Perks, Allies, Weapons, and Armor

The character has a variety of perks across all the skills, but some perks are perkier than others.

Perks by Skill

• Melee - Take Brawler. The likelihood of getting shot is higher than your likelihood of being able to flank the enemy's heel. Barrage vs Quick Reflexes depends on your emphasis, with B allowing you to hit enemies with smaller weapons more times and QR allowing you to use bigger/heavier weapons and still have AP to dodge or get in position to hit. I'd especially recommend QR if you're running a control hitter (using brush weapons to Knockdown/axes to Cripple and Hamstring). Maxing it for Warrior is definitely recommended, as both zed and armored hostile/neutral survivors are susceptible to a good thwacking.
  
• Ranged - Until you get a (cross)bow, you're not going to want to spec into this because guns = noise = zombies. That said, take Vital Shot. Humans, particularly military, survivalists, Coyotes, and militia are going to set off enough to attract zed anyway, so you can feel free to bring your own dakka. Quick Draw vs Reload is dependent on whether or not you're wielding a (cross)bow, because they require a reload every shot. Unless you're running a sniper build, you're going to want one of the other survivors to wield the (cross)bow(s). Similarly, Sharpshooter isn't worth the points needed to max when explosives and melee work do the job.
  
• Leadership - Take Don't Panic and Get Up, hands down. Extra chance to hit can be achieved with pills and is less useful than keeping your team alive. Double Time is definitely worth the points invested, esp. since Leadership has a semi-magical "Take up your mat and walk" effect on most survivors' off-day complaints.
  
• Negotiation - Likeable and Popular are non-negotiable, pun intended. Once you get enough people, fixing things is a cinch, and once you've explored the map, the endgame turns into fishing and foraging with morale dropping every day until you get the heck out of Splendid. One of the survivors requires 8 Neg to recruit, so 9-10 is unneeded.
  
• Medical - Having played through all hundred or so days with Herbalist, I can confidently say Paramedic's the way to go. Have you ever seen a pile of 175~ bandages? I have. Similarly, get Combat Medic, because quite frankly you'll have enough survivors to cycle your team to heal back at the Shelter.
  
• Science - Take Inventor. The endgame requires a lot of fuel. Pharmacist vs Chemist is dependent upon how much rotten fruit you have and how many people are infected. If you're using the Lab for a lot of different things instead, then you'll want to cut time short. Unless you get a balanced Mech/Sci survivor, the PC will have to be the one to head up Science Lab construction, which requires 5 Sci. Besides that, there's the occasional alarm to deactivate, but I'm not familiar enough with Bomberman to say.
  
• Survival - Get Forager and Expert Gardener. You'll get to the whole map eventually, and quite frankly you'll be getting by on horseback or car eventually, making feet unnecessary. Maxing it for Animal Magnetism isn't bad either; dogs are OP, if a bit glass-cannonish.
  
• Mechanical - Take Efficiency and Solar Power; in the early game, you don't have much access to parts, and in the endgame you need as much fuel as possible. You only need 9 pts to unlock 100+ durability doors.

Ally Traits

Some allies can gain new perks through conversation.

• Aggro Moss - Cultivator.
  
• Bud Larsen - Deadly Aim vs Uncanny Focus depends on the range of the gun you've got him holding.
  
• Darlene Lumpkin - Natural Born Killer.
  
• Doug Schultz - Sycophant.
  
• Elaine Martin - Counselor.
  
• Fiona Parks - Shelter Support.
  
• Gillian DeVries - Fuel.
  
• Joel Oswalt - Handyman
  
• Mark Corbeau - Master Chef.
  
• Max Getz - remove Unhinged.
  
• Michiru Yata - Burn Specialist, since you can prevent arm and leg sprain with good armor, but fireproof equipment sucks as armor.
  
• Parisa Sharazi - Upgrade Researcher to Obsessed Researcher.
  
• Paul Rainier - Old Instincts, since you can prevent Panic with a music player or get out of it with Leadership or meds.
  
• Priscilla Butler - Book Learnin', since you'll generally be at a surfeit of food.
  
• Renee Cass - Comforting Presence.
  
• Ryan Michaels - Trainee [x] depends on what you need.
  
• Sandy Doubleday - I Can Do It.
  
• Sir Charleston - Armorer.
  
• Troy Cooper - Harvester.

Wonderful Weapons & Amazing Armor

Weapons

Polearms as a class have the best melee range (the Makeshift Pike is an exception to this).
Anything with knockdown and/or knockback makes the enemy waste AP getting up and back to you.

3 AP
• Kukri -- High counter, ability to cripple.
  
• Telescoping Baton/Electric Baton -- Medium counter, ability to cripple.

4 AP
• Nightstick/Carbon steel tonfa -- Low counter, low dizzy, ability to cripple.
  
• Aluminum Bat -- Low knockback, low dizzy.

5 AP
• Pitchfork -- Low knockback, ability to knockdown.
  
• Tree Trimmer -- Low knockback, low knockdown.
  
• Spear -- Medium knockdown.
  
• Pipe Wrench -- Low dizzy, low knockdown, ability to cripple.
  
• Brush Hook -- Ability to cripple, ability to hamstring.

6 AP
• Fire Axe -- Ability to cripple, ability to hamstring, low bleed.
  
• Wood Axe -- Ability to cripple, ability to hamstring.

Shotgun Shells
• Sawed-Off -- Medium knockback, noisier than the Hunting (bait), syncs well w/Vic (handgun).

38 ammo
• Lever-Action Rifle -- Better than the Snubnose in all respects for the expense of 1 AP.

Armor

Body armor, so long as it isn't Bulky, scales linearly with base defense. Aside from the fancy "Sealed" variants, it's a matter of what you can find and upgrade.
Foot armor is best chosen for Leg Guard, with headgear providing Dodge, as I'm fairly certain Dodge doesn't stack.
Likewise, Arm-or is at its finest with Arm Guard or Marksman.

Allied Specialties

• Aggro -- Bat (optional, not recommended): Wood Plank, Baseball, Aluminum, Cricket
  
• Anita -- Sledgehammer.
  
• Bud -- Ranged.
  
• Clifford -- Ranged (crit v. humans).
  
• Darlene -- Bow: compound, cross.
  
• Effrem -- Melee (crit from behind).
  
• Elaine -- Melee (optional, not recommended).
  
• Fiona -- Ranged (optional, not recommended).
  
• Grant -- Axe: Hatchet, Crash, Wood, Pick, Brush Hook, Fire.
  
• Joel -- Ranged (optional, not recommended).
  
• Ken -- Ranged.
  
• Mark -- Knife (optional, not recommended): Kitchen, Sickle, Cleaver, [Combat] Machete, Combat, Kukri, Bowie.
  
• Mia -- Club: Crowbar, Nightstick, Pipe Wrench, Telescoping Baton.
  
• Parisa -- Club (optional, not recommended): Crowbar, Nightstick, Pipe Wrench, Telescoping Baton.
  
• Paul -- Ranged (optional, recommended).
  
• Regina -- Knife: Kitchen, Sickle, Cleaver, [Combat] Machete, Combat, Kukri, Bowie.
  
• Troy -- Rifle: Lever-Action, AKA7, MS4, Hunting; Ranged (optional, not recommended).
  
• Vic -- Handgun: .38 Snubnose, Antique Revolver, 9mm, 357 Magnum, Sawed-Off Shotgun; Ranged.

Credits

Lt. Arrow Quincy Vershaft made a convincing argument for Chemist.

Bonus: Who Helps You Escape, Trivia, etc.

• Doug Schultz
  
• Fiona Parks
  
• Oscar Guzman (if Melina died)
  
• Max Getz
  
• Mia Seza (if Sara alive)
  
• Sir Charleston (if left deluded)

Exploits

• Open the Character screen in combat & switch to Inventory to access w/no AP cost.
  
• The above also allows one to swap 2-handed weapons for free.

Allies by Age

• Smoky - 3 months
  
• Samm - 10
  
• Ryan - 17
  
• Jodie - 18
  
• Priscilla - 19
  
• Gillian - 20
  
• Joel/Lightning[3] - 21
  
• Jenifer/Troy - 22
  
• Aimee/Melina/Renee - 24
  
• Craig/Fiona/Oscar - 25
  
• Clifford/Effrem/Mia - 26
  
• Lane - 28
  
• Aggro - 29
  
• Karen - 30y, 3mo
  
• Harold/Max - 31
  
• Elaine - 32
  
• Doug - 33
  
• Sara/Walter - 34
  
• Todd/Pepper[5] - 35
  
• Paul - 36
  
• Grant/Parisa/Sir Charleston - 38
  
• Davis/Ken/Vic - 41
  
• Darlene - 42
  
• Nathan - 43
  
• Anita - 46
  
• Michiru - 48
  
• Lloyd - 49
  
• Mark - 50
  
• Isobel - 51
  
• Sandy - 54
  
• Bud - 62
  
• Ulysses - 65
  
• Regina - ???

Canon Ships

• Aggro(29)/Lane(28) - one-sided on his part.
  
• Darlene(42)/Vic(41)
  
• Melina(24)/Oscar(25) - in-universe OTP so hard they boost Morale.
  
• Priscilla(19)/Troy(22) - one-sided on his part.
  
• Renee(24)/Ryan(17) - one-sided on his part, and ((1/2 * A) + 7) where A = age puts her minimum at 19.

[Terreliv]

I generally just recycle all one-time use items. I'll have to look into it, and I'll change the guide to reflect my lack of knowledge. TY

[NOIRE-]

it makes wonder when you said Bomberman isnt worth it, did you finish the game before maxing out all skills?
grenade is freakin powerful, PC w/ bomberman perk usually can KO even the toughest enemy with two grenades. With double time perk, all your allies equipped with grenades can throw it one more time. It will make the final battle much much easier (also i always let Melina die by "accident" so that Oscar will help the escape, and to make the mood in shelter more manageable :p)

[Arrow]

Good point, I hadn't looked at it that way.

[Terreliv]

Basic genny: -4g/d

Solar genny: -2g/d

Gillian: +2g/d

Inventor: +1g/d

With this set-up, you'll be in positive fuel w/o scavving.

[Arrow]

I disagree on two points:

Pharmacist. With Chemist, you'll still generate the same number of antibiotics in the same amount of time. You'll use twice as much fruit, but there's more than enough spoiled fruit in the game that I've never run out, and Chemist is more generally useful if you're making something other than antibiotics.

Solar Power: The generator uses a flat 4 gallons of fuel per day, meaning that Solar Power saves you two gallons. A heavy day of car use can use more than 8 gallons, especially if you're making trips back and forth to the shelter. Thus, Grease Monkey is better IMO.