Your first hours
Survival Guide
Most new survivors die from avoidable mistakes. Here's how to avoid them, and how to get better every day you stay alive.
Warmth
- Find dry layers before anything else
- Carry matches or a fire kit at all times
- Get out of the rain. Wet clothing loses most of its insulation
Water
- Wells and pumps are always safe
- Boil or purify water from ponds and rivers
- Keep a canteen on you. Thirst drains health fast
Food
- Cook all meat. Raw meat makes you sick
- Canned food lasts. Fresh fruit spoils
- Hunting gives the most calories on The Frozen Reach
Infected
- Crouch-walk past them. Sprinting draws a crowd
- Fight in doorways so they come one at a time
- Treat colds early. Sneezing and coughing pull them in
Survival Instincts
Get better, or get buried
Our custom skill system has 46 skills, and every one of them levels up just by playing. There are no points to spend. Skin animals and you skin faster, chop wood and you chop faster, survive the flu and the next one hits you softer.
- Physical: sprint, swim and haul heavy loads for less stamina.
- Survival: shrug off the cold and chop wood faster.
- Hunter & Gatherer: skin up to 50% faster, get extra meat, cleaner pelts and better fishing.
- Medical: bandage faster, waste fewer bandages, revive friends quicker and make medication last longer.
- Resilience: resist illness, bleed less and heal faster.
- Nutrition: get more from food and water, burn through them slower and survive starving longer.
- Stealth: move and work more quietly so the infected notice you later.
Press Left Ctrl + S in game to see your levels. When you die, every skill resets to zero.
Every skill
What each skill does
The bonus shown is what you get at max level. It builds up evenly with every level you gain. Click a skill to see its XP, level table and tips.
Physical
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Athletics | -40% sprint stamina drain | Train by sprinting (+1 XP per second spent sprinting) |
| Swimming | -50% swim stamina drain, +50% breath recovery | Train by swimming (+1 XP per second spent swimming) |
| Weight | -50% stamina penalty from carried weight | Train by moving while carrying a heavy load (+1 XP per second moving under load (up to 3x when heavily loaded)) |
Survival
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Cold Endurance | -35% cold exposure | Train by enduring the cold (+1 XP per second spent cold) |
| Woodcutting | 40% faster chopping | Train by chopping trees and bushes (+3 XP per tree or bush chopped) |
Hunter & Gatherer
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Skinning | 50% faster skinning | Train by skinning animals (+25 XP per animal skinned) |
| Meat Yield | 50% chance of extra meat per piece | Train by skinning animals (+15 XP per animal skinned) |
| Pelt Handling | Pelts 80% closer to pristine, extra pelt chance | Train by skinning animals (+15 XP per animal skinned) |
| Blade Care | -90% knife wear when skinning | Train by skinning animals (+15 XP per animal skinned) |
| Rifle Hunting | +100% firearm damage to animals | Train by shooting animals (+1 XP per shot that hits an animal) |
| Melee Hunting | +100% melee damage to animals | Train by striking animals in melee (+1 XP per melee hit landed on a living animal) |
| Animal Trapping | 80% chance to re-roll a failed animal trap check | Train by catching animals in traps you set (+3 XP per animal caught in a trap you set) |
| Angling | +100% bite chance, longer and sooner bites | Train by catching fish with a rod (+4 XP per fish caught with a rod) |
| Big Catch | Bigger fish, extra fish chance (50%) | Train by catching fish with a rod (+4 XP per fish caught with a rod) |
| Bait Keeping | -80% chance to lose hook or bait | Train by catching fish with a rod (+4 XP per fish caught with a rod) |
| Tackle Care | -90% hook and knife wear from fishing | Train by catching and cleaning fish (+3 XP per fish caught or cleaned) |
| Filleting | 80% chance of an extra fillet | Train by cleaning fish (+4 XP per fish cleaned) |
| Fish Gutting | 75% faster fish cleaning | Train by cleaning fish (+4 XP per fish cleaned) |
| Fish Trapping | 80% chance to re-roll a failed fish trap check | Train by catching fish in traps you set (+3 XP per fish caught in a trap you set) |
| Worm Digging | +200% worms per dig | Train by digging for worms (+3 XP per dig for worms) |
Medical
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Medicines | 40% faster bandaging and splinting | Train by treating wounds and using medical items (+15 XP per treatment (a splint gives double)) |
| Bandage Saving | 50% chance a bandage use isn't consumed | Train by bandaging wounds (+1 XP per bandage applied) |
| Wound Hygiene | -80% wound infection chance and growth | Train by bandaging wounds and fighting off wound infections (+1 XP per bandage applied, or minute fighting a wound infection) |
| First Responder | +200% shock restored by CPR | Train by performing CPR on unconscious players (+1 XP per round of CPR on an unconscious player) |
| Lasting Medication | Medication lasts 100% longer | Train while medication is active in your body (+1 XP per second a medication is active in your body) |
| Infection Treatment | +100% antibiotic strength | Train while antibiotics are active in your body (+1 XP per second antibiotics are active in your body) |
Resilience
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Flu Tolerance | -50% influenza progression | Train by fighting off influenza (+1 XP per second fighting off influenza) |
| Food Poisoning Tolerance | -60% food poisoning growth, +60% elimination | Train by fighting off food poisoning, salmonella or cholera (+1 XP per second fighting off poisoning) |
| Toxin Tolerance | -60% chemical poisoning growth, +60% elimination | Train by fighting off chemical or heavy metal poisoning (+1 XP per second fighting off chemical poisoning) |
| Iron Gut | -80% food poisoning from spoiled food | Train by eating spoiled or contaminated food (+1 XP per bite of spoiled or contaminated food) |
| Sweat It Out | Clears influenza while warm (+100%) | Train by staying warm while sick with influenza (+1 XP per second kept warm while sick with influenza) |
| Toughness | -40% melee damage taken | Train by taking melee hits (+1 XP per melee hit taken) |
| Cut Resistance | -40% chance to get cut | Train by getting cut (+1 XP per cut received) |
| Blood Clotting | -50% blood loss from bleeding | Train by bleeding (+1 XP per second spent bleeding) |
| Shock Tolerance | +100% shock recovery speed | Train by recovering from shock (+1 XP per second recovering from shock) |
| Wound Closure | Cuts close on their own 100% faster | Train by letting cuts close on their own (+1 XP per second per open cut closing on its own) |
| Blood Recovery | +100% blood regeneration | Train by regenerating lost blood (+1 XP per second regenerating lost blood) |
| Natural Healing | +100% health regeneration | Train by regenerating lost health (+1 XP per second regenerating lost health) |
Nutrition
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Food Absorption | +50% energy from food | Train by digesting food (+1 XP per 100 energy digested) |
| Water Absorption | +50% water from drinks and food | Train by digesting drinks (+1 XP per 100 water absorbed) |
| Slow Burn | -50% energy consumption | Train by moving around (+1 XP per second spent moving) |
| Water Discipline | -50% water consumption | Train by moving around (+1 XP per second spent moving) |
| Hunger Endurance | -80% health loss from starvation | Train by enduring starvation (+1 XP per second spent starving) |
| Thirst Endurance | -80% health loss from dehydration | Train by enduring dehydration (+1 XP per second spent dehydrated) |
Stealth
| Skill | At max level | How to level it |
|---|---|---|
| Light Footed | -60% footstep noise heard by AI | Train by moving while crouched or prone (+1 XP per step taken crouched or prone) |
| Noise Discipline | -60% other noise heard by AI (landing, handling, voice) | Train by handling weapons and items (+1 XP per noisy action (landing, handling, voice)) |