but a lot depends upon how well the other players shoot. If the zombie flow becomes overwelming, or too many players go down, you can retreat to where the grenades are, and defend from there. It's not much, but at least it's somewhere to retreat to. During instakill, have the person with the flamethrower change positions and flame zombies from the door, while deciding to make someone else defends the window. Make sure to switch back 2-4 seconds before insta-kill is over so everyone can get into position again. Have player 2 cover player 3, or vice versa while you get power ups that appear. Perhaps, have the grenader back you up for additional protection. Almost look for power-ups outside of the grenade room, but take more caution to get them. Do not run down to use the mystery box during an insta-kill or bomb. there is not enough time for you to get back. You may have just enough time to run down to use the mystery box in between rounds. I don't recommend it, but if you must make only 1 draw and then get out of there. In between rounds, try to not rebuild the window in the Hallway room, closest to the grenade area. It will encourage the zombies to run past the window in the grenade room which the player with the flamethrower can set ablaze. This strategy creates a lot of crawlers. Usually, since there are many people watching the main area, someone will shoot them. But, some of the faster crawlers may get through. Be mindful of them. Advantages: At later stages when you have the right weapons and no longer need to mystery box, you accumulate tons of points. These can be used to purchase a huge amount of grenade refills. For example, 10,000 pts @ 250 for 4 grenades = 40 grenade refills or 160 grenades! (and more often your scores goes up way beyond 10,000). Grenades can be used to blow up zombies at the top of the HELP room stairs or near the middle window. Hopefully, it will help you save ammo, lessen the flow of zombies, and give all those extra points use. one window to defend. 2 Long views to shoot zombies. Flamethrower able to destroy zombies coming upstairs outside the window. Window near the door provides some additional views. Can snipe zombies off the balcony, or blow up fuel cans or trucks. Disadvantages: Far away from the mystery box. Tendency to Forget to cover the window. Underutilization of grenades despite defending this spot. Lack of effectiveness or usefullness of grenades. More crawlers to watch out for due to increase grenade usage. Lack of manuverability or places to retreat to that has a lot of space. ROOT CELLAR STAIR DEFENSE (0r STAIR DEFENSE for short). ------------------------------------------------------- Where: Do not open the help door. Instead open the staircase in the first room. Then, open the staircase down to the help room. How: When able to, open the staircase. Although, you can stay and defend the balcony and upstairs for a few rounds, you may want to have the player with the next highest point total open the stairs down into the help room. If you do it this way, you will have the opportunity to spend more points on the mystery box, rather than waste points on something like the Bar which is costly (which almost costs 2 draws from the mystery box: 1800). It's a matter of personal preference, but remember it is valuable to get to the mystery box asap to hopefully get the Ray Gun. Now, similar to the HELP DOOR DEFENSE, 1 player should defend the back 2 windows and the second player defends the rock wall. But, unlike the HELP DOOR DEFENSE, the other 2 player defend the stairs. Communicate and switch players around as neccessary to make draws from the mystery box in levels 4-11. the players defending the stairs can expand to the upstairs by having one player shoot at zombies coming through the door to the grenade room, while the other can position at the top of the Root Cellar aiming to destroy zombies from the 2nd floor Hallway. After level 11, position 2 players at the bottom of the staircase. Although you can position closer to the bottom of the stairs, or farther back, I suggest you stand at the very base, perhaps on the first step, so you can have some space to retreat back if neccessary. Have these 1 player announce to the other defending the stairs when they are low on ammo, and ask if the other player is ready to take over. When the second player says "ready," the first announces to the other player he or she is taking over while the other reloads. Keep repeating this process. In bewteen levels have the stair defenders exchange positions with the rock wall and window defenders to based upon who has more ammo. whoever has the most ammo, defends the stairs. As levels progress, the player covering the rock wall will be needed more and more to provide extra support to those defending the stairs. If this happens, make sure the player defening the windows is aware so he or she can watch over the rock wall. Also, it is effective from the bottom of the stairs, to throw grenades in the gap to the left of the stairs. Banking it off the ceiling, it should land right before the zombies get to the top of the stairs... hopefully it will take out a few. There is a point to stand in that has a view of both windows, the wall and the bottom of the stairs. You can use it to monitor all areas. In between rounds, aside from rebuilding windows in the Help room, try rebuilding a window on the 2nd floor or refill on grenades. If someone has the flamethrower, have that person go to the top of the stairs during instakill to save ammo. Be careful to not flame the stairs while players are defending it because it makes it hard to see the zombies coming down the stairs. when the zombies die on the stairs they tend to fall in such a way that blocks the next animated zombie coming at you. Try to time your shots such that you do not waste extra ammo on already destroyed zombies. If the zombies get through the stairs, withdraw to the back window and make sure the back window stays secure. Advantages: Proximity to the mystery box. Some room to maneuver & fall back into. Zombies must go downstairs instead of through a doorway. Disadvantages: Less effective position for solo or 2 player. Many ways for zombies to attack (2 windows, 1 wall, staircase). Have to open 2 entrances, instead of one to get to mystery box. More communication needed to coordinate strategy. Less proximity to grenades. ROAMING STRATEGY * newly added info 8/15/09 * ---------------- Where: Open Help door and both stairs. Find a location where you can roam in circles to get the zombies to follow in a horde behind you, while avoiding those ahead of you. How: This strategy has been done by many others. Basically, you must get the flamethrower. In the Root Cellar room, you must circle around the pillars while carefully avoiding zombies coming in through the windows and the open HELP door. It's best to go counter clock-wise so you can peer through the doorway to see how the flow of zombies are coming through. While you are running the long way up and down the room, tap the flame thrower to ignite and kill the zombies. It can be a long process, but there does not seem to be any other discernable way to survive without cheating. Advantages: Since all doors open, less intense flow of zombies. Mobility. At advanced levels, it really is the ONLY strategy left to do to kill all the zombies in a round. Disadvantages: Mobility could cause more chaos. No defined defensable area. Difficulty coordinating a group. No control of flow of zombies. Mostly good for only 1 player. ZOMBIE SPLIT STRATEGY --------------------- Where: Multiple locations How: The idea here is to split the flow of zombies, so that they will be less intense and easier to kill. One location is during the STAIR DEFENSE have 2 people run over to the grenade room and camp out near the grenade refill. The other 2 players stay and continue the defending the Root Cellar (1 guarding the stairs, 1 watching the windows). For the players in the Grenade Room, zombies will come from the first room stairs and the window at the top. For the players in the Root Cellar the zombies will come from the windows on the 2nd floor hallway, not in the grenade room. Generally follow the strategies of the STAIR DEFENSE and the GRENADE AREA DEFENSE for each group. For the players in the grenade area, try not to walk out too far from the grenade room, otherwise the zombie flow from the second floor will divert towards you. Advantages: Lesser flow of zombies, may be easier to kill. Disadvantages: More difficult to save a downed player if mistakes are made due to lack of proximity. GRENADE DOOR DEFENSE ---------------------- Where: Just outside the door to the Grenade Room, above the stairs that go down into the HELP room. How: Open the HELP room door, then the stairs in the first room. 2 players station outside the doorway of the grenade room, watching and aiming at zombies running up the balcony stairs from the first room. The other 2 players watch the 3 windows in the Hallway Room. One at the end, and the other watching the opposing 2 windows in the middle of the room. Also, the player watching these 2 windows can shoot / grenade zombies trying to get in through the window in the grenade room. Try to repair the window next to the balcony stairs in between rounds. Advantage: Mobility. Can retreat into the Hallway Defense if overwelmed. Long, narrow view to the balcony stairs. Some proximity to refill grenades. Disadvantage: Longer distance between windows in the Hallway Room. No proximity to the Mystery Box. RETURN TO FIRST ROOM STRATEGY ----------------------------- Where: First Room, in front of a closed HELP DOOR. How: Follow the STAIR DEFENSE strategy. When you have appropriate weapons, return to just outside the HELP DOOR. Have one player defend the window with the bars, and the other 3 shoot zombies coming down the stairs and from the windows on the other side of the room. Advantage: Mobility. Long views. Lots of space for players to angle their shots. Disadvantage: Far away from mystery box. No proximity to grenades. Many ways for zombies to attack: 5 windows and 1 staircase ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VI. Powerups ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- General Guide ------------- Powerups seem to appear randomly after killing zombies. Sometimes more than once during a level. Try not to get power ups at the end of the round so that it is not wasted. You will have 30 seconds to get the box. The boxes will blink for the last 10 seconds before it disappears. For the last 2 seconds before it disappears it will blink really fast. Hopefully you will get it before it becomes a fast blinker. 1-3 Avoid getting Insta-kill or Bomb. x2 is most valuable. Ammo box moderately useful. 4-6 Use stabbing for insta-kill, but still try to avoid using it. Continue avoid using the Bomb. x2 still most valuable. Ammo box still alittle less useful 7-9 Use insta kill and focus on taking full advantage of it. These levels are the best levels to maximize insta-kill's use. Begin using the bomb but only in desperate circumstances. x2 still valuable. Ammo box grows in value. 10-12 Use insta-kill, take advantage of it, but take less risks and be more cautious. Use the bomb. x2 is still useful at this point, unless you have the Ray Gun. If you have the ray fun it will begin to have diminished value. Start to be mindful of when an ammo box appears, it will be important to maximize your ammo starting here. 13-19 As levels proress use Insta-kill and bomb to maximum efficiency. x2 becomes less valuable, and it becoems increasing okay to not risk your life to get it. Ammo Box becomes vital and most important. 20+ Use Insta-kill and bomb to maximum efficiency. x2 becomes minimally useful. Ammo Box becomes the deciding factor whether you live to the next round. Do everything to get it when you see it. a. Insta-kill ------------- Ah, insta-kill! In general, an insta-kill helps conserve ammo, and can allow for you to take more risks and run out a bit farther to kill zombies. In early levels 1-4 insta-kill can be more harmful than good. Since in earlier levels you need to get more points, insta-kill eliminates the amount of 10 point hits you can get, before you get a kill on a zombie. Lower points means less to points to spend on the mystery box, which is the priority. So try to avoid the compsulsion to get insta-kill on earlier levels. But, if you must get it or someone else gets it for you, then try to use stabbing as it will give you more points. If insta-kill is in play with x2, try to set yourself up in front of a pack of zombies and blow them up for double points. Also, try to utilize your secondary weapon (preferably the flame thrower) to conserve ammo. b. Bomb ------- The BOMB! Again, like insta-kill avoid getting the bomb at the beginning of the game. Instead of just missing the extra 10 point shots, you will not get any points at all. Once you get the bomb, everything dies. That is, inside and outside the house. c. Ammo box ----------- The ammo box moderately useful, and becomes the most important power up to guard against running out of ammo in the later part of the game (probably after level 15, and definitely on level 20+). If you are down, and someone gets the ammo box, your ammo will not be refilled. Make sure everyone is up and try to be fully reloaded when you get the ammo box. d. x2 ----- When x2 is in operation, do things that get you points: head shots on zombies and/or rebuil windows/walls. Avoid making an attempts on the mystery box until after x2 is over. x2 diminishes in value (usually starting around level 13ish), shortly after you get the Ray Gun and have a good secondary weapon. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VII. Additional Strategies ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- a. Zombie Point Value * new 8/15/09 * ---------------------- 60 Kill zombie 100 Head shot kill 10 Successful Zombie hit (Gun or stab) 130 Kill Zombie with hand to hand combat 50 Last shot hit Leg 70 Last shot hits Arm (all point values are doubled when x2 is in effect) (no points awarded when bomb, grenades, fuel cans or trucks destroy them) (possibly, no additional points awarded for shooting off an arm or leg) b. "Leaving the Last Zombie" strategy -------------------------------------- -Near the end of a round, allow the last zombie to remain animated. This allows you to fix windows / walls, reload, and make draws from the mystery box. -Tips: --Listen for the sounds of zombies. When the last zombie is present (and to some extent when you have a few left), the roar of zombie horde will cease and you will only hear the one zombie. If you can listen carefully to this, then you can save this zombie to be the last one. --Try to throw a grenade at the mid or late (but not too late) stages of a round. It may leave a zombie without legs. --Be careful not to throw a grenade at towards the very end of a round, as it may destroy the last zombie and start the next round. --Try to catch a zombie behind a window or wall. This is the best way to "leave the last zombie" in a round. Have one person continuously rebuild the wall as the zombie takes it down while the others make draws from the mystery box and fix windows. You can get continuous 10 points for awhile and can earn up to a few hundred points in the process. Switch off with others so that they can also get this benefit. --Try not to leave the last zombie as a "runner." Pick the one that walks the slowest. c. Knifing Zombies ------------------- -When knifing zombies through windows, try to swing at them when they reach forward to grab a board or remove a rock. If you swing when they are not, you will miss more often. -Sometimes when trying to knife a zombie through a window, you will stab a board or the wall and hear the sound of a successful stab. Do not think you stabbed the zombie, because you actually missed. Look for a blood spurt after you stab. It's the only way you know that your swing of the knife worked. -Be aware of your surroundings. Since it can take some time to knife zombies, be aware what may be coming from behind you. -While knifing zombies through windows/walls, also beware that sometimes zombies can attack you while doing so. -Try not to knife while having heavy machine guns equipped (MG42 or Browning). They will slow you down enough to make it difficult to back away when the zombie retaliates. -The number of knife srikes vary by level, by # of person's present and the location of the stab. The following is an approximate (not exact) guide to how many strikes it takes to kill a zombie hand to hand. Level # of successful hand to hand strikes until zombie dies 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 3 5 4 6 5 7 6 8 6 d. Wall/Window Repair --------------------- -The windows hold 6 boards (except for the window next to the stairs in the first room which has 5), and the wall holds 8 rocks. Each board or rock takes about a second to replace. They give you 10 points (20 if x2 is in play). -You can get a fixed number of points per level, per number or players. Make sure to maximize this to get points by allowing others to repair windows / walls when you can't get anymore points. (If someone actually wants to count how much, per level, per player, please send a msg with that info to me for the next version). -When a zombie is breaking through a wall or window be sure to listen for grunting and sounds of wood or bricks. Also, puffs of smoke can be seen. Use these to spot a break through. -When there is a breach (say, zombie get through the rock wall in the root cellar), make sure one person tries to ensure one window is built up to contain the breach. -Make sure you turn around while rebuilding windows / walls. -You can reload while rebuilding windows / walls. -It can be effective to fire your gun at zombies while rebuilding windows. (you can adjust how you position your fingers on the controller to do this effectively). e. Blowing up fuel cans and Trucks ---------------------------------- -A fuel can in the middle front window, and the truck near the windows next to the bars can damage you when they explode, so make sure to stand back if it is going to explode. -Using the fuel cans or trucks can kill zombies, however they do not give you any points. Try to refrain from using them early on for this reason. They seem more useful on solo to take out a batch of zombies when you know there are multiple groups trying to get through windows. With a bit of timing and precision, they can be useful during levels 3-10+ -Try to avoid blowing up fuel cans early in the game, as it will reduce the points you can get. -The trucks and fuel cans are minimally useful, although there probably can be a way to exploit them later in the game I have not thought of. I haven't seen any effective strategy used later on in the game. -In the first room there are 25 fuel cans, and 4 trucks (maybe someone can total the numbers from other rooms). Starting from the window with the bars in the first room and going counter clockwise: -1st: Has 3 fuel cans, 2 trucks (1 truck shared with 2nd window) -2nd: Has 7 fuel cans, 1 truck (1 truck and 3 barrels shared with window 1) -3rd: Has 7 fuel cans, 2 trucks -4th: Has 5 fuel cans -5th: Has 6 fuel cans f. Dealing with "Crawlers" -------------------------- -A "Crawler" is defined as a zombie who has lost his legs, and begins to crawl after you. This happens due to the explosion of a grenade or fuel can or truck. You cannot shoot or use hand to hand combat to cut off the legs. The best strategy to deal with them is to just be aware of the possibility of their presense after using a grenade and to communicate their presense to other players. It can help to have another player who is keeping an eye on you, take it out for you while you keep on firing at main stream of zombies. Try to keep the last zombie as a crawler so you can repair windows / walls and make mystery box draws. -Crawlers may come behind a window after an explosion. You will find them outside at the bottom of a the window / wall barely visable, and grasping to try to get over. Eventually, they will get over but try to be aware and take them out beforehand. -Crawlers eventually die after awhile. Sometimes a short time, some time long. Be aware, and keep an eye on the crawler so you are not surprised when it dies. g. Zombies "glitching" through windows -------------------------------------- -When a window / wall has all of it's boards removed, and a zombie tries to get through while you are placing boards / rocks in place it may "glitch through." That is it will climb through even though you had already places a board there and try to eat you. It's annoying, and it sucks. But, just be aware that it happens. A zombie may glitch through 3-4 boards, but such an occurance is rare. h. Ammo Control --------------- -Use Flamethrower during insta-kill (it will also likely count as a head shot- 100 points). -Increase your use of grenades, since they are cheap (250 for 4). -Changing around positions when low. When low on ammo, have that person cover a window instead of the mainstream of zombies. -Cover windows and walls with your non-ray gun weapon. Just remember to switch back a few seconds before it's over. You don't want to be switching weapons while in the middle of a stead stream of zombies. During levels 4-10 the Thompson, stg 44, BAR, and mp40 are best for this. -During levels 18+ and everyone's Ray Gun runs low or out, and you have a lot of points and time consider giving up the Ray Gun and drawing a new Ray Gun that is fully loaded. -During levels 4-10, instead of making continuous draws from the mystery box, consider staying with your current gun until it runs out of ammo. When it does, exchange it at the mystery box for another. i. What to do with the "30 seconds" in between rounds ----------------------------------------------------- -Should I repair walls / windows? Draw from mystery box? Get grenades? or reload? You should always prioritize draws from the mystery box FIRST until you get the Ray Gun. Communicate with other players and have a person make continuous draws from the box until he or she has less than 950 or gets a ray gun. While that person is drawing from the mystery box, work on repairing windows, and make sure your guns are reloaded. If you have a good weapon combo already, encourage and allow others to make draws from the mystery box. Even if you can put some boards on windows back, it will be helpful in slowing down the "flow" of zombies. Try to repair windows / walls that are closest to you, rather than farther away. This will lessen the chance you will get caught fighting the first zombies that come at you in the next round. The general rule of thumb for prioritizing is this: 1. Mystery Box. 2. Reload 3. Grenades. 4. Windows. j. The art of reviving ---------------------- -Reviving takes 4.5 seconds. -You have 30 seconds before you die and become a spectator. -If your companions live to the next round you will return having lost the guns you previously had with only the colt m1911 and the same point total you had before you died. -If the person you are rescuing has a raygun or .357 magnum, you will get to keep it for a last stand instead of the colt m1911. -You will have 1 clip of ammo before you will be out of ammo, and you cannot throw grenades. -if you are down and have the Ray gun or .357 Magnum, you will use those guns when you are down. The ammo is not taken from your clip when you were alive, instead you are given one clip (for Ray Gun) and X for the .357 Magnum -Try to prioritize reviving a ray gun player first. -If before you were dead you were low on ammo, you will be revived at that same state. -If someone gets an ammon box while another is down, that person will not receive an ammo refill. So, make sure everyone is up before getting an ammo box. On about levels 15+ getting or not getting an ammo box could mean life or death. -Try to have someone else cover you, as you revive another. -At about levels 10-13+, if a player goes down far away from where you are defending at the beginning of the round, you should let the person die because more likely than not, you will most likely die trying to save them. -If you are going to try something more risky, make sure you have some points saved up. There's nothing worse that failing to be revived, and beginning the next round with a just a colt pistol, with no points to upgrade to a better weapon. If this happens, try to focus on defending and rebuilding windows instead of trying to kill streams of zombies. k. Causes of Death ------------------ The zombies have overwelmed you, and now you are dead... so are your friends. What happened? Addressing these ways you will last longer Running out of ammo ------------------- This problem usually will not cause your death until 15+, usually more common past 20. Flow of zombies, abundance of points to spend on guns prevent this from happening on lower levels. If you find yourself out of ammo before level 15 you can usually purchase another gun with full ammo without issue. (see ammo control strategies for more ways to combat this problem). Failed attempt to run out to Revive ----------------------------------- There are 2 ways this is the cause of your death: -The first is when you ignore downed players too long. Soon more of your teammates go down and eventually it is just you. And now because you did not make an attempt to revive anyone, the zombie horde becomes too overwelming for you to handle. The second part is the reverse of the first problem: A player goes down, you run out to save them... while you do, you realize no one else is paying attention, or you looked the wrong way and a zombie claws you from behind, or for some reason you think you alone can revive him or her. Here's what you need to do: Assess whether you are capable of makitng an attempt to revive. Factors include: 1) Your weapons. if you are out of ammo, and only have a knife... it is different than if you have the Ray Gun and MG42. Better weapons, the more chance of success. Also, if someone has the Ray Gun (or Magnum), they can defend you better while down. This makes it safer to revive this player. 2) Teamwork of other players. Will other players cover you? Will they do it competently? Or, are they not paying attention, not listening or don't care? Teamwork often prevents more players from dropping. 3) Level. It is relatively easy to revive by yourself until about level 8-10. After that the difficulty curve increases quite a bit. 4) Proximity. Easier to reveive someone closer to you than father away. 5) Time of level. At the beginning of a level is more risky to revive someone, because there is a horde of zombies yet to come. Near the end of the level it is less risky, because it may be possible for you to shoot the last zombies, and then revive the fallen player in between rounds. So, if a player falls at the beginning of round 15, far away, does not have the Ray Gun, you only have a sniper rifle, and your teammates don't have a clue... DON'T GO RESCUE!!! If a player who you have a good working relationship with, with a Ray Gun goes down next to you on level 8, at towards the end of the level, and you have a mp40, you ought to revive him or her. -Secondly, you need to have a plan to rescue and revive the other player(s). Communicate with other players what the plan is to revive the fallen player. In levels about 8-10 and under, if one person goes down, it shouldn't be too much trouble to go over and revive him or her. Not much need to plan. However, after level 10 or so, make sure you and other players have a plan. One player revive, one player provide cover, the other player tries to "keep things together" until the revive completes, such as rebuilds windows / wall near the revive while looking out for zombies roaming towards them, or at least somehow delaying the horde a few more seconds for it to complete. -Lastly, recovery. After reviving you need to make sure everything is resecured. If you left some zombies tearing off boards or rocks, go back and take out the zombies that may have gotten through and rebuild. Try to return to what you were doing beforehand (ie: if you were guarding the windows, return to guarding windows), but this isn't entirely neccessary. As long as you communicate to others and make sure everything is covered you should be okay. Running out too far to kill zombies ----------------------------------- -This tends to be a big problem for players who are not that experienced or tend to be too impulsive. When a player like this runs out too far to kill zombies, not only will he or she be at more risk for dying, the player also jeopardizes all the other players. Don't think you are so awesome that you can take out zombies all by yourself. Staying for too long repairing windows/walls -------------------------------------------- Before level 9-11 or so, it's possible to repair most, if not all windows / walls without much issue. After about levels 11-14, try not to rebuild more than 1 window / wall in between levels. And, try to rebuild one window that is the closes to you, rather than farther. Zombies will come at the beginning of a round quicker than you think. Not spending money on the mystery box early enough -------------------------------------------------- It's a shame to all die at level 9, because no one thought to use enough of their points on the mystery box to get good weapons. Ideally, you should attempt to "leave the last zombie" so everyone can use all their points making draws from the mystery box. If that does not happen, try to access the mystery box whenever you have enough points to do so, when it is safe enough to do so. What I like to do is access to mystery box until I get a weapon like the mp40 or Thompson, and use it for a few rounds until it runs out of ammo, then hit up the mystery box again. Poor communication and lack of teamwork ---------------------------------------- Try playing the game without mics. Communication and teamwork is essential to get far in this game. Go to the bookstore and read some books on communication & teamwork in the Business leadership or Psychology section. Not getting the Ray Gun * updated 8/15/09 * ----------------------- You spend tons of points and get that dam carbine over and over again... soon hordes of zombies come at you, and you try to poke at them with your pea shooter, but it's not good enough. You tried throwing a grenade behind the box, while jumping and chanting Ooommmmm... but not ray gun (there isn't any consistent way to get the ray gun, it's random). Flamethrower obscured view -------------------------- Someone flames the hell out of zombies coming towards you, and as a result you do not know where to fire your Ray Gun. When the smoke clears the zombies are upon you. You die. Bottom line: if you are using the flame thrower, try not to obscure the main view of the stream of zombies. Forgetting to cover a window/wall --------------------------------- Forgetting to cover the window and allow zombies in destabilizing your strategy. Stay focused. Switch positions during heavy flow of zombies --------------------------------------------- If you are covering windows, try to stay covering windows throughout the level. Before the beginning of a round, make sure you have sufficient ammo and guns to cover the main stream of zombies. If you do not have sufficient ammo and guns, theres more chance of having to switch out mid round. Try to avoid this. Forget to tell someone that you are reloading --------------------------------------------- If 2 players are covering a door, stairway or main flow of zombies, make sure you are clear about declaring you are reloading. There's nothing worse that a player stating they are reloading right when the zombies are upon you. Make sure to give sufficient warning by checking to see if the other player is ready to take over. Then, tell him or her to take over and reload herself. l. MG42 vs Browning ------------------- MG42: fast rate of fire, sight easier for headshots, shorter reload time (by .45 seconds). Browning: Since it's rate of fire is slower, it may last longer. Conclusion: Since both guns cause the same damage, the MG42 has a some advantage over the browning. Use the sight to aim for zombies' heads, firing in "short controlled bursts *cough*aliens*cough*" and you will be most effective. m. The Mystery Box * new 8/15/09 * ------------------ -After spending 950 on the mystery box, it takes 5 seconds for the weapon to come up. -After spending 950 on the mystery box, it takes 12 seconds to reset. You can then redraw from the box. -I theorize that you may get the Ray Gun quicker if you take the weapon, rather than let it sit for 12 more seconds. -There have been plaenty of theories on how to get the Ray Gun quicker. Is there any special way to select the box so you can get the Ray Gun? The answer is no. The most promising theory is to select the box when the question mark is in it's brightest color, however there are times I have done this and did not get the Ray Gun, or signficantly better weapon. Try it out anyway and make up your own mind, but in my opinion there is no consistent way to beat the randomness of the box. n. Racking up Points -------------------- -During the first few levels, shoot the zombies with your colt m1911 a few times (perhaps, 4 times on level 1, and 7-8 times on level 2, but not in the head). Make sure it is enough so that it does not kill them. Then, knife them for 130 points. It takes more time, which can be risky if no one is watching your back, but the extra 40-80 points will be helpful to you later on in the game to get you extra points. -Allow zombies to take down a few boards on levels 1-3 on a window / wall, so you can repair them for points. -Allow a zombie or 2 to get inside the first room at levels 1-3. When you kill them, there will be a chance they will produce a x2. -Try to use your knife for levels 1-5 to get 130 points for a kill. -Try to keep the Colt m1911 as your 2nd weapon until rounds 5-6. If someone gets an ammo box, empty as many rounds you can into zombies for tons of points: max ammo = 80 x 10 per hit = 800 points. Not bad. This strategy gets inefficient around 7th level and after. -Head shots. If using a non-shot gun or pistol, aim for the head to get 100 points instead of 60. -Try to use automatic weapons or bolt action weapons over shotguns or sniper rifles. The extra hits you get with them will give you a handful of extra 10pts. Whereas if you use the trench gun, you will only get 60 or 100 for the one-shot kill. -Remember to kill the last zombie or group of zombies in a level by stabbing. -Use knife attacks during insta-kill. -Avoid using the bomb or insta-kill at low levels. -Do not open the stairs or HELP door unless you have enough points to purchase a weapon in the next room, or have an adequate weapon with ammo already. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIII. Credits & Contact * updated 8/15/09 * ------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'd like to thank Brasky07, HFX jonnie, xxxmetalmanxxx, and others for your discussions and input on this guide. Any questions can be directed to me: Jeffinator2008 or heartfire18@lycos.com. I welcome new thoughts and suggestions! Also look to my forthcoming nazi zombie guides for the other levels, and thank all of you for your feedback and suggestions (mostly good, some bad). Keep them coming!