In 7 Days to Die, Perks are part of the Skills and Perks system and play a pivotal role in shaping the survival experience, offering players the opportunity to specialize and thrive in the unforgiving post-apocalyptic world. These Perks provide a diverse array of abilities and bonuses, ranging from enhancing combat prowess to improving resource management and crafting efficiency. Whether you aspire to be a master marksman, a cunning scavenger, or a proficient builder, the Perks system offers customization options that cater to various playstyles, ensuring each survivor can carve out their own path to survival amidst the zombie-infested wasteland.
Attributes
There are 5 main Attributes: Perception, Strength, Fortitude, Agility, and Intellect, each having 10 levels and giving a bonus in that category with every level. The player starts with one level in all five attributes and can continue leveling them up at their discretion by spending skill points. Levels 2-5 cost one skill point each, levels 6-8 cost two skill points each, and the last two levels cost 3 points each.
Each of the main Attributes have its own Perks associated with it. These Attribute-Associated Perks have a prerequisite level of the Attribute which must be met in order to further advance levels in that Perk. Note that certain Drugs and other items can be used to increase attributes temporarily, which may allow a prerequisite to be met for a Perk. However, if the Drug or item effect wears off, and the character no longer meets the prerequisites for a given Perk level, they lose the benefit of that Perk level until they again meet the prerequisite.
Most Perks require the exact same Attribute levels, but there are exceptions.
| Skill Level | Most Perks | Lucky Looter & | Pack Mule | Miner 69'er & Mother Lode | Robotics Inventor | Advanced Engineering | Grease Monkey |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Attribute 1 | Perception 1 | Strength 1 | Strength 1 | Intelligence 3 | Intelligence 1 | Intelligence 2 |
| 2 | Attribute 3 | Perception 2 | Strength 2 | Strength 2 | Intelligence 5 | Intelligence 4 | Intelligence 4 |
| 3 | Attribute 5 | Perception 3 | Strength 3 | Strength 3 | Intelligence 6 | Intelligence 6 | Intelligence 6 |
| 4 | Attribute 7 | Perception 5 | Strength 4 | Strength 5 | Intelligence 8 | Intelligence 8 | Intelligence 8 |
| 5 | Attribute 10 | Perception 7 | Strength 5 | Strength 7 | Intelligence 10 | Intelligence 10 | Intelligence 10 |
Attribute-Associated Perks
Perception Attribute
Perception is the measure of your sensory awareness. Level one of this perk gives 200% headshot damage to spears, rifles and explosive weapons. Levels 2-8 increase headshot damage by 10% and chance to dismember by 5%. Levels 9 and 10 increase headshot damage by 15% and dismember chance by 5%. It's split into three subcategories with various perks related to combat, general perception, and scavenging.
 Combat Perks
| |
|---|---|
 Dead Eye
|
"Specialize in taking keen aim with rifles and wasting your target with an expertly-placed bullet. One shot, one kill." |
 Demolitions Expert
|
"Specialize in explosive weapons to stun, cripple and dismember your foes." |
 Spear Master
|
"Learn to inflict more damage and slow your enemies with powerful attacks." |
 Quick and Perceptive
|
"You are quick and perceptive. Improve attack speeds with spears." |
 General Perception Perks
| |
| The Infiltrator
|
"Use your heightened senses to take less damage from traps." |
 Animal Tracker
|
"Learn to detect and track animals within 100m and never go hungry." |
 The Penetrator
|
"You find weak spots in a target's armor and can use AP rifle bullets to shoot through multiple organic targets." |
 Scavenging Perks
| |
 Lucky Looter
|
"Specialize in tracking down the motherlode, and maybe getting a little extra for your trouble. You find better loot with every perk level." |
| "Become one of the greatest treasure hunters of all time learning tricks that would even make Blackbeard envious." | |
 Salvage Operations
|
"Waste not, want not! Salvage items for more resources with a wrench, ratchet, or impact driver." |
Strength Attribute
Strength is the measure of your muscular might. Level one of this perk gives 200% headshot damage to shotguns, clubs and sledgehammers. Levels 2-8 increase headshot damage by 10% and chance to dismember by 5%. Levels 9 and 10 increase headshot damage by 15% and dismember chance by 5%. It's split into three subcategories with various perks related to combat, general strength, and construction.
| Combat Perks
| |
|---|---|
 Boomstick
|
"Specialize with shotguns and send your enemies to meet their maker. Do more damage, blow limbs off, shoot and reload faster." |
 Pummel Pete
|
"Specialize in knocking your foes senseless with clubs and bats." |
 Skull Crusher
|
"Specialize in destroying enemies with heavy weapons like sledgehammers." |
| Big and Fast
|
"You are not just strong, but you are fast as well. Increase club and sledgehammer speeds." |
 General Strength Perks
| |
 Heavy Armor
|
"Specialize in shielding yourself with iron and steel, becoming an unstoppable behemoth on the battlefield." |
 Pack Mule
|
"You're a pack mule and can carry more items in your inventory without suffering movement penalties." |
 Master Chef
|
"Create more filling meals with advanced benefits and learn to cook faster." |
 Construction Perks
| |
 Miner 69’er
|
"Maximize your mining efforts by increasing tool damage to bring down rocks and trees faster." |
 Mother Lode
|
"Harvest more resources and bring home the mother lode." |
Fortitude Attribute
Fortitude is the measure of your physical resilience. Level one of this perk gives 200% headshot damage to fists and machine guns. Levels 2-8 increase headshot damage by 10% and chance to dismember by 5%. Levels 9 and 10 increase headshot damage by 15% and dismember chance by 5%. It's split into three subcategories with various perks related to combat, survival, and recovery.
| Combat Perks
| |
|---|---|
 The Brawler
|
"Learn martial arts and use your fists to stun, knock down, disarm and ragdoll your opponent. |
 Machine Gunner
|
"Become a commando using automatic weapons to slay your foes." |
| Lightning Hands
|
"Pulverize your enemies with faster brawling strikes." |
 Survival Perks
| |
 The Huntsman
|
"Specialize in hunting your prey and harvesting more meat, bone and leather." |
 Well Insulated
|
"Specialize in using a combination of clothing and natural resilience to weather even the harshest of environments." |
 Living Off The Land
|
"Specialize in harvesting more crops using your hands or a tool." |
 Pain Tolerance
|
"Specialize in shrugging off blows, fighting through pain and staying in the fight when others would be down for the count." |
 Recovery Perks
| |
 Healing Factor
|
"Specialize in boosting your natural healing rates as long as you're not starving." |
 Iron Gut
|
"Specialize in gastrointestinal health to reduce chance of food poisoning and nutrient uptake to use less calories and oxygen swimming." |
 Rule 1: Cardio
|
"Train your body in number one tactic against the zombie menace: Running away from them." |
Agility Attribute
Agility is the measure of your athletic prowess. Level one of this perk gives 200% headshot damage and have a 5% chance to dismember with bows, handguns, and knives. Levels 2-8 increase headshot damage by 10% and chance to dismember by 5%. Levels 9 and 10 increase headshot damage by 15% and dismember chance by 5%. It's split into three subcategories with various perks related to combat, athletics, and stealth.
| Combat Perks
| |
|---|---|
| Archery
|
"Master the use of bows and crossbows." |
 Gunslinger
|
"Settle your disputes the old way and be a gunslinger in the apocalypse. Master the use of handguns and SMG. Unlocks pistol crafting." |
 Deep Cuts
|
"Specialize in using bladed weapons like knives or machetes (not axes) to bleed your foes dry." |
| Whirlwind
|
"Learn to swing your blades fast and become a whirlwind of destruction and carnage." |
 Athletic Perks
| |
 Run and Gun
|
"Improve your hip fire accuracy and run faster while reloading any ranged weapon." |
 Medium Armor
|
"Specialize in medium armor to reduce degradation, stamina, and movement penalties." |
 Parkour
|
"Specialize in acrobatically getting anywhere you want to go, no matter how far up or far down that may be." |
 Stealth Perks
| |
 Hidden Strike
|
"Specialize in catching your enemies unaware while you are sneaking and they are resting or wandering aimlessly." |
 From The Shadows
|
"Specialize in sneaking around in the dark and making less noise in general." |
Intellect Attribute
Intellect is the measure of your mental ability. Increasing Intellect improves head shot damage with intellect governed weapons such as Robotic turrets and stun batons. Level one of this perk gives 200% headshot damage and have a 5% chance to dismember with stun batons and Robotic turrets. Levels 2-8 increase headshot damage by 10% and chance to dismember by 5%. Levels 9 and 10 increase headshot damage by 15% and dismember chance by 5%. It's split into three subcategories with various perks related to combat, incluence, and general intellect.
| Combat Perks
| |
|---|---|
 Electrocutioner
|
"Learn how to use stun batons more effectively. Incapacitate your victims easier and do more damage." |
 Robotics Inventor
|
"You are fascinated with robotics. Learn to use and craft deployed weapons." |
| Calculated Attack
|
"Use your intellect to determine the shortest trajectory to the target and effectively increase attack speed with batons." |
 Influence Perks
| |
 Better Barter
|
"Specialize in convincing area traders to give you a better deal and open up their secret stashes of the really good stuff." |
 The Daring Adventurer
|
"Be a daring adventurer! Get better rewards for doing quests." |
 Charismatic Nature
|
"You are an inspiration to your allies, increasing their combat prowess." |
 General Intellect Perks
| |
 Physician
|
"Use medicine and health items more effectively." |
 Advanced Engineering
|
"Engineer advanced items such as workbenches, electrical items and traps and craft 20% faster on workbenches." |
| "Learn to build vehicles from junk in the wasteland! Vehicles can be assembled from parts without this perk." | |
 Lock Picking
|
"Learn to pick locks faster and break less lock picks." |
Book Perks
There are many other Perks that are not directly associated with character Attributes. These Book Perks cannot be purchased using skill points and are only able to be obtained by reading the various Perk Books found throughout the game world. Each volume of the various Perk Books unlocks a permanent Perk that provides a specific benefit to various aspects of gameplay. These Perk Books do not need to be read in any particular order. Read all the volumes in a series and receive a special collector's perk.
Videos
What skills to get first, keep in mind that you can get enough points to max out every skill.