Skills changes in Project Zomboid

Fixed an exploit that allowed users to gain XP illegitimately

Fixed XP boost provided by skill books not being calculated properly in some cases

Fixed players not gaining Tracking XP when sneaking near wild animals

Fixed inconsistent XP gain for Sneaking and Lightfooted skills during stealth movement

New Skill VHS tapes have been added to the game.

Most occupations now start with more skill points in the skills that fit the job.

Tailoring XP now comes mainly from crafting items instead of repeatedly sewing patches, so the old patch grind is less useful.

Tailoring skill level requirements are reworked so higher levels unlock more complex items to craft.

Tailoring now gives more XP for crafting more complex items.

The Reloading skill now actually speeds up your reloads in single player.

Fixed Reloading skill has no impact on reload speed in SP

Fixed XP boost provided by skill books grants only 2.7 points instead of 3

Fixed missing XP gain notification when crafting items.

Every sharpenable item now has a sharpness value, so you can no longer sharpen items endlessly to grind Maintenance XP.

Fixed items with ItemTag.SHARPENABLE that didn't have a sharpness value, allowing infinite sharpening to grind maintenance XP.

The skill level-up sound effect now plays in multiplayer.

Fixed missing skill level increases sfx in MP

Skills now have the correct multipliers applied.

Fixed wrong multipliers being applied to skills

Along with the new distance bonus, foraging still gives bonus XP for difficult finds and less XP for low level items.

XP bonuses for difficult finds/diminishing returns for low level items still apply.

Picking up items while foraging no longer gives XP; only finding them does.

XP has been removed from the pickup action while foraging.

• XP has been removed from the pickup action while foraging. Only finds will grant XP.

Foraging now records the distance XP snapshot when a marker arrow appears.

Adjusted trigger for distance XP snapshot to occur when a marker arrow appears.

Fixed skill tooltips interfering with mouse-wheel scrolling in the Skills panel.

Electrical, farming and mechanics skill levels are now checked properly, so a high enough level unlocks generator, farming and season mechanics just as learning the recipe would.

Character's electrical, farming, and mechanics skill levels are now properly checked; if skill level is high enough, the appropriate generator/farming/season mechanics will be unlocked as if they learned them via a recipe.

The Handy trait and the Carpenter, Repairman and Engineer professions now give an extra level in Masonry.

The Handy trait, Carpenter profession, Repairman profession, and Engineer profession receive a +1 skill level in Masonry.

The default skill bonus, used when a script does not set its own, is cut sharply because it was far too high.

Reduced base skill-related bonus from 200 to 20, this value is used in some cases where the script does not define it, and was way too high.

Adding and removing patches gives less Tailoring XP, so patching is no longer a quick way to level the skill.

XP gained from adding and removing patches has been reduced.

• XP gained from adding and removing patches has been reduced. It was previously increased to help players level up Tailoring more easily, but based on player feedback, using patching solely to advance the skill is not a desirable approach.

Forging nails now needs skill level 1 instead of 3, so you can make your own nails much earlier.

Changed the skill level requirement for forging nails from 3 to 1.

These recipes now give a modest amount of Blacksmithing XP when they use a blacksmithing forge, so crafting them also helps level the skill.

These recipes, if they involving a blacksmithing forge, will also provide a modest amount of Blacksmithing XP.

Forging Goblets now needs a higher skill level.

Increased the required skill level to forge Goblets, as they're much fancier than metal cups..

Some Tailoring crafts give more XP, closer to other crafting skills, so Tailoring levels up faster.

Increased the XP award for some Tailoring crafts; they were low in comparison to other crafting skill recipes.

Researching items no longer gives any XP.

Removed XP from researching items.

Building things now gives XP closer to what dismantling gives; before, with tile dismantling on, destroying tiles earned far more XP than building them.

This is because previously, with tile dismantling enabled, xp-wise it was far more productive to destroy tiles than to make them, by a high degree.

• This is because previously, with tile dismantling enabled, xp-wise it was far more productive to destroy tiles than to make them, by a high degree. The xp awards for building stuff were remarkably low compared to dismantling mechanics.

The knapped stone awl recipe no longer needs any skill level, so you can make one right from the start.

The knapp stone awl craftRecipe requires no skill level to perform.

Wood Spoons can now be carved into Wood Forks and Bone Spoons into Bone Forks, so you can earn carving XP twice from the same tableware.

Wood Spoons can be used to carve Wood Forks and Boon Spoons and be used to carve Bone Forks.

• Wood Spoons can be used to carve Wood Forks and Boon Spoons and be used to carve Bone Forks. This just makes sense but also allows for cunning XP goblins to double down their gains when crafting carved tableware.

Cutting Fish Fillets into smaller pieces no longer gives XP, which closes an XP exploit; the option exists so oversized fillets fit in smaller containers.

Removed XP for sub-dividing Fish Fillets; this was just so oversize Fish Fillets could be made to fit smaller containers, but players were using it as an XP generating exploit.

Building tiles gives more XP in general, so construction skills level up faster.

Boosted the xp, in general, for constructing tiles.

Building a tile now gives at least 10 XP for each level of skill it requires, and tiles with no skill requirement give between 1 and 6 XP.

• This should now be, minimum, 10xp/per level of skill requirement
• 1-6 xp for 0 skill tiles.

Crafted armor now unlocks more gradually: forearm and shin pieces come first, then shoulders and thighs, then body armor, instead of most of a set unlocking at once.

The skill level requirements, and autoLearn level requirements, were adjusted to provide more of a sense of progression, generally following a, from low to high, forearms/shins -> shoulders/thighs -> body armor progression.

• The skill level requirements, and autoLearn level requirements, were adjusted to provide more of a sense of progression, generally following a, from low to high, forearms/shins -> shoulders/thighs -> body armor progression. Generally speaking, instead of being able to make most of an entire set of an armor type upon hitting a certain skill level(s) breakpoint, it will be paced out in a slower fashion.

Researching an item's recipe now gives the same XP as crafting that recipe would.

Researching an item's craftRecipe will also grant the same amount of xp as performing that craftRecipe would provide.

Skill levels needed for automatically learned recipes were reshuffled, some lower and some higher, so you should unlock more recipe options as you level up.

• This was done to provide a more gradual progression with the autoLearned recipe with these skills, some skills have lower requirements, some have higher, but the net effect should provide the players with more options in general as they progress in skill levels.

Recipe unlocks are spread more evenly across skill levels, so you get fewer recipe learned messages at once when you level up.

In addition to a more gradual progression, it means less spammy learned recipe messages when gaining skill levels.

Repairing or sharpening Shears and Chisels that are not damaged no longer gives Maintenance XP.

Fixed receiving Maintenance XP when repairing/sharpening undamaged Shears and Chisels.

The skill level needed for the last wooden chair tier now matches the level that unlocks it in the menu.

Fixed skill level requirement not matching the level that unlocks the last wooden chair tier in the menu.

Foraging can now turn up several new skill books, recipe magazines and crafting tools, including hard-to-find bottleneck items.

Added several new skill books, recipe magazines, and crafting tools, especially "bottleneck" items, to the foraging tables.

The Maintenance skill now levels up twice as fast.

Doubled maintenance xp gain.

These two crafts need no skill level and no recipe to learn, so you can grind Masonry and Knapping xp from limestone found lying on the ground.

Both of these crafts don't have a skill level or learning requirement, and can be used to grind Masonry and Knapping xp from Limestone, which can be found lying around on the ground.

Crafting several weapons now gives more xp.

Increased the xp gained for several weapon craftRecipes.

The recipes for the heading tool, metalworking punch, masonry chisel and masonry trowel need less skill and lower quality tools, so these key tools are easier to make.

Relaxed the skill level and tool quality requirements for several "bottleneck recipes": heading tool; metalworking punch; masonry chisel; and masonry trowel.

Sharpening small bones and sharpening long bones are now separate crafts with different skill requirements.

Previously one craftRecipe, "SharpenBone" could be used to produce both small sharp bones and long sharp bones depending on what kind of bone was the input.

• Previously one craftRecipe, "SharpenBone" could be used to produce both small sharp bones and long sharp bones depending on what kind of bone was the input. Now they are two separate crafts, "SharpenBone" and "SharpenLongBone", with differing skill level requirements.

The long sharp bone does a little less damage and wears out a little faster, but many bone crafts now give more xp.

Some minor nerfs to the durability and damage of the long sharp bone.

• Some minor nerfs to the durability and damage of the long sharp bone.
• Increased the xp gain for many bone-associated crafts.

Several leather and hide crafts give more XP, so you level up faster by making them.

Boosted the xp gain for several leather and hide crafting crafts.

Nimble XP is now only given when your character actually moves, so holding keys down while AFK no longer levels it.

• Fixed being able to hold down keys while AFKing to grind nimble
• now a check is made to ensure that the character has actually moved before awarding XP.

Cameras can now be dismantled for scrap and skill points.

Skill books have new names so they are easier to sort by category.

Renamed Skill books so that they are easier to categorise.

• focus effectiveness is determined by player skill and category

Stones and firewood no longer need any skill to identify while foraging, so any character can focus on them.