If you’re only playing in a single-player story mode, you can select the traits and occupations you desire according to this introduction:
Introduction to the point system:
The point system is one of the most useful mechanics of the game. According to it, you’ll enter the game with a point distribution set to 0.
In this way, your character starts off essentially as an ordinary person with mixed feelings rather than being a Hero. You have the ability to make your character more powerful, but this will require you to make bigger sacrifices and might put you at a disadvantage.
Negative Traits Explained
You might be wondering why I’m starting off with traits and not occupations. Well, the occupations and positive traits you choose will both costs you points.
In the beginning phase of the game, you will be designated 8 points (no occupation). Different occupations cost varying numbers of points to select.
For example, choosing Veteran costs 16 points (Shows -8 points) whereas the Carpenter will cost 6 points (Shows 2 points).
With that in mind, first, consider how many points you can obtain and then match your character according to that.
This way, you can design a point redundancy for yourself in advance, so that you can easily navigate between improving your game experience and controlling your points.
If you’re not ready to pick any disadvantages then you won’t get any advantages either, unless your server provides additional points. These will be shown in the bottom right corner of the screen.
Still, selecting the right negative trait will set you up with greater advantages as you progress further in the game.
This doesn’t necessarily cancel each other out, because there are some negative traits that offer greater advantages in exchange for minimal issues.
This is exactly what makes the point system essential. Here, I’ll give a detailed overview of some of the original negative traits in several categories:
Vision Classes
- Short Sighted (+2 points)
I’d recommend that you pick this trait as it only has a minimal impact on your normal activities. Its main disadvantage affects the search system, so if you rely on that too much, you’re welcome to skip it.
On the other hand, if you’re not particularly interested in Foraging, this trait is basically the same as having 2 free points.
Hearing Classes
- Hard of Hearing (+4 points)
My advice is not to select this trait. Although the game doesn’t require a lot of hearing, Hard of Hearing will affect your visibility behind you.
One of the greatest features of zombies is that they can sneak up on you. As such, picking this trait will significantly increase the probability of you not being able to detect zombies behind.
The same logic applies to any players approaching you from the back.
- Deaf (+12 points)
Stay as far away from this trait as possible. Being Deaf completely makes you lose the ability to detect anything behind. This trait was very popular in earlier versions of the game as there was no concept of running zombies.
Now, however, most servers contain zombies that sprint.
Selecting this trait translates to you not having an extra pair of eyes behind you which is a huge disadvantage. Similarly, you won’t be able to detect a player trying to backstab you!
Panic Classes
Panic is a special feature of Project Zomboid. Whenever you encounter a zombie, your panic level increases to 10. This will gradually decrease if you keep on staring at the zombie or move away from the area.
Eventually, the status will be completely lifted. However, if you are facing more than 1 zombie, your panic level will increase drastically.
For example, if you’re facing 5 zombies, your panic level will not reduce further than 10. If there are more than 5 zombies, however, the panic stacks faster and it becomes hard to disengage from advanced panic.
Level 4 panic also known as “Advanced Panic” reduces melee damage by nearly 30%. The accuracy and aim of guns are significantly affected by this as well.
Nevertheless, I recommend that new players not use firearms due to their demanding conditions. I’ll be starting a new topic on how to use guns on servers.
In this section, I’ll be emphasizing more on melee attack combat. Therefore, panic can be allowed if you want to minimize head-to-head combat with zombies.
Additionally, as you survive longer, your panic level will gradually decrease. This will eventually reach a point where panic will have little effect on you.
- Cowardly (+2 points)
This trait will affect your melee combat if your panic reaches a 200 level. Essentially, your melee attacks may not inflict as much damage as they normally would. Picking this is more of a subjective choice.
- Claustrophobic & Agoraphobic (+4 points each)
Since both these traits cannot be selected at the same time, you’ll have to pick either one of them.
My personal suggestion would be to go for Agoraphobic and then select Adrenaline Junkie which costs about 8 points.
This enables you to sprint 20% to 25% faster in different situations. Believe me, this pairing works wonders against running zombies!
- Hemophobic (+5 points)
Choosing this trait isn’t recommended. It causes you to panic while performing first aid on yourself. Additionally, your attack speed will become significantly reduced if you get bloody.
Movement Classes
I generally discourage new players to drive on the server, and I’ll do a separate topic on cars. Vehicles are important resources and I suggest that newcomers practice how to drive in the single-player sandbox first.
- Sunday Driver (+1 point)
It causes you to accelerate 40% slower and limits your top speed to 30. If you don’t drive, then this is pretty much a free point.
- Clumsy (+2 points)
Picking this one is discouraged. Its negative effects are not worth the +2 points.
- Conspicuous (+4 points)
Not recommended at all. Your chances of being spotted by zombies are increased by 200%.
Survival
- Weak Stomach (+4 points)
Selecting this is pretty much the same as giving away 4 points for absolutely nothing. Unless you’re under extreme circumstances, you should never eat spoiled food, bugs, and cockroaches.
If you’re not eating these, you won’t get food poisoning anyway.
- Unlucky (+4 points)
Although it might seem important at first glance, this trait really isn’t a big deal.
It only affects the chances of rare loot drops every now and then along with item repair. So, it is something to consider for the points.
- Smoking (+4 points)
In real life, smoking is harmful to you and you should definitely avoid it. In the context of Project Zomboid however, this trait can be considered as free points.
This is because, in the new version, the probability of cigarette refreshes has been increased in Office Buildings, Offices, Supermarkets, Bars, Counters, and Garbage Cans.
By choosing this trait and then finding a few packs of cigarette lighters, you can counter the negative effects of smoking and effectively gain 4 points.
Of course, you can also opt to give these 4 points up to make your character have a healthier life!
- Prone to Illness (+4 points)
Totally optional. Not picking this trait would be giving away 4 points for nothing. This is because if you pick this, you can combine it with Outdoorsman (-2 points).
This will significantly decrease your probability of getting sick and allow you to counter the negative consequences easily.
- High Thirst & Hearty Appetite (+4 points each)
For the early game, these two traits are practically a gift. The easiest 8 points you’ll find. These traits are extremely easy to counter. The game’s supplies (food and drinks) even if set to scarce, are more than plenty for you to survive.
However, beware that choosing these two will translate to you spending quite a bit of time attending to your dietary needs. This will eventually cost you a good deal of game time.
If the game time is set to six months later or if the server has been open for a while, then you’ll have to take that into account. Picking these traits means that your character dies of thirst and starvation much faster than others.
The one exception, however, is if you choose to fish for a living. In this case, the sources of food and water available to you are essentially endless.
- Slow Recovery (+6 points)
Indifferent on this one. Using and changing bandages is one of the core experiences of the game.
Slow Recovery is just a way to get you to change bandages more often.
- Thin-Skinned (+8 points)
If you select this one, remember to be discreet. Thin-Skinned will decrease your normal defense against zombies to only 70%. Additionally, you’ll become more likely to be scratched while walking through the woods.
This means that if you are entangled in a bunch of zombies, or a zombie manages to sneak up on you, you’re more likely to take a hit.
However, if you refrain from running into zombies and avoid the woods, you’ll be good for the most part.
Learning Classes
- Slow Reader (+2 points)
Reading speed is reduced by 30%, which is not really a big difference. After all, it takes a long time to read a book in the first place, and a trade-off of 30% for 2 points isn’t that bad.
This is especially considering if the server adjusts the reading speed so that you can finish a book faster. If that’s the case, then this de-buff becomes practically useless.
However, if you don’t want to waste extra time on reading, I recommend you don’t pick this trait. Instead, you can opt for the Fast Reader (-2 points), which will increase your reading speed by 30%
- Pacifist (+4 points)
I generally don’t recommend selecting the Pacifist trait. The reason is that it decreases your melee and aiming skill experience by 25%.
For instance, if your axe is +75%, then taking into account this de-buff, you’ll only receive +50% of the exp gain.
Additionally, If you don’t have any boosts in your experience gain, you will only receive 75% of the experience from combat each time.
- Slow Learner (+6 points)
This is one of the harder ones to pick. It will decrease all your experience gains except fitness and strength by 30%. For this reason, I recommend staying away from it.
Any little bit of experience you can get is valuable in a server. Not only that, I’d advise you to invest in the Fast Learner trait (-6 points) because it increases your experience gain by 30%.
- Illiterate (+8 points)
No matter what you do never, ever, select this trait. Stay as far away from it as possible. It is a massive loss to not be able to read books, especially in the server mode.
Work Classes
- Clumsy (+2 points)
I recommend you skip this one. It can be a considerable disadvantage. It causes you to make more noise when moving.
Additionally, there’s a chance of you falling when vaulting or lunging over zombies. Not worth the 2 points.
- Disorganized (+4 points)
This is another one that you should try to avoid. While scavenging, it is essential to have enough storage to contain your items. Every little bit helps and this trait causes you to have reduced storage capacity.
Fit classes
Initially, you’ll have 5 points for your physique, and the same for your strength. The physique will affect your endurance for running and fighting, whereas strength will affect your output.
- Asthmatic (+5 points)
Asthmatic will significantly reduce your overall endurance. Don’t even touch this one with a ten-foot pole. It will cause your running endurance to deplete extremely fast.
It will especially weaken the high endurance of track and field runners. Not recommended at all.
- Underweight & Overweight (+6 points each)
These traits will reduce your body mass and stamina by 1. Nothing significant to point out here.
- Out of Shape (+6 points each)
Out of Shape will reduce your stamina by 2.
- Feeble (+6 points)
Feeble decreases your strength by 2 points.
- Very Underweight (+10 points)
This negative trait reduces your stature by 2.
- Obese (+10 points)
Similar to the previous one, the Obese negative trait will decrease your stature by 2 points.
- Unfit (+10 points)
Unfit reduces your stature by 4.
- Weakness (+10 points)
Strength is decreased by 5 points. Additionally, melee damage is significantly reduced.
Stature and Strength are very important stats to have in Project Zomboid. I’d advise you not to exchange these for points.
You may find that there are too many places you can’t sell and you’re strapped for the points you need. You’ll have to pick either less of the good or more of the bad. It’s up to you to make your own trade-offs.
Physique & Strength Explained
Physique and strength are the two most important basic values in the game. This is because of how difficult it is to alter them.
In the old version of the game, it was almost completely impossible to grow them! In the newer version, however, the addition of a fitness system allowed players to work on the values of these two stats.
Still, upgrading these two through exercise is a long and tedious process. In the single-player mode, you can prepare for this at your leisure. The server, on the other hand, is an entirely different story.
Since it’s difficult to upgrade these stats on the server, the stat value you were born with is very important. A character with high stature and strength will allow you to handle hordes of zombies and run with ease.
Characters with low stature and strength will have a harder time resisting the zombie onslaught and will have more trouble moving through multiple locations.
This is especially true on servers with fast-running zombies. You’ll need a character that can resist and fight them in order to ensure survival.
I’ve already told you what negative traits can be sold for points, and these points should be utilized to increase your stature and strength in the first place. Therefore, it is best not to sell your Strength and Physique for points.
- Health/Fit (-6 points)
Increases Strength by 2 points.
- Stout (-6 points)
Adds 2 points to Strength.
- Athletic (-10 points)
Increases your strength by 4.
- Strong/Physical Strength (-10 points)
Gives you a 4-point increase in Strength.
Note that Health/Fit and Athletic are part of the Physique system. If you choose one of the two, the other fitness options (except Underweight) will be turned off.
Stout and Physical Strength/Strong on the other hand are part of the Strength system. If you select one of these two, the other strength options will be turned off.
If I’m not making myself clear, please see the chart at
(Errata, January 30: There’s a problem with this chart. According to new research, track and field runners do not mitigate the negative effects of asthma, but rather asthma greatly diminishes the high endurance of track and field runners. (So, if you pick track and field runners, then never order asthmatics.)
You can follow this chart to calculate your physique and strength and develop your point matching plan.
I’ve just covered positive traits of health/fitness, track and field, Stout, and Strong body. As a general rule, you should always match your character’s physique and strength while selecting them.
I personally recommend that you add Athletic Runner and Physical Strength, which will give you 4 points of fitness and 4 points of strength, respectively.
I will now explain to you which positive traits you should prioritize to ensure you don’t waste your points on the server.
Recommended Traits for You to Pursue
I highly recommend the following traits.
- Outdoorsman (-2 points)
Outdoorsman dramatically weakens the disruption of rain while minimizing the chance of catching a cold.
- Eye of the Beast (-2 points)
Eyesight can double the speed with which you can reach things.
- Cat’s Eye (-2 points)
The Cat’s Eye trait makes you see better at night. Additionally, you generally don’t need to sleep at night on the server (servers usually turn off sleep and fatigue systems in order to not interfere with the player’s gaming experience).
- Organized (-6 points)
The Organized trait allows you to expand your backpack space by 30%. This is extremely useful as it allows you to collect a maximum number of resources.
- Keen Hearing (-6 points)
Keen Hearing increases your perception radius by 200%. Additionally, it allows you to spot zombies trying to sneak up on you from the back much earlier.
It also enables you to detect players moving around you faster.
- Fast Learner (-6 points)
Fast Learner increases your experience gain for all skills except Strength and Fitness by 30% – which is crucial on the server. The pace of this game is generally slow, but playing on the server can be a time-consuming job.
If you don’t scavenge for resources fast enough, don’t bring many resources with you. Furthermore, if don’t learn fast enough, then the resources you want may be taken by others first.
I also recommend that you consider the following traits.
- Fast Reader (-2 points)
Fast Reader increases your reading speed by 30%. This is especially useful when learning multiple skills at the same time.
- Inconspicuous & Graceful (-4 points)
Inconspicuous and Graceful both reduce your probability of being spotted by zombies.
These are essential if you don’t want to fight against fast-running zombies, or if you find yourself surrounded by a large group of them.
It’s not always a bad idea to sneak around areas occupied by swarms of zombies to reach your destination!
- Adrenaline Junkie (-8 points)
The Adrenaline Junkie trait increases your walking, running, and sprinting movement speeds when your character is in a state of strong or extreme panic.
- Thick Skinned (-8 points)
Thick Skinned allows you to reduce the chance of injury when facing zombies, which was especially significant in the old version and saved my life many times.
Your chance of not being injured by zombies essentially increases by 30%.
In the new version, depending on your protection, you should wear more protective clothing to enhance the effect of this trait.
Traits You Should Not Pursue
I recommend that you avoid the following traits whenever you can.
- Speed Demon (-1 point)
Speed Demon increases your gear switching speed to 200%. Additionally, it increases the top speed of all cars by 15%.
However, it is not advisable to drive fast on the server. Driving faster means you are more likely to dive headfirst into the Void that is yet to be loaded.
- Iron Gut (-3 points)
The impact of Iron Gut is too minimal for me to recommend picking this up. If you don’t rely on spoiled food, bugs, roaches, and rats as your main diet it’s practically useless.
It serves the same purpose as the Light Eater and Low Thirst traits, both of which are designed to deal with a severe lack of food late in the game. Furthermore, this is generally not the case in the server.
- Light Eater (-4 points) & Low Thirst (-6 points)
Both of these are not recommended. There are more than enough supplies (Food & Drinks) in the game for you to stack up and survive with comfort.
As such, there’s no need to waste your points on traits affecting your hunger and thirst.
Additionally, I highly discourage you from selecting traits you don’t have a good understanding of. These generally include:
- Lucky (-4 points)
Nothing much to explain here, slightly better chance of finding rare loot and decreased chance of item repairs failing.
- Brave (-4 points)
Brave also has little impact. When you face more than five zombies, the panic becomes too severe for the trait to effectively counter.
- Nutritionist (-4 points)
The nutritionist’s role is very impractical. It’s apparent from the food itself what nutritional value it will have. For example, potatoes and cabbages are high in carbs, while fish is high in protein and fat.
Wouldn’t recommend using points up for this.
- Resilient (-4 points)
The Resilient trait is not that useful because you don’t have a lot of chances of getting a cold. Delaying zombification is also useless as compared to dying early and re-spawning.
- Fast Healer (-6 points)
Fast Healer is also not that useful. If you don’t have a high level of first aid, it doesn’t have much effect. Additionally, once you reach a high enough level of first aid, you practically don’t require it.
- Herbalist (-6 points)
To utilize Herbalist effectively, you need to have a certain Foraging (collection system) level to find herbs. Adding to this is the fact that herbs are quite difficult to find and time-consuming.
Time is essential in the server and shouldn’t waste it finding herbs. Furthermore, Synthetic recipes for herbs can also be obtained by reading magazines as an alternative.
- Eagle Eyed (-8 points)
The vision buff provided by Eagle Eyed has little effect on your normal activities. It mostly has a noticeable impact only on your Foraging (collection system).
I’ve just explained all the basic traits – all the traits that do not increase the character’s skills. Now, I’ll explain the character’s skill traits and occupation together.
Experience bonus, Occupations, and Skill trait explanation
The experience bonus that comes with a character’s skill is also an important part of your experience. There are three types of experience bonuses, +75%, +100% and +125%.
The experience bonus of an occupation can be stacked with the experience bonus of a skill trait, allowing you to customize your character to become much more powerful!
The stacking formula of experience bonus is very complicated to write out, so I’ll give you three simple examples to explain.
- First Example
Assume that you select the Police Officer occupation. This will give you +1 Flexibility and a +75% Flexibility experience bonus. Additionally, you’ll also receive +3 Aiming and +75% Aiming experience gain.
Then, you choose the gymnast trait which provides +1 Flexibility and +75% Flexibility experience.
These effects combine and allow your character to gain +2 Flexibility and +100% Flexibility experience gain in total.
Similarly, you can choose to go with the Hunter trait, which has +1 aiming and +75% Aiming experience. This will provide your character with a combined +4 Aiming and a +400% Aiming experience boost.
- Second Example
If you go ahead and choose the Burglar occupation, you’ll receive +2 in flexibility. This will be accompanied by a +100% increase in flexibility experience and +2 lightness. Additionally, you will also receive a +100% light experience.
On top of this, choosing the gymnast trait will give you +1 flexibility and +75% experience gain in this department. Additionally, you will also get +1 in lightness and +75% in lightness experience.
Combining these together, you’ll get +3 flexibility along with a +125% experience gain in it. Additionally, you’ll also get +3 in the lightness stat with a +125% exp gain.
If that didn’t clear it up, here’s another example!
- Third Example
In the case you choose the Carpenter occupation, you gain a +3 bonus in Carpentry and +125% experience gain in the same field.
Afterward, choosing the Craftmanship trait nets you a +1 in Carpentry and +75% in Carpentry experience gain.
Doing so allows you to effectively gain +4 points in Carpentry and have a 125% Carpentry experience boost!
Now before you call me bad at math, hold on! Going by this logic, the Carpentry experience you gain should stack up to 200% but this doesn’t happen. The maximum experience boost you can obtain is set at 125% by the game. As such, no matter how much extra boost you gain, it won’t stack more than 125%.
Stacking Even Further
This 125% experience gain boost in itself is extremely useful. In essence, all experience points you gain will be multiplied by 1.25. Additionally, if you have the Fast Learner trait, you can add another 1.3 on top of this multiplier.
Reading a Carpentry Book will also increase this multiplier value depending on the book you read. To make it easier for you, here’s a simple formula for how it works:
Total Exp Gain = Original Exp Gain x (1+1.25) x 1.3 x Multiplier Gained by Book
As an added bonus, here’s a universal formula from which you can calculate the experience gain you receive in all circumstances
Total Exp Gain = Original Exp Gain x (1+Experience Bonus) x Trait Bonus x Multiplier Gained by Book
I also usually divide the 21 original occupations into several categories. I’ll list them here. Though, keep in mind that a single occupation can belong to multiple categories.
Main Energy Occupations
- Fire Officer
This gives you +1 in the Physique and Strength areas. Track and field athletes can be added together with physical strength. This can be a huge advantage.
In order to do this, however, you’re going to need 28 points. 8 will be consumed, 10 will be added to track and field athletes and 10 will be attributed to physical strength.
The +1 sprint and +75% exp gain can be combined with Runner (-4 points) which also gives a +1 sprint and +75% experience. Combining these, at a cost of 32 points, you can get +2 sprint and +100% total experience gain!
You can pair the +1 Axe and +75 exp with Fighter (-6 points). This nets you a +2 gain in Axe and a total of +100% experience gain. That’s massive!
This is a very suitable build for newcomers to begin with.
- Lumberjack
This gives you +1 strength. Additionally, track and field athletes along with physical strength can be completely filled. The physical fitness in contrast to the Fire Officer is less than one frame! This costs 28 points to complete.
If you combine this with adding 6 points in Fighter, you will get a total of +3 Axe with a +125% exp gain for a total of 34 points.
Essentially this build can be called a modified version of the Fire Officer. It includes the lock trait of the Lumberjack, allowing to wield the Axe faster.
Note that the other occupations can also be canceled by space to attack with the rear swing. This allowed you to achieve a similar effect with Lumberjack.
- Fitness Instructor
This isn’t as effective as the previous ones. It requires 14 points. The +3 fitness requires you to have additional health costing 6 points. Additionally, +2 fitness will come in to make the total 20 points. You’ll also need to account for 30 points in physical strength.
Alongside this, Runners can get +3 Sprint and a +125% experience gain. You’ll also have less strength than the Fire Officer and Lumberjack and have no melee bonus. In essence, you’ll have a little faster running than the Fire Officer.
If you’re not a track and field athlete, your endurance will be worse than the Fire Office. On the other hand, if you are a track and field athlete, you’ll lose two physiques. The maximum in this regard cannot exceed 10.
Also, the Nutritionist that comes along with the fitness instructor isn’t very useful. It’s mostly a waste of points.
Main Mobile Occupations
- Security Guard
A total of 10 points. The Security Guard comes with an Owl, although this isn’t very useful. Generally, won’t need to sleep at night.
For the Sprint, the points distribution is similar to Fire Officer and Runner. Lightness, however, is not as good as the Burglars.
Honestly, in the current situation, this isn’t very useful.
- Burglar
The Burglar occupation is extremely cost-effective. This is because it’s the only one in which you can initially hotwire a car! This is especially convenient for long-distance transportation.
However, be careful. In the server, cars are quite rare. You shouldn’t drive recklessly and no matter what you do, don’t drive other players’ cars. Driving a car also makes It easier for you to head into the Void!
Investing in the Gymnast (-5 points) with this will give you +1 Flexibility and +75% exp gain. And +1 Lightness along with +75% exp gain in the same stat.
Afterward, getting Hunter (-8 points) gives +1 sneak and +75% experience. You can get a total of +3 Stalking with +125% experience gain and +3 Dexterity combined with +125%, experience. Additionally, you’ll also have +3 Lightness and +125% experience.
Nevertheless, this requires 27 points to be fully used.
If you want the Burglar to be effective at combat, you’ll need it to be able to dodge and fight. For this, you can invest 2 points in Force but this will eventually cost you a large number of points!
Main Survival Occupations
- Park Ranger
The Park Ranger constitutes 12 points. Park Ranger in the older versions was extremely good. It could master two of the three survival skills.
Previously, once the town supplies were scavenged, the wilderness was always the first priority of newcomers.
Park Ranger gives you +2 trapping and +100% experience gain along with +2 gathering and +100% exp bonus.
If you then add points to the Hiker (-6 points) you’ll receive +1 Trapping and Gathering with a +75% exp boost in both the stats. With this, you can effectively get +3 Trapping and Gathering and a +125% experience increase. You can also eat and drink in the forest.
All this for 18 points is not expensive. And with the maximum speed of travel through the forest, neither zombies nor other occupation players can catch up with you hidden in the jungle.
But beware, as this also means that you will not be taking the town as your first choice for survival.
- Fisherman
The Fisherman has 10 points associated with it. It gives you +3 in the Fishing stat accompanied by a +125 exp gain boost.
Adding points to Angler (-4 points) gives you an additional +4 Fishing and +125 experience gain. This will cost 14 points in total
The Hiker also nets +1 point in Gathering and +75% exp. Ultimately, you can get +2 Gathering and a +100% increase in experience multiplier if you spend 20 points.
With the Fisherman occupation, you can find feed yourself as soon as you get your hands on a fishing rod!
Main Melee Occupations
- Fire Officer
Already explained above
- Construction Worker
The construction worker is 12 points and has a +3 short stick with +125% exp gain.
There isn’t much to cover for this occupation. Make effective use of the short stick early on while you have a lack of weapons.
- Repairman
The Repairman occupation is currently quite useful. It constitutes 12 points and it provides +2 Repair and +1 Carpentry. It also provides a +100% and +75% experience gain to these stats respectively.
If you invest in Handy, you’ll get an additional +1 point in Carpentry and Repair along with a +75% exp boost in both.
Collectively, you can get +3 Repair and +2 Carpentry, with a +125 and +100% experience multiplier boost in each. All this will set you back 20 points.
The old version of the Repairman occupation wasn’t as good as the Carpenter. This was due to the fact that previously, Repair wasn’t very useful.
However, in the current situation, Repair is very useful to have because you can effectively utilize a Spear. Since Spears are quite easily damaged, Repair stat comes in handy.
Although, if you don’t use the Spear frequently, Repair won’t do much for you.
- Lumberjack
Has been explored above.
Main Remote Occupations
If you want to use a gun, then you should definitely choose one of the following occupations.
This is due to the fact that the Aiming Skill is very important for the accuracy of firearms. This is especially prominent in the older versions.
In the new version, however, firearms have been enhanced and an aiming box has been added. This can be toggled on and off in the settings. This makes it significantly easier to use guns.
- Police Officer
The Police Officer is worth 12 points. The occupation provides a +3 Aim and a +75% experience gain. Additionally, the Hunter trait (-8 points) provides a further +1 aim and +75% experience boost.
Altogether, you get +4 Aim and +100% experience by spending 20 points. level 4 aim is pretty much self-targeting in the new version, provided you don’t have a serious panic.
- Veteran
The veteran is the most expensive occupation. It costs a massive 16 points!
This, however, comes with the attribute of not panicking. This is extremely useful for gun accuracy. It gives you +2 Aiming and a +100% experience multiplier.
Furthermore, players with the Hunter trait can give you +3 Aiming and a +125% exp boost.
It collectively costs 24 points which is expensive, but it’s still worth it.
Main Skills Occupations
- Carpenter
This occupation is worth 6 points. The Carpenter is an extremely useful occupation in the older versions of the game.
This is because Carpenter, together with the Handy trait can get 4 levels worth of Carpentry, directly from the Rain Collector Barrel.
With this, in the early levels, you can block a street to build a safe area. In the old versions, rare resources were less commonly found in Garbage Bags.
In contrast, these are much more common in the newer version which lessens the importance of a Carpenter. The new version of the system was introduced several updates ago.
With this, you can get experience by demolishing furniture, which also weakens the status of a Carpenter.
Additionally, with the introduction of the new videotape system, Carpentry’s skills rocketed up. This further declined the need for the Carpenter occupation. Seeing the current trends, this occupation isn’t recommended.
- Chef
The Chef costs 12 points. It provides you with +3 Cooking and +125% experience gain. The same is also the occupation of the videotape hard cut.
Maintenance for the Chef is not as good as it is for the Repairman. Additionally, the Short Knife is also not useful.
Overall, the Chef occupation is not recommended.
- Farmer
The Farmer constitutes 6 points. It gives +3 Farming and a +125% experience gain boost. However, Farming is not a required skill.
A +3 Farming in the grand scheme of things is also not very useful. Especially in the previous version of the game, it’s a complete waste.
Neither needed in the early, nor late stages of the game. Definitely not recommended.
- Fisherman
Already explained above
- Doctor
The Doctor provides +3 points in First Aid and +125% experience gain in the same area. It’s not particularly useful but can have some use in certain servers with medical mods.
In the old version, however, it doesn’t have much utility and isn’t recommended.
- Nurse
I think no one likes to use this except nurses themselves. Won’t even go into any details.
- Burger Flipper Worker
The Burger Flipper is basically a weakened version of the Chef occupation. Neither useful nor recommended.
- Electrician
This occupation initially costs 12 points. It provides +3 in Electrical with a +125% exp boost. This occupation is worth considering because Electrical comes under one of the more difficult skills to practice and upgrade.
Additionally, it gives you the ability to open a Generator. If you can’t find the Generator Magazine, the Electrician’s usefulness is unparalleled.
Although, you should note that the Electrician isn’t a very strong occupation in the original game. Opening up Generators is perhaps the only use you’ll get out of it.
- Engineer
The Engineer occupation will set you back by 12 points. The value of this occupation in the original version of the server is inherent in the different types of ammunition and advanced explosives it can make. This will be explained further in detail as a later topic.
- Metalworker
The Metalworker costs a whopping 14 points! Metalwork itself is not difficult to practice and upgrade. The only problem is, that it can take a while for you to take it up to a respectable level.
Till that point, it becomes less useful. I wouldn’t recommend prioritizing this.
- Mechanic
The Mechanic occupation requires you to invest 12 points. It will give you +3 points in Mechanics accompanied by a +125% increased experience gain.
Due to the existence of videotapes, Mechanics in terms of the older version are useful If practiced with and constantly upgraded. Not the best, but not the worst either. A subjective pick.
As a general consensus, only a few Occupations are actually worth picking. Choosing among them is very subjective. It depends entirely on your personal choice and the playstyle you have.
In terms of Skill Traits, there are a few points you need to consider.
Skill Traits
If you combine the First Responder (-4 points) and Former Boy Scout (-6 points) skills together, you can effectively get a +2 Medical and +100% experience boost.
Additionally, if you’re a doctor, then you can get up to 5 levels of medical with this. But as mentioned before, higher levels of medical aren’t that useful and are generally a waste of your points
Baseball Players (-4 points) plus Gladiators (-6 points) get +2 Long Bat +100% experience multiplier boost. This translates to a particularly strong gain for Crowbar and Bat players.
Former Boy Scout (-6 points) plus Hiker (-6 points) gets +2 Gathering and +100% experience gain. Furthermore, if you’re a Park Ranger, you can obtain 4 levels of Gathering – although at the cost of high points usage.
Chef (-6 points) is mutually exclusive with Chef and Burger Flipper worker occupations.
