The H1Z1 virus devastated mankind and left nothing but death and destruction in its wake and a world nearly empty of human life where the remnants of humanity are in a fight against extinction against those infected with the virus.

It’s been 15 years since H1Z1 was first encountered and what’s left of the world before is overrun with the Infected. Humanity has been reduced to hiding in the shadows, searching desperately for food and water and anything that can help to survive even for another day. But the Infected aren’t the only dangers in the world. Everyday life in the Apocalypse means dealing with all kinds of wild animals and the brutality of other survivors, as well as finding your next meal and a safe place to sleep. It also means scavenging or crafting anything that can help you live just one more day.

The Big Damn Patch for H1Z1 has arrived, bringing with it a slew of bug fixes and new features. The update includes a new male character model, which is designed to utilize the upcoming wearable system that will give players more customization options to their appearance, including face, glove and feet slots for characters. Additionally, players can now explore the revamped Dam area, comprised of an all-new interior to scavenge and upgraded exterior design.

Additional new content in the update includes: 

• R380 Pistol -  a small pocket pistol available in .380 caliber that boasts a high fire rate but minimal stopping power
• Workbenches - used to create specific recipes as well as to convert ammo into other types of ammo, workbenches can be found in the world or crafted and placed
• Updated Pickup Truck Interior - more details and improvements have been made to the interior of the pickup truck
• Revised Crude Map - grid locations have been added to help friends find each other more quickly and easily
• Continued anti-cheat and bug fixing efforts, and more!  

Patch Notes:

• New Male character model is available
• The Dam area has been given a major overhaul.
• Battle Royale starting area has been updated.
• Current Grid position is now shown on-screen(like BR). Hand drawn map has basic grid markers.
• Added a new equip slot for the face
• Fixed Bug - player will now exit a vehicle towards the same side on which they are seated.
• Fixed bug where player could sometimes get injured when moving off a rock.
• Fixed a lot of erroneous terrain bugs that have caused objects to float including cars, campsites and other smaller objects
• Added a small improvement to placing free placed items, preventing them from being able to clip through walls.
• Server optimizations made to the body sim
• Zombies will now wear the lootable hats and helmets they have in their inventory. They will carry weapons. Note: They do not the wear lootable shirts or pants yet.
• Pickup Truck first person interior has been enhanced.
• R380 pistol added to game, it is a high fire rate, low caliber pocket pistol. The R380 can be found in BR and around the world in the core game.
• 12GA Shotgun damage increased.

Zombie Spawn Changes

• Made zombie total population based on player population, to keep low-pop servers from getting completely overrun. This does not include the current wandering hordes (which are accounted for outside this number). On a server full of players, the total number of zombies is unchanged.
• Biased zombie spawns toward areas with more player heat, and more items, so that cities, camps and player firefights have the highest rate of zombie spawns, and the wilderness areas have less.
• Made the spawned zombies that occur in player spawn areas biased more toward low-speed shamblers, so that new players (with no weapons) can more easily run away.

Workbenches, Ammo Conversion, Gun Dismantling, and You

• Workbenches can be found in the world or crafted and placed. If you are close enough to the workbench you will be able to use it to create specific recipes. You don’t actually interact with the workbench at this time, you just need to have it in your proximity. It can be used to convert ammo into other types of ammo, break down guns into gun repair kits, or to create some of the existing recipes that would be too difficult to do by hand.
• Any type of ammunition can be broken down into “Gun Components”. Each bullet or shell will give you 1 Bullet Component. You can then use 2 Bullet Components to make any other type of ammunition.
• Guns can be dismantled into “Gun Parts”. Larger guns will give more gun parts. You can then use three gun parts to create a “Gun Repair Kit”. This repair kit can be used on weapons to repair them. Currently this will repair any weapon, but in the future it will be restricted to guns only.
• Metal crafting recipes will now require a workbench to create. This includes the recipes for Metal Sheets, Metal Pipes, Machete, Combat Knife, Bear Trap, Landmine, IED, and the above mentioned conversion recipes for ammo and guns.

In H1Z1 every minute of every day is borrowed time and fearing for your life… unless you are the Danger, but life can and will go on… even in circumstances as dire as this. Humanity has not given in to the Infected.

There are still pockets of humanity and the fight goes on!

H1Z1 is a persistent MMO so there will be a thriving economy, which means that apart from crafting there will also be trading. SOE will be giving players the tools to make their own towns, camps and defenses, and decide how to set up their base (which is in the world, not instanced). Player Studio will be included so expect player-created items to make their way into the game.