Summary
7 Days To Diespent over a decade in Early Access. The result of this extended development time is a well-polished example of what azombie survival gameshould be. With RPG-like player progression, great multiplayer support, and, of course, hordes of zombies, the game is fun and immersive.
One of the things that7 Days To Diedoes wellis integratingtower defense-style gameplay. Every sevendays, a Blood Moon night occurs. This will see waves of zombies attacking the player, no matter where they are, between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am. This means that players need tofind a defensive positionand reinforce it to fight off the zombie hordes, and this can be done byplacing the best base defensesto defend their position.
8Landmines
So Much Fun To Watch Go Boom
As any experienced7 Days To Dieplayer will admit, the trick to surviving Blood Moon night, especially in the early stages before the player can build an entire fortified base, is to lay down an in-depth defense.
Landminesare great for placing around the distant perimeter of a base. They can be placed very close to spawn points, and will obliterate any zombies that step on them. The downside is that they need to be crafted, and once used, they are gone and need to be replaced, which can be costly in terms of resources early on.
7Wooden Spikes
Very Basic Defense
For the first couple of Blood Moon nights, most players, especially those new to7 Days To Die, won’t have access to the more advancedbase defenseson this list. This is whereWooden Spikescan be useful. They are cheap to craft, and will slow down and damage zombies, but they don’t last very long before they are destroyed.
The best way to use Wooden Spikes in the early stages of the game is to place them to block off entrances, and layer them several spaces deep. However, they will eventually be destroyed, so they should only be used as part of a more elaborate defense.
6Iron Spikes
An Upgrade Over Wooden Spikes
Iron Spikesare basically an upgraded version of the Wooden Spikes covered in the last entry. They do a little more damage than Wooden Spikes, and they have more hitpoints, so they last longer than Wooden Spikes as well.
Once again, Iron Spikes are best used to slow down zombies, and also to force them to follow a specific route through a multifaceted series of base defenses. Use them in doorways, at the bottom of steps, or in front of windows that players intend to shoot out of.
5Electric Fences
Slows Zombies Down And Applies Damage Over Time
Now we come to the first of the powered base defenses in7 Days To Die.Electric Fencepoles can be placed and wired up to asource of powersuch as a Battery Bank or Generator. Wiring is simple; place all the posts, then run a wire from the power source to the first post, and then to the next post, and so on.
Electric Fences will stun any zombie that walks through them, which will slow them down for a short period. It also inflicts a minor damage over time effect as well. By placing Electric Fences tactically, zombies can be routed through them, or possibly a series of them. The only downside of Electric Fences is that they can be destroyed very easily, and once one fence post is destroyed, the circuit is broken and the fence stops working.
4Blade Trap
Looks Nastier Than It Is
TheBlade Trapis a nasty-looking series of three rusty blades attached to a rotor. Once powered, they spin around and damage anything that comes into contact with them, including the player. These scream out to be placed at the bottom of pits or in any other place that a zombie might fall into.
The real problem with the Blade Trap is that it needs to touch a zombie to cause damage, and in doing so, will take damage itself. There is a distinct possibility that eventually, the Blade Trap will be destroyed. Therefore, most experienced players stack them on top of each other, so that when one is destroyed, the one below takes over.
3SMG Turret
Fires 9MM Ammo Of All Types
These last three entries on this list are the base defenses that most players will come to rely on in the later game stages, at which point the previously covered defenses just don’t cut it anymore. TheSMG Turretis arguably the least useful of the three. Yes, it is long-range, and yes, it is fully automated and can use all three types of 9MM ammo. But it has a problem.
An SMG Turret will start firing on zombies at extreme range if it has a line of sight to them. This means that ammo is being burned inefficiently, as damage is reduced at long range. Ammo is expensive to craft, and the SMG Turret will burn through a full load in a very short time. It will potentially need reloading several times during a Blood Moon. The trick here is to set up firing corridors, routing zombies through them, and restricting the line of sight from the turret to areas outside of these corridors.
2Shotgun Turret
Massive Short-Range Damage
TheShotgun Turretworks in exactly the same way as the SMG Turret. However, it firesshotgun shells and slugsinstead. This is hands down the best fully automated defense to use in the last layer of base defense.
Because the damage falloff at longer ranges is so significant, the best way to use Shotgun Turrets in7 Days To Dieis to place them in enclosed areas, or tucked into cutouts in the wall of a firing corridor, so that they only fire at zombies that are very close to them. They don’t run out of ammo quite as fast as SMG Turrets do, but they will still need reloading during a Blood Moon.
1Robotic Turrets
Flexible Automated Defense
Robotic Turretshave a whole perk line, under Intelligence, that players can invest points into. Once fully opened up, the player can carry and drop two of these bad boys anywhere they like. A pair of fully upgraded level 6 Robotic Turrets can decimatehordes of zombies. They don’t need electrical power to work, and can also be used as a hand-held weapon in a pinch.
The ammo is also cheap to craft, which is good, as during a Blood Moon, a pair of robotic turrets will fire thousands of rounds. The great thing about these turrets is that they can be picked up and moved to cover any area of a base that needs reinforcing. Pro tip: Stagger dropping Robotic Turrets by a few seconds, so that when one needs reloading, the other will keep firing and not run out of ammo at the same time.
