If you’re getting tired of the other towns spread across the world of Project Zomboid, maybe you’re ready for the challenges that Louisville has in store for you.
Situated in the northeastern part of the map, Louisville is a huge sprawling city filled with hundreds of homes and buildings that are packed to the brim with loot. Sadly, without using mods you can’t spawn in Louisville from the start of the game, which sort of makes sense. Louisville is an incredibly dangerous area with some of the biggest zombie populations that the game can throw your way. This is why the game views it as a sort of endgame area that you should travel to after you’ve geared up appropriately. Plenty of melee weapons as well as guns will be needed to handle the hordes. And even getting into the city itself will require a sledgehammer that will allow you to take down the barricades that have been set along the highway going into town.
Points of Interest
Just like any of the other towns on the map, Louisville has areas that are more important than others. Finding generic items that can be located in any home is easy enough since there are literally hundreds of homes to look into. This also makes Louisville an excellent place to look for survivor homes that are filled with goodies. I’m talking about the boarded up houses that you will come across that will usually have a few containers that are stocked up with melee weapons and even ranged weapons plus ammo. But besides homes, there are also specialized buildings where you will find much-needed resources, so let’s have a look at some of the best points of interest in Louisville.
Army Checkpoint
This is an area located on the northwestern outskirts of Louisville, and is one of the main entrances to the city. But you shouldn’t just breeze past it after taking down the barricades. Instead, explore the area and you’ll find a bunch of military tents that are filled with guns, ammo, and various types of military gear. There is also an area filled with tents where past survivors tried to live out, which is an excellent place to land a generator. Given that it is not located inside of the city proper, the zombie population should be pretty low, giving you easy access to all the goodies strewn about.
Small Military Checkpoint
Located in the southwestern area of the city, this is a smaller version of the northern checkpoint. There are fewer tents with less loot, but on the other hand, it is a much safer way of getting into Louisville, since there will be very few zombies in your way. Clearing it early in your exploration of Louisville can be very helpful by giving a new entry and exit point that can be kept secure easily.
Southern Shopping Area
This is an area located in the southern part of the city and is basically a row of buildings with a wide variety of shops that you might be interested in looting. There is a Gun Store which even though is rather small is still a decent source of guns and ammo. You will also come across a General Store where you can find a decent amount of food, including canned foods. Further to the right end of this row of buildings is a Hardware Store which is a great source for tools and building materials. You might even get lucky and get your hands on a sledgehammer.
And to top it all off, just at the start of this row of buildings is a gas station which will land you some food items and cigarettes if you’re playing with the Smoker trait. If electricity is already out in your world, luckily this area is surrounded by plenty of homes that have garages. This means you can easily find a generator to power up the gas station so you can have access to its fuel supplies.
Three Fenced Villas
Located on the southern part of Louisville, these three villas might not have any amazing loot within them, but that’s not why they’re special. What is special about them is the surrounding fence that encompasses all three of them, and the only way in is a single path that is also fully fenced. This makes this area an amazing place to base in, with plenty of room to do whatever your heart desires. Walling the entrance is extremely easy with a single gate. And to top it all off, located next to it is a huge gated community where you can go for regular looting runs or to find a better vehicle.
The Grand Ohio Mall
This huge mall can be found in the southeastern most part of the town, with plenty of open ground surrounding it, including a huge parking lot where you can find a huge amount of cars. The only real problem with this entire area is the fact that zombies are basically crawling everywhere. If you’re playing on higher zombie populations this will definitely be one of the most tightly packed areas that you can find on the map. This is why even though there are a ton of stores located inside with some great loot, making your way through this mall will generally be a death sentence.
There is one simple trick though that you can try out. The mall does have a gun store located on the ground floor on the northeastern side of the building. Right behind this gun store there is a corridor that connects multiple stores to an emergency exit. With a sledgehammer in hand you can easily tear a new entry point in the wall of this corridor, giving you access inside the gun store. Keep in mind that you will still be facing plenty of resistance, but you can always run back to the outside area and wait for the zombies to come out one by one and take care of them. Whatever you do though, don’t use any unsilenced guns since you’ll attract the population of a small village to your location in no time.
Louisville Bruiser
Found to the north of the mall on the river bank that runs through the east of Louisville, this building is a literal goldmine. Inside you will find a huge factory that can make an ideal base location. It even has an interior courtyard where you can make a very safe garden. The only real issue is that there are multiple entrances and quite a few windows that need to be barricaded. And if you’re playing by your lonesome it’s a pretty large building, which is why it works best when playing in multiplayer. But the real upside is the fact that it is filled with boxes upon boxes of baseball bats, which are one of the best melee weapons you can find in the game.
Downtown Police Station and Prison
Now we’re getting to a real tough cookie to crack, even though the rewards can outweigh the risk. This Police Station is located right in the middle of the downtown area of Louisville. Given its location, walkers will be swarming from all directions, making entry a tough proposition. Located right next to it though is a fenced area where you can find some reprieve from the zombie hordes. Clearing the area out will be very difficult even for lower populations, so bring plenty of weapons, food, and medical supplies with you. And when the going gets tough always be ready to bug out in a vehicle. If you do manage to clear the ground floor and make your way to the first floor though, you will find the armory which is one of the biggest gun storage areas on the entire map. Just make sure you have a big enough vehicle to haul all of the goodies back to base.
Ready Prep
This interesting building can be found on the northeastern side of the city. Since it’s close to the edge the zombie population should be pretty easy to handle. This is why this is a great spot to hit if you’re looking for some military gear or guns. You will also find plenty of survival equipment like tents or warm winter clothes. If the streets surrounding the buildings are full of walkers, you can make your way through the back door which is located in an alleyway on the northern side of the building.
North Villas
Right on the northern edge of town running alongside the river is a row of luxury homes that are an ideal place to base in Louisville. The only real downside to making a base here is the fact that any trips to the south of the city mean a long haul across zombie-infested areas. All of these villas have unique layouts and if you get lucky one of them might be a survivor house, making it an ideal place to base in since most of it will already be barricaded. And to top it all of, there is also a gas station located on the eastern end of this area to solve all your gas needs.
