Hello Hunters!
ZERO Sievert is a game of many systems. So many that some of the most useful ones sit quietly in a menu, a right-click or a bench tab and never get found. Today, we are putting 15 of those on the table. It is difficult to communicate everything you can do, and there is still room to spell out the small things that make looting, shooting and getting home that little bit easier. This list runs from sorting your stash and making cash, through surviving the Zone, to walking out with as much loot as you can carry.
1. Stash tab icons
Right-click the stash tab number and you can swap it for an icon. Instant organisation. You know what lives where without reading a number, and it saves time on every return to the bunker.
2. Hunter skills
Press J to open your PDA and check for Hunter skill points. Successful extractions earn EXP. Level up and pick perks. Some are utility, like Mule letting you keep moving while encumbered. Others sharpen combat. There is something here for every playstyle.
3. Weapon skills
Same idea as Hunter skills, but for the gun in your hands. Each weapon type levels as you use it: pistols, shotguns, rifles and the rest. Spend those perks to match how you actually Hunt.
4. See item value
Hover the mouse over the weight you are carrying. Items light up green through red based on value compared with everything else you are holding. On a full raid, that is how you keep the sniper and ghillie you just took off Phantom and dump the cheap junk instead of the payout.
5. Containers
At the crafting bench, open Containers. You can craft dedicated boxes for specific items, including every ammo type and all scrap. Each one holds 99,999. They are one of the best space-savers in the game. You can also Collect all from backpack and stash with a single click, which makes the first clean-up after a Hunt much faster.
6. Modules and item tracking
The same bench has modules for customising the bunker around how you play. Building them takes loot from the Zone. Turn on tracking and you will see what each module needs, how many you have, and how many you still need. Start with Storage. Get those up early.
7. Beds for sleeping
Heading into the Zone at night is a bad idea even with strong night vision and worse if your energy is gone. Use the beds at the back of the bunker to restore energy and skip forward to morning. You can also craft a bed in your own area so you can sleep next to the bench where you load ammo and build guns. Venture out once the sun has got his hat on.
8. Repair armour and heal at the Doctor
Radiation, bleeds, low health and wrecked armour all follow you home. In the bunker, one NPC fixes all of it for a fee: the Doctor. After a successful raid, go to him. Healing and armour repair here is usually better than burning through meds and repair kits you will want in the Zone.
9. The Barman unlocks maps
The Barman is your main buy-and-sell contact. He also gives the quests that move the story and unlock maps. Daily contracts from the Networker are easy to live on. If you want more of Zakov, the Barman’s jobs are the path.
10. Dailies from the Networker
Want extra cash and items on the side? Take a stack of Networker quests and knock them out. They refresh every day. Need a new set? Sleep, then come back.
11. Leave stuff at extraction
Heavy bag, still hunting? Walk to an extraction, drop the pile and go back in for more. When you are ready, return, open what you left and decide what actually comes home. The extraction timer resets while you are in your inventory, so you have time to think. Close the inventory while encumbered and you will still extract. Just watch the boars and other Hunters while your guns are on the floor...
12. Customise weapons in your inventory
Everyone knows the crafting bench builds guns. You can also work on them in your inventory. Right-click and strip what you do not want. This works on guns sitting in enemy backpacks too, so you do not have to shuffle everything first. To add accessories you need the weapon out of an equipped slot. That takes a second, and it means you can kit a gun in the Zone instead of waiting for the bunker.
13. Unload guns and take accessories from enemies
Need ammo? Unload enemy guns and take every round. On a long Hunt that can be the difference between extracting and not. Strip optics and other accessories the same way so you are not dragging a whole rifle home just for the sight.
14. Take and sell backpacks
Some loot is too heavy to justify. Backpacks weigh nothing and sell for cash. Even at zero carry weight you can still grab as many as your inventory slots allow and cash them at the bunker.
15. Do not touch Mr Junk’s door
Yea... Just do not touch it. Mr Junk is a bit of a dick like that. We love him anyway.
There we go! Fifteen things that should make life in the Zone a little cleaner, a little richer and a little more survivable. Did your favourites make it? What else would you tell a new Hunter, or a seasoned one who still sorts stash by tab number? Drop it in the comments.
And if you'd rather watch than read, the full video is here:
Stay safe out there, Hunters!