If anyone's having trouble, first build into Attack and skill up in the Attack/Defense/Exp tree. Then while building into Defense; get Heal, Flamestrike, Transmute, Telekinesis in order.
When you start acquiring Viscous Goop and Fractal Cabbages, forge (once every 5 levels) your items with them to get mana/hp regeneration. Troll Poop and Blue Berries provide even better regens. Once in a while, using Decimate or elemental attack modifiers can be of help. Whenever you reach a forge, check the best possible equipment and transmute if needed. Sell the rest of your items for health and mana potions, hp/mana regen materials. Ration your heals according to the hp you get from heals and mana from kills. Recover mana and hp from mobs that deal less damage than you recover (this is why you need to build into defense when getting heal skills). Use Flamestrike to kill mobs that might land another hit for significant damage otherwise (which makes Flamestrike better than Heal for sustain).
lost as athens on normal because i was completely peaceful after defeating the romans
i hoarded all kinds of things but armies and I got to the point where I was growing quite rapidly but getting no generals at the same time
pro tip: do not convert at least two of your generals towards end-game
When you get to the point where you face human enemies, try to get a silenced(spec-ops) assault rifle/automatic (and you will get another one with a different caliber too later on)
they are quite useful late game because of their high accuracy, high burst and quick reloads. clear out hordes of zombies by your explosive weapons late game when things get frantic (don't explode them near you)
pick up all heal and food items and try not consuming the zzz if you don't really need them (they can be crucial to your survival sometimes)
If you guys want a guide for the hard mode:
The first weapons you get are usually (or always, I don't really know)
- a blunt weapon
- a pistol
try abusing the blunt weapon you get early in game. by this you will increase your blunt skill, really useful later on vs armored enemies. try not consuming ammo, as your weapon will call in zombies on you with its sound. try putting more points into endurance skills and the endurance stat to survive more hits and starvation/sleeplessness.
try to find the Sledge, it is found quite easily, and is the best blunt weapon in the game.