Letter Opener

This page has been revised for the current stable version (41.78.16).

Help by adding any missing content. [edit]

A letter opener is a common early game melee weapon.

Usage

Weapon

The letter opener is light, and in terms of durability, is worse than the kitchen knife, ice pick and hunting knife. As the letter opener is one of the weapons with the 'Jaw Stab' attack, it can kill a zombie instantly if close enough and timed correctly. It does, however, have a low maximum durability, allowing for few attacks before breaking.

It is a single attack weapon, so it is best if used in single combat or if zombies are relatively spread out when attacking.

Breaking doors

The letter opener is a weapon that deals minimal damage (2) to doors. For comparison, an axe deals 35 damage.

Chopping trees

The letter opener is a weapon that deals minimal damage (1) to trees. For comparison, an axe deals 35 damage.

Condition

The letter opener has a maximum condition of 5. Its rate of degradation is influenced by the short blade and maintenance skills. The chance of losing durability can be simplified to the following formula: 1 in (1 + maintenanceMod × 2). Where "maintenanceMod" is calculated using the short blade and maintenance skills.
Below is an example of the chance of losing durability at varying levels of the maintenance and short blade skills.

*For how this is calculated, see: Condition*
Maintenance skill	Weapon skill	Condition lower chance
0	0	1/1 (100%)
0	4	1/3 (33%)
0	8	1/5 (20%)
4	0	1/5 (20%)
8	0	1/9 (11%)
4	4	1/7 (14%)
4	8	1/9 (11%)
8	8	1/13 (8%)
10	10	1/15 (7%)

Repairing

The letter opener cannot be repaired.

Crafting

The letter opener can be attached to the end of a spear. The condition of the letter opener will be carried over to the spear.

Product	Ingredients	Tools	Requirements	Workstation	XP
Spear with Letter Opener	Crafted Spear ×1 Letter Opener ×1 Duct Tape ×2 unit(s)	none	none	none	none
Letter Opener	Spear with Letter Opener ×1	none	none	none	none

Distribution

The loot distributions can be found in the table(s) below.

LetterOpener distribution Show / Hide

Effective chance calculations are based off of default loot settings, and median zombie density. The higher the density of zombies in an area, the higher the effective chance of an item spawning. Chance is also influenced by the lucky and unlucky traits.

Containers
Building/Room	Container	Effective chance
all	officedrawers	3.98%
office	desk	3.98%

Zombie
Outfit	Days survived	Chance
All	0	30

Code

Code snippet! This section contains source code from Project ZomboidShow / Hide

Source: ProjectZomboid\media\scripts\items_weapons.txt

Retrieved: Build 41.78.16

item LetterOpener
	{
	    DisplayCategory = Household,
		MaxRange	=	0.8,
		WeaponSprite	=	LetterOpener,
		MinAngle	=	0.65,
		Type	=	Weapon,
		MinimumSwingTime	=	2,
		KnockBackOnNoDeath	=	FALSE,
		SwingAmountBeforeImpact	=	0.02,
		Categories	=	SmallBlade,
		ConditionLowerChanceOneIn	=	1,
		Weight	=	0.3,
		SplatNumber	=	2,
		PushBackMod	=	0.3,
		SubCategory	=	Stab,
		AimingMod	=	0.8,
		ConditionMax	=	5,
		MaxHitCount	=	1,
		IsAimedHandWeapon	=	TRUE,
		DoorDamage	=	1,
		SwingAnim	=	Stab,
		DisplayName	=	Letter Opener,
		MinRange	=	0.61,
		CloseKillMove = Jaw_Stab,
		SwingTime	=	2,
		KnockdownMod	=	0,
		SplatBloodOnNoDeath	=	TRUE,
		Icon	=	LetterOpener,
		RunAnim	=	Run_Weapon2,
        IdleAnim	=	Idle_Weapon2,
        TreeDamage  =   2,
        EnduranceMod = 0.5,
        BreakSound  =   LetterOpenerBreak,
        MetalValue = 15,
        CriticalChance	=	5,
        CritDmgMultiplier = 10,
        MinDamage	=	0.1,
        MaxDamage	=	0.1,
 		WeaponLength = 0.25,
        DamageCategory = Slash,
        DamageMakeHole = TRUE,
        HitFloorSound	=	LetterOpenerHit,
        ImpactSound	=	LetterOpenerHit,
        DoorHitSound = LetterOpenerHit,
		HitSound	=	LetterOpenerHit,
		SwingSound = LetterOpenerSwing,
		AttachmentType = Screwdriver,
  	}