Veteran
| Veteran | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Class | Occupations |
| Type | Occupation |
| Points | -8 |
| Skill Boosts | |
| Free Traits | Desensitized |
The Veteran brings firearm skills and a steady nerve that panic cannot shake. It suits a survivor who wants to fight without fear.
The occupation costs 8 points from the trait budget, the most of any occupation. It starts with two levels each in Aiming and Reloading. The Desensitized trait comes free, so the character is far less prone to panic and ignores discomfort. The Veteran also knows how to make a tarp chest rig.
Panic is one of the quiet killers of a new run. A frightened survivor aims worse, hits softer and cannot sleep. The Veteran skips all of that from the first day. The price is the steepest in the game, so the rest of the build has to be paid for with negative traits. That cost makes the Veteran a better fit for an experienced player than for a first character.
Veteran Skills
Two levels of Aiming raise the chance to hit and the chance of a critical hit. Shots land more often, so less ammunition is wasted. Firearms also lose condition a little more slowly.
Higher Aiming also lets a shooter fire again sooner after each shot. The aim recovers faster after moving. Most firearms reach a little further with each level, and rifles gain more range from the skill than pistols.
Two levels of Reloading speed up swapping magazines and loading rounds. The Veteran has the best Reloading start of any occupation. Revolvers, breech-loaded shotguns and rifles with an internal magazine all reload faster too. Faster reloads let a shooter keep firing during a fight instead of backing off.
Each starting level shows as an experience boost at character creation. Both skills train faster as a result.
Both skills slow down from level 5. From that point, experience gains drop to a little over a third of the normal rate. The later skill books for both skills are especially valuable for that reason.
A new Veteran starts with these skill levels.
| Skill | Levels | Skill Group |
|---|---|---|
| Aiming | +2 | Combat - Firearms |
| Reloading | +2 | Combat - Firearms |
Veteran Free Traits
Desensitized comes free with the occupation. Panic is one of the most dangerous moodles, because it hurts aim and fighting. The Veteran stays calm through everything except nightmares. The trait also means discomfort has no effect.
That calm makes every fight steadier, even in front of a horde.
Panic normally builds in levels. Higher levels cut critical hits, melee damage and gun accuracy, and the worst level narrows the vision cone. Panic also stops a character from sleeping. Desensitized keeps the Panic moodle empty while awake, so none of these penalties apply.
The trait has a few other effects. Stripping clothes from corpses causes no stress or unhappiness. Nightmares come twice as often, though, and a bad dream can wake the character before they are fully rested.
A Veteran gets these traits for free.
| Name | Image | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Desensitized | 
|
Occupation Trait |
Veteran Recipes
The Veteran knows how to make a tarp chest rig from the start.
A Veteran knows these recipes from the start, with no book or magazine needed.
| Name | Image | Recipe | Crafting Materials | Tools | Skill | Station | Learned | Spawn ID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tarp Chest Rig | 
|
Make Tarp Chest Rig |
|
Tailoring: 4 | Any Surface | Yes | /additem Base.Bag_ChestRig_Tarp
|
How to Play Veteran
A Veteran plays well in both ranged and melee combat. The firearm skills cover shooting, and Desensitized keeps the character steady in any fight. Melee training starts from scratch, so a backup weapon is worth training.
The high point cost leaves the least room for other traits. Negative traits that do not clash with combat can balance the budget.
Desensitized rules out several traits. Adrenaline Junkie, Agoraphobic, Brave, Claustrophobic, Cowardly and Fear of Blood all clash with it. Agoraphobic, Claustrophobic, Cowardly and Fear of Blood are negative traits. That narrows the choice of negative traits for balancing the budget.
Reloading is the easiest of the two skills to train safely. Inserting a magazine, loading rounds into a magazine and loading rounds straight into a gun all give experience. No shots need to be fired, so a quiet room works as a training ground.
Aiming needs real shots that land on enemies. Only shots fired outside a vehicle count. Every shot is loud and uses ammunition, so a safe spot with an escape route makes training far less risky. Police stations and gun stores hold the most firearms and ammunition.
The Veteran has a strong foraging bonus for ammunition and good bonuses for herbs and wild plants. The search radius is wider than usual, and weather and darkness hurt foraging less.
Panic fades for every survivor as the months pass. Desensitized gives that calm from the very start, which matters most in the dangerous first weeks.
Notes
- Desensitized keeps the character calm through everything except nightmares.
- Reloading starts higher here than for any other occupation.
- Train Reloading quietly by loading magazines in a safe room.
- Ammunition is easier to spot while foraging.
- The occupation costs the most trait points of any choice.
All Character Categories
All Occupations