How does protection work in this game exactly?

[sharkbyte1500]

I have about 55 hours in this game and I'm still a little confused as to how protection works

I've noticed on some clothing it has stats against certain types of damage like bite and scratch's

Like if a piece of clothing has "100 bite protection" does that mean I'm 100% safe against a bite or how exactly does this work cause I'm sortve clueless

[Sunago]

Say you have 100% protection on your left arm against bites. When a bite happens on that left arm it doesn't hurt you. It damages the clothing instead. However, be careful with this. Zombie attacks can leave holes in your clothing, which removes the protection on that area.

Unfortunately the check wether a zombie attack leaves a hole in clothing happens before the check wether or not you get hit. So there is still a chance that bite will get through even with 100% protection. So layer up and always move cautiously no matter what your protection level is.

[Armagenesis]

Originally posted by Sunago:

Unfortunately the check wether a zombie attack leaves a hole in clothing happens before the check wether or not you get hit. So there is still a chance that bite will get through even with 100% protection. So layer up and always move cautiously no matter what your protection level is.

I'm not sure where did you get this, but I feel like this is untrue.

If you have 100% bite protection, it means your clothes will always take the hit for you the first time you get bitten. And every time you get the bite, it will leave a hole on your top-most clothing layer and subsequently lowering your bite protection. That's the reason why the next bite on the same limb may go through.

[Nordil(Hun)]

Just as an FYI i play without any care for protection:)
Your best bet is to not try to hoard all the protective gear, because they come with movement and fighting speed malus. Meaning if you wear for instance jeans, boots and a fireman jacket, and it is summer, you will get hot. Your movement speed can get reduced so much you cannot even outwalk zeds anymore. Also while fighting, you used to have two swings before the zombie could close upon you, now you dont have that many...
So careful. Protection gear is a noob trap, unless you craft it yourself via sewing.(That is what i am told i never bothered with it:)

[Panzer Elite]

Originally posted by Nordil(Hun):

Just as an FYI i play without any care for protection:)
Your best bet is to not try to hoard all the protective gear, because they come with movement and fighting speed malus. Meaning if you wear for instance jeans, boots and a fireman jacket, and it is summer, you will get hot. Your movement speed can get reduced so much you cannot even outwalk zeds anymore. Also while fighting, you used to have two swings before the zombie could close upon you, now you dont have that many...
So careful. Protection gear is a noob trap, unless you craft it yourself via sewing.(That is what i am told i never bothered with it:)

Not really, returning back to Zomboid I got attacked by zombies 4 times already. 3 of them got protected from the leather jacket, and the 4th bite was on my hand with not that much protection which went through and lacerated my hand. In my instances it wouldn't matter if I was fast or not, I would get screwed over if I had no protection.

[dustbiter]

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

Originally posted by Sunago:

Unfortunately the check wether a zombie attack leaves a hole in clothing happens before the check wether or not you get hit. So there is still a chance that bite will get through even with 100% protection. So layer up and always move cautiously no matter what your protection level is.

I'm not sure where did you get this, but I feel like this is untrue.

If you have 100% bite protection, it means your clothes will always take the hit for you the first time you get bitten. And every time you get the bite, it will leave a hole on your top-most clothing layer and subsequently lowering your bite protection. That's the reason why the next bite on the same limb may go through.

I recall hearing of this(holes check before protection check) before, it is probably true. Not all mechanics in zomboid work like they logically/realistically should. I just rely on not getting caught by zombies anyway.

[Armagenesis]

Originally posted by dustbiter:

Originally posted by Armagenesis:

I'm not sure where did you get this, but I feel like this is untrue.

If you have 100% bite protection, it means your clothes will always take the hit for you the first time you get bitten. And every time you get the bite, it will leave a hole on your top-most clothing layer and subsequently lowering your bite protection. That's the reason why the next bite on the same limb may go through.

I recall hearing of this(holes check before protection check) before, it is probably true. Not all mechanics in zomboid work like they logically/realistically should. I just rely on not getting caught by zombies anyway.

Hmm, interesting. In that case I might have been really lucky thus far.
The only time I did actually get bitten/scratched would be when my protection value is low on the wounded region. Above 70%, my clothes would always be the only one taking the hit.

[LSD]

https://www.reddit.com/r/projectzomboid/comments/10jfail/this_is_how_zombie_injury_chance_works/

[Nordil(Hun)]

Originally posted by panzer_elite1 TTV:

Originally posted by Nordil(Hun):

Just as an FYI i play without any care for protection:)
Your best bet is to not try to hoard all the protective gear, because they come with movement and fighting speed malus. Meaning if you wear for instance jeans, boots and a fireman jacket, and it is summer, you will get hot. Your movement speed can get reduced so much you cannot even outwalk zeds anymore. Also while fighting, you used to have two swings before the zombie could close upon you, now you dont have that many...
So careful. Protection gear is a noob trap, unless you craft it yourself via sewing.(That is what i am told i never bothered with it:)

Not really, returning back to Zomboid I got attacked by zombies 4 times already. 3 of them got protected from the leather jacket, and the 4th bite was on my hand with not that much protection which went through and lacerated my hand. In my instances it wouldn't matter if I was fast or not, I would get screwed over if I had no protection.

Well, you already got successfully attacked more times than my characters:)
But seriously check the maluses they give, sum them, and then check your nimbleness.
Nimbleness does offset some of the malus. If you have like alltogether your fighting and movement speed reduced by 17% ...than you might have some issues, and they can be the cause why your character was attacked in the first place, since your character will be slower than normal.
But trust me going with the "default" protection items is usually not such a good idea. Later on when you increase your sewing you can make really good protective items, without such costly maluses.