7 Days to Die Going from A17 to A18(experimental)

0: Introduction

First off, this is my first experience of EVER writing a guide on steam and it relies on pretty in-depth knowlege of 7 Days. This is meant to be a transition guide only and not meant as a starting point in any way shape or form. I'm also suffering from a terrible condition known as 'he thinks he's funny' so bear with me through that...

Also, I'm English and so is my spelling (Thank you for your sympathy and understanding)

Notes of preference.

I grew up with zombies that have a top-speed more becoming of a corpse with a relentless undying need to eat you. As such, I tend to play on a higher-than-average difficulty (for the max enemy HP) and all the speeds of zombies set to 'SLOW AS SLOTH PORN'.

I know some folks prefer zombies to run, or just do natural vanilla all the way, but that's one of the reasons 7 Days to Die means enough for me to write words and stuff about it!

Also, I have noticed some odd differences between RWG and the pre-designed world... Out of the two, I find that RWG has been a much more exhilerating and somewhat forgiving compared to Nev... Just my feelings on it, but Random world, day 7 I'm sniping with my lvl 5 rifle and scope, swapping to the scoped, muzzle-break equipped pistol and turning to my machete only when things get dire. Playing in Nev, day 7 I am throwing arrows and relying on a level 1 scrap turret to back my near-dead arse up...

Please be aware that patches are coming through thick and fast (or smart and quick if you prefer) so this guide is being made partially obsolete even as I write it. That's a good thing because the whole point of the guide is to warn you about curve-balls and unexpectedly strange things that don't make as much sense as they could.

Already, the combat has been improved with a 'near miss' system allowing you to get glancing blows if your crosshair isn't perfectly on-target.

1: Combat

You might be used to being the badass of Nevesgane with a wooden club and maybe a bow if you were feeling lazy and wanted to smite at range, but NO MORE!

Now, you're going to have to get used to the idea that you are NOT THE GOD OF DEATH. In fact, that title goes to just about EVERYTHING IN THE MAP that can hurt you.

I'm talking about those undead hordes you used to walk through like toilet paper, those animals you thought of as 'moving meat containers' and let's not forget... DISEASE.

Heck, even the cold will kill you more than ever now!

[EDIT] This seems to have been patched slightly. Now you CAN kill something without needing an anti-tank rifle... But don't take needless risks, as you can still get your arse handed to you if you're careless. Remember I feel playing this game on a higher-than-default difficulty too[/edit]

Ok. How to manage combat in A18:

LEG IT! Ok, funny aside you will NOT be able to slaughter everything you see. You will even have to spend time avoiding zombies so you don't get dead. You will need to outrun them where you can, out-manoeuvre them if you can and avoid them wherever you can.

Be warned, their AI is better now and they can sniff out where you have been. You may even spot them staggering along your previous footsteps.

RANGE IS YOUR FRIEND. Seriously, learn the furthest distance you can hit zombies (and everything else) with your chosen FOV.

SPEARS and BOWS don't fire/throw/spit stuff like a gun. They drop. Spears will drop A LOT but are good for short and medium range. Possibly hunting if you're hard-core. Either way, learn their limits.

DODGE, DUCK, DIVE, DIP AND DODGE. Figure out the maximum range zombies can hit you at. They don't have to stop moving to swing so you need to be on your toes (or heels) about that and sometimes they can score hits on you through gaps, up walls and across distances you swear they can't... Be warned, they can attack EVEN WHILE GOING DOWN. They don't stop attacking just because you knocked them sideways. Their attacks can still land and you'll need to re-learn how to avoid that.

LEARN TO HIT. I know it sounds dumb, but a lot of games are more forgiving about where the melee swing goes... 7 Days is not. It will hit on your crosshair and you need to time that to the swing. Learn the timings of power-attacks and regular attacks. Thankfully, now there's a small area of forgiveness, but you will deal less damage.

DON'T JUST RUN UP TO THEM. Zombies will watch you running at them like a home-delivered take-out and start to swing at you before you're even in their range. The zombies are probably made to think at your current speed, they're gonna smack you square in the kisser, leave you bleeding and stunned and watch in glee as you become lunch.

THEY AREN'T SO SLOW ANYMORE. If like me, you like zombies as slow things that only die if you (say it with me) "REMOVE THE HEAD OR DESTROY THE BRAIN", then you're in for a shock.

While dealing the hurt on these rotting targets, you'll find they suddenly get an undead second wind and will rush you! This means they will MOVE FASTER THAN YOU CAN BACKPEDAL. Don't burn all your Stamina on power attacks because you might need to rely on them to slow the rotter's down!

Masterclass Those with a high natural perception skill will spot that a zombie increases it's speed dependent on it's current speed. IE: Slow zombie (hello nurse) will still be slower than a quicker moving rotter, even when she gets that skirt swinging!

DID YOU HEAR THAT? The footsteps, general grunts and growls and 'passive' sounds made by everything that wants to kill you is louder. Don't mute it and I highly recommend surround sound headphones. It can be very helpful if something's staggering up behind you while you're loo-ting that loo and you hear a different kind of ♥♥♥♥♥ coming for you.

STICK OF DOOM! Remember that wooden club you crafted in... Pretty much every alpha so far? Well, you're going to wish you did it a whole lot better because a level 1 club (The grey stuff). After that, you will want to either put some points in a weapon-related skill, or get to searching for a better weapon.

Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone if you find a particularly good weapon.

You may find that building a totally different kind of character works better for you because you can use a really good weapon someone just happened to leave in a toilet...

2: Crafting

The first complaint will likely be 'hai, that's not how it's made'. Well, they don't make 'em like they used to and you need to figure that out ASAP

HOW DO I FIX IT? Anything more complicated than your stone gear needs to be repaired with repair kits. The good news is that they're cheaper than ever to make, but still a pain in the butt if you can't get the iron ingots and duct tape.

GLUE IS YOUR NEW BESTIE. If you have to choose between taking glue and any other item you're not in dire, super-ultra-mega-starvation need of... take the glue. Or duct tape. You're going to be making a LOT of duct tape.

Also, I was going to have a section called 'you're BONED', about making bones into glue but since that's neither new nor as funny as I think it is, I'll save you the punishment.

HOW DO I MAKE THE BEST STUFF? First off, you may find that you're doing just that. FINDING the best stuff. Day 6, I've got some level 5 stuff that I'm nowhere near crafting. You will be using a mix of loot and craft to get your 'dream loadout' but remember, perks are how you get them! A team will work better than a solo super-survivor because you can diversify as well as specialising in different areas independently. The short answer is 'learn every perk'

Masterclass You can now only 'loot' or 'find' the top-tier stuff. Personally, I think that's a pain, but TFP must have their reasons

GETTING BONED. You need 'em, you want 'em and they're surprisingly abundant if you don't mind getting your hands (or axe/shovel) dirty. Gore piles, freshly hunted animals (this does include the less tasty ones) and of course; vultures, dogs, wolves and bears (all of which want your bones). Why do you need them so much? Everything costs more of them to make! Bone shiv is more bones, glue is more bones... err... Ok, that's all I used them for, but that was enough to run out!

DIRTY WATER, CLEAN LIVING. If you're doing OK for water, don't be so quick to boil up all that dirty water. You might find that you need the murky water to make glue or some of the other recipes that require it.

MAKE A BETTER YOU! You may be used to relying on perks for carry-weight and other such under-the-hood improvements. But now, you can make mods for weapons and armour that can do the same thing (more or less) without wasting those precious perk points. Look out for books and schematics!

CAN I BORROW A CEMENT MIXER? Y'know them white river dudes? They're really kind of friendly. They have stuff at excellent prices, offer many oppourtunities to better yourself and can someone please tell Wreckt to put down the shotgun, I'll not try to steal his corn any more!

Your average trader will have a random-roll list of crafting stations that might be a lot better for using than learning how to make them all yourself. Some may be broken, but it will be worth travelling a little distance to use a chemical station rather than putting down your sledgehammer and tryin to do dat smart stuff that makes brain hurtie!

3: Health

This entire section can be titled 'don't die' or 'getting hit by things makes you die'. Since that's not 'new' to A18, I'll break it down a bit more.

OW. THAT HURT. Taken a few hits from a zombie, standing victorious over its corpse only to find... "OMG NFW I is like, totes almost ded and stuff." Yeah, them dead things want you to join them and they really mean it this time! Their hits are hard, you are soft and squishy. You need armour, perks and... Yeah, I know... Don't get hit.

TIS BUT A SCRATCH! Or is it? You may have gotten used to taking the 'odd hit' once a day, but now you're striving for untouched and totally perfect health at sun-down. Heal, eat, bandage and keep yourself in good shape because A18 wants you dead!

MMMMH... DYSENTRY.... Anyone else here ever had a stomach bug or some kind of food poisoning? It's 'chicken soup, blanket and awful rom-com' time for most of us... with the obligatory 'puke bucket' nearby... Needless to say, in this post-apocalyptic pain in the posterior, being ill isn't any fun! The best nurse might be gorgeous, but she's mine and you can't have her. After that, almost EVERYTHING you cook will have a chance to make you sick.

Although this is more realistic (and everyone just says 'boil the water longer', we need to accept that canned food was prepared with better materials than some guy trying to grill a steak on a campfire burning old chairs.

TIME FOR A CUPPA TEA! or "what ho, toodle-pip and fetch the crumpets" for those of you who enjoy a good bit of cheesy satire. TEA! It's good for what ails you, but it's a little tricky to make if you don't know how. You will need the blueprint or the skill, but having that will make it worth punching flowers all day long just for a nice cooled drink of red tea (that slows your food and water loss for a short time)

BLOOD! BLOOD, BLOOD AND... DEATH! Bandages are very useful and although this isn't any real difference to A17, I find that I end up bleeding more in A18 (usually because the zombie I shot in the nose is p!ssed at me). Cotton seems to be wholly abundant everywhere and since cloth is useful for all sorts, good idea to grab some, craft some rags and then... you know. stop bleeding with them

ONE OF US! ONE OF US! Infection. It's been dusted off and given a nice new dynamic you can practically feel crawling up your arm. It also makes things clearer about how you can reduce the infection and how close you are to joining the undead hordes who gave it to you!

'But dude, I punch zombies in the face all day... why don't I get infected more?' Well, Mr Echidna, that's because The Fun Pimps think a Zombie's ability to bite you should be limited by having it's teeth punched down it's throat. HOW COOL IS THAT? I mean, seriously!

4: Food

BOILED ISN'T BEST. Remember when you could boil away all them nasty germs? Well, you're in the wasteland now kid! You're not doing as good a job as high-school science class! Nearly ALL food and water has a small chance to make you ill (I'm putting this down to lack of food safety standards at the end of the world). Canned food is safe from this, so chow down on dog food to your delight. Or that boring human-food if you're picky.

MAX STAMINA DOWN, YOU COULD BE TOO. Keep your food and water as high as you can. I can't stress this enough because if you're looting a house and suddenly hear the tell-tale pitter-patter of A BEAR coming up the stairs, you need to get out of there. Run, climb, jump or unload three clips of 9mm into its fuzzy hide (just short of 40 bullets), you're going to need stamina.

CAN IT, CHEF! Aah, I remember the days when my mum told me 'You'll just be living off cans the moment you move out'. Well, now it's time to prove her RIGHT! But in a positive way. Just because you found a can of something doesn't mean you should pop it and chow down right away. Cooking a more complicated meal can be worth the time just for the extra calories it's worth (EG, Sham Chowder, Meat Stew, Pie... mmmmh... Pie...)

DOE! I HIT A DEER! Anyone who ever read the web-comic 'SSDD: Poisoned Minds Kicking It Old School' may remember a short series of 'Hunting Made Easy' comics. Oddly, this works even now. You spot a deer on the horizon, you can hop off your bicycle and try to nail that thing to a tree by sneaking up with your bow... but we all have missed the first shot and then spent half a day chasing a fuzzy tail through a town screaming "SLOW DOWN AND LET ME EAT YOU".

Now, I do not condone this in any setting other than purely digital... but I find hunting is a lot easier after running the deer over, hopping off as it rag-dolls and then stabbing it until it's dinner. In real life, all animals are precious and should be enjoyed to the maximum. Possibly with fries, but usually with BBQ sauce.

DINNER BITES BACK! Ok, there's very few situations where seeing a bear has any other response than: 'Void bowels, run like whatever is now filling your shoe and look back only when you're tired of life'. But don't be too afraid to sometimes track down something with teeth, claws and juicy, juicy steaks... Of course, bears are mostly off the menu unless you get lucky, they get unlucky, or you just happen to have a tank in your back pocket. You may however be able to take out a wolf or Lion (not seen one yet to try myself) and enjoy an ironic moment of 'predator burgers' later.

5: NEW TOYS

Yes, some of the best parts of a new alpha is new toys and new mechanics. These are things that won't kill you but will probably make surviving more interesting if not easier.

NEW WEAPONS:

Stun baton. Electrocute the undead and see if they twitch! Governed by the INTELLIGENCE trait, you can use this improvised Thor's Whammer to bluntly knock the undead around, but also it will spark up at random and stun them for a time! Real chance to lay down the hurt!

Because INTELLIGENCE is also how you can make some of the snazzier traps (as well as turrets below) you might find that you can be king of the nerd-herd and still cool... because not being dead is pretty cool.

Spear. This one has quite a bit of a following from what i've seen... but I find it's range lacking (go figure the sniper wants a spear-gun). A good melee weapon with the alternative of throwing it for additional ranged attack. I've not got much in the way of experience comparing it's damage, so as far as I know, stabbing and throwing does the same (just... y'know. at range).

Masterclass Just because you can't use your SUPER AWESUM MIND POWARS to pull the spear back... Why not play 'Zombie Fetch' where you 'throw the stick' and the zombie, like the pal they are, brings it right back to you... well, to stab them in the face with...

M 60: I've not had the pleasure of wielding this bad-boi yet, but since shooting things has been infinitely more satisfying than ever before, I'm just expecting this weapon to leave me needing new underwear...

SRAP TURRECT: Lootable, shootable and placeable! Craft ammo from scrap iron and you can even wield it like a gun itself. I actually found myself carrying one of these around as I looted a particularly large POI because guests kept dropping in for dinner. I left Scrappy McShooty in the hallway and every so often heard it telling people that 'The master would not like to be disturbed'... By shooting them... That's what that means, right?

(Recently had a bit of a buff in the latest patch)

Grenades These come in the classic 'hot potato' and 'CATCH!' varieties, allowing you to chose if you want your boom 'then' or 'now'. Surprisingly generous in it's anti-zombie damage while being oddly tender to buildings... Well... As tender as a lethal explosive can be.

SPECIAL BULLETS FOR A SPECIAL SKULL. Whether you want to shoot five zombies in a row and groan 'Maximum Penetration' inapropriatley, or just want to 'BLOW THE BLOOMIN DOORS OFF', we have you covered. Many weapons can now host alternate and differently utilised ammunition that, in the right situation is even more lethal than usual.

This isn't the lot either. Seriously, you need to check the patch notes for the whole arsenal.

PERKS ARE DIFFERENT. This actually kicked my arse when I foolishly spent my first few points on things that I totally didn't need anymore. LOOK THROUGH THEM ALL and learn what is gated by them, but do not despair if that one item you want is at the end of the branch because you can find SCHEMATICS for them.

PERKS ARE YOUR FRIEND. There's a bit of 'marmite' going on about the perks, but the bottom line is they will help you do more damage, gain more (and better) loot and you cannot really live for very long without them.

Try to plan what you will need. If you're in a team, divide and conquer the needed skills, but remember you will need to defend yourself too. Luckily, the main STATS (Strength, Agility, Perception etc.) have weapons of their own allowing you to specialise as well as having a strong foothold in combat.

BOOKS ARE FRIENDS... WITH BENEFITS! You're still reading which means these jokes haven’t killed you yet. Nor have zombies, dysentery, cold or wild animals. Good! You need some books then. There's a lot of things 'gated' behind the perk system, but since that's very limiting, you can also find little gems in bookshelves, loot and other paper-related-places. These magazines and skill books can unlock abilities you can't get from levelling, as well as recipes so you don't have to waste precious points on a 'redundant' skill tree. You can see a list of them in your skill tree so look ahead of time.

RE-READING THE SAME BOOK DOES NOT GIVE YOU FURTHER BONUSSES. It does, however, give you some XP. Check with other players who needs to learn and if everyone's good, rake it in.

BE DIFFERENT. Got your plant fibre trousers, shirt, bow, club, stone axe, bedroll, campfire and one upgraded block. Here's four perk points to get you started... So why not try a customised build?

I 'fell' into an agility build because of my natural love of knives and bows. Surprised me how well it's working and I'm now planning on being the knifest guy in the wasteland!

Get to grips with the changes and try something new! Melee build, Sniper, soldier. They're all going to be a whole different way to play and fight (building is kind of the same. put down a block and upgrade it... kind of all we got there... for now...)

A stitch in time saves dy'in As much as duct-tape will be essential early game, you can make it with cotton, bones and empty jars (that you collect water in). What you cannot make and may need a lot of in early-game, is sewing kits! You can't make much armour without these and you'll be stuck looting only without them. Don't underestimate a needle and stitch at the end of the world.

Iron't be back! Also, be aware that wood now upgrades to COBBLESTONE. This is a new change and needs to be prepared for. Wood>Strong Wood>Cobblestone>Concrete

Iron is now a different creature and since I've not made any of it, I don't know what it upgrades like.

Upgrading the blooming doors up Thanks for the comment that raised this. In a strange twist of upgrading sense, apparently you need to craft what you want to upgrade to in order to upgrade that door past it's current level... Let me translate that into something simpler.

Wooden door can be upgraded to wooden bars and metal sheets. To upgrade it to an iron door, you need to USE an iron door as the main ingredient to upgrade it to that.

Stabby? STABBYSTABBYWHEEEE! A new patch has made knives... fast but weak. Can't say I'm a fan of the change and I can't seem to make any use of multiple attacks because after a few, your target just runs up and start slapping you over and over. BE WARNED that knives are now fast as lightning, but nowhere near as satisfying. Prepare to hit-and-run with them to maximise your bleed damage.

InGot it! You will need iron ingots and the best way I know to scavenge them is from the 'axel' looking things you find in junk-yards, from exercise equipment and safes. The best way to harvest them is with a wrench (Have not seen if I can get ingots without this)

End Stuff (and Bugs)

This is the (current) end of the guide, I'll be adding to this as my experiences expand and I learn more about the new Alpha.

Remember, A18Experimental is all still in an even more alpha stage of ALPHA release. There will be bugs and sometimes, removing a block will make the whole building fall down (beware the hanging lifts in farms... they fall down easy)

Here's a list of bugs I have found so far:

Rapid upgrade/harvest.

Crouching (Entering sneak) resets your current 'utility' action with a tool (repairing, upgrading, dismantling). This allows you to repair, dismantle or upgrade much faster, but with the obvious stamina cost.

Unending boost on bycicles

Just that. Running out of stamina doesn't slow you down while 'boosting' on a bycicle.

Seems to be a known bug that'll be patched soon enough... but until then, I'm going to ride up a mountain! WHEEE!

Zombies Chasing Ghosts.

Every so often, you'll disturb a zombie (possibly with an arrow) and it'll just wander off in a total random direction! I have spotted a few 'following my trail' backwards from where I surprised it, but honestly, sometimes they just seem to develop a fixation on a single area in space and try to kill it.

Zombies Killing Zombies.

This is less a bug and more an exploit. We know zombies will now run at you if you do damage to them and that it's random... Well, we also remember that Zombies meeting barriers just tend to hit it until it goes away...

Did you know zombies can't walk through zombies?

Attacking the zombie at the back and sending them into a rage can sometimes cause them to mow through a bunch of their brethren before getting to you. Even if they don't start swinging, they're stuck at the back of the queue for you so they won't do anything more than get in the way. (note, there are perks that allow you to shot zombie-legs with various weapons, slowing them down)

Near-miss direct hit Some zombies have a nasty habit of swinging their heads around a lot and re-playing some of the game footage I've streamed, I've seen that zombies are getting a 'glancing blow' hit a lot of the time when a headshot should be the result. Sometimes you need to go for the centre of mass and hope for the best because it's the best way to ensure a hit.

[PATCHED] 'Ha-do-KEN!' Bullets

Sneak damage, perk boost and bullet damage can send a zombie flying away head-first over the hills from a bullet from the gun. Some kind of damage affecting the rag-doll system makes shooting a zombie so... SOOOOOOOO Satisfying...

The End

Thanks for reading. This is my first ever guide and I mostly wrote this because I wanted to find something similar and couldn't (main reason I make anything hahaa!)

Let me know how to improve.

Planned changes:

More information (Being updated as and when)

Proper formatting

Screenshots

less /more jokes in places

Thanks to the feedback given folks. You've been really nice and it's good to know that at least someone got a giggle out of this makes it worth it. A special thank you to everyone who has voted on this guide as well

Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1887998913

Going from A17 to A18(experimental)