The post-apocalyptic world of Nether is jam packed with areas to explore. Countless buildings, subway stations and camps litter the city landscape and it’s a necessity that you branch out and explore to ensure your survival. But the world is a dangerous one with various Nether forms littering the streets and the sky. It’s not an easy world to reside in but so long as you’re careful and calculated you should be able to keep yourself alive long enough to become a force to be reckoned with. Here is our Nether Survival Guide to help you get along:

When you spawn into the world of Nether, you start completely fresh, regardless of any previous characters you may have leveled up or items that you collected. After creating a character, you’re abandoned in the world with nothing but a small backpack and a knife. Some people approach their new characters with a ‘nothing to lose’ mentality — which has merit — but dying and respawning is a tiresome process so I find it best to make the most of your situation from the start. Get used to playing slow and safe right off the bat because it’s the pace that will dominate much of your game time.

Dropping in, you’re presented with two options: either spawn in a safe zone or somewhere randomly in the world. Realistically there isn’t much of a difference between the two as both have their inherent advantages and risks but you may develop a preference based on play style.

Safe zones play host to Nether’s merchants and act as a safe haven from other players and Nether alike. In these areas, you can also access your global inventory, which is a place to safely store or claim items from previous or for future lives. Despite the benefits, spawning in safe zones has a debatably higher risk than out in the world as they tend to be high traffic areas for other players. Though you are safe when in the perimeter, you are very vulnerable to a surprise execution upon leaving.

Another concern for safe zones is the stability of the Anti-Nether Devices. From time to time, these devices will fail, rendering the area an all out deathmatch arena for players in the area. Players can stick around to fend off Nether and repair the machines, but immediate evacuation is recommended.

Spawning to a random spot, you’re thrown right into the mix of things. Spawn zones tend to be hot areas for hostile players (though significantly less so than in the safe zones) so it’s advised that you run for cover as soon as possible. Much of Nether’s environment consists of explorable buildings so finding an area of cover to check your surroundings and get your bearings should never be too far away.

There are three numbers at the center of your survival in Nether: your health, your nutrition and your stamina.

At the beginning of the game, you start with 1020 health. It’s a decent amount of health which should keep you alive through many a minor scuffle but it depletes quickly if you get overwhelmed. Fortunately, Nether has a feature where after taking damage, health will very slowly regenerate considering your nutrition remains above ¾ full. This is an important feature to keep in mind as it can be very handy in a tight situation. Further, you can better your odds of survival by boosting your health by 250 HP through leveling up your strength (we advise using skill points 2-5 to do so).

Nutrition is the pillar that keeps your character alive. Once empty, your character’s health will start to drop until you are able to find resources for recovery. It’s a meter that depletes independent of any physical activities that you may engage in, so sprinting or standing still, it will drop at the same rate. Both food and water contribute to its replenishment. As previously mentioned, your nutrition can be a vital tool for its health regeneration abilities so try not to put off eating/drinking for too long.

Your final stat is stamina. Sprinting on full stamina will last a decent amount of time, but when running for your life, it’s never long enough. Save your stamina where possible as you never know what situation you might run into. A important factor to consider is that fully depleting your stamina will trigger an excessively long cool down timer before it fills again. Releasing sprint just before it expires will cause it to start replenishing immediately, allowing you to get back to full speed much quicker.

In the world of Nether, silence will always be your best friend. Nether creatures have poor sight, but their hearing is finely tuned and will agro easily if you’re not careful. When moving from point to point, crouch and crawl as much as possible. There are a lot of obstacles and barriers that can obscure a Nether’s presence from your view which can often offer a false sense of security. There’s nothing worse than letting your guard down and getting sloppy, just to have a Nether’s booming roar sound off just around the corner. Always play it safe and limit sprinting as much as possible. The action produces a lot of sound and depletes stamina which is better saved for a tight situation.

While on the topic of sound, movement speed isn’t the only factor to account for. Any loud noise ranging from a gunshot aimed at another player to the shrill yell of the Shrieker are sure to get the attention of any Nether in the area. A one on one fight with the enemy is typically an easy win, but once a troupe gangs up on you, death is almost always certain. Even minor actions like accessing a vending machine or picking up loot creates noise, all detectable by enemies, so check the area before you do anything.

Just a word of caution: your character can’t swim to save their life. It’s advised that you just avoid water all together because once you become submerged, your health starts to drop rapidly. This particularly becomes an issue in the western half of the map where standing bodies of water break up much of the terrain. Trudging through shallow water doesn’t prove an issue but take caution where you step as it’s almost impossible to judge depth in certain areas. Take it slow and stay dry.

Err on the side of caution when it comes to heights as well. Fall damage deals a severe blow to your overall health and, if from high enough, will kill you. As a general rule, don’t jump from any height greater than a single story building (and even then…).

Whether you’re travelling alone or with friends, Nether is a game all about scavenging. Need some food or water? Better scavenge. Need a better weapon for taking on enemies? A keen eye is all you need. Filling your backpack and improving your arsenal isn’t hard so long as you’re patient and thorough.

While wandering the environment, make it a point to check out every vehicle, dumpster and vending machine that you come across. These objects are often lootable and are indicated through flashing when in range. Check buildings closely both inside and out for any stairwells or platforms that can lead you to a higher level. Check each floor as you go up, as in my experience, each floor plays host to at least one lootable item. Another tip is to keep your eye in the skies and on the horizon for pillars of black smoke. The source of the smoke is often a small camp which can almost always be counted on for some new items.

As you build your inventory, you’re almost guaranteed to amass a large number of gun components. Collecting various pieces will allow you to craft a full gun, but for the purpos
es of early game and character sustenance, it’s advised that you save your inventory slots for food, water, medical supplies and weaponry/complete guns.

Throughout your travels you come across scenarios where you will have to fight. Whether it’s Nether or enemy players, confrontation is inevitable. Considering you win, you’ll gain experience. Get enough of that and you’ll level up, which grants you skill points to spend on various stats and skills. Your first skill point is best spent on the melee block ability. Unlocking this, you’ll be able to raise your weapon to reduce the damage taken from physical attacks.

Given the history of post-apocalyptic survival MMOs, this should go without saying, but: avoid other players. Just do it. Other humans you come across in Nether will be aggressive trolls a vast majority of the time. Many will put on a friendly face to gain your trust only to beat you over the back of the head as soon as you turn your back. Resources are hard to come by and people resort to some nasty measures to get their hands on as much as they can. If you spot another player in the distance, it’s in your best interest to run or hide.

Stay tuned to MMO ATK for more Nether Guides coming in the near future as well as all of your F2P MMO and MMORPG news, reviews, videos and content!

Nether Survival Guide – A Beginner’s Walkthrough

Guide, MMO, Nether, Nether Guide, Phosphor, Post Apocalyptic, Survival MMO