Penlight
| Penlight | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Light Source |
| Weight | 0.2 |
| Uses | about 1000 |
| Light Range | 11 tiles |
| Light Strength | 1.2 |
| Beam | Focused cone |
| Metal Value | 5 |
| Research |
|
| Location | Containers |
| Spawn ID | /additem Base.PenLight
|
The Penlight is a slim battery torch of the kind nurses and doctors use for eye checks. It works as a small flashlight held in one hand.
Its great strength is battery life. A single battery keeps it lit for close to a week of game time. That makes it the thriftiest battery light in the game. Its cost is a short, dim beam that shows far less than a full flashlight.
The Penlight is light and easy to carry as a backup light. It is found in hospitals, medical offices, camping stores and on zombies in nurse uniforms.
Using
The Penlight is held in either hand and switched on with the light key. It throws a narrow cone of light about eleven tiles ahead. Holding it beside a weapon makes a two-handed weapon drop to one hand where possible.
It runs on a single battery. The Insert Battery and Remove Battery recipes swap batteries in and out. A Penlight may spawn with a battery already inside.
Compared with the Flashlight, the beam is shorter and weaker. The Flashlight reaches about fifteen tiles with a brighter light. The trade is battery life: the Penlight drains its battery about six times slower. The Flashlight - Heavy Duty lights much farther, out to about twenty-five tiles, but eats batteries faster still.
Research Craft on the Penlight teaches Make Improvised Flashlight and Make Improvised Lantern.
Upkeep
The battery drains only while the light is on. A full battery lasts about 165 hours of use. The light starts to flicker when the battery runs low. Once the charge is gone, the empty battery is used up and the Penlight stays behind, ready for a fresh one. Switching it off when not needed stretches a battery even further.
Research
The Research Craft option in the inventory menu studies the Penlight and teaches the recipes below.
| Recipe | Output | Image | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make Improvised Flashlight | Flashlight - Improvised | 
|
/additem Base.Flashlight_Crafted
|
| Make Improvised Lantern | Improvised Electric Lantern | 
|
/additem Base.Lantern_CraftedElectric
|
Used in Crafting
These recipes accept the Penlight by its type rather than by name.
| Recipe | Output | Image | Station | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insert Battery | - | - | - | - |
| Remove Battery | Battery | 
|
- | /additem Base.Battery
|
Locations
Hospital room counters are the best place and hold one about half the time. Zombies in nurse uniforms carry one fairly often, and nurse homes keep them in dressers and medicine cabinets. Medical offices, dentists, medical storage and hospital halls hold them on counters and desks. Camping stores, hunting lodges and pawn shops stock them too. Ambulance drivers and coroner offices round out the list. It is a common find in any medical building.
The places where it spawns, with the rough chance per container. Each tab shows one kind of place.
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital room | Counter | 54% |
| Nurse | Dresser | 21% |
| Dentist | Side table | 16% |
| Medical | Counter | 16% |
| Medical storage | Counter | 16% |
| Medical storage | Metal shelves | 16% |
| Medical office | Counter | 15.9% |
| Office | Counter | 15.9% |
| Camping store | Counter | 15.7% |
| Camping store | Other | 15.7% |
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Any building | Zombie wearing a nurse outfit | 22.7% |
| Nurse | Body | 16.3% |
| Any building | Zombie wearing a ambulance driver outfit | 15.6% |
| Any building | Zombie wearing a doctor outfit | 12.2% |
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Hospital hallway | Counter | 15.9% |
| Hospital hallway | Desk | 13.4% |
| Hospital hallway | Metal shelves | 5.8% |
| Kitchenware shop | Shelves | 2.4% |
| Garage storage | Other | 1.6% |
| Closet | Other | 0.8% |
| Attic | Cardboard box | 0.4% |
| Attic | Crate | 0.4% |
| Attic | Other | 0.4% |
| Closet | Locker | 0.4% |
| Location | Container | Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Pawn shop | Other | 15.7% |
| Pharmacy storage | Desk | 13.4% |
| Houseware store | Shelves | 12% |
| Nurse | Small box | 9.5% |
| General store | Shelves | 7.2% |
| Pharmacy storage | Other | 6.4% |
| Pawn shop | Metal shelves | 3.1% |
| Pawn shop | Shelves | 3.1% |
| Outdoor supply store | Other | 1.6% |
| Outdoorsupply storage | Other | 1.6% |
Notes
- A Penlight makes a fine spare light that outlasts every other battery light.
- The beam is short, so it suits searching rooms more than spotting zombies at a distance.
- A low battery shows itself by a flickering light.
- Research Craft on it unlocks two improvised light recipes.
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