Ultimate Dead Rails Beginners Guide

The Wild West is a tough place to survive in, and it's even worse when there are supernatural creatures chasing you. Follow our Dead Rails beginner guide to prepare yourself for your first run and win, both in a team and solo.

How to get Fuel

Your goal is to keep moving in Dead Rails, but the question is how? The first and easiest way to power your train is to buy coal at the safe towns at the General Shop every 10k meters you cross. When starting off a run, make sure to use all the money you have to purchase coal.

However, when you are in a pinch, you should collect the dead bodies (even deader this time) of zombies. You can store them in your bag and bring them over to the train, popping them in the furnace.

Apart from the zombies, there are other items which you'll find in buildings that you can burn for fuel. They are usually labeled with fuel and a lot of these can be found in furniture stores:

• Newspapers
• Chairs
• Books
• Rope
• Wheels

How to Armor Your Train

The best protection for your train are Metal Sheets and Barbed Wire and you should focus these on the locomotive. However, if you don't have any yet, use any item that can be welded down. Chairs and wheels are a great way to block the path to the cab, while newspapers and wanted posters can protect the ladders in the back.

How to Heal

There are three ways you can heal in Dead Rails and two involve stopping at the Doctor's (shocking). Bandages are cheaper and can revive other players, but they won't heal you up to your max health. Snake Oil will heal you up to your max health overtime, but it's more expensive and can't revive others.

The final way to make sure you can heal right at the start is by choosing the Doctor Class. You spawn in with two bandages, two Snake Oils, and you can also revive your teammate by sacrificing half of your Health without the use of a bandage.

How to Farm Money

You can farm money in the first safe town before you even set off on your journey. All you have to do is remain here for several nights while the turrets take out the enemies which spawn. This way you'll get both fuel in the form of zombies and money in the form of vampires and werewolves which you can sell.

Keep in mind that the turrets on the walls have limited ammo, so you can't remain here forever. You can apply this same tactic in the next town over, however.

Apart from this, the easiest way to get more money is to loot valuables. Better items can be found in burning towns as well as in the castles, the two most dangerous locations. Once you have a gun, you should also take on the bandits which are roaming the desert. Once you kill them, make sure to pick up their bodies so that you can get a bounty for them at the Sherriff's. Definitely also grab a horse if you can, since you need any movement speed boost you can get.

How to Survive the Night

The best way to ensure you survive the night in Dead Rails is to get to one of the safe towns at every 10k meters and stay there until morning. This type of gameplay reminds me of 7 Days to Die, where many enemies spawn during the night and are running right at you. At the towns, the turrest will protect you.

However, if you see that you will be stuck outside during the night, hide yourself in the locomotive and use any items you have to block the way on the wagon. If it's zombies that are attacking you, you can battle them, but vampires and werewolves are a little more tricky.

Keep in mind that enemies aren't the only danger to you, the weather is as well. During the night, you can get hit by a lightning strike, so make sure to stay inside, or pick the class with armor protection against it (Priest).

Best Weapon

At the start, the best weapon you can have is the Revolver. With cheapest Ammo, it will definitely do you good in battles with the bandits. Once you have enough money from collecting bounties on bandits, you can buy a better weapon like the Rifle or the Turret.

The good old Shovel is also a great weapon when there aren't many enemies around, especially if they are inside the building. Zombies will glitch through the walls trying to get to you, so you can kill them by hitting their hands.

How to Get Bonds

If you've been in the lobby of Dead Rails then you've most definitely wondered how to get bonds. Since this currency can be used to purchase various equipment as well as classes at the lobby, it's important to know where you can find it.

The best way to farm bonds is to break into the bank vaults in burning towns or find them in the castle. Both of these POIs are dangerous, so you should have at least the Revolver before exploring them. Having at least one other player in your team is a big plus as well (the more of you, the more loot you can carry).

To open the bank vault, you need one of two things. You can either purchase dynamite at the General store and blow the vault open, or you can find the combination. It is on a piece of paper carried around by a zombie in a top hat. Once you kill it, grab the combination and run over to the vault to open it.

Best Classes

If you're doing a solo run, I suggest Ironclad or The Alamo. These are both defensive classes, except the first one protects you with armor, while the second one protects the train with metal sheets and barbed wire. If you are in a team and already have others on Ironclad, then I suggest picking the Doctor.

This class spawns with two bandages (which you can use to revive others), snake oil (to fully heal yourself) and even has the ability to revive teammates by sacrificing half of your health.

How to solo

If you want to make sure you have great equipment, wait out a couple of nights at the first town. Once it's daylight again, collect the corpses that the turrets killed. You'll either be able to sell them (vampires and werewolves), or you can use them as fuel (zombies).

With the money farming strat, you should have enough to stock up on coal as well as get a weapon before you're even set wheel into the desert. If you can handle the beginning battles with a shovel, then I suggest saving your money to purchase the Rifle.

If you are exploring on your own, a good idea is to get a horse as soon as possible, since you waste most of daylight by running to and from your train. A good class for solo is either Ironclad or The Alamo, though I suggest the first one more, since you can use various junk to protect the train.

Keep repeating the town strat while exploring the buildings. You should attempt to explore a burning town, if for nothing else than to check if there is a bank to open up and get bonds.

If you are interested in more about Dead Rails, you can check out All Items in Dead Rails and How to get them here on Pro Game Guides.