Butchering Skill

Butchering

Class	Skills
Type	Skill
Skill Group	Farming
Max Level	10
Total XP	32,775
Skill Books	Butchering Skill Books
Best Occupation	Rancher (+3)

The Butchering Skill governs cutting meat and other parts from dead animals. It raises the quality of meat harvested and the number of parts a carcass can give. It belongs to the Farming group.

Meat is one of the richest foods available once the stores are empty. Hunting, trapping, fishing and raising livestock all end with a carcass to process. A skilled butcher turns each animal into more and better cuts. Hides from butchering become leather for tailoring, and heads give brains for tanning. The Rancher starts with the most Butchering skill. The Chef and Fishing Guide each start with a smaller head start, and the Keen Cook and Hunter traits each add one level.

How to Level Butchering

Butchering experience comes from processing carcasses. Each part and cut taken from an animal gives experience. Better cuts give more.

Removing the hide from an animal on a butcher hook gives a large amount. Removing the head gives experience too.

Two simple recipes help at the start. Butchering a small animal gives experience. Slicing a fish into fillets gives the same amount, so fishing doubles as Butchering training.

A butcher hook is worth building early. Animals on a hook give more parts than the same carcass processed on the ground. The hook also lets the hide come off on its own.

The Fast Learner trait raises the experience rate. The Slow Learner trait lowers it.

More meat means more experience. Large animals give many parts, so a single deer or cow can give a big jump in skill. Small animals such as rabbits, rats and birds are processed on a crafting surface instead of a hook. They give less each, but trapping supplies them often.

A sharp knife or a meat cleaver does the cutting. Kitchen knives, hunting knives and stone knives all work. Read the matching skill book before a large slaughter for the biggest gain.

The hook is a placed building. Choose its spot with care, away from sleeping areas and cooking fires. An outdoor spot or a ventilated shed works well.

The XP each Butchering level asks for, with the running total from level 0.

Level	XP Needed	Total XP
1	75	75
2	150	225
3	300	525
4	750	1,275
5	1,500	2,775
6	3,000	5,775
7	4,500	10,275
8	6,000	16,275
9	7,500	23,775
10	9,000	32,775

Butchering Level Effects

Each level raises the chance of better-quality cuts of meat. Every second level also raises the most parts a carcass can give. Levels 2, 4, 6, 8 and 10 each bring that boost.

Actual yields also depend on the animal's size and meat ratio. Roadkill gives fewer parts with less nutrition. A carcass starts losing yield after half a day, and a rotting carcass can give rotten meat. Butchering soon after the kill gets the most from each animal.

Fresh meat spoils quickly after butchering. Cook it, preserve it or store it cold the same day. A large animal gives more meat than one survivor can eat before it turns, so plan the preserving work before the slaughter.

Hunted and slaughtered animals give much more than roadkill. Hitting an animal with a vehicle wastes most of the carcass. A careful kill and quick processing give the best return.

Butchering Skill Books

The Butchering Skill Books come in five volumes. Each volume speeds up experience for two levels. Butchering I: "Butchering Basics" covers the first two levels. Butchering V: "The Ergonomics of Tools in Meat Cutting Operations" covers the last two. Reading each volume just before its levels gives the most benefit.

The five volumes, the levels each one speeds up, the XP bonus while those levels are trained, and how long each takes to read. Reading times are game time at the default two minutes a page. Sitting down and wearing Reading Glasses each cut the time by a tenth, the Fast Reader trait cuts it by about a third, and Slow Reader adds a third.

Volume	Levels	XP Bonus	Pages	Read Time	Spawn ID
Butchering I: "Butchering Basics"	1 to 2	x3	220	7 h 20 min	`/additem Base.BookButchering1`
Butchering II: "From Chuck to Shank"	3 to 4	x5	260	8 h 40 min	`/additem Base.BookButchering2`
Butchering III: "Hunter's Guide to Butchering"	5 to 6	x8	300	10 h	`/additem Base.BookButchering3`
Butchering IV: "Master Butcher's Complete Guide"	7 to 8	x12	340	11 h 20 min	`/additem Base.BookButchering4`
Butchering V: "The Ergonomics of Tools in Meat Cutting Operations"	9 to 10	x16	380	12 h 40 min	`/additem Base.BookButchering5`

Set of Butchering Books bundles all five volumes in one item and unpacks into them.

Item	Image	Spawn ID
Set of Butchering Books		`/additem Base.BookButcheringSet`

Butchering Starting Levels

The Rancher begins with three levels of Butchering. The Chef begins with two levels, and the Fishing Guide begins with one. The Keen Cook and Hunter traits each add one level.

A head start means more meat from every animal in the first weeks.

The Rancher pairs Butchering with strong Animal Care, a natural fit for raising and processing livestock. The Hunter trait suits a character who brings home wild game. The Chef and Keen Cook turn the meat straight into good meals.

These occupations and traits start a character with levels in Butchering.

Name	Type	Levels	Points
Rancher	Occupation	+3	0
Chef	Occupation	+2	-2
Fishing Guide	Occupation	+1	-2
Hunter	Trait	+1	-8
Keen Cook	Trait	+1	-3

Butchering Recipes

At the lowest level, butchering covers the basics. Small animals can be butchered, and fish can be sliced into fillets.

Hides go on to further work. A softening beam and a fleshing tool clean the flesh from a hide. The fur can be kept, or removed to make crude leather. A bowl of brain tan, made from an animal brain, a bowl and water, goes into a tannin barrel with the hide. The wet leather then dries on a rack of the right size before it can be used.

Drying takes about a week. Large racks suit hides from cows and adult deer. Medium racks suit sheep and pigs, and small racks suit rabbits and young animals. The racks themselves come from Carpentry.

Finished leather goes to Tailoring. Large pieces can be cut into medium ones, and medium pieces into small ones. Leather strips make the strongest padding for clothing, so a butcher with a tannin barrel supplies some of the best protection in the game.

Every recipe that asks for Butchering or trains it, one tab per level asked.

Name	Image	Recipe	Crafting Materials	Tools	Skill	Station	Learned	Spawn ID
Frog Meat		Butcher Small Animal	1x Frog or similar	Large Knife	Butchering: 0	Any Surface	No	`/additem Base.FrogMeat`
2x Fish Fillet		Slice Fillet	1x Salmon	Large Knife	Butchering: 0	In Hand	No	`/additem Base.FishFillet`