The Complete Builds, Skills, and Items Guide (Alpha 19)

Overview

Having trouble choosing a build? Look no further. Through this guide, we will talk about every Attribute and its related perks, as well as their arsenal, playstyle, and viability. Navezgane awaits!

Introduction

Since A17, 7 Days to Die has been updated to have a revitalized skilltree and perk loadout. There are five attributes in the game; Perception, Strength, Fortitude, Agility, and Intellect. Each tree has its own unique set of perks, as well as having a unique playstyle and weapon set. Several skilltrees can be used together to create a stronger, more versatile build.

This guide is subject to change as new updates release.

Skilltree Calculator

Need some assistance measuring what you want in a build? Use the Skilltree Calculator below for a visualizer of the 7 Days to Die skills system. The Calculator shows you every skill in the game, its requirements, and how high of a player level you need to unlock all chosen skills (including the four you get from the tutorial quest).

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Most Recent Update: A19

Disclaimer: I did not create this skilltree calculator. The ownership of this site belongs to its respective creator.

The Perception Skilltree

One shot, many kills. The Perception Skilltree focuses on precision and high-damage shots, while keeping a secure distance away from enemies. Perception builds quickly eliminate single targets, while clearing out hordes with explosives and penetrating shots. Out of combat, the Perception Skilltree assists in lockpicking, avoiding traps, salvaging, tracking animals, and getting the best out of loot.

Perception starts at Level 1. As the Perception Tree is leveled up, the headshot damage and dismember chance of rifles, explosives, and spears is increased. Headshot damage starts at 200%, and each level increases it by +10% (+15% for levels 9 and 10), up to a maximum of +300% at level 10. Dismemberment chance starts at 5%, and each level increases it by +5%, up to a maximum of 50% at level 10.

As Perception level increases, so does the amount of skillpoints required. Levels 2-5 cost one point, levels 6-8 cost two, and levels 9-10 cost three. Perception can be increased by one level for free with Shades, an uncommon clothing item.

Perception – Combat Perks

– Boom, Headshot. Improves the overall effectiveness of rifles. Each level increases damage, reload speed, weapon handling, and crafting quality, decreases stamina usage while aiming, and unlocks a unique ability: killstreaks.

Killstreak Ability – Precision is power! The first kill with rifles grants a +10%/+20%/+30% damage bonus, with each subsequent kill giving you an additional +10% damage bonus, up to a maximum of 3 stacks. The bonus is lost after a 5s duration, and this timer is reset upon each new kill.

Handling – Increases the rate at which your accuracy stabilizes (reaches its highest value) before and after firing.

– EXPLOOOSIOONS! Improves the combat potential of all explosives, such as grenades, pipe bombs, and the rocket launcher. Each level increases damage, reload speed, handling, stun chance, and dismemberment chance, while unlocking several crafting recipes and improving quality.

Stun Chance – Increases the chance of stumbling an enemy, lowering their attack and movement speed. Stuns gradually wear off overtime, and grant enemies stun resistance after its duration.

Cripple Chance – Increases the odds of maiming an enemy, greatly decreasing their movement speed for a short duration. Especially effective on feral and irradiated zombies, who sprint as their default speed.

Dismember Chance – Increases the odds of severing a limb on an enemy. Decapitations are instant kills. Armless zombies have decreased attack strength and range. Legless zombies are slowed to a crawl. Tougher enemies have dismember resistance. The dismember chance from the Perception Tree itself and the Demolitions Expert perks stack, totaling to a maximum of 95% dismember chance on weak zombies.

Handling – Increases the rate at which your accuracy stabilizes (reaches its highest value) before and after firing.

– Sharp sticks and metal pokeys. Increases the melee damage and thrown velocity of spears, as well as their crafted quality. Does not increase thrown spear damage!

– Out the slim end. Applies armor piercing on all firearms and spears. Improves the effectiveness of Armor Piercing rounds. The Target Penetration bonuses will only work if you are using AP 7.62 ammo!

Target Penetration – By default, an Armor Piercing round can penetrate one enemy with a maximum health of 250HP. After penetration, the bullet will continue its line of fire, dealing the same amount of damage it normally would. Each rank upgrade will increase the number of targets an AP round can go through, as well as the total HP absorbed.

Bug – As of now, target HP does not matter. A bullet will penetrate through any enemy, no matter their health. The number of maximum targets does still matter.

Perception – Looting/Tracking Perks

– A thief’s best friend. Unlocks lockpick crafting and improves lockpicking overall.

Lockpicking – By holding E on a locked container, you can select the option to Lockpick the container. Lockpicking takes 15-20s (depending on the container size), and has a chance to break a lockpick.

– The solid choice for crooks looking to stay in one piece. Decreases damage taken from landmines, and increases the detonation delay of traps. Comes in handy for points of interest and creating your own traps.

Landmines are Mine – You can pick up landmines that were placed by you, or ones that were generated by points of interest. Very useful if you intend on laying traps.

– Hunting wabbits. Grants the ability to track animals. After crouching for three seconds, the perk activates for 20 seconds, and all nearby animals are displayed on the compass. Crouching again refreshes the timer. Each new rank keeps the previous rank’s benefits.

– All that glitters is gold. Improves the quality and speed of looting. Loot bonus affects the gamestage loot for all containers you open. You will tend to find higher tier and higher quality items.

– Where the hell is that damn chest?! Grants a heightened ability to find treasure chests, as well as improving the loot inside of them.

Diggy Diggy – By default, once the player removes 10 blocks within a treasure chest, the given radius of the chest decreases by 1 meter. This helps determine the precise location of a chest. The Treasure Hunter perk decreases the number of blocks required to decrease the radius.

– Shy cars are patched. Again. Increases the efficiency and resource gain of salvaging with wrenches, ratchets, and impact drivers. Unlocks salvage tool crafting and improves their quality with each rank.

Salvaging Basics – Mechanical and electrical devices such as cars, lights, panels, machine parts, and monitors can be salvaged using wrenches, ratchets, or impact drivers. You will know when an object is salvagable by a unique tool animation. Depending on what you salvage, you can find mechanical parts, electrical parts, forged iron and steel, engines, batteries, and more.

Perception – Weapons

– The Perceptionist’s main weapon of choice are high-caliber, long range sniper rifles. Rifles take 7.62 ammunition, and deal some of the highest damage per shot in the game. Rifles are very accurate when aimed, but are less wielded when hip fired.

– Unlocked: Dead Eye Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 52-96 Damage, 1 Clip Size, 114-126 Rounds/min (Fast), 56-84m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 136-384 Durability, 2.7s Reload
– The Hunting Rifle is a fairly common weapon, that can be found in early game loot. While its damage is sufficient enough to kill most animals and zombies in one headshot, it only holds one bullet, and has a fairly long reload.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 50-91 Damage, 4-6 Mag Size, 142-157 Rounds/min (Fast), 48-72m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 160-480 Durability, 2.5s Reload
– The Marksman Rifle is a considerable improvement. Though the Hunting Rifle has a greater average damage and range, the Marksman is superior in its fire rate, magazine size, and moddability.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 54-99 Damage, 11-13 Mag Size, 133-147 Rounds/min (Fast), 56-84m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, Very High Aim Accuracy, 200-600 Durability, 2.5s Reload
– The Sniper Rifle was added in the Alpha 19 Experimental. As of its current stats, it is the most powerful rifle in the game, sporting an even larger clip size and massive damage, alongside a fair reload time. Keep those heads rolling!

– The Perceptionist also takes advantage of explosive weaponry such as grenades, rocket launchers, and landmines. Explosives are excellent at clearing small hordes of enemies. Thrown explosives can be lit/activated via M2, and thrown with M1. The longer M1 is held, the further the explosive will travel.

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 250 Fire Damage, 16s Burn Time, 3m Radius
– While not exactly an explosive, this thrown Molotov will ignite enemies in a small radius. If you’re lucky enough to find some gas and oil, consider making a Molotov or two.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 1 or Schematic
– Stats: 230 Explosion Damage, 5 Block Damage, 5m Radius, 4s Fuse Time
– Cheap, efficient, explosive. Pipe bombs will do the trick for most scenarios, but compared to other explosives, they aren’t the greatest in damage. Do not light a pipe bomb and hold onto it. You will explode.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 2 or Schematic
– Stats: 500 Explosion Damage, 3000 Block Damage, 6m Radius, 4s Fuse Time
– Out of all the thrown explosives, Dynamite does the highest damage, with a larger explosion radius and a normal fuse time. While its effective in blasting enemies, its even more effective in blasting terrain! If you plan on using dynamite, make sure you use it in a spot you don’t mind being blasted to schmithereens. Like the pipe bomb, you will explode if you hold it out for too long.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 3 or Schematic
– Stats: 310 Explosion Damage, 10 Block Damage, 5m Radius, 3s Fuse Time
– One of the most well-wounded explosives, grenades deal great damage in a good radius. Unlike pipe bombs, you can pull the pin on a grenade and it will never explode until thrown.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 5 or Schematic
– Stats: 310 Explosion Damage, 10 Block Damage, 5m Radius, No Fuse Time
– Though it has the same stats as the normal grenade, the contact grenade has a unique quirk. When making contact with an enemy or tile, it will explode instantly, making it superior for fast horde clearing.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 5 or The Great Heist Volume 3
– Stats: 600 Explosion Damage, 3000 Block Damage, 1m Radius, 4s Fuse Time
– While not exactly suitable for combat, the Timed Charge is an explosive device used to bust into safes, vaults, and locked chests. When placed, it activates, and detonates after 4 seconds, applying a massive amount of damage to the block or object it was placed on.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 170-310 Impact Damage, 1 Clip Size, 75 Rounds/min (Average), 56-84m Effective Range, 46-54m/s Projectile Speed, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 64-180 Durability, 2.0s Reload
– A beast of a weapon, the Rocket Launcher fires devastating RPGs and decimates anything in its path. The Rocket Launcher is a precision weapon, used to clear hordes or annihilate dangerous enemies. It deals impact damage alongside rocket explosion damage (see Ammunition), and can only hold one shot at a time.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Only
– Comes in many shapes and sizes. See Perception – Traps for more.

– Perceptionists use Spears as their melee weapon. Spears have longer range than other melee weapons, and can be thrown using the Power Attack button (M2). The longer the button is held, the further the spear will travel and the more damage it will do. Spears also have natural armor piercing.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 10-15 Damage, 39-44 Power Attack, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Long Range, 18.5 Stamina/swing, 36.9 Stamina/P-swing, 60-88 Durability, +20% Armor Piercing
– A caveman classic. Stone spears aren’t the best, but they’re cheap enough to be crafted in bulk, allowing you to throw several in quick succession. Stone spears deal decent damage, and pierce through armor.

– Unlocked: Javelin Master Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 10-19 Damage, 45-54 Power Attack Damage, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Long Range, 20.3 Stamina/swing, 40.6 Stamina/P-swing, 212-423 Durability, +20% Armor Piercing
– A bit more sophistication. The Iron Spear is superior to the Stone Spear, but is rarer to find and costlier to craft.

– Unlocked: Spear Hunter Volume 2
– Tier 3
– Stats: 15-28 Damage, 68-81 Power Attack Damage, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Long Range, 22.4 Stamina/swing, 44.8 Stamina/P-swing, 317-592 Durability, +31% Armor Piercing
– A deadly blade with a strong bite. The Steel Spear is the best spear in the game, with the highest damage and armor pierce.

Perception – Traps

As a part of their kit, Perception builds have access to crafting explosive traps, known as landmines. They can be crafted by ranking up the perk Demolitions Expert, which is the most efficient way to make landmines. They are very rarely found in loot and trader inventories.

Notes:

• Landmine damage is applied as splash damage. The further you are from the center of the landmine, the lower the damage you’ll take. Beyond the explosion radius (ex. 4m for the Candy Tin Mine), no damage will be taken.
• By default, landmines can not be picked up. You need to rank up the perk The Infiltrator to Rank 3 to do so. The Infiltrator will also decrease landmine damage, by up to -50%.
• Landmines can do block damage, but it is low enough to be considered negligible. Landmines do no damage to wood or earth elements. Stone and metal blocks only take 1 block damage, but only if within half of the explosion radius.
• Shooting or hitting a landmine will destroy it, subsequently blowing it up.

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 276 Damage, 4m Radius, 0.5s Trigger Delay
– A cute little landmine that blasts anything that steps on it into a pile of meat. Candy Tin Mines can be easily crafted in bulk, but stick out blatantly from the environment. These are best used against zombies in tight corridors, or planting in your base for your friends to step on.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 1
– Stats: 276 Damage, 3m Radius, 0.5s Trigger Delay
– While they seem identical to the Candy Tin Mine, only with less range, these Plate Mines are much harder to avoid by enemies. They cover up an entire block, and can even be painted to blend into the environment. If you want the ideal mine to catch unsuspecting prey, go Plate Mines!

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 1
– Stats: 300 Damage, 3m Radius, 0.5s Trigger Delay
– Can you smell what’s cookin’? It probably isn’t healthy. These Cooking Pot Mines deal a bit more damage than their predecessors. Since they are larger, zombies have higher odds of stepping on them, but players have a higher chance of seeing them. Use them how you will, but I plan on reheating my chili.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 2
– Stats: 450 Damage, 5m Radius, 0.5s Trigger Delay
– The vehicle owner probably won’t need these anymore. Hubcap Mines hold a significant damage bonus compared with the previous mines, as well as possessing a larger radius. They are also flat, and stand out less.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 5
– Stats: 690 Damage, 5m Radius, 0.5s Trigger Delay
– By far the deadliest trap in the game, Air Filter Mines deal incredible amounts of damage, and are very hard to escape. Even if you start running when you hear the heart-stopping tick of the mine setting off, you’ll still take an immense blast, due to the large damage and radius of this mine. Watch your step!

Perception – Playstyle

Difficulty: Intermediate
Combat Viability: Great
Survival Viability: Good
Perk Synergy: Agility (see Skilltree Synergy below)

Strategy

• Pick off high-health targets with sniper rifles
• Clear hordes with explosives
• Use spears for close-range targets
• Track and hunt animals for food
• Lockpick containers and get better loot
• Salvage devices for resources

Perception builds are sighted for long-range combat, picking off enemies at a distance. When in close range, snipers are more difficult to use, especially if equipped with scopes. Instead, spears should be used in close quarters.

Explosives should be used at a careful distance, or used with good timing to allow yourself to escape the blast radius. Grenades can also be used to clear out a small room. For example, if you want to make a tactical entrance, open the door to a room and toss in a grenade. After the explosion, make an entrance and take out any surviving enemies.

Often, Perception builds rely on a strategic approach. For example, when entering a Point of Interest, it’s best to first find a vantage point: a high-ground where you can see enemies ahead, while staying out of attack range. While on a vantage point, you can utilize stealth by staying crouched, granting you bonus damage and low detection chance.

On occasion, zombies will be hidden behind cover, or sleeping out of view. Often, you are able to maneuver around your vantage point to get your sights on them. You can also shoot down breakaway doors to reveal zombies.

In the event that zombies are drawn to your vantage point, you can still use this to your advantage! They will often flock directly below you, giving you the critical moment where you can drop a grenade on them. Bombs away!

Sniper Rifles – Use in mid to long range situations. Rifles are harder to use in close ranges, as they have low accuracy when hipfired, and high accuracy when sighted. If you want to clear out enemies from afar without them noticing, spec yourself for stealth. Equip a silencer, unequip armor, and hide in the shadows. If zombies can’t see or hear you, you gain the advantage to pick them off one by one.

Alternatively, you can use a rifle for closer range if you use iron sights or a dot sight. It overall depends on your experience with shooting. You can also watch doorways and chokepoints, especially if you have The Penetrator ranked up, and are using AP 7.62 rounds.

Explosives – Using grenades and explosives to your advantage can help soften up or completely blow away a crowd of zombies. Utilize chokepoints such as doors and hallways, where zombies bunch together tightly, making explosives more viable. You can also throw inactive grenades or bombs on the ground as traps, where enemies will tread. Active explosions will trigger inactive grenades, resulting in collateral damage.

Rocket Launchers are dangerous to use indoors. I suggest that if you plan on using one, you keep a safe distance. You can lure enemies behind doors, where you can blast them on the other side with a well-placed rocket shot.

Of course, always be careful while using any explosive. They can deal extreme amounts of damage to you if thrown too close, or held onto for too long.

Spears – When all else fails, your trusty spear will do the trick! Spears can still keep enemies at bay with their long attack range, while dealing decent damage. Only throw your spear if you have a good angle, or very good aim. Tossing your only melee weapon away can screw you over, especially outdoors. For that reason, aim your spears towards the ground. Hitting a zombie’s legs or torso can stun them, giving you a chance to get some breathing room.

The perk Animal Tracker helps greatly in finding animals to kill and eat. Once ranking it up, crouch for a few seconds to reveal the locations of all animals in a radius. Apart from that, Perception builds rely on looting and scavenging for food/water. With perks such as Lucky Looter and Lock Picking, you’re likely to find what you’re looking for, without much trouble getting inside.

Obtaining resources is best done through the perk Salvage Operations. Traverse the area, looking for salvagable devices, to help find core materials such as brass, lead, and iron. Many items you salvage, such as radiators, batteries, and engines, can readily be scrapped or incinerated for its respective raw material.

Early game, you’re likely starting out with just a hunting rifle, and perhaps a few molotovs or pipe bombs. Because early hordes aren’t the biggest threat, you shouldn’t have any significant problems. Use your hunting rifle, go for headshots. When enemies stack up, toss in a pipe bomb or two.

When late game comes, and hordes are more intense, you have a wider selection of options to choose from.

Use your sniper rifle to pick off as many enemies as you can. If you have Dead Eye ranked up, go for weak enemies first to build up a quick killstreak, and then target higher health enemies. Try your best to take out high-priority targets. Typically, Demolition zombies and Fat Cops should be taken out as soon as possible, as they have the most potential to ruin your base.

When enemies bunch up, obliterate them with explosives. Later game, you have better choice weaponry for explosives, such as contact grenades. If you want to stack extra explosive damage, throw inactive grenades and trigger them with an active one. This easily wipes out hordes of enemies, but the toughest may survive.

Place landmine traps. As you level up Demolitions Expert, you will unlock recipes for several explosive traps. Craft and plant some around your base to clear out a few groups.

Rocket launchers can be used for high-priority targets. Rocket Launchers do insane amounts of damage, especially upon direct hits. When in dire need to kill a dangerous enemy, use your RL to quickly take them out. Do not use explosives against the Demolitionist zombie! It will immediately trigger their C4. Rockets launchers can also be used to clear hordes if not too close.

What perks mix best with Perception?

Because of how Perception builds play, Agility is one of the best skilltrees to mix with Perception, if you plan on going full combat.

Previously, I mentioned vantage points and their usage for taking out enemies. Because the stealth mechanic is valuable for this, as it allows you to remain undetected, Hidden Strike and From the Shadows are excellent perks to pick up, as they improve your stealth damage and decrease detection risk. Stacking stealth damage upon the already massive damage of rifles results in one-shotting just about anything that moves.

Parkour can also help reaching new vantage points, as it increases jump height.

When it comes to the best armor type for Perception builds, I recommend light armor. For the exact same reason, its a good idea to pick up Light Armor in the Agility tree.

Alternatively, if you have completed the Sniper series, you can craft Ghillie Suits. If you enjoy staying hidden and sniping threats from afar, Ghillie Suits will become your best friend. They decrease noise and visibility. Combined with stealth perks from Agility, it is possible to become completely invisible.

As for every build, I recommend picking up Mother Lode, Sexual Tyrannosaurus and Miner 69’er from the Strength tree. These perks are extremely good for early game progression, and will help you immensely in gathering the main resources you need.

The Strength Skilltree

Rip and tear, until it is done. The Strength Skilltree is primed for close quarters combat and crowd control, sporting heavy weapons such as shotguns, clubs, and sledgehammers. To defend a heavy offensive line, Strength focuses on tankiness and heavy armor, with the added support of unyielding stamina. Out of combat, the Strength Skilltree glances at carrying more loot, cooking better food, dealing more tool damage and higher resource yield.

Strength starts at Level 1. As the Strength Tree is leveled up, the headshot damage and dismember chance of shotguns, clubs, and sledgehammers is increased. Headshot damage starts at 200%, and each level increases it by +10% (+15% for levels 9 and 10), up to a maximum of +300% at level 10. Dismemberment chance starts at 5%, and each level increases it by +5%, up to a maximum of 50% at level 10.

As Strength level increases, so does the amount of skillpoints required. Levels 2-5 cost one point, levels 6-8 cost two, and levels 9-10 cost three. Strength can be increased by one level for free with a Cigar, a rare clothing item.

Strength – Combat Perks

– Chk-chk! Improves the combat potential for shotguns by raising damage, fire rate, and reload speed. Each rank adds a special debuff improvement, for crippling and weakening your enemies. All unlocked debuffs are kept, even after ranking up.

Stun Duration – Lengthens the time an enemy is slowed after a stun.

Crippling Leg Shots – Shooting an enemy in the legs with any shotgun will guarantee a cripple, no matter the zombie’s strength. Crippling an enemy decreases their movement speed for a short duration. Especially effective on feral and irradiated zombies, who sprint as their default speed.

Dismember Chance – Increases the odds of severing a limb on an enemy. Decapitations are instant kills. Armless zombies have decreased attack strength and range. Legless zombies are slowed to a crawl. Tougher enemies have dismember resistance. Dismember chance from Strength Skilltree stacks with Boomstick.

– Batter up. Increases the strength and stun potential of wielding bats and clubs, while improving their crafting quality. Each rank raises damage, adds a stunned damage multiplier, knockdown chance, and unlocks a unique ability: chain attacks.

Stun Damage Multiplier – While an enemy is knocked down, deal additional damage with power attacks.

Knockdown Chance – After knocking down/stunning an enemy, power attacks are given a chance to knock an enemy back down.

Chain Hits – Chaining 5/4/3 hits in a short duration grants the final hit +100% bonus damage.

– Heaviest metal. Improves the damage, grants power attack knockdown, and crafting quality of sledgehammers. Unlocks a unique ability: AoE knockdowns.

Knockdown Chance – Gives power attacks with hammers an increased chance to knock down enemies.

AoE Knockdown Chance – Striking an enemy with a power attack has a 20%/35%/50% chance to knockdown all enemies within a 1.3m/1.3m/1.4m range. Excellent for disabling a crowd and making a getaway.

– Just like me. Decreases the stamina drain caused by attacks, and regenerates stamina upon killing an enemy.

– TOWER. OF. POWER. Increases the durability of heavy armor, and decreases its stamina and speed penalty. Also improves heavy armor crafting quality.

Strength – Cooking/Construction Perks

– Hoarder’s choice. Increase the number of items the player can carry before becoming encumbered.

Encumbrance – By default, the player can hold 27 items in their inventory (not including the hotbar) before becoming encumbered. Every point of encumbrance decreases movement speed by 3%.

Note – While Pack Mule is useful early game, it is eventually outclassed by clothing/armor mods and vehicles.

– Bon Appetit! Unlocks several new crafting recipes for cooking, while increasing the speed and efficiency of cooking. Higher end foods restore more stamina, apply unique buffs, and grant a temporary maximum stamina bonus.

Grandpa’s Ass-Kicking Recipes – Grandpa’s drinks apply very unique buffs which help tremendously in several different situations.

• Grandpa’s Moonshine – For 45 seconds, gain +400% melee damage, +50% damage resist, +100% stun resist, +60% stamina regeneration, and regenerate 20 health/second, up to a maximum of 900 health regenerated. In short, you become an unstoppable killing machine. Useful in a pinch when you’re almost dead, especially during a horde.
• Grandpa’s Awesome Sauce – +20% Bartering for 2 min (All trader costs are 20% less, and all sales are 20% more). Useful when you’re trying to make bank on Dukes.
• Grandpa’s Learnin’ Elixir – Grants a +20% XP Boost for 4 min. Great for horde nights, mining, and building to gain loads of XP!

Note – All recipes can be learned via schematics found in loot.

– Break it down! Increases the entity/block damage and crafted quality of all tools, except salvage tools.

– Is that enough? Increases the yield of all resources, such as wood, stone, ore, clay, and more (doesn’t affect salvaging or hunting). Applies to all tools.

Strength – Weapons

– For what they lack in range, they make up for in power. Shotguns are excellent for close-range combat, able to tear through anything made of meat. Standard Buckshot shoot out 10 pellets, which gives shotguns a greater chance of hitting multiple enemies. Shotguns also have the added bonus of longer stuns.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 9-13 Damage/pellet, 1 Clip Size, 75 Rounds/min (Average), 5m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, Low Aim Accuracy, 50-100 Durability, 3.9s Reload, +4s Stun Duration
– Not the most effective weapon, but its low rarity makes it very common to find in early game loot, so it might save your skin. The Blunderbuss has a very cheap crafting recipe, and uses blunderbuss ammo, which is likewise very cheap. It’s flaws revolve around its clip size of 1 and lengthy reload.

– Unlocked: Boomstick Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 9-17 Damage/pellet, 2 Clip Size, 950-1050 Rounds/min (Insane), 5m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, Low Aim Accuracy, 120-360 Durability, 2.6s Reload, +4s Stun Duration
– Much better than the Blunderbuss, but still not the best shotgun in the pack. The Double Barrel makes a fine weapon for fighting, obliterating most early enemies in close range. Because it has a ridiculous base fire rate value, the Double Barrel will shoot as fast as you can pull the trigger.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 9-17 Damage/pellet, 7-9 Clip Size, 57-63 Rounds/min (Slow), 5m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, Low Aim Accuracy, 2.6s Reload, 128-420 Durability, +4s Stun Duration
– One of the most well-rounded guns in the game, the Pump Shotgun will suffice in many situations. A large clip, good modding potential, and decent reload time, this weapon is a beauty. However, it is still succeeded by the next tier…

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 9-17 Damage/pellet, 14-19 Mag Size, 66-73 Rounds/min (Average), 5m Effective Range, Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, Low Aim Accuracy, 128-600 Durability, 2.6s Reload, +4s Stun Duration
– Added in Alpha 19, the Auto Shotgun is by far my favorite addition to the game. It packs a large magazine size and superior fire rate, but has one key feature: It can use the Drum Barrel and Autofire Trigger mods, which can double its magazine size and make it fully automatic. Definitely a weapon suited for the Shotgun Messiah himself.

– Well-rounded melee weapons with overall good stats. Damage, range, swing speed, you name it. Clubs have unique modding potential as well: equip your bat with spikes to decrease armor rating on enemies, or a chain to increase knockdown chance.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 13-20 Damage, 27-34 Power Attack Damage, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Average Range, 17.4 Stamina/swing, 26.1 Stamina/P-swing, 60-110 Durability
– No matter what build you’re going for, this was likely the weapon you started with. The Wooden Club is extremely simple to craft and use. For that reason, it is also a very low performing weapon. For the aspiring Strongman, you’ll have to make do with this.

– Unlocked: Pummel Pete Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 14-26 Damage, 32-44 Power Attack Damage, 52 Attacks/min (Average), Average Range, 20.9 Stamina/swing, 35.6 Stamina/P-swing, 200-500 Durability
– In the past, these were used for gladiatorial combat, held in huge arenas. The Baseball Bat is much better than the Wooden Club, sustaining better stats and viability overall. Bonus: Killing an enemy with a power attack will result in stupid ragdoll physics. Batter up!

– Unlocked: Batter Up Volume 6
– Tier 3
– Stats: 22-40 Damage, 48-66 Power Attack Damage, 52 Attacks/min (Average), Average Range, 23.7 Stamina/swing, 40.3 Stamina/P-swing, 300-700 Durability
– The highest tier club, and a hard-hitting weapon. The Steel Club has great damage potential and excellent durability. However, it is more costly to craft, requiring forge steel and steel club parts.

– Hulking sledges suited for cracking skulls. Hammers are the hardest hitting melee weapons in the game, but are also the slowest-swinging, and have a hefty stamina cost. All hammers have the unique effect of +10% dismember chance on all swings, and an additional +30% on power attacks! They also deal greater block damage compared to other melee weapons, though I would still recommend using tools. In addition, Hammers cannot deal sneak damage.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 17-26 Damage, 39-48 Power Attack Damage, 50 Attacks/min (Average), Good Range, 22.3 Stamina/swing, 44.7 Stamina/P-swing, 55-112 Durability
– Easily crafted early into the game, and common to find in loot. The Stone Sledgehammer is a decent weapon, but has a larger stamina cost than other weapons, which can especially be troublesome early on.

– Unlocked: Skull Crusher Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 26-47 Damage, 64-86 Power Attack Damage, 34 Attacks/min (Slow), Good Range, 36.7 Stamina/swing, 73.4 Stamina/P-swing, 133-363 Durability
– More power, but more demand. Iron Sledgehammers pack more damage, but are slower and more costly to stamina.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 39-71 Damage, 97-129 Power Attack Damage, 34 Attacks/min (Slow), Good range, 40.5 Stamina/swing, 81.0 Stamina/P-swing, 207-581 Durabiltiy
– Practically 50kg on a stick. Steel Sledgehammers dish out the highest melee damage of any item, but also cost the greatest stamina per swing.

Strength – Heavy Armor

As mentioned in Strength – Combat Perks, the Strength skilltree specs into heavy armor, improving its durability and decreasing its stamina and movespeed penalty. Heavy armor has much greater armor rating and effect resistance, but has a larger stamina, movespeed, and noise penalty. Overall, heavy armor is perfect for the players who are looking to tank through damage, and aren’t too wild on moving fast or making a quiet entrance.

How Armor Stats Work: Armor Rating refers to your direct damage resistance. For example, 50 Armor Rating means you take 50% less damage from attacks. Explosion Resist works the same way, but applies to only explosive and splash damage. Crit Resist increases the chance you will resist receiving a critical hit, such as abrasions and sprains. Stamina/s refers to the rate of how much stamina drains while running. Durability refers to the number of hits armor can take before breaking. Once armor breaks, it will have 0 stats until it is repaired.

Each armor set has five pieces, all of which carry the same stats.

– Unlocked: By default
– Tier 1
– Stats: 7-10 Armor Rating, 7-10 Explosion Resist, +5% Crit Resist, 175-350 Durability, -0.9 Stamina/s, -6.0% Mobility, +20% Noise
– Unlocked by default, and with relatively cheap crafting, Scrap Armor makes good protection for early game. It’s also common to see in loot. Though it may save you some health a few times, you can’t rely too heavily on it for long.

– Unlocked: Heavy Armor Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 7-14 Armor Rating, 7-14 Explosion Resist, +5-6% Crit Resist, 200-400 Durability, -0.9 Stamina/s, -6.0% Mobility, +20% Noise
– Rusted iron and a masked face gives you the look of a true wastelander. Iron Armor requires forged iron to craft, but makes a greater difference in the fight. Iron Armor can be looted in mid-gamestage, and is fairly common to find. More strength, more power.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 8-16 Armor Rating, 8-16 Explosion Resist, +6-7% Crit Resist, 250-500 Durability, -0.9 Stamina/s, -6.0% Mobility, +20% Noise
– A faceless knight, constructed of steel. Steel Armor is the tankiest set in the game, with stats potential for massive resistance. To craft a full set, expect a hefty toll, requiring plenty of forged steel and steel armor parts.

– Unlocked: Looting Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 8-16 Armor Rating, 8-16 Explosion Resist, +6-7% Crit Resist, 250-500 Durability, -0.9 Stamina/s, -6.0% Mobility, +20% Noise
– The Swat Helmet is a miscellaneous armor piece, only coming with this helmet. While you may find a Swat Helmet better than your Steel Helmet, the stat ranges are identical. Its cosmetic appearance may give it an appeal to some players.

– Unlocked: Firefighter’s Almanac Vol 7
– Tier 2
– Stats: 7-14 Armor Rating, 7-14 Explosion Resist, +5-6% Crit Resist, 200-400 Durability, -0.9 Stamina/s, -6.0% Mobility, +20% Noise, +15 Heat Insulation, -5% Health Loss (with book)
– In game, the Firefighter’s Helmet is the Mining Helmet dyed red. Other than having identical stats to the Iron Helmet, this piece has a +15 Heat Insulation bonus, which can be a nice bonus for early game. If used alongside the Firefighter’s Almanac Vol 7 bonus, it will decrease health loss from damage by -5%, effectively giving it +5 Armor Rating.

Strength – Playstyle

Difficulty: Easy
Combat Viability: Great
Survival Viability: Decent
Perk Synergy: Fortitude (see Skilltree Synergy below)

Strategy

• Decimate crowds with shotguns
• Disable tight hordes with sledgehammers
• Take out single threats with clubs
• Chain melee kills to retain stamina
• Mine ore and destroy blocks for resources

Strength builds are best suited for players who want close-quarters, aggressive combat, while not giving a damn about taking damage. Shotguns can annihilate crowds in close ranges, while sledgehammers can knockout entire groups, as long as Skull Crusher is ranked up. Clubs are best used to take out single targets, or chaining melee kills between multiple, spread-out zombies.

While using Strength builds, there is no need for a strategic approach. As long as there’s zombies falling before you, you’re doing your job right. In addition, heavy armor helps you tank through damage and resist critical hits. Healing might be a problem later, but combat won’t be a problem for you.

Though Strength builds are powerful up-close, they are lacking heavily in range. Shotguns have an effective range of only 5m with buckshot, and a range of 9m if using slugs. Though zombies out of range are often no significant problem, special infected like policemen can be problematic, as they have a ranged attack.

In addition, due to heavy armor, strength builds are often slow. All heavy armor will decrease movement speed, increase stamina drain, and make you louder (the louder part being arguably beneficial for your playstyle). However, this can be counter-acted with the perk Heavy Armor armor modifications, such as custom fittings and muffled connectors.

Shotguns – Use for close ranges while using buckshot. Shotguns are devastating when used correctly, and can clear small hordes in only a few shots. Buckshot, however, is less effective against armor. To deal more damage, and to gain more effective range, utilize slugs. See Ammunition for more.

Sledgehammers – Can be used in two different ways. The first option is to deal massive damage to a single target. Though this will often kill weak enemies in one hit, the sledgehammer family is slow to swing, and very costly to stamina.

Alternatively, sledgehammers may be used to disable crowds via power attacks. If Skull Crusher is leveled up to at least rank 3, all power attacks with sledges will have a chance to stun enemies in a radius. This can be incredibly useful for making breathing room. It can also be very amusing to watch a group of enemies drop to the floor.

Clubs – Akin to sledges, clubs can be used in two different ways. The first tactic is to simply use them to take out lone targets. This is more effective than sledgehammers, as clubs are more efficient to stamina and swing speed. It’s also useful for conserving ammo.

If Sexual Tyrannosaurus is leveled up to at least Rank 2, Clubs can be used to chain attacks between multiple zombies. Because you will gain stamina on each melee kill, clubs can be a great option to eliminate a spread group of zombies.

Though the Strength skilltree grants new cooking recipes with the perk Master Chef, there is no Strength-related perk for finding food in the first place. For that reason, it’s often harder to find food in a Strength build, compared to other skilltrees.

However, Strength builds flourish in mining and resource gain. The perks Miner 69’er and Mother Lode increase resource yield and block damage, surging the player’s ability to acquire raw materials such as wood, stone, iron, and more.

When in early game, you’re likely suited with a blunderbuss and some low-quality scrap armor. If you’re lucky, you may have found a double-barrel. Your best option is to find/build a sturdy house, and pick off zombies with whatever you’ve got. You’ll need to keep a somewhat close range if you want to deal damage.

When late-gamestage arrives, you’ll be better equipped, but limited to dealing ranged damage with your shotgun. Here’s your routine:

Go for collaterals. When enemies bunch up, use your shotgun spread to hit several enemies with one shot. This helps with crowd control and conserving ammo.

Utilize ammunition types. Buckshots are best used for weak targets, or hitting multiple enemies. However, buckshot is less effective against armor. When armored targets arrive, hold R to switch ammo types, and choose slugs. Slugs pierce straight through armor, and deal heftier damage per shot. You can keep multiple shotguns on you, to make it even easier to switch between ammo types.

What perks mix best with Strength?

Because Strength builds spec into cooking recipes, Fortitude is one of the best options for surviving and obtaining food. The Fortitude perks Living off the Land and The Huntsman allow for improved farming and hunting. This helps you get the ingredients you need to make a hearty meal. In addition, you can extend the duration of consumable buffs with Iron Gut, which is especially nice on Grandpa’s recipes.

In addition, Fortitude unlocks perks that further improve your tanking potential. Pain Tolerance decreases damage taken, and Healing Factor improves healing overtime. If you never want to feel pain again, spec into a Strength + Fortitude build.

The Fortitude Skilltree

Survival of the fittest. The Fortitude Skilltree is all about survival, while supporting a versatile and self-sufficient playstyle. Fortitude builds specialize in unarmed combat and assault rifles, supplying ways to take down enemies at any range. Out of a fight, Fortitude builds help in hunting, farming, shrugging off injuries, and improving the player’s vitality.

Fortitude starts at Level 1. As the Fortitude Tree is leveled up, the headshot damage and dismember chance of fist weapons and assault rifles is increased. Headshot damage starts at 200%, and each level increases it by +10% (+15% for levels 9 and 10), up to a maximum of +300% at level 10. Dismemberment chance starts at 5%, and each level increases it by +5%, up to a maximum of 50% at level 10.

As Fortitude level increases, so does the amount of skillpoints required. Levels 2-5 cost one point, levels 6-8 cost two, and levels 9-10 cost three. Fortitude can be increased by one level for free with Tough Guy Glasses, a rare clothing item.

Fortitude – Combat Perks

– Locked, cοcked and ready to rock! Raises the damage, fire rate, and reload speed of assault rifles, while unlocking the crafting recipes to new ARs and improving their crafting quality. Additionally decreases incremental spread and recoil. Later ranks unlock a new ability – Commando Adrenaline.

Max Recoil – The maximum amount of kick that can be received from firing a gun. Decreasing this value lowers recoil and improves firing stability.

Incremental Spread – The amount of accuracy gradually lost with each shot fired. Decreasing this value keeps accuracy stable for longer while firing.

– Put ’em up. Increases the damage of fighting unarmed or with knuckles. Also unlocks special abilities that are kept which each rank, and improves the quality of crafted fist weapons.

Stun – Enemy has their movement and attack speed decreased temporarily. After the duration, they will have momentary stun resistance.

Knockdown – Enemy is knocked to the ground, vulnerable and unable to attack.

Dismember – Enemy has a limb removed and abilities hindered. Decapitations will instantly kill zombies.

– Ha! I barely felt that! Reduces the amount of HP lost from attacks, and reduces the chance to be stunned.

– Good Deadpool! Grants the ability to slowly regenerate health, while also speeding up the healing of critical injuries, as long as you’re not starving or dehydrating.

Fortitude – Survival/Metabolism Perks

– Let nothing go to waste. Increases the resource yield from skinning animals. Gain more meat, fat, bone, feathers, and leather from skinning.

– Arizona Man attempts to walk to Shamway. Heightens your resistance to inclement weather, and use less food/water while freezing/overheating!

Extreme Weather – While cold, your food bar will drain faster. While hot, your water bar will drain faster. These rates are further increased while under severe weather (sweltering/freezing).

– It ain’t much, but it’s honest work. Harvest more crops, unlock new seed recipes, and decrease the cost of crafting farm plots.

– My stomach is rolling from eating that onion and rotten garlic salad. Decrease food/water loss overtime, hold your breath underwater longer, resist dysentery, and lengthen the buffs from consumables!

– Ready for a Triathlon. Increases your stamina regen while running. Basically, you can run longer.

Fortitude – Weapons

– The perfect line of versatility. Assault Rifles use 7.62 ammo, have great damage, fast fire rates, good accuracy, large magazine size, and effective ranges from short to semi-far. However, ARs have higher recoil compared to other guns, and rapid fire gradually decreases accuracy with each shot, making them harder to control. Nevertheless, ARs will rarely disappoint.

– Unlocked: Machine Gunner Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 32-58 Damage, 26-33 Mag Size, 342-378 Rounds/min (Very Fast), 40-60m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 200-660 Durability, 3.8s Reload
– In Alpha 19, the AK-47 was dropped to Tier 1 to make room for the new AR. For this reason, the AK-47 is more common to find early game, but has decreased stats compared to previous alphas. Nonetheless, the AK-47 does great damage for its tier, but its fire rate and recoil may make it somewhat hard to control.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 34-63 Damage, 26-33 Mag Size, 384-425 Rounds/min (Very Fast), 50m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 180-600 Durability, 2.7s Reload, Comes with Burst Fire
– The newest AR added to Alpha 19, the Tactical Assault Rifle puts on a great performance, with better stats compared to the AK-47. Unlike other weapons, the Tactical AR comes with a built-in burst fire. Holding down the trigger releases three shots in rapid succession, and won’t fire again until M1 is released and tapped again. Pressing M1 once fires a single bullet, like normal.

– Unlocked: Automatic Weapons Handbook Volume 7
– Tier 3
– Stats: 37-68 Damage, 52-67 Mag Size, 418-462 Rounds/min (Extremely Fast), 50m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, Good Aim Accuracy, 240-780 Durability, 5.1s Reload
– Another personal favorite, this hulking LMG has the largest magazine of any weapon, and boasts some great stats. While it is long-lasting in combat, the M60’s weakness lies within a lengthy reload time. May cause war flashbacks.

– KO! Fortitude’s melee weapon of choice are your own two hands. Knuckles swing fast and cost little stamina, but deal less damage and are lacking in range. The damage of brawling can be tripled with Beer. Just pop a glass and knock ’em up like drunk Popeye.

– Unlocked: About eight weeks into pregnancy
– Primordial
– Stats: 5 Damage, 10 Power Attack Damage, 60 Attacks/min (Average), Short Range, 10.5 Stamina/swing, 15.8 Stamina/P-swing, Unlimited Durability
– Well… It’s better than nothing, but then again, it technically is nothing. For the aspiring Brawler, your bare fists will do poorly, unless combined with a beer buzz. For the most part, you’re gonna want something to add to your fists.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 6-9 Damage, 12-15 Power Attack Damage, 100 Attacks/min (Fast), Short Range, 9.1 Stamina/swing, 15.5 Stamina/P-swing, 109-200 Durability
– Better, but not great. Knuckle Wraps are incredibly simple to craft, costing only leather and iron, and are easy to obtain early game. They deal much better damage than your finger stubs, and have faster swing speed than other weapons.

– Unlocked: The Brawler Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 7-14 Damage, 16-23 Power Attack Damage, 100 Attacks/min (Fast), Short Range, 9.6 Stamina/swing, 16.3 Stamina/P-swing, 385-961 Durability,
– Your loan is overdue. The Iron Knuckles are the middle ground for brawling, and are a good weapon for mid-gamestage. Costs forged iron to craft.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 11-21 Damage, 25-34 Power Attack Damage, 100 Attacks/min (Fast), Short Range, 10.2 Stamina/swing, 17.3 Stamina/P-swing, 577-1346 Durability,
– Brutality reimagined. These knuckles have the best damage, almost on par with other melee weapons! Their blades are also useful for harvesting animals and breaking stuff. Costs forged steel and parts to craft.

Fortitude – Playstyle

Difficulty: Intermediate
Combat Viability: Great
Survival Viability: Excellent
Perk Synergy: Strength or Agility (see Skilltree Synergy below)

Strategy

• Pick off targets from any range with your assault rifles
• Go berserk and brawl down enemies with your knuckles
• Hunt animals and grow crops for food
• Ignore pain and heal slowly overtime
• Worry less about food and water

Fortitude builds are renowned for their versatility and survivability. Fortitude makes use of the AR family of weapons, which are effective at any and all ranges. They have great damage, fast fire rates, and excellent moddability. Depending on how you play, your combat may range from dynamic and focused to fast-paced and intense.

One of the weaknesses of Fortitude builds, especially early game, is its primary melee weapon. Knuckles are short range and hard to use at first, thus encouraging risky combat.

As for surviving, Fortitude significantly improves player vitality and longevity. Perks such as Iron Gut and Pain Tolerance decrease the rate at which you starve, dehydrate, and perish, making each life last longer. Other perks, like The Huntsman and Living off the Land, greatly improve your hunting and farming, surplussing your food supply.

Assault Rifles – ARs are accurate when aimed, inaccurate when hipfired. How you fire is very dependent on an enemy’s distance. If they’re far away, aim your shots and go for the head. If they’re too close for comfort, don’t feel the immediate need to aim down sights. Don’t spray and pray, unless you get jumpscared, in which it is out of your control. 7.62 ammunition is more expensive to craft, and spraying an enemy down is often ineffectual. Always go for the head, whenever possible.

Knuckles – Your fist weapons are best used to take out single, weaker targets, as to conserve ammo. If you REALLY feel like going berserk, however, your best option is to booze up. Drinking beer will triple your brawling damage, allowing you to punch hordes to death. It’s risky combat, but it’s a feeling that’ll make you melt.

As mentioned, the Fortitude skilltree is all about survival. You’ll never be out of food or water again. With food still in mind, the perk Living off the Land improves your farming harvest and efficiency. You can craft farm plots cheaper and get much more yield from crops. The perk The Huntsman greatly increases the amount of meat and fat you get from skinning animals.

Perks like Iron Gut will decrease the rate at which you starve and dehydrate, while also giving you a lesser chance to contract to dysentery. Well Insulated gives built-in insulation points to both the heat and cold, which can help immensely depending on where you roam.

Finally, the perk Healing Factor allows you to heal slowly overtime, while also speeding up the critical injury healing rate.

Early game, you’re very limited for options. Unless you got lucky and managed to find an AK with some ammo, you’re gonna have to use another weapon, like a primitive bow. Before you find out the hard way, let me tell you that your fists will not do much against a blood moon horde.

In the event you do have an AK-47 before horde night, use your ammo sparingly. Even if you have a large quantity, you’re still better off being stingy. Try the following tactics:

Keep those heads rolling! Try your best to go for only headshots. Mod your AR to have a red dot sight (or scope, if you prefer). If you’re still early game, try to use as little ammo as possible. If you’ve reached late game, and can craft 7.62 ammo in bulk, don’t be afraid to burst a little on tougher enemies. Utilize ammo types as well, such as hollowpoint and armor piercing rounds. Your assault rifles will be your best and only friend when the horde comes, so put some trust in them.

Forbidden Move. When all else fails, you’re out of ammo, and you’re ready to kiss your αss goodbye, there is only one option. Booze yourself up, and do your best to punch the horde to death. I only recommend you try this when you have a good armor set and weapon, alongside plenty of first aid kits. Beer will also give you stun immunity, making it more effective when you take multiple hits.

What perks mix best with Fortitude?

Previously, Fortitude had the Heavy Armor perk, and Healing Factor granted insane healing, which made it arguably the best skilltree in the game. Though the Fortitude skilltree is still very strong, a great build needs reliable armor. Strength and Agility both have armor perks, as well as unique advantages over the other. The choice is based on your preference to playstyle.

I mentioned this before, but Strength and Fortitude really compliment each other. Heavy Armor is great for creating a full-pledged tank build, with the bonus of having ARs. In addition, Master Chef has great synergy, as Fortitude’s perks help considerably in acquiring raw food materials. The perks Miner 69’er, Sexual Tyrannosaurus, and Mother Lode are also extremely beneficial, improving your resource gain and melee combat. I highly recommend you pick them up, no matter what build you go for.

If you enjoy fast-paced action, Agility is a great skilltree to mix with Fortitude. Though stealth sounds gimmicky with ARs, the perks Light Armor and Run and Gun can improve your combat potential, allowing you to stay mobile and hipfire at will. Flurry of Blows also works great with brawling.

The Agility Skilltree

The unseen strike, swift and deadly. The Agility Skilltree specializes in stealth and mobility, allowing the player to move more fluidly and avoid enemies. When they need to fight, Agility players are experts in archery, handguns, and knives, while also utilizing light armor. As an alternative to loud combat, Agility specs into stealth, allowing the player to deal greater damage without alerting other enemies.

Agility starts at Level 1. As the Agility Tree is leveled up, the headshot damage and dismember chance of bows, handguns, and knives is increased. Headshot damage starts at 200%, and each level increases it by +10% (+15% for levels 9 and 10), up to a maximum of +300% at level 10. Dismemberment chance starts at 5%, and each level increases it by +5%, up to a maximum of 50% at level 10.

As Agility level increases, so does the amount of skillpoints required. Levels 2-5 cost one point, levels 6-8 cost two, and levels 9-10 cost three. Agility can be increased by one level for free with Ski Goggles, an uncommon clothing item.

Agility – Combat Perks

– Right between the eyes. Get better damage, handling, reload and draw speed with all bows and crossbows. Unlocks new bow/crossbow crafting recipes, and improves their crafting quality.

Handling – The rate at which your accuracy stabilizes (reaches its highest value) before and after firing.

– High noon. Master the use of handguns such as pistols, revolvers, and the SMG. Each rank improves damage, fire rate, reload speed, lowers spread, and unlocks a unique ability: Critical Damage. Unlocks new handgun recipes, and improves their crafting quality.

Critical Damage – After landing 5/4/3 successful shots, the last shot will do +100% damage.

Incremental Spread – How much accuracy is lost while and after firing. Lowering this value helps stabilize accuracy.

– Bleeding like a stuck pig. Inflict Bleeding Wounds with all knives and machetes, while increasing their damage. Each rank increases the maximum number of Bleeding Wound stacks, while adding new debuff applications.

Bleeding Wounds – Every bleeding wound causes an enemy to lose 0.9 health per second, for 20 seconds. By default, normal attacks with knives cause 1 wound, and power attacks cause 2, with 2 bleeding stacks maximum. Each stack of bleeding increases the damage done overtime (2 stacks will cause 1.8 damage per second).

Glancing Blows – When you hit an enemy you weren’t necessarily aiming at. Hitting an enemy just within your reach (at the end of the swing hitbox) is a glancing blow.

– Float like a butterfly… Specialize in light armor, improving its durability and greatly decreasing its stamina and movespeed penalty. Unlocks new light armor crafting and improves its crafting quality.

– Spray and Pray. Improves your hipfire accuracy with all firearms, and decreases the movement speed penalty of reloading.

– Seeing stars. Each rank increases the attack speed of clubs, brawling, knives, and stun batons.

Agility – Athletics/Stealth Perks

– Jump! Increases the height of jumping and safe fall distance. Also reduces the stamina cost of jumping, and later ranks grant you unbreakable legs.

Note: Ranks 3 and 4 only protect breaking/spraining legs from falling. You can still get a broken or sprained leg from combat, even with these ranks unlocked.

Safe Fall Distance – By default, the player can fall 6m without any harm. At 7m, At 7m, the player starts taking damage, and has a 25% chance to sprain their leg. Each additional meter increases the odds of spraining a leg by +25%. At 8m, the player has a 20% chance to break their leg, which increases by +20% for every meter over 8. Having a sprained, sprinted, or broken leg lowers all distances by 2m. See Fall Damage Mechanics for more info.

Jumping – By default, the player can jump 1m, and jumping costs 20 stamina.

– …sting like a bee. Greatly increases the damage bonus from stealth strikes.

Stealth Damage – When crouched and no enemies are aware of your presence, attacks will deal +50% damage by default.

– Super sneaky. Enhances your stealthing ability. Each rank improves the effectiveness of hiding in the dark, muffles the noise of all actions, increases crouch speed, and decreases the time enemies will search for you.

Stealth Explained – While crouching, a bar will appear above your stamina meter. This measures your total stealth, through a combination of your visibility and noise. The lower this value is, the harder it is for zombies to detect you.

• Standing still improves stealth ability.
• Hiding in the darkness greatly improves stealth. Bright light from the environment will decrease your stealth ability.
• All noises you create affect your stealth. This includes footsteps, hitting blocks, gunshots, reloading, and looting. Some guns create more or less noise than others. Stepping on trash piles will create more noise.
• By default, when enemies are alerted, they will search the origin of noise for up to 60s. If they cannot detect where the noise came from, they wander at random. Stay quiet, and zombies won’t become alert. If they begin to wander, stay hidden and wait for them to lose attention.
• See Agility – Stealth for more in-depth info.

Agility – Weapons

– The Gunslinger incarnate. Of all the skilltrees, Agility has the widest ranges of options for ranged weaponry. Handguns include pistols, the rapid-firing SMG, and the .44 handcannons Magnum Revolver and Desert Vulture.

– Unlocked: Gunslinger Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 27-49 Damage, 13-16 Mag Size, 171-189 Rounds/min (Fast), 14-21m Effective Range, Good Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 200-540 Durability, 2.0s Reload
– With all around decent stats, the pistol makes a trusty weapon for early game combat. It can take out most weak enemies with a headshot. When equipped with a silencer, you’re looking at an effective stealth weapon.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 59-108 Damage, 6 Clip Size, 95-105 Rounds/min (Average), 20-30m Effective Range, Good Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 120-360 Durability, 4.0s Reload
– Though its only a Tier 2 weapon, the Magnum can deal some of the highest damage of any firearm, and will blow your head clean off. In addition, this revolver sports some high accuracy and range. The Magnum’s limits, however, are its low clip size of 6 and lengthy reload time. It is also very loud and cannot benefit from silencers.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 27-49 Damage, 26-33 Mag Size, 456-504 Rounds/min (Extremely Fast), 24-36m Effective Range, Good Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 280-840 Durability, 4.0s Reload
– Unique to the other handguns, the Submachine Gun has the fastest fire rate of any weapon. Its damage and utility makes it an excellent weapon to use with an Agility build.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 57-105 Damage, 8-9 Mag Size, 123-136 Rounds/min (Fast), 20-30m Effective Range, Good Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 200-480 Durability, 2.0s Reload
– Arriving in Alpha 19, the Desert Vulture serves as a Tier 3 alternative to the SMG-5. Its damage may be slightly lower than the Magnum, but its reload speed and mag size are superior. In addition, it can use silencer mods, but is still very loud. With stealth or not, this little handcannon will annihilate anything you point it at.

– Bows may only be single-shot, but they are the most silent of any ranged weapon, while dealing average to good damage. Apart from the usual hitscan of other weapons, arrows are shot as projectiles. In addition, all bows and crossbows have a +200% stealth damage bonus.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 19-28 Damage, 31m/s Projectile Velocity, 20m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 60-150 Durability, 0.9s Reload Speed, +200% Sneak Damage
– Baby’s first ranged weapon. The Primitive Bow is incredibly easy to craft, only requiring wood and plant fibers. However, it is also a very poor-performing weapon, dealing low damage and having a slow projectile speed.

– Unlocked: Archery Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 17-32 Damage, 41-48m/s Projectile Velocity, 16-24m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 144-420 Durability, 0.9s Reload +200% Sneak Damage
– A more refined bow, this piece will do better damage and has a faster projectile velocity. If you’re lucky enough to find some Bow/Crossbow parts, it’s also relatively simple to craft.

– Unlocked: Archery Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 22-40 Damage, 55-65 Projectile Velocity, 20-30m Effective Range, Low Hipfire Accuracy, Very High Aim Accuracy, 80-240 Durability, 1.7s Reload, +200% Sneak Damage
– As an alternative to the Wooden Bow, this Iron Crossbow is a similarly-built weapon. It deals greater damage and shoots faster projectiles, but takes more time to reload, as opposed to the quick draw of bows. Unlike the other bows, this weapon has actual ironsights, making it easier to aim.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 21-38 Damage, 49-58m/s Projectile Velocity, 24-36m Effective Range, Average Hipfire Accuracy, High Aim Accuracy, 160-480 Durability, 0.9s Reload, +200% Sneak Damage
– A very strong bow, capable of high damage and projectile speeds. The Compound Bow is unique to the other bows, having a greater zoom magnifier and ironsights. With these features, the Compound Bow can make an excellent choice for long range.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 27-49 Damage, 61-72 Projectile Velocity, 20-30m Effective Range, Low Hipfire Accuracy, Very High Aim Accuracy, 96-300 Durability, 1.7s Reload, +200% Sneak Damage
– A mechanical beauty, and a powerful weapon. The Compound Crossbow deals the highest damage of any bow, but is also the slowest to reload. Its ironsights and high accuracy make it a very effective weapon for long ranges.

– For melee weapons, Agility builds specialize in razor-sharp blades. Knives may deal lower damage and have less range than other melees, but attack much faster, and can apply stackable bleeding wounds to enemies, causing them to lose health overtime (see the perk Deep Cuts under Agility – Combat Perks). In addition, knives are primed for stealth, dealing +400% sneak damage. Knives are also the most effective in harvesting meat from animals.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 5-7 Damage, 20-25 Power Attack Damage, 120 Attacks/min (Very Fast), Short Range, 7.3 Stamina/swing, 10.9 Stamina/P-swing, 120-220 Durability, +400% Sneak Damage
– A poor weapon for direct combat, but a sub-par one for stealth strikes. The Bone Knife can be crafted very early game, as long as you can kill an animal. You’re best off looking for an upgrade.

– Unlocked: Deep Cuts Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 5-9 Damage, 22-30 Power Attack Damage, 120 Attacks/min (Very Fast), Short Range, 8.2 Stamina/swing, 12.3 Stamina/P-swing 462-1154 Durability, +400% Sneak Damage
– Dealing better damage than the bone knife, this Hunting Knife makes a better weapon for stealth strikes. It is a reasonable choice when it comes to direct combat, but don’t expect it to save you every time your stealth goes awry.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 16-30 Damage, 36-50 Power Attack Damage, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Average Range, 19.2 Stamina/swing, 32.7 Stamina/P-swing, 288-673 Durability, +400% Sneak Damage
– With stats considerably greater than the knives, the Machete is a macabre testament to melee weapons. It deals much better damage at longer range, but is more costly to stamina and swings slower. Excellent for both stealth and loud combat.

Agility – Light Armor

As mentioned in Agility – Combat Perks, the Agility skilltree specs into light armor, improving its durability and decreasing its stamina and movespeed penalty. Light armor has a lower armor rating than heavy armor, but has a lower stamina and movespeed penalty, while also being much quieter. For the aspiring stealth players, light armor can provide protection in the event that you get caught.

How Armor Stats Work: Armor Rating refers to your direct damage resistance. For example, 50 Armor Rating means you take 50% less damage from attacks. Explosion Resist works the same way, but applies to only explosive and splash damage. Crit Resist increases the chance you will resist receiving a critical hit, such as abrasions and sprains. Stamina/s refers to the rate of how much stamina drains while running. Durability refers to the number of hits armor can take before breaking. Once armor breaks, it will have 0 stats until it is repaired.

Each armor set has five pieces, all of which carry the same stats.

– Unlocked: By default
– Tier 1
– Stats: 5-7 Armor Rating, 5-7 Explosion Resist, +4% Crit Resist, 75-150 Durability, No Penalties to Movespeed, Stamina, or Noise
– Crafted from cloth, this armor set grants semi-decent protection against attacks. It is especially useful for stealthing, as it is the only armor set that does not have a noise penalty.

– Unlocked: Light Armor Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 5-10 Armor Rating, 5-10 Explosion Resist, +5-6% Crit Resist, 110-225 Durability, -.57 Stamina/s, -4% Mobility, +10% Noise
– Though it has improved stats compared to padded armor, Leather Armor has penalties to stamina, mobility, and noise, as do all other armor sets. However, compared to heavy armor, these penalties are much smaller, making Leather Armor a great option to mix between stealth and resistance.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 6-12 Armor Rating, 6-12 Explosion Resist, +5-6% Crit Resist, 200-400 Durability, -.57 Stamina/s, -4% Mobility, +10% Noise
– Standard issue ballistic armor, given to all soldiers. Granting the best armor rating out of any light armor, Military Armor makes for the best balance between stealth and protection.

– Unlocked: Urban Combat Vol 1
– Tier 3
– Stats: 6-12 Armor Rating, 6-12 Explosion Resist, +5-6% Crit Resist, 200-400 Durability, No Stamina Penalty, -4% Mobility, No Noise Penalty
– With stats equal to its normal military armor equivalent, these Stealth Boots have the added bonus of no noise nor stamina penalty. This makes it an optimal choice for remaining quiet. They cannot be found in loot, and must be crafted.

– Unlocked: Looting Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 7-10 Armor Rating, 7-10 Explosion Resist, +5% Crit Resist, 110-225 Durability, -.57 Stamina/s, -4% Mobility, +10% Noise
– The Football Helmet is a lootable, miscellaneous piece, often found in schools and lockers. It has stats similar to that of the Leather Hood, but with less durability. If you find one early, you’ve found a decent piece of early-game armor. Go Navezgane!

– Unlocked: The Art of Mining Vol 7
– Tier 2
– Stats: 7-10 Armor Rating, 7-10 Explosion Resist, +5% Crit Resist, 110-225 Durability, -.57 Stamina/s, -4% Mobility, +10% Noise, Comes with Helmet Light
– The Mining Helmet has stats similar to that of the Leather Hood, with the addition of having a built-in helmet light. The helmet light provides modest radiance, and can be activated with F. Keep in mind that your visibility is affected negatively by the light, decreasing your stealth.

Agility – Stealth

Better than any other class, Agility builds take advantage of the stealth mechanic. Stealth allows you to remain undetected, as well as muffling the noises of all actions. Stealth allows you to deal extra damage to unaware enemies, often killing them in one shot, or at least greatly weakening them.

While crouched, stealth mode activates, and a new bar appears on your UI, above your health and stamina. This bar shows a hybrid measurement of your visibility and noise. The value directly converts into the distance at which enemies can detect you. The higher the value, the further zombies will find you. The smaller the value, the closer you have to be for them to detect you. At 0, you are completely undetectable (until you make noise).

The environment affects your stealth greatly. Hiding in the darkness will dramatically decrease your visibility, while hiding in the light will increase your visibility. While stealthing, avoid lights and coming into contact with enemies. For riskier but more effective gameplay, enter points of interests at night.

In addition, staying still for a few seconds will further decrease your visibility. Moving again will increase it. Other actions, like aiming down sights, can increase your visibility. You can also “sneak-sprint” by sprinting while crouched. You will move faster but make slightly more noise.

How much noise you make also affects your stealth. Though noises are muffled while in stealth mode, your visibility will be increased by performing certain actions. These actions include making footsteps, aiming, shooting, reloading, looting, opening doors, and hitting tiles. Noise will not be increased by swinging weapons or power attacking.

Noise stacks with multiple actions. Actions such as walking too quickly causes multiple sounds from your footsteps to add up, lowering your stealth. It is imperative that you take your time to let each sound decay, allowing you to retain stealth. Try to “flutter step,” by tapping W. Monitor your stealth while crouch walking in order to maintain maximum stealth.

While in stealth, enemies that are unaware of your presence will take bonus damage from all of your attacks. By default, this value is +50%, and can be increased with certain weapons, perks, and books. With a good weapon and modifiers, you can reach up to 8x (and higher) damage, which will often kill enemies in one shot.

Weapons – Bows and Crossbows have +200% sneak damage. Knives and the Machete have +400%.

Perks – Hidden Strike increases base sneak damage by up to +250%.

Books – The Night Stalker is a set of volumes specializing in dealing extra sneak damage, especially at night.

In the event that an enemy does not die in one hit to a stealth attack, they will momentarily search the area they last heard noise from. During this search period, your stealth attacks will be on cooldown for that specific enemy. The search period is 60s by default, but can be decreased to 20s with the perk From the Shadows.

Most armor sets (with the exception of Cloth Armor) will increase the amount of noise you make for all actions. To optimize your stealthing capabilities, unequip all armor. If the heat gets too high, put your armor back on and go loud.

In opposition, some clothing items can increase your stealth. The Ghillie Suit, which can be crafted after completing the Sniper series, decreases your base visibility and muffles noise from all actions. Combined with the From the Shadows perk, you can reach a visibility of zero.

Because light should be avoided, and you’re going to be stealthing mostly at night, it can be hard to see enemies ahead. Your best choice to resolve this is by using Night Vision Goggles, which can be found most often in military loot and from traders. Night vision will give you full lighting, while not increasing your visibility.

When invading points of interest, zombies will always spawn as sleepers. Sleepers will not wake up until they are alerted by sufficient noise or light (or when you get too close). The most important thing you need to know is that sleeping zombies will make noises when close to waking up. If you hear a sleeper make a soft groan or snore, they are becoming alert and will soon wake up! Stop moving, and wait for them to calm down before approaching any further.

When you’ve found a sleeper, make a decision on how to kill them. If they’re alone and in an open spot, make a slow approach, and use your melee to quickly dispatch them. If they’re among a crowd with multiple zombies, using melee is too risky. Instead, find a corner or dark spot to hide in, and snipe them out with your bow. Start with the weakest zombies, then make your way up to the toughest.

If a zombie becomes alert, they will actively search the last spot they heard noise from. For example, if you shoot a zombie while stealthed, but don’t kill them immediately, the zombie will search the area you were last in. Make a slow retreat and find a new spot to hide. It is vital you do this as to remain hidden.

Alert zombies will also make specific sounds when they have detected you. Once you are detected, stealth damage no longer applies. Listen closely for zombie speech patterns, as to know when to fight. You do not always need to stand up when this happens. Standing up in a fight will greatly increase the chance of alerting the room.

Occasionally, zombies will be hiding in closets and behind breakaway doors. You will have to open these, whether it be by breaking it or making sufficient noise. Rocks will not awake sleeping zombies. You can always break open these doors with an arrow, without alerting the zombie inside.

Rocks can be used as distractions on alert zombies. This can provide you with a massive advantage, especially in close corridors, where the odds of you bumping into an enemy are likely.

When you alert a zombie, and they start chasing after you, try to get as much distance as possible. Close doors behind you, and find a hiding spot. Once your stealth is up, and the zombie does not have direct sights on you, toss out a rock to distract them. They will walk towards the spot the rock landed, and will become oblivious to your presence, as long as you stay hidden. Utilize this situation to either evade or kill the threat.

A very important note to consider: Rocks only work on awake zombies. If you throw a rock at a sleeper, even if you hit them, they will not wake up. Sleepers and jumpscare zombies (ones behind closets) will only wake up through significant light or noise.

Agility – Playstyle

Difficulty: Hard
Combat Viability: Excellent
Survival Viability: Poor
Best Perk Synergy: Strength and Fortitude (see Skilltree Synergy below)

Strategy

• Two modes of combat
  • Stealth Combat
    • Crouch and stay hidden to deal greater damage
    • Utilize knives and bows for their low noise and high stealth damage
    • Hide in dark places, locate escape points
    • Unequip armor to further decrease noise, if necessary
  • Loud Combat
    • Break out louder weapons to take care of a crowd
    • Utilize high-caliber handcannons or the fast-firing SMG-5
    • Equip Light Armor to stay mobile and protected
    • Reload without movement penalty

The Agility skilltree is the most mechanically complex of all the other attributes. With two ways to fight enemies, Agility builds are fully primed for combat. Stealth allows you to remain undetected and sneak by threats. While in Stealth, you deal greater damage and have a lesser chance of being hit by enemies.

If you’re caught sneaking, and need to go loud, you can break out powerful, high-caliber weapons that will send your enemies back to the grave. In combat, Agility builds are highly mobile and fluid, able to reload at full movement and jump incredible heights. Light Armor provides further protection without slowing you down as much.

While Agility may seem like a God-sent warrior, it has one major flaw. The Agility tree has no perks for survivability. While this may not be a problem to a veteran player, Agility builds alone miss out on bonus resource gain. To fully maximize your potential, you’re best off investing into other skilltrees.

Bows and Crossbows – These weapons are intended to be your ranged choice for stealth missions. Bows are silent, and deal even greater bonus damage while sneaking. If you find a dark spot to hide, try picking off as many enemies as you can see with your bows.

Pistol – If used with a silencer, pistols are a good option for stealth missions. In the event that you are caught by a single enemy, and you still don’t want to alert the horde, a silenced pistol will do the job against one enemy, much better than a bow. Bows only hold one arrow/bolt, so a pistol with a full magazine can quickly dispatch a zombie. If unsilenced, pistols will make a decent weapon against most targets.

SMG-5 – Though it can be silenced, I recommend using the SMG for loud combat. Its fast fire rate gives it great synergy with the perk Gunslinger/i], which can trigger multiple critical damage hits in quick succession. The SMG’s large clip size also allows it to take out large crowds with relative ease.

.44 Magnum and Desert Vulture – Even when silenced, these weapons are still very loud, so I would recommend against using them for stealth. No, the Magnum and Desert Vulture are much more suitable for loud combat. These .44 handcannons deal extremely high amounts of damage, making them optimal against high-health targets. If used with AP rounds, and in tight chokepoints like corridors, you can kill multiple enemies with one shot.

Blades – Lower tier knives like the Bone Knife and Hunting Knife are best used for stealth, but can be used in direct combat if need be. The Machete is the best option for both loud combat and stealth. While stealthed, use knives to deal massive sneak damage, often taking out enemies with one hit. When in loud combat, stab the hell out of your enemy, stacking as many bleeding wounds as possible. The perk Deep Cuts can increase bleeding stacks and blade combat potential. After causing 28 stab wounds, use your mobility to evade your enemy, and let them slowly bleed out.

Stealth

See the previous section, Agility – Stealth for information on stealthing.

Surviving

Agility has no initial perks for surviving. Depending on how many hours you have in 7 Days to Die, most of your surviving in an Agility build will rely on your own gamesense.

The least I can say, other than basically telling you to get good, is that Agility builds can rely on looting for resources. By stealthing through points of interest, engaging in combat or not, you can open containers and find some goodies to help you thrive.

Blood Moons

First thing’s first. Stealth will not help you on horde night! Zombies automatically have your scent and will track you down, no matter your visibility. You have to rely on loud combat only.

Early game, you’re likely to have found a pistol with a few rounds. Be resourceful with your ammo, and try going for headshots to quickly eliminate zombies. If you run out of ammo, you’ll be able to fall back on your bows. They may be single shot, but they’ll help you last.

When late game arrives, and you have a few more perks and guns, you’ll be more set for fighting the horde. Follow these tactics and never feel fear again.

Use your SMG-5 for crowds. The SMG is fast firing and deals good damage. Easily drop a crowd by spraying them down. Even the tankier targets won’t survive a barrage of 9mm from the SMG, especially with Gunslinger ranked up.

Use .44 weapons to blast high-priority targets. Fat cops and irradiated zombies can take a beating. Use your most powerful weapons to take down the most powerful zombies. And of course, always go for headshots. You want to deal the most damage, right?

Ascend to Godhood. If you’re feeling ballsy, the movement you can gain from the Agility skilltree can actually let you fight a horde without a base. I only recommend you try this if you have Run and Gun maxed out, and Urban Combat Vol 6 read (combat adrenaline). In addition, with Parkour maxed out, you can even jump over enemies. Though it is extremely risky, it’s an incredible feeling, and a whole new way to take on the horde.

Skilltree Synergy

What perks mix best with Agility?

Because of Agility’s low base stats for survival, I recommend going with Fortitude. The Fortitude tree has a plethora of perks for acquiring food, water, and supplies. Agility is already specialized highly into combat, so there’s no need to branch off into other trees specifically for combat.

If you want to live up to the fullest extent of a stealth master, also consider grabbing Lucky Looter and Lockpicker from the Perception tree. Not only will your looting experience improve, but you can remain hidden while opening locked containers.

As for every build, I recommend picking up Mother Lode, Sexual Tyrannosaurus and Miner 69’er from the Strength tree. These perks are extremely good for early game progression, and will help you immensely in gathering the main resources you need.

The Intellect Skilltree

Knowledge is power. In opposition to other builds, the Intellect Skilltree is made for support builds, granting you and your allies greater combat potential and game progression. Intellect builds unlock stun batons, which can electrocute and disable enemies, as well as automatic robotic turrets. While outside of combat, the Intellect skilltree helps in bartering with traders, getting better quest loot, improving healing with medicine, and boosting crafting speeds.

Intellect starts at Level 1. As the Intellect Tree is leveled up, the headshot damage and dismember chance of stun batons and robotic turrets is increased. Headshot damage starts at 200%, and each level increases it by +10% (+15% for levels 9 and 10), up to a maximum of +300% at level 10. Dismemberment chance starts at 5%, and each level increases it by +5%, up to a maximum of 50% at level 10.

As Intellect level increases, so does the amount of skillpoints required. Levels 2-5 cost one point, levels 6-8 cost two, and levels 9-10 cost three. Intellect can be increased by one level for free with Nerdy Glasses, an uncommon clothing item.

Intellect – Combat Perks

– Use more gun. Enhances the combat prowess of all robotic turrets. Each rank increases their damage, fire rate, magazine size, and active deploy range, while also improving the crafting quality of all turrets.

Turrets Syndrome – By default, the player can deploy one turret, which remains active as long as you are within 10m. The turret can also be wielded like a gun, but becomes much more inaccurate, and has a hefty recoil.

– BZZAP. Improves the damage of the Stun Baton, as well as increasing the duration it electrocutes enemies. Increases the crafting quality of stun batons.

Electrocution – After 3 successful normal attacks, or 2 successful power attacks, the Stun Baton will glow and emit electricity. The next strike on an enemy will electrocute them, disabling them for 4s, and dealing 6 damage per second. Electrocuted enemies cannot attack nor move. Afterwards, the electrocution effect resets. Hitting a tile will remove the electrocution effect. Missing an attack or switching items does not remove the effect.

Bug – Currently, the stun duration bonus does not work. Enemies will only be stunned for 4s. The damage bonus is still effective, however.

Intellect – Support/Crafting Perks

– Cha-ching! Thanks, buddy. Increases the amount of Dukes you get from selling goods, while decreasing the price of buying goods. Later ranks will unlock better secret stashes from all traders.

Bartering – Increases the gain from selling goods by the given percentage. Also decreases the price of bought goods by the same value.

Secret Stash – At the last tab of a trader’s inventory, there is the Secret Stash option. By default, it displays rare items, including armors, weapons, schematics, magazines, and more. Upgrading Better Barter improves the quality and quantity of loot found in the Secret Stash, but not the gamestage value (e.g. you can’t find a shotgun on Day 1).

– Never going back to the Shamway Factory. After completing trader quests, gain more Dukes and reward options.

Quest Rewards – By default, the player can claim one reward and has two reward choices. The amount of dukes is determined by the difficulty of the quest.

– What’s gonna work? Grants you and your allies improved stats and potential, as long as you stay grouped together. Buffs activate when within a 15m radius of an ally, and persist for 5 minutes after leaving the range. All buffs gained from each rank are kept as the perk is leveled up. This perk is only effective in multiplayer. Allies can be added through the Players list.

– Don’t be such a baby. Ribs grow back! Gain more health and XP from using medicine and first aid. Unlocks several new crafting recipes with each rank.

Drugs – Physician unlocks the crafting recipes to drugs such as Steroids, Recog, and Fortbites. These probably legal substances will grant you stat boosts for a moderate duration, though at a cost. Using drugs greatly increases thirst, and has a chance to cause withdrawal. Withdrawal will decrease your stats temporarily, and will only go away with time, or with more of the drug that caused your addiction.

• Steroids – Increase movement speed by +10%, and removes encumbrance. Lasts 10 minutes.
• Recog – Enhances all ranged damage by +50%. Lasts 5 minutes.
• Fortbites – Grants +50% damage resistance. Lasts 2 minutes.

Note: The XP Bonus only applies to bandages, first-aid bandages, first-aid kits, splints, and plaster casts. All learned crafting recipes can be learned via schematics, with the exception of Recog, Steroids, and Fortbites.

– Practical problems. Unlocks many new recipes while improving crafting speed, reducing cost, and gaining more XP from trap kills.

Other Electrical Devices – Basic Light Bulbs, Spotlights, Industrial Lights, Industrial Light Bulbs, Electric Relays, Speakers, Motion Sensors, Tripwire Posts, all Trigger Plates

XP From Traps – By default, the player gains no XP from killing enemies via traps. At higher ranks, the percentage is the fraction of XP normally earned from killing an enemy.

Note – All learned crafting recipes can be unlocked via schematics.

– Vehicle update coming soon… Unlocks the crafting recipes for vehicle parts, while also reducing the cost of crafting them. Later ranks unlock new recipes such as gas cans and car batteries, and additionally improve the crafting quality of lead car batteries.

Vehicles – Of the five drivable vehicles, each one is unique and has its benefits over the others. Vehicles at higher ranks are more costly to craft. See Intellect – Vehicles for more.

Note – All vehicle part recipes can be learned via schematics. Gas Can recipe can also be learned through a schematic.

Intellect – Weapons

– The Intellect skilltree can deploy automatic turrets, all of which have unique functions and attack patterns. Turrets can also be wielded like a gun, but are very inaccurate and heavy in recoil. If you’re ever in a spot where you need some extra firepower, place a turret down and watch science do its work.

– Unlocked: Robotics Expert Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 9-17 Damage, 55 Attacks/min (Average), Long Range (deployed), Average Range (wielded), 200-720 Durability, -65% Degradation
– The Sledge Turret is a gimmicky, albeit occasionally useful weapon. In terms of a melee weapon, it does very poor damage, but has a very high chance of staggering and stunning enemies when deployed. It also has the unique effect of pushing an enemy backwards, making it useful for getting breathing room. Apparently there’s also something where you can propel your friends and send them flying.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 9-17 Damage, 54-99 Magazine Size, 54-66 Rounds/min (Average), Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, AI Controlled Deploy Accuracy, 200-720 Durability, 3.9s Reload, -65% Degradation
– While it won’t clear an entire room on its own, the Robotic Turret makes for great support fire. It can detect zombies from a range equal to its effective range, and is moddable to increase its power, even while deployed. While deployed, the Turret will always hit its shots, usually aiming for center of mass, and occasionally hitting headshots.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 9-17 Damage, 54-99 Magazine Size, 54-66 Rounds/min (Average), Very Low Hipfire Accuracy, AI Controlled Deploy Accuracy, 200-720 Durability, 3.9s Reload, -65% Degradation
– This drone is intended to be implemented sometime during Alpha 19. The Drone is an intimidating piece of electronic glory, with dual barrels and turbine wings. Through datamining, I was able to reveal its current stats, but they are likely placeholder. I am not sure of its behavior; the Robotic Drone could follow the player, or fly around and attack enemies on its own. Once it fully releases, I imagine it will have superior fire rate, magazine size, and accuracy.

– Currently, there is only one stun baton, but it has a unique feature over any other melee weapon: the ability to electrocute and disable enemies. After 3 successful attacks, or 2 successful power attacks, the Stun Baton will activate and emit electricity. The next attack on an enemy will electrocute them, stunning them for 4s and dealing 6 damage per second. The effect is lost if a tile is struck. The effect is retained after a miss, or if the player switches items in their hotbar.

There will be more Stun Batons added. After looking through the game’s stat files, there are plans to add two new stun batons, one for Tier 1 and the other for Tier 3. I’ll add their stats once icons for the items are released.

– Unlocked: Electrocutioner Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 2
– Stats: 8-16 Damage, 19-27 Power Attack Damage, 70 Attacks/min (Average), Average Range, 15.5 Stamina/swing, 26.4 Stamina/P-swing, 269-673 Durability
– Compared to the other melee weapons, this Stun Baton does relatively low damage. Its intended use is to retain a charge, and be used on high-priority targets, for you or your team to attack. If you swing like a madman, and have enough stamina, you can keep an enemy in a permanent stunlock.

Intellect – Traps

Alongside typical electrical devices, players that spec into Intellect can construct unique electrical traps, ranging from Electric Fence Posts to Fully Automated Turrets. As long as they are connected to power, they will do their job, enhancing your base’s defensive parameters, and keeping the undead dead.

Note: Electrical Devices, by default, do not grant the player XP upon zombie kills. Ranking up the perk Advanced Engineering will give a percentage of XP from kills, up to a maximum of 50% at Rank 5.

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 3 or Schematic
– Stats: Applies Shocked Debuff, 5W Requirement, 20 Block Health, Functionality Determined by Health

• Shocked will deal 6 Damage per second, for 4.5 seconds. It also decreases movement speed by -90%.

– Connect two or more posts together to create an electric fence link. Zombies that step in this link will be electrocuted, taking damage overtime and becoming immobilized. These traps are excellent for placing around the base! Shocked zombies will have an animation-lock, allowing for easy headshots. Read below for information on functionality.

• Each electrocution event causes the terminal (end) fence post to lose 0.5 Block Health
• Once an Electric Fence Post reaches 50 Block Health (300 Shocks), it will stop functioning
  • This is indicated by the fence post emitting sparks when it would normally shock an enemy. The wire connecting the fence posts will also sag.
• Because fence posts are fragile, keep them protected with blocks or plates!

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 3 or Schematic
– Stats: 45 Damage, 55m/s Projectile Speed, Fast Fire Rate, 10W Requirement, 2500 Block Health
– Must be locked and loaded with Iron Darts. When powered, Dart Traps will constantly shoot out two darts every second. The darts themselves have very precise hitboxes, and may not hit a zombie if aimed at the feet. Dart Traps are optimally placed in tight corridors, aimed at a zombie’s center of mass. Not the best ranged trap, but it does its job in the right circumstance.

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 3 or Schematic
– Stats: 20 Damage per Collision, 20W Requirement, 2000 Block Health, Functionality Determined by Health
– These gristly Blade Traps spin with a devastating velocity, enough to turn zombies into a fine red paste. The closer an enemy is to the center of the Blade Trap, the more collisions and the more damage they will take. Very effective when placed close to the base. However, these electrical traps require supervision, as they deteriorate in function as they deal damage. The information below describes this mechanic in detail.

• Blade Traps will take 4 Block Damage for every Collision it has with an Entity
• As a Blade Trap loses Block Health, it spins slower (deals less DPS)
  • The Blade Trap has unique sound loops depending on its health, such as scraping mechanical parts and a slowed whirring sound
• Once a Blade Trap reaches 500 Block Health (375 Collisions), it will break down and stop spinning

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 4 or Schematic
– Stats: 9 Damage per Pellet, 8 Pellets, Fast Fire Rate (4 Round Burst, then 2s Cooldown), 15m Detection Range, 15W Requirement
– Equipped with motion-detection technology, this fully-automated Turret will blast zombies within its detection radius, trying its hardest to go for headshots. Of course, its performance is optimal when placed within close quarters of zombies, so be sure to strategize your turret placements. Must be locked and loaded with Shotgun Shells. The Turret’s camera can be set while the device is powered on. While using the Camera Preview, you can manually aim and shoot the turret.

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 5 or Schematic
– Stats: 32 Damage, Fast Fire Rate (15 Round Burst, then 2s Cooldown), 30m Detection Range, 15W Requirement
– Designed by you, built by you… Auto Turrets are the deadliest, most versatile ranged trap in the game, and with enough of them, no creature will ever set foot in your territory, without getting a mouthful of bullets. Like the Shotgun Turret, it will always try to aim for headshots. Excellent for placing around the base, and activating for constant defense, or on horde nights. Must be locked and loaded with 9mm Ammunition. The Turret’s camera can be set while the device is powered on. While using the Camera Preview, you can manually aim and shoot the turret.

Intellect – Vehicles

As mentioned in Intellect – Support/Crafting Perks, the Intellect skilltree has a certain perk that unlocks vehicle crafting. For convenience, those vehicles and their stats will be kept here.

Vehicles can be driven with two control sets. By default, the vehicle will drive in the direction you face. By tapping M1, you can switch the driving controls to WASD. Hold Shift to activate turbo (faster speed but more gas consumption), and press F to activate your headlights. All vehicles have 90% damage resist. You can also “hop” with most vehicles by pressing C. This works most effectively with the Bicycle and Minibike, and slightly with the Motorcycle. The 4×4 Truck cannot hop.

The stat km/Tank refers to how much distance the vehicle can travel maximum, from full tank to empty tank. If you convert Base/Turbo speed to km/s (divide by 1000), and then divide km/Tank by that km/s, you can find out how long each tank lasts in seconds, if constantly in Base/Turbo speed respective to your calculations. (Ex. The Motorcycle’s Turbo speed is 14m/s = .014km/s. It can travel 24km with one tank total. 24km / .014km/s = 1714.29s or 28.57 minutes total, suggesting you drive only in Turbo mode).

– Unlocked: Grease Monkey Rank 1 or Schematic
– Stats: 1500HP, 5m/s Base Speed, 10m/s Turbo Speed, 1 Seat, 9 Item Slots
– An excellent vehicle for early-game, especially if you’re often encumbered, or using heavy armor. Still, the Bicycle is the most underwhelming vehicle of the five. While in turbo speed, the Bicycle uses stamina (at a rate slightly more than running). It also requires no gas.

– Unlocked: Grease Monkey Rank 2 or Schematic
– Stats: 3000HP, 1000G Tank, 7m/s Base Speed, 10m/s Turbo Speed, 16km/Tank, 1 Seat, 27 Item Slots
– Brings me back to A16… The Minibike is much superior to the bicycle, especially for the loot-hoarders. It requires gas to run, and holds a small tank compared to the other vehicles.

– Unlocked: Grease Monkey Rank 3 or Schematic
– Stats: 6000HP, 3000G Tank, 9m/s Base Speed, 14m/s Turbo Speed, 24km/Tank, 1 Seat, 36 Item Slots
– My personal favorite of the vehicles, particularly because of its appearance and offroad capabilities. The Motorcycle is all-around a great vehicle, with a modest gas tank and inventory room. It’s also considerably faster than the minibike, and has excellent turning speed. In addition, its small size makes it great for offroading.

– Unlocked: Grease Monkey Rank 4 or Schematic
– Stats: 7500HP, 10000G Tank, 9m/s Base Speed, 14m/s Turbo Speed, 40km/Tank, 2 Seats, 72 Item Slots
– If you’re going on an errand-run, you better drive one of these. The 4×4 Truck is incredibly powerful, containing up to 72 items and sporting a massive gas tank, all while running at the same speed as the Motorcycle. In addition, if you’re playing Co-Op, this will be your #1 choice, as it can carry two players! Due to its size, however, it is not the best at offroading (driving on uneven terrain).

– Unlocked: Grease Monkey Rank 5 or Schematic
– Stats: 3000HP, 2000G Tank, 9m/s Base Speed, 15m/s Turbo Speed, 12km/Tank, 1 Seat, 45 Item Slots
– Though it has a smaller health pool and gas tank, the Gyrocopter is the fastest of all the vehicles, and has the added ability of flying. By default, holding SPACE raises the Gyrocopter’s height, while holding C decreases it. If you ever need to get to Point A to Point B as fast and safely as possible, the Gyro is your prime pick. The inventory room is nice, too. However, its smaller gas tank means that you will need to stop more frequently to refill, compared to other vehicles.

Intellect – Playstyle

Difficulty: Intermediate
Combat Viability: Poor
Survival Viability: Decent
Best Perk Synergy: Any (see Skilltree Synergy below)

Strategy

• Use your stun baton to disable and mark enemies
• Place turrets for additional fire support
• Support your teammates by healing, applying buffs, and crafting
• Speed up gameplay progression by learning new recipes
• Significantly improve trader bartering and quest loot

The Intellect Skilltree, on its own, is very unequipped for combat. Your Stun Baton is very ineffective at killing enemies, and Turrets must be placed strategically before becoming usable. When held as a gun, Turrets are unwieldy, slow, and couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. In addition, you don’t have many perks to help you survive. You may have new crafting recipes and workbenches, but no efficient way to gain the resources necessary to craft them.

So why choose Intellect?

Intellect is a very unique skilltree, not meant to be leveled on its own. The Intellect skilltree is intended to support; Intellect improves game progression, unlocks new workbenches faster, and has automatic turrets intended for additional firepower. Depending on how you play, and who you play with, Intellect can be played in two different ways.

In Singleplayer, Intellect skilltree should be used as an auxiliary attribute, allowing you to accelerate the progression speed of your own game. Unlock crafting recipes faster, that would have otherwise been unlocked through looted schematics. Place turrets for more firepower when you need it. Get better results from trading and questing. Intellect doesn’t have to be what you spec into first, but it can make all the difference in a build.

In Multiplayer, you’re more free to spec into Intellect, without the need to combine it with any other attribute. With that in mind, however, you are completely reliant on your team for resources, defense, and offense. If you’re a good coordinator, you can support your team with turrets, crafting, and trading, while they bring you the materials you need. If you love being a team player, and playing support, then make an Intellect build.

Turrets – With the Sledge Turret, place in tight corridors where zombies bunch up. The Sledge can be wielded as well, and has a very high chance to stun enemies. With any ranged Turret, place in similar areas, with the premonition of approaching enemies. Make sure your turrets are placed with sights on the enemy. If possible, deploy your Turrets on a high ground.

Stun Baton – Though it isn’t as effective at killing, the Stun Baton can be used for personal defense, allowing you to disable tougher enemies within uncomfortable distance. If in Multiplayer, make call-outs to your team, informing them about your stunned target. Consider it a mark for death.

Other Weapons – If you’ve spec’d into a different skilltree, make sure you utilize its weapons as well! You can further enhance your personal combat viability by combining skilltrees. See the respective attribute’s playstyle for more info on its weapon usage.

In Singleplayer, you are reliant on your main skilltree and its survival perks, as well as your own gamesense and knowledge.

In Multiplayer, you are reliant on your team for resources and protection. A good team treats their support with care. Likewise, you are integral for your team’s survival. Spec into healing and crafting perks, and be their Medic/Engineer.

If you’re a quest-junky like me, you can improve your survival by getting better quest loot through Intellect perks. In addition, as you unlock new crafting recipes and workbenches, you can further enhance your own and your teammates’ survival, with the new recipes those workbenches bring you.

As mentioned for Singleplayer, you should be invested into other attributes and their skilltrees before starting a full Intellect build. Early game, it is much rarer to find turret and stun baton parts, so you’re less likely to have Intellect weapons, even in Multiplayer. Utilize your current weapons, or rely on your team’s offense.

Once late game arrives, you’re more likely to have Intellect upgraded, a good Turret or two, and a strong team composition.

Turret placement is key. On Horde nights, enemies will typically approach from only one direction. Deploy your turrets facing the direction of the horde’s approach. Be sure to reload them often.

Stun straggler enemies. Sometimes, an enemy might get past the base defenses, and will come too close for comfort. Utilize your stun baton to disable the enemy, and make a quick takedown. If in Multiplayer, make call-outs whenever you’re in danger.

Play doctor. Injured? Teammate screaming for help? You can do something about it. Bring plenty of medical equipment before horde night, and use it on yourself and your friends. You can heal other players by using M2 on them, while holding a medical item.

Set up electric traps and utility. With earlier access to new electric devices, Intellect builds can set up electricity in a base. You can place spotlights to light up the area, or make SMG and shotgun turrets that automatically shoot enemies in their cone of vision. Electric traps stun enemies that walk by them, and blade traps can chop enemies to bits! Craft or find a Wire Tool, and hook up devices to a battery or generator bank to power them.

If you haven’t figured it out already, Intellect will mix and match with any other skilltree. It’s completely up to you on what perks and weapons you want. In Multiplayer, it doesn’t have to be you who specs into different skilltrees. Form a plan with your friends, and decide on an effective composition that will benefit everyone. Somebody can make a Strength build to mine resources and be the team’s offense, or somebody can use Perception to snipe out threats from a safe distance… The choice is up to your team.

Tools

This section will cover every tool in 7 Days to Die, from wrenches to pickaxes. Every tool’s crafting quality and power is governed by the perk Miner 69’er, with the exception of salvaging tools, which are governed by Salvage Operations. For the sake of consistency, Block Damage will be shown, while Entity Damage will not.

Repair Tool – If a tool is a Repair Tool, its M2 ability is replaced by a slower swing that repairs blocks on contact. To repair a block, you need to have the correct material (it will appear in the bottom right when you try to repair). The HP value is the amount of block health repaired with each M2 swing.

Efficacy – Efficacy is a new section for each tool, detailing its damage against certain block types. If a Tool does 50 Block Damage, but is only 50% Effective against Metal, then that tool will deal only 25 Block Damage to any metal object.

– Tools that we all started out with. These Primitive tier tools can be crafted very simply, with unrefined stone and wood.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 21-32 Block Damage, 105 Attacks/min (Fast), 8.0 Stamina/swing, 112-300 Durability, Repair Tool (100 HP)
– Efficacy: 100% vs. Wood, 15% vs. Earth, 67% vs. Stone, 50% vs. Metal
– Everyone’s first and “favorite” tool. The Stone Axe was upgraded in Alpha 19 to have better and smoother swing speeds, allowing you to gain resource faster. It is suitable for destroying any material, disregarding dirt and gravel. Through a bit of looting, you’re likely to find something better.

– Unlocked: Looting Only
– Primitive
– Stats: 22-39 Block Damage, 99-110 Attacks/min (Fast), 9.0 Stamina/swing, 120-375 Durability, Repair Tool (100 HP)
– Efficacy: 100% vs. Wood, 15% vs. Earth, 67% vs. Stone, 50% vs. Metal
– This Apache artifact is an extremely rare variant of the normal stone axe. Taza’s Stone Axe can only be found in Apache chests, which are hidden within obscure points of interests, such as Indian Burial Grounds. Would do better in a collection than an actual tool. May be cursed.

– Unlocked: By default
– Primitive
– Stats: 38-57 Block Damage, 47-66 Power Block Damage, 50 Attacks/min (Average), 16.2 Stamina/swing, 32.5 Stamina/P-swing, 75-200 Durability
– Efficacy: 30% vs. Wood, 100% vs. Earth, 20% vs. Stone, 20% vs. Metal
– Though it isn’t the best shovel, it can be crafted on a whim when you need to do a buried treasure quest.

– These Repair Tools are intended for fixing, maintaining, and upgrading bases. Instead of a power attack, M2 is replaced with the repair ability. Aim at the block you want to repair, if you have the right materials. Their low block damage makes them less suitable for destructive operations.

– Unlocked: Miner 69’er Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 18-34 Block Damage, 66-73 Attacks/min (Average), 16.2-18.0 Stamina/swing, 238-1098 Durability, Repair Tool (400 HP)
– Efficacy: 50% vs. Wood, 25% vs. Earth, 100% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– A superior tool for base repairs, compared to the Stone Axe. The Claw Hammer is common to find in Working Stiffs crates, and can make a sub-decent tool for breaking blocks.

– Unlocked: Advanced Engineering Rank 4 or Schematic
– Tier 3
– Stats: 1000 Durability, Repair Tool (1000 HP)
– Nail Guns are the apex repair tool. They can completely restore blocks in a few clicks, and can often outheal the damage from a zombie horde. The Nail Gun also behaves like a firearm, but we’re not gonna talk about that. The Nail Gun has abysmal combat stats. It can load 10 Nails and be fired at enemies, but has horrid accuracy and damage. If you’re in a high enough gamestage to find a Nail Gun, surely you’ve found a better weapon, right?

– Pickaxes are the prime tool to use against stone and metal, whether it be for destroying a house or mining ore. All pickaxes also have an additional +80% Efficacy towards gravel.

– Unlocked: Miner 69’er Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 30-55 Block Damage, 65-90 Power Block Damage, 61-68 Attacks/min (Average), 17.5-19.3 Stamina/swing, 31.3 Stamina/P-swing, 221-1018 Durability
– Efficacy: 20% vs. Wood, 20% vs. Earth, 100% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– Crafted from early forged iron, this simple handpick can do the trick against most blocks and ores. Its swing speed is slightly higher than the other pickaxes, though its damage is far less.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 53-97 Block Damage, 131-175 Power Block Damage, 52-57 Attacks/min (Average), 25.1-27.7 Stamina/swing, 52.7 Stamina/P-swing, 297-1480 Durability
– Efficacy: 20% vs. Wood, 20% vs. Earth, 100% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– The same kind used by roughnecks to dig the railroads. This hefty Steel Pickaxe deals massive block damage to stone and metal, making it perfect for busting into ore and base alike.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 17-32 Block Damage, 263-336G Tank, 285-315 Attacks/min (Fast), 1120-5040 Durability, 3.5s Reload, -30% XP Gain
– Efficacy: 20% vs. Wood, 100% vs. Earth, 100% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– Put the power in Power Tool! This gas-powered Auger may have low block damage, but it makes up for its fast fire rate. In addition, it has a bit of a kick to it, so expect to require some recoil control. Overall, the Auger is the ultimate mining tool, and is the top tier tool for quickly breaking down any material.

Tools (cont.)

– From heavy fire axes to the lumbering chainsaw, these Axes are built for chopping down trees and breaching wooden barriers. They may look sharp enough to hunt heads with, but sadly, they aren’t primed for combat. Always bring one with you for on-the-spot chops.

– Unlocked: Miner 69’er Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 38-69 Block Damage, 94-126 Power Block Damage, 57-63 Attacks/min (Average), 18.9-20.9 Stamina/swing, 39.9 Stamina/P-swing, 159-737 Durability
– Efficacy: 100% vs. Wood, 20% vs. Earth, 25% vs. Stone, 25% vs. Metal
– A traditional fireaxe, made for breaching doors and splitting floors. Helps significantly early game for gathering wood, and is much superior to the stone axe.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 73-133 Block Damage, 181-241 Power Block Damage, 44-49 Attacks/min (Slow), 29.4-32.4 Stamina/swing, 61.7 Stamina/P-swing, 255-1265 Durability, -10% XP Gain
– Efficacy: 100% vs. Wood, 20% vs. Earth, 25% vs. Stone, 25% vs. Metal
– A dual-edged wastelander’s axe, built with sharp scrap metals and mechanical pieces. Each swing deals a massive amount of damage to trees and wooden blocks, and even more so on power attacks.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 20-37 Block Damage, 263-336G Tank, 285-315 Attacks/min (Fast), 1120-5040 Durability, 3.5s Reload, -30% XP Gain
– Efficacy: 100% vs. Wood, 100% vs. Earth, 100% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– Akin to its power-tool brother, the Auger, this wicked Chainsaw is fueled by fear (and gas). Trees will quiver and fall the moment you take out this chain-bladed machine, making it the optimal choice for gathering wood. Enemies don’t drop a surplus of ammo when you kill them with this.

– Spades for digging holes and trenches. Though you might not dig on every mission, they come in handy for gathering clay and sand, as well as buried treasure missions.

– Unlocked: Miner 69’er Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 39-71 Block Damage, 96-128 Power Block Damage, 47-52 Attacks/min (Average), 19.3-21.3 Stamina/swing, 40.6 Stamina/P-swing, 187-862 Durability
– Efficacy: 30% vs. Wood, 100% vs. Earth, 20% vs. Stone, 20% vs. Metal
– A simple two-handed shovel, with great block damage against dirt, sand, and clay.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 58-106 Block Damage, 144-193 Power Block Damage, 47-52 Attacks/min (Average), 23.5-25.9 Stamina/swing, 49.3 Stamina/P-swing, 255-1265 Durability, -10% XP Gain
– Efficacy: – 30% vs. Wood, 100% vs. Earth, 20% vs. Stone, 20% vs. Metal
– This Steel Shovel is a direct upgrade to the Iron Shovel, perfect for trench-digging and destroying the ground. Sadly, it doesn’t have its own model yet. Ingame, its icon is a slightly blue version of the Iron Shovel.

– When used on mechanical and electrical appliances, such as cars, these Salvage Tools will break apart the device to give you resources, such as iron, pipes, radiators, batteries, generators, and more. Aim at the device you wish to salvage. You will know if its salvageable by a unique tool animation.

– Unlocked: Salvage Operations Rank 1 or Schematic
– Tier 1
– Stats: 32-59 Block Damage, 71-98 Power Block Damage, 47-52 Attacks/min (Average), 18.3 Stamina/swing, 31.1 Stamina/P-swing, 180-640 Durability
– Efficacy: 50% vs. Wood, 25% vs. Earth, 50% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– Once a repair tool, and once the only salvaging tool. With the introduction of new salvage tools in Alpha 19, the Wrench is not alone. In turn, the Wrench became the lowest tier salvage tool, but it will still give you full harvest.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 2
– Stats: 41-75 Block Damage, 89-123 Power Block Damage, 47-52 Attacks/min (Average), 21.8 Stamina/swing, 37.0 Stamina/P-swing, 300-900 Durability
– Efficacy: 50% vs. Wood, 25% vs. Earth, 50% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– Pop out some sockets with this forged iron Ratchet. It does much better damage than the wrench, allowing you to salvage devices faster.

– Unlocked: Schematic Only
– Tier 3
– Stats: 49-89 Block Damage, 107-147 Power Block Damage, 47-52 Attacks/min (Average), 24.7 Stamina/swing, 41.9 Stamina/P-swing, 500-1100 Durability
– Efficacy: 50% vs. Wood, 25% vs. Earth, 50% vs. Stone, 100% vs. Metal
– The best of all the salvaging tools. This Tier 3 Impact Driver will shred cars and appliances to pieces you can use for at-home projects.

– Paintbrushes, light sources, wire tools, and more. These tools don’t fit anywhere else in the list, and have very specific applications.

– Unlocked: By default (Start out with one)
– Stats: 10 Damage, 50 Attacks/min (Average), 21.8 Stamina/swing, 30% to Ignite, +7 Cold Insulation when Held, Modest Light
– A flickering torch to help you light the way in the darkness. As a weapon (or tool), it does pretty poor damage, with a slight chance to burn an enemy, engulfing them in flames for a few seconds. While held, it also applies some insulation against the cold. In radiance, may we find victory.

– Unlocked: By default (Workbench)
– Stats: 7 Damage, 7 Power Attack Damage, 65 Attacks/min (Average), 11 Stamina/Swing, 1.5 Stamina/P-swing
– British “people” call this a torch, too. The Flashlight can also be used as a melee weapon, but does abysmal damage. It can be activated with F, and radiates a good amount of light.

– Unlocked: By default
– Used to paint blocks different textures. To use the paintbrush, first hold R to select your painting mode and texture. M2 will paint blocks the selected texture, as long as you have paint. M1 will clear the texture of a painted block, returning it to its normal appearance.

– Unlocked: By default (Workbench)
– Use to connect two electrical devices together, as long as they’re placed by you. Right click will attach an input/output wire, and left click will cancel the placement. Wires have limited range, so remember to use Relays!

Ammunition

Here is the complete cover and overview of every ammunition type in the game. In the endgame, the choice of ammo you use makes the biggest difference, and can help you take down enemies you normally would have a struggle with.

The base damage of all guns is given by their standard type of ammunition.

– Used by: Hunting Rifle, Marksman Rifle, Sniper Rifle, AK-47, Tactical Assault Rifle, M60

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 50 Ranged Damage, 8 Block Damage, Normal Degradation
– Standard-issue 7.62 ammo. Does its job against any target effectively.

– Unlocked: Sniper Vol 7
– Stats: 65 Ranged Damage, 4 Block Damage, Normal Degradation, -100% Armor Piercing
– Hollowpoints expand in the flesh, making a bigger hole and rendering the target into mincemeat. These bullets will do more damage than standard 7.62, but will deal less damage to armored targets.

– Unlocked: Sniper Vol 6
– Stats: 50 Ranged Damage, 9 Block Damage, +30% Degradation, +20% Armor Piercing, 1 Target Penetration
– Ideal for heavy targets and hitting collaterals, these AP rounds will penetrate through armor and enemies alike. Each AP round can pierce through one enemy of up to 250HP, continuing its line of fire and hitting the enemy behind for the same damage. This penetration can be improved with the Perception perk, The Penetrator.

– Used by: Rocket Launcher

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 4 or Schematic
– Stats: 420 Explosion Damage, 2500 Block Damage, 5m Radius
– The standard rocket used by launchers, these massive shells will deal more damage to the terrain than it would to enemies. If you wanna do some blast mining, these will come in handy. However, if you’re looking to preserve the natural environment, better use some Frag Rockets.

– Unlocked: Demolitions Expert Rank 4 or Schematic
– Stats: 700 Explosion Damage, 20 Block Damage, 6m Radius
– With a larger damage and explosion radius, these rockets are considerably better for combat, especially if you’re fighting on your home turf. They deal very little block damage, making them ideal for keeping the ground intact, and enemies in pieces.

– Used by: Double Barrel Shotgun, Pump Shotgun, Auto Shotgun

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 11 Ranged Damage/pellet, 5 Block Damage/Pellet, 10 Pellets, Normal Degradation, -40% Armor Piercing
– Most effective in close ranges, these shells will release a blast of 10 buckshot, obliterating enemies and destroying weaker blocks. However, they are less effective against armor.

– Unlocked: Shotgun Messiah Vol 4
– Stats: 96 Ranged Damage/pellet, 80 Block Damage/pellet, 1 Pellet, +30% Degradation, +20% Armor Piercing, 2 Target Penetration, +4m Effective Range
– These slugs can make your shotguns deal some of the highest damage in the game, while also increasing the shotgun’s accuracy and effective range. Slugs are best used against armored targets and long-ranged threats. It can also penetrate up to two targets totalling to 750HP, dealing the same damage throughout its travel. However, these slugs are harder on the shotgun, making it degrade faster with each shot.

– Unlocked: Shotgun Messiah Vol 2
– Stats: 96 Damage/pellet, 80 Block Damage/pellet, 1 Pellet, Normal Degradation, +1000 Door/Wood Damage
– While not as suitable for combat, these utility slugs make busting into safes, vaults, and homes a cakewalk. One shot can crack into a desk safe, two shots a gun safe, and four shots a hardened chest. If you ever want to break open locks in a pinch, use these slugs.

– Used by: Pistol, SMG-5, SMG Auto Turret

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 32 Ranged Damage, 7 Block Damage, Normal Degradation
– Typical rounds loaded into small firearms and handguns. Very easy to craft in bulk.

– Unlocked: Pistol Pete Vol 5
– Stats: 41 Ranged Damage, 3 Block Damage, Normal Degradation, -100% Armor Piercing
– Expanding bullets that dish out greater damage than its normal counterpart. However, these HP rounds are less effective against armored targets.

– Unlocked: Pistol Pete Vol 6
– Stats: 32 Ranged Damage, 8 Block Damage, +30% Degradation, +20% Armor Piercing, 1 Target Penetration
– This 9mm type is more effective against armored targets. Each AP round can pierce through one enemy of up to 250HP, continuing its line of fire and hitting the enemy behind for the same damage. Each shot causes the gun to lose durability more than normal bullets.

– Used by: Magnum, Desert Vulture

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 70 Ranged Damage, 12 Block Damage, Normal Degradation
– Bullets used by the high-powered Magnum and Desert Vulture handguns. They are deadly against any target, and deal some of the highest damage per shot of any bullet.

– Unlocked: Magnum Enforcer Vol 6
– Stats: 91 Ranged Damage, 6 Block Damage, Normal Degradation, -90% Armor Penetration
– The same bullet, now even stronger. These HP rounds will deal massive damage against unarmored targets. An armored target will take less damage, but these bullets are still effective nonetheless.

– Unlocked: Magnum Enforcer Vol 5
– Stats: 70 Ranged Damage, 14 Block Damage, +30% Degradation, +25% Armor Piercing, 1 Target Penetration
– While they do the same amount of damage as standard .44 rounds, these AP bullets will shred through armor and enemies alike. Ideal for tougher zombies and hitting collaterals. Each AP round can pierce through one enemy of up to 250HP, continuing its line of fire and hitting the enemy behind for the same damage.

Ammunition (cont.)

– Used by: Primitive Bow, Wooden Bow, Compound Bow

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 25 Ranged Damage, 1 Block Damage, 45m/s Projectile Velocity
– Primitive, but very easy to craft. As you level up and get a forge, you can craft much better, more refined arrowheads. These are the standard ammunition for all bows.

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 28 Ranged Damage, 3 Block Damage, 50m/s Projectile Velocity
– A bit better than the stone arrows. Iron arrows require an anvil at a forge to craft.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 4
– Stats: 31 Ranged Damage, 5 Block Damage, 55m/s Projectile Velocity, +20% Armor Piercing
– Razor sharp and designed to sink into flesh. Steel Arrows have great damage and speed, while also having the added bonus of piercing through armor. They require a crucible at a forge to craft, making them a later gamestage ammo type.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 5
– Stats: 25 Ranged Damage, 6 Block Damage, 120 Fire Damage, 14s Burn Time, 40m/s Projectile Velocity
– An offshoot of steel arrows, these Flaming Arrows will ignite enemies on contact, dealing extra fire damage overtime. They require similar ingredients as steel arrows, as well as gunpowder and animal fat.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 5
– Stats: 180 Explosion Damage, 2 Block Damage, 4m Explosion Radius, 40m/s Projectile Velocity
– While they don’t seem conventional, Explosive Arrows can easily take out a tightly-grouped crowd of zombies. Akin to flaming arrows, Explosive Arrows also require steel arrowheads to craft.

– Used by: Iron Crossbow, Compound Crossbow

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 32 Ranged Damage, 1 Block Damage, 67m/s Projectile Velocity
– Compared to arrows, these crossbow bolts are stronger and faster. Stone Bolts are the standard ammunition for all crossbows.

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 38 Ranged Damage, 6 Block Damage, 75m/s Projectile Velocity
– Considerably faster than its stone counterpart, and dealing a bit more damage. Iron Bolts require a forge and anvil to craft arrowheads for.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 4
– Stats: 45 Ranged Damage, 6 Block Damage, 82m/s Projectile Velocity, +20% Armor Piercing
– Like its arrow counterpart, these Steel Bolts have armor penetration, making them more effective against tough targets. They also require a crucible at a forge to craft.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 5
– Stats: 38 Ranged Damage, 6 Block Damage, 120 Fire Damage, 14s Burn Time, 50m/s Projectile Velocity
– Flaming Bolts deal immense amounts of damage overtime, as they ignite enemies on contact. They travel much slower than steel arrows, however.

– Unlocked: Ranger’s Guide to Archery Vol 5
– Stats: 250 Explosion Damage, 2 Block Damage, 4m Explosion Radius, 45m/s Projectile Velocity
– Dealing the most damage per single shot, these Explosive Bolts blast away enemies in a small radius. They can be great for clearing small hordes.

– Used by: Robotic Turret, Robotic Drone

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 11 Ranged Damage, 1 Block Damage, 10m Effective Range, Normal Degradation
– While it isn’t the strongest ammunition, Turret Ammo is extremely simple to craft, only requiring raw iron. Turrets have large magazines, so expect to craft a lot of ammo if you plan on using robotics.

– Unlocked: Tech Junkie Vol 4
– Stats: 2 Ranged Damage/pellet, 0 Block Damage, 8 Pellets, 6m Effective Range, Normal Degradation, -40% Armor Piercing
– These Shell Rounds have a shorter range and less armor penetration, but turn your turrets into close-range shotguns! Great for placing robotics around tight chokepoints, such as in corridors or behind doors.

– Unlocked: Tech Junkie Vol 4
– Stats: 11 Ranged Damage, 1 Block Damage, 11m Effective Range, +30% Degradation, +20% Armor Piercing, 1 Target Penetration
– AP Rounds allow for your turret to pierce through armor and enemies, as well as boosting effective range. However, they put more stress on the gun’s barrels, provoking more degradation with each shot. Each AP round can pierce through one enemy of up to 250HP, continuing its line of fire and hitting the enemy behind for the same damage.

– Used by: Blunderbuss (probably)

– Unlocked: By default
– Stats: 9 Ranged Damage/pellet, 1 Block Damage/pellet, 10 Pellets, -40% Armor Piercing
– Blunderbuss ammo is extremely easy to craft, only requiring paper, stone, and a smidgin of gunpowder. For the same reason, it’s also very weak against late game targets.

Glossary

Want more context on a certain game mechanic? Don’t know what something means? IS MY VOCABULARY TOO DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO COMPREHEND? This alphabetically-sorted list will explain terms I used throughout the guide, with additional descriptions.

Accuracy (Aim) – The spread of a firearm while aiming down sights (holding M2). A higher accuracy indicates a closer spread.

Accuracy (Hipfire) – The spread of a firearm while not aiming down sights. A higher accuracy indicates a closer spread.

Armor Piercing – Some weapons and ammo groups have Armor Piercing, which reduce the Armor Rating of players and zombies alike by a certain percentage. Hollowpoint point rounds and Buckshot have negative armor piercing, meaning armored targets will take even less damage.

Armor Rating (Player) – The amount of armor a player is equipped with. Armor Rating is directly converted into damage resistance (50 Armor Rating = 50% damage resist). The maximum Armor Rating is 90. This Armor Rating does not affect explosive damage.

Armor Rating (Zombie) – Certain zombies, such as Hardhats, Soldiers, Bikers, and Demolitionists, have their own Armor Rating. Likewise, this value grants them damage resistance against all attacks, except explosive damage. Zombie Armor Rating can be reduced through ammunition and weapons with Armor Piercing.

• Biker, Football, Hardhat – 20 Armor Rating
• Soldier – 50 Armor Rating
• Demolitionist – 60 Armor Rating

Attribute – A skilltree’s main perk (ex. Fortitude).

Bleeding Wound – Status effect: Zombie takes 0.9 Damage per second, for 20 seconds. All knives will inflict one bleeding wound on regular attack, and two on power attacks. Bleeding wounds can stack, dealing more damage overtime (2 Stacks = 1.8 DPS). Bleed damage ignores armor. See the perk Deep Cuts under Agility – Combat Perks for more info on bleeding stacks.

Cripple – Some attacks and perks can allow weapons to Cripple enemies. Crippled enemies have decreased movement speed for a short duration. They will gradually approach their original speed. Cripple chance is increased for firearms by shooting an enemy’s legs.

Critical Hit (Player) – Status effects applied by zombie attacks. Critical Hits will decrease your maximum health, and inflict various debuffs. All Critical Hits heal slowly overtime, and can be cured or healed faster with specific treatments. When receiving a Critical Hit, inspect the debuff through the Player Menu to learn more about its details.

Crit Resistance – Have a decreased chance to receive Critical Hits. Critical Resistance is increased by wearing armor.

Damage – The amount of health damage a weapon will deal. Every weapon has a damage range, showing the minimum and maximum value it can deal. Minimum values are only seen in very low quality crafting. Maximum values can only be achieved through high quality crafting (see Stat Mechanics.)

• Damage (Block) – Damage dealt to blocks, props, and furniture. Essentially any non-entity. If the damage is applied in a radius (explosion), then damage decreases as distance from the center increases.
• Damage (Explosive) – Damage dealt by explosions, applied in a radius. An explosion will do less damage as distance from the center increases.
• Damage (Fire) – Damage dealt by fire weapons. Fire Damage causes slow health loss overtime, and gradually does more damage the longer an target is on fire.
• Damage (Impact) – Damage exclusive to the Rocket Launcher. Impact Damage is caused by a direct hit with a rocket.
• Damage (Melee) – Damage dealt by any melee weapon. Does a set amount of damage, specific to the weapon used.
• Damage (Ranged) – Damage caused by any firearm (except the Rocket Launcher). Ranged Damage is determined by the weapon’s base damage and the loaded ammunition, as well as the target range.
• Damage (Stealth) – A damage multiplier applied while crouching and undetected. You will see a message popup when dealing Stealth Damage, stating your damage multiplier.

Degradation – The rate at which an item decays as it is used. For tools and melee weapons, a use is considered any successful hit (block or enemy). For firearms, a use is one shot. For armor, a use is one enemy hit taken. Certain ammo types can increase the degradation rate of a weapon (ex. Normal bullets drain 1 Durability point, AP gunshots drain 1.3 Durability points).

Dismember – A zombie has a limb removed, limiting their abilities. Dismembering a leg will drop them to a crawl. Dismembering an arm will decrease their attack range and strength. Decapitations are instant kills, and are more likely the stronger the attack. Tougher enemies (irradiated and armored) have higher dismember resistance.

Durability – The total number of uses an item has. The value given is the number of uses before the item will require repairs. Durability scales with item quality, and can be increased with mods.

Effective Range – The range at which a firearm will deal its normal damage. At distances past a weapon’s Effective Range, the weapon will deal a fraction of its normal damage, until it reaches zero at the Maximum Range.

Explosion Resist – Damage reduction aimed towards explosions, increased by wearing armor. Explosion Resist is directly converted into damage resistance (ex. 50 Explosion Resist = 50% Explosion Damage Reduction). The maximum Explosion Resist is 90.

Gamestage – An in-game scaling mechanic that affects enemy spawns, loot tier, and overall game difficulty. Gamestage increases as your player level and total days survived increases. Low Gamestages will see Primitive/Tier 1 items, Mid Gamestages will see Tier 2 items, and Late Gamestages will see Tier 3 items. As Gamestage increases, tougher zombies spawn more frequently (ex. feral and irradiated types).

Handling – The rate at which your accuracy stabilizes (you will gain accuracy faster overtime). Because of this, you also lose less accuracy while rapid firing.

Health (Block) – The amount of hitpoints a block has. Can be increased by repairing and upgrading the block.

Health (Player) – Your health is the red bar in the bottom left of your UI. It increases as your player level increases. Lose it all, and you’re dead.

Health Loss – A buff that reduces health loss upon taking damage. This is applied separate from Armor Rating.

Knockdown – Powerful attacks can knock zombies down, either ragdolling or putting them in a “falldown” animation. Knockdowned zombies are vulnerable and unable to attack for a short duration.

Power Attack – While pressing M2 with any melee weapon/tool, you will perform a power attack. Power attacks deal additional damage, but are 30% slower than normal attacks, and cost more stamina. Some specific tools do not have power attacks (ex. Repair Tools).

Schematic – Allows you to unlock the crafting recipes for items, that would have otherwise been unlocked by perks, or only found in loot. Can be found in almost any kind of container.

Stamina – Your stamina is the blue bar below your health. It increases as your player level increases. It drains overtime while sprinting and aiming down sights, and drains instantly when melee attacking. When running out of stamina, your sprint is put on cooldown, and you cannot melee attack. While walking or consuming certain drinks/foods, you slowly regain stamina.

Glossary (cont.)

Stun (Player) – The player’s movement speed is slowed significantly, and has their vision blurred, for 5 seconds. Can be received in combat with Zombies.

Stun (Zombie) – Attacks will occasionally put zombies in a brief stumble animation, decreasing their movement and attack speed. As the stun wears off, their stats gradually return to their original. After the stun duration, the zombie will have momentary stun resistance.

Tier – Refers to an item’s overall ranking among other weapons in its group. Primitive (Tier 0) items are craftable by default, and have the lowest combat efficacy. Tier 3 weapons are the best of their kind, and can only be found in late Gamestage.

Stat Mechanics

This last section will be an in-depth explanation of how stats are chosen for all weapons in 7 Days to Die. For those who aren’t very statistics-savvy, this will probably get confusing. The information below is predicted based on patterns with in-game items, as well as coding for weapon stats in the files.

TL;DR – Looting gives you more consistent item stats. Crafting items can give you higher damage, but at random.

For all items in the game, Quality is an important factor in determining an item’s stats, especially entity/block damage.

• Quality is internally regarded as a positive integer, with a range from 1 to 600. In game, the displayed level of an item is single-digit and rounded to the nearest whole value (ex. An item with Quality 574 will be shown as Level 6).
• The higher item Quality is, the higher stats such as Damage (entity and block) and Durability will be. For weapons and tools, Quality applies a damage multiplier (see table below). Damage multipliers are set to a weapon’s base damage.
  • An item with a Quality of exactly 600 will receive the maximum damage bonus of +50%. An item with a Quality of between two levels will have a damage bonus proportionally between the two multipliers (ex. If an item has a Quality of 324, it’s damage bonus is +22.4%).
  • For ranged weapons, the base damage is a set value PLUS the damage of the loaded ammunition (ex. The Hunting Rifle has a base damage of 12. When loaded with 7.62 ammunition, which has a damage of 50, the Hunting Rifle’s base damage is increased to 62). Some weapons have negative set damage values (ex. AK-47 has a base damage of -12. When loaded with 7.62, it increases to 38).

This table demonstrates the relationship between Quality and Damage Multiplier. The function is linear, with the expression f(x) = 0.1x – 10, f(x) being the Damage Multiplier, for all f(x) ≥ 0, and x being the Quality, where 1 ≤ x ≤ 600. To find the multiplier of a certain Quality value, plug in Quality for x.

Weapons, tools, and armor can be obtained through either crafting or looting. Looted items will tend to have more concentrated values, whereas crafted items are affected by additional multipliers, which can be negative or positive.

• Looted items have a randomly chosen Quality value (ex. 547, 239, etc…). You will find higher Quality items as your gamestage increases.
  • Items found in loot are only affected by the Quality Bonus multiplier. They are not affected by any random factor.

• Crafted items have a fixed Quality value. By default, all items are crafted with a Quality of 100, and can be raised to a maximum of 500, through their respective perks.
  • Alongside the Quality Bonus multiplier, crafted items are affected by an additional factor. For almost all weapons, this factor range is from -15% to +15% damage. This gives crafted items more inconsistent stats, but the potential for greater damage than a looted, perfect Quality 6 item. Primitive tier items are unaffected by this random factor.

So, here’s an example:

Hunting Rifle – Base Damage of 62

If you manage to loot a perfect Hunting Rifle, it would have a Quality of 600. This would give it a damage multiplier of +50%. Thus, its total damage will be 93.

If you rank up Dead Eye to craft a Hunting Rifle with Quality 500 (maximum quality from crafting), it will have a damage multiplier of +40%. IN ADDITION, it has the random damage multiplier from -15% to +15%. The total value is additional, not multiplicative (the percentages are added together, then applied).

So if you were to get lucky, you can craft a Quality 500 Hunting Rifle with a damage multiplier of +55%, giving a total damage of 96! However, the odds of this occurring are somewhat low (about 1 in 30 chance).

On the other side of the Crafting Factor, you may receive a negative multiplier, which goes as low as -15%. This would mean your Hunting Rifle has a damage bonus of only +25%, and a damage of 77. If the Rifle were of Quality 100 (no bonus multiplier), it would have a damage multiplier of -15%, and damage of 52.

If you’ve understood anything of what I’ve said so far, you’ll realize that crafting can give you higher damage than items from loot. Items of lower crafted quality are less likely to have higher damage than a looted item of equal quality.

Durability is scaled linearly with an item’s quality. The higher the Quality, the higher the base durability. All weapons, tools, and armor, have unique minimum and maximum durability. Typically, items of higher tier will have more durability than the previous tier (ex. a Steel Spear has greater durability than an Iron Spear).

• Items from loot will have a durability chosen directly from its respective scale. Perfect items (Quality 600) will have the highest durability value.
• Crafted items will have a random factor for durability, similar to damage. This only affects ranged weapons and tools. The factor range is most often from -20% to +20%.

This section will cover Armor Rating. Explosion resist is measured in the same way. Armor Rating is given a base value range, which is chosen at random, and a quality bonus range. All values are additional (added together to make a total rating).

For example, Military Armor has a base armor rating (and explosion resist) value. This value ranges from 6.23 to 8.93, and is chosen at random.

In addition, Military Armor gets an additional quality bonus. This bonus ranges from 0 to +3.27, and is governed by the armor’s quality. Quality 600 would receive the maximum bonus of +3.27, whereas Quality 1 would receive no bonus. Qualities in-between receive a proportional bonus (ex. Quality 540 receives +2.94 armor rating).

So for Military Armor, the maximum armor rating possible is 12. This, however, is extremely unlikely. Theoretically, you would have a 1 in 162600 chance.

Stat bonuses, like damage from perks, mods, and magazines, are all additional. This means the percentages are added together, and then applied to a weapon’s base damage. Below is an example, using the previous Hunting Rifle stats.

Hunting Rifle has 62 Base Damage. Let’s say we find a perfect one, 600 Quality; +50% Damage Bonus. This totals to 92 Entity Damage.

If we have the perk Dead Eye at Rank 5, that’s an additional +50% Damage Bonus. In unison, this makes a +100% Damage Bonus, which totals to 124 Entity Damage. All stat bonuses apply this way, be it degradation/durability, fire rate, and more…

Stat Mechanics (cont.)

TL;DR – The higher an item’s level, the higher its economic value. Items lose value as they lose durability. Mods increase item value.

Items that are governed by quality can have varying sell prices at Traders. Value will scale proportionally with quality. Additional factors can also affect how high your item’s value is, such as mods and bartering (Bartering is separate but still counts towards item value. It increases all item sale values by the given percentage).

As for items not governed by quality, such as basic resources, the value of the goods will scale with quantity.

• All items have a Base Economic Value (see List of Base Economic Values)
  • Every mod added to an item increases its Base Economic Value by +300 Dukes.
    • This is a really good way to get rid of unwanted mods and items!
• Traders will always sell their goods for 10x the item’s Economic Value.
  • An item worth normally 300 Dukes will be sold by a trader for 3000 Dukes.
• The Bartering stat will increase all sold goods by the percent value, and decrease the price of all Trader goods by the same percent value (calculated separate from Base EV).
• The actual Economic Value of an item is determined by its Level. Item Level refers to the displayed value, 1 – 6, which is governed by quality (see Quality above). There are no in-betweens; Dukes will scale discretely rather than continuously (you can’t have an Economic Value between levels 2 and 3, for example).
• Economic Value (NOT Base Economic Value) of an item will scale proportionally with durability. An item will have 100% of its Economic Value (normal price) at 100% durability. The percentage of remaining durability applies directly to the Economic Value.
  • So if an item worth 1000 Dukes has 500 Max Durability, and you use it 5 times (-5 Durability), the new Economic Value is (500 – 5) / (500) * 1000 = 990 Dukes.

This table represents the linear relationship between Item Level and the Percent of Base Economic Value. The Percent refers to the fraction of an item’s Base EV you’re getting, which can be either an increase (>100%) or a decrease (<100%).

Let’s use an example. The Chainsaw has a Base Economic Value of 1500 Dukes. A Level 1 Chainsaw will sell for 8% of that, giving it a price of 120 Dukes. At Level 6, the Base Economic Value is at 160% of the normal, giving it an Economic Value of 2400 Dukes.

But let’s say you also used this Chainsaw a bit. The Chainsaw’s durability is 5040, and you used it 1020 times. Therefore, it’s durability is 4020/5040, and it’s Economic Value is multiplied by this fraction. Now, the Economic Value is 2400 Dukes * 4020/5040 = ~1914 Dukes.

This is a rather simple one… if you know math…

• Player Level is capped at 300. Once reaching Lvl 300, you will no longer gain experience or skill points.
  • This means that, from maxing out Player Level and completing the Tutorial Mission (4 SP), you can gain a maximum of 303 Skill Points.

The formula to find the XP interval between two levels is:

f(x) = 9999.5(1.05)^x, where x is the player level for all 1 < x ≤ 300, and f(x) is the total XP interval.

The equation is exponential, so the XP interval between levels increases as player level increases. What this formula finds is the amount of XP it takes to get from one level to the next (x). For example, at Level 5, it takes 13400 XP to reach Level 6, written as f(6) = 13400.

To find the Total XP Requirement to Reach a Certain Level (what most people are looking for), summate the formula using this new equation:

• Set n as the level you wish to reach (upper limit)
• x = 1 sets the interval as 1 (cannot be a perfect integral, since the XP milestones are discrete and non-continuous)
• f(x) has already been stated previously
• -10499.475 is an additional argument, added to remove any extraneous value. (This value is technically the amount of XP it takes to reach Level 1, which is considered statistically insignificant).

Keep in mind, this always finds the Total XP Requirement from level one. If you want to find the XP Requirement between two levels, with the lower level being higher than 1, instead take the difference of the two XP Requirements.

Example: It takes 47,517 XP to reach Level 5 (from Level 1). It takes 121,562 XP to reach Level 10 (likewise, from Level 1). To Reach Level 10 from Level 5, it takes 121,562 – 47,517 = 74,045 XP.

Here are some pre-calculated answers for you:

• To reach Level 10, it takes a total of 121,562 XP (121 Thousand).
• To reach Level 50, it takes a total of 2,187,545 XP (2.187 Million).
• To reach Level 100, it takes a total of 27,393,394 XP (27.393 Million).
• To reach Level 200, it takes a total of 3,631,039,910 XP (3.631 Billion).
• To reach Level 300, it takes a total of 477,515,089,560 XP (475.151 Billion).

Now as you can clearly see, it takes a pretty absurd amount of experience to reach the highest levels. You’ll never really need that many skill points to optimize a build, even if you plan on going into other skilltrees for miscellaneous perks. Still, if you really insist on getting to Level 300, try playing around with the XP Multipliers. You can set them before loading into a world, under World Settings.

Some additional stats, such as fire rate, effective range, and projectile speed, can have fixed multiplier ranges, that are applied to a base value for each stat. These multipliers are unaffected by crafting, looting, or weapon quality. Instead, they are chosen at complete random.

For example, most guns have a variable fire rate. We’ll use the Hunting Rifle again as an example.

The Hunting Rifle has a base fire rate of 120 Rounds/min.

The range of multipliers for fire rate start at -5% to +5%. The minimum fire rate for the Hunting Rifle is 114, and the maximum is 126. Once again, this value is completely random, not governed by how the loot was obtained.

Fall Damage Mechanics

After a bit of searching, I was able to uncover exactly how fall damage works. This section of the guide will give an in-depth detailing of falling in 7 Days to Die, including the safe fall distance, breaking/spraining legs, and mods and perks such as Parkour and Impact Bracing. Like the Stat Mechanics page, this part requires a basic understanding in algebra.

So falling itself is not strictly determined by distance. Rather, the end value is regarded as a falling speed, which does scale based on distance, but is also affected by other factors, such as your current status effects, perks, and mods. The greater your fall speed, the higher damage you will take upon landing (and higher chance of receiving sprained/broken leg).

There is no perfect formula for fall speed. The in-game XML files state that every meter adds a fall speed of .01414 (plus an initial constant), but this is not true. This value is more of an average fall speed per meter. Fall speed also caps at 1.0 (but this takes an absurdly massive height to fall). To keep things short, I just got the fall speed values directly via the debug window ingame.

For reference, one block is one meter in-game. The falling speed is not actually your in-game velocity, otherwise it would be very slow. You still accelerate while falling, however.

Fall damage scales linearly with fall speed, and has a definite expression. The formula for fall damage is f(x) = 300( x – .189), where f(x) refers to the total health damage, and x refers to fall speed, for all x ≥ .189.

With these two factors, we are able to determine a full table to display a relationship with fall distance and damage. Before we do that, there are three last things to mention.

• By default, the safe fall distance (max height you can fall without damage) is 6m.
• At 7m (and every 1m above), the chance of spraining a leg increases by +25%.
• At 8m (and every 1m above), the chance of breaking a leg increases by +20%.

This table displays a full chart for fall damage scaled with height, from the normal safe fall distance up until a 100% leg break chance. Note that damage always rounds up to the nearest whole health point (4.2 will appear as 5 Damage). The damage is also not resisted by armor.

There are also several other factors that can change fall speed, both negatively and positively. Such factors include the perk Parkour, blocks such as Hay Bales, certain perk books, having a sprained/broken leg, and even jumping vs. walking off edges. You can also lower fall damage altogether (which also lowers leg sprain/break chance).

These factors will simply add or subtract a certain value from your end fall speed, thus reducing damage and increasing the safe fall distance. They can all be combined to make your safe fall distance ludicrously high. I’ll show you the maximum height you can fall once I finish listing the different modifiers.

Increase Safe Fall Distance

• Fully jumping (holding space) before landing effectively increases safe fall distance by 2m. This increases your total safe fall distance by 1m. Jump before you fall off!
  • This scales with the perk Parkour. Jumping will always increase your safe fall distance.
• Hay Bales will halve your fall speed. This also lowers the fall speed cap to .5 rather than 1.
• The perk Parkour lowers fall speed by .0162/.0304/.0587/.0782 (Perk Rank 1/2/3/4). This raises safe fall distance by roughly 1.0m/1.9m/4.0m/5.6m.
• Impact Bracing lowers fall speed by .02121. This raises safe fall distance by roughly 1.4m.
• The perk book The Great Heist Vol 5 lowers fall speed by .114. This raises safe fall distance by roughly 8.7m. This effect only occurs when you are carrying 5000 or more Duke Coins.
• The candy Oh Sh!tz Drops makes you fully immune to fall damage.

Decreasing Safe Fall Distance

• Having a Splinted, Sprained, or Broken Leg increases fall speed by .02828. This lowers safe fall distance by roughly 2.0m.
  • Note that you can’t have both a sprained and broken leg at the same time.

So if you add up every possible factor, you can lower your fall speed by about .22755. This allows you to fall about 21.5m without taking damage! If you land on a Hay Bale, your fall speed is cut in half, allowing you to fall up to about 43m!

To help with extreme heights and more calculations, refer to the chart below. Currently goes up to 30m. I’ll extend it more if you ask nicely 🙂

List of Base Economic Values

This section will list an extraneous stat for all items previously listed: Base Economic Value. This value (measured in Dukes/trader currency) is the base value of an item’s worth. I’m listing this stat in a separate list, because I ran out of characters for the other, respective guide sections. Values will be listed in order of item appearance.

Weapons and Armor with an item level will have a scaling Economic Value, their price being higher or lower than Base Econ Value depending on item level.

Items with no item level are instead the same price per unit.

See Value (Dukes) under Stat Mechanics (cont.) for more information on how Economic Value works.

Hunting Rifle – 500 Dukes
Marksman Rifle – 1000 Dukes
Sniper Rifle – 1500 Dukes

Molotov – 8.16 Dukes per unit
Pipe Bomb 8.16 Dukes per unit
Dynamite – 20 Dukes per unit
Grenade – 8.16 Dukes per unit
Contact Grenade – 8.16 Dukes per unit
Timed Charge – 8.16 Dukes per unit

Rocket Launcher – 1000 Dukes

Landmines

• Candy Tin – 19.4 Dukes per unit
• Plate – 23 Dukes per unit
• Cooking Pot – 24 Dukes per unit
• Hubcap – 29.2 Dukes per unit
• Air Filter – 36.4 Dukes per unit

Stone Spear – Does not sell
Iron Spear – 350 Dukes
Steel Spear – 700 Dukes

Blunderbuss – 250 Dukes
Double Barrel Shotgun – 500 Dukes
Pump Shotgun – 1000 Dukes
Auto Shotgun – 1500 Dukes

Wooden Club – Does not sell
Baseball Bat – 350 Dukes
Steel Club – 700 Dukes

Stone Sledgehammer – Does not sell
Iron Sledgehammer – 350 Dukes
Steel Sledgehammer – 700 Dukes

Scrap Armor – 250 Dukes (each piece)
Iron Armor – 500 Dukes (each piece)
Steel Armor – 1000 Dukes (each piece)

AK-47 – 500 Dukes
Tactical Assault Rifle – 1000 Dukes
M60 – 1500 Dukes

Fists – Varies depending on which black market you go to
Leather Knuckles – 45 Dukes
Iron Knuckles – 350 Dukes
Steel Knuckles – 350 Dukes

Pistol – 500 Dukes
.44 Magnum – 1000 Dukes
SMG-5 – 1500 Dukes
.44 Desert Vulture – 1500 Dukes

Primitive Bow – Does not sell
Wooden Bow – 500 Dukes
Iron Crossbow – 500 Dukes
Compound Bow – 1000 Dukes
Compound Crossbow – 1000 Dukes

Bone Knife – Does not sell
Hunting Knife – 350 Dukes
Machete – 700 Dukes

Cloth Armor – 75 Dukes (each piece)
Leather Armor – 250 Dukes (each piece)
Military Armor – 500 Dukes (each piece)

Stun Baton – 350 Dukes

Junk Sledge – 700 Dukes
Junk Turret – 500 Dukes
Junk Drone – 700 Dukes

Stone Axe – Does not sell
Taza’s Stone Axe – Does not sell
Stone Shovel – Does not sell

Claw Hammer – 500 Dukes
Nail Gun – 1000 Dukes

Iron Pickaxe – 350 Dukes
Steel Pickaxe – 700 Dukes
Auger – 1500 Dukes

Iron Fireaxe – 350 Dukes
Steel Axe – 700 Dukes
Chainsaw – 1500 Dukes

Iron Shovel – 350 Dukes
Steel Shovel – 1000 Dukes

Wrench – 350 Dukes
Ratchet – 700 Dukes
Impact Driver – 1500 Dukes

Torch – 2 Dukes per unit
Flashlight – 40 Dukes
Paintbrush – 40 Dukes
Wire Tool – 40 Dukes

Conclusion

Thank you for checking out my absurdly long guide. If you have any questions, or want to know more about 7 Days, let me know in the comments. I’ll do my best to continue updating this guide as new updates are released.

The Enemy Almanac – Another massive project, which will become a separate guide. The guide will discuss:

• Every mob (zombies/animals) in the game, their health, and their damage
• Optimal methods to fighting/countering enemies
• Difficulty scaling (Adventurer, Nomad, Warrior, etc…)
• Gamestage (May not be a numerical explanation, and more of a conceptual)

Montages? – I’ve been editing videos for a few(ish) months now. With how much I know about Vegas Pro, I could probably record and edit some horde nights / missions on 7 Days to Die. If I do this, each montage will be based around one of the five skilltrees, suited with music, edits, and maybe some memes.

Change Log

If I update anything to this guide, it’ll be listed here, with a date and version (arbitrary number I chose, based on the magnitude of changes). This is the best place for you to keep in touch with this guide, incase I add anything new.

Note: At the time of adding this changelog, the guide had already been out for around 5 months. Only until now I decided to add one, for quality of life sake. The five-month gap you’ll see below is normal.

July 20th, 2020

• Guide finalized and published.
• Maybe I should add a change log…

November 8th, 2020

• Added the Change Log section
  • Displays new additions and updates to the guide
• Added Perception – Traps section
• Added Intellect – Traps section
  • The goal of these sections is to detail the mechanics/stats of landmines (Perception) and electrical traps (Intellect)
• Added Player Level to Stat Mechanics (cont.) section
  • Discloses the player level cap, as well as information on experience required to level up
• Updated information directories

November 9th, 2020

• Fixed: Perk Javelin Master does not affect thrown spear damage
  • Thanks, Pekiti!
• Updated math examples to be 9.9% more accurate

November 23rd, 2020

• Added the Skilltree Calculator section
  • Includes a link to a visualizer for the 7 Days to Die skill system
• Updated attribute descriptions

March 12th, 2021

• Removed two broken promises (Coming Soon in Conclusion)
  • …and replaced them with two new ones.

March 25th, 2021

• Updated Strength – Playstyle descriptions

June 20th, 2021

• Fixed Agility – Playstyle error with perk names
  • Thanks, Taotiegames!

Additional Guides

Still want more customization for your build? Check out my Mod Stats guide, which talks about the uses and exact statistics of every firearm, weapon, tool, and armor mod currently in the game.

[link]

Because you can never have too much customization! Check out my newest guide, Crack-A-Book — The Guide to Magazines to read about 7 Days to Die’s perk books, and how to incorporate their effects into your build.

[link]