Skill books

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Skill book

General

Category

Literature

Encumbrance

0.8

Properties

Consumed

False

Total pages

220-380 pages

Technical

Item ID

See Types

This page lists all skill books.

General information

Skill books are usable items which apply an experience multiplier to a given skill. There are currently skill books in-game for all levels of eleven character skills: carpentry, cooking, electrical, farming, first aid, fishing, foraging, mechanics, metalworking, tailoring and trapping, as well as books for blacksmith, with a separate skill book applying to each two level of the skill.

They can also used as a fuel, but this is not recommended in case a player would like to keep using the same world if the character dies or when playing in multiplayer.

Usage

1. Put the skill book in your main inventory.
2. Right click the skill book and click "Read".
3. Wait for the progress bar to finish. Without traits, each page will take 5 seconds of real-time to read, or 2 minutes of in-game time.
4. Double check that all pages have been read (sometimes anywhere from 1-20 pages of the book will not have been read). If some pages have not been read, repeat step 2 & 3.
5. Check your character's "Skills" page to verify you are now getting a boost to the appropriate skill. (There will be sequential arrows running from the skill name to the skill boxes and hovering over the skill box that is currently being worked on will show the multiplier that is being given.)

Note: If at any point the player is interrupted during reading, they do not lose the pages they have read; they will continue where they left off. Therefore, other matters can be attended to, such as killing a zombie or tending to a garden, before returning to the book. The total amount of pages read so far will show up in the book's tooltip when hovered over. Depending on the situation, it may be best to spend a few hours a day (usually at night) over several days working through a skill book rather than attempting to read one straight through in one sitting (boredom, hunger, thirst, and unhappiness will all accrue while reading).

Note: If the character says, "I don't get it" or other similar lines above their head, they are reading a book too complicated for their level. No progress will be made or multiplier applied, when reading a book too complicated. Make sure they are reading the book that corresponds to the level they are currently working on (Vol. 1 = Level 1 and 2, Vol. 2 = Level 3 and 4, Vol. 3 = Level 5 and 6, Vol. 4 = Level 7 and 8, Vol. 5 = Level 9 and 10). Books cannot be read early.

Benefits

Reading a skill book even partially will give your character a multiplier on any points gained for a given skill. For example, if sawing wood normally gives 3 XP and you've read all of the Vol. 1 skill book, you will now gain 9 XP each time you saw wood until you reach level 2. This will dramatically decrease the time required to learn a skill. In most cases, it is not worth wasting resources to grind out a level in a skill unless you have fully read the skill book and have the maximum multiplier.

Higher-tier skill books have more pages and take longer to read. Upon accruing enough experience to finish that skill level (even if you don't use a skill point to level it up), the multiplier is removed and experience gain returns to 1.0x until the next proficiency level book has been read for that skill. You can have as many active multipliers as you want simultaneously (i.e., four skills being boosted at the same time).

Maximum multiplier

1. Vol. 1 - x3
2. Vol. 2 - x5
3. Vol. 3 - x8
4. Vol. 4 - x12
5. Vol. 5 - x16

Reading speed

The "Fast Reader" trait decreases the amount of time required to read a book to 70% of the normal time. The "Slow Reader" trait increases the time to 130%.

Real-time spent reading books on normal speed

Skill rank	Pages	Fast Reader	No traits	Slow Reader
1-2	220	12m50s	18m20s	23m50s
3-4	260	15m10s	21m40s	28m10s
5-6	300	17m30s	25m	32m30s
7-8	340	19m50s	28m20s	36m50s
9-10	380	22m10s	31m20s	41m10s

Types

Icon	Name			Multiplier	Skill	Item ID
	Blacksmith Vol. 1Future	0.8	220	3	Blacksmith	Base.BookBlacksmith1
	Blacksmith Vol. 2Future	0.8	260	5	Blacksmith	Base.SmithingMag2
	Blacksmith Vol. 3Future	0.8	300	8	Blacksmith	Base.BookBlacksmith3
	Blacksmith Vol. 4Future	0.8	340	12	Blacksmith	Base.BookBlacksmith4
	Blacksmith Vol. 5Future	0.8	380	16	Blacksmith	Base.BookBlacksmith5
	Carpentry Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Carpentry	Base.BookCarpentry1
	Carpentry Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Carpentry	Base.BookCarpentry2
	Carpentry Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Carpentry	Base.BookCarpentry3
	Carpentry Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Carpentry	Base.BookCarpentry4
	Carpentry Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Carpentry	Base.BookCarpentry5
	Cooking Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Cooking	Base.BookCooking1
	Cooking Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Cooking	Base.BookCooking2
	Cooking Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Cooking	Base.BookCooking3
	Cooking Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Cooking	Base.BookCooking4
	Cooking Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Cooking	Base.BookCooking5
	Electrician Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Electrical	Base.BookElectrician1
	Electrician Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Electrical	Base.BookElectrician2
	Electrician Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Electrical	Base.BookElectrician3
	Electrician Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Electrical	Base.BookElectrician4
	Electrician Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Electrical	Base.BookElectrician5
	Farming Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Farming	Base.BookFarming1
	Farming Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Farming	Base.BookFarming2
	Farming Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Farming	Base.BookFarming3
	Farming Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Farming	Base.BookFarming4
	Farming Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Farming	Base.BookFarming5
	First Aid Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	First Aid	Base.BookFirstAid1
	First Aid Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	First Aid	Base.BookFirstAid2
	First Aid Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	First Aid	Base.BookFirstAid3
	First Aid Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	First Aid	Base.BookFirstAid4
	First Aid Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	First Aid	Base.BookFirstAid5
	Fishing Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Fishing	Base.BookFishing1
	Fishing Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Fishing	Base.BookFishing2
	Fishing Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Fishing	Base.BookFishing3
	Fishing Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Fishing	Base.BookFishing4
	Fishing Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Fishing	Base.BookFishing5
	Foraging Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Foraging	Base.BookForaging1
	Foraging Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Foraging	Base.BookForaging2
	Foraging Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Foraging	Base.BookForaging3
	Foraging Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Foraging	Base.BookForaging4
	Foraging Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Foraging	Base.BookForaging5
	Mechanics Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Mechanics	Base.BookMechanic1
	Mechanics Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Mechanics	Base.BookMechanic2
	Mechanics Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Mechanics	Base.BookMechanic3
	Mechanics Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Mechanics	Base.BookMechanic4
	Mechanics Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Mechanics	Base.BookMechanic5
	Metalwork Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Metalworking	Base.BookMetalWelding1
	Metalwork Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Metalworking	Base.BookMetalWelding2
	Metalwork Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Metalworking	Base.BookMetalWelding3
	Metalwork Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Metalworking	Base.BookMetalWelding4
	Metalwork Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Metalworking	Base.BookMetalWelding5
	Tailoring Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Tailoring	Base.BookTailoring1
	Tailoring Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Tailoring	Base.BookTailoring2
	Tailoring Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Tailoring	Base.BookTailoring3
	Tailoring Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Tailoring	Base.BookTailoring4
	Tailoring Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Tailoring	Base.BookTailoring5
	Trapping Vol. 1	0.8	220	3	Trapping	Base.BookTrapping1
	Trapping Vol. 2	0.8	260	5	Trapping	Base.BookTrapping2
	Trapping Vol. 3	0.8	300	8	Trapping	Base.BookTrapping3
	Trapping Vol. 4	0.8	340	12	Trapping	Base.BookTrapping4
	Trapping Vol. 5	0.8	380	16	Trapping	Base.BookTrapping5

See also

• Recipe magazines
• Literature