DayZ - Very Important Survival Tips

0: Use this map, it is your bible: http://www.izurvive.com/chernarus#c=-72;0;2

1. Zombies will run after you.
The most effective methods to lose zombies are:

Run into a building that has 2 or more doors. Zombies cannot run indoors. Use the time that they spend to travel through a building to escape by running outside the other side of the building and not staying within the area.

Large bushes and Trees will make you invisible to both enemy AI (though, if they already saw you, they'll know where you last were and will suppress that position, so don't use bushes as cover) and zombies. Most large bushes/trees will also disable their ability to hit you. Large trees will totally stop them from seeing you. If you have a horde chasing you, run into a tree, wait 1 minute, the zombies will  go into "idle" mode and will totally have forgot about you.

2. Finding weapons.

Knowing where to find weapons is key. Large military buildings are the most difficult to find weapons in, since their location and layout, but they give the biggest payout. Don't check deer stands expecting to get anything better than a DB shotgun.

Barracks are the best things to find military-spec weapons in. They're long, narrow buildings with only one entrance. You can't miss it. Note that these are the most dangerous buildings to enter, as there are large zombie spawns that occur when a player nears them. They only have one entrance, and you can get stuck in the hallway if you've killed so many zombies. To be safe, have a silenced pistol with lots of ammo if entering one.

Barracks appear here:

Pic:

3. Taking the right routes.
You don't want to walk through miles of forest and not know where you are. Stick to roads, but do not walk on or near them. Use roads as navigational tools and nothing else (if you're on foot.) You need to know where to stop and gather food water, and weapons. These paths are my most used paths from every location.

I know that most paths are towards stary sobor. That's because this area is usually the most dense in undiscovered vehicles and stary sobor additionally has military or high-end medical loot in that northern parking lot.
These are paths i take from spawn points:

GREEN=GOOD LOOT TOWNS
RED LINES= PATHS
RED CIRCLES= SPAWNPOINTS

Pic:

4. Having the right stuff in your inventory.

Always have these things in your inventory, not your backpack, have them easily accessible:
Morphine (fixes broken legs)
Bandage
Food (meat or MREs give more health than other foods, keep them primarily)
Water (Water bottles are best, since you can refill them in ponds)

5. Hands up don't shoot.

Don't shoot zombies. At all. Unless absolutely necessary.
Do not shoot at them with a rifle unless they're literally in your face and hitting you, or you're out in the middle of a forest with a strong feeling that no other players are near. Pull your pistol out, pull your hatchet out, pull your dick out and piss on the zombie until he's so grossed out that he leaves, just don't shoot a rifle at them unless it's suppressed.

Gunshots literally go ~1.5 kilometers minimum in audible distance. Firing in a city is a bad idea, but even a worse idea when someone else can hear you. They will find you, with your trail of zombies, and they will kill you on sight.

6. Air vehicles or not?

Personally, they're nice to have, yes. But even with the quiet MH6J Little Bird, you aren't stealthy. Players on the ground will see where you're going and totally forget about what they're doing and will track you down. Landing in the middle of a city, or landing and staying in that place for too long, is a bad idea.

If you're alone, don't take a helicopter or a plane unless you're making a one-way trip. It's too much of a hassle to carry a single man. Use offroad-style land vehicles. They're usually the easiest to maintain and use.

7. Keep moving.

Zeds are programmed to spawn every so often if a player is within their area. If you stay within an area, you're going to make some noise and spawn zeds. Don't stay in a single town for too long. Don't be out in a field looting dead bodies for more than 5 minutes, unless you have someone to stand guard.

You'll probably notice me at times screaming at you to hop in the car or heli or to follow me.
That's because i'm an impatient bastard and i don't want to get shot.

Heatmap, showing where you are in the most danger of encountering another player:

Thanks for the heat map, maybe now I can find some enemies