Game Mechanics
Noise, exfil, downs, Safe Pocket
The run loop
- Leave the shelter → drop into the chosen chapter's map → loot and do quests → call the heli and exfil. What you carry out goes to your stash.
- Pressure grows the longer you stay: at 8 / 15 / 25 minutes on the run clock the map's zombie count rises to ×1.25 / ×1.5 / ×1.8, with up to 3 / 3 / 4 / 5 specials alive at once
Noise meter
- Every sound you make (guns, footsteps, doors, explosives) fills your personal noise meter, full at 100 · it drains 3/s while you're quiet
- Bands: quiet (below 30) · loud (up to 70) · full = a horde spawns 25–40 m away and hunts players within 40 m for 90 s
- Sprinting fills the meter ×3.65 faster than walking · after a horde ends there's a 8 s grace window where it fills slower
- A gun's "noise" is the radius (m) zombies hear it from — suppressors and perks cut it · lure bottles pull zombies elsewhere
Exfil by heli
- Each run opens 2 exfil points; get close to see if a landing zone is active · hold F on the radio for 2.5 s to call
- Team vote 15 s (skipped solo) → heli inbound 75 s — the radio is loud (60 m) the whole time and the rotors reach 80 m in the last 20 s
- Once landed the heli waits forever — it leaves the moment every standing player is inside the ring · downed players in the ring are carried aboard · downed players outside are left behind
- Calling the heli brings the boss and endless finale hordes until you board — killing the boss drops rare loot but is optional (except for chapter finales)
Downed · revive · trauma
- 0 HP = downed: crawl slowly (0.6 m/s), no shooting or items · 60 s for a teammate to hold F (4 s · Medic 2 s); you get up with 40% HP
- You can go down once: after a revive you're traumatized — hitting 0 HP again kills you outright until you finish using a First Aid Kit (clears it)
- Nobody to help (solo / everyone down): you only go down if you carry a First Aid Kit, then hold F to self-revive in 6 s (uses 1) — otherwise you die
- Every revive grants 1 s of invulnerability · Medic Field Defib revives downed allies at range with 30% HP
- Dead in co-op: your body waits 120 s; a teammate with a Defibrillator holds F for 5 s (Medic 2.5 s) to bring you back at 20% HP · hold 3 s to give up
Death · Safe Pocket · loadout
- Death = everything you brought into the run is lost for good, except items in your Safe Pocket, which always return to the stash
- Safe Pocket has 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 slots by Safe Pocket track level · no guns, armor or backpacks
- Free kit (loaner): M9 Pistol ×1, 9mm Ammo ×24, Bandage ×2 — rebuilt every run without touching your stash, but it has no Safe Pocket and can't be sold
- Custom loadout: take your own gear from the stash — riskier, but you get to use the good stuff
Bag · stash · weight
- Base bag 20 slots + your backpack's slots · carry 40 kg; above that you move at ×0.85
- The shelter stash holds 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 slots by Stash track level (no weight limit in the stash)
- Stash stacks are bigger than bag stacks: Ammo 1000 · Food 50 · Material 100 · Medical 50 · Throwable 20 · Valuable 20
Run levels (roguelite)
- Team XP is shared: real damage (0.2/damage), kills, searching (5), holding quest rings and a time trickle (10/min)
- Levels 1–20 · each level-up = pick 1 of 3 cards (see Run Level Cards) · XP is divided by squad size so every squad levels at a similar pace
Class level & perks
- Playing a class earns that class XP · class level 1–20 = perk points you can equip · ability variants unlock through cumulative ability-use goals
Quests & contracts
- Chapter finales need the run clock past 10:00 and the boss killed during the heli call · the first contract each day pays ×1.5
- Kill / search / ring-hold goals and quest items carry over between runs · other goals must be met in the turn-in run (and you must exfil)
Tips from the shelter
- Check meds and ammo before readying up. The exit doesn't run a shop.
- Your stash and quest progress are your own, even when running with friends.
- Kill quests count team kills made by players. Zombies and bandits killing each other don't count.
- Loot quests count only what you carry out. Items in a teammate's bag don't count.
- Supply jobs exclude ammo, quest items and keys. Check categories before leaving.
- Meeting the target mid-run isn't enough. You still have to exfil successfully.
- A suppressor cuts gunfire noise. It doesn't make every shot silent.
- Check stash space before buying. Sort out your exfil overflow first.
- Your friends can have different quests. Check your own job before readying up.
- Read all insurance terms, especially compensation value and recovery conditions.
- Enemy gunfire may open a detour. Their firing lines are still dangerous.
- Coming home early has value. If supplies reach the shelter, someone eats tonight.
- Shelter upgrades need progress, cash and materials. Check the list before paying.
- Quest items return to your stash on death. Quest credit still requires a successful exfil.
- A quest naming an item needs that exact item in your bag. Check the item name on the Quest Board.
- One headshot kills a Walker. Save ammo and noise.
- Quest items are never inside locked containers. Locked containers are a bonus for anyone with a lockpick or the right class.
- Zombies go wherever your lure bottle lands.
- Keep scrap and wood planks. Stash level 2 needs three of each. The trader doesn't sell them.
- The bandit camp fence only covers the west side; other approaches are wide open. Plan your exit before going in.