A good build for a beginner?

[⭕⃤ Griz]

Cant find a build that works out.. always die within minutes

[it's a gabe]

Two perks that should help you start out are inconspicuous (I think that's what it's called) and graceful. Also, firefighter might be a useful occupation to start with.

Project Zomboid isn't one of those survival games where you just run everywhere. Stealth is the key to survival. If you look up Nurse on YouTube, she has a video detailing 10 crucial beginner tips. Have a look at it, it'll help tons.

[[BRE] Vauquelin]

Outdoorsman, smoker, keen hearing and fast learner are also pretty gangster skills you should always have

[The Immortal]

Originally posted by it's a gabe:

Two perks that should help you start out are inconspicuous (I think that's what it's called) and graceful. Also, firefighter might be a useful occupation to start with.

Project Zomboid isn't one of those survival games where you just run everywhere. Stealth is the key to survival. If you look up Nurse on YouTube, she has a video detailing 10 crucial beginner tips. Have a look at it, it'll help tons.

inconspicuous isnt as good as it sounds gracefull is usefull tho

[The Immortal]

Originally posted by Griz:

Cant find a build that works out.. always die within minutes

a go to set of traits that are considered "freebies" because there downsides are considered manageable
smoker high thirst underweight hemophobic prone to ileness weak stomach

if u take agoraphobic and adrenelin junkie you get pretty much a permament 10% movement speed buff outdoors all times considered a meme but can be fun

some things to consider before taking some positive traits
lucky: dont reduce chance of getting scratched or bitten just increases loot found in containers and dead zombies
hearty appetite: dose mean u need to eat less often but you still need a min 2200 cals a day to not lose weight so either way you eat the same ammount on avarage so its a bit crap
gracefull: not only make you move quieter (usually 3-4 tiles quieter noise) it also reduces chance of falling and tripping when running by 10%
outdoorsman: reduces chance of getting cold by 90% and makes fires from drill planks easier as well as slightly reduced infection chance from none zombie inflicted wounds
brave: can be usefull depending but remember in the long run your charachter gets less scarred of the world anyway
organised: also effects your backpacks meaning a military backpack can carry a whopping 36 weight essential if you are larping as a nomadic traveller
hunter: essential to get if you want to be good with guns to lvl aiming faster unless u take the veteran or police officer also trapper means u can trap animals right off the bat

[Greb]

Dexterous will allow you to handle inventory management better, which can help you as a new player (as long as you don't get too used to it)

Also consider Athletic, as your Fitness level does boost how fast you can swing weapons and how long you can swing them before you get tired, plus it lets you run / sprint for a very long time before exhaustion hits.

Keen Hearing can be handy for a newbie, since it increases your detection radius behind you, so you will notice zombies creeping up on you sooner and be able react accordingly.

I don't have a specific build for you, but you can practice by giving yourself extra points if you edit the sandbox settings, enough until you've learned the ropes and such.

Otherwise some easier to manage negative traits you can take for extra points include:

Short Sighted (it doesn't affect much right now)
Slow Reader (you can simply speed up time if you're in singleplayer)
Weak Stomach (just don't eat anything that has a "dangerous" warning)
Conspicuous (not much of a penalty except when trying to sneak past windows / doorways)
Pacifist (-25% weapon XP, typically easy to counter with a profession choice)
Prone To Illness (right now the infection / disease mechanics are a bit sparse)
Smoker (cigarettes are common and great sadness cures even for non-smokers)
High Thirst (depends how readily available water is in your location really)
Slow Healer (wounds heal fast by default anyway, and it's only like +33% extra time)

You can mix and match accordingly, of course. There's no one true be-all-end-all build, and your own sandbox settings will change the usefulness of traits as well, but those are some easily manageable traits that you can take alongside traits you find useful, anyway.

If you take Prone To Illness, you can often combo it with the Outdoorsman trait to essentially gain +2 points and +50% cold (the sickness kind) resistance for free, but I'm not sure what else that messes with as of right now.

[flu007]

As for starting occupation, you might want to consider the construction worker, as that starts you off at level 3 Short Blunt, which are pretty common and decent weapons (things like hammers, wrenches, pipes etc.) That can help a lot in the early days.

[Jack]

Deaf is always a good trait to pick for a beginner, you get loads of extra points to spend on positive traits.

[Normal Jolteon]

Careful that In the Mp branch they nerfed smoker as cigarettes/lighters are far more rare

[miscellaneous unc]

Originally posted by it's a gabe:

Two perks that should help you start out are inconspicuous (I think that's what it's called) and graceful. Also, firefighter might be a useful occupation to start with.

Project Zomboid isn't one of those survival games where you just run everywhere. Stealth is the key to survival. If you look up Nurse on YouTube, she has a video detailing 10 crucial beginner tips. Have a look at it, it'll help tons.

Testing has been done that found Inconspicous to pretty much do nothing, and Conspicious is pretty much a free trait.

[miscellaneous unc]

Originally posted by Jack:

Deaf is always a good trait to pick for a beginner, you get loads of extra points to spend on positive traits.

This is terrible advice. I'd argue that you should do the opposite and grab Keen Hearing as that (for some reason) buffs Foraging, and lets you literally see behind you.

[miscellaneous unc]

Since I'm not fond of most of these answers I'll info dump you on my own tips:

GOOD TO GRAB POSITIVE TRAITS:

Brave; Counteracts a lot of negative effects of Hemophobia, Agarophobia/Claustrophobia and makes you far better at combat. (Don't grab if going Veteran, as he gets a better version of this)

Dextrous: A bit overrated but still useful and will likely save you.

Fast Learner: Arguably the best positive trait to many. +30% XP rate across all skills.

Keen Hearing: Lets you see around you in a ~5 meter radius which while underrated by most of the community WILL save you.

Lucky: Lets you access a secret loot table for every single searchable in the game, even if your team loots the entire building you will find goodies in it. Great in SP and MP, extremely underrated.

Organized: +30% storage capacity, pretty good.

Outdoorsman: Decreases chance of catching a cold by 90% making the hardest part of PZ (The winter) a cakewalk. Other minor effects like less chance of getting scratched while moving through trees, pairs very well with Park Ranger or Lumberjack jobs. Also super cheap at 2 points.

Thick Skinned +30% bite/laceration/scratch defence. This stacks with other items to let you get something like 90% on torso by just wearing a leather jacket and denim shirt. It's great.



GOOD TO GRAB NEGATIVE TRAITS:

Hemophobic: Practically free. Washing yourself is very easy, soap is plentiful (while not really even needed). I'd grab it even if it was at +1 points.

High Thirst: You need to drink twice as often. Early game before sinks cut off this is a non-issue. Late game you will need to create a rain catcher to get water, not really an issue since that's necessary for any long term character. Easy 6 points.

Hearty Appetite: You need to eat 50% more food. This one's easy to manage in MP since food is so plentiful in cities. Not sure if the food spawns are the same in SP. Late game it can get a bit irritating since calories become an issue.

Overweight: +6 points and arguably its a positive perk. Lets you starve for longer in exchange for being a bit chubby. The negative effects of this mostly affect sprinting which you pretty much should never do except in dire circumstances.

Pacifist: It's actually just a -25% XP rate for all weapons. For +4 points thats pretty insane especially if you're running a job that gives you +25% on a good weapon type. Yes it's less XP, but you can literally counteract this with Fast Learner for 105% learn rate for weapons in the end. Worth it imho.

Short Sighted: Might be just speculation but people have told me it makes foraging much harder. Personally I still take it, since it seems Keen Hearing actually buffs foraging more (It makes no sense, but whatever). Free +2 points (I think).

Smoker: Not suggested current patch, cigs are extremely rare. But usually this ones also free points.

Slow Healer: You will rarely get damaged, if you do, you will die eitherway in most cases. This one isn't even that debilitating if you do get hurt in all honesty. Free 6 points.

Slow Reader: Only +30% slower book reading. Free 2 points.

Sunday Driver: Personally hate this perk and take Speed Demon in MP because going 100 mph is funny. But free +1 points for most characters.

Weak Stomach: Don't eat rotten food, free 3 points.



GOOD TO PICK OCCUPATIONS:

Park Ranger: Every skill is useful current patch both in SP and MP. Very good passive (lets you go through shrubs and trees way faster, you can lose hordes through a few trees).

Construction Worker: Very cheap. Gives you +1 Carpentry and a ton of short blunt (Great combat skill). Better in MP since you're unlikely to get free Carpentry points from watching TV.

Carpenter: Reverse of Construction Worker, +3 to Carpentry and a bit in short blunt. Very good in MP. You only need 4 Carpentry to make rain collector barrels which is pog. You'll be able to make a base from the start, as long as you can find an axe, saw, hammer and nails ofc.

Veteran: Desensitized makes you completely immune to panic. Firearms got a heavy buff with their aggro range being more than halved in current patch, so they are more than usable.

Lumberjack: Axes, strength, and you can walk through shrubs like Park Ranger for the low price of 8 points. Very good.

There are probably more, but these are the ones I tend to use.

[Glamorpuss]

Just play on a custom sandbox game, and turn down the amount of zombies, or turn up the number of points you get to start your character with. That'll give you a less intense experience, to learn how to deal with food, zombie sight lines, etc.

[Jack]

Originally posted by ARTEMIS.:

Originally posted by Jack:

Deaf is always a good trait to pick for a beginner, you get loads of extra points to spend on positive traits.

This is terrible advice. I'd argue that you should do the opposite and grab Keen Hearing as that (for some reason) buffs Foraging, and lets you literally see behind you.

Don't listen to this guy, he's a troll. Pick deaf and enjoy your free 12 points for spending on awesome positive traits. You can just play spotify music in the background and enjoy.

[devilonsteroids]

It's not your build. Always sneak, once seen, just stand up and calmly walk until you can get to trees. I literally died a couple of times before I realized that pushing and attacking were separate. In sparse areas you can kill a bunch without even swinging a weapon. Just push them over, NEVER move toward them until they are down. Then stand on chest and stomp em out. But really, NEVER move towards a standing zombie, especially if there are 2, you have to keep backing up and win by attrition.