Can you survive a zombie bite? ZA-Z's hidden Immune System
Yes, on ZA-Z a zombie bite is not always the end. The moment you are infected, the server secretly rolls your immune strength: a 25% base chance to fight the Knox virus off, up to 50% if you are Resilient, healthy, fed and rested, down to 15% if you are Prone to Illness. There is no meter and no message. Winners still get the full fever; once it peaks, the virus only falls back while you nurse yourself (resting indoors, fed and watered), and only if you nurse it faster than it grows. Losers get the normal course and turn.
#What are my odds of surviving a zombie bite?
| You | Chance |
|---|---|
| Everyone starts at | 25% |
| Resilient trait | +10 |
| Prone to Illness trait | -10 |
| At 80% health or more | +5 |
| Fed (hunger under 30%) | +5 |
| Rested (fatigue under 40%) | +5 |
| Cap | 50% |
It is one roll per infection, made in the first in-game minute after you are infected, so the damage from the bite itself counts against the health bonus. Any real zombie infection gets a roll: a bite, or a scratch or laceration that carried the virus. Clear one infection and the next gets a fresh roll.
#How does the zombie infection run on ZA-Z?
Infection starts a hidden timer of 2 to 3 in-game days (48 to 72 in-game hours, 6 to 9 real hours). Resilient stretches it by 25%, Prone to Illness shortens it by 25%. The infection climbs steadily from 0 to 100% over that time, and 100% kills you.
Your health drains as it climbs. At any point your health cannot sit above this:
| Infection | Highest health you can have |
|---|---|
| 50% | 94% |
| 70% | 76% |
| 85% | 48% |
| 95% | 19% |
#What happens if my immune system wins?
- The rise. You get the full course, fever and all, up to a hidden peak rolled between 60% and 85% of the way to death.
- The fight. Past the peak, what you do every in-game minute decides which way it goes (see nursing, below).
- The clear. Once it drops under 2%, the virus is gone completely: the same clean result as a Knox Antidote. The wound stays.
- The weakness. For 48 in-game hours (6 real hours) after, you tire faster (about 7% more fatigue every in-game hour) and your endurance is capped at 55%, so you cannot sprint for long. Then you are back to normal.
#What does nursing mean?
Every in-game minute of the fight, the server scores how well you are looking after yourself:
| You are | Score |
|---|---|
| Asleep, or sitting (on the ground, a chair or a couch) | 0.40 |
| Indoors | 0.20 |
| Fed (hunger under 35%) | 0.15 |
| Watered (thirst under 35%) | 0.15 |
| Not tired (fatigue under 60%) | 0.10 |
| Perfect | 1.00 |
Running, sprinting or swinging a weapon throws that away: while you exert yourself, the infection climbs an extra 10 points per in-game hour. Reaching 100% is still death, win or no win.
#How fast does the infection go away?
Slowly, and not for everyone, because the virus keeps its own clock running while you fight it.
- The virus climbs 100 divided by your timer in hours, every in-game hour: 1.4 to 2.1 points on a normal timer, 1.1 to 1.7 if you are Resilient, 1.9 to 2.8 if you are Prone to Illness.
- Nursing pushes it back by your score times your peak, divided by 48, every in-game hour. At a perfect score that is 1.25 points (peak 60%) to 1.77 points (peak 85%).
The infection only falls when the push beats the climb:
| Survivor | Timer | Peak | Net change per in-game hour, perfect nursing | Peak to clear |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resilient, long timer | 90 h | 85% | down 0.66 points | about 126 in-game hours (16 real hours) |
| Average, long timer | 72 h | 85% | down 0.38 points | about 218 in-game hours (27 real hours) |
| Average, short timer | 48 h | 85% | up 0.31 points | never |
| Prone to Illness | 36 to 54 h | 85% | up 0.08 points at best | never |
So a win pays off only with a long timer and a late peak, and every point below a perfect score slows it further. Where the push cannot win, nursing still slows the climb and buys you time to find a cure. Resilient is the trait that matters most here: +10 on the roll and a 25% longer timer.
#How do I know if I'm winning?
You don't get told. Watch your moodles: if the fever and sickness level off and start to fade while you rest, eat and drink indoors, your body is winning. If they keep getting worse however well you rest, it is not. You cannot see your timer or your peak, so do everything right from the first minute: get inside, eat, drink, sit or sleep, and do not run.
#The Immune System and the Knox Antidote
- The Knox Antidote clears the virus at any stage, instantly, win or lose. Drink it mid-fight and the fight ends there: no weakness afterwards, but 24 in-game hours of pain instead.
- If your roll failed, or you climbed back to 100% after a win, the antidote is your only way out. It is rare Loot: hunt the fridges of hospitals, clinics and pharmacies.
- Antibiotics do nothing against the Knox virus.
- Some zombies hit harder than others. A Knox Heavy wound does four times the damage, and the infection rules are the same.