Practice before risking an online Responder
Finish the guided Tutorial when the controls, infection room, objective types, or movement course are still unfamiliar. Use Training Range when the action itself needs repetition. Those paths teach the interface without asking you to solve a live squad route at the same time.
If the Tutorial makes sense but a full map does not, use Solo Practice for one orientation run. Solo Practice covers the nine current online maps. It gives no Credits or experience, does not count toward Online progression, stats, or achievements, and does not lose the character on death or quit. That makes it the safe alternative for learning where Map and Compass information appear, but it cannot advance the account or teach live regrouping.
Practice paths before an online Responder is at risk
| Path | What it covers | Progress result | Character result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorial | Learn the basics of gameplay; 7 current rooms at Nexrad Station NWCX, Pennsylvania | Training path | Training path |
| Solo Practice | 9 current online maps without teammates | No Credits rewarded in Solo Practice; No experience rewarded in Solo Practice; Solo Practice does not count towards your Online progression, and does not contribute towards stats or achievements. | Additionally, characters will not be lost when dying or quitting. |
The default next step is one Solo Practice map only when you still cannot recover direction. Move to the online run once you can open the Map, identify the active mission state, and return to a chosen marker. Repeating safe practice after that point costs progression without adding the teammate problem you need to learn.
Read the objective before moving
Stop at spawn long enough to read the active objective. Hold the Compass to see current objectives, important locations, the current sector, and its Threat Level. Open the Map for the bird’s-eye view of mission locations that are active or complete.
The red identifies an objective. The yellow identifies a point of interest objective. Do not follow a yellow bearing as though it were the current main objective, and do not keep following an old marker after the objective text changes.
When the wording changes but the next action is unclear, use the objective progression mechanism to place that prompt in the current map’s branch or stage and confirm its completion signal.
Which screen answers which question
| Record | Use it for | Surface | Action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shows active objectives and important locations while you move. It also identifies your current sector and its Threat Level. | Compass, HUD | Hold Compass | |
| Shows a bird's eye view of mission locations that are active or complete. | Map | Press Map | |
| The red marker identifies an objective. Main objective world markers use their own visibility setting. | Compass, HUD, Game world | Read the current marker state | |
| The yellow marker identifies a point of interest objective. Its in-world marker setting applies while you are inside the point of interest. | Compass, HUD, Game world | Read the current marker state | |
| Other Player Map Icons | Shows other responders on the Map with separate normal, downed, dead, and zombified presentations. | Map | Read the current marker state |
Communication controls
- Press Ping
- Ping: Press Ping while facing an enemy, item, or objective to mark it for nearby players. A location ping is reported as 'Pinged a location'.
- Hold Ping
- Voice Command wheel: Hold Ping to open the wheel. The selected voice command is heard by nearby players.
- Press Open Chat
- Text chat: Press Open Chat to open the text chat window. Communication is limited by distance.
Use the Map when the Compass bearing is not enough. Mission Location records can show active, completed, main-objective, and Responder spawn-point states. Other Player Map Icons show teammates with separate normal, downed, dead, and zombified presentations. The Map is therefore the first place to decide whether you are moving toward an active teammate, a rescue problem, or a marker that no longer represents the same task.
The default route closes distance to living teammates while still moving generally toward the active objective. The condition is that the Map shows a reachable teammate direction. When the team state is unclear, use the active mission location as the shared reference instead of inventing a meeting point.
Regroup before you perfect the inventory
Take nearby items that solve an immediate gap, then leave the spawn area. Do not search every room for an ideal build while the other Responders move out of Map range. The cost of an extra search is separation, and the first-deployment problem is usually knowing where the run is going rather than finishing a complete loadout at spawn.
Use this order:
- Confirm the active objective and teammate direction.
- Take one attack option you can support now.
- Take a recovery option when one appears on the same short path.
- Move toward the team and reassess after regrouping.
If the nearby firearm has no compatible ammunition, do not treat it as a complete attack option. Check the firearm’s relationship in the Inventory query, or use a current Melee weapon as the ammunition-independent alternative. The tradeoff is reach and stamina instead of ammunition support; the exact weapon fields remain in the query page.
Take a small workable loot floor
The first loot floor is not a fixed weapon name. It is one attack option that works with the resources already present, plus recovery when the route provides it. A firearm needs its linked ammunition family. A Melee weapon does not need ammunition. Medical records answer health or infection needs, so read the item’s treatment field before assuming any red or medical-looking item solves the same problem.
A small first-deployment loot floor
The default is a supported firearm or a Melee fallback, not both at any cost. Keep both only when the Inventory still has room for compatible ammunition and recovery. Drop the unsupported option first when capacity pressure appears. An impressive firearm without its ammunition relationship cannot solve the next contact.
The Inventory query contains every current carryable category, exact weight where the game provides one, ammunition compatibility, treatment fields, and shareable item views. Use it before the run for details. When ammunition or capacity changes the answer, continue to which weapon and ammunition to keep. During the run, keep the rule small enough to act on: supported attack, recovery, then team route.
Keep the team on one plan
Press while facing an enemy, item, or objective to mark it for nearby players. A location ping is reported as “Pinged a location.” Hold Ping for the Voice Command wheel; the selected voice command is heard by nearby players. Text chat is also limited by distance.
Ping the item or objective that changes the team’s next action. Do not mark every object in the room. A contextual Ping is useful when another player can see it and respond. The cost of repeated low-value pings is that the marker which matters becomes harder to distinguish.
When teammates have already reached an objective, move to the same active task before starting another point of interest alone. When someone is downed, confirm that state on the Map before assuming they are simply farther away. When communication does not reach them, use the visible objective and mission state as the common plan.
Use Early Extraction as the fallback
Keep as a fallback, not the first destination. Its Map marker changes with availability. The run must show “Early Extraction Available” before you can rely on it. At the location, use “Activate Early Extraction.” An unavailable exit reports “Cannot Abandon.”
states
- Availability notice
- Early Extraction Available
- Interaction
- Activate Early Extraction
- Unavailable state
- Cannot Abandon
- Credits
- No Credits rewarded for Early Extraction
Use the fallback when the exit is available and continuing the run no longer justifies the current Responder risk. The cost is explicit: no Credits are rewarded for Early Extraction. Continuing toward the active objective is the alternative when the team is regrouped, the attack option still works, and the run can proceed without relying on an unavailable exit.
Do not promise yourself an exit before its current state is visible. A Map icon alone can change presentation with availability. Read the live notice and interaction state before changing the whole route.
Recover from a bad first start
If you become separated, stop adding new points of interest. Open the Map, find the current teammate states, and choose one living cluster or the active mission location. Ping the route-changing threat or item once you are near enough for the nearby-player audience to matter.
If the attack option fails because its ammunition is absent, switch to the Melee fallback or regroup before searching again. If there is no recovery item, avoid extending a side search that moves farther from the team. If Early Extraction says “Cannot Abandon,” it is not the current recovery path; return to the active mission state instead of waiting at an unusable marker.
After the run, change only the step that failed. Return to Solo Practice when the failure was Map orientation. Open the Inventory query when compatibility caused the failure. Review Responder skills when the planned role did not match the assigned fields. Then start the next deployment with one corrected rule instead of a larger shopping list.
Know what this flow does not answer
This guide covers the first deployment sequence: safe practice, active objective, Map and Compass roles, teammate states, a small Inventory floor, nearby communication, regrouping, and the exact Early Extraction states.
It does not provide a fixed route through a specific map, predict loot locations, decide whether a distant teammate received a message, or replace the current objective wording. It does not calculate combat, infection, downed, death, or difficulty outcomes. Those mechanics stay separate and enter the journey when the player reaches them.
This flow and its records are current for Hotfix 1.0.4.0. The page was checked on September 2, 2026.