Comprehensive Guide 2.0

This guide was created by Pineaqples and posted on Reddit.  The article can be found here - 

His permission was gotten to post this here - the full post can be found here on our site - 

Where to get H1Z1:
H1Z1 is now FREE TO PLAY for everyone, if you’re looking to download the game, please check out the Steam store here: H1Z1

You will need to create a Daybreak account that will be linked to your Steam ID - You may only have one Daybreak account linked to your steam so don’t lose it!

Character Creation:
When you launch the game, you will have the option to create a character with 8 premade models to choose from:



Afterwards, you’ll be able to choose your in-game name and select a region to play.
Region Select
There are 5 major regions to choose from that will be based on your connection:

• North America
• Europe
• Asia
• South America
• Australia

Your ping will be based on how far away you are from each Region’s server, for an optimal playing experience, you want to select the region with the lowest MS.

Main Menu:

Now that you’ve created your character, you’re going to be placed on the Main Menu which has a lot of elements you will want to get comfortable with.



 

PLAY

Solo - the battle royale experience as a solo player  
Duos - the battle royale experience with a partner
Fives - the battle royale experience as a full 5 man team
Combat Zone - a fast-paced training mode with respawns, fully equipped characters, to practice all of your combat and shooting mechanics.
Auto Royale (NEW!) - a brand NEW game mode of a vehicular battle royale game with 4 man teams, power ups, destruction, violence, speed, and momentum. Video
Hosted Games - a series of private servers owned by members of the community across all regions (including myself!) This servers vary from competitive scrims, to fun-filled community games
Events - a series of special game modes run by Daybreak, these are usually time based events with a reward for winning 1st place.


Customize:

This is where you can customize all aspects of your character’s appearance from clothes, armor, helmets, weapons, vehicles and emotes!


 

Under the GEAR section, you can have the option to change:
Hat - Showcase
Helmet - Showcase
Shirt - Showcase
Backpacks - Jansports Military Satchels
Shoes - Conveys Workboots Stealth
Pants - Showcase
Gloves - Showcase
Glasses - Showcase
Bandana - Showcase
Armor - Laminated Makeshift

Under the WEAPONS section, you have the option to change:
AK-47 - Showcase
AR-15 - Showcase
Shotgun - Showcase
MP7 - Showcase
Sniper Rifle - Showcase
M9 - Showcase
Magnum - Showcase
Crossbow - Showcase
Recurve Bow - Showcase
Machete - Showcase
Combat Knife - Showcase

Under the RIDES section, you have the option to change:
Battle Royale:
Offroader - Showcase
Truck - Showcase
ATV - Showcase
Parachute - Showcase

Auto Royale:
ARV - Showcase
Sedan - Showcase

Under the EMOTES section, you have the option to change:

A combined total of 12 slots for in-game emote animations that can range from something as simple as wave, to complex like a backflip. Showcase
Note: Performing any action while an emote is in progress will cause it to cancel.
 

This next section we’re going to be focusing on in-game settings that fall under 4 categories:
Graphics | Gameplay | Audio | Keybindings

Each of these 4 sections will be broken down to give you a better understanding of how you can tailor H1Z1 to yourself for an optimal playing experience.

Graphics will cover how the game will look on your screen and how you can tune the game for performance, quality, or a hybrid between the two.

Gameplay will cover in-game settings such as various sensitivities, crosshair customization, HUD control, inventory, camera and more.

Audio will cover various aspects of the game’s audio from sound effects, UI, team voice chat, and proximity voice chat.

Keybindings will customize your controls for the game based your preferences, almost every in-game action can be bound to a key on your keyboard or mouse. These are crucial for a more fluid experience and useful for building up important muscle memory.
 

GRAPHICS

Resolution - this changes how your game will be scaled on your monitor and can be experimented with various choices to fit your needs as a player. Generally, a lower number resolution (ex:1440x900) will result in a performance increase; however, the game will lose a lot of quality. A higher resolution (ex: 1920x1080) can result in a performance decrease depending on your PC but will result in a higher quality game.

My recommendation to players would keep it at the native resolution of your monitor which for most people will be 1920x1080 or the LAST option available.  

Brightness - changes the brightness in-game (self-explanatory)
Recommendation: 0%

Field of View - F.O.V refers to how far away the camera will be from your character in the 3rd person resulting in a shorter (lower number) or wider (higher number) view.
Recommendation: 70 FOV

 

Render Quality - This changes how sharp objects ingame (including yourself) will render in on your screen. This can drastically affect performance and the quality of your game so please fine tune it to your liking. The default quality is set to 100% - going any lower will decrease the quality of the game but boost your performance and vice versa going above will increase the quality of the game but can lower your performance.
Recommendation: 100% if you don’t have a solid PC | 120% if your PC can handle it

Render Distance - This will change how far away objects will render in from the character model. There are two keybinds to change Render Distance:
[ will lower the render distance by 500 meters
] will raise the render distance by 500 meters
(Note: These can be changed under the keybinds menu.)
A lower render distance will result in a increase in performance
A higher render distance will result in a decrease in performace; however, will provide more information and visibility.
Players will always render in within 500 meters render distance
Vehicles will render in at a maximum of 1500 render distance
The maximum render distance you need for in-game information is 1500 meters.
Recommendation: 500 render in cities | 1500 render in fields

VSync - VSync synchronizes the frame rate of the game with the monitor refresh rate however this setting seems to cause performance issues.
Recommendation: VSync turned OFF

Model Quality - will increase the quality of rendered objects around the map.
Recommendation: High

Flora Quality - adds occlusion around the map like grass, flowers, rocks and more.
Recommendation: Low

Texture Quality - changes the quality of all textures added to the models/skins
Recommendation: High

Tree quality - changes the quality and depth of trees and their leaves.
Recommendation: Low

Lighting Quality - changes how impactful the lighting system works in-game
Recommendation: High

Interior Lighting - self explanatory, improves lighting indoors to help visibility
Recommendation: ON

Ambient Occlusion - a shading and rendering technique used to highlight lighting
Recommendation: ON

Shadow Quality - self explanatory, adds shadows to the world.
Recommendation: OFF for visibility and performance | ON for quality

Personal Settings:
Resolution: 1920x1080
Brightness: 0%
Field of View: 70
Render Quality: 120%
Render Distance: 1500
VSync: OFF
Model Quality: High
Flora Quality: Low
Texture Quality: High
Tree Quality: Low
Lighting Quality: High
Interior Lighting: On
Ambient Occlusion: Off
Shadow Quality: Off

GAMEPLAY

Mouse Sensitivity - this affects the speed at which you look around while moving, hip-firing, and inventory management.

Aiming Sensitivity - this affects the speed at which you look around aiming down sights (holding right-click [Mouse 2]) with your weapons

Scoped Sensitivity - this affects the speed at which you look around while aiming down the scope of a Sniper Rifle, Crossbow, and Binoculars.

Vehicle Mouse Sensitivity - this affects the speed at which you look around while inside a vehicle.

Parachute Mouse Sensitivity - this affects the speed at which you look around while parachuting at the start of a match.

Invert Vertical Look - Self Explanatory
Recommendation: OFF

Toggle ADS - Press Right Click once to stay locked in aim-down sights
Recommendation: OFF

Reduce Input Lag - Reduces the time between performing an action and how long it takes to translates to the game.
Recommendation: ON

Camera - There are three different camera modes in H1Z1
• Classic: the original H1Z1 camera with minimal movement and an over the shoulder zoom
• Dynamic: an action camera that moves along with your camera and has an enhanced zoom
• Static: a hybrid between Classic and Dynamic, minimal camera movement with an enhanced zoom

Recommendation: Classic or Static

Various Joystick settings - used for a controller but not worth using or pursuing.

TRACERS
Tracers allow you to see a visible indication of bullets being fired either from your own gun or shot by enemies. These are particularly useful for learning the directional audio from being shot at AND learning where to place your shots while practicing. Personally, I only use enemy tracers to see where bullets are pathing as I find my own tracers to be distracting and take away from my own gameplay.  

RETICLE/CROSSHAIR SETTINGS
 

Reticle Style - allows you to change between two different types of crosshairs: Classic or Dynamic mode. Classic allows you to choose between 30 different preset reticles. Dynamic mode has only one preset but it’s a reticle that will change fluidly throughout the game during different situations to show accuracy, cone of fire, and reset timing.

 

Classic Reticle Presets:



Reticle Tint R/G/B Sliders - allows you to change the color of your crosshair in-game.
For a red crosshair -    RED: 255 | GREEN: 0 | BLUE: 0
For a white crosshair - RED: 255 | GREEN: 255 | BLUE: 255
For a teal crosshair -   RED: 0 | GREEN: 255 | BLUE: 255

Blocked Shot Icon - Shows a small red marker on your screen when you can’t shoot over objects found through the world.

Classic Hit Feedback - These are the settings to change how your hitmarkers will appear on screen. There are two different options: ON or OFF; however, I prefer to call it Classic or Dynamic.

Classic Feedback ON allows you to have the original hitmarkers introduced in the beginning of the system that are considerably smaller.

Classic Feedback OFF hitmarkers were recently introduced and are much larger and flare up around your crosshair.

HITMARKERS:
There are specific colors to help indicate where on the body your shots are landing:

RED - Indicates that you landed a body shot for full weapon damage

YELLOW - Indicates that you landed a Helmet shot or an Armor shot
(Note: They both have different audio queues.)

WHITE - Indicates that you landed a shot on a vehicle

Here’s an example of each style of hitmarker with both Classic Hit Feedback ON/OFF

Inventory:
Center Inventory - moves the inventory from the left side of the screen to the center
Recommendation: OFF
Scale Inventory - Scales the size of your inventory window with your resolution

HUD & MAP:

Player Names - ON
Minimap - ON
Minimap Center Vertically - OFF
Compass - ON
Compass Points of Interest - OFF
Compass Team Members - ON
Compass Gas Rings - ON
Group Panel Center Vertically - OFF

Personal Settings:
Mouse Sensitivity - 15%
Aiming Mouse Sensitivity - 6%
Scoped Mouse Sensitivity - 10%
Vehicle Mouse Sensitivity - 30%
Parachute Mouse Sensitivity - 30%
Invert Vertical Look - OFF
Toggle ADS - OFF
Reduce Input Lag - ON
Sprint Toggle - OFF
Camera - Classic
Reticle Tint - Red: 255 | Green: 0 | Blue: 0
Classic Hit Feedback - ON
Blocked Shot Icon - OFF
Bullet Tracers - Show Enemies
Reticle Style - Classic
Shotgun Dynamic Reticle - ON
Center Inventory - OFF
Scale Inventory - OFF

Player Names - ON
Minimap - ON
Minimap Center Vertically - OFF
Compass - ON
Compass Points of Interest - OFF
Compass Team Members - ON
Compass Gas Rings - ON
Group Panel Center Vertically - OFF

AUDIO
These settings will affect how audio will work throughout the game - these are basically preference but my recommendation would be to have a high percentage on both Master and Sound Effect Volume. Sound effect volume is basically everything in-game from footsteps, gunshots, vehicle sounds, and so forth.



VOICE CHAT
Self explanatory - Voice chat is used to communicate throughout the game. You can talk throughout two channels: proximity (everyone around you can hear) and team.

KEYBINDINGS

Here are my personal keybinds and the rationale behind each change - only including the non-defaults

Edited March 12 by CaGregorio