In State of Decay 2, your survivor's traits are critical for long-term survival for both the individual character and the group as a whole. With the right traits, a survivor can be a major benefit for everyone’s overall survival. But the wrong traits can easily doom everyone just as easily.
There are over a thousand different traits that each survivor can have and which ones they pick up is entirely randomized. While the game is receiving continual updates and new traits all the time, these are considered by the fanbase to be the best a survivor can receive.
Updated on January 2, 2022 By William Quick: The zombie-filled world of State Of Decay 2 is not an easy one to survive in. You need to take many risks just on the off chance that you'll find something which will help last to the end of the week. Aside from reliable equipment and resources, perks are extremely useful in keeping your survivor healthy and active.
15 Infectious Energy
Very early into the game players will find they need Influence for a variety of things. Everything from buying outposts to using radio calls will consume varying amounts of Influence. It’s important to earn Influence as quickly as possible.
Survivors with the Infectious Energy trait get the following perks:
- +15% Influence Gained
- +50% Facility Action Speed
This allows survivors with this trait to quickly gain Influence when performing various actions. They also cause facilities to pump out resources at a much faster rate. Getting a survivor with this trait early on is a major boost to reaching the mid-game sooner.
14 Blood Plague Survivor
In a world dominated by flesh-eating monsters transformed by a highly infectious virus, your priority will be to take whatever measure necessary to keep yourself and others from getting infected. The infection comes with a number of negative effects that will only make the game that much harder for you.
That's why Survivors should take the Blood Plague Survivor trait for the following benefit:
- -100% Plague Infection
With this equipped, you'll never have to worry about getting infected or being caught off-guard by a rogue zombie that decided to bite you while you pick herbs.
13 Keeps Hidden Pouches
Scavenging resources will consume much of the player's time. It’s a delicate balance of consuming some resources like gas, medical supplies, and ammo in the hopes of getting more back. The more the player can bring back, the fewer trips they'll need to make.
The Keeps Hidden Pouches trait provides three important benefits to the survivor that has it:
- +10 Light Carrying Capacity
- +10 Max Carrying Capacity
- +1 Max Consumable Stack
Survivors with this trait will benefit big time when going on a resource run. That consumable stack is also handy for taking useful items into battle and keeping teammates alive on that run.
12 Quartermaster
With survivors bringing in extra resources, especially those with the Keeps Hidden Pouches traits, it’s important to have somewhere to put it all. Every base has a limited amount of space to keep things and going over that limit will result in lost resources.
The Quartermaster trait is all about doing more with less, evidenced by the following bonuses:
- +5 Max Materials Storage
- +5 Max Fuel Storage
- +5 Max Ammo Storage
The only survivors who have this handy trait are Red Talon Contractors. They cost valuable Prestige Points but they’ll more than earn their keep and make surviving much easier.
11 Survival Hunter
Survival Hunter is a simple but effective trait with a single perk.
- -50% Food Consumed Per Day
This is huge as it eases the burden of generating enough food to feed everyone when these individuals have half the requirement.
What’s even better is this trait comes with the quirk of Game Hunting, which enables the survivor to craft stat-boosting meals for the group. It also comes with the hero perk of Hunting Trips, which brings in +1 food every day. The more survivors you have with this trait the fewer food-related problems you'll end up with.
10 Immortal
State Of Decay 2 presents a world where safety is never guaranteed and one mistake can cost you your life. A big part of the game is the exploration and you never know when your scavenging may catch the attention of a roving pack of zombies that will immediately make a beeline for your jugular. Because of this, you'll want to do everything you can to protect yourself.
The Immortal trait can help with this by providing these benefits:
- -40% Injury Severity
- +45 Max Health
This provides a nice buffer for your health and physical condition which is useful in both exploring and combat since it'll reduce the negative impact of any damage you take.
9 Unbreakable
There are a lot of dangers in the midst of the zombie apocalypse. The last thing anyone wants is a debilitating injury that makes survival harder. In State Of Decay 2, there are a number of injuries the survivors can suffer and be hindered by.
The Unbreakable trait accomplishes this by offering two benefits to the survivor that has it:
- +45 Max Health
- -100% Injury Chance
These survivors can take more punishment and walk away without any long-lasting injuries that affect their performance. This is also very handy when facing zombies like the Juggernaut or the Feral where one successful swipe is enough to cause an injury.
8 Diehard Veteran
The Diehard Veteran is a beast in combat with the undead. A survivor with this trait will have a number of benefits.
- -40% Injury Severity
- +100 Infection Resistance
- +10 Light Carrying Capacity
The best perk is their Heroism Fighting Skill. This further decreases injury severity, raises max health, decreases melee stamina cost, and comes with a number of fighting techniques and bonuses. This trait makes the survivor into a warrior capable of withstanding most engagements without needing as much medicine afterward.
7 Indefatigable
On top of keeping your health intact, you'll want to keep your energy up as well. Having full health and no debuffs won't do much good if you have no stamina to fight off all the enemies that have boundless amounts of energy to pursue and hunt you down. It's wise to make sure you always have the strength to retreat when necessary.
The Indefatigable perk offers will the following perks:
- -40% Fatigue Severity
- +30 Max Stamina
Stamina is an important attribute that you'll want to maintain as you try to survive. You'll need it to defend yourself from attackers and perform important tasks, so using this trait will help to build a healthy Stamina reserve that you can continue to grow.
6 Red Talon Operative
Red Talon Contractors tend to make the best survivors in the game. And given their exclusive traits, it’s not hard to see why. They are often fierce warriors that can go the distance and survive long term. But they also have helpful logistical traits like Red Talon Operative.
With the Red Talon Operative trait survivors receive three incredible perks:
- -95% Durability Loss Per Strike
- +60 Max Carrying Capacity
- -100% Fatigue Severity
Weapons take much longer to break, they can carry a ton of items, and they can run a very long time. A survivor with this trait is excellent for going on long, dangerous runs for supplies where fighting and fleeing are necessary.
5 Eats Like A Bird
Although most of the population of State Of Decay 2 has shifted to a Survivor-exclusive diet, those on the menu are fighting over the few resources that remain. You'll spend a lot of time combing through different areas in hopes of finding anything useful. Of everything out there, food is among the biggest necessities and not as common as it used to be.
You can counteract this with the positive effect of the Eats Like A Bird trait:
- -50% Food Consumed Per Day
You need to eat consistently in order to avoid any negative health conditions, but food won't always be available when you need it. This trait will definitely buy you more time to search as well as save any food you have in your stockpile.
4 Officer Material
Those with the Officer Material trait are fantastic survivors thanks to two important perks.
- +50% Wits Experience Gain
- +6 Morale
The Wits experience gain allows them to pick up Wit-based skills very quickly. One they’re particularly adept with is Tactics, which combines Field Testing, Obsession, Scavenging, and Vigilance into one skill.
The morale bonus is huge for offsetting a negative trait like Pessimist, which sees a -5 to morale. In summary, Officer Material survivors are great leaders in the field that will help a team stay alive, avoid danger, and come back with loot.
3 Bright-Eyed Recruit/Patient Caretaker
Bright-Eyed Recruit and Patient Caretaker are essentially the same traits with no variance so are included as a single entry. These traits cause the survivor to receive a single benefit.
- +15 Morale
This allows them to shrug off other traits like Dolorous, which has a -3 to morale but gives max Stamina bonuses as a hero.
It’s also a fantastic trait to have when there are negative members of the group who might have useful skills, such as someone with the Quick To Despair trait who’s also good at fishing. The effects of such toxicity are absorbed by this trait.
2 Can Sleep Anywhere
Whenever you decide to embark on an ambitious excursion, there's always a chance that you'll go further than expected and tire yourself out significantly. After getting back to your base, you'll want to find a place to sleep. But depending on how many Survivors there are, there may not be any beds available.
The Can Sleep Anywhere perk can address this issue:
- -1 Beds Used
Sleep deprivation is a very real condition that Survivors can come down with if they don't get much-needed rest. This trait will allow them to hit the hay as soon as they return without having to worry about taking a bed from someone who needs it.
1 Volunteer Coordinator
Perhaps the best trait in the game is Volunteer Coordinator, it gives players a single but powerful boon.
- +4 Morale (For All Survivors)
These individuals are walking beacons of positivity. This is essential when there are negative members in the group, and can keep everyone going in spite of awful conditions.
They also have the nice perk of starting out with the Gardening Community Skill. This can lead to the survivor increasing crop yields and even growing medicines. The boost to morale, food, and medicine makes the Volunteer Coordinator a major asset to any community trying to survive.