Exploring the world of Project Zomboid is a big part of the game and figuring out where to go can prove quite tricky when starting out.
To help players who are new to Project Zomboid, I’ve tried to bring to light every city in the game and what areas in each of them are worth your time. Since clearing out zombies can be quite the hassle, knowing which places to hit for loot is a very useful skill to have. So let’s talk about the town of West Point and what makes it tick.
West Point is located on the eastern side of the map on the bank of the one river that courses through the map. It’s located to the south of Riverside and is a much larger town with more buildings for you to explore. As far as the zombie population goes, it’s one of the more dangerous towns in the game, with a pretty large amount of walkers to deal with. This is why knowing where to go and which areas are most useful to clear is tantamount to success when exploring this town. Regarding spawning in West Point, if you don’t feel comfortable with the game yet, maybe consider a different town. Spawning here should only be tried when you feel confident in your skills.
Points of Interest
Every town has plenty of buildings filled to the brim with loot in Project Zomboid, but not all of them are created equal. Your chances of finding certain items in a random house are generally low, since most houses will have a bit of food, clothes, books and maybe a few tools or weapons in the garage. This is why learning the location of certain buildings in West Point will give you a better chance of gearing up for the later stages of the game when zombie populations start becoming a real issue. So let’s take a look at some of the more interesting buildings you should be checking out in West Point.
School
Like the rest of the schools found throughout the map, this is a huge area with plenty of rooms that have a ton of useful furniture that can be moved around. General loot will mostly consist of a ton of books and different types of office supplies. Among the office supplies, you should keep in mind that certain items that seem innocuous can be quite useful. For example, paper clips might seem useless but they can be used to setup fishing rods instead of using nails which have other more important uses.
The school in West Point is located in the northern part of the town and is surrounded by regular houses. This can also make it an excellent place to create a base, especially in multiplayer for a larger group of people.
Hardware Store
Located right on the northern edge of the town center, the Hardware Store is a very useful place to loot. And it’s also pretty safe to do so if you make good use of your Stealth skill and sneak from the northwest where a little patch of trees is located. Here you will find an assortment of building materials and tools, with a small chance of getting your hands on a sledgehammer. Since it is very close to the center of West Point, you should focus on checking out this building early in your run since the amount of zombies will boom in the later stages of the game.
Giga Mart
Situated right on the southern exit of West Point, the Giga Mart is obviously the best place to loot if you’re in need of food. The only real problem to achieving this is the huge parking lot surrounding it. This makes it pretty hard to sneak around the area since there’s not a lot of hard cover to use, making it easier for zombies to spot you and start heading in your direction. In any run this place should definitely be on your checklist, since getting your hands on some food with a long shelf life is always an important part of your survival.
Gun Shop
While not the largest Gun Shop that can be found on the map, this one does have the benefit of being located on the southeastern edge of the town. This makes clearing the area around it rather easy since there won’t be a lot of zombies. The real issue though is getting inside of the building, since it has secured gates on all the windows and the entrance. These can be taken down with a sledgehammer (if you managed to find one) or set on fire from adjacent tiles. If you decide to try the fire method just make sure you have a fire extinguisher handy to put the fire out as soon as it burns down one of the fences, since it will quickly spread and burn everything down alongside the weapons and ammo.
As an extra boon for this location, there is also a Twiggy’s bar located right next to it which is a great source for some booze. And don’t forget that bottles of bourbon can also be used as a disinfectant in a pinch.
Large Warehouse
Located on the southeastern edge of town, this Large Warehouse has all the loot you might expect from such a POI. There will be a ton of building materials like planks and nails as well as plenty of tools. Who knows, you might get lucky and nab yourself a sledgehammer. And since this building is on the outskirts of town, clearing it should generally be no issue. Right next to it there is also a storage lot that should also be easy to clear, giving you extra chances of finding some great loot. The only downside to the storage lot is that you never know what you’re going to get, since every locker will be randomized.
