So, here is the list of all Positive Traits in Project Zomboid ranked from best to worst: Fast Learner . Just watch life and living and read books for the first week to level cooking. Its also very cheap considering the bonus. I've never found food to be a massive issue in this game, just forage for a few hours and you'll have enough food for the week. Before posting try the sledgehammer. Lastly, the bonus that thick skin provides is so negligible that its not worth the points. With Sunday Driver, your vehicle will not perform when you need it. It makes getting bitten extremely easy. For only 2 points, this trait is a steal. Farming isnt too difficult to level, either. The character will not spawn until "Points to Spend" is higher than a negative number or equal to zero. After about a week in-game you wont be struggling from this anymore. Also makes vehicles louder. Luckily this is manageable as long as you have a steady supply of cigarettes. If you're not a Burglar (or Police) it's a very good pick. Description: Panic when performing first aid on self, cannot perform first aid on others, gets stressed when bloody. Too expensive take hiker instead. This is intended to be more a general guide for new players- what to consider taking and what to absolutely avoid. But that being said, if you want a character that is going to survive for a very long time, this doesnt really matter. Interesting challenge to play with but its not worth it for regular players, even for 12 extra points. I'd put Dextrous at 3. Consensus I've gotten from others on Cat's Eyes definitely makes it at least a 3. I also guess I value stealth over survival more than you do lol, I do agree tho there are some things I didn't consider, like with organised. Probably bugged in the current patch but right now testing has found it to literally have no effect on anything. I mostly agree with your list but I also play in sandbox so some of my settings change the importance of things. Multiple presets can be made to save a combination of a profession and multiple other traits which offer utility to the players that are eager to get right into the action. I play with all loot set to extremely rare except for melee weapons set to rare and guns/ammo set to normal. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. As these two are pretty similar to each other i thought id bring them both under the same category. Note: the ratings are aimed towards new players on default settings. Due to the fact that once you are bitten you are infected anyway, I always end up grabbing thin-skinned. -1 fitness, Description: Reduced running speed, low endurance and prone to injury. I'd put Speed Demon at 2. Don't stand in the cold and rain and you will be fine. Brave will cost 4 so you will essentially get a free point and not too much risk of panic. Kind of a niche case but worth mentioning. You gain a form of 'Brave' after surviving long enough. Rather than the game auto slowing down from fast forward when you get attacked from behind, the game will auto slow down when a zombie enters that short circle behind your character that you get with keen hearing. ._1aTW4bdYQHgSZJe7BF2-XV{display:-ms-grid;display:grid;-ms-grid-columns:auto auto 42px;grid-template-columns:auto auto 42px;column-gap:12px}._3b9utyKN3e_kzVZ5ngPqAu,._21RLQh5PvUhC6vOKoFeHUP{font-size:16px;font-weight:500;line-height:20px}._21RLQh5PvUhC6vOKoFeHUP:before{content:"";margin-right:4px;color:#46d160}._22W-auD0n8kTKDVe0vWuyK,._244EzVTQLL3kMNnB03VmxK{display:inline-block;word-break:break-word}._22W-auD0n8kTKDVe0vWuyK{font-weight:500}._22W-auD0n8kTKDVe0vWuyK,._244EzVTQLL3kMNnB03VmxK{font-size:12px;line-height:16px}._244EzVTQLL3kMNnB03VmxK{font-weight:400;color:var(--newCommunityTheme-metaText)}._2xkErp6B3LSS13jtzdNJzO{-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;margin-top:13px;margin-bottom:2px}._2xkErp6B3LSS13jtzdNJzO ._22W-auD0n8kTKDVe0vWuyK{font-size:12px;font-weight:400;line-height:16px;margin-right:4px;margin-left:4px;color:var(--newCommunityTheme-actionIcon)}._2xkErp6B3LSS13jtzdNJzO .je4sRPuSI6UPjZt_xGz8y{border-radius:4px;box-sizing:border-box;height:21px;width:21px}._2xkErp6B3LSS13jtzdNJzO .je4sRPuSI6UPjZt_xGz8y:nth-child(2),._2xkErp6B3LSS13jtzdNJzO .je4sRPuSI6UPjZt_xGz8y:nth-child(3){margin-left:-9px} I'd rather level up dancing or piano (an actual mod skill). When you're trying to coral zombies, Keen Hearing let's you see how far zombies are following behind you without having to constantly spin around and risk having the slow down let them catch you. Despite Project Zomboid's slow healing ability, it is actually an enjoyable negative trait. https://discord.gg/theindiestone, Press J to jump to the feed. Costs - 2 points (reduces points) Effect - Increases reading speed by 130%. Sure, reading will be a bit slower that normal but when you can triple the speed of the game whenever you wish to skip the reading, it doesnt really matter. It's good, but even at max speed boost you can be wasting hours of your real life into this game by taking this trait instead of Fast Reader. Overpriced but underrated IMO. Underweight has a similar penalty, it makes your attacks deal less damage. Being even drowsy drastically reduces your melee damage output. Considering how valuable points are this is a massive waste. Will actually help prevent car accidents. This list will show you my personal favorites and make you think of some traits you didnt consider before. Maybe 5/5 Simply because it's the only trait that gives nimble. That being said, Ill usually take it if I can. The end result is usually pulling a few more zombies than you would without the trait, making it a decent negative trait for a combat build. This one is pretty easy to mitigate by simply eating a lot of food once you are playing the game. Free points. +1. Stops you from reading skill books, massively reducing your skill XP gains. Despite this it is still a very significant issue with stealth, yes. PERSONALLY my ideal car is a Horizon or Dart with a 100/100 performance muffler so I would not want Speed Demon to ruin the stealthmobile. Can't add to the post as i am newbut thank you:-). As its an RPG game you are developing your own story, so play as you wish. The most expensive traits in the game, but often essential to survival. Foraging will keep you well fed thru summer and trapping will keep you fed thru winter. Handy - little carpentry boost, considering additional construction health there won't be random hordes of zombies coming to your base late into the game, so no real need for more durable constructions in SP. Here is some of the best negative traits in Project Zomboid. You can just eat more or less and eventually it will be free points. Avoid. Fitness is hard to level. Basically, traits are modifiers, both positive and negative, that can be chosen during character creation in the form of occupations, aka hobbies. The +2 boosts will be insanely useful from the early to late game. Don't have to mash the accelerator all the time. Running XP boost will be very useful, as it can be slow to level up, but there are more important traits you can take first. I think speed demon also increases your gas consumption so thats yet another reason not to take it. Or just don't go outside in the wet and cold? The farming skill itself isn't THAT useful though and your points will often best be spent elsewhere. Chances are you are taking a character with an occupation and already have an idea on what which weapons you wish to skill up. Short Sighted only affects foraging radius and makes no difference to actual perception sight. Inconspicuous and Graceful: you probably didn't look into how these work. Not very useful, prevents you from taking prone to illness which is a very good negative trait to take. Sunday Driver: 2. Also prevents you from using the radio for weather/helicopter event warnings. Only downside is sometimes you have nothing to do in a day, leaving your character to get bored and depressed, but thats what sleeping pills and exercise are for. Yes. Wakeful. One decent trait for getting a couple of points back is of course slow reader. 4 points, too. Note: This is ONLY to be used to report spam, advertising, and problematic (harassment, fighting, or rude) posts. I'll start with the ones I've been able to determine: Feeble Obese Out of Shape Overweight Poor eyesight (uncertain, but open to others testing) Underweight Unfit Very Underweight Weak Community provided temporary traits: I like it, but more importantly a lot of other people consider it very useful as well. Overweight/Underweight can be remedied with the appropriate food intake, i think you can get desensitised after killing a shit-ton of zombies - not 100% sure tho. I went with light eater just because I figured it'd be fewer distractions, but as a result I've found I have to overeat anyway to maintain calories. Considering that cabbages are the main/only good crop to grow you need few squares of land to grow cabbage, and if you're farming is high it just means you need to plant slightly less crops, which already doesn't take up much space. Can be overcome when you build up your stealth skills. Consider stout and fit if you don't have the points. It doesn't just make noises louder for you, but specifically gives you eyes at the back of your head (short range). Once you get to a normal weight, its 6 free points. Remember now, try the sledgehammer then post your questions. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. I'll pose this question to you all so that a list may be compiled: what are all the negative traits that can go away with time? I play with darker nights so Cat Eyes is one that I always take. Of course, some are rendered irrelevant by the extreme end game: Slow reader is not . I don't see very many discussions on this topic, and the wikis are barren with which traits can go away aside from those as a result of the recent Fitness update. Thanks for the list and the explanations. And leveling up shooting is fairly easy with so many zombies and a few boxes of shotgun shells. Allows you to detect zombies behind you at a greater distance. Ideally paired with fire officer so you can pick underweight and still keep athletic. The only reason it isn't more highly ranked is after a few months you get less and less panic from zombies anyway. Some additional thoughts from me: Speed demon has an unlisted downside of making your engine rev WAY faster, and since engine noise is based on RPM this means that cars are WAY louder. I really dislike playing with this perk, but it isnt entirely detrimental. Maybe useful when multiplayer releases, but until then this perk is basically useless. ._1QwShihKKlyRXyQSlqYaWW{height:16px;width:16px;vertical-align:bottom}._2X6EB3ZhEeXCh1eIVA64XM{margin-left:3px}._1jNPl3YUk6zbpLWdjaJT1r{font-size:12px;font-weight:500;line-height:16px;border-radius:2px;display:inline-block;margin-right:5px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;vertical-align:text-bottom;white-space:pre;word-break:normal;padding:0 4px}._1jNPl3YUk6zbpLWdjaJT1r._39BEcWjOlYi1QGcJil6-yl{padding:0}._2hSecp_zkPm_s5ddV2htoj{font-size:12px;font-weight:500;line-height:16px;border-radius:2px;display:inline-block;margin-right:5px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;vertical-align:text-bottom;white-space:pre;word-break:normal;margin-left:0;padding:0 4px}._2hSecp_zkPm_s5ddV2htoj._39BEcWjOlYi1QGcJil6-yl{padding:0}._1wzhGvvafQFOWAyA157okr{font-size:12px;font-weight:500;line-height:16px;border-radius:2px;margin-right:5px;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis;vertical-align:text-bottom;white-space:pre;word-break:normal;box-sizing:border-box;line-height:14px;padding:0 4px}._3BPVpMSn5b1vb1yTQuqCRH,._1wzhGvvafQFOWAyA157okr{display:inline-block;height:16px}._3BPVpMSn5b1vb1yTQuqCRH{background-color:var(--newRedditTheme-body);border-radius:50%;margin-left:5px;text-align:center;width:16px}._2cvySYWkqJfynvXFOpNc5L{height:10px;width:10px}.aJrgrewN9C8x1Fusdx4hh{padding:2px 8px}._1wj6zoMi6hRP5YhJ8nXWXE{font-size:14px;padding:7px 12px}._2VqfzH0dZ9dIl3XWNxs42y{border-radius:20px}._2VqfzH0dZ9dIl3XWNxs42y:hover{opacity:.85}._2VqfzH0dZ9dIl3XWNxs42y:active{transform:scale(.95)} This also applies to backpack storage but is still a convenience perk. When you want to be a peace-loving character, it makes you less likely to kill zombies with a weapon, but it's a nice trait to debuff your character with. Most persist. inconspicuous actually sucks. While water will shut off during the first month of the game, it's easy to find . Negative traits give you points back, which you'll need if your occupation puts you in the negative. ), Its a free +2 points and doesnt affect your gameplay at all (as far as Ive seen), Edit: oops I misunderstood its actually -2 points, but for a general +35% esp gain increase to everything is a steal, this is controversial, but I always take hard of hearing perk. If you get -1 fitness from weight trait you'll need to be a Firefighter or else this trait is terrible and completely wasted. ._2ik4YxCeEmPotQkDrf9tT5{width:100%}._1DR1r7cWVoK2RVj_pKKyPF,._2ik4YxCeEmPotQkDrf9tT5{display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center}._1DR1r7cWVoK2RVj_pKKyPF{-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center;max-width:100%}._1CVe5UNoFFPNZQdcj1E7qb{-ms-flex-negative:0;flex-shrink:0;margin-right:4px}._2UOVKq8AASb4UjcU1wrCil{height:28px;width:28px;margin-top:6px}.FB0XngPKpgt3Ui354TbYQ{display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-ms-flex-align:start;align-items:flex-start;-ms-flex-direction:column;flex-direction:column;margin-left:8px;min-width:0}._3tIyrJzJQoNhuwDSYG5PGy{display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%}.TIveY2GD5UQpMI7hBO69I{font-size:12px;font-weight:500;line-height:16px;color:var(--newRedditTheme-titleText);white-space:nowrap;overflow:hidden;text-overflow:ellipsis}.e9ybGKB-qvCqbOOAHfFpF{display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;width:100%;max-width:100%;margin-top:2px}.y3jF8D--GYQUXbjpSOL5.y3jF8D--GYQUXbjpSOL5{font-weight:400;box-sizing:border-box}._28u73JpPTG4y_Vu5Qute7n{margin-left:4px} This is honestly a very great perk worth considering, especially for only 4 points. But at that point you might as well give your character 2 extra points in the settings. Join. I disagree with the Sunday Driver for one huge reason. Whenever a zombie performs an attack the player has a chance to block it. Don't eat spoiled food. Water is easy to obtain. The ones that can be remedied are, from the top of my head: Very Underweight, Underweight, Overweight, Obese - all weight ones can be managed through nutrition intake. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Smoker means that the longer your character goes without smoking the more gradually unhappy they will get. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. I'll start with the ones I've been able to determine: Feeble Obese Out of Shape Overweight Poor eyesight . Organized: 3/5 if not 4/5. Tomatoes do have a reason to be grown in that they can be used in mouse traps (IDK why), however they're still bad because the plants grow too few tomatoes and take too long to grow in comparison to cabbage. The ones that can be remedied are, from the top of my head: Very Underweight, Underweight, Overweight, Obese - all weight ones can be managed through nutrition intake, Out of shape, unfit - by training fitness. There really isnt a best build for the game. Categories Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted. Positive traits are available if you have some extra points spare to use before jumping into the game. Strength is difficult to level up, dont take this. Asthmatic: 2/5 very viable since it doesn't actually reduce Fitness, which is what decides how sleepy you get and how fast you attack. Smokes have always been pretty easy to find in Project Zomboid. If you gain enough weight, you won't be "underweight" anymore ; if you lvl up your strenght skill enough, you'll go from "weak" to "feeble", or from "feeble" to nothing (5 fitness) and so on. 1- More harm than good, either because it costs too many points, doesnt give enough for what it is, or because it may get you killed. .LalRrQILNjt65y-p-QlWH{fill:var(--newRedditTheme-actionIcon);height:18px;width:18px}.LalRrQILNjt65y-p-QlWH rect{stroke:var(--newRedditTheme-metaText)}._3J2-xIxxxP9ISzeLWCOUVc{height:18px}.FyLpt0kIWG1bTDWZ8HIL1{margin-top:4px}._2ntJEAiwKXBGvxrJiqxx_2,._1SqBC7PQ5dMOdF0MhPIkA8{vertical-align:middle}._1SqBC7PQ5dMOdF0MhPIkA8{-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;display:-ms-inline-flexbox;display:inline-flex;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-pack:center;justify-content:center} Strong, Thick Skinned, Outdoorsman Keen Hearing traits fall under positive traits. Conspicuous: 3/5. Only worth taking if you have slow modded vehicles. And do they have any negatives that stick forever? You can test this all out using the debug mode of PZ. Unhappiness rises when tobacco is not smoked. Someone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. Brave Keen Hearing: 3/5 simply because it's very useful and pretty much guarantees you'll never be caught offguard by a zombie behind you (at least as long as you're not fast-forward, but even then I think it auto-slows-down). Even with prone to illness and prolonged periods of being soaking wet I've never caught a cold. This trait would be a hard sell even as a negative. The name of the game is avoid being attacked at all costs since any damage from a zombie can be a death sentence. Stress from being bloody is annoying and can be an issue unless you have a lot of water collectors or are set up by a river. The xp boosts that gymnast provide are pretty useful to keeping you alive in combat so I always take it. Want an overweight lumberjack? Cannot take Wakeful, and also has the opposite effect of Wakeful. Check near gas stations and inside residential homes and youre bound to come across some cigarettes to sate those smoker cravings. No one can fight . I dont like smoker cause I hate micromanaging smokes, but if you dont mind it its pretty good too. .s5ap8yh1b4ZfwxvHizW3f{color:var(--newCommunityTheme-metaText);padding-top:5px}.s5ap8yh1b4ZfwxvHizW3f._19JhaP1slDQqu2XgT3vVS0{color:#ea0027} Points added: +2 The critical chance of attacks is capped between 10% and 90%. I never play without it. Its that easy. lose = to misplace or get rid of something ("How did you lose the keys?"). Then again it isnt the worst thing in the world to only be restricted to large houses at the start of the game. This will make your start more difficult, but you can easily overcome this by eating more/less accordingly. It's great, I don't know why you think it's bad. Play deaf, it's 12 free points. Thanks for posting your list! Prone to illness makes you more likely to get a cold but outdoorsman makes you less likely to get and cold and you're something like 90% less likely to get scratched on a tree which also covers thin skinned. You should just rest when you get hurt and avoid combat for a few days so that your wounds can heal. Both fitness and strength are very hard to level up. (It has positive and negative traits in mind) Until next time, stay frosty survivors! Underweight knocks you down to 8 and is pita to grind. Athletic is non negotiable. It's a metagame thing; really 5/5 because the point of a game is to be enjoyable, not literally waste your time doing literally nothing. I'll pose this question to you all so that a list may be compiled: what are all the negative traits that can go away with time? Most persist. This means that the player can start the game with only negative traits if they choose to do so, but if the player wants positive traits they will have to make some compromises. When an attack goes through it checks the player's resistances, which is a separate calculation using the player's injury chance. Worth considering if you know what youre doing. Every traits related to weight and fitness/strenght can evolve/go away. Under the hood . The first one is called Positive Traits and these perks make your character stronger. Traits Traits are attributes or behaviors that effect how your character interacts with the world. There's also an unlisted benefit that's hard to quantify but lets you literally hear zombies from behind you as if they were in front of you. All trademarks are property of their respective owners in the US and other countries. Horrible. Possibly the most harmful traits you can take. Unfortunately most of the traits are broken, some not really working at all or doing things completely different than they say in the descriptions. This will get you killed. For example, inconspicuous is actually not that great and it's opposite conspicuous can be worth taking as they both only change the chance a zombie will see you on a tile per tick. I don't see very many discussions on this topic, and the wikis are barren with which traits can go away aside from those as a result of the recent Fitness update. You'll never get cold in this game (on default climate settings) with all the access to clothing layers, and how unpowered buildings magically heat for huge amounts. Starting the list off with one of my favorite negative perks it is time to talk about high thirst. Everything in this skill is either learned quickly through the foraging skill, or through a fairly easy to find magazine. Though its hard to justify taking for 8 points. Nimble increases your move speed in combat stance but is almost impossible to level without some kind of boost. First aid is useless. Nimble along with weapon proficiency and fitness is the key to taking on sizable groups effectively. This will get you killed. Not bad per se, just not worth the points. To achieve this, you will need to balance out positive traits with negative ones. For only 2 points this perk is a must-have. It depends on whether youre doing MP or SP In general, Slow Healer, Prone to Illness, High Thirst and Weak Stomach are probably the free-est traits. I also play with insane population so you would think inconspicuous would be useful but its actually more helpful to let zombies be able to notice you from a greater distance. You are correct. Tailoring is a massively overlooked skill and starting XP boosts to tailoring are few and far between. They need to give it more features and make it much stronger. Stay aware of your surroundings and it wont be a problem. Even for multiplayer. In order to start playing, your points must have a total of 0. Gymnast - lightfooted helps with stealth which is meh, so it's 5 points for nimble, but it's totally worth. I don't see very many discussions on this topic, and the wikis are barren with which traits can go away aside from those as a result of the recent Fitness update. This perk isnt working at all as of the time im writing this, so its free points. This will keep your high tier weapons usable for longer. I'm ranking all negative traits from More Traits mod in Project Zomboid!Check my top 10 best traits video: https://youtu.be/XedZcMPudMo-------Join me:DISCORD. It's only useful to save time and hence make the game slightly less boring. Maintenance is great though. 2 points for 1 str, 1 axe and 1 sprinting for a minor weight debuff is nuts. 22. r/projectzomboid. One of them is asthmatic, which I don't think should be too much of an issue if I'm going for a stealth build. These skills suck as short blunt and spear will take longer to gain levels in. Whether you get lucky with a tub of ice cream in the freezer or come across a couple of sticks of butter putting on long-term weight is not so hard in Project Zomboid. Provides a 30% XP boost on top of existing boosts to ALL skills. Both farming and foraging are essential to long term play throughs but both those skills can easily be leveled up before you actually need them later on. You can gain a couple levels in them by just watching TV in the first 9 days. Since if you know what you're doing the only potential downside is noise, and many people don't care about noise in the first place (they drive quite noisy and/or poorly tuned vehicles). This can be an issue though if do get surprised by an enemy (which can happen often in Project Zomboid), but as long as you are a stealthy player you should be fine with Thin-Skinned! Agoraphobic is probably the worst of the two, but it is great when paired with adrenaline junkie. If your character is lucky enough to live for a couple of months, claustrophobic will be completely gone. More annoying than anything, gives you less time in the day. High Thirst is easily fixed with a bottle of water. Take weak stomach instead. Solid option for people wanting to live off the grid. ._1LHxa-yaHJwrPK8kuyv_Y4{width:100%}._1LHxa-yaHJwrPK8kuyv_Y4:hover ._31L3r0EWsU0weoMZvEJcUA{display:none}._1LHxa-yaHJwrPK8kuyv_Y4 ._31L3r0EWsU0weoMZvEJcUA,._1LHxa-yaHJwrPK8kuyv_Y4:hover ._11Zy7Yp4S1ZArNqhUQ0jZW{display:block}._1LHxa-yaHJwrPK8kuyv_Y4 ._11Zy7Yp4S1ZArNqhUQ0jZW{display:none} Pair with cowardly (or agoraphobic) and you have a very speedy character. The extra speed will often cause you to crash and badly injure yourself, even with cruise control. Good with adrenaline junkie, but panic can really screw you over in combat. Slow Healer (doesn't really matter; also don't get hurt), High Thirst (water is trivial unless you have month-long drought), Underweight (just gorge yourself on perishable food before the power goes out), Smoker (this is a positive trait disguised as a negative one), Prone to Illness (free points; just don't sit out in the rain naked for hours), Hearty Appetite (food isn't much of a problem and you need to eat enough calories to maintain a healthy weight anyway), Conspicuous (it makes you more likely to be spotted, but zombies are doing lots of spot checks anyway so it doesn't matter much), Weak Stomach (you shouldn't be eating bad food regardless, so this is free points), Short Sighted (it's broken and only decreases your foraging radius), Cowardly (unless you're going up against giant hordes panic isn't really an issue, and Beta Blockers are plentiful), Slow Reader (it's annoying but not bad, you just spend more time fast-forwarding in your base).