Antidote ZDC is the colloquial name for a one-off event that was available for Halloween 2021. ZDC as a term stands for Zombie Dead City. This should not be confused with the standard ZDC mode that has been present since Christmas 2021 (the event directly after this one). The developers originally explained this mode as ZBR on the Dead End City map, going as far as to advertise "Zombie Royale is here!!" in the banner for the event—even despite this being a change to Monster Royale and not Zombie Royale.
This would be the mode to pioneer the term "ZDC" before its proper use for the standard ZDC mode. The term came from the server name "ZOMBIE_DEAD_CITY" in the region options, as well as the temporary testing link prior to the event's release: https://warbrokers.io/zdc. As players got warmed up to the new phrase, the interpretations behind it would be later defined by the standard ZDC mode with its Vehicle Escort roots. Because of the developed meaning behind the term, players have retroactively referred to this mode as Antidote ZDC or similar terms including: Antidote Rush, Antidote Mode, and Halloween 2021.
The premise of the mode was to collect seven antidotes that would drop around the map in order to save humanity. Unlike the ZBR events prior killing enemies was not a win condition, neither was it a requirement by proxy due to their efforts to stop you. As this was a movement-focused mode, ignoring enemies was very easy to do and often encouraged to be safer. Safe zones would switch locations rather than get gradually smaller, keeping players on their feet to avoid taking too much damage from the gas. Some players liken this mode to a crude implementation of Package Drop with the delivery step removed.
Rules[]
- 15½ minute rounds
- No vehicles
- Survival setting with PvE (Player vs Environment)
- No natural health regeneration
- Players start with nothing and must loot for their weapons, ammo, and other gear and items
- Duo partners are available from lobby
- Players cannot harm one another and are one big team even if marked on minimap like enemies
- Upon initiation of a match, 2 mins are given for players to join and loot
- Survive seven waves, each with four phases
- An antidote is dropped every wave
- Each wave lasts for 2 mins
- The round ends after the end of wave 7
- Players will have a partial victory if they are alive at the end, and a full victory if they have all 7 Antidotes
Waves[]
Players must survive seven waves of enemies. Each wave will provide an air drop with an Antidote. Antidotes are client-side, meaning there is an antidote for each player; other antidotes cannot be seen or interacted with by others. Players must find their own antidotes.
Before the waves begin, an initiation stage is started to allow players to join and prepare before the actual round begins. This is a two minute period that begins as soon as the first player has joined the server. Up to 11 players may join during this stage (for a maximum of 12). The entire map is open for players to loot weapons and equipment. The later a player joins, the more of a disadvantage they will have due to the smaller time to prepare. Luckily not much is needed for preparation since there isn't a combat need.
As the countdown reaches 0:00, players can no longer join the match and the round will properly begin. "Move to the white circle!!!" will show on screen as the seven waves ensue. Each wave has four phases, each lasting 30 seconds. Upon conclusion of a wave the text "Wave x Complete!!!" will come up. The round will immediately end at the conclusion of Wave 7 Phase 4.
Phase 1[]
This phase is skipped in Wave 1.
The previous safe zone is cleared and the gas is removed from the map. A new safe zone is prepared. An airdrop is sent in that contains a few items, similar to Battle Royale, and will let off red flare smoke at its location. An Antidote per player is included among the dropped items, but may not directly be next to the flare smoke.
Phase 2[]
This phase is very lackluster, with nothing of note happening. It allows players a chance to complete their journeys and get properly set up in the safe zone. If not much travel time was needed, players may begin to hunt for their antidote. It's a good time to restock from nearby crates if time allows it.
In Wave 1, an air drop is prepared in this phase instead.
Phase 3[]
The gas warning horn goes off as the gas fills the entire map except the safe zone. Any enemies that did not travel to the safe zone will be killed by the gas, ready to be respawned locally. Gas travels linearly to perfectly reach the safe zone in 30 seconds flat. If a safe zone is closer to a border of the map, that side will fill with gas much slower compared to the side with a larger area for gas to fill.
Phase 4[]
Players must survive the lockdown as the gas persists. Enemies will constantly respawn from nearby points and fill the safe zone. These may be smoke stacks, cranes, or other high points. If a player has not collected their antidote by this stage, they may struggle to reach it with the hordes of enemies present.
Antidotes[]
Due to the dense green fog present, visibility is so low that players may not immediately see the smoke signaling the location of an airdrop. Players should make their way around the circle to identify the smoke while not forgetting to look up for roofs and crane arms that the air drop could have landed on. Upon identifying an airdrop, players should note its surroundings as antidotes may not be directly next to the package as the content rolled out of it.
Antidotes have a few features that help to identify their location should they stray from the immediate area of the airdrop's package. They let off a faint beeping sound and have a red light that faintly glows on their lids (a similar glow to that of a red glowing eye). Players should not be surprised to find their antidote high on a roof/ledge above the package, or down below on the ground below a building's roof when searching around the area of the airdrop. If there was a chance a package fell from above or for contents to have rolled down, players should investigate.
The most troublesome drop locations tend to be in the middle of water where there are no visuals for the exact location of the Antidote. Making use of the beeping is particularly important for these locations. A typical strategy seen is to open the inventory with Tab and running around the general vicinity of the airdrop and beeping until the Antidote comes up in the nearby ground items. From here players can drag or right click the Antidote to bring it into their inventory. What makes this location particularly stressful is the large open space that can leave the player exposed to enemies.
Once spawned, Antidotes do not disappear. While this does mean that it may be possible to return to an Antidote later, players should aim to collect their Antidotes as soon as possible. Not only is it often safer because of the lower density of enemies early on, but it also gives players more time to focus on traveling to the next safe zone. Some safe zones are particularly far apart and require traveling close to three phases to reach. Time is precious. There is also no room for error when the round ends immediately at the end of Wave 7 Phase 4. Additionally, the red flare smoke to help find the general location of an Antidote will disappear at the end of the wave.
When collected, a pop-up at the top of the screen will briefly show how many Antidotes the player has collected. The number of Antidotes can always be checked from the player's inventory. At the end of Wave 7 all surviving players will win the game. Players who survived with less than seven antidotes will be shown a losing message but will be rewarded a win to their stats.
Enemies[]
Antidote ZDC inherited the standard five enemies from Monster Royale (ZBR): Skeleton, Frankenstein, Vampire, Goblin, and Witch. The Goblin and Witch both lost their ranged attacks, becoming fellow melee enemies with nothing of note (like Skeletons).
It's unclear how many enemies there were in total. Due to the limit of 12 players, it could be inferred that 50 enemies could be encountered at once to round nicely just below the limit of 64 entities. This number may have scaled down with less players present. The distribution of enemies was equal. This could mean that up to 10 of each enemy variant was seen.
| Monster | Aspect | Details | Weapon | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skeleton |  |
Nothing of note | Fists | ~23 |
| Frankenstein |  |
35% damage reduction | Fists | ~25 |
| Vampire |  |
Triple jump height | Fists | ~23.5 |
| Goblin | |
Nothing of note | Fists | ~24 |
| Witch | |
Nothing of note | Fists | ~22 |
Interestingly the damage each enemy dealt was slightly different, but hovered around 23.
Rewards[]
There are 10* rewards that could be earned, each of which can only be earned one at a time; this means a player needed to play at least 10 rounds to obtain all cosmetics.
Players did not need to survive with their antidotes to earn the rewards. Both winning or dying with the required number of Antidotes would reward the player, working from the lowest requirement rewards going up. This meant that even winning with all 7 Antidotes would reward players with the cosmetic for 1 Antidote if this was their first reward. Rewards were given in this order:
- One or more earned a player the Head Bolts [Frankenstein] accessory.
- Two or more earned the Witch Nose [Witch] accessory.
- Three or more earned the Black Cape [Vampire] accessory.
- Four or more earned the Witch Hat [Witch] accessory.
- Five or more earned the Frankenstein skin [Frankenstein].
- Five or more after Frankenstein earned the Vampire skin [Vampire].
- Six or more the earned the Frankenstein head [Frankenstein].
- Six or more after Frankenstein earned the Vampire head [Vampire].
- Six or more after Vampire earned the Witch head [Witch].
- Winning with all seven earned the Candy Corn Weapon Skin for various weapons.
*The final reward is a skin texture for multiple weapons, leading to 10 rewards but more than 10 individual cosmetics.
Strategy[]
Dead City Map
Unlike ZBR, Antidote ZDC relies players to be quick on their feet. The win condition is to stay alive, with the objective of item retrieval. Killing enemies is not required. Rather than getting distracted looting crates and buildings to find more ammo and weapons, it is suggested that players keep an eye on their map and timer. Gas deals a deadly 59 damage per tick and advances very fast—being caught out by gas outside the safe zone is the main cause of death for players. Towards the end of the looting phase before Wave 1 begins, players are strongly advised to head for the center of the map instead of continuing to loot. This will leave players with plenty of time to move to the first safe zone without having to travel across the whole map. Being at either end of the map can bring the risk of dying to gas if the first safe zone is at the opposite end.
Players should never be afraid to be low on supplies as it is entirely possible to win with nothing. The biggest killer is gas. For players looking to travel from one end of the map to the other, the large body of water in the middle can be deadly. Players should avoid going through the water as the loss in speed is worse off than the time it takes to go around on land. If the direction of travel is Southward, the boats may be considered as a route if players are comfortable with their parkour. Falling from the boats into the water can be fatal. It is not recommended to take the boats across if traveling Northward unless starting from the boat halfway across the bridge. To help compensate for the travel time in going all the way around the water, players may consider positioning themselves on the edge of a circle closest to the bridge or road either side of the water.
Using the map is crucial to survive. Players should always be aware of where they are in relation to the safe zone while keeping an eye on the timer. It may be smart to look to the North and have the map open as a wave ends. This will help them identify their bearings faster and see exactly where to go. Marking the safe zone by right-clicking the enlarged map also may be helpful; the mark will appear on the compass as well as the minimap. As long as players begin to move immediately as a wave begins, every single safe zone is possible to reach in time.
Enemies run roughly as fast as the player but tend to have difficulties with obstacles. Players can easily lose them by jumping over fences, running through doorways, or cutting corners around a building. There is never a need to slow down to kill enemies if players are smart with the obstacles around them. When possible, players should make every segment of travel as straight as possible (the most direct route). Enemies usually will not be able to catch up. When inside safe zones, players may consider camping out high on ladders and high ground that keep the player out of reach from the hordes of enemies below. High ground can be a double-edge sword though as a lot of monsters will easily spot the player and gather around. Depending on the location, there may not be much of a safe space to jump down to. Where possible it is often better to hide indoors. Some safe zones such as by the caravan park may not provide much in terms of safe hiding spots and high ground. In these locations the best strategy is to keep running and jumping—constant parkour between and on/off caravans will throw monsters off players' trails. Smoke Grenades are also a good support if a player has any on hand.