1. The Grand Ohio Mall

In the very top right of Louisville is the largest shopping center in the game. The Grand Ohio mall has dozens of stores with a ton of variety. From guns to tools to furniture and clothes, players can find all their needs at the Grand Ohio Mall.

While the Grand Ohio Mall is full of resources, it’s also packed with zombies. So, it’s not a good idea to even step into the parking lot without plenty of weapons. Though, it is worth going to the mall, especially for players in mid to late game. But new players are better off sticking to smaller shopping centers, or the Crossroads mall right to the south of Louisville.

If you’re ready to take on the challenge of the mall, there are a few things to keep in mind. You should take a look at your character’s skills. If they don’t have aiming and reloading leveled, you may want to stick with using melee weapons. Mainly to avoid your gun jamming while fighting.

How to navigate the Area:

• Clear out zombies in the parking lot to avoid being ambushed once inside the mall
• Bring plenty of weapons and ammo if you’re using a gun
• Make sure to clear all the zombies in an area before starting to loot
• Clear out as much of the ground floor as possible before going to the second floor. This is to avoid being stuck on the second floor if a horde is following your character

»Video guide

2. Knox Prison

The Knox Prison is located right outside of Rosewood, and is a short drive from the town’s shopping district. The prison has two floors, and is surrounded by multiple perimeter fences.

The perimeter fences around the prison make it more difficult to fight zombies, since you can’t back up while fighting for as long as if you’re in an open area. There also tend to be a lot of zombies in the front area of the prison, which is a reception desk.

Players should first take care of all the zombies surrounding the prison. Then players can move on to leading zombies out of the prison. Always make sure to bring backup ammo, and have your car nearby so you can leave and recoup if you need to. 

How to navigate the Area:

• As you approach the prison, park your car in the first parking lot, outside of the fence.
• Kill all the zombies in the first parking lot, then lead the zombies in the second parking lot into the fist parking lot. This gives you more room to fight.
• Open the front doors to the prison and lead out the zombies to fight outside.
• Work slowly, room by room, and lead the zombies outside or into a larger room if possible.

»Video guide

3. Army Checkpoint

The only thing standing between players and Louisville is the military checkpoint, and the barbed wire fence around the city.

Going to the military checkpoint is a huge landmark in any Project Zomboid gameplay. Since getting through the area and clearing it means that you can access Louisville and the endless loot that lies in the city. It also means that players will be able to loot the checkpoint, which is full of great loot. Such as guns, ammo, and great armor.

When going to the army checkpoint for the first time, it’s really important to know that there are multiple barricades around the checkpoint. Which means players either need to bring a sledgehammer to break the roadblocks, or they need to leave behind their car at the first fence. I recommend doing the former. Sledgehammers are incredibly useful for destroying fences in the checkpoint. Which may be necessary if a crashed car is in front of the gates into, or out of, the checkpoint.

How to navigate the Area:

• Use a sledgehammer to break the roadblocks and drive to the first gate
• Drive your car inside
• Kill the zombies in the front area and work your way down the road
• As you kill zombies on the road, zombies from the surrounding tents and buildings will be drawn out
• Once you clear the area use a sledgehammer to access the second gate in order to leave

»Video guide

4. Main Street Muldraugh

Muldraugh is a great place for slightly more experienced players to spawn. There are a variety of stores, and plenty of houses to loot. The town is also a short drive from West Point or Rosewood.

Though it isn’t as overrun by the undead as other towns, like Rosewood or Louisville, which makes Muldraugh a bit easier to manage. But there are still areas filled with hordes, like the main street, which is part of the highway leading to Louisville. Since this area is also home to Muldraugh’s stores, warehouses, and gas stations, it’s unavoidable despite how dangerous it is.

Due to how many zombies tend to be on this road, there are options aside from having to kill all the zombies on the road. Instead, it may be better to distract zombies and loot once zombies leave the road.

How to navigate the Area:

• Bring a car to the road right to the left of the main street
• Drive down the street slowly while honking the horn with Q
• Once you’re about ¾ of the way down the street, stop honking
• Wait around the corner of the road by the four way intersection at the end of Muldruagh’s main street
• When you return to Muldraugh’s main street is should be mostly clear, making it easier to kill any remaining zombies

»Video guide

5. West Point shopping district

Overall, West Point is the most difficult place to spawn, even for seasoned Project Zomboid players. But the shopping district has a great variety of places with great loot.

The area has plenty of different important locations such as the police station, a gun store, multiple eateries, and a tool store. This all makes the district a great area to loot. But since the area is so small with so many stores, it’s always teeming with zombies. 

I think the best way to approach this area of West Point is to pick a corner to start. I think starting in the parking lot surrounding the Gigamart is a good option, since you can clear the Giga mart and use it as an area to take breaks and eat between rounds of taking on hordes.

How to navigate the Area:

• Choose an area to start fighting
• Clear out the area surrounding a building before working your way inside
• Take breaks between fighting to avoid your character becoming exerted
• Choose a building to use as a hideout between fighting
• If you need guns and ammo the police station is to the left of the Knox bank and across the street from a furniture shop

»Video guide

6. Crossroads Mall

To the south of Louisville is another mall with several shopping centers around it, the Crossroads Mall.

The Crossroads Mall is a lot smaller than the Grand Ohio Mall, but it’s still a dangerous spot. The mall is surrounded by a huge parking lot and other large buildings such as the movie theater, restaurants, and a strip mall.

Due to how large the surrounding area is, I think it’s best to take your time clearing the mall and surrounding buildings. Since there is a residential area nearby, I think players should clear that area first, so they have a house nearby to sleep and eat without worrying about zombies.

How to navigate the Area:

• Choose a safehouse to the north of the mall
• Clear the surrounding parking lot to avoid being surrounded
• Work your way into the mall
• Clear the mall of zombies working from store to store, then move up to the second floor

»Video guide

7. Highway Traffic Jams

Driving is both a blessing and a curse in Project Zomboid. Driving recklessly can lead to a quick death, and the highway makes things worse since there are both traffic jams and hordes.

The traffic jams on the highway are annoying yet realistic. Some traffic jams, like the one on the bridge leading to Louisville, are unpassable, but other jams along the highway are passable by driving slowly. Most jams are also full of hordes, which makes trying to drive around them even more nerve wracking.

The best advice I can give for getting through traffic jams without your character dying is to take your time and make sure your car is in good condition. Unless your car is entirely surrounded by zombies, you should continue driving and stay in the car. You should also drive slower than you want to on the highway, since getting into an accident at high speeds could lead to bone fractures or even death.

How to navigate the Area:

• Drive slowly
• When you see a traffic jam look to see any gaps between trees to the left or right of the road
• Slowly drive through the gaps
• Unless necessary stay in the car and run-over zombies if you need to

»Video guide

8. LSU Campus

The LSU campus is located near the center of Louisville, not far from the train station, football field, and Central Park.

The campus consists of a dormitory, a huge library, a gym, and a building with classrooms. The most important building on the campus for players is the library, since there are tons of useful books and magazines available inside. The area is always busy with undead students, since it’s right in central Louisville and with all the buildings and dorms.

In general I think players should avoid the dormitories unless they really want to clear the area. The dorms are full of zombies and small, so it’s more difficult to fight zombies inside. But looting buildings like the library shouldn’t be too terrible, since the building is roomy enough to fight in and located on the corner of LSU’s campus.

How to navigate the Area:

• Check which buildings you want to loot
• The library is on the upper left corner of the campus
• The cafeteria is right across the street from the library
• The two large L-shaped buildings and the rectangle building are all classrooms
• The building to the right of the library is a mix of classrooms and offices

»Video guide

9. The McCoy Logging warehouse

The McCoy Logging buildings are right outside of Muldraugh, surrounded by a parking lot and a lumber mill. The warehouses are great spots to find various tools, planks, logs, and most importantly axes.

The warehouses and surrounding parking lot aren’t always teeming with zombies, but due to how dark and full of crates they are, it may be difficult to see zombies coming. So, like always, it’s best to at least clear the inside of the buildings before hunting for loot.

Making a visit to the McCoy Logging warehouses is a great run to make early in your gameplay. The abundance of tools makes it easier to get started on leveling up on skills like carpentry, and the area isn’t as full of zombies as tool stores or other large warehouses.

How to navigate the Area:

• Clear the parking lot directly around the warehouses
• Go inside and kill any zombies inside
• Loot is in both the larger warehouse buildings
• There are also two smaller storage buildings to the north of the warehouses with lots of crates inside

»Video guide

10. Main Street Rosewood

Rosewood is overall one of the best locations for new players to spawn in Project Zomboid. The small town has great locations to build a base such as the fire station, and a great main street to loot for tools, books, and medical equipment.

The second most populated area in Rosewood, second only to the prison, is Main street. So, in order to loot you’ll first need to deal with the hordes of undead wandering the street. Though since Rosewood isn’t a huge area, even newer players should be able to clear the zombies as long as you take your time.

I would recommend starting at either end of the street and slowly working your way down, or up, the street as you kill zombies. I think players are better off starting on the right end, near the Spiffo’s and gas station. Since this end of the street has less stores, there will be more zombies at the other end by the police station.

How to navigate the Area:

• Choose what end of the street to start on
• Work your way down the street to kill zombies as you go
• Once the area is cleared around stores you can go inside to loot. Since Rosewood doesn’t have as many zombies you should be safe to loot as you work your way down the street

»Video guide

You may also be interested in:

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• [Top 10] Project Zomboid Most Durable Weapons