Starter Guide

Hey there! This article will hopefully help any newcomers that wish to try out Blackout for the first time and haven't played any games of the similar nature. We'll discuss the very basics and move up from there!
If you haven't already, we highly recommend playing the tutorial that you can freely play for yourself. It'll help you familiarize with the game's systems along with its functionalities. However, it doesn't explain everything that is essential for the player to know, which is what this guide is designed to let you know about!
== Player Status and Afflictions ==
Before we even get to doing anything in the game, I think it's better to see what you're capable of doing, besides dying.Your Health is the most important, since it decides whether you're jumping into a dumpster or a grave. You always start with 100% health, and there are many ways that can make it decrease and increase. Ideally, you'd want to bring a couple of medical items that you can heal yourself with, like a Trauma Pad or a Bandage. Both can save your life in a tense situation.
However, if your health drops down to 0%, you will enter into a downed state. In this state, you'll be at the mercy of whoever has downed you, or whoever has found you on the sidewalk after you've fallen on the ground too hard. People can either revive, carry or execute you.
Your body parts also have their own health bar. They can get damaged in battle, and if they do, they can either be crippled for some time or cut off completely, depending on the weapon used. Your movement will get more impaired with each body part damaged, so make sure to defend yourself to prevent any emergent weaknesses. They can be healed with bandages or Medkits when you're out of combat. 
Your Stamina is also important, considering that you'll use it quite a lot. It is used for performing parkour, running to locations, and attacking with melee weapons. Your stamina regenerates at a faster rate out of combat than when you're in combat, so it's best to watch your stamina whenever you're in combat to not exhaust yourself so easily.
The little bar that is besides your limb health indicates your jump cooldown. The more you jump in rapid succession, the longer the cooldown will be for jumping, so conserve your jumps if you can! The cooldown can be reset if you stop jumping for about half a second.
Your Thirst and Hunger meters are there for your survival, life will only be harder if you don't take care of yourself. If you become dehydrated, you'll suffer a significant stamina regeneration reduction which could be detrimental to your movement. If you become famished, you'll suffer a significant health regeneration reduction, which could be detrimental to your survival if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time.
== Currency and Stash ==
Getting cash in this game is imperative, as most of what you will need to thrive in the district needs to be paid with money. There are many ways to get cash, through both non-violent and violent ways:
* Looting various containers
* Looting corpses, killing high bounty players and turning in their bounty cards to Brokers
* Turning in Valuables to Brokers
* Completing certain tasks
During your looting, you may have lots of cash to deposit in for safekeeping, or you might've found a rare item that you may deem important to save for later. This is where the stash system comes in! You can access your stash with terminals scattered around the map. By accessing the terminal, you can withdraw or deposit both cash and items. There isn't a limit to how much cash can be deposited in your stash, but your items still have weight that you need to consider. The default limit is 25(?), which goes up by 2 every time you level up. Armor pieces takes up 1-2 space in your stash, so consider what you want to keep and sell. 
Never forget to exchange your valuables for cash, especially when you're coming out of high value raid locations. You don't want to lose tens of thousands of unconverted cash.
== Experience, Gun levels, and Combat ==
In order to progress in the game, you will have to earn experience by performing various actions, like opening containers, killing players or NPCs, and much more. Progressing is fairly difficult, as gaining EXP is not as fast as you may think. Because of the wide variety and availability of found weapons, killing players for EXP has become a standard. The best way to gain exp is to do daily and weekly missions, which can be seen by pressing a button around the leaderboard. Ask a friend to help you with some missions if you don't want to feel the wraith of a high level player.
Gun levels have a different system of leveling to player EXP. Shooting and killing humans increases your weapon exp at a faster rate than your exp. 
== Locations and Keycards ==
The Red, Blue, Orange, Green, and Purple keycards can open doors that require their respective keycard. They can be obtained by killing military NPCS or finding it in Cargo Ambush & Green keycard crates. 
Purple Keycards are the most common cards. Purple cards can be used to open Military Outpost to escape, unlock the shipping containers and certain rooms in Metro Station, and unlock the airdrop.
The Green Keycard is used for activating the Metro Station Lockdown, which has a chance of giving you more cards and gear.
The Blue Keycard the least rare out of the four main cards is used for opening the bunker. You need 2 cards to enter and exit the bunker.
The Red Keycard the rarest out of the four is used in the bunker. It can be used to either open the red keycard room for contraband weapons or on the console to start the Wave Defense for Operator Gear parts.
The Orange Keycard is used to open the Laboratory. The Laboratory can give you lots of cash, gear, and mid-high level weapons.
== Priority List ==
As a beginner, you're going to want to get some priorities on things you'll need to progress:
=== Levels ===
As a beginner, you won't have much access to important items at merchants and brokers, hence levelling up should be a priority, the best way to level is to complete your daily and weekly challenges, as they provide a large amount of XP and Cash.
=== Currency ===
When you're new to the game, you start with 10k in stash, this isn't a lot, as most decent weapons in the game range from 2k to 4k in cost, hence, you'll need to make some more money, as previously mentioned, challenges give you a good amount of money to start off with, however, there are other more profitable means of earning some dough, such as:
==== Laboratory Raid ====
Labs can be found all around the map, and are opened using an Orange Keycard, it should be noted that the lab is filled with toxic gas, hence it's recommended to bring two or more gas masks, once you're inside, you'll be met with a number of Military NPCs, it's advised to bring in good weapons to handle them. After you kill them all, loot the crates, as they contain powerful weapons, large amounts of valuables, and both Green Flare Guns and Red Flare Guns. Be alert of people camping the exit on your way out.
==== Tasks: ====
Missions from a Broker are profitable too, and can boost your influence and reputation depending on the mission, the two main types of missions that you can profit from are Access Denied, and Faction Raid missions on either the Vulture Warehouse, or Rebel Hideout. Access denied however is an extremely difficult mission, preferring end game players, for now, it should be avoided. The faction raid missions on the other hand are relatively easy, and pay 25,000 each time.
Wellbeing: Keep your head up! Remember to take a break once in a while, and do not quit, you can do it!
==Frequently Asked Questions==
* I keep getting killed for no reason, why is everyone so aggressive? 
** The game rewards players that have a very hostile playstyle, you will unfortunately be a target no matter what you do. Gather your friends to help you out with surviving in the district, teamwork is invaluable. 
*Why are Merchants and Brokers not in spots I usually find them in?
**Merchants and Brokers change spots depending on the server that you are in. Terminals will not change locations.
*Why can't I use certain items in beginner servers? 
*Some items, like the Orange Keycard used for the Laboratory are disabled in beginner servers. This might be to counteract getting extremely great gear and weaponry, these are all just predictions. 
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