There are tons of skills in Project Zomboid that improve your characters fighting abilities and all-around survival. There are plenty of skills available, from carpentry and mechanics to aiming and strength.

It’s crucial to pick out the best traits and occupations in order to help level certain skills, so your character can survive longer and fight zombies better. Picking the right skills to focus on makes it easier to play Project Zomboid longer, since you won’t have to worry about leveling skills in the late-game phase.

1. Aiming

The aiming skill makes your character better at using guns. So if your character has a higher level in aiming they’ll be more likely to shoot zombies better.

As you play Project Zomboid and enter the mid to late game, it’s almost impossible not to use guns. So starting with some traits that add to the aiming skill is a good idea, since the skill otherwise takes some time to build up. Especially considering that gunshots are loud, and will draw in more zombies, so working on leveling up is risky.

I recommend starting with an occupation that will increase a character’s aiming skill right from the start of your playthrough. A great occupation would be a police officer, since it gives +3 aiming and +2 reloading, which will make using guns easier earlier in the game.

Why Aiming Is Important

• Improves likelihood of hitting a target
• Chances to crit
• Increases distance of shooting
• Reduces how much moving affects shooting
• You get different bonuses for different weapons
• Reduces the chance that a weapon’s condition will deteriorate

2. Carpentry

Leveling up in carpentry allows players to build new, more durable objects and buildings.

Carpentry is super important when it comes to long term survival and base building. Higher levels in carpentry means players create stronger barricades and the ability to build stronger buildings in general. Players will be able to build things like water collecting barrels and bins, which will be super useful when the electricity turns off in your playthrough.

The best way to level carpentry fast is by going to different buildings and taking apart furniture, especially large beds. This means you’ll need to find some tools. The most common tools you’ll need for carpentry are a saw, hammer, and screwdriver.

Why Carpentry Is Important

• Building stronger barricades on your base
• Creating better, stronger, buildings
• Crafting objects like water collectors
• Building stairs
• Creating more storage around your base
• Moving furniture from other buildings to your own base

3. Strength

One of the most important skills when it comes to melee fighting and the overall health of your character is strength. Strength gives a damage increase per level, gives characters a percentage chance to dodge attacks, and increases carrying capacity.

Strength is another skill that players should add levels to while in character creation. Two traits that will increase your starting strength are stout and strong. Stout gives +2 strength, and strong gives a whopping +4 strength. If you want just a little bit more strength right off the bat there’s also the fireman occupation, which will add +1 strength, +1 fitness, +1 sprinting, and +1 axe.

Like all skills, strength takes time to level. But it’s a skill that can be leveled passively as you play the game. Of course you could also have your character exercise, which will level it faster. Just be careful! Since your character will get tired working out too much.

Why Strength Is Important

• Increased chances of blocking attacks
• Heightened carrying capacity
• Deal more melee damage
• More likely to successfully climb tall fences
• More knockback when you push zombies with higher levels

4. Mechanics

If you want to be able to repair and take apart cars, you’ll need to level the mechanic skill. This skill is needed to successfully fix your cars, which is a great skill to have if you have a tendency to run over stray zombies.

One of the most annoying skills to level has to be mechanics. Aside from taking apart and repairing cars on repeat, you can also watch mechanics VHS tapes and tv shows or start with a few levels. For occupation, you can choose mechanics, which will give your character an automatic +3 mechanics and +1 short blunt weapons. For traits you can also pick the amateur mechanic, which gives another +1 mechanic.

I suggest starting to level mechanics as early in your playthrough as possible, since it can be very time consuming. So try to grab any mechanics books, magazines, or tapes that you can find to help make the whole process go by faster.

Why Mechanics Is Important

• Taking apart cars
• Repairing cars
• Hotwiring cars

5. Maintenance

The  maintenance skill decreases the chances of melee weapons breaking, or decreasing in condition.

An important part of Project Zomboid is the condition system of weapons. It’s important to keep an eye on your weapons health, since if it breaks you’ll either need to quickly repair it or switch to a different weapon.

Maintenance is another skill that can be leveled up passively while using melee weapons in Project Zomboid. But there are a couple ways you can start with some levels. The handy trait adds +1 maintenance and +1 carpentry, and the repairman occupation adds +2 maintenance, +1 carpentry, and +1 short blunt.

Why Maintenance Is Important

• Decreases the chances of breaking your weapon
• Makes your weapon less likely to decrease in condition
• Allows players to repair weapons better

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