With a huge main map that offers countless cities, most players might be a little confused when starting our their Project Zomboid adventures.
When starting out in Project Zomboid, you might be overwhelmed by many things. Whether it’s the amount of options you have at your disposal when setting up a sandbox game or the character traits, there is so much to fiddle with. And then you actually get to start the game and are thrown into a huge and pretty accurate rendition of a part of Kentucky during an imaginary zombie outbreak. And while fending off the endless waves of undead is troublesome in itself, figuring out where to go and what are the best places for loot can be quite the chore. So let’s have a look at the town of Rosewood and try to help you out in navigating it.
General Tips and Tricks
Rosewood is one of the smaller towns available in Project Zomboid, which is a dual-edged blade. While it means less loot and points of interest, it also means a lower zombie population. This is the main reason why Rosewood is one of the best towns to start in, especially if you’re a beginner. Despite being so small, it still has plenty of useful buildings to loot and a few good locations to set up a base. And if you feel like taking on a challenge, it’s also the closest town to the Knox Prison, which can be a great endgame area to try and clear when you’re growing bored of surviving.
Points of Interest
I’m going to give you a simple rundown of important areas in Rosewood that you should definitely check out. You shouldn’t expect all of them to be filled with top-notch loot since RNG is still a big part of this game, but these are generally the spots you should try to clear out ASAP.
Firehouse
The firehouse is located in the western part of Rosewood, and should usually be the first spot that you head over after clearing a few houses in your starting area. Just make sure to first get your hands on a decent weapon to help you clear out the building. With a normal zombie population, you shouldn’t encounter too much resistance, but higher populations might turn this into a zombie party that you should approach with care.
One of the main reasons that this is such a valuable building to loot is the variety of items that can be found. There is a room filled with weapons like fire axes, crowbars, and hammers. It also has a medical room that will generally have some very sought-after medical items like painkillers, beta-blockers, and disinfectant. And last but not least this is the best place to get your hands on some firefighter gear that gives plenty of defensive capabilities at the cost of movement and combat speed. All in all the firehouse is one of the best POIs in Rosewood, and can also work great as a base since it has all the amenities you might need on its upper floor.
Police Station
Located just across the firehouse in the western part of Rosewood, the Police Station should be your second stop. It has an armory located in the back that can be easily accessed as long as you bring a screwdriver and hammer with you to disassemble the door. Or if you’re missing one of those items just use an axe/shovel or some other large weapon and bash it until it goes down. Then just loot all the guns and ammo you can get your hands on. Before leaving this location make sure to check out the locker rooms, since you can find some useful items like duffel bags, holsters, and defensive police gear just to name a few.
Food Market
In the middle of the town, you can find a supermarket that should fix all your food problems. The only real problem here is that quite a few zombies will usually surround it, but as long as you’ve cleared out the firehouse you should have some decent weapons to take them on. There’s not much to say about this place, except that it also has a garage door in the back, meaning you can easily squeeze a vehicle in there for easier looting. Just make sure to close that garage door so you don’t find your car surrounded by a bunch of walkers. And if you’ve cleared the area surrounding it, if you head west on the main street you will come across a bookstore, a medical center, and a smaller Zipee Market that are also worth checking out.
Gas Station
Situated on the eastern part of town right next to the main exit, the Gas Station is definitely a place you need to clear if you want to pack some gas before heading out with your car. Clearing it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, and you will generally find some gas cans inside. If you don’t, you can also check out the Auto Shop that is located to the west, where you should also find some useful car parts and tools.
Elementary School
This building can be found in the southern part of Rosewood, surrounded by a few houses. It’s hard to miss since it’s so big, but that also comes with the caveat of having quite a few crawlers roaming around. The only room you will generally want to loot is the library located on the ground floor which has a ton of books inside. Your best bet is to just sneak your way inside, grab as many books as you can, and then bolt.
Gated Community
Even though this location contains five houses with regular loot, it is an excellent place to make a base. All the houses are surrounded by large fences that can’t be broken down, and you can close up both ends of the street to ensure safety. If you’re playing with friends in multiplayer, it’s even better since you can easily fortify all the houses. The only caveat is that Rosewood is located in the westernmost part of the map, meaning you’ll have to take longer trips for loot in other parts of the map.
