The game is survival based so your first goal should be to start securing everything you character needs to survive. Your spawn location will be random, but when you first log in it will type out your location. Your location is important so make sure to study the layout of the land once you know it. You can use internet maps or a map you mind in game to get your bearings. Once you know where you are, start looking for cities or towns nearby. The are several building types which you can enter and find loot. Usually these have windows and working doors. Not every building can be entered so note which types you can go in when you come across them. Your basic surival gear is

• Food (cans or meat taken from wild game)

• Water (canteens that can be filled at ponds and pumps, soda cans)

• Medical supplies (bandages to stop bleeding, morphine for broken bones, painkillers for the shakes, heatpacks for hypothermia)

• Tools ( hatchet and matches to make fire for warmth, compass and map for navigation, toolbox to fix vehicles and build defenses )

• Weapons ( pistols and shotguns for killing zombies, rifles for defending against other players )

• Backpack ( secondary storage, ALICE and Czech bags are good for starters )

You are going to want to find these items as they are vital to progress longer than a few hours. You should store extra consumable items like food, water, and medical supplies incase you encounter a shortage later on. When attempting to find these items, zombies will almost always be nearby. Use stealth to your advantage when avoiding zombies, do not run or sprint around zeds and crawl on your belly if they get too close to avoid. Do not shoot high powered rifles near towns as gunshots draw in zombies. Pistols are much safer, but they will still call in nearby zombies. If you accidently draw in too many zombies, run out of town before fighting them. It is also possible to lose chasing zombies by breaking line of sight and not making noise.

This should cover basic survival. Some other tips, do not trust random survivors you meet along the way. Treat everyone as hostile unless you know them personally, and attempt to avoid being spotted by others. This also means spend as little time as possible in major cities because player encounters are more frequent there. This game is best played with friends so if you know someone else, join skype and try to meet up in game. Finally, check out some of the maps and guides on r/dayz for more indepth info on surivival in DayZ