Community General Strategies

There are a variety of general tactics and strategies that can significantly change your ability to perform in Project Lazarus.

Training

"Training" is an essential strategy to any decent player, and makes surviving beyond round ~15 possible. The strategy gets its name from its concept, creating a "train" of zombies that follow behind the player, making it easier to avoid being cornered and downed. Because the zombies are programmed to move to the player's current location at any given time and do not predict player movements, this makes training possible.

Training zombies is essential because it groups zombies together into one location, making it easier for the player to manage. It also makes it easier to gun them down by utilizing the penetrative power of weapons to damage multiple zombies or the splash damage of weapons such as the Ray Gun.

Techniques

There are 3 main ways that a player can train zombies, either in a hallway (difficult and dangerous), around a central obstacle, or in an open space

In a hallway, the player can train zombies by walking along one edge of the hallway, causing zombies to form a line behind the player only on the one side of the hallway. Upon reaching the end of the hallway, the player can double back by switching to the other side and sprinting through the gap between the zombies and the wall. However, this technique is risky since all it takes is usually one or two zombies to cut off the player's escape. Nonetheless, when dealing with smaller hordes, training in a hallway can allow the player to survive an otherwise sticky situation. Larger hordes will generally require longer hallway areas.

The next method is using a central obstacle. Currently, this is only possible in two areas in the map, either around the Speed Cola machine or by the KEDR-B wall buy (which can be dangerous due to the chokepoints created by the doorways). The player simply needs to do laps in a donut shape around the central obstacle, simply dodging incoming zombies, until a horde of the desired size is reached.

The best way to train zombies however is using an open space. This can be done in the power room or the upper library, specifically looping between the space with the MP5 wall buy and Mule Kick. The player simply only needs to run laps around the growing zombie horde.

It is also possible to train zombies by doing laps around the entirety of the map, however, this is only possible if the player is the only one alive in the game, and one must be careful not to sprint too much and stretching out the horde, which can cause zombies on the tail end of the train to instead switch direction and come from the player's front, instead of following behind the player.

Tips

• When training, walking is preferred to sprinting. This is because the walking speed of the player is closer to the speed of the zombies, making it possible to group the train into a tighter space. Sprint out if you get caught in a sticky situation.
• Guns with higher movement speed such as the MP5 make training easier. Attempting to train with weapons with poor movement speed such as the M249 SAW will necessitate much more sprinting, and result in sloppier trains.
• When building up a train, it will be necessary to dodge incoming zombies in front of the player. Finding spots that limit the number of directions the zombies can approach from will make training easier.
• Try to stay away from other players while training. All it takes is a single player to cause the zombies to switch targets from you to them, thus throwing off their movement unpredictably and creating a dangerous situation. For this reason, it is advised that you do NOT revive bad players who will only make training harder.

Killing Zombies

The principal rule of killing zombies is to always aim for the head. Headshots do much more damage than body shots and body shots do more damage than limb shots. Headshots also reward the player with more points. Since zombies always follow the player in a straight line, it is not difficult to land headshots at all.

The only situation in which a player should not aim for the head is when the player becomes surrounded by or cornered in a horde of zombies. In this case, players should spray down the zombies by erratically firing an automatic gun into the horde until the zombies are all killed or a hole is opened in the horde for the player to escape through. The Ray Gun, since it deals blast damage, becomes extremely useful in such cases. The M249 SAW, a powerful light machine gun, is also useful if a player becomes overwhelmed. The newly added Frostbite is also good with getting out of these situations, due to you being able to shoot the zombies and insta-kill them with the dome under round 29.

Sniping zombies from a distance is often entertaining, but ineffective. Waiting for zombies to approach makes it easier to land accurate headshots rapidly and prevents zombies from sneaking up from behind while a player is preoccupied with sniping. Of course, if there are no nearby zombies, feel free to snipe far-away ones.

Weapons, excluding the Knife and Crossbow, can penetrate through zombies, dealing damage to multiple targets. This means that if two zombies are lined up, a player can kill both in a single shot since the bullet hits the first zombie, travels through it, and hits the next zombie behind it. Powerful guns such as snipers can sometimes kill four zombies in a single shot if the zombies are positioned correctly! Players can move around to line up zombies and deal penetrative damage.

If the power-up Insta-Kill is activated, all zombies die in a single hit from any weapon, including the Knife. If there are too many zombies to safely knife, it's recommended to use a weak automatic weapon.

When a zombie is killed, its eyes stop glowing and it enters a ragdoll position. The previous velocity of the zombie does not seem to matter- it loses all momentum upon dying and falls to the ground. This probably means that the joints of the ragdoll are not applied, but the 'alive' zombie instance is deleted and a 'dead' zombie is instantly teleported to its location.

On taking damage, zombies will occasionally lose a limb corresponding to where they were shot. This does not seem to alter their speed, attack time, or damage. A zombie that loses its head will always instantly die, in contrast to Call of Duty Zombies where zombies can stay alive after losing their head in later rounds.

In early rounds, players generally run up to zombies and knife or headshot them.

In later rounds, players generally stand still in a safe location and aim in a specific spot or "Camp", waiting for zombies to approach them. As zombies enter the player's line-of-sight, the player fires their weapon until the line of zombies is dead. This is an example of players standing stationary in the Pack-A-Punch room in Graduation. Do keep in mind that the room has only 1 entrance and exit, making escapes difficult if overwhelmed.

Debris Management

Clearing debris and opening doors are important to survival as it leads to perk machines and the Mystery Box. However, new areas contain new barriers for zombies to enter through. Opening new areas actually reduce the severity of the flow of zombies into the map. The number of zombies per round is only affected by the round number (and the number of players in the server), so a larger area from more cleared debris results in zombies being more spread out. On the other hand, if debris is not cleared, all of the round's zombies will enter through the same places, and the map will be full of zombies everywhere.

Some gameplay strategies involve not opening certain doors, especially one of the two doors of the Power Room, in order to keep zombies flowing only one way. In a sealed doors strategy, players leave a designated door locked, put their backs to it, and kill approaching zombies.

The alternative strategy called training requires all doors to be opened and all debris to be cleared so zombies will arrive quicker and bunch together faster to kill all the zombies on the map in a single go. If for your liking you would like a door/debris closed that is possible however you might be limiting your escape path if you are in a near death situation.

High Round Strategies

There are various strategies to making it to and surviving higher rounds in the later stages of the game (~round 28+).

Joining on High Rounds

A good strategy for a player to follow on Graduation if they join a server during the higher rounds of the game is to immediately get the B93 Raffica or SKS located in the room next to the Pack-a-Punch machine and starter hallway, respectively. Then, before the zombies spawn, immediately go upstairs in the library and run in a circle, shooting the zombies while circling. Once 1,000 points are reached, get the MP5 in the library and use it while circling, buying MP5 ammo as needed. If the round is below 40, it may be possible to get a few kills in with the MP5. Rack up 10-15k points before buying perks and spending money on the box until getting an ideal weapon and Pack-a-Punching it. The same strategy essentially applies on Research, except the B93 Raffica is located at the top of the stairway in the starter room, and the M14 (an alternative to the SKS) is in the office. The MP5 is also conveniently located in the office, so buy it after reaching 1,000 points and circle there while racking up points. Be cautioned, however, that very few box weapons are viable past round 45, and that it might be wise to Pack-a-Punch a wall weapon, which has refillable ammo, instead of staking your life on getting a Wonder Weapon or some other really good weapon once you buy your perks.

Graduation Strategies

Solo Strats

These strategies are meant for solo players in a private room.

Mule Kick Room Strat

This is one of the easiest and most basic ways to survive on the current map. Start by turning on the power, and buying all the perks and doors, but be sure to keep the door from the stairwell leading to the mule kick room CLOSED (If you spawn on the side where you must open this door, simply restart until you get the preferred side). Keeping this door closed will prevent zombies from coming up in this direction, making training in the mule kick room much safer. Then survive in the Mule kick room by following the route in this diagram.

The ideal setup for this strategy is to run the Ray Gun, and MP5, with Mule Kick not being really necessary. Horde up the zombies while holding the MP5. The MP5 has better mobility than the Ray Gun, as well as covering less of the screen, making it ideal for training up hordes. Moreover, the MP5 and its ammo refills can be purchased off the wall in the mule kick room, so making points with it is easy and convenient. The other gun in the setup is of course the Ray Gun, which is the primary tool for actually killing the zombies. Once you've gathered up a full horde of 24 zombies, switch to the Ray Gun once you walk by the stairwell to mow down the zombies. Rinse and repeat.

At high rounds, it will take more than one Ray Gun's worth of ammunition to clear all the zombies. Should your ray gun run out of ammunition, you can perform a solo full horde tradeout for more ammunition, or continually buy ammunition for the MP5 to clear the round. However, do note that a full horde tradeout will require you to open the stairwell door, making the strat slightly more dangerous

Co-Op Strats

These strategies are meant for a coordinated group of players

Due to the nature of zombies, attempting to have multiple people survive in co-op by using the Mule Kick room training strat is infeasible, and will lead to frequent downing.

Power Room Camping Strat

If you're not as comfortable training, this strat may be for you.

Start by making sure you spawn in the room with the M14 wall buy. Then, buy all the doors leading to power, but leave the door going from power to the AN-94 wall buy CLOSED. Then after turning on the power, buy the rest of the doors, making sure to leave the AN-94 wall buy door CLOSED.

After that, simply return to the power room and sit with your back against the closed door and camp. Note that due to the spawns, zombies will only spawn when you walk forward a bit, allowing you to control the flow of zombies. The closed door ensures it is impossible for zombies to show up behind you.

Should you be overwhelmed, you can run a train inside the power room to survive, or in a panic, simply buy the closed door and switch to the Mule Kick room strat.

Since the flow of zombies in this strat can be controlled, the recommended loadout is 2 LMGs and a Ray Gun. When the LMGs need to be reloaded, retreat such that your back is to the closed door so zombies stop entering the room/spawning, and reload, then step forward again to resume the carnage.

Also, note that this strat can be done solo as well.

Two-Player Strat

With two players, open all the doors on the map, and then have one player run the Mule Kick room strat. The second player should then run a small train in the Speed Cola room, also with the MP5/Raygun setup. Most of the zombies will spawn and go for the player running the Mule Kick room train, so the player in Speed Cola will not be overwhelmed. However, the Speed Cola room player prevents Zombies from entering the Mule Kick room through the Speed Cola room, making the Mule Kick room train safer/easier. Moreover, having two players allows for easier mid-round tradeouts.

Three-Player Strat

With three players, the strat is the same as the two-player strat, but the third player can run a train in the Power room. However, it is vital that the player in the power room run his train in the direction in this diagram. Doing it in the opposite direction will lead to downs due to zombies coming from the third hallway feeding into the room across from the power switch/Mystery Box location.

Research Strategies

There are several strategies for the Research map. The first is to position yourself between the doors of the main testing room and the starter room. One door will always be open, so shoot the zombies that come in from this way. When they become too much for you, press the button to close the doors, reload, and shoot new spawns that come from the other direction. Repeat until you are out of ammo then run for a wall gun in the testing room, rinse, and repeat.

The second strategy is to make use of the teleporters. Shoot zombies and when they become too numerous, teleport to a different room. Since zombies don't spawn if no one is in a room and they despawn if everyone leaves, you can make use of the time immediately after teleporting to reload weapons.

The third newly discovered strategy is the "Decontamination Tunnel" strategy. From the Pack-A-Punch teleporter room to the gas area of the map, you will find a long tunnel connecting these 2 parts of the map. From the gas area of the map go through the tunnel like usual and go to the end. However, when the door opens, you will not go through. Going through the door means that it closes behind you. Now you have access to an insanely long tunnel at your disposal. The only time it is recommended to leave is to get ammo or an important power up such as "Max Ammo" or "Insta-Kill" that have spawned outside the tunnel. This strategy is used by many World Record holders as it is by far the best strategy for all players hoping to get a High Round.

Aside from strategies to get an upper hand on zombies, it is possible to predict the starting location of the Mystery Box. There only are 3 rooms it can spawn in, the first room to your left from the Decontamination Tunnel, the room with the whiteboard, and the room with the fish tank. Since you are unable to see the Mystery Box from outside the fish tank room, but you are able to properly see the other 2 spawn locations, you can use the process of elimination to identify what room the box is in without opening each room. For example, if the Mystery Box is not in the 2 visible rooms, that would mean the only possible spawn is in the fish tank room.