Disclaimer
Some techniques described in this guide may be considered exploits or cheese strategies. It may or may not be ethical to use them in community challenges. The developer of this game, Saber Interactive, has known about some of such tricks for a while (such as unlocking doors from the wrong side and getting some items through walls). It is possible that Saber is fine with them existing or does not consider them high-priority now. Either way, the chance of getting any serious penalty for relying on those tricks is nearly non-existent at the moment.
The guide's image next to the title is "The Question(?) Block from the Super Mario Series" by Antonio Ayala:
https://www.artstation.com/artwork/8e1PJR
Skipping The Roll Animation
Characters in this game perform a rolling animation when they jump down from a high object, such as a car, a subway train, a container, a platform, etc. They cannot use weapons during that animation, which makes them vulnerable to zombie attacks. If there are no zombies nearby, it wastes some time which could be spent on moving with purpose.
That animation can be skipped, though. Switch to the first-person view before jumping down and return to the third-person view after it. Here is a video demonstration made by Kokak:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDgxQ0SLp74
This method lets you perform the elevator jump on Descent (New York 1) more efficiently:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUx4eY28o_I
Move the "Toggle 1st / 3rd Person View" bind to a more convenient location to perform this technique comfortably.
Healing And Disinfecting While Falling
Using the Medkit and disinfecting are actions that lock the characters in place and make them vulnerable to zombies. It is possible to save some time by activating these animations just before the character jumps down. They will be played while the character is in the air and as it touches the ground.
Run or sprint toward a ledge.
While the character is still on the ledge and is about to fall, start holding the "Use Medical Item" or "Use" key (depending on the purpose) and keep holding the movement key.
Hold the "Use Medical Item" until the animation is completed. Releasing it will interrupt the animation.Here is a video demonstration by xD3viLz.
That player also skips the remainder of the reload animation in the first example.
Cancel The Throw Animation
You wanted to throw a grenade or a Molotov but changed your mind. You are holding the "Use Equipment" key, unsure what to do next. The solution is simple: find a ledge and step down. The fall animation will cancel the throw animation without wasting your equipment. Even small elevations should work.
Guns | Reloading Faster
A weapon is considered reloaded when its ammo counter is refreshed, not when the reload animation is finished. This makes it possible to skip the remainder of the animation by interrupting the reloading process at the right moment. For most weapons, the right moment to do that occurs halfway through the reload animation. The only exceptions from this rule are the Light Automatic Weapon (Paladin LMG) and the Double-Barreled Shotgun (Dunali SxS) — their ammo counters get refilled when the reload animation is 75% done. If the circular reload indicator was a clock, the right moment would occur at 9 o'clock.
Halfway or later, 75% of the way or later. Not earlier.
The reload sequence can be interrupted by many actions. The most commonly available methods are:
1. Swinging a melee weapon. Light melee weapons suit this purpose best because their animations are faster.
2. Opening the pause menu and closing it immediately. This is the fastest method, but it has a few significant drawbacks: it reduces the volume of whatever is happening in the match (which might cause you to miss some important sounds, like the sound of a charging Bull) and it is inconvenient to use if the chosen movement keys are positioned far away from the "Esc" key, such as TFGH, IJKL, UHJK, and others.
3. Swapping the current weapon. Especially relevant for Gunslingers with the "Switcheroo" perk.
4. Using any equipment. This applies to using the Stim Pistol as a Medic, raising the Shield as a Vanguard, throwing a Frag Grenade as a Gunslinger, etc.
Placing a Supply Bag as a Fixer or using an already placed Supply Bag reloads the primary weapon (but not the secondary) at any stage of the reload animation.
If the Assault Rifle (ARK-103) and the Multi-Barreled Shotgun (BSS-2/Goncho) are equipped with the "Advanced User" perk, using the equipment reloads those weapons at any stage of the reload animation.5. Jumping down from a ledge, car, or any other kind of elevation (even a small one).
6. Vaulting or climbing up.
7. Placing a Bandage Kit.
Visual demonstration:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhRKLvg1lKM
To see the reload progression indicator, set your "Crosshair" to "Crosshair + Ammo" or simply "Crosshair" in the HUD settings:
Settings > HUD > General > Crosshair
The Extinction mode disables that indicator. It does not disable the ammo counter, though, so you can glance at it until you get used to timing the reloads at the right moment.
Guns | Reduce Recoil And Screen Shake By Switching Shoulders
When the character is continuously firing the gun, switching the shoulder in the third-person mode completely removes the screen shake effect and significantly reduces the weapon's recoil. This improved gun handling effect lasts 1 second. Switching the shoulder again refreshes it.
This trick does not work in the first-person mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTP_1sP4IfA
Guns | T3 Bullpup: Full-auto In The Minizoom
The tier 3 Bullpup Rifle (XTAR-95) with the "Selective Fire" perk has 2 modes:
Full-auto (hipfire).
Burst-fire (minizoom).It is possible to make it fully automatic in the minizoom mode, too. Carrying the BF50 Payload Rifle is necessary to perform this trick.
Press the "Switch to Heavy Weapon" key.
Hold or press the "Minizoom" key, depending on your settings.
Press the "Switch to Primary Weapon" key while staying in the "Minizoom" mode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKY-ml9hr0Y
Combined with the Fixer's "Powershot" penetration bonus and the recoil reduction technique described in this guide, you can get a fully automatic tier 3 Bullpup Rifle with +3 penetration power and decent accuracy.
Guns | The Fixer's "Power Shot" Perk
The Fixer class has a perk that increases the penetration power of certain weapons by 2. Its name is "Power Shot". It is located in the 7th column of selectable perks, and it gets unlocked at level 22. It applies to certain weapons listed below.
1. Every semi-automatic rifle:
Scout Rifle.
Sporting Carbine.
Sniper Rifle.
Tier 3 Battle Rifle.
Repeating Rifle (the game considers it semi-auto).
Tier 2 Classic Battle Rifle with the "HP Rounds II" perk.2. Every burst-fire rifle:
Classic Bullpup Rifle.
Tier 3 Bullpup Rifle.
Sniper Rifle with the "Two-Rounds Burst" perk.3. Tier 3 Bullpup Rifle in the fully automatic mode enabled by the "Selective Fire" perk.
4. All of the above with explosive rounds. They negate the normal penetration but not the additional penetration from the "Powershot" perk.
5. The Advanced Combat Weapon (ACW-20) that shoots explosive rounds.
This perk does not apply to the Crossbow, regardless of the bolt type. It does not apply to tier 3 Battle Rifle with the "Full-Auto" perk, either. Additionally, it does not apply to other semi-automatic and burst-fire weapons that are not rifles. The tier 2 SMG (TMP5) and the tier 3 Special SMG with semi-auto modifications are not affected by the "Power Shot" bonus.
Before you get into the match as a Fixer, consider equipping the "HP Rounds II" for the Classic Battle Rifle. You will get to use 1 more weapon that gets the "Power Shot" bonuses.
Guns | Mouse Aim Assist Is Not Off By Default
Have you ever noticed that the Rats seem to be dodging your first shots, even though you were aiming right at them? Have you seen the oil barrels catch fire suddenly even when your crosshair was not pointing at them? Have you felt that some zombies near your crosshair but not exactly in it get shot anyway? Does it feel like the bullets sometimes hit the wrong zombie when 2 or more of them are close to each other? It happens because the "Default" aim assist setting for controllers affects the mouse aim, too. It directs bullets toward or away from the target if the crosshair is close to it, depending on the target type.
Settings > Camera > Controller > Aim Assist (at the bottom)
Setting it to "Off" should disable it. The "Strong" option seems to disable the aim assist, too, contrary to what the name suggests. If you want to be in control of the bullet trajectory, definitely set it to "Off".
A video demonstration by xD3viLz:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMrgdshmiio
A video by Rasmus Post:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18su-0RlDE0
A video by 5ciblob (watch until 2:43 and ignore the rest):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WuuXjStbtn8
Guns | What To Sprint & Run With
Some weapons in this game may have a positive or negative impact on your character's movement. It is worth knowing that to maximize the efficiency of your movement, cover long distances faster, and speedrun objectives.
Good to sprint or run withIf you equip the following weapons with the following perks, you can switch to them during the game when you need to run more than you have to shoot.
1. Weapons with the "Biathlete" perk:
Tier 1 Pistol: the sprint stamina is spent 15% slower without a Virus Sample and 30% slower with it.
Tier 1 Machine Pistol and tier 3 Special SMG: the slowdown effect from nearby zombies is reduced by 50% without a Virus Sample and by 100% with it.
Tier 3 Bullpup Rifle (XTAR-95): sprint with this weapon in your hands and receive 5% less damage without a Virus Sample (15% less with it).2. Weapons that restore a portion of sprint stamina on zombie kills:
Scout Rifle with the "Over the Heads" perk: 20% of the sprint stamina for a zombie kill with a headshot.
Tier 3 Assault Shotgun with the "Shoot And Run" perk: 5% of the sprint stamina for a zombie kill.3. Weapons with the "pushback" ability:
Tier 3 Assault Shotgun with the "Bear Arms" perk: reload it, and the nearby zombies will get pushed back.
Tier 2 Double-Barreled Shotgun (Dunali SxS) with the "Breakout" perk: shoot it rapidly until it's empty, and the nearby zombies will get pushed back.4. Weapons with the masking ability:
Tier 1 Pistol and tier 2 PDW (Senjata) with the "Ghost" perk: get hit, kill a zombie with a headshot from this weapon, and you will get a 5-second masking effect. The cooldown is 60 seconds.
Tier 2 Double-Barreled Shotgun (Dunali SxS) with the "Backup Plan" perk: get a 3-second masking effect when you run out of ammo for this weapon. The cooldown is 60 seconds.Bad to sprint withDo not sprint with these weapons if the "Unloading Vest" perk is equipped for them: it reduces the sprint stamina by 25%. In other words, these weapons with this perk spend your sprint stamina faster than usual:
Classic Bullpup Rifle (Le Clairon).
Light Automatic Weapon (Paladin LMG).
Tier 3 Bullpup Rifle (XTAR-95).
Advanced Combat Weapon (ACW-20).
Tier 3 Assault Shotgun.
Crossbow.
Thumper GL.Instead, switch to the other weapon you are carrying.
Combat Medic: Where Did The Bandage Kit/Adrenaline Go?
You have just regenerated a Medkit as a Medic using the "Combat Medic" perk, but another medical item you carried has vanished. You can find it at its original location. If you don't want to run back that far, you can generate a new location for it by picking up an Equipment Bag or using a Fixer's Supply Bag before regenerating the Medkit.
A video by xD3viLz showcasing how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ksse-0ebz9E
The "Detector" trinket can assist you in finding those items.
Trinkets With Gameplay Advantages
2 trinkets in the game are not purely cosmetic.
The Special sample starts glowing when one or more Special Zombies are close to the player.
The Detector emits static noise and cyan light when one of the following items is near:
Breaching Charge.
Improving Bag for Ammo, Melee, or Equipment.
Equipment Bag.
Any medical item (Medkit, Bandage Kit, Adrenaline Kit).The Detector does not react to Virus Samples and Document Pieces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Bq79kUk4vQ
Each of them costs 500 (Blue) Challenge Coins. Trinkets have to be equipped for each character individually and can be found in the following place:
Co-op Campaign or Challenges > Customize > Appearance > Select the character > Accessories
It could be argued that the Gasbag trinket may be mistaken for a broken Virus Sample at a glance because both of them emit green gas.
Hostile Autoturrets Don't Need To Be Reloaded
Live automatic turrets spawn in the hostile state by default. They target both zombies and human players. It is possible to turn a hostile autoturret into a friendly one by interacting with it. Friendly autoturrets only target the zombies and ignore humans.
Friendly autoturrets will eventually run out of ammo and need to be reloaded by a player. Hostile autoturrets have infinite ammo and do not need to be reloaded. This is good to know in the New York 3 finale and similar areas: once the team gets into the final defense area, the door behind them will automatically close. Thus, the autoturrets behind will be unreachable.
If it is possible to run past autoturrets without receiving much damage, you can use them to your advantage.
Alarmed Cars
It is quite easy to determine which cars in this game are alarmed if you know exactly what to look for. However, this aspect of the game is quite counterintuitive for newcomers because it is not properly explained anywhere. The criterion is rather simple:
If the car can explode, then it is alarmed.
That's it. If shooting the car sets it on fire and causes it to explode, then it has an active alarm system. All other cars are not alarmed, even if they are in pristine condition and have transparent windows. Unlike the Left 4 Dead games, WWZ does not have cars with flashing windows to hint that something may go wrong if the car is shot or touched. You will only know it once the car is already shot.
Out of all the cars that appear during the existing missions in this game, only 1 can be blown up. It is a sedan that looks like the Ford Crown Victoria. Note that the Taxi and Police modifications of this car are exceptions because they cannot be blown up. Only the regular civilian Ford Crown Vics have an active alarm system.
Zeke | Juggernaut
The Juggernaut is a variation of the Special Zombie known as the Bull. There are a few differences between them:
The Bull grabs 1 player and takes control away from them, pounding them into the ground. The Juggernaut simply runs every player in its way over and knocks them down for a moment, dealing damage in the process.
Unlike the classic Bull, the Juggernaut does not have a weak spot on its back.
The Juggernaut has worse mid-charge tracking than the Bull. It is easier to dodge Juggernauts in open areas.
The Juggernaut has a wider area of effect, making it harder to dodge it in corridors and other choke points.
Just like the Bomber zombie, the Juggernaut gets knocked down when it is shot in the legs. Unlike the Bomber, the Juggernaut can recover and get up. It can be knocked down again, though. Chained knockdowns are an effective way of incapacitating this zombie for a long time. Yellow stripes on the Juggernaut's legs is a hint that such a weakness exists.
Melee weapons are effective against knocked-down Bombers and Infectors but not Juggernauts.
Despite what its blast suit might suggest, explosive munitions are highly effective against the Juggernaut. This applies to the Gunslinger's "Sort It All Out" perk and explosive ammo from the Fixer's Supply Bags, too.
Juggernauts are immune to all sorts of electricity, but classic Bulls are not.
Juggernauts ignore the most common means of deception while charging (masking effects, C4 with the "Here Kitty" perk, the Flare Gun projectiles).
Vanguard players using the "All-Round Defense" perk can tank a Bull while swinging a melee weapon as long as that 3-second bonus after raising the Shield is active. It does not work for the Juggernaut: the player has to keep the Shield raised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExsVNa2y_H4
Zeke | Do Not Stand In The Swarm's Way
A swarm of zombies creates an invisible kill zone that may get activated even before the first zombies in the crowd come close to you. If you absolutely must stand in the swarm's way or have no time to get out, pull out a Chainsaw, hold the "Minizoom" key, and hold the "Fire" key after that. Move out of the swarm's way while you are doing that. Alternatively, you can activate a masking effect or raise the Shield as a Vanguard (if the "All-Round Defense" perk is active, it gives you 3 seconds of invulnerability for swinging a melee weapon to conserve the Shield's charge).
Maps | Marseille 2 Finale In 2 Shots
The Marseille 2 finale requires one player to take control of the missile launcher and hit 4 targets. It is enough to shoot it just twice in order to finish the mission. Remember the following pointers for success:
Each shot consists of 4 missiles, and only 1 has to hit the target. You have quite a lot of room for error.
You can rotate the launcher while shooting. Hitting a single target will become super easy once you know that.
You can hit any 2 adjacent targets by aiming at the 1st target and rotating the launcher diagonally in the correct direction while the missiles are getting unloaded.
When in doubt, leave the control panel, come to the launcher, stand right behind it, and check where it's pointing at.
A teammate can assist you by standing behind the launcher and giving you directions. They should get out of the way before you fire to avoid getting hit by the backblast, though.
Once you enter the fort, everyone should carry spare missiles to avoid looking for them around the fort in case the gunner misses. If no one does it, remember that the closest missiles are behind the launcher.Here is a recent video tutorial by Kokak, the missiles are launched from left to right:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOGp0KsthdE
Here is one of the oldest clips from 2020 by Raisuru. The shots are fired in reverse order, from right to left.
Maps | New York 4 Easy Finale
There is an easier way to finish the 4th mission in New York (Dead In The Water).
When the finale is started, players have to fight a swarm at 1 or 2 locations. After that, they will be instructed to complete various objectives which boil down to flipping a switch in the correct room. The gameplay loop at this stage looks like this: complete the objective, fight another swarm, complete another objective, and repeat until the game thinks you have spent enough time doing that.
A faster and easier method is about stalling the 1st objective long enough that the game thinks you have spent the minimum required time doing the final part of the mission. According to the tests I have performed, you must spend at least 6 minutes in the final defense section. Perform the following steps:
Get your stopwatch ready.
Wait until the final defense starts itself or start it manually using the marker. Start your stopwatch at that exact moment.
Keep fighting the swarms until you are presented with the first objective.
Come to the place of the objective but do not complete it. Simply defend the area from all the zombies spawning in the vicinity. Do that until your stopwatch displays 5 minutes 53 seconds.
At 5:53 since the start of the finale or later, it should be safe to use the switch. One of the team members should get close to the switch before that moment.
Run back to the evacuation zone immediately. There will be no other objectives.Why 5:53? I had a few videos of my experiments recorded at 60 FPS and looked closely at them, frame by frame. Here are the obtained results:
The player has to hold the "Use" key for 0.483 seconds to use the switch.
The switch-flipping animation takes 0.8 seconds.
The game generates a new objective 7.117 seconds after the previous one is completed (flipping the switch).All those delays take 8.4 seconds. The frames at this rate are captured approximately every 0.0167 seconds (1/60), so the timings are a little bit imprecise.
It looks like the game expects 6 minutes to pass since the beginning of the finale. The new objective is not generated immediately, though, and flipping the switch takes some time, so players can flip the switch 8.4 seconds earlier than 6 minutes on the stopwatch. Doing that at 5:52, however, is inconsistent: sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, and players will have to do another objective or fight another swarm. 5:53 is a safer value. By the time those 8.4 seconds pass, the stopwatch should show 6:01.
Maps | Secret Rooms
Several maps in the game have secret supply rooms that cannot be opened with breaching charges. Players have to use a level-specific feature instead.
New York 4 (Dead In The Water)At the beginning of the level, pass by a burnt-down building and take a left turn. If that's the direction the game conductor wants you to go this time, keep going forward until you see a tree with a couple of benches. There will be a basketball hoop on your left. Throw a grenade, Molotov, or C4 into the basket. Grenades fired from the MGL work, too. This should open the double door behind you.
You can also break the rules of the basketball game and throw your "ball" from under the basket. However, throwing it the normal way is more consistent.
WARNING: using loud explosives to open this room might be seen as a disrespectful move on the higher difficulties and might result in a kick vote against you.
A short video demonstration on Reddit. Check the author's comment, too.
Rome 1 (Holy Ground)When you reach the church that Luca is hiding in, shoot its bell. It will open the locked room on the right side.
Video demonstration by 2915802914.
Kamchatka 3 (Atomic Alliance)Before the first defense section, keep going forward until you reach the assembly room. There will be a locked door leading to a supply room on the right side. It must be opened with a breaching charge. The room has a switch that players can interact with. Use it, then reach the loading dock. When you are there, turn left, run forward until you reach the forklift, then turn left again. You should see an autoturret's laser emerging from the unlocked room. You can capture the turret and loot the room immediately or just leave an uncaptured autoturret running until you deal with the swarm.
A screenshot album posted by the author of the Rome 1 video, 2915802914:
https://imgur.com/gallery/LzHrfll
P.S. Give the author's post on Imgur some upvotes if you have found this information useful, some clueless folks downvoted them for posting helpful stuff about a video game.
Maps | Unlocking Doors From The Wrong Side
Some doors in this game can only be unlocked from the inside. However, the unlock trigger can be reached through solid objects with certain melee weapons that cause the character to lean forward during a signature strike. The general principle can be described as follows:
Take the appropriate melee weapon before the match starts.
Come as close to the unlock trigger as possible.
Keep moving yourself toward it even if you are already hugging a solid object.
Swing the melee weapon until you trigger its signature strike.
Hold the "Use" key during the signature strike until your character unlocks the door.New York 1 (Descent)This is how you can get into the solo room in New York 1 (Descent):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rISMR9-w2M
The video features the Dual Knives. Here is list of all melee weapons confirmed to be suitable for that:
Light: Dual Knives, Dual Sickles.
Medium: Hammer.
Heavy: Sword, Sledgehammer.This part of the building does not always contain crates. Thus, it is not always unlocked by the game conductor. The players are at the mercy of the RNG. They can, however, forcefully unlock that room using this simple trick. It is useful for increasing the odds of surviving a solo run or a clutch situation in multiplayer games. It also lets you get a document piece from the top floor shelves in the Challenge mode in case it spawns there.
If this location is picked by the game conductor, the crates will not spawn until the highlighted double door above is open. Knowing this trick, though, you can save some time by opening the top double door and going back to the bottom door:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xAcGqQcYufo
In multiplayer games, if a teammate has already gone through the top double door, you can take a shortcut to them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOdHzAEgElg
You can also unlock the gate from the other side on the same map:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEYikZNvzpM
It could be useful to take this shortcut if a teammate on the other side needs to be urgently revived. However, it is only possible with these weapons:
Medium: Hammer.
Heavy: Sword, Sledgehammer.It needs to be tested whether or not these tricks are possible with the Dual Cleavers. They are available in the "Zeke Hunter Weapons Pack" DLC:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708020/World_War_Z_Aftermath__Zeke_Hunter_Weapons_Pack/
Rome 3 (The Final Push)In the final Rome mission, you can open a large supply room without a breaching charge by reaching for the control panel through the wall. It is done by hugging the left door frame and holding the "Use" key during the signature strike of the following melee weapons:
Light: Dual Knives, Dual Sickles.
Medium: Hammer, Fire Axe.
Heavy: Sword, Sledgehammer.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJv6CTfkML0
Maps | Free Supplies, No Breaching Charge Required
In some places, you can take stuff from the supply rooms/containers without spending a breaching charge. It is done the same way as opening locked doors from the other side described in the previous section. You will need a melee weapon that causes the character to lean forward during a signature strike. Come close to the item's approximate location, trigger the signature strike, and hold the "Use" key. The Dual Knives, Dual Sickles, and the Medium Fire Axe might not work everywhere, but the Sword, Sledgehammer (Heavy), and Hammer (Medium) usually work where the light melee weapons don't. Some items are reachable even without the signature strike animation, you just need to come close enough to the wall.
Kokak showcases some of those locations in the following video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTwOLmaQh_g
Virus Samples: Important Facts
Virus Samples can be collected but cannot be dropped. If you pick one up, you have to carry it until the end of the mission.
Usually, each level spawns 2 Virus Samples in randomly chosen pre-defined locations. The 3rd Virus Sample has to be taken from the Bomber zombie. Shoot it in the legs, finish it off with a melee weapon, and it will drop a Virus Sample.
Getting hit while carrying a Virus Sample will damage it. It will not be destroyed entirely, but the more damaged a Virus Sample is, the easier it is for you to catch an infection through zombie hits or other types of damage. The only way to repair a broken Virus sample is to equip the tier 3
Special SMG with the "Make Do and Mend" perk before the game, find it during the game, and kill 15 zombies in rapid succession with it. Important: launching an explosive projectile and switching to the Special SMG before the explosion will not count toward the kills needed to repair the sample.
If you catch an infection, it takes approximately 11.5-11.7 seconds to turn into a zombie. According to the lore, the time interval is 12 seconds, but my frame-by-frame video analysis shows that it's slightly less than that. 11.5-11.7 seconds is when the "Disinfect" button hint disappears and you lose control of your character. This is followed by the animations which cause the character to fall and turn into zombie. There are only a few ways to cleanse the infection:
The default way: holding the "Use" key for 3 seconds.
Healing yourself with a Medkit or having someone else heal you with it.
Reviving yourself with an Adrenaline kit or getting revived by a teammate.
Performing a Shield charge with the Vanguard's "Shake It Off" perk (level 18).
Killing a special zombie with a Sledgehammer. It is a Heavy melee weapon that comes with the "Zeke Hunter Weapons Pack" (paid DLC).The Dronemaster's "Splasher" perk does not apply to the infection from a broken Virus Sample. The "Saving Grace" perk triggers only after the character turns into a zombie, so it will not save you, either.
4 weapons in this game have access to a variation of the "Biathlete" bonus in the unique perk slot. They can be used to your advantage:
Pistol: sprint stamina is spent 30% slower while this weapon is equipped.
Machine Pistol and the tier 3 Special SMG: reduce the movement speed penalty by 100% when the zombies are very close to you.
Tier 3 Bullpup Rifle: receive 15% less damage while sprinting with this weapon equipped.Virus Samples do not grant any extra rewards in the Extinction mode at the moment.
Document (disambiguation)
What you find in the Challenge Campaigns (Daily objectives, Weekly objectives, Extinction) are
document pieces or document pages. You need to collect 3 document pieces to unlock 1 readable document for the episode's chapter. There are 3 documents for each chapter. To "collect all documents" for the chapter means to collect 9 document pieces.
Only 1 document piece can be collected per match. 3 of them can be found, but only 1 of them can be collected. Each player carries a document piece only for themselves, they do not stack for the whole team.
Challenge Difficulties (disambiguation)
Challenge Normal is based on the default Hard difficulty (3 skulls).
Challenge Hard is based on the default Insane difficulty (4 skulls).
Extinction is harder than Extreme difficulty (5+ skulls).
The "Power" Parameter (disambiguation)
According to the response I received from a member of Saber Support, the "Power" parameter is a complex metric. It is a function of:
Damage per shot
Rate of fire
Time to empty the magazine
Reloading timeWhen the "Semi-Auto" perk for the Special SMG is equipped, the "Power" stat decreases because, supposedly, the reduced rate of fire decreases the sustained damage output. The better damage per shot is not enough for the semi-auto SMG to keep up with the full-auto SMG in terms of that metric.
At the same time, equipping the "Full-Auto" perk for the tier 3 Battle Rifle only increases the rate of fire. The "Power" stat remains the same. It happens because the full-auto Battle Rifle deals less damage per shot than the semi-auto version.
Just like many other bars, the "Power" bar has a cap of 10. If the actual value is bigger than that, it will not be visible on the bar.
There also exists a damage falloff mechanic that depends on the distance, but how exactly it works is not specified for players, just like many other parameters in their raw form. "Internal information not specified for players" is the way Saber Support refers to it.
Training | No Bots In Challenge Campaigns
It is possible to disable the bots in the Challenge Campaigns. Simply start a private online game without bots, quit the match, and start a campaign-based match in the Challenge mode. This applies to Extinction as well.
Co-op Campaign > Online (Private) > Any level of any episode, any difficulty.
Game settings > Fill empty slots with bots > Off.
[Optional] Use local peer-to-peer server > On.
Play > Ready.
Wait until the match starts, then quit to the main menu.
Daily Challenges in the right portion of the menu > View Details > Online (Private).
Any challenge that's not the Horde Mode challenge: Daily, Weekly, or Extinction. Any difficulty.
Play > Ready.
Training | Bull Dodging Practice
Practice Bull dodging in a private online game with the Golden Bull and a few other mutators.
Co-op Campaign > Online (Private).
Pick any map. The New York 1 level is fine. If it's a closed map, the Bull will not charge too far, so it will take him less time to return. A practice session in cramped spaces will leave less room for error.
Select the Easy difficulty (1 skull).
Select the Slasher class and use the following perks:
Battle Cry (automatically stand up from being pinned after 5 seconds), 6th column, level 19.
Wheatgrass (+25% health), 4th column, level 12.
Disable the bots: Game Settings > Filly Empty Slots With Bots (Off).
Select the following mutators from the list:
Nemesis (Golden Bull).
Die Hard (+50% health).
Optionally, you can add a few extra mutators:
Looter (to regenerate equipment passively).
Slow (you can't sprint). For extra challenge when you get good at dodging Bulls with the sprinting ability.
If you have the "Biathlete" perk for the starting Pistol, use it. It will conserve sprint stamina.Here are a couple of videos showcasing Bull dodging techniques:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=be9F1lysIWc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yk0wScw6xOk
Are you cornered and have no time to dodge the Bull? You can shoot an explosive weapon near you a moment before the Bull grabs you. You will receive no self-damage while you are grabbed. Just make sure that you do not hit your teammates with collateral damage.
A video demonstration by Vegito:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSbJgxM5GYQ
Training | Signature Strike Detection
Which strikes of a melee weapon become signature strikes? Here are the steps to find it out:
1. Equip the "CQB Specialist" perk for the Crossbow. It gives you melee stamina for an extra 4 swings, becomes available at weapon level 10, and costs 100 blue coins.
2. Select your melee weapon.
3. Become a Slasher (preferred) or a Gunslinger. The Slasher's level should be 20 or above, and the Gunslinger's level should be 18 or above to get a Senjata PDW using the "CQB Specialist" perk. This PDW perk becomes available at weapon level 12 and can be unlocked by collecting all 9 document pieces for Tokyo 2: Final Call.
4. Start a private online game with the "Crossbow Fiesta" mutator on the first level in the game ("Descent", New York 1). You will spawn with a free Crossbow. You can also disable the bots so that they don't get in the way, but it's not necessary.
5. You do not need to open the doors and leave the spawn area. Stay where you spawn so that zombies do not get in the way.
6. Shoot the Crossbow bolts into the air/walls until its magazine is empty. Do not reload it.
7. Get ready to count and detect the upcoming signature strike (or record a video and count the swings while watching it). It leaves red trails and has a unique animation. Spam the melee attack button very quickly, in such a way that the sequence does not interrupt until the melee stamina bar is completely depleted. You can set it to a more convenient key/button while you are testing. If you are on PC, the left or right mouse button is a good choice.
8. Write down your results. For instance, if you were testing the Dual Knives, the sequence could be written down like this: strikes #3, #7, and #11 or (3-4-4).
9. Before performing the next test, make sure that your melee stamina is restored. Signature strikes cannot be triggered if your character is exhausted.
Grinding | More XP By Switching To Heavy
To get XP for any given weapon faster, equip a Heavy weapon that gets a lot of kills per shot, launch a projectile into a large group of zombies, and immediately switch back to the weapon you need. When the projectile explodes, the zombie kills will count toward that weapon's XP.
This method is highly effective for boosting the Defensive SMG (WASP-180) introduced in the "Sin City Apocalypse" update. That weapon struggles with zombie pyramids even on the lower difficulties due to its 0 penetration power and low damage per bullet. It is also useful for other weak or underused weapons.
Changelog
January 1, 2025Alarmed cars: adjusted the image alignment for mobile devices.December 31, 20242 new sections added: "Alarmed cars" and "Guns | What to sprint & run with."
Document (disambiguation): a "document page" is now listed as an alternative in-game term for the document piece.December 10, 2024Maps | Unlocking doors from the wrong side: fixed a typo in that section. The Dual Cleavers need to be tested, not the Dual Sickles. The DLC link is still correct.December 7, 2024Maps | Unlocking doors from the wrong side: the Kukri is not suitable for performing any of the tricks mentioned in that section. Special thanks to XeRnUno for sending me the "Desert Defenders Weapons Pack" DLC as a gift.
Grinding | More XP by switching to Heavy: noted that this method is highly effective for the new Defensive SMG (WASP-180) introduced in the "Sin City Apocalypse" update.
Source: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3376059093
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