Quick Answer
Character creation is a point budget. The reference set counts 25 occupations: Custom Occupation gives +8 points and Veteran costs -8. On the trait side, Athletic runs -10 and High Thirst refunds +2. Anchor rules: pick the occupation first — it sets your starting skills — take negative traits only when the drawback is survivable every day, and watch anything that moves your starting weight outside 75.1-84.9, because outside that band fitness XP stops past level 6. The captured values are from Build 42.20.4: verify each cost on the live character screen before committing.
Table of Contents
Trait budget checks
Treat the 25-occupation and trait tables as a point budget, not a tier list. Every row below is arithmetic you can run on the character screen before you save. The captured values are from Build 42.20.4 — check them against the current 42.21 screen.
| Budget question | Do exactly this | The numbers that decide it |
|---|---|---|
| Can I afford the opening I want? | Start from Custom Occupation's +8 pool and subtract each trait cost as you pick it — stop before the pool hits zero | Veteran alone costs -8, the entire Custom pool, before you've bought a single trait |
| Which refunds pay for the build? | Stack drawbacks that hurt different hours of your day: Slow Reader +2, High Thirst +2, Short Sighted +2, Slow Healer +3, Sunday Driver +1 — and skip Hearty Appetite on a High Thirst build, the pair doubles your daily supply runs | Those five refund exactly 10 — the cost of Athletic — and none of them is on Athletic's own block list (Smoker is) |
| What can't I combine? | Check the pairs before you save: Thick-skinned blocks Thin-skinned, Smoker blocks Athletic, Cowardly is blocked by Veteran's Desensitized | The screen rejects the combo at save time — every exclusion is in the captured records |
| Is the big purchase worth it? | Pay Athletic or Strong (-10 each) only for a build that uses fitness or carry weight every single day | 10 points is five cheap refund traits — if the build isn't about fitness or carry weight, that trade is backwards |
| Do these numbers still hold? | Compare the tables against the current 42.21 character screen before committing the build | One changed cost breaks the whole sheet — the captured records are 42.20.4 values |
The recorded point values
Four anchor entries from the captured occupation and trait records — enough to sanity-check the whole budget against your own screen. A positive number adds points to spend; a negative number spends them.
| Choice | Recorded points | What it does to the budget |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Occupation | +8 | The largest recorded point pool — but you buy no starting skills with it, so every skill comes out of your trait points and your first week of grinding |
| Veteran | -8 | The most expensive recorded occupation: eight points out of the pool before you've picked a single trait. Pay it only if the combat plan actually needs what it grants |
| Athletic | -10 | The single most expensive recorded trait. Fitness sits in the earliest skill band — you can level it free by walking, sprinting, and climbing fences, which is why paying 10 points for it deserves a hard look |
| High Thirst | +2 | Two points back for a daily water dependency. That cost is small while taps work and grows after the water shutoff (any day inside 0-2 months, unannounced) — price it against how much water you plan to carry |
Trait picks you can verify in week one
A trait's real cost shows up in the mechanics you can watch move. Three systems decide most trait regrets — check your picks against them before a long save.
Weight is the biggest hidden interaction. The default character starts at 80, and the normal band runs 75.1-84.9. Any trait or occupation effect that shifts your starting weight out of that band changes your fitness progression immediately: outside the normal band, fitness XP stops past level 6, and the extreme bands stop it entirely. Weight itself then moves on a calorie pool (caps at 3,700, bottoms at -2,200) — so a weight-affecting pick is not a one-time decision, it's a standing diet commitment. If the trait list moves your weight, plan the food to match or don't take it.
Panic punishes combat builds that skip awareness. Each visible zombie adds about 3% panic, and panic climbs while zombies stay in view — cutting melee crit chance by 1.3 to 5.2 points and melee damage on every swing. Panic fades as your character survives (it decays faster with survival days), so a trait that magnifies panic is most expensive exactly when you're weakest: week one.
The exclusion list is part of the budget. The captured records document trait exclusions separately — combos the character screen will reject — and there is no confirmed in-run respec system: what you pick at creation is what the run lives with. That's why every build worth keeping gets one throwaway save first: run the first two days, and any drawback that dominated your play gets cut before the real save starts.
Occupations database
25 occupation records captured from the PZFans Build 42.20.4 reference. Costs are shown as the source reports them; confirm the current Build 42.21 character screen before publishing a final build.
| Occupation | Cost | Granted trait | Starting skill boosts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Veteran | -8 | Desensitized | Aiming 2, Reloading 2 |
| Burglar | -6 | Burglar (hotwire / lock bonus) | Nimble 2, Sneak 2, Lightfooted 2 |
| Fitness Instructor | -6 | Nutritionist | Fitness 3, Sprinting 2, Strength 1 |
| Blacksmith | -6 | Blacksmith Knowledge | Blacksmith 4, Maintenance 1, Short Blunt 1 |
| Engineer | -4 | - | Electrical 1, Carpentry 1, Masonry 1 |
| Mechanic | -4 | Vehicle Knowledge | Mechanics 4, Welding 1 |
| Welder | -4 | - | Welding 4 |
| Park Ranger | -4 | Herbalist | Trapping 1, First Aid 1, Foraging 1, Flint Knapping 1, Carving 1 |
| Police Officer | -4 | - | Aiming 4, Reloading 1, Nimble 1 |
| Carpenter | -2 | - | Carpentry 4, Carving 1, Short Blunt 1, Masonry 1, Maintenance 1 |
| Chef | -2 | Keen Cook | Cooking 4, Maintenance 1, Short Blade 1, Butchering 2 |
| Construction Worker | -2 | - | Short Blunt 2, Long Blunt 1, Masonry 2, Carpentry 1, Maintenance 1 |
| Electrician | -2 | - | Electrical 5 |
| Fishing Guide | -2 | - | Fishing 3, Foraging 1, Butchering 1 |
| DIY Expert | -2 | Inventive | Carpentry 1, Maintenance 2, Short Blunt 1, Masonry 1 |
| Security Guard | -2 | Night Owl | Sprinting 2, Lightfooted 1, Short Blunt 1 |
| Doctor | 0 | - | First Aid 6, Short Blade 1 |
| Farmer | 0 | - | Farming 4, Husbandry 1, Strength 1 |
| Firefighter | 0 | - | Sprinting 1, Strength 1, Fitness 1, Axe 1 |
| Lumberjack | 0 | Ax-pert | Axe 2, Strength 1, Maintenance 1 |
| Nurse | 0 | Night Owl | First Aid 3, Lightfooted 1, Fitness 1 |
| Rancher | 0 | - | Husbandry 4, Butchering 3, Fitness 1 |
| Burger Flipper | +2 | Keen Cook | Cooking 2, Maintenance 1, Short Blade 1 |
| Tailor | +2 | - | Tailoring 4 |
| Custom Occupation | +8 | - | None (max free points for pure trait builds) |
Positive traits database
Positive trait records include the reported cost, effect, and incompatible choices.
| Trait | Cost | What you get | Cannot combine with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic | 10 | Fitness +4; faster run, longer stamina | Smoker, Fit, Unfit, Out of Shape, High/Very High Weight, Very Low Weight |
| Strong | 10 | Strength +4; damage and carry weight | Stout, Weak, Puny |
| Handy | 8 | Carving, Maintenance, Masonry, Carpentry +1 each | - |
| Thick-skinned | 8 | Lower scratch/bite chance | Thin-skinned |
| Bushcrafter | 8 | Foraging, Flint Knapping, Maintenance, Carving +1 | - |
| Hunter | 8 | Aiming, Tracking, Sneak, Short Blade, Butchering +1 | - |
| Brawler | 6 | Axe 1, Long Blunt 1 | - |
| Fast Learner | 6 | Increased XP gains | Crafty, Slow Learner |
| Fit | 6 | Fitness +2 (budget Athletic) | Athletic and unfit weight/fitness tags |
| Stout | 6 | Strength +2 (budget Strong) | Strong / Weak / Puny |
| Keen Hearing | 6 | Larger perception radius | Deaf, Hard of Hearing |
| Gymnast | 5 | Lightfooted 1, Nimble 1 (not Sneak) | - |
| Organized | 4 | More container capacity | Disorganized |
| Inconspicuous | 4 | Less likely to be spotted | Conspicuous |
| Graceful | 4 | Quieter movement | Clumsy |
| Brave | 4 | Lower panic | Cowardly, Agoraphobic, Claustrophobic, Desensitized |
| Wakeful | 3 | Needs less sleep | Sleepyhead |
| Cat's Eyes | 3 | Better night vision | - |
| Dextrous | 2 | Faster inventory transfers | All Thumbs |
| Outdoorsy | 2 | Less weather impact | - |
Negative traits database
Negative traits are refunds in the captured reference. Read the drawback and notes before treating a refund as efficient.
| Trait | Refund | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| High Thirst | +2 | Needs more water | Refund is 2 points, not 1 and not the old B41 +6 |
| Smoker | +3 | Unhappiness rises without tobacco; smoking reduces stress/unhappiness | Mutually exclusive with Athletic. No smoker-cough aggro rule in the trait text |
| Weak Stomach | +2 | More food illness risk | Easy if you avoid rotten/uncooked food |
| Slow Reader | +2 | Books take longer | Worse in multiplayer without time skip |
| Short Sighted | +2 | Vision penalty | Conflicts with Eagle Eyed; glasses help when found |
| Slow Healer | +3 | Injuries heal slower | Risky if you get hit often |
| Cowardly | +2 | Higher panic | Blocked if you already have Desensitized (Veteran) |
| Sunday Driver | +1 | Slower driving | Cheap refund if cars are secondary |
| Hearty Appetite | +4 | Eats more | Stacks badly with High Thirst early-game |
| Prone to Illness | +4 | Gets sick more easily | Conflicts with Resilient |
| Sleepyhead | +4 | Needs more sleep | Conflicts with Wakeful |
| Reluctant Fighter | +5 | Lower combat XP | Only if you truly avoid fights |
| Fear of Blood | +5 | Panic on self first aid; cannot aid others; stress when bloody | Blocked by Desensitized |
| Short of Breath | +5 | Faster endurance loss | Very harsh with melee/sprint play |
| Thin-skinned | +8 | Higher injury chance | Large refund, large risk |
Reference data
PZFans supplies concrete Build 42.20.4 character values: occupation points, trait costs, exclusions, and sample builds. Current Build 42.21 values are unverified.
| Pick | Points | Why you'd take it |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Occupation | +8 occupation points | Maximum freedom to build exactly the role you want |
| Veteran | -8 occupation points | A combat-ready start with Desensitized |
| Athletic | -10 trait points | Fitness that pays off every single day |
| High Thirst | +2 trait points | A cheap refund if you actually keep water on hand |
| Trait exclusions | Thick Skinned and Thin Skinned can't be picked together | Check before you save the build |
FAQ
What does the Veteran occupation cost in Build 42?
The captured records put Veteran at -8 points — the most expensive recorded occupation — against Custom Occupation at +8. Eight points is roughly most of a trait: you're trading the majority of your trait budget for the occupation's starting package. The values were captured on Build 42.20.4, so confirm on your live screen.
Is Athletic worth its 10 points?
Athletic records at -10, the priciest single trait in the captured set. Fitness sits in the earliest skill band and levels for free from walking, sprinting, and fence-climbing — but remember the band lock: outside weight 75.1-84.9, fitness XP stops past level 6, and no trait point refunds that. If you take it, keep the weight in the normal band or the 10 points are partly wasted.
Are negative traits just free points?
No — a negative trait is a daily subscription paid in gameplay. High Thirst refunds +2 points for a permanent increase in water dependence, which is nearly free while taps work and costs more after the water shutoff (any day inside the first two months, with no warning). The test is whether you can live with the drawback every single day, not whether the refund number looks nice.
Can I change my traits after the run starts?
The captured reference treats character choices as decisions made before the run — there's no confirmed in-run respec system. Whatever you pick at creation is what the save lives with, which is exactly why every serious build earns one throwaway save first: two days in, cut any drawback that dominated your play.
Do trait point costs change between patches?
They can. The values on this page were captured from a Build 42.20.4 reference, and the game has since moved to 42.21 Stable. The in-game character screen is always the authority — if a published list and your screen disagree, trust the screen and note the version.