Before you can decide on your go-to headquarters and begin stocking up on a worrying amount of Molotov cocktails, you’ll first need to create your Project Zomboid character. During that process, you may get stuck on the ‘Trait’ screen, which is fairly intimidating at a glance.
Notably, character Traits set up a baseline of progression and behavior for your custom Zomboid survivalist. Depending on the Sandbox settings of your game world, you’re going to have a fairly limited number of Trait points to choose from early on, which means you need to make the most of them.
There’s a huge array of unique Traits in Project Zomboid, however, and some of the ones that aren’t obviously useful early on may play a huge role in the later stages of a playthrough. That’s why you’re going to want to check out my list of the 15 very best Project Zomboid character Traits, as featured below!
The 15 best Project Zomboid Traits
The trick to Project Zomboid‘s character Traits is that you’ll have to balance out the positive ones with the negative ones. Negative Traits apply specific downsides to your character build you’ll have to learn how to live with (literally), but for your troubles, you get a potentially massive boost in Trait points you could use on positive boons at the same time.
In practical terms, this means there are actually two types of “best” Traits in Project Zomboid. Further, any serious list of “best” Zomboid Traits simply needs to feature both positive and negative examples of the system for it to make sense. Down below, then, you’ll find precisely just that, with appropriate explanations on what makes these Traits as potent as they are — albeit often in a very roundabout way.
Oh, and no matter what, do not take the Weak Trait. It hobbles your character significantly.
#15: Slow Healer (+6 Trait points)
Recovers slowly from injuries and illnesses.
Slow Healer is, in fact, a remarkably useful Trait with the massive caveat that you want to avoid it until you’ve already got plenty of experience handling combat in Project Zomboid. Ideally, you shouldn’t be getting so much as grazed by anything, though that’s obviously not always possible in this game (e.g., breaking class, walking through thick brush, and so on results in cuts/bleeds).
Slow Healer definitely makes accidental nicks and whatnot more of a pain to deal with, but if you’re absolutely sure you won’t get scratched and/or bitten in combat, then it’s a free boost in Trait points. With that in mind, move this a few places upwards if you already know what you’re doing or, alternatively, if you just don’t worry all that much about risking it all.
#14: Stout (-6 Trait points)
+2 Strength. Extra knockback from melee weapons and increased carry weight.
Stout is the weaker of the two strength Traits in Project Zomboid, (the other being “Strong”), but it’s also comparatively fairly cheap while also being a reasonably substantial upgrade. Stout ups your carry weight and makes all of your melee weapons much more potent in combat.
The reason I love Stout so much is that it’s one of those Traits that are endlessly useful no matter what build you might be going for. Just carrying more stuff around is going to make your Zomboid character far more adaptive and capable. Further, improved melee efficacy only makes sense in a game where stealthy close-quarters takedowns of stragglers are absolutely the way to go. In other words, you can’t go wrong with Stout.
#13: Underweight (+6 Trait points)
-1 Fitness. Starting weight is 70. Lower strength, endurance, and more prone to injuries.
Underweight may well seem like a pain at a glance, but here’s the kicker: you can just munch away on stuff in-game until your character is no longer underweight, and then the Trait is effectively nullified. Yes, it does seem like it really is that simple.
What this means is that simply by starting your Project Zomboid playthrough at a less-than-ideal weight rating, you can score six extra Trait points to spend on other, genuinely important positive Traits. Is dealing with Underweight going to be a bit of a pain early on? Certainly, but there’s still a huge amount of fresh food available early in a playthrough, so this is hardly a problem in the grand scheme of things.
#12: High Thirst (+6 Trait points)
200% thirst.
High Thirst, too, is effectively a free bonus bundle of Trait points to spend on whatever. It sounds like a pretty big problem, given the fact that Project Zomboid is a pretty dangerous post-apocalypse, but as long as you’ve got two water bottles in your backpack instead of one, there’s no downside to High Thirst.
As is the case with fresh food, it’s very easy to find drinkable water in the early stages of Project Zomboid‘s zombie bonanza. Sure, the water infrastructure does stop working if you survive long enough, but you’re going to need a base and a way to collect rainwater anyway. At that point, filling up your two water bottles isn’t going to be a problem either, and since your character drinks from them automatically, odds are you won’t even feel High Thirst kicking in.
#11: Obese (+10 Trait points)
-2 Fitness. Reduced running speed, low endurance, and more prone to injuries.
Obese is, generally, the most problematic of the useful negative Traits in Project Zomboid, but taking it on also gives you a whopping ten Trait points to spend on other Traits. So, it’s definitely worth considering, at the very least.
Obese is the effective opposite of Underweight, of course, but it comes with a more serious set of downsides to consider. For one, it reduces your Fitness by 2, and you get a whole slew of extra negatives to consider as well.
The thing about Obese, however, is that taking it on also makes it so you don’t have to worry much about food early on. Sure, you’ll be slower and clumsier, but the fact you don’t have to collect and prepare food often may well set you up for success later on. Definitely worth thinking about.
#10: Claustrophobic (+4 Trait points)
Gets panicked when indoors.
Claustrophobic sounds like a whole bundle of problems and makes it so that your character literally cannot fall asleep in an enclosed space, which immediately disqualifies this Trait from single-player playthroughs, in my opinion.
However, did you know that you don’t need to sleep in Project Zomboid multiplayer? It’s obvious, then: Claustrophobic is basically a bundle of free Trait points for multiplayer characters! All you need to do is to spend the majority of your playtime outside or close to outside, and the Trait is effectively nullified.
#9: Smoker (+4 Trait points)
Stress level rises constantly; smoking cigarettes reduces stress level.
Smoker is similar to Claustrophobic and High Thirst in that it’s really not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. For four bonus Trait points, you just need to always have a pack of cigarettes at hand and smoke one every so often. Just like in the real world!
As long as you don’t constantly jump in and out of encounters and dangerous situations, which would obviously cause a spike in your character’s stress levels, you’ll find the Smoker trait to be highly manageable. Conversely, your character will thank you for those extra Trait points.
#8: Outdoorsman (-2 Trait points)
Not affected by harsh weather. 10% of catching a cold, improved Search Mode, massively reduced chances of getting damaged while moving through the underbrush, improved fire-starting.
Outdoorsman is one of those Traits that are genuinely beyond useful for their point cost. Sure, you can find shelter when there’s bad weather, and sure, you can avoid running through the dense undergrowth in most cases. Isn’t two Trait points a small price to pay to make your character much more resistant to bad conditions, though?
Add improved foraging to the mix, and you’ve got just the thing you need for long-term Project Zomboid gameplay. Expect Outdoorsman to be even more useful after Build 42 hits due to the hugely improved intercity wilderness systems.
#7: Organized (-6 Trait points)
130% capacity for all containers.
More inventory capacity is always needed in Project Zomboid, and the Organized Trait adds an extra 30% to each and every one of the storage options you may come across. Including car seats!
There’s really not much to be said about this one other than to get it if at all possible. There’s so much important loot to be found in Project Zomboid that you’re always going to be strapped for inventory capacity. Sizing up your backpack(s) by a full third is nothing to scoff at!
#6: Slow Reader (+2 Trait points)
70% reading speed.
As you probably already know, reading books is pretty darn important if you want to add new skills and abilities to your Project Zomboid character. With that in mind, you’d think that making their reading speed slower would be a huge pain. Well, it isn’t, and taking up Slow Reader still gives you an extra pair of Trait points to spend elsewhere.
Quite simply, Project Zomboid lets you speed up the passage of time whenever needed, and you won’t ever try to read a book in a zombie-infested area. So, take your books somewhere safe and with loads of food and water, cozy up, and crank that time passage speed as far as it goes. You won’t even feel you’ve got Slow Reader turned on.
#5: Lucky (-4 Trait points)
+10% of finding loot. -5% chance of failing item repairs. Improved Search Mode.
Want to create a pack rat character who’s got more loot than sense at any given point in time? Lucky is an excellent Trait to pick, in that case. With this Trait, you’ve got better odds of finding food in freezers, building and car keys, map items, and weapons.
Further, there are also better odds of you finding upgrades on weapons, their magazines to have more ammo loaded, more ammo in general, and drainable items, in general, will be fuller than they otherwise would’ve been.
On top of all of this, Lucky also makes it harder to fumble repairs, and your foraging will be substantially more productive over a long period of time. Arguably a must-have, this one.
#4: Gymnast (-5 Trait points)
+1 Lightfooted, +1 Nimble.
Gymnast is an extremely important Trait for characters that want to be able to avoid kite zombies from day one of their survival experience. There are two big reasons why it’s as good as it is:
Firstly, it improves your Lightfooted and Nimble skills, both of which are a huge pain to level up early on, and massively improve your character’s mobility in and out of combat. Secondly, it adds a massive XP retention bonus on both of these skills, making them an order of magnitude easier to level early on. Is it worth the 5 Trait point up-sell? That’ll depend on your character build, but my experience says yes.
#3: Weak Stomach (+3 Trait points)
200% of food illness; food illness lasts longer.
Having a weak stomach in a zombie apocalypse sounds like one of the worst things that could happen to you. In Project Zomboid, though? It’s no big deal at all! As long as you can avoid food poisoning in general (i.e., don’t eat expired produce and/or raw meat), you’re not going to come across the Weak Stomach Trait effects at all.
Sure, you do need to think a tiny bit harder about what your character is eating if you take Weak Stomach, but those three extra Trait points may allow you to take on hugely important Traits such as Organized or Athletic. So, sure, it is a give and a take with this one, but I’d say the ‘take’ is hardly even worth worrying about.
#2: Athletic (-10 Trait points)
+4 Fitness, +20% running and sprint speed, -20% endurance loss.
Athletic is a must for every single one of my Project Zomboid characters. This Trait is expensive, for sure, but its importance and utility simply cannot be overstated.
With this Trait, you get increased melee attack speed, spend less stamina in general, regain it at a phenomenal pace, and move substantially faster to boot! Athletic is such a useful Trait that you’ll be hard-pressed to set up a character that doesn’t have it after you’ve given it a shot.
Combining Athletic with Underweight, specifically, seems to work out very well, as you’re more than compensating for the low strength with Athletic’s attack speed buff. On top of that, building Strength isn’t as hard as it seems, so you’ll be able to buff up as time goes on.
#1: Fast Learner (-6 Trait points)
130% XP gains; does not apply to Strength and Fitness.
Finally, there’s no Trait more important in Project Zomboid than the Fast Learner. Your starting character in Project Zomboid is going to change and evolve as they learn more and more things in their survival scenario, and speeding this process up makes them far more potent on a long enough timeline.
While some skills do rank up at a reasonable pace in this game, many of them simply do not. Aiming, Nimble, Reloading, Tailoring, and Mechanics all benefit hugely from Fast Learner, and it’s the best way to get a universally competent character going in a relatively short period of time.
Published: Nov 24, 2024 09:11 am