Carpentry

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Spiffo trying to learn carpentry.

Carpentry is one of the most important skills in Project Zomboid. From safehouse defence to hand made furniture, and even completely custom built structures, carpentry is the best chance at survival.

Becoming a master carpenter

Ever since that first plank was nailed to the window, carpentry has been an essential skill of any good zombie apocalypse survivor. This holds true within the world of Knox Country, and it's your carpentry skill that can make the difference between a safe house and a zombie buffet.

There are other benefits to learning carpentry too. These include better looking constructions, higher hp constructed items (such as log walls), and faster building times.

Character creation

The process of character creation can be a daunting one. You are required to dedicate yourself to particular traits and skills, before you can even begin playing.

Players should experiment with what they are comfortable with, or what skills they want to build into, while being aware that some of the traits have major bugs, that in some cases can make them worthless.

The skill levels you start with will also contribute an xp gain boost to those skills, based on the level, as seen below.

Starting skill level and experience boost

Level 0 – 50%
Level 1 – 75%
Level 2 – 100%
Level 3+ – 125%

Occupations

Name Starting points Major skills Description Notes
Park Ranger
Park Ranger
-4 +1 Carpentry
+2 Foraging
+2 Trapping
N/A Ideal for any player looking to survive away from town and deep in the wilderness.
Construction Worker
Construction Worker
-2 +1 Carpentry
+3 Short Blunt
N/A Not the best choice for those willing to become a master carpenter but definitely dangerous wielding a hammer.
Carpenter
Carpenter
2 +3 Carpentry N/A The best option for someone wanting to master the carpentry skill, with a few extra points left over.
Repairman
Repairman
-4 +1 Carpentry
+2 Maintenance
N/A This one is for players who want to make the most out of what they've got. A repairman will have better durability from his weapons and tools.
Engineer
Engineer
-4 +1 Carpentry
+1 Electrical
Can make traps and explosives. For anyone wanting to defend their safehouse with armed traps and explosives. The Engineer has a unique set of trap recipes that can't be learnt by anyone else.

Traits

Name Cost Description Notes
Handy Handy -8 +1 Carpentry
+1 Maintenance
Faster and stronger constructions.
Reduced time to finish constructions and +100hp to all constructions (not including frames or walls).

Players should be aware that the handy trait only works on a few buildable items. Specifically, it does not work on wooden walls, but does work on log walls.

The build menu

Right-click the ground to bring up the context menu. When you have a hammer in your inventory, you will be able to browse the list of possible constructions. Be aware that while building your character will be making noise and any nearby zombies will begin wandering in your direction.
See more: Carpentry (crafting)

The build menu can be accessed by right clicking while carrying a Hammer. By hovering over the carpentry option in the context menu, a sub-menu will open showing each category of buildable. Items will show in red if you do not have the ability or materials to construct an item.

Types of buildables

The following items are the buildables/ categories shown in the carpentry context menu.

Multi-stage building

Some buildables require multiple stages of building to complete. The most common of these is the wooden wall and window.

First, you must build the wooden wall frame, in the location you want to build the wall. Note that zombies can climb through wall frames. Once completed, you can right click the built wall frame, and then choose the level of wall or window you want to, and are able to build.

Note, doors cannot be built this way, and must be built using a wooden door frame.

Wall/Window Level Carpentry Level
1 2
2 4
3 7

Walls/windows of level 1 or 2 can be upgraded to the next higher level at a cost of 1 plank and 4 nails. A level one wall can be upgraded to level 2, and then again to level 3.

The health of a wall is directly effected by your carpentry level.

Getting started

To get started in carpentry, you need two main items. Tools, and materials. Once you have these, and you are a high enough carpentry level, you can build anything you want.

Tools

Main article: Tools

The main carpentry tool you will need is a hammer (tag). By having a hammer in your inventory, you will get access to the carpentry category in the context menu (accessed by right clicking). Almost every carpentry recipe will require a hammer.

Some actions and recipes also require other tools. These can include, but are not limited to, a saw (tag), and a screwdriver.

Tools can be found in various locations across Knox Country, with house garages and tool stores being the most common locations.

Gathering materials

Nails and planks are the most common ingredients in carpentry. Nails are commonly found in the same places as hammers and other tools, while planks can be scavenged, sawed from logs, or dropped when dismantling furniture.

You will need a combination of the hammer/saw, or hammer/screwdriver, to disassemble wooden furniture. Upon disassembly, a random number of nails and planks, up to the construction cost of the furniture will be dropped. This amount is modified by your carpentry skill level, with lower levels having a higher chance to produce unusable wood instead of planks, or nothing at all.

Logs can be found in various containers around the map, or obtained by chopping down trees. With an axe equipped, you can right click a tree, and select the cut down tree option. You can then saw the logs, by right-clicking on the saw or log, and choosing the 'saw logs' option. Sawing logs will make three planks, and give xp.

Levelling

Media

Various types of media can assist in levelling carpentry.

Skill books

Main article: Skill books

Skill books can help you level your carpentry by increasing the xp multiplier when performing carpentry tasks. There are 5 books ranging from Carpentry Vol. 1 to Carpentry Vol. 5. These relate directly to the player's current skill level, with one book for every 2 levels. E.g. Carpentry Vol. 1 increases the multiplier for carpentry levels 1 and 2. This repeats for each subsequent book.

Life and Living TV

Main article: Life and Living TV

The Life and Living TV channel on the TV runs for the first 9 days on default settings. Each day at 12 noon, the woodcraft show plays. Watching the woodcraft show will give the player carpentry xp. Watching this in conjunction with having read the appropriate skill book, can give significant amounts of xp.

VHS tapes

Main article: VHS

The woodcraft show that runs on Life and Living TV can also be found in VHS tape form. You can watch both the tv and VHS tapes for additional xp. Watching this in conjunction with having read the appropriate skill book, can give significant amounts of xp.

Actions

The following actions all provide carpentry xp;

  • Cutting down trees.
  • Sawing logs.
  • Dismantling wooden furniture.
  • Building items from the carpentry menu.
  • Crafting some items from the crafting menu (e.g. Crafted Spear).
  • Barricading windows and doors with planks.

Other actions may also provide carpentry xp, but these are the most common.

Power levelling

Power levelling carpentry can be quite easy, and reaching carpentry 10 can be a simple, but repetitive task. Assuming you are starting at 0xp with no boosts to carpentry, this is one of the best methods to level carpentry.

  • Early levels;
    • Search bookcases and book stores for carpentry books. Keep each unique carpentry book you find for later use. Keep an eye out for woodcraft VHS tapes.
    • Watch every episode of woodcraft live on Life and Living TV. With a skill book you can easily get the first few levels of carpentry just from woodcraft.
    • Cut down trees and saw logs into planks.
  • Mid-High levels;
    • Keep watching woodcraft. Start using the VHS tapes, but only when you have read the appropriate books, otherwise you are wasting xp. VHS and TV will both give you xp, even for the same episode.
    • Start crafting walls, you will need to find nails, but they give a significant amount of xp. The best way to do this is to find a box of nails, then go to the forest and cut down logs. Saw the logs into planks, then build all of the walls. This way you get xp for each step in the process.
    • Alternatively; find a warehouse that has planks (I suggest the McCoy Logging Co.. The main warehouse has a large amount of planks in the crates). Either take the planks out, or disassemble the crates. Then build wooden walls. You will likely find nails here too.

If watch every episode of woodcraft, while you have the xp boost from skill books, and finish out by building walls, you will very quickly find yourself at the high levels of carpentry.

Finishing touches

Plastering

Main article: Bucket of Plaster

A bucket of plaster can be used to plaster built walls. This will then allow you to paint the walls. First, you need to mix plaster in a bucket using a bag of plaster powder and water. When you have the bucket with plaster in your main inventory, right-click on the structure to plaster it.

Painting

Main article: Paint

Paint is used with a paintbrush to paint plastered walls. A full can of paint can be used to paint up to ten walls or signs.

Once a can of paint has been used, or if the paint is poured out, it will be replaced with an empty paint bucket, which can be used to collect water.

See also