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The talent part comes down to how players allocate the points they get into the various perks. Choosing the wrong perk can make this game a lot more difficult than it needs to be, and consequently a lot less enjoyable. Picking the right perks will not only make playing 7 Days To Die a lot less stressful, but much more rewarding.
Updated June 22, 2022, by Jeff Drake: Surviving a zombie apocalypse is (probably) not easy. Supplies are hard to come by and every day brings the promise of running from a horde of the walking dead and possibly being eaten alive. Knowing how to cook more nourishing meals is just as important as having a sturdy melee weapon at the ready. This list is all about helping players to stay alive in a challenging game by highlighting the best perks in 7 Days to Die.
15 Archery
Attribute: Agility Group: Combat Max Level: 5
There are three things a character needs for a successful sneak build. The first is a high Agility, which increases damage from headshots and leads to a higher chance of dismembering the target. The second part is having a character that is good at sneaking around unnoticed.
The third key element for a sneak build is having a quiet distance weapon. Now a player can sneak up close to an unsuspecting zombie, hit them in the head with an arrow for massive damage, and not alert any nearby zombies in the process. Archery is one of the best skills in 7 Days to Die.
14 Flurry Of Blows
Attribute: Agility Group: Athletic Max Level: 3
This is one of the best perks to take early. For starters, Flurry of Blows’ max level is only three, so it can be maxed out quickly (with a Dexterity of 7). Stamina plays an important role in 7 Days to Die, and at level three, this perk restores 30 Stamina per kill. Players can exploit this by using the power attack-retreat tactic.
Flurry of Blows also increases the player’s attack speed with some weapons. This list of weapons is limited to smaller melee weapons but includes the baseball bat and machete. At level five a character swings affected weapons 25% faster.
13 Heavy Armor
Attribute: Strength Group: General Strength Max Level: 5
This Strength perk reduces the penalties associated with wearing heavy armor. In addition, Heavy Armor allows the player to craft heavy armor of their own. At a higher perk level, the heavy armor gained from crafting turns the player into a highly mobile tank.
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Many players favor light armor due to the way that it makes sneaking easier. However, when the From the Shadows perk is fully leveled even heavy armor is quiet - quiet enough to get within bow range, anyway. Heavy armor turns an encounter involving less than three zombies into more of a chore than a fight.
12 Hidden Strike
Attribute: Agility Group: Stealth Max Level: 5
Hidden Strike increases the damage of Sneak attacks. This isn’t a small bonus either. At level one, the bonus is +50% and at level five it’s +250%. Using this perk, the player can quickly and quietly bring down enemies - then move on to the next enemy and repeat.
The problem with this perk is that the player must invest in another perk, From the Shadows, to ensure its success. That being said, sneaking around and engaging the enemy on one’s own terms is the absolute safest strategy to survive a scavenging run in the wasteland.
11 Master Chef
Attribute: Strength Group: General Strength Max Level: 5
An important part of staying alive in this game is keeping the Fullness meter from dropping below 50%, at which point the character begins suffering penalties to movement and attack speeds. Cooking better meals is the key to keeping stamina high. Maintaining high stamina allows the player to spam power attacks, as well as run further and faster when it’s time to retreat.
Master Chef gives the player access to new recipes at every level. At level one, the Master Chef perk makes the Bacon and Eggs recipe available to the player. This is one of the best early-game food options. Master Chef also reduces cooking times and the number of ingredients used for a recipe. The cooking time reduction improves with each new perk level as well, to a maximum of -50% at level five. This is quietly one of the best perks in 7 Days to Die.
10 Machine Gunner
Attribute: Fortitude Group: Combat Max Level: 5
Starting players won’t have too much need for this perk; however, investing a few points into this perk once a player starts getting better guns will make a noticeable difference. The M60 is one of the best weapons in the game - the Tactical Assault Rifle and AK-47 aren’t bad either.
These weapons have their damage significantly boosted via this perk. At the higher levels, this perk also restores stamina for each hit with a machinegun. Encounters go from, “Oh no! Zombies!”, to, “Oh…zombies”.
9 From The Shadows
Attribute: Agility Group: Stealth Max Level: 5
This is an important perk early on, but as a player gets higher in level the need to be sneaky becomes less important - but is no less effective. This perk grants a list of benefits that will help a player stay unnoticed and alive. There are also some great perks, like Hidden Strike, that work much better if the player invests a few points into this perk.
From the Shadows makes hiding in shadows much more successful, increases the player’s crouching speed, muffles the sounds a character makes and reduces the time enemies will search for the player.
8 Pain Tolerance
Attribute: Fortitude Group: Survival Max Level: 5
There are many factors to staying alive in 7 Day To Die; among the most important being increasing the damage you inflict on the enemy, and reducing the damage you take from enemies. This perk won’t help a player inflict more damage; it will make the player’s character resistant to damage.
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Each point invested in this perk increases the amount of damage resistance. It starts at 5% damage reduction at level one, and each increase in level increases this percentage by 5%. This perk also makes a character less likely to be stunned.
7 Miner 69er
Attribute: Strength Group: Construction Max Level: 5
Crafting is a major component of 7 Days To Die. Sure, there are ways to be successful in the game without having to craft everything you use, but being able to craft items yourself is more reliable than hoping a trader has what’s needed. Miner 69er lets players collect raw materials more efficiently by increasing block damage (by quite a bit).
This perk has other beneficial aspects that are less documented. Sometimes a player can get trapped in a building. With this perk, they can quickly make their own exit through any wall. The damage dealt when using tools against entities is also increased.
6 Sexual Tyrannosaurus
Attribute: Strength Group: General Strength Max Level: 5
As in most zombie-survival games, in 7 Days To Die guns are safer, but melee weapons are more reliable. For starters, a baseball bat can’t run out of ammunition - it also doesn’t make loud noises that will attract more zombies. This perk makes using melee weapons even more practical; not by increasing damage, but by reducing the amount of stamina that swinging melee weapons and tools cost.
Starting at rank two, this perk also begins granting stamina for each zombie killed with a melee weapon. At rank five a player can almost exclusively use power attacks indefinitely thanks to this bonus stamina. This perk and Miner 69er work well together.
5 Grease Monkey
Attribute: Intellect Group: Craftsmanship Max Level: 5
This perk opens up a lot of crafting possibilities that improve the game in so many ways. The Grease Monkey perk allows the player to construct vehicle accessories and vehicles - along with some other useful items. At the second level, this perk allows players to build the minibike.
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The minibike saves the player from having to walk everywhere, and it comes with 27 extra storage spaces. The extra storage is great for allowing players to extend harvesting runs. Grease Monkey also lets the player craft more efficient gas cans and car batteries.
4 Healing Factor
Attribute: Fortitude Group: Recovery Max Level: 5
There are a couple of ways players can heal their characters in 7 Days To Die. There’s food and medical supplies. The problem is that these standard forms of healing are all active methods - not passive. Basically, this means a character’s health doesn’t replenish by itself.
If a player wishes their character to heal naturally over time they need to take the Healing Factor perk. This perk restores hit points and helps critical injuries heal faster. At rank one a player regenerates 1 hitpoint every 90 seconds; at rank five they get 1 hitpoint every 6 seconds.
3 Better Barter
Attribute: Intellect Group: Influence Max Level: 5
A player can make their character a crafting machine - that’s one way to go. Another avenue to take, that’s just as reliable, is to put points into Better Barter and just buy what’s needed from traders. This perk increases the price of sold goods and decreases the price of items a player buys.
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The better prices are nice, but the real reason to get this perk is that it makes traders’ secret stashes more likely to have better items. Forget collecting materials to build a rocket launcher. Just take this perk and buy one from a trader - at a decent price too.
2 The Daring Adventurer
Attribute: Intellect Group: Influence Max Level: 4
This is a perk players should absolutely take. Harvesting resources is fine, but the real payouts come from quest rewards. Upon completing a quest players are able to choose from two rewards. The choice is usually between a sizeable stack of dukes (the in-game currency), or bonus experience points.
The Daring Adventurer perk adds additional choices for the player to choose from, and at rank four allows the player to choose two rewards. This perk also increases the amount of dukes they receive from quest rewards.
1 Lucky Looter
Attribute: Perception Group: Scavenging Max Level: 5
Getting better loot in 7 Days To Die is factored by the player’s level, and how long they go without dying. Increasing these two factors will advance the player up a game stage (or loot stage)- of which there are three. The higher the game stage a player is in, the better the loot they can find while harvesting.
The in-game description of this perk is a little vague. It states that it grants an X% bonus to loot found. Higher ranks give a higher percentage. This doesn’t mean you find more items. This percentage goes toward a player’s game stage. In other words, this perk lets players find better loot from weaker enemies.
7 Days to Die is available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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