Best crafting tips for 7 Days to Die early game

Crafting is the most important part of surviving in 7 Days to Die, and the more you know in the early game, the better you’ll fare later on.

It’s not immediately obvious what’s important to consider when crafting, and some early-game recipes can help you through tough situations. Assigning your skill points in the right ways can also give you a boost, so keep reading for every tip you need.

How to craft in 7 Days to Die

To craft weapons and tools in 7 Days to Die, you need to collect the necessary materials for the recipe you need to craft and then use your crafting menu to craft it. 

Press Tab for PC or hold R1 on controller to open the crafting menu, and the recipes you have will be displayed on the left-hand side. Select the recipe you want to craft and add it to the crafting queue. Once it’s done, you’ll have a new item in your inventory. 

If you want to use the item or weapon, simply drag and drop it into your quick menu at the bottom of the screen and you’ll be able to select it for use.

How to upgrade and repair gear in 7 Days to Die

Most items in 7 Days to Die have a certain durability, so you’ll have to repair them at some point. You can do so by following these steps: 

1. Open the inventory screen.
2. Click on the damaged item. The repair material will be listed and must be in your inventory.
3. From the item’s menu options, click repair or press the shortcut key.
4. The item will be placed into the crafting queue and, once completed, will return to Max Durability with no loss in quality.

Remember that you’ll need materials to repair your gear as well. For example, if your Wooden Club has broken, you’ll need wood to repair it.

Upgrading gear is a little more complicated, as you’ll need to find Mod Recipes and craft a Workbench before you can do so. It is possible to find mods while looting containers too. Once you have your mod, you can apply it in the same menu you repair the tool or weapon in.

Important early game recipes

When you start a new server or character in 7 Days to Die, you’ll be tasked with crafting a Bedroll, Stone Axe, Wooden Club, Campfire, Building Block, and Bow and Arrow. You need to gather the necessary materials to craft all of them: 

• Bedroll: 10 Plant Fibers
• Stone Axe: 2 Small Stone, 2 Plant Fibers, 2 Wood
• Wooden Club: 5 Wood
• Primitive Bow: 3 Plant Fibers, 8 Wood
• Stone Arrow: 1 Small Stone, 1 Wood, 1 Feather
• Building Block: 2 Wood
• Campfire: 5 Small Stone

Once you have these early-game items, you’ll be set to start exploring a bit and look for a good place to set up your base. You’ll be running into zombies on the way, though, so it’ll be important to know how to craft better weapons and tools.

Crafting tools

You should prioritize getting the Stone Axe in 7 Days to Die’s early game. It can chop wood and cut stone, and it’ll help gather most other materials you need when first starting out. 

Don’t worry too much about upgrading your axe before you get other tools like a Shovel and a Pickaxe. A Shovel will help you harvest Clay Soil, Sand, Snow, and Forest Ground, but they’re the most effective tool to use when harvesting Cobblestone Rocks and Cement. 

The first Pickaxe you’ll get is likely the Iron Pickaxe, and it’ll be important for harvesting Stone, Bricks, and other Metals so you can upgrade your gear or make stronger tools and weapons. 

Crafting weapons

You’ll be able to get the materials you need for starter weapons fairly easily in 7 Days to Die’s early game. You’ll get the Wooden Club and Primitive Bow, and you’ll need to craft arrows to use as well. 

Simple Stone Arrows need stone, wood, and feathers to craft. You’ll find nests all around the map to harvest for feathers, and wood and stone can be harvested from rocks and trees with your Stone Axe.

Alternatively, you can also craft a Stone Spear in the early game. It has the same basic stats as a Wooden Club, but it’s a better pick for an early weapon if you’re playing a Perception-based character instead of Strength-based. 

Armor and clothing crafting in 7 Days to Die

You’re likely to find armor and clothing when you loot luggage, bags, or other items, but you can also craft them. While armor is important for protection against enemies, clothing is essential to protect you from the elements.

Armor

You can get both light and heavy armor. Light armor has lower durability and less protection than heavy armor, and heavy armor increases your noise levels and speed. So, whichever you choose will largely depend on your playstyle and how you choose to survive. 

Leather armor is one of the best sets to invest in the early game. You’ll need leather, duct tape, and a sewing kit to craft the pieces in this set. 

You can get leather from killing animals like snakes and rabbits, and you can loot duct tape from zombies and various containers or craft it using 1 Glue and 10 Cloth Fragments. You can find sewing kits in trash containers, schools, desks, and dumpsters.

Clothing

Wearing clothing in 7 Days to Die protects you from hot and cold environments. It’s best to use items that give you the maximum protection from these elements because there’s generally no drawback to wearing clothing. 

All types of clothing can be crafted, but it’ll be easier in the early stages of the game to search for them in containers and buildings.

Cooking food & finding water in 7 Days to Die

If you don’t eat or drink water for a while, you will start to feel the effects. You’ll lose maximum Stamina if you’re hungry, and your Stamina will regenerate a lot slower if you’re thirsty. So, it’s vital you know how to cook and gather water.

Food

You can find food and water in containers, but the chances of them being low quality are pretty high, so it’s safer to learn how to cook yourself. You’ll need the following items to cook:

• Campfire 
• Cookware (Cooking Grill, Cooking Pot)
• Fuel (Wood, Gasoline)

Once you have these three things, you also need the necessary ingredients for the recipe you’re trying to cook. You can find ingredients throughout the world by looting nests, killing animals, and looting containers. 

Otherwise, you can also grow a variety of vegetables in a Farm Plot by using seeds that you find or buy from traders. A Farm Plot can be crafted using 4 Wood, 10 Rotting Flesh, 25 Nitrate Powder, and 100 Clay Soil.

Before you can craft any Cookware, you’ll need access to a Forge. You can find these at Trader Outposts, but you can also craft one yourself and place it in your base. In the early game, it’ll be best to look for a Forge at a Trader so you can quickly craft the Cookware you need. 

Both the Cooking Grill and Cooking Pot require Iron and Clay Soil to craft. 

Water

There are two ways to collect clean water: Using a Dew Collector or boiling Murky Water on the Campfire. 

To boil Murky Water, you’ll need a Cooking Pot first, so you’ll need to follow the same process you would when you’re cooking food. 

The Dew Collector needs a Water Filter, Scrap Polymers, Short Iron Pipe, and Duct Tape to craft. While the latter three can be found in containers, you’ll need to get a Water Filter from a trader either by buying it or completing a quest for them. 

Once you have the Dew Collector, place it in the open world and wait for it to accumulate water. The rate is about three jars every 24 in-game hours. You can place multiple Dew Collectors, just make sure you have enough Water Filters to craft them.

Basics for building your base

One of the first things you’ll learn to build in 7 Days to Die is the Building Block, which you can use to build a base when you find a good spot. 

You need 2 Wood to build the Building Block, and once you’ve placed it, you can upgrade it to a stronger block by using the alternative hit with your Stone Axe. You’ll need different materials each time you upgrade the block: 

• Wood Block: 8 Wood
• Cobblestone Block: 10 Cobblestone Rocks
• Concrete Block: 10 Concrete Mix
• Steel Block: 10 Forged Steel

In the same way that you can upgrade blocks, you can also upgrade your doors. Doors are used to secure any entry points you have in your base, but you can also build fences around it to make it even more secure. 

Just like weapons and tools, your base will need repairing too. If your blocks, doors, or furniture are damaged, you need to use a tool like the Stone Axe and the corresponding materials to repair them.

It’s quite easy to see if a block needs repairing, as the damage will show up clearly on your screen. Approach it with the right tool and materials, then use the tool on the block to repair it. 

Best skills for crafting in 7 Days to Die

As you level up, you can invest in skills that will make your crafting better in 7 Days to Die. Here are the best skills to invest in for each Attribute if you want to make crafting faster and better overall:

• Perception: 
  • Lucky Looter
  • Treasure Hunter
  • Salvage Operations
• Strength: 
  • Miner 69’er
  • Mother Lode
• Fortitude:
  • Living off the Land
• Intellect:
  • Better Barter
  • Advanced Engineering

Each of these perks will either help you scavenge easier, craft quicker, or just overall help with gathering the materials you need for crafting items. Once you’ve survived your first night, you’ll feel more confident and get better at crafting and finding the materials you need as the days go on.