Best Positive Traits - Project Zomboid Guide - IGN (2024)

The character creation process in Project Zomboid is rich, allowing players the freedom to completely handcraft their in-game experience. In order to tailor your game to your personal playstyle, it's important to pick the right Traits when building your character. Picking the right Occupation is important as a base, but Traits can make or break your overall gameplay.

Here, we've handpicked the best positive Traits in Project Zomboid that are worth budgeting for when planning a run.

Make sure to check out our negative Traits tier list too, to help you balance out your character and keep things interesting.

1. Fit
2. Lucky
3. Stout
4. Dexterous
5. Wakeful
6. Fast Learner

Fit

When it comes to picking out the best Traits in Project Zomboid, it's important to keep your point budget in mind.

You have a finite amount of points to spend on Traits and Occupations when building a character, meaning you'll need to take several negative Traits to balance out more expensive ones. Some of the more popular Traits have a cheaper counterpart and Fit is a perfect example.

Fit is a cheaper version of the Athletic Trait, providing a +2 buff to the Fitness stat and costing 6 points overall. Athletic does come with more buffs – notably, faster running and better endurance – but it also costs a whopping 10 points. The Fit Trait will generally do the trick and help you stay alive for longer.

Lucky

To start, Lucky is one of the best Traits that you can pick if you're playing Project Zomboid by yourself. It's not too expensive, coming in at 4 points overall, and provides a massive long-term benefit for solo players looking to find loot.

While the in-game description is somewhat vague - saying "sometimes, things just go your way" – it's actually a simple buff. It provides a flat 10% buff to your chance of finding important loot during your run, including weapons, recipes, and tools.

Stout

Physical buffs are a great way to hit the ground running when jumping into a Project Zomboid playthrough for the first time. In fact, they're best suited for newer players who are still getting to grips with combat and stealth.

Stout is a more affordable version of the Strong Trait, costing 6 points as compared to the 10 points needed to pick up Strong.

Picking Stout gives you access to extra melee knockback, making fights somewhat easier, and extra carrying strength. Additionally, Stout characters get a +2 Strength skill buff, making this a valuable use of 6 points.

Dexterous

Something that can really hinder you in Project Zomboid is poor inventory management and item optimization. There are several Mods that can help with this, but picking the right Traits can make it a lot easier to keep track of your items and organize them, too.

The Dexterous Trait simply helps players transfer items to their inventory quicker. It sounds simple, but it can make all the difference in tricky supply runs – and it only costs 2 points, too. It's a worthwhile pick for players who enjoy trickier Game Modes.

Wakeful

Wakeful is a cost-effective Trait that means your character needs less sleep to function at their peak. This is incredibly useful in the long run, giving you more time to scout for supplies and build effective defensive systems.

Importantly, this Trait only costs 2 points, making it one of the cheapest Traits in this list. It's much more useful for single-player runs, so consider picking this if you're flying solo.

Fast Learner

If you want to maximize your lifespan in Project Zomboid, you're going to need to train your character and work on your skillset. This can take time and effort – but the Fast Learner Trait can make it a lot easier to manage.

Costing 6 points, this Trait allows for an increase in experience gains. This can make training crucial skills like Tailoring a lot easier, which can make crafting important items and tools a lot easier, too. It's well worth the points to pick this up.