Clothing

Description

Clothing is an Item Group consisting of wearable items. Clothing can be equipped using the gear slots in the Character Menu. Many Clothing provide various kinds of protection, but some are purely cosmetic. A survivor can scavenge Clothing from many locations or craft Clothing using different kinds of materials.

Gear Slots

Character appearance as shown in upper left corner of Character Menu, with gear slots on the right side

Gear slots are found on the left side of the Character Menu, and they are used to equip the player's character with various types of Clothing including Apparel or Armor. Each Clothing item has a gear slot associated with it and can only be equipped in the correct slot.

There are 10 gear slots covering the 5 hit locations in the Character Menu. The table shows where each Clothing item should be placed, following the same order as the gear slots in the Character Menu.

Hit Location	Head
Head		Headgear	This slot is used to equip headwear
		Eyewear	This slot is used to equip eyewear
		Face	This slot is used to equip face items
	Upper Body
Chest		Overcoat	This slot is used to equip overcoats
		Chest Armor	This slot is used to equip chest armor
		Shirt	This slot is used to equip shirts
Hands		Gloves	This slot is used to equip gloves.
	Lower Body
Legs		Leg Armor	This slot is used to equip leg armor
		Pants	This slot is used to equip pants
Feet		Footwear	This slot is used to equip footwear

Clothing Properties

Apparel Properties

Apparel clothing only has two properties: cold resist and heat resist. They provide the player with protection from cold and hot environments, respectively. These properties don't have negative effects (eg. high cold resist would heat the player up more) so going for the maximum amount possible is recommended. Certain clothing provides decent amount of both and others may have highly varying properties. Jackets, shirts and pants also have one mod slot that can be filled with either Storage Pocket Mod (Clothing) or Clothing Double Pocket Mod. All apparel apart from cigars also has a slot for a dye.

Apparel can be roughly divided into three categories: clothing providing mainly heat resist, clothing providing mainly cold resist and clothing providing both rather equally. Depending on where the player is living or heading, different clothing can be equipped.

Clothing Sets

A set consists of five items of Clothing. Different sets have different item types in them, but all include at least one item from each of the 5 hit locations: Head, Chest, Hands, Legs and Feet. A complete set does not impart any special levels of protection or benefit.

Note that Clothing items are not necessarily part of a set.

Apparel Sets

Apparel sets provide the player a decent amount of cold and heat resist but not much else. As complete sets do not give any bonuses, the player is most likely better off picking clothing items based purely on their properties. For aesthetical purposes a set may be a better option.

Plant Fiber Set

The Plant Fiber set is the basic apparel set the player can craft from the very first days. A part of it (shirt and pants) the player will craft as a part of the Basic Survival quest line. The set provide a very basic protection from weather but is quickly outclassed by other clothing.

Hazmat Set

The Hazmat set is rather hard to be acquired as the pieced can only be obtained by looting the bags dropped by zombies. It provides mediocre protection from weather but offers unique protection from radiation and toxicity (sadly, this effect doesn't extend to protect from other people). However, the protection doesn't apply to radiation present in worlds' edges, most likely due to an error.

Light Armor Sets

Light armor sets provide the player, as the name indicates, lighter protection from enemies and other hazards but also lighter penalties to movement and endurance. All light armor benefits from the Light Armor perk governed under the Agility attribute. There are three different light armor sets with different amount of protection: padded armor, leather armor and military armor.

Padded Armor Set

The padded armor set is the most basic light armor type and can be crafted during the first days for additional protection. It provides low amount of protection but allows the player to use any armor mods they might have. Padded armor is the only armor type in the game that doesn't reduce the player's movement speed and, with Military Stealth Boots, doesn't reduce stamina regeneration or increase noise. This makes it rather useful armor later in the game too if the player values movement over protection.

Leather Armor Set

Leather armor set provides higher tier of protection than the padded armor set but with added endurance and movement penalties. The increase in armor might not be too noticeable, however, as the differences between padded and leather armor pieces are small especially when comparing high level padded armor with low level leather armor. Leather armor set also comes with increased durability thus making the armor usable for a longer period of time between repairs. It can be crafted after attaining level one on the Light Armor perk or after finding the leather armor schematic making it fairly easy to craft.

Military Armor Set

The military armor set provides the best armor rating and effect resistance from any light armor. It comes in the basic military set unlocked through the military armor schematic and Military Stealth Boots which are unlocked through the Urban Combat Vol. 1. Apart from the stealth boots, the negative effects are the same as with the leather armor set. With increased protection and durability the military armor is usually a noticeable upgrade from the leather armor. However, crafting it can't be unlocked through perks like with leather armor so acquiring this armor will take time and effort.

Heavy Armor Sets

Heavy armors sets provide the player with increased armor and effect resistance compared to the light armor sets. The penalties wearing one are, however, also increased to compensate. Contrary to light armor, all the heavy armor sets cause identical negative effects on movement and endurance. This means armor pieces are mostly compared through protective properties and the amount of modification slots. Heavy armor is governed under the perk Heavy Armor and comes in three tiers as did light armor: Scrap (or Scrap Iron), Iron and Steel.

Scrap Armor Set

Scrap armor set is the first heavy armor set available to player as it doesn't require any perks or schematics to craft. The protection is notably better than with padded armor set but in turn the negative sides are also more apparent. A full heavy armor set without any mods or perks reduces the player's mobility by 30% and stamina regeneration by 45% while running and a half of it when walking. This can have serious impact on the player's ability to survive and travel longer distances if no vehicles are available for use.

Iron Armor Set

Iron armor set offers more protection overall than scrap armor set but the exact amount varies a bit contrary to scrap armor. This means lower level iron armor is more often than not worse or equal to scrap armor in terms of protection. Otherwise it is only an upgrade as the negative effects stay the same. Iron armor can be crafted after attaining level one of the Heavy Armor perk or learning from the iron armor schematic. It can, however, drain much resources in the early game in the form of forged iron if the player doesn't have a steady supply of it.

Steel Armor Set

Steel armor set provides the best protection from any of the armor sets in the game. With maxed out ratings the players gains an armor rating of 80, thus blocking 80% of damage dealt to them. The improvement from iron armor should be more noticeable than from scrap to iron. Steel armor can only be crafted after finding and using the steel armor schematic making it a late-game armor. The player also needs a notable amount of forged steel for crafting.