One of the best ways you can try to survive in the post-apocalyptic world of Project Zomboid is by bunkering down and building a base. With the game’s carpentry skill, your character will gradually start to get better at building things. As you level up this skill you will unlock more options for building as well. It can be a little difficult to figure out how to level this skill up quickly but this guide should give you everything you need to become a master carpenter!
This guide is written for the Build 41 version of Project Zomboid and will include information specific to that version. If you can’t find specific items or crafting materials, that may be why.
What is The Carpentry Skill Useful For?
As in real life, carpentry in Project Zomboid is related to building furniture and walls using timber. The skill in Project Zomboid ranges from the 0 skill level, (being the worst) to 10 (the best). As your character does things related to this skill their experience in this will gradually increase. Once your character gains a certain amount of experience in this skill they will gain a level in Carpentry. Each level in this skill will make your character faster and have a better chance of success in carpentry-related actions. Being halfway through a level will not make a difference to their skills.
Tools of the Trade
Another thing that you’ll need for carpentry is tools and supplies. This is especially true if you are planning on building things from scratch. Luckily, you can also break down old furniture and items to reclaim materials. In order to break down and create some things, you will need different tools. Some things you may need a screwdriver and a saw for. Mostly for carpentry, you are going to need a good hammer.
Keep an eye out in sheds and storage facilities for these items. If you plan on leveling the carpentry skill, you are going to need a good source of tools.
How To Level Up Your Carpentry Skill in Project Zomboid
As aforementioned, the way to level up the carpentry skill is by doing carpentry related actions. This can include building things with the carpentry skill or breaking things down. If you plan on building up a base or remodeling a house, chances are you are going to passively increase your carpentry skill. That being said, here are some of the best ways that you can level up carpentry in Project Zomboid Build 41:
- Building up items through the Carpentry menu
- Breaking down furniture and buildings
- Start your game with the right traits and profession
- Read Carpentry books to increase experience gains
- Watch the Carpentry TV Program for free experience
With these 5 methods you will have the greatest builder in the Apocalypse! You can select any of the points listed above to jump straight into a more detailed explanation on how to utilize them.
Building Items To Level Carpentry
This one might be the most obvious way to level up carpentry but it must be included anyway. Once you have some resources and an idea of what you’d like to build, you can start creating! If your carpentry level is quite low you are probably going to be limited on what you can achieve to begin with. build whatever you can at the start and then move onto more complex items as your level advances.
To build things using your character’s carpentry skills you can use the right-click menu (or the action menu). Right-click somewhere and find the menu for Carpentry. This will show you all of the things your character knows how to build. If you have the required items, the item will have a white name. To build these items, select the one you want to build and then you can place it somewhere. Your character will then move to the area and build it up. Be careful not to control your character. If you walk in a different direction, the action will be cancelled.
You will get some carpentry experience depending on how complex the item was that you have constructed. Actions like barricading windows and doors will also help you gain carpentry experience.
Breaking Down Furniture to Gain Carpentry Experience
One of the best ways to level up your carpentry skill is to break down or disassemble items. This will also give your character experience. The best part is that you don’t actually have to have any materials to begin with, just tools! By breaking down furniture you will also be able to reclaim some of the nails and planks used to build the items. This is great for those who want to build a great fence, or even their own cabin out in the woods.
To disassemble a piece of furniture or item in Project Zomboid, right-click on the item to bring up the action menu. Now at the bottom of this menu, you’ll find the action Disassemble. You can then choose which item you wish to break down. (As seen in the image below).
As you can also see in the image, you will need different tools depending on what item you are disassembling. The office desk in the image above requires only a hammer. You can have either of the three hammers listed, you don’t need them all.
Different items have different experience gains when they are broken down. Some of the best items to break down in terms of carpentry experience gain include;
- Beds and closets found in most houses
- Pews found in churches
- Picnic Tables (a lot in school cafeterias)
- Dismantle all wooden crates in warehouses
These are just some example of easy experience gain in the carpentry skill. If you’re really trying to grind the skill as quick as possible you should just go house to house disassembling everything. Be aware that carpentry does make a lot of noise though…
Starting With Carpentry Skill and Traits
When you start a new character you are tasks with assigning them to a profession and giving them skills. There is a profession and skills that will immediately start you off on the right foot in carpentry too. The best part about starting with a high carpentry level is that your character will gain a permanent XP multiplier as well. For example, when you start with 1 level in Carpentry your character will already learn this skill at a 75% rate. (As opposed to the 50% rate at level 0).
There are 3 Professions which will raise your starting carpentry level. These are:
- Engineer: Level 1 Carpentry + 75% learning rate
- Repairman: Level 1 Carpentry + 75% learning rate
- Construction Worker: Level 1 Carpentry + 75% learning rate
- Carpenter: Level 3 Carpentry + 125% learning rate
In addition to these professions, there is a trait that can be added on top. The Handy trait costs 8 attribute points and will give your character 1 extra point into carpentry. This will not raise the learning speed, however. You could also take the Fast Learner traits which increases all experience gained in every skill.
Reading Books to Increase Carpentry Level
Although this doesn’t increase experience on it’s own, it is still vital to quickly leveling carpentry. In Project Zomboid most of the skills have books to correspond with learning the skills. By reading these books, your character will gain the ability to learn experience at an increased rate for a short moment. There are 5 books which all have different levels of learning. For example if you are learning the first 2 levels of carpentry, you will need to read the Carpentry for Beginners book. Carpentry for Intermediates will give you increased experience gains for level 3-4. I guess you can see the pattern here.
If you plan on grinding your carpentry skill in Project Zomboid, seek these books out before you start on a grand disassembling mission. You will gain experience even faster than before. You can find these books randomly in bookshelves within houses, or at book stores.
Level Carpentry By Watching the Television
One thing you may not have realized about Project Zomboid is that the televisions actually have shows on them. You can interact with TV sets to change the channel. If you go to the Life and Living channel there will be programs that will give you instant experience in skills. One of these skills is the carpentry skill. Be aware that these programs only happen once per game on a schedule. This means that if you miss the program once, you can never see it again without starting a new game.
You can check out this helpful reddit post which breaks down when the carpentry program starts and how much experience you can gain. You can also read the skill boost books before you watch the show for an even greater skill gain. To watch the television and gain experience, turn it on, change to the Live and Living channel and have your character in the same room as the television. You can do whatever you want in the room, even reading other unrelated books as you watch the television. Your character will still get the bonus experience.
Bonus tip: You can mute the TV if it is drawing attention your way.