7 Days To Die Perks & Skills

Table Of Contents

Click on the links below to skip straight to that chapter.

Overview

Perks are very important to game mechanics that help you survive in the 7 Days To Die world. Through Perks, you improve your overall statistics such as stamina and also gain the ability to craft new or improved items. As the game progresses and the enemies get tougher, you need to utilize the skill points earned to make use of the various perks and upgrade your character.

Getting a perk such as Mother Lode can help increase the amount of resources you harvest. Other perks such as Advanced Engineering will enable you to craft new and higher quality items. Or you can choose to improve your character by choosing a perk that increases strength, stamina etc. Each time your character levels up, you gain experience points and one skill point which you can use to level up one of the Perks or Attributes.

You can use Perkalator | The 7 Days to Die Skills and Perks Calculator to use Perk & Skill builds for all versions of the game, including Modded and Vanilla games.

Attributes Vs Perks

Attributes and Perks are quite closely related. You can level up both of these using skill points. Primarily your character has 5 Attributes: Perception, Strength, Fortitude, Agility and Intellect. Each of the Attributes has 10 levels, and you gain a bonus every time you level up one of the attributes.

When you first start the game, your character gets level one for all 5 attributes. As you keep playing and collecting skill points, you can continue to increase the Attribute levels. Note that you need to spend 1 skill point up to level 5, 2 kill points for levels 6-8 and finally 3 skill points for levels 9-10.

So what is the main difference between Attributes and Perks? Well mainly, the perks are related to the attribute they belong to. Each perk requires the respective Attribute to be of a certain level. Additionally, the Attribute levels are also dependent on the Character Level.

So you need to increase Character level, which helps increase the Attribute level which again helps you to gain new perks. Note that there are certain Drugs that can help momentarily increase your attribute level.

When the effect of the drugs wears off, your attribute level will also return to normal. There are also certain clothes that increase certain attribute levels for as long as you keep wearing them.

Perk Requirements

Well, now you know how Attributes and Perks are related. In order to purchase a Perk, the attribute it is related to needs to be at a certain minimum level. As we said above, you can take certain drugs to temporarily boost up your attributes. Using this you can get the desired Perk. However, when the effect of the drug wears off, so will the benefits related to the perk that you got with the higher attribute.

Here’s an example: Say you have Level 3 Fortitude and are wearing a Level 2 Heavy Armor. If you wish to get the Level 3 Heavy Armor, then you need to have Level 5 Fortitude. One way to do this is to increase your Fortitude level by consuming the drug – Frost Bites. However, after a while, when the effect of the drug wears off, your Character, heavy armour also reverts back to Level 2.

Not that, the Level 3 Heavy Armor will still show as being unlocked with a Red Sign – “Disabled by status effect”. What this means is that, when your character does actually level up their Fortitude attribute to level 5, then the Level 3 Heavy Armor automatically becomes available. You don’t need to spend any more skill points to get this perk 

Skill Level
1
2
3
4
5
Most Perks
Attribute 1
Attribute 3
Attribute 5
Attribute 7
Attribute 10
Lucky Looter & Salvage Operations
Perception 1
Perception 2
Perception 3
Perception 5
Perception 7
Pack Mule
Strength 1
Strength 2
Strength 3
Strength 4
Strength 5
Miner 69’er & Mother Lode
Strength 1
Strength 2
Strength 3
Strength 5
Strength 7
Robotics Inventor
Intelligence 3
Intelligence 5
Intelligence 6
Intelligence 8
Intelligence 10
Advanced Engineering
Intelligence 1
Intelligence 4
Intelligence 6
Intelligence 8
Intelligence 10
Grease Monkey
Intelligence 2
Intelligence 4
Intelligence 6
Intelligence 8
Intelligence 10

List Of Attributes And Their Perks

1. Perception Attribute

This attribute relates to your sensory awareness. With level 1 perspective, your rifles, spears and other explosive weapons increase their headshot damage rate by 200%. With levels 2-8 the headshot damage rate increases by another 10% along with a 5% chance of dismembering the enemy. Levels 9 & 10 further increase the headshot damage by 15% and dismembering by 5%.

The perception attribute Perks are divided into 3 subcategories: Combat, General Perspective & Scavenging. The table below gives details of each of these perks

 

Combat Perks
Dead Eye
Demolitions Expert
Javelin Master
General Perception Perks
Lock Picking
The Infiltrator
Animal Tracker
The Penetrator
Scavenging Perks
Lucky Looter
Treasure Hunter
Salvage Operations
Combat Perks
“Specialize in taking keen aim with rifles and wasting your target with an expertly-placed bullet. One-shot, one kill.”
“Specialize in explosive weapons to stun, cripple and dismember your foes.”
“Learn to inflict more damage and throw spears further and with more accuracy.”
General Perception Perks
“Learn to pick locks faster and break fewer lock picks.”
“Use your heightened senses to take less damage from traps.”
“Learn to detect and track animals within 100m and never go hungry.”
“You find weak spots in a target’s armour and can use AP rifle bullets to shoot through multiple organic targets.”
Scavenging Perks
“Specialize in tracking down the motherlode, and maybe getting a little extra for your trouble. You find better loot with every perk level.”
“Become one of the greatest treasure hunters of all-time learning tricks that would even make Blackbeard envious.”
“Waste not, want not! Salvage items for more resources with a wrench, ratchet, or impact driver.”

2. Strength Attribute

The strength attribute represents your muscle power or how much punch you can pack into an attack! Level 1 of the strength attribute adds an additional 200% headshots damage when using Clubs, sledgehammers and shotguns. With levels 2-8 the headshot damage increases by another 10% while also giving a 5% chance of dismembering the enemy. Levels 9 & 10 further increases the headshot damage by 15% with another 5% chance of dismembering the opponent.

The different perks belonging to the Strength attribute are divided into 3 subcategories: Combat / Weapons, General Strength and Construction as shown in the table below:

Combat Perks
Boomstick
Pummel Pete
Skull Crusher
General Strength Perks
Sexual Tyrannosaurus
Heavy Armor
Pack Mule
Master Chef
Construction Perks
Miner 69’er
Mother Lode
Combat Perks
“Specialize with shotguns and send your enemies to meet their maker. Do more damage, blow limbs off, shoot and reload faster.”
“Specialize in knocking your foes senseless with clubs and bats.”
“Specialize in destroying enemies with heavy weapons like sledgehammers.”
General Strength Perks
“Specialize in unleashing a relentless assault of blows guaranteed to leave your prey slack-jawed at your unyielding stamina.”
“Specialize in shielding yourself with iron and steel, becoming an unstoppable behemoth on the battlefield.”
“You’re a pack mule and can carry more items in your inventory without suffering movement penalties.”
“Create more filling meals with advanced benefits and learn to cook faster.”
Construction Perks
“Maximize your mining efforts by increasing tool damage to bring down rocks and trees faster.”
“Harvest more resources and bring home the mother lode.”

3. Fortitude Attribute

The Fortitude attribute covers the physical resilience of your character. With level 1 Fortitude, your fists and Machine Guns deal an additional 200% headshot damage. With levels 2-8 you get a further 10% headshot damage and an extra 5% probability of dismembering the opponent. Levels 9-10 further increase these numbers by another 15% for headshots and 5% for dismembering.

The Fortitude perks are divided into 3 sub-categories, namely, Combat / Weapons, Survival and Recovery as shown in the table below.

Combat Perks
The Brawler
Machine Gunner
Survival Perks
The Huntsman
Well Insulated
Living Off The Land
Pain Tolerance
Recovery Perks
Healing Factor
Iron Gut
Rule 1: Cardio
Combat Perks
“Learn martial arts and use your fists to stun, knock down, disarm and ragdoll your opponent.
“Become a commando using automatic weapons to slay your foes.”
Survival Perks
“Specialize in hunting your prey and harvesting more meat, bone and leather.”
“Specialize in using a combination of clothing and natural resilience to weather even the harshest of environments.”
“Specialize in harvesting more crops using your hands or a tool.”
“Specialize in shrugging off blows, fighting through pain and staying in the fight when others would be down for the count.”
Recovery Perks
“Specialize in boosting your natural healing rates as long as you’re not starving.”
“Specialize in gastrointestinal health to reduce the chance of food poisoning and nutrient uptake to use fewer calories and oxygen swimming.”
“Train your body in number one tactic against the zombie menace: Running away from them.”

4. Agility Attribute

Good Agility is a very important trait for your character especially when dealing with and escaping from multiple enemies. As your agility increases your character will become faster and be able to traverse tough terrain more easily. The Perks related to the Agility are divided into Weapons / Combat, Athletic and Stealth sub-categories as shown in the table below.

Combat Perks
Archery
Gunslinger
Deep Cuts
Athletic Perks
Run and Gun
Flurry of Blows
Light Armor
Parkour
Stealth Perks
Hidden Strike
From The Shadows
Combat Perks
“Master the use of bows and crossbows.”
“Settle your disputes the old way and be a gunslinger in the apocalypse. Master the use of handguns and SMG. Unlocks pistol crafting.”
“Specialize in using bladed weapons like knives or machetes (not axes) to bleed your foes dry.”
Athletic Perks
“Improve your hip fire accuracy and run faster while reloading any ranged weapon.”
“Specialize in one-handed melee weapons and beating the tar out of your opponents in a furious flurry of quick strikes.”
“Specialize in light armor to increase armor rating and armor durability.”
“Specialize in acrobatically getting anywhere you want to go, no matter how far up or far down that may be.”
Stealth Perks
“Specialize in catching your enemies unaware while you are sneaking and they are resting or wandering aimlessly.”
“Specialize in sneaking around in the dark and making less noise in general.”

5. Intellect Attribute

The Intellect attribute represents your intelligence level and mental abilities. As your Intellect level increases you will be able to craft advanced tools, weapons and traps. These come in very handy in later stages of the game. Intellect even helps you get better rewards from quests and better deals from traders.

The Intellect attribute is divided into 3 sub-categories for Weapons / Combat, Influence & Craftsmanship as shown below

 

Combat Perks
Electrocutioner
Robotics Inventor
Influence Perks
Better Barter
The Daring Adventurer
Charismatic Nature
Craftsmanship Perks
Physician
Advanced Engineering
Grease Monkey
Combat Perks
“Learn how to use stun batons more effectively. Incapacitate your victims easier and do more damage.”
“You are fascinated with robotics. Learn to use and craft deployed weapons.”
Influence Perks
“Specialize in convincing area traders to give you a better deal and open up their secret stashes of the really good stuff.”
“Be a daring adventurer! Get better rewards for doing quests.”
“You are an inspiration to your allies, increasing their combat prowess.”
Craftsmanship Perks
“Use medicine and health items more effectively.”
“Engineer advanced items such as workbenches, electrical items and traps and craft 20% faster on workbenches.”
“Learn to build vehicles from junk in the wasteland! Vehicles can be assembled from parts without this perk.”

Finally, The Perk Books!

Another way of getting special perks in the 7 Days To Die World is by reading Perk Books. You can get these books either through looting or buying them off a Trader. Each book gives you a perk that relates to the series it belongs to. For example, reading volumes from the Lucky Looter series helps you find great loot!

There are a total of 19 series with each series consisting of 7 volumes. You tell which series the book belongs to by the name and the artwork on the cover. Additionally, if you read all the volumes from a series, you get an extra bonus perk that relates to the series that you finished.

Although these Perk books are scattered all over the 7D2D world, there are some places that have a better chance of containing them. For example, bookcases are a good place to find Perk Books. Obviously then, Book Stores, which have lots of bookcases will be a great location to find Perk Books.

Use Perks Strategically To Survive

Attributes and Perks are very important to game mechanisms to survive in the 7D2D world. So now that you have a better understanding of how these work, make sure to use those skill points wisely!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This