Summary
At some point, while playing7 Days To Die,players will eventually encounter some of the strongest zombies in the game. They’re not only bullet sponges, but they also cause some serious damage and run very fast. Stopping themwill require more than the average bullet to the head, so equipping the best Armor Sets to improve damage output can make a considerable difference.
In the long run, players want to go for a balanced build and focus on a couple of attribute trees, even thoughthe game encourages players to level upuntil they unlock everything. This list contains some of the best armor to hunt down the undead, with some tips on how to become a bona-fide zombie exterminator.
Updated July 01, 2025 by Lucas Simons:With the arrival of patch 1.3, 7 Days to Die has optimized several parts of the game on consoles, especially rendering and graphics in general. This is a great excuse to try some new builds like the Stun Baton Master which causes lots of sparkles and could make the FPS drop like crazy. Thankfully, since the new patch stabilizes these issues, players won’t be suffering too much lag during their gameplay.
The Robot Maniac and Knuckle Brawler builds are stronger than ever since the addition of Armor Sets has brought new and cool bonuses that make them strong. Players should check these corrected builds and see for themselves how good they are at slaying Zombies during Blood Moons.
8Stun Baton Master Build
Spark’em Up, Watch’em Fly
The Stun Baton is one of the best weapons in the game, with its unique property to electrocute enemies, high attack speed, and a modifier called Stun Baton Repulsor that causes this weapon to send electrocuted enemies flying like a ragdoll, no matter their size. The majority of the perk points are invested in Intelligence to unlock the perks Electrocutioner and Calculated Attack and raise them to the maximum level.
This build is great because electrified zombies cannot move, attack, or do anything but take severe damage, and most of the time, this ends in insta-kills that guarantee the players are safe from hordes. But, in the worst-case scenario, players might face a great number of zombies (or a Zom-bear) and that could be a problem for this squishy build. Using the Nerd set provides a lot of defense and also improves Intelligence-based weapons like the Stun Baton.
7Robot Maniac Build
Run Around Trolling Zombies, While The Turrets Shred Them To Pieces
Another intelligence-based build consists of deploying turrets and moving around to make zombies receive their full fire. Using full intelligence and investing points in Robotics Inventor, as well as the Tech Maniac Skill Book perks, can result in a powerful Turret Master build that will shred enemies apart in a matter of seconds.
Robot Turrets, like any weapon, can be modified to have certain Mods like Criple' Em, which will blow Zombie legs most of the time and impair their movement as players thrive even during Blood Moons. Investing the remaining points in Fortitude to resist more damage and use less stamina when running around, and carrying a full Nerd Set to take advantage of the bonus for the Turrets is a must-do for this build.
6Knuckle Brawler Build
If You Want To Be Wolverine Killing Zombies, This Is Your Chance
Drink a beer, put on the Knuckles, and start squashing Zombie heads like a maniac with this build that puts “brawl over smarts.” Full Fortitude, then invest in The Brawler and Lightning Hands to boost Knuckle weapon damage to the maximum. Players should also read all the numbers of Bar Brawling to unlock a special attack every 7th punch, and the Urban Combat series to improve Medium Armor and Mobility.
Commando Armor, Enforcer Armor, or Raider Armor are good set choices for this build, especially since they provide interesting bonuses like Extra Stamina, Extra Health, and Damage Reduction. It is an economical and reliable build to start the game and works wonders in the late game. The thing is that players need to use Fort Bites and Beer all the time to get that extra damage reduction and bonus damage, but they will be blowing Zombie heads all around, so it is a nice tradeoff.
5Assault Commando Build
Grab An Assault Rifle And Clear Them Out
For those players who enjoy spray-and-pray tactics, the Assault Commando build gets the better of two main Perk Trees and combines them into a powerful mobile fighter, able to deal with hundreds of zombies without losing mobility or having to deal with too much stamina restriction. They will need to invest in the Fortitude and Agility trees to create the perfect synergy. For the Fortitude tree, they’ll need at least 26 Perk points; 16 will be Invested in 10 levels of Fortitude, 5 in the Machine Gunner Perk, and 5 in Rule Nº1: Cardio Perk. For the Agility attribute perk tree, players will need to invest another 19 points. 16 to take their agility score to level 10, and 3 more perk points to raise the Run and Gun Perk to maximum level.
Players should also invest their time looking for the Urban Combat and Automatic Weapons Handbook manuals since these carry a lot of bonuses and useful book perks to complete the build. In the case of Urban Combat, one of the main perks from Book 7 grants 5% damage resistance and 10% more damage when fighting inside buildings.This includes their base, which means they will always have this boost activated whendefending it during Blood Moons. Complete the build with a full Commando set, which has a Ranged Damage increase of 50% (Tier 6 Gloves) and other useful boosts to healing and mobility. It is important to mention that Zombie damage to blocks has increased, so having a good base-defense build like this one is now critical to survive higher tiers of the Zombie base raids that happen every 7 days.
4Exterminator Build
For Those Want To Go On A Quest To Destroy The Undead
This build’s main highlight is taking advantage of the Preacher Set damage boost and combining it with the stopping power of shotguns and explosives, causing serious area damage and mowing down the zombie horde. Players will need to invest in Strength and Perception to complete this build. For the Strength tree,they’ll need at least 21 Perk points; 16 will be invested in 10 levels of Strength and 5 in the Boomstick Perk. For the Perception attribute tree, they will need to invest another 21 points; 16 to take their PER score to level 10, then 5 more Perk points to raise Demolitions Expert to the maximum level.
As mentioned before, make sure to equip a full Preacher Set to enjoy its many useful Perks and set bonus — especially that juicy damage boost to undead (from all sources). This will not only boost players' damage to zombies with the shotgun but also the area damage and block damage caused by explosives and their respective terrain effects. This build is incredibly efficient at clearing out zombies by the hundreds.
The Perks from the Shotgun Messiah books are a great investment and will boost damage considerably.
3Assassin Build
Silent And Deadly With A Sniper, A Bow, Or A Pistol
The Assassin build is for those who want to strike from afar without enemies noticing them. This build relies on a combination of Agility and Perception and can cause critical damage by using the Sneak Attack mechanic. Players will need to invest 16 Perk points to maximize Agility. From there, invest another 10 Perk points in Archery and Hidden Strike, then another 5 in either Gunslinger or From The Shadows.
For the Perception attribute tree, players will need to invest another 21 points; 16 to take their PER score to level 10, then 4 more Perk points to raise The Penetrator to the maximum level. Optional: Players can invest an extra 5 points (for a total of 49 Levels) in the Deadeye Perk, which will increase the damage they do with Snipers.Combine these Perks with the Assassin Setand the Ranger’s Guide, Sniper, and Night Stalker Perk Books for maximum damage. Sneak attacks will do 6.6 times the damage of each shot — in addition to the armor penetration from the Penetrator Perk. The stealth ratio for this build has overall increased, but enemy detection, especially sensibility to light and sound has increased, so keep that in mind.
2Crazy Bat Build
Squash Their Heads Like Rotten Pumpkins
For this melee-focused build,players should invest in the Strength Perk tree, especially in the Pummel Pete Perk. Maximizing Strength has a total cost of 16 Perk points, while Pummel Pete will cost a total of 5 (for a total of 21). Then, they should also max out Fortitude (16 Perk points), then 3 points in Rule N1: Cardio, and 5 points in Healing Factor. Finally, another 5 points should be spent on Pain Tolerance. The ideal set for this build is the Biker Set, with its 60 % increase in melee damage and Melee Stamina depletion decrease.
To maximize damage output with this build, equip Bats or clubs with the Spikes mod, and read the Batter Up books, since these will boost not only the damage but also utility, decreasing stamina consumption, buffing attacks, increasing knockback, and, finally, when completing the collection, the best buff: restoring stamina on kill. Complete the build using Grandpa’s Moonshine and Fort Bites to get the following buffs: +400% Damage, +100% Stun Resist, +60% Sta Regen, +20 H/Sec, and +40% Damage Resistance.
1Ranger Build
Old School Cowboy Goes For A Zombie Hunt
Combiningthe best of the Wild Westand the bonuses of the Ranger Set, this build will turn every survivor into a legend of gunslinging. Players want to get Agility and Perception to max (32 Perk points total), then invest in The Penetrator (4 Perk points), Gunslinger (5 Perk points), and Deadeye (another 5 Perk points). This is a simple but effective build that relies on the Ranger set’s increased reload speed and extra damage.
Players should also invest in finding all Urban Combat Perk books for extra utility, mobility, and more damage from inside buildings (or bases). The Sniper book Perks are also tremendously useful, and the Magnum Enforcer and Pistol Pete book Perks can pair up nicely with their .44 Magnum or .44 Desert Vulture. If they add the buff from the Recog, which adds 500 % ranged damage, they can become human turrets. Certain Perks from the Magnum Enforcer Perk Books now stack with Pistol Pete’s (previous to Patch 1.14b some Perks weren’t working properly) creating even more powerful single shots from weapons that use .44 Ammo.
