A short introduction:
I've never written a guide or FAQ before, but Nazi Zombies is a mode I enjoy playing a lot, and so I
often get frustrated by people making mistakes, stealing kills, or generally screwing things up. Some of
it boils down to inexperience (low ranked players), but I consistently see prestigers causing major
problems and acting like idiots. I wrote this guide to try and steer people in the right direction.
Its really important that you share this guide with your friends — otherwise you're gonna continue to fail as they screw up. You can use tinyurl.com/nazizom in your profile comment to help spread the word.
FAQ: Will this guide update to include the new Verrückt map? Sadly, not at this time, though I'd love to at some point. I simply don't have the spare cash to grab the map pack at the moment, and I'm currently pretty busy with some very special projects.
See you in game! Digi1982
Sections in this guide:
Misconception: A lot of people think opening these areas makes more zombies spawn each round. This isn't true; the same number of zombies will spawn, but they will be spread out across more windows. This can be used to your advantage.
Double Points: Displayed as a gold "x2" symbol. This will double any points gained from injuring and killing zombies, and repairing barricades, for thirty seconds. Useful in early rounds to help buy better firepower, but not worth the risk at later waves (10+).
Max Ammo: Displayed as a gold ammunition box. Essential for very high level waves, as the sheer number of zombies will put a major strain on your ammo supplies. This is the only way to replenish ammo for any weapons not found on the walls, including the heavy machine guns and the ray gun.
Insta-Kill: Displayed as a gold skull. For thirty seconds, all zombies can be killed with a single hit, whether its from a gun, knife or grenade. Melee zombies at early levels to conserve ammo, and spam grenades in later rounds to maximize kills during the insta kill. Useful tip: If you have a ray gun, stop wasting it's ammo during an insta-kill. Switch to any other gun and use that instead.
Big Bomb: Displayed as a gold atom bomb. Grabbing this will kill all zombies currently inside the barracks, as well as those nearby. Note that the bomb kills off zombies one at a time in rapid succession, so if you're running through a crowd to reach a bomb, keep running once you grab it, otherwise you can still be hit or killed while the bomb is cycling through it's killing spree.
• M1A1 Carbine: A decent starting weapon and the strongest of the rifles. This will keep you safe until better weapons are available.
• Double Barrel Shotgun: Lethal at close range and initially great for picking off zombies clawing at barricades, the double barrel soon becomes too cumbersome to be useful. Its capacity for only two shots at a time, and slow reload time, make this a bad choice of weapon to pick up.
• Mystery Box: Hidden in the corner beside the doorway to the lobby, this box will offer a randomly selected weapon. Although some weapon choices are poor (avoid any rifle offered), you're not forced to switch your current gun for the one displayed. Furthermore, this is the only way you can grab weapons powerful enough to get you through later rounds. See the Weapons section for full details.
For a bit of fun, slash the radio box on the table to the right of the mystery box. It'll make a fizzing sound if you hit it, and turn on to play various music. Nice to have some background to listen to, and always fun to hear newer players on mic wondering "whos playing that music?".
• Sawn-off Double Barrel Shotgun: Virtually the same as the unsawn version, as the slight differences in range and stopping power make very little difference here. If you must grab a shotgun, you'll be better off getting the...
• M1897 Trench Gun: The flipside to the double barrel shotgun, in that it holds a much better supply of ammo, but is slightly weaker — with higher waves the trench gun takes two, and eventually three shots to put a zombie down. Grab this if you're desperate for a weapon and can't reach the mystery box.
• Sniper Cabinet: Once opened up, this'll give you a random sniper rifle. Generally you'll want to avoid these, as most combat in Nazi Zombies is close range.
• Grenades: These boost you back up to a full four grenades. For just 250 points, these can prove very useful later on, especially by throwing them downstairs.
You earn 10 points for each shot hitting a zombie, and 50 more for killing one. So a zombie killed in one shot by a Kar98k gives you 60 points, whereas emptying eight pistol bullets into a zombie to kill it gives you a total of 130 points &mdash more than double.
Don't steal other players' kills. If someone is at a window where a zombie is, do not shoot that zombie. If the player isn't shooting, hes either reloading, or letting the zombie in on purpose and knows what he is doing. Kill stealing is rude, and many pro players will quit the game if you do so. Some will also sabotage the game, such as opening stairs, before leaving.
After the first round, purchase the M1A1. Use up all of your pistol ammo before switching to the carbine. Aim for torsos and legs to maximize your point gain.
If a player leaves or is disconnected ("timed out") within the first few rounds, I'd suggest that whoever is host should quit the game in order to force a restart. This is because the amount of zombies in each round depends on the number of players. If one person leaves a four man game, you'll still continue to get waves for four people and will be overrun much faster.
Typically, you'll be out of ammo around round four. Your next move depends on your overall strategy, but generally the help door is opened and players grab what they can from the mystery box. The person with the highest amount of points overall should be the one who opens the door.
With the cellar open, one person often stays in there to defend the windows and cave entrance while the other three continue to defend the lobby. Whenever any of the players goes to the mystery box, they should check the three entrances in the cellar to see if zombies are breaking through while the box is cycling through weapons.
After around round eight or nine — depending on the skill and firepower of the guy in the cellar — another player should help defend the cellar, as zombies will break through too quickly. Often, all players will fall back to the cellar at this point.
In this strategy, the staircase from the lobby to the balcony is opened up when all players fall back to the cellar. This spreads out where zombies will break in from, and slow down the crowds heading towards the cellar door, making it easier to defend.
Two players circulate the room, checking the windows and wall and keeping all three fully barricaded. The other two players defend the doorway; one should be crouching in front of the other so shots aren't blocked.
Players with ray guns should be defending the door, as thats where most of the zombies will swarm from. If only one player has a ray gun, that player should be the one crouching, with a heavy machine gunner behind him.
By having just the two chokepoints, players don't have to worry about constantly looking around or running to fix various barricades. Players focus straight ahead and vary with standing, crouching and going prone, so that nobody's line of fire is blocked.
Given the lack of nearby weaponry, players will need superior firepower before going upstairs and getting into position. Two, perhaps three ray guns is a must, and preferably four. Between rounds there'll only be enough time for one opening of the mystery box — decide before the round is up who needs to go.
Generally speaking, the order of preference (best first) with mystery box guns is as follows:
Despite popular belief, the MG42 wins out over the Browning. The MG42 fires faster, is much better for achieving headshots whether firing in bursts or spraying, and reloads much quicker. Although the Browning feels like it can fire forever, reloading will feel painfully slow, especially with zombies charging at you.
The flamethrower in early rounds is pretty useful, though be aware that (normally) only one player can have a flamethrower. As it sets zombies alight, it delivers damage over time, which means that a horde of burning zombies can still run towards you and attack before finally dying off. As zombie health increases with each round, the flamethrower becomes redundant after a while, being typically used as a last resort when you need to reload your main gun and have no breathing room. However, a flamethrower is very useful as crowd control whenever an insta-kill is triggered.
To be a pro takes etiquette, tactical knowledge, knowing when to shoot and when to dodge, when to go revive and when to fall back. Memorize the following and stick with them. You'll do far, far better, both individually and as a team.
The only exception to this is if you see someone knifing a bunch of zombies through a window which is quickly being torn down. This is usually a sign that they're out of ammo, and possibly too stubborn to buy any more as they're saving points for the mystery box. In this case, help them out.
Conversely, downs count against you. Players that have been downed, especially multiple times, will often find that they're offered bad weapons such as Gewehrs or Springfields. If someone has been recently downed and doesn't currently have a great weapon, stick around them for a bit until they can grab stronger firepower.
If someone dies within a round, once they respawn they get top priority on the mystery box. It doesn't matter if you're low on ammo or only have a shotgun — you're doing better than someone with just a pistol.
At the end of a round, try to keep a single zombie alive. One player should lead the zombie around in circles, letting the others restore all barricades and use the mystery box as much as they can. Once done, another player should take over from the first, giving them a chance to use the mystery box too.
From round six, you'll start getting runner zombies, which are harder to lead around safely. If the only zombie left is a runner, throw a grenade to explode nearby. With luck, it'll blow the zombie's legs off, making it a crawler and much easier to handle.
Be aware that zombies bleed out after a few minutes. Even without shooting it, a zombie being lead around will eventually die off on its own accord. Be ready to move back into your strategic positions at any moment.
If you want to contact me with corrections, suggestions, additions or just plain ol' nice things, you can email me at zombies@officialdigi.com. Thanks!
Its really important that you share this guide with your friends — otherwise you're gonna continue to fail as they screw up. You can use tinyurl.com/nazizom in your profile comment to help spread the word.
FAQ: Will this guide update to include the new Verrückt map? Sadly, not at this time, though I'd love to at some point. I simply don't have the spare cash to grab the map pack at the moment, and I'm currently pretty busy with some very special projects.
See you in game! Digi1982
- Nazi Zombies Summary
- Barracks Map
- Getting Started
- Common Strategies
- Choosing Weapons
- Playing like a Pro
- Credits
Nazi Zombies Summary
Storyline
Nazi Zombies places you and your buddies in a desperate situation. After your plane mysteriously fails midflight, you end up crashing into a dark and foreboding place. All around you are... strange, shuffling people. Groaning, relentless, hungry. They come in the hundreds. Finding refuge in the nearby remains of a former barracks, its up to you to hold them off for as long as you can.Basic play
Nazi Zombies lasts as long as you stay alive. The mode is made up of rounds (or waves) of zombies, with each round throwing a greater number of zombies at you. Zombie speed and strength also increase as you progress.Weapons
You start with your trusty pistol, which won't last too long. Scattered around the barracks are weapons, indicated mostly by chalk outlines on the walls. These are purchased using points earned from killing zombies. The weapons available range from rifles, to shotguns, to sniper rifles — more powerful weapons are also available as a gamble (more details in Choosing Weapons).Barricades
Zombies will approach a nearby window and start breaking down it's barricade. There are five windows in the room where you begin, each of which can be attacked by a zombie at any time. If a zombie tears down a barricade successfully, it (and any buddies) can enter through the window and come after you. Barricades can be repaired by standing in front of them and hitting the onscreen button.The stairs and the Help door
At the cost of a thousand points each, these can be unblocked to open up additional regions of the barracks. Removing the couch from the stairs opens up the balcony, and the help door leads to the cellar. This gives you access to a range of better firepower, but at a cost — once opened up, zombies can approach and attack windows in the new areas as well as the starting room, meaning more areas to keep an eye on.Misconception: A lot of people think opening these areas makes more zombies spawn each round. This isn't true; the same number of zombies will spawn, but they will be spread out across more windows. This can be used to your advantage.
Powerups
Whenever a zombie inside the barracks is killed, theres a small chance that it'll drop a random powerup. These can be lifesavers at higher rounds, so sometimes its worth the risk of grabbing them.Double Points: Displayed as a gold "x2" symbol. This will double any points gained from injuring and killing zombies, and repairing barricades, for thirty seconds. Useful in early rounds to help buy better firepower, but not worth the risk at later waves (10+).
Max Ammo: Displayed as a gold ammunition box. Essential for very high level waves, as the sheer number of zombies will put a major strain on your ammo supplies. This is the only way to replenish ammo for any weapons not found on the walls, including the heavy machine guns and the ray gun.
Insta-Kill: Displayed as a gold skull. For thirty seconds, all zombies can be killed with a single hit, whether its from a gun, knife or grenade. Melee zombies at early levels to conserve ammo, and spam grenades in later rounds to maximize kills during the insta kill. Useful tip: If you have a ray gun, stop wasting it's ammo during an insta-kill. Switch to any other gun and use that instead.
Big Bomb: Displayed as a gold atom bomb. Grabbing this will kill all zombies currently inside the barracks, as well as those nearby. Note that the bomb kills off zombies one at a time in rapid succession, so if you're running through a crowd to reach a bomb, keep running once you grab it, otherwise you can still be hit or killed while the bomb is cycling through it's killing spree.
Barracks Map
The Lobby
The lobby is the room in which you begin. Its spacious, with a lot of good dodging room should any zombies make it inside. With five windows, the room becomes difficult to hold at higher levels.Weaponry
• Kar98k: Leave this gun alone. Although one hit kills seem tempting in the early stages, you'll miss out on a lot of points which can go towards buying better firepower.• M1A1 Carbine: A decent starting weapon and the strongest of the rifles. This will keep you safe until better weapons are available.
Notes
One player should take a window each, with the central player (between the Kar98k and M1A1) keeping an eye on the windows directly in front and behind him. Other players should stay at their window — don't run around like headless chickens.Cellar
The cellar is usually accessed from the lobby by going through the help door, although it also has stairs leading to the balcony. A lot smaller than the lobby, swarms of zombies here can lead to a quick demise. There are three spots where zombies can break in — two windows, and a weak stone wall protecting a disused tunnel.Weaponry
• Thompson: With a high rate of fire, the thompson can pull off a lot of easy headshots, and can boost your points rate up pretty fast. However, with the mystery box in the same room, you'll only want to grab this if you're desperate for a gun and don't want to take the risk.• Double Barrel Shotgun: Lethal at close range and initially great for picking off zombies clawing at barricades, the double barrel soon becomes too cumbersome to be useful. Its capacity for only two shots at a time, and slow reload time, make this a bad choice of weapon to pick up.
• Mystery Box: Hidden in the corner beside the doorway to the lobby, this box will offer a randomly selected weapon. Although some weapon choices are poor (avoid any rifle offered), you're not forced to switch your current gun for the one displayed. Furthermore, this is the only way you can grab weapons powerful enough to get you through later rounds. See the Weapons section for full details.
Notes
A lot of players, even experienced ones, either don't realise the wall can be broken through, or that it can be repaired just like the window barricades. Too often, zombies will break through this wall and kill off a team who were busy watching the lobby entrance and the two cellar windows. Keep your ears open — the noise of zombies breaking through the wall has its own sound, and can be heard from anywhere in the barracks.For a bit of fun, slash the radio box on the table to the right of the mystery box. It'll make a fizzing sound if you hit it, and turn on to play various music. Nice to have some background to listen to, and always fun to hear newer players on mic wondering "whos playing that music?".
Balcony
The balcony covers the entire upstairs of the barracks. Although spacious looking, this is deceptive due to various pillars and rubble scattered across the area. Windows here are very spaced out, and you're vulnerable to zombies running up the stairs that you've opened, making this area extremely difficult to defend.Weaponry
• B.A.R: Although the fire rate seems a little sluggish compared to the submachine guns, the B.A.R holds its own against single and small crowds of zombies. However, at higher levels you'll need something that packs a little more punch.• Sawn-off Double Barrel Shotgun: Virtually the same as the unsawn version, as the slight differences in range and stopping power make very little difference here. If you must grab a shotgun, you'll be better off getting the...
• M1897 Trench Gun: The flipside to the double barrel shotgun, in that it holds a much better supply of ammo, but is slightly weaker — with higher waves the trench gun takes two, and eventually three shots to put a zombie down. Grab this if you're desperate for a weapon and can't reach the mystery box.
• Sniper Cabinet: Once opened up, this'll give you a random sniper rifle. Generally you'll want to avoid these, as most combat in Nazi Zombies is close range.
• Grenades: These boost you back up to a full four grenades. For just 250 points, these can prove very useful later on, especially by throwing them downstairs.
Notes
Opening the balcony is a big risk unless you have a decent plan in mind. The choice of which stairs are opened will affect your strategy greatly, so plan ahead. Opening both staircases is usually suicide and done in desperation by a frantic player — don't do this!Getting Started
To begin with, don't pick up the Kar98k. All new players make this mistake, thinking they want the fastest killing gun possible. In fact, the opposite is true, and you'll score points a lot faster with your pistol.You earn 10 points for each shot hitting a zombie, and 50 more for killing one. So a zombie killed in one shot by a Kar98k gives you 60 points, whereas emptying eight pistol bullets into a zombie to kill it gives you a total of 130 points &mdash more than double.
Don't steal other players' kills. If someone is at a window where a zombie is, do not shoot that zombie. If the player isn't shooting, hes either reloading, or letting the zombie in on purpose and knows what he is doing. Kill stealing is rude, and many pro players will quit the game if you do so. Some will also sabotage the game, such as opening stairs, before leaving.
After the first round, purchase the M1A1. Use up all of your pistol ammo before switching to the carbine. Aim for torsos and legs to maximize your point gain.
If a player leaves or is disconnected ("timed out") within the first few rounds, I'd suggest that whoever is host should quit the game in order to force a restart. This is because the amount of zombies in each round depends on the number of players. If one person leaves a four man game, you'll still continue to get waves for four people and will be overrun much faster.
Typically, you'll be out of ammo around round four. Your next move depends on your overall strategy, but generally the help door is opened and players grab what they can from the mystery box. The person with the highest amount of points overall should be the one who opens the door.
With the cellar open, one person often stays in there to defend the windows and cave entrance while the other three continue to defend the lobby. Whenever any of the players goes to the mystery box, they should check the three entrances in the cellar to see if zombies are breaking through while the box is cycling through weapons.
After around round eight or nine — depending on the skill and firepower of the guy in the cellar — another player should help defend the cellar, as zombies will break through too quickly. Often, all players will fall back to the cellar at this point.
Common Strategies
Although there are various ways to play, there are a couple of effective strategies that work best. Choosing depends on the personal preference of you and your team, experience, and weapon loadout. Be flexible with your strategy in case disaster happens — such as a newbie opening the cellar stairs in a panic to escape a zombie horde.Filter - a cellar strategy
This strategy focuses on defending the cellar. An important advantage with this is the easy access to the mystery box, giving players an easier time of grabbing ray guns and other heavy firepower.In this strategy, the staircase from the lobby to the balcony is opened up when all players fall back to the cellar. This spreads out where zombies will break in from, and slow down the crowds heading towards the cellar door, making it easier to defend.
Two players circulate the room, checking the windows and wall and keeping all three fully barricaded. The other two players defend the doorway; one should be crouching in front of the other so shots aren't blocked.
Players with ray guns should be defending the door, as thats where most of the zombies will swarm from. If only one player has a ray gun, that player should be the one crouching, with a heavy machine gunner behind him.
Bottleneck - a balcony strategy
In this strategy, all players will fall back to the small room upstairs where the grenade pouch is kept. By opening the stairs from the cellar (and not the lobby), zombies will only be able to reach the players from two spots — the doorway of the room, and the window inside the room beside the stairs.By having just the two chokepoints, players don't have to worry about constantly looking around or running to fix various barricades. Players focus straight ahead and vary with standing, crouching and going prone, so that nobody's line of fire is blocked.
Given the lack of nearby weaponry, players will need superior firepower before going upstairs and getting into position. Two, perhaps three ray guns is a must, and preferably four. Between rounds there'll only be enough time for one opening of the mystery box — decide before the round is up who needs to go.
Choosing Weapons
As mentioned before, the first purchased weapon should always be the M1A1 Carbine, which'll suffice until you reach round four or five. At that point, you'll want to get to the mystery box and take whatever comes out. Spin it twice if you have the points, but if you've just grabbed a weapon, let others who haven't used the box yet grab a weapon first.Generally speaking, the order of preference (best first) with mystery box guns is as follows:
- Ray gun
- Deployable MG 42
- M1919 Browning
- M2 Flamethrower
- Submachine guns
Despite popular belief, the MG42 wins out over the Browning. The MG42 fires faster, is much better for achieving headshots whether firing in bursts or spraying, and reloads much quicker. Although the Browning feels like it can fire forever, reloading will feel painfully slow, especially with zombies charging at you.
The flamethrower in early rounds is pretty useful, though be aware that (normally) only one player can have a flamethrower. As it sets zombies alight, it delivers damage over time, which means that a horde of burning zombies can still run towards you and attack before finally dying off. As zombie health increases with each round, the flamethrower becomes redundant after a while, being typically used as a last resort when you need to reload your main gun and have no breathing room. However, a flamethrower is very useful as crowd control whenever an insta-kill is triggered.
Playing like a Pro
If you want to be the best, there are a number of things you need to learn. A lot of things you'll pick up from experience, but many players fail to understand any kind of tactics. By playing like a pro, not only will you save your team from difficult situations, but hopefully they'll learn from it and go on to play better too.To be a pro takes etiquette, tactical knowledge, knowing when to shoot and when to dodge, when to go revive and when to fall back. Memorize the following and stick with them. You'll do far, far better, both individually and as a team.
Kill stealing
In early rounds, never shoot zombies which someone else is attacking or facing. You're stealing points which are rightfully theirs. If someone does this to you, tell them on mic (if possible) to stop. If they persist, simply leave the game; they're too selfish to be any good with teamwork.The only exception to this is if you see someone knifing a bunch of zombies through a window which is quickly being torn down. This is usually a sign that they're out of ammo, and possibly too stubborn to buy any more as they're saving points for the mystery box. In this case, help them out.
Downs and revives
If you get a safe chance to revive a downed player, do so. Not only will things be easier for you with a full party, but revives count towards your "karma". The more you revive players, the better odds the mystery box gives on decent weapons. If you've revived one or two people, go check the mystery box as soon as you can.Conversely, downs count against you. Players that have been downed, especially multiple times, will often find that they're offered bad weapons such as Gewehrs or Springfields. If someone has been recently downed and doesn't currently have a great weapon, stick around them for a bit until they can grab stronger firepower.
If someone dies within a round, once they respawn they get top priority on the mystery box. It doesn't matter if you're low on ammo or only have a shotgun — you're doing better than someone with just a pistol.
Mystery box
Don't be greedy on the box. Once you've taken a weapon, if other players are hanging around the box let them have a turn before you open it further.Zombie Ceasefire
During early rounds, if you see a player refusing to kill a zombie breaking down barricades in front of him, don't intervene. They're likely letting the zombie(s) in on purpose — firstly to get more points from fixing the barricade, and secondly aiming for a chance to get a powerup such as double exp or max ammo, which'd mean more pistol shots and consequently more points.At the end of a round, try to keep a single zombie alive. One player should lead the zombie around in circles, letting the others restore all barricades and use the mystery box as much as they can. Once done, another player should take over from the first, giving them a chance to use the mystery box too.
From round six, you'll start getting runner zombies, which are harder to lead around safely. If the only zombie left is a runner, throw a grenade to explode nearby. With luck, it'll blow the zombie's legs off, making it a crawler and much easier to handle.
Be aware that zombies bleed out after a few minutes. Even without shooting it, a zombie being lead around will eventually die off on its own accord. Be ready to move back into your strategic positions at any moment.
Credits
Thanks go to:- FITH_OITC for pointing out the missing Sawn-off for the balcony
- The WTG forum for verifying the increased odds with the mystery box when reviving players
If you want to contact me with corrections, suggestions, additions or just plain ol' nice things, you can email me at zombies@officialdigi.com. Thanks!
