Surviving the post-apocalyptic wastelands of 7 Days to Die can be a very stressful experience. Not only must you think about finding food and clean water, but it's all too easy to end up with dysentery, a sprained leg, and heatstroke. Oh, and then there are the zombies to think about. They are all over the place, and every seven days you'll find yourself assaulted by waves upon waves of the shambling corpses.

There's something of a learning curve to this game. Once you have the basics mastered, however, there are plenty more things that you'll need to learn to become the best survivor you can be.

Updated June 9, 2022 by Ryan Bamsey: Despite what feels like an eternity in Early Access, 7 Days to Die remains a fantastic game that continues to grow with each new update. Surviving hordes of zombies can be a very stressful activity, though - we've got some great tips to ease your difficulties, though.

15/15 Scrap Everything You Can

Player about to scrap an empty can in 7 Days to Die

As you play through 7 Days to Day you'll undoubtedly start to get fed up with encountering the same rubbish time after time. Empty cans, random doorknobs, books - they are all over the place.

But don't ignore these items, simply scrap them. They'll be broken down into their constituent materials which can be used in further crafting projects or in the forge. Apply this to equipment too as you'll need to scrap weapons and armor into parts in order to craft your own superior stuff.

14/15 Consider Selling Books

7 Days to Die Book Shop

It's all too tempting to immediately read every book and magazine that you acquire to get those sweet, sweet perk points. The thing is, many perks will be pretty useless or weak depending on how you've built your character and what items you use.

It may be a better idea to sell the books you find instead. They can be worth a nice chunk of cash, which you can use to buy rare resources, crafting materials, or even more useful books.

Also, be sure to check whether or not you've read something before you read it. Reading the same book twice will not grant any benefits.

13/15 Survive The Early Game With Overpowered Weapons

A blunderbuss being reloaded in 7 Days to Die

There are three weapons that come to mind when you ask "what's the best weapon to go for" and it's because they are just fantastic for dealing with the early stages of the game. These are the sledgehammer, the pistol, and the blunderbuss.

A Sledgehammer is a great tool for inflicting pain on zombies - it's quite good at stunning them if you get headshots. The Pistol, on the other hand, is a great weapon to have in those panicky moments where there are just a few more zombies than you were expecting.

The king of them all, though, is the Blunderbuss. This gun is considered a shotgun in the game and while it reloads very slowly, one shot will kill many zombies and the ammo is very easy to make. If you spot one early in the game, get it and don't let go.

12/15 Rooftop Farming Is The Future

A rooftop farm in 7 Days to Die

When you're settled into a place and have begun making a base, consider heading up to your roof and starting a garden. Not only are they quite aesthetically pleasing, but they are unlikely to be damaged during horde nights.

Making Farm Plots is quite easy, just collect all the Rotting Flesh, Nitrate Powder (best mined in the desert biome), and Clay Soil (best dug up near bodies of water in the forest biome) you can. Your fingers will be green in no time.

11/15 Mine Your Own Business

Player mining in 7 Days to Die

One of your first priorities in 7 Days to Die will be optimizing your resource gathering. One goal on your to-do list, then, should be to get a nice pickaxe as soon as you can. This will make gathering resources such as stone, nitrate, coal, and iron much quicker.

But that's not all - definitely consider putting points into the Miner 69er and Motherlode perks to substantially improve your mining activities. A little goes a long way and you'll thank yourself when you have to make fewer trips for resources.

10/15 Don't Forget Your Wrench

A player harvesting a ruined car for resources with a wrench, in 7 Days to Die

Having a tool with you to disassemble all the broken electronics scattered across the world is vital to progression. Keep your Wrench (or in the future, Ratchet or Impact Driver) handy in order to salvage as many resources as you can from cars, sinks, air conditioners, and so on.

This will be especially useful when you start diving into the more mechanical side of crafting, as you'll always be in need of gas, engines, and mechanical parts for your projects.

9/15 How To Deal With Vultures

Player with a knife in front of a downed zombie vulture, in 7 Days to Die

Zombie vultures are perhaps the most annoying and frustrating enemy in the game. They seem to come from nowhere, may not even announce themselves with a squawk, and can even infect you with a disease if they manage to attack you.

This is why you will absolutely want a gun with a fast rate of fire. A pistol will do. Vultures are speedy things and you may need to spray a lot of bullets into the air before you get a grasp on their movement patterns. Keep honey and antibiotics on you at all times too, to deal with pesky infections.

8/15 Split The Responsibilities With Friends

Intelligence tab of the skill menu in 7 Days to Die

Playing 7 Days to Die with a friend or two is probably the most fun way to play. One massive benefit of playing a game like this is the ability to split up your responsibilities. One player can be a builder and the other a farmer, for example.

This is even better when it comes to spending skill points. Splitting up weapon skills and recipe perks between players will make your progression rate a lot higher, as well as make it easier to decide who gets what loot.

7/15 Selecting A Good Base

7 Days to Die Book Shop

While it is feasibly possible to build your own buildings or even settlements in 7 Days to Die it is a lot easier to renovate existing constructions and turn them into a base of operations. There are lots of potential bases in 7 Days to Die, but some are better than others.

Roadside supermarkets, for example, are great for this - especially in the early game. They usually consist of one very large room and two smaller rooms - it's quite easy to scrap everything in these rooms and create whatever layout you desire in places like these. They also have flat roofs from which you can keep a watchful patrol.

6/15 Know The Value Of Things

A trader in 7 Days to Die

Traders are useful for buying rare items and getting quests. As a result, it's important to know what sorts of items are useful to take to the traders to sell. For example, it's easy to scoff at Old Cash as it can't be used to buy things, but you can trade it at a 1:1 ratio to a trader and it often comes in large amounts.

As you play the game, you'll come to know what sorts of items are great for selling. Old guns, medicinal items, and oil are other great options to sell in bulk.

5/15 Stay Well-Equipped

7 Days to Die Rifle

A great rule of thumb for surviving combat while not being too over-prepared in 7 Days to Die is to keep hold of two different ranged weapons and one melee weapon. This way you are less likely to run out of ammo and will always have a close-combat last resort - since getting up close and personal with the zombies is dangerous.

Know the pros and cons of your weapons too. Bows are slow but extremely quiet. Sledgehammers are hard-hitting and can also be used for construction/destruction purposes. Machine guns are satisfying to use, but eat up ammo like no one's business.

4/15 Knives Are Underrated

Player with a knife in front of a downed zombie vulture, in 7 Days to Die

In a similar vein to the tip about keeping a Wrench on hand at all times, the same can be said for having a knife, even if it's not a weapon you use in combat. Bone Knives are super easy to make, requiring just five Bones.

Knives are important for hunting. Using them instead of axes to harvest meat and such from killed entities is more efficient and will provide you with more leather and meat. Knives are also useful for breaking up zombie vultures, which turn out to be an excellent source of feathers which are crucial for arrow production.

3/15 Stay Illuminated

A spotlight lighting up a bridge in 7 Days to Die

Lighting up your base at night will likely be one of your first projects, undertaken to make it feel more like a permanent place of residence. This is also a great way to learn how to use the Wiretool and how to utilize Electric Timer Relays to save fuel.

Keeping the perimeter of your base lit is also a great survival technique. This way, antagonistic zombies will be well-lit and easy to aim at as a result. The nights can feel long and very dark in 7 Days to Die, so spending some time keeping everything lit is an exercise in comfort if nothing else.

2/15 Keep Production Away From Home

A forge with storage chests in 7 Days to Die

One mechanic of 7 Days to Die that many players might miss is the heat map. Basically, many actions and items produce "heat" - which attracts zombies. This might be the noise of a chainsaw or the heat from a campfire.

As a result, it's a good idea to keep your heavy-duty production area away from your main base. This will include your forge, workbench, and cement mixer, for example. These are usually left active for a long time which produces a lot of heat and thus, draws a lot of attention. Campfires aren't too bad since food cooks quickly, but having a separate campfire for your bulk cooking projects might be a good idea too.

1/15 Use Minibike Storage

Player on a minibike in 7 Days to Die

There's an attractive-looking skill that you might want to take called Pack Mule. This makes the number of items you can carry without a penalty larger, but it's simply not necessary.

Instead, work your way up to building a minibike. Minibikes are great for getting around the huge open world quickly and have their own storage, making Pack Mule obsolete for all but the most greedy players. Since building vehicles is likely to require skill points too, this is a much more efficient use of them, than Pack Mule.

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