Yosharian's Project Zomboid Builds

Some builds and useful information for Project Zomboid.

Introduction

Welcome to my Project Zomboid Steam page. On this page you'll find some information on character builds, and other useful stuff. I made this page mainly for my own amusement, and for me to refer to. I shared it to be helpful to others. If you have any questions or suggestions, please post them in the comments section.

1: Columbus [Solo]

Overview:

• Strong melee combat build for solo, with maxed carry weight and excellent endurance.
  
• Keep a couple of water bottles on you all the time and keep them filled.
  
• Get rid of Underweight by eating lots of high-calorie food at the start of the game.
  
• Doesn't start with hotwiring so get Mechanics 2 & Electrical 1 ASAP.
  
• Use beta blockers when fighting hordes.
  
• Use alcohol to sleep when panicked, or sleep on a bench.
  
• Most suited for experienced players. Long term-focus.

Occupation:

• Fire Officer

Negative Traits/Occupation:

• Fire Officer (+0): +1 Axe, +1 Fitness, +1 Sprinting, +1 Strength
  
• Cowardly (+2): 200% panic.
  
• Short-sighted (+2): Heavily reduces foraging radius if not wearing glasses
  
• Slow Reader (+2): 70% reading speed.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic indoors.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• Smoker (+4): Gains stress over time, can use cigarettes to reduce stress & unhappiness.
  
• Unlucky (+4): -10% chance of finding loot, -1 Foraging radius, -5% repair chance.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Underweight (+6): -1 Fitness, 80% melee damage, +chance to trip.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +59

Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Wakeful (-2): -30% sleep required.
  
• Sewer (-4): +1 Tailoring.
  
• Gymnast (-5): +1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Keen Hearing (-6): better perception radius & visibility from behind.
  
• Handy (-8): +1 Carpentry, +1 Maintenance, +100HP to constructions, 11% faster build.
  
• Hunter (-8): +1 Aiming, +1 Short Blade, +1 Sneaking, +1 Trapping.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/melee.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -59

2: Dirty Harry [Solo]

Overview:

• Most suitable for players who want to get guns as fast as possible.
  
• Has a slightly easier start than Columbus.

Occupation:

• Police Officer

Negative Traits:

• Slow Reader (+2): 70% reading speed.
  
• Short-sighted (+2): Smaller view distance & slower visibility fade.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• Smoker (+4): Gains stress over time, can use cigarettes to reduce stress & unhappiness.
  
• Unlucky (+4): -10% chance of finding rare loot.
  
• Asthmatic (+5): 140%/130% running & sprinting/melee attack endurance cost.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +52

Occupation/Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Police Officer (-4): +3 Aiming, +2 Reloading, +1 Nimble.
  
• Dextrous (-2): 50% faster inventory transfer.
  
• Wakeful (-2): -30% sleep required.
  
• Brave (-4): 30% of normal panic rate.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Keen Hearing (-6): better perception radius & visibility from behind.
  
• Handy (-8): +1 Carpentry, +1 Maintenance, +100HP to constructions, 11% faster build.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, -40% running/sprinting endurance loss.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -52

3: Gordon Ramsay [MP]

Overview:

• Simple melee combat build for multiplayer, with high carry weight and excellent endurance.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, carry water bottles, etc.
  
• Designed for a multiplayer server with sleep turned off.

Occupation:

• Burger Flipper

Negative Traits/Occupation:

• Burger Flipper (+2): +1 Short Blade, +1 Maintenance, +2 Cooking
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic indoors.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +41

Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Dextrous (-2): 50% faster inventory transfer.
  
• Fast Reader (-2): 130% reading speed.
  
• Baseball Player (-4): +1 Long Blunt.
  
• Gymnast (-5): +1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/melee.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -41

4: Solid Snake [MP]

Overview:

• Beginner / cannon fodder build for early game multiplayer. Hotwire every car you see!
  
• Extremely good stealth and fast in combat stance, and can hotwire cars.
  
• Perfect for obtaining cars fast early game and using this to get loot, etc.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, carry water bottles, etc.
  
• Don't worry about dying on this build because it's not so good for long-term play.

Occupation:

• Burglar

Negative Traits:

• Short-sighted (+2): Smaller view distance & slower visibility fade.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic while indoors.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +41

Occupation/Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Burglar (-6): +2 Lightfooted, +2 Nimble, +2 Sneaking, able to hotwire vehicles.
  
• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Dextrous (-2): 50% faster inventory transfer.
  
• Graceful (-4): 60% footstep radius, slightly less chance of trips.
  
• Keen Hearing (-6): better perception radius & visibility from behind.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/sprinting.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -40

5: Patrick Bateman [MP]

Overview:

• Strong melee combat build for multiplayer, maxed carry weight & high endurance.
  
• Get rid of Underweight by eating lots of high-calorie food at the start of the game.
  
• Has Tailoring and Carpentry so you can help out supporting your team.
  
• If someone else on your team has Tailoring, feel free to remove Sewer.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, carry water bottles, etc.

Occupation:

• Fire Officer

Negative Traits/Occupation:

• Fire Officer (+0): +1 Axe, +1 Fitness, +1 Sprinting, +1 Strength
  
• Short-sighted (+2): Smaller view distance & slower visibility fade.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic indoors.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Underweight (+6): -1 Fitness, 80% melee damage, +chance to trip.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +47

Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Fast Reader (-2): 130% reading speed.
  
• Sewer (-4): +1 Tailoring.
  
• Gymnast (-5): +1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Handy (-8): +1 Carpentry, +1 Maintenance, +100HP to constructions, 11% faster build.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/melee.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -47

6: Damage Control [MP]

Overview:

• Straightforward combat build with some great Carpentry bonuses.
  
• Uses +3 Short Blunt to smash zombie heads with maximum effectiveness from day 0.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, carry water bottles, etc.
  
• Uses Smoker, so beg your teammates for ciggies.

Occupation:

• Construction Worker

Negative Traits:

• Short-sighted (+2): Smaller view distance & slower visibility fade.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic while indoors.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• Smoker (+4): Gains stress over time, can use cigarettes to reduce stress & unhappiness.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +45

Occupation/Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Construction Worker (-2): +3 Short Blunt, +1 Carpentry.
  
• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Fast Reader (-2): 130% reading speed.
  
• Gymnast (-5): +1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Handy (-8): +1 Carpentry, +1 Maintenance, +100HP to constructions, 11% faster build.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/sprinting.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -45

7: Judge Dredd [MP]

Overview:

• Strong ranged combat build for multiplayer, with high carry weight and excellent endurance.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, carry water bottles, etc.
  
• Be careful with guns! They can get you and your team killed easily.

Occupation:

• Police Officer

Negative Traits:

• Short-sighted (+2): Smaller view distance & slower visibility fade.
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic indoors.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• Asthmatic (+5): 140% fatigue from sprinting & 130% from melee weapon swings.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +46

Occupation/Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Police Officer (-4): +3 Aiming, +2 Reloading, +1 Nimble.
  
• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Fast Reader (-2): 130% reading speed.
  
• Brave (-4): 30% less panic from zeds.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Handy (-8): +1 Carpentry, +1 Maintenance, +100HP to constructions, 11% faster build.
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, -40% running/sprinting endurance loss.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -46

8: MacGyver [MP]

Overview:

• Forager build based on Gordon Ramsay - simple combat build that can also forage well.
  
• The usual strategies apply, don't fight zeds indoors, couple of water bottles, etc.
  
• You don't have +1 Maintenance on this build, so a crowbar is the best weapon to use.

Occupation:

• Unemployed

Negative Traits/Occupation:

• Unemployed (+8): n/a
  
• Weak Stomach (+3): 200% chance of food illness, but food illness has shorter duration.
  
• Claustrophobic (+4): Panic indoors.
  
• Conspicuous (+4): 200% chance of being spotted by zombies.
  
• Pacifist (+4): 75% XP gains for Melee & Aiming skills.
  
• Prone to Illness (+4): 125% zombification, 170% cold chance & colds are slightly worse.
  
• High Thirst (+6): 200% thirst rate.
  
• Slow Healer (+6): Injury penalties are doubled, including time to heal & speed reduction.
  
• Thin-skinned (+8): 127% chance of injury.
  
• Total: +47

Positive Traits/Hobbies:

• Cat's Eyes (-2): 20% better vision at night.
  
• Fast Reader (-2): 130% reading speed.
  
• Outdoorsman (-2): bonus to Foraging radius, and some other stuff.
  
• Baseball Player (-4): +1 Long Blunt.
  
• Gymnast (-5): +1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
  
• Fast Learner (-6): 130% XP gains for skills, except Strength/Fitness.
  
• Hiker (-6): +1 Foraging, +1 Trapping
  
• Athletic (-10): +4 Fitness, additional reduction to endurance loss from running/melee.
  
• Strong (-10): +4 Strength, 140% melee damage.
  
• Total: -47

EXTRA: Tips, tricks & useful information.

The Life & Living TV Channel

• The TV channel Life & Living gives out free XP for certain skills at given times of the day.

Time	Day 0 (9th)	Day 1 (10th)	Day 2 (11th)	Day 3 (12th)	Day 4 (13th)	Day 5 (14th)	Day 6 (15th)	Day 7 (16th)	Day 8 (17th)
6:00-12:00	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking	Cooking
12:00-18:00	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	Carpentry	-
18:00-23:30	Fishing	Farming	Fishing	-	Foraging	Trapping	Foraging	-	-

Helicopter Event

• If you listen to a radio that has the Emergency Broadcast Channel, you'll hear a special alert.
  
• The radio will give out the usual weather alerts, then it will say "Air activity detected".
  
• This means that a helicopter is going to come to your location and attempt to locate you.
  
• If you stay hidden, e.g. inside your house, the helicopter will eventually give up.
  
• Although it may come back after a while to look for you again, so beware.
  
• If you get spotted, it's very bad because it will hover above you for a long time.
  
• This will draw a hordes of zombies to your location. So, don't let it spot you.
  
• The helicopter event can occur on days 6-9 (15th-18th) so check your radio before then.
  
• Some players travel to another area during this event so that their base isn't affected.

Short-Sighted Trait, & Other Foraging Penalties

• Foraging is now super useful so it's worth examining how to reduce penalties to it.
  
• The Short-Sighted trait gives a pretty big foraging penalty and this is quite annoying.
  
• However, equipping glasses or reading glasses removes this penalty.
  
• The glasses do have a slight penalty of -2.5% to the foraging radius, but this is OK.
  
• While foraging you must remove all other headgear covering head, face and eyes.

Panic Is Useful?

• Some traits allow you to generate panic on-demand, for example Claustrophobic.
  
• Typically panic is a negative status, however, it has one hidden benefit...
  
• Entering panic removes any boredom status. Very useful when you're in your safehouse.
  
• If you start to suffer boredom in your house, just walk into a tight space such as a closet.

Grinding Mechanics 2 The Easy Way

• First, remove all the light bulbs from every car you see on the road.
  
• When you have a bunch of them, like 50 or so, install and uninstall each of them to a car.
  
• You get XP for each separate part that you install/reinstall, once per 24 hours.
  
• Using this method you will gain a lot of XP from an item that weighs almost nothing.
  
• You only need a screwdriver to do this. Remember to read the beginner skill book first.
  
• Alternatively, just find the Carzone VHS tapes and gain XP from those.
  
• You can currently watch tapes over and over in multiplayer.

Tree Cleaver

• Axes are assumed to be the best method of cutting trees.
  
• However, axes in general are extremely rare.
  
• In addition, the handaxe is only moderately good at felling trees.
  
• Enter the meat cleaver, a fairly common short blade weapon.
  
• It's just as good as cutting trees as the handaxe!
  
• You have to manually attack trees though.

Light Switches

• Did you know turning light switches on during night-time makes noise?
  
• Bear this in mind when you flick switches during the night - try to avoid it.
  
• You will draw zeds from extremely large distances.

Metalworking for Dummies

• Metalworking can be a pain to level, but there is a relatively fast way to do it.
  
• You need a bunch of propane torches and a mask. A propane tank helps.
  
• Find some wrecked cars. You can find them on the highway very easily.
  
• Right click and select dismantle wreck. You'll get a bunch of weapons, too.
  
• This gives a decent amount of XP. If you've read the books you'll gain levels fast.

Trapping for Geniuses

• Most trapping guides will suggest the use of the cage trap to get rabbits, but...
  
• Rabbits are pretty unreliably caught, and use up valuable resources to catch (e.g. cabbage).
  
• Enter the stick trap, and its target, the bird: lightweight and nutritious.
  
• Stick traps are extremely easy to craft, and worms are very easy to obtain.
  
• You can even create a wooden floor platform, hang an escape rope, then demolish the stairs.
  
• Your stick traps will catch endless birds and won't be damaged by zeds.
  
• This also gives you tons of reliable Trapping XP.

Weapons Guide

• Axe - Try Getting A Reservation At Dorsia Now!
  
  • Top tier weapon type but relatively rare compared to the other weapon types.
    
  • Attacks with this weapon damage the target's clothing - this can be an issue.
    
  • Two-handed when wielded optimally, so you can't hold a bag in your other hand.
    
  • Best weapon: fire axe (very high damage, powerful critical hits).
• Long Blunt - We Don't Go To Ravenholm...
  
  • Less rare than axes, but not as common as short blunt/blade.
    
  • Two-handed when wielded optimally, so you can't hold a bag in your other hand.
    
  • Best weapons: baseball bat (good knockdown), crowbar (extremely good durability).
• Short Blunt - What We Have Here Is A Failure To Communicate
  
  • Very common weapon type, and thus very easy to level from the start of your run.
    
  • Limited ways to get a bonus on this weapon type - only from occupations.
    
  • Best weapon: nightstick (all-rounder), pipes (common & effective), pipe wrench (knockdown).
• Long Blade - Nothing Personnel, Kid.
  
  • Top tier weapon type but extremely rare compared to the other weapon types.
    
  • Attacks with this weapon damage the target's clothing - this can be an issue.
    
  • Best weapon: if you find one, just use it. Good luck.
• Short Blade - That's Not A Knife... This Is A Knife
  
  • Very common weapon type, and thus very easy to level from the start of your run.
    
  • Attacks with this weapon damage the target's clothing - this can be an issue.
    
  • Best weapon: hunting knife (very high critical chance and good damage).

EXTRA: Traits Evaluation

These evaluations are for single-player, multiplayer has a slightly different meta although many of the traits perform similarly. To get an idea of what traits are optimal for multiplayer, look at the MP builds.

Positive Traits

The Best:

• Strong: excellent carry weight & melee damage bonuses.
  
• Wakeful: allows you to get so much more done in a day - time is money.
  
• Athletic: a very expensive trait but it is usually worth it if you can fit it in.

The Average:

• Fast Learner: a big bonus to XP gains, but it is a little expensive.
  
• Keen Hearing: extremely useful, but experienced players may not need it at all.
  
• Dextrous: great quality of life trait for very low cost, though often it is a luxury.
  
• Brave: reduces panic significantly, however you can play around panic & it reduces over time.
  
• Cat's Eyes: very situational, nice to have but not necessary at all. Excellent in multiplayer.
  
• Lucky: extremely overrated trait, 10% is just not that big of a bonus. Other bonuses are small.
  
• Outdoorsman: it's somewhat useful but there usually better ways to spend your points.
  
• Organized: significant increase to carry weight, but this trait is an expensive luxury.
  
• Thick Skinned: you can mitigate injury in other ways, but reducing injuries is nice.
  
• Light Eater: it's kind of hard to run out of food, but this is a nice quality-of-life trait I guess.
  
• Graceful: fantastic reduction to footstep noise, but often this is not necessary.
  
• Speed Demon: only useful for travelling a lot really, just don't go in reverse if you can avoid it.

The Worst:

• Eagle Eyed: barely does anything.
  
• Fast Healer: it's not really important to heal quickly in this game.
  
• Fast Reader: reading is just something you hit the fast forward button for. Mandatory in MP.
  
• Fit: just get Athletic instead, or don't bother.
  
• Adrenaline Junkie: it's not necessary to run that fast most of the time (sprinters aside).
  
• Inconspicuous: barely does anything, only take on extreme stealth builds.
  
• Iron Gut: just don't eat rotten food?
  
• Low Thirst: water isn't that hard to find, even later.
  
• Resilient: colds can be avoided with smart play, and who cares if you zombify slower.
  
• Stout: just get Strong.

Hobbies

The Best:

• Sewer: underrated trait in my opinion, Tailoring is really good and it's a pain to level.
  
• Gymnast: Nimble is extremely good and it's hard to get as a +1, plus this is an odd point trait.
  
• Handy: bonuses to two useful skills (especially maintenance), a little expensive though.

The Average:

• Baseball Player: nice but a luxury.
  
• Brawler: it's a luxury, although the value you get for 6 points is decent.
  
• Hunter: you get so much that's useful here but it is expensive.
  
• Hiker: I think this might be quite good on a Forager build. Situational.
  
• Amateur Mechanic: it's an odd point trait and useful, but the VHS tapes exist too.

The Worst:

• Runner: this skill doesn't need to be boosted.
  
• Herbalist: you can get the recipes from a book! Useless.
  
• Cook: this skill doesn't need to be boosted.
  
• Gardener: this skill doesn't need to be boosted.
  
• Former Scout: these skills don't need to be boosted.
  
• Angler: this skill doesn't need to be boosted.
  
• First Aider: this skill doesn't need to be boosted.

Negative Traits

The Best:

• Conspicuous: barely does anything, you will get spotted anyway; in fact it's almost useful.
  
• High Thirst: you won't notice the difference really, it's not that hard to find water.
  
• Pacifist: won't make a huge difference to your character, most of the time.
  
• Prone to Illness: oh no, you might catch a cold... free points, basically.
  
• Short Sighted: this heavily affects Foraging, but it's still mostly free points. Also, glasses.
  
• Slow Healer: it's not really important to heal quickly in this game.
  
• Slow Reader: reading is just something you hit the fast forward button for.
  
• Thin-skinned: you can mitigate injury in other ways, and this gives lots of points.
  
• Weak Stomach: just don't eat rotten food. Free points.
  
• Unlucky: barely makes a difference to the amount of loot you get. I have tested this.
  
• Underweight: if you are diligent in eating high-calorie food, you can lose this in 2-3 days.
  
• Smoker: if you know exactly where to look for cigarettes, this is free points.

The Average:

• Asthmatic: some builds can play around these penalties, and it gives odd points.
  
• Cowardly: late-game you will not notice this much, bit annoying til then though.
  
• Hearty Appetite: a little annoying, because unlike water you can't eat automatically.
  
• Very Underweight: takes quite a while to get rid of this, but long term it's free points I guess.
  
• Feeble: horrible for your carry weight, but some players might play around this.
  
• Hemophobic: this is usually a bad idea, but on some builds it can work I guess.
  
• Out of Shape: -2 Fitness doesn't make a huge difference, but it doesn't work with Athletic...
  
• Claustrophobic: you can play around the penalties. Unfortunately, it excludes Brave now.

The Worst:

• Agoraphobic: this is pretty awful, though I suppose its effects will fade with time.
  
• All Thumbs: good lord no.
  
• Clumsy: the footsteps part is situationally not awful, but you will trip significantly more.
  
• Deaf: this is 'hardcore mode', don't take this unless you like dying or want a challenge.
  
• Disorganized: horrible for your carry weight.
  
• Hard of Hearing: you will get bitten from behind and die.
  
• Illiterate: do you like grinding for skills? If so, pick this!
  
• Obese: takes too long to lose weight.
  
• Overweight: takes too long to lose weight.
  
• Restless Sleeper: horrible because you wake up each day not fully rested.
  
• Sleepyhead: do much less with your day for only 4 points, no thanks.
  
• Slow Learner: do you like grinding for skills? If so, pick this!
  
• Sunday driver: this is the worst, makes driving horrible (in MP though, others could drive).
  
• Unfit: slight fitness penalties are situationally ok but this is too extreme.
  
• Weak: horrible for your carry weight and melee damage.

EXTRA: Occupation Evaluation

Unemployed (+8)

• Underrated occupation because it gives you lots of points which you could spend elsewhere.
  
• You have to consider that occupations cost up to sixteen points, comparatively!
  
• Score: 8/10

Fire Officer (+0)

• One of the best occupations in the game. Gives S-tier items for free, and many skills.
  
• Score: 10/10

Police Officer (-4)

• Very nice firearms bonuses, although firearms can be tricky to find early on.
  
• On the other hand, one of the few ways to get Nimble as a bonus skill.
  
• Score: 8/10

Park Ranger (-4)

• Some really great bonuses, but the supposed 75% movement is more like 30%.
  
• Score: 7/10

Construction Worker (-2)

• Excellent weapon bonus, and Carpentry is always useful.
  
• Score: 8/10

Security Guard (-2)

• Nice passive skill (theoretically) but these skill bonuses aren't that valuable.
  
• The passive requires you to set an alarm to take advantage of it... so it's actually kinda bad.
  
• Score: 5/10

Carpenter (+2)

• That's a really big Carpentry bonus but is it really necessary?
  
• Score: 7/10

Burglar (-6)

• The ability to hotwire cars for free is really, really nice for the start of your game.
  
• Expensive, and the hotwiring bonus becomes worthless once you get the required skills.
  
• Score: 8/10

Chef (-4)

• Very expensive considering Burger Flipper exists. Really no reason to get this.
  
• Score: 4/10

Repairman (-4)

• Very nice bonuses but usually it's better to just get the Handy trait.
  
• Score: 6/10

Farmer (+2)

• Farming is kind of bad as a bonus skill but I guess this occupation is cheap.
  
• Score: 6/10

Fisherman (-2)

• No, just no.
  
• Score: 4/10

Doctor (+2)

• First Aid is kind of bad as a bonus skill but at least this occupation comes cheap.
  
• Score: 6/10

Veteran (-8)

• Very expensive occupation but Desensitized is really powerful. Great for a gun build.
  
• You should consider Police Officer & Brave as an alternative though.
  
• Score: 7/10

Nurse (+2)

• Pretty weak bonuses but at least it's cheap.
  
• Score: 5/10

Lumberjack (0)

• Compared to Fire Officer this is just worse, but at least Axe Man works in combat now.
  
• The forest speed thing isn't as good as it seems, like Park Ranger it's about 30%.
  
• Score: 7/10

Fitness Instructor (-6)

• Negative 6 cost for this? Wow.
  
• Score: 4/10

Burger Flipper (+2)

• Maintenance is great and the weapon bonus is useful, plus this is quite cheap.
  
• Score: 8/10

Electrician (-4)

• Electrical will probably become more useful in the future but at the moment this is just bad.
  
• Score: 4/10

Engineer (-4)

• It's alright if you like bombs I guess. Kind of expensive though.
  
• Score: 6/10

Metalworker (-6)

• Some people really like Metalworking but this is very expensive for what you get.
  
• Score: 6/10

Mechanic (-4)

• The problem with this occupation is VHS tapes exist for Mechanics.
  
• Score: 6/10

EXTRA: Custom Sandbox Settings

Just some settings that I use for my playthroughs.

• [World] Water Shutoff: 2-6 Months (Default: 0-30 days)
  
• [World] Electricity Shutoff: 2-6 Months (Default: 0-30 days)
  
• [World] Initial Gas Station Amount: Infinite (Default: Normal)
  
• [World] Light Bulb Lifespan: 0 (Default: 1.0)
  
• [Nature] Compost Time: 1 Week (Default: 2 Weeks)
  
• [Character] Rear Vulnerability: Low (Default: High)
  
• [Character] Weapon Multi-Hit: On (Default: Off)
  
• [Loot Rarity] Literature: Normal (Default: Rare)
  
• [In-Game Map] Allow Mini-Map: On (Default: Off)
  
• [Zombie Lore] Transmission: Off (Default: Blood + Saliva)
  
• [Zombie Lore] Day/Night Activity: Day (Default: Both)
  
• [Zombie Lore] Drag Down: Off (Default: On)
  
• [Zombie Lore] Fake Dead Zombie Reanimation: Off (Default: On)
  
• [Advanced Zombie Options] Population Peak Multiplier: 1.7 (Default: 1.5)
  
• [Advanced Zombie Options] Population Peak Day: 90 (Default: 28)
  
• [Advanced Zombie Options] Respawn Hours: 8760 (Default: 72)
  
• [Advanced Zombie Options] Respawn Unseen Hours: 8760 (Default: 16)
  
• [Advanced Zombie Options] Respawn Multiplier: 0.01 (Default: 0.1)

[Yosharian]

@Drako: you're welcome brother, I will be updating it when the new PZ version drops. Really looking forward to it.

[Drako]

Man thank you for this! I'll put it on favorite to get a fast headsup when creating a new char! Amazing work and updated

[Yosharian]

@Genuine Leather: Um. Yes. That's why I rated it trash.

[Genuine Leather]

sunday driver is straight dangerous and wastes fuel

[Yosharian]

@chris: basically you need to find a house with a large living room and sleep in there. Or a warehouse works, too.

You can sleep in a lounge chair if memory serves, so finding a large house with a lounge chair in the living room will probably be your sleeping solution early game.

[É o Chris]

How to get around claustrophobic problems? Ex: sleeping, finding a good base?

[Yosharian]

@Walter White: I'm not entirely sold on Hemophobic unless it's a ranged build and even then I dunno if it's worth the penalties/hassle.

[Encentrical]

Hemophobic is good though, if your injured then your probably already panicked and as of now you cant heal others.

[Jarl Shortbeard]

@yosharian ty, looks good gonna try it out

[Yosharian]

@wolf shortbeard: I put a quick one up, that should give you an idea.