After spawning in the dangerous world of DayZ, players must loot their surroundings if they hope to stand a chance of surviving. The further inland that players travel, and the further away from spawn they get, the more high-tier loot will start showing up, including weapons, ammo, clothing, armor, and special equipment.
Looting in the right areas can make a major difference to the player’s haul, allowing them to obtain rare pickups that aren’t available anywhere else. Understandably, players will want to know where these locations are to have the best chance of acquiring such valuable items. Here are the best locations to loot in DayZ.
10 Summer Camps
Dotted around the map, Summer Camps are often quiet and left mostly intact from other players. They contain summer houses, spawning basic equipment like hunting clothes and bullets. Some even contain small clinics for medical supplies, and wells to stock up on water.
Summer Camps are pretty common across the map – players could visit the Youth Pioneer Camp near Dolina for example, or the camp at Stroytel just north of Chernogorsk, or even Camp Metallurgist near the Tishina Dam. These areas are safe enough and provide enough decent loot that players should loot them if passing by.
9 Military Camps
Being a lot less perilous than the bigger military bases, Military Camps and checkpoints are a great way to obtain some useful military gear relatively risk-free. Like the Summer Camps, these small locations dot the DayZ landscape and are often untouched by players, with tents and barracks containing weapons, ammo, and other military gear available.
Military Camps like Ostry near the northeastern Airfield are great locations to check, whereas players should head over to the Myshinko Tents over on the western side of the map for a rewarding, if slightly zombie-infected, area to loot.
8 Lopatino Scrapyard
Industrial compounds will usually provide the player with some solid gear, and the Lopatino Scrapyard is no different. This area is found directly west of Lopatino town, with warehouses and containers spawning various loot including military gear and weapons.
This location is particularly useful for base-building, as players will find a generous supply of lumber for planks, as well as nails and sheet metal. It’s also a fairly quiet area of the map. As a result, it’s not a bad idea for players to set up base in this particular spot.
7 Biathlon Arena
Over on the western side of the map near Sinystok, the Biathlon arena contains some garages and a bunch of summer houses for players to clear out. Just to the east is a large Summer Camp with more buildings to loot, so the proximity of these two locations makes them ideal for a looting run.
Players can get base-building supplies and high-quality clothing here, and these areas are in loot tier 3, meaning the haul should be pretty solid.
6 Helicopter Crashes
A random event that can occur in a variety of locations across the map, Helicopter Crashes are a handy way to acquire some high-tier military loot. Weapons such as the SVD, the LAR, and the M79 Grenade Launcher can all be found in these wreckages.
However, the area will be home to powerful military zombies, and with the loud noise the helicopter makes during the crash and the billowing smoke coming out afterward, the crash site will surely become a target for nearby hostiles. Knowing this, it’s important for players to loot the gear as fast as possible to avoid being ambushed.
5 Derailed Trains
Like Helicopter Crashes, Derailed Trains are dynamic events that can pop up in various locations. They come in three forms – civilian, industrial, and military trains – all of which have different spawn points and different loot associated with them.
Unlike their helicopter cousins, Derailed Trains contain far more loot, and if the player is lucky enough to stumble across a military variety, they can open its unique containers for some high-tier equipment. While these stalled trains are not as noisy or as visible as crashed helicopters, they are usually surrounded by industrial infected, meaning players should be prepared for a fight.
4 Tri Kresta
An area widely known as western evac, the Tri Kresta military checkpoint is one of the few areas in Chernarus that spawns tier 4 loot, some of the best in the game. While it is a relatively small location, and quite far off the beaten track, it is well worth paying a visit to grab some of the excellent gear that spawns here.
Tri Kresta is just west of Krona castle and further south of the Biathlon Arena. Players should approach cautiously, as it isn’t unusual to find well-equipped players lurking around these parts.
3 Military Bases
Often highly dangerous, Military Bases provide both quantity and quality of loot. The Tisy Military Base in the northwest of the map is a large tier 4 loot area, while other locations such as Zelenogorsk and Veresnik also provide lots of good equipment.
These areas, especially Tisy, are visited often by players, making them risky to attempt looting from. That being said, there are plenty of tents, barracks, bunkers, and even jail cells for players to clear out, so it can be a highly rewarding looting spree should the player get away with it undisturbed.
2 The Northwest Airfield
An iconic location in DayZ, the Northwest Airfield is a massive expanse of a military base that encompasses several different sections to loot, including Bashnya, Construction, and South Compound. The entire area spawns tier 3 military loot, and the sheer quantity of gear available makes this location a prime looting spot.
Inevitably, most players realize this, and the airfield complex is a high-traffic area that will almost certainly see players stumbling into others, often being drawn into firefights. While the loot potential is great, players should only enter this hotspot if they’re confident they can make it out alive with their spoils of war.
1 Static Contaminated Zones
There are two static contaminated zones in Chernarus – the Pavlovo Military Base in the southwestern corner of the map, and the Rify Shipwreck, situated over on the northeastern coast. Each of these locations contains some of the best loot in the game but are treacherous due to contaminated gas lingering in the air.
While other locations only undergo temporary contamination, these zones are permanently toxic. Players will need to acquire a full-body NBC suit to enter without dying, and even then, they still face the threat from hostile players. Despite this, the high-tier loot is superb, and most players won’t be able to safely enter the zone, so venturing into the gas might just be worth it.
DayZ is available for PS4, Xbox One, and Windows.