What Traits Should I be Looking for?

Want to earn free iTunes/Google Play Gift Cards? You can earn free Gift Cards to buy Boosters/Gas/Gold/Radios just by temporarily installing apps and watching ads on your device! Click this LINK and both of us get bonus points!

---

• THIS GUIDE IS JUST MY OPINIONS ON TRAITS/BADGES. Other players will have different opinions. Hopefully you can use my thoughts and opinions to help you form your own.
• Finding our “Preferred” Traits is nearly impossible. For that reason, I’ve tried to explain how I think each Trait can be maximized to it’s potential. The order of the Traits is close to how I prioritize them, but isn’t necessarily a strict order. Work with what you have, but since Class Tokens can be hard to come by, don’t waste them on Survivors that you don’t love!
• I will also include some information about Badges here, as they are basically Traits that you can choose to add to your Survivors.

---

Since we now have Badges, some Survivor Traits may be more valuable since they are unique to Survivors.

• Revenge/Retaliate – Getting an extra attack is very nice.
• Punish – The extra attack a Bruiser can deal makes it my favorite trait on Bruisers.
• Lucky – Although Lucky is also on Weapons, more Lucky is almost always good.
• Dodge – Although Dodge is also on Armor, more Dodge is a good thing.
• Bullet Dodge – okay, this trait may still not be very valuable anymore…but it is unique

---

For almost every Survivor Class, I’d be trying to group traits to meet one of these Survivor types:

1. Survivors to use vs Walkers. These will be my most powerful Survivors to use against most enemies. These Survivors won’t have Bullet Dodge (Survivor) or Bulletproof (Armor) Traits as those traits are useless when no one is shooting at you!
2. “Meat Shields”. In tough challenge missions, your Survivors will be hit by Walkers. In certain classes, I will try to build Survivors that can take more punishment by having Traits like Defensive Stance and Iron Skin.
3. Survivors to use vs Ranged Enemies. These will be used mainly as Outpost Defenders/Attackers and in Challenge & Chapter Missions (vs the Freemen). This type of Survivor is the least important since Bullet Dodge isn’t a trait that activates often.

If I don’t think a Survivor has the potential to fit one of those criteria, I won’t spend Tokens upgrading or promoting them.

However, I will use Survivors with different Traits than listed in certain situations.

---

Many Traits are valuable against Walkers 4 or less Levels above your Survivor. Interrupt and Dodge are two traits that are very valuable vs these Walkers. Once Walkers get to 4 or 5 levels above your Survivors, those traits don’t work as often (and eventually stop working).  So, if you want to get more Challenge Stars, you will need completely different Traits to try to beat those really hard Walkers. For this reason, I have changed the priorities on my “Preferred Traits” for each Survivor Class to focus on Traits that can really make a difference when the missions get tough. For easier missions, Traits just aren’t that important. 

Also, here’s the dirty little secret for earning stars: Survivor Traits aren’t the most important aspect to getting the highest star counts. More important than Survivor Traits are:

• Pink Stars
• Gear Traits
• Badges
• Time and $$$ you are willing to spend on healing your survivors and gas boosters!!

---

Traits that Interact with Each Other

• Lucky increases the chance that other probability based Traits will take effect. The Traits Lucky interacts with are:
  • Accuracy, Bullet Dodge, Bulletproof, Charging, Dodge, Incendiary, Power Strike, Silenced, Stun Resistance, Sure Shot, Swift Strike, Threat Reduction

• Piercing. This trait reduces the chance of body shots against high level walkers. For ranged Survivors, this weapon Trait is pretty much a “must have” if you are trying to beat maps with Walkers 4 or 5+ levels above your Survivors. Piercing should allow other Weapon Traits like Accuracy (and thus Destructive) to take effect more often, as well as the Sure Shot Survivor Trait.

• Defensive Stance & Iron Skin (and Vigilant and Power Strike): Defensive Stance can be used in high level challenge missions to reduce the damage taken when attacked. You can use a specific Survivor as a “meat shield” that is there to absorb damage. Pair that with Iron Skin on your Survivor and Gear, and you can take a good amount of damage when in overwatch.These two traits can really help you earn more stars, and save time in the Hospital. Add Vigilant that will deal a little more damage in Overwatch, and Power Strike is great for the next attack!

---

Universal Survivor Traits

You don’t have to have these traits on every Survivor, but I’m rarely sad if my Survivor has these Traits.

• Lucky – I am almost always happy to have Lucky on my Survivors. Since Lucky increases the chance of other probability based Traits activating, it is very helpful. It’s not as strong as it used to be, but still very useful for some of the most important weapon Traits.
• Dodge – I also am usually happy to have the Dodge Trait. Dodge interacts with Lucky, and is a very helpful defensive Trait as it allows to you avoid melee attacks. However, once you get to high level Walkers, you won’t be able to completely dodge an attack for zero damage taken, but it’s still highly desirable. Similar to how body shots increase as the walker levels increase, your ability to dodge decreases as walker levels increase. As you promote your Survivors to 6/7/8/9/10 Stars, Dodge will be more effective against higher level walkers.
  • When a Walker is 5 levels above your “Actual Survivor Level” (ASL = Survivor Level + number of pink stars), critical attacks happen 100% of the time against you. When Dodge “activates” against a critical attack, it turns a critical attack into a normal attack.
• Retaliate/Revenge – Retaliate is only on Melee (although a couple ranged Heroes have the trait), and Revenge is only on Ranged Survivors. These Trait don’t work in Overwatch, but in very tough missions you will be taking damage, so Retaliate is very helpful to get as much damage as possible. Since Retaliate doesn’t currently work in overwatch, it’s not as crucial on “meat shields.” This could change in the future (less likely as every day passes…lol & smfh), so I’d still like to have these traits.
• Punish – Any Bruiser I choose to invest tokens into probably needs to have Punish.

---

Universal Weapon Traits

• Piercing – I want Piercing on almost every gun I choose to upgrade (mainly in Challenges). Without Piercing, you will Body Shot 100% of the time when Walkers get 5 or more levels above your Survivor’s (actual) level. If you want to get as far as possible in Challenge Missions, Piercing is a must have as it allows all other Traits to activate. If you use Sasha, body shots can be turned into charge points, so you may want body shots to have a chance to charge more quickly.

---

Armor Traits

• Ruthless – Getting more damage on your charged attacks is a solid trait to have on your armor, and is very valuable when trying to kill very tough enemies.
• Wrestler – This Trait is very important against high level walkers. At very high level missions, you will most likely take a lot of damage. Although it’s not as good as it used to be, Wrestler still has value..
• Iron Skin – I prefer Iron Skin since that reduces the damage you take on EVERY hit.
• Dodge – I will gladly take Dodge on almost every Armor that I choose to upgrade. See above for how Dodge changes as Walker levels increase.
• Stun Resistance – This trait is basically a “must have” in Outposts and against Tank Walkers. This trait is useless in all other scenarios (other than against Goo Walkers and Bruiser Freemen).
• Sniper Harness – A great Trait to put on your Ranged Defenders in Outpost.
• Hazard Suit – This trait has value against Fire Walkers, but is also great for helping Melee survivors take less damage by getting a chance to have a body shot happen when a high level enemy attacks your Survivor.
• Health Boost – This is a one time boost to your Survivor’s Armor Health Rating. A nice bonus, but not too important.
• Bulletproof – Useful against Ranged Weapon Survivors in Challenges and Outpost Raids. This trait is useless if you aren’t going against Raiders/Saviors with guns.
• Training Gear – On high level gear, this trait is too expensive to upgrade, as you won’t earn back that XP, and then you only have 2 useful traits on your armor.

---

My list of “preferred” Traits is always changing, and will vary in different situations. So the listed Traits for each class is not a strict order, just a guideline. The Trait “orders” on the left side of each column are for Challenges, and the right side of each column is for the Distance.

---

Since Assaults have very high Health, you can either try to maximize their Health/Damage Resistance with Traits and Badges, or you can try to boost their Damage to make them more well balanced.

Heroes

• Abraham – He is a great Hero. Since he has Defensive Stance at Legendary, I try to avoid that trait on my other Assaults.
• Governor – I almost always use the Governor on early Challenge and Scavenge missions.
• Rosita – Her leader trait can be useful when dealing with tough enemies.
• Rufus – I rarely use Rufus, but his leader trait isn’t too bad.

Survivors

• Revenge – Since Assaults have a better chance of attacking multiple targets with Revenge, I see this trait to be most optimal for them.
• Iron Skin – Taking less damage will help you earn more stars in challenge missions.
• Marksman – Dealing more damage is always helpful.
• Sure Shot – Getting more critical attacks is very nice, but the shorter range of Assaults may mean you are moving and attacking more often.
• Lucky – Always helpful, especially for increasing the chance that Piercing, Sure Shot and Dodge activate more.
• Dodge – Dodging an attack is always the best defense!
• Ruthless – More damage on your charged attacks is nice.
• Defensive Stance – Although I don’t like to overwatch with Assaults, the high health of Assaults can make them decent candidates to be a Meat Shield. I use Abraham for this purpose, so I don’t really look for this trait on regular Assault Survivors.
• Vigilant – Since I don’t like to Overwatch with Assaults, Vigilant is not important to me.
• Bullet Dodge – Bump this Trait up for Survivors you want to use in Outposts or against Freemen.

Weapons

• Piercing – This Trait is a must have if you want to get as far in challenges as possible.
• Wide Spread – Gold or Silver Wide Spread is a great trait to hit as many enemies as possible. On certain maps where you can’t hit multiple enemies, traits that do more damage can be more useful than Wide Spread, but that is very rare.
• Destructive – On tough missions, getting that extra damage from a critical will help finish off enemies quicker. Destructive is even better when you have Sure Shot on your Survivor.
• Lucky – Always acceptable on guns.
• Lethal – More Damage is good, but it doesn’t add a lot of Damage.
• Accurate – More Critical Attacks is a nice bonus.
• Silenced – Not a bad Trait in theory, but not something I’m really looking for.
• Interrupt – Since I don’t Overwatch much with Assaults, I do not want this Trait.

---

Since Bruisers have high Health ratings, I choose to add Health and Damage Resistance Badges to make them even tougher!

Heroes

• Eugene – Eugene’s leader trait actually allows for your Survivors to completely dodge any attack. It’s rare for that to happen, but it’s possible.
• Morgan – has great traits for a “Meat Shield.” His leader trait can also be useful when you know your Survivors will be getting attacked.
• Negan – Negan’s leader trait reduces the damage taken when your Health bar is in the red.

Survivors

• Punish – Getting an extra attack should be useful.
• Iron Skin – Taking less damage is really important, especially on Meat Shields.
• Defensive Stance – With the high health of Bruisers, they make perfect Meat Shield candidates.
• Power Strike – This trait should be very helpful when backed into a corner, especially on Meat Shields.
• Lucky – Helpful for getting Concussion and Dodge to activate more.
• Dodge – The best defense is to avoid an attack!
• Retaliate – Although Retaliate doesn’t currently activate on overwatch, dealing some extra damage when attacked can be very helpful.
• Ruthless – More damage for a charged Bruiser attack isn’t a big deal for me.
• Vigilant – Bruisers don’t deal much damage, so extra damage isn’t very helpful.
• Strong – Bruisers don’t deal much damage, so extra damage isn’t very helpful.
• Bullet Dodge – Bump this trait up for Outpost Defenders!

Weapons

• Concussion – Stunning an enemy for an extra turn is the ideal scenario for a Bruiser.
• Lucky – Getting Concussion and Dodge to activate more is the primary reason to have Lucky.
• Charging – Since it’s hard to get kills with a Bruiser, getting to their Charge ability quicker is very nice.
• Destructive – More damage on a Critical attack is a bonus.
• Accurate – Getting more Critical attacks is always great.
• Lethal – Bruiser weapons don’t deal much damage, so the extra damage isn’t a big bonus.
• Interrupt – Since Bruisers stun their enemies on non body shots, Interrupt is almost completely useless. The only place it is useful is against Tank Walkers when you don’t body shot them.

---

Heroes

• Sasha – Sasha is my favorite Hero. Her charge ability makes her extremely valuable in Challenges, and the most important survivor in the Distance.
• Daryl – For newer players, Daryl may be your best Survivor. His Retaliate Trait is awesome, unfortunately that works against his Defensive Stance Trait.
• Dwight – Dwight is my leader on Outpost Defense. Since I’m lazy, I don’t constantly change my Outpost Defenders, so he leads my team (with Daryl as a member…both have Incendiary rifles).
• Maggie – Maggie is great if you want to farm for XP by reaching the 100 kill limit on a mission.

Survivors

• Ruthless – More damage on your charged attacks will be useful.
• Revenge – This trait should be pretty useful on tough missions.
• Sure Shot – Since Hunters can attack multiple enemies from a distance, Sure Shot is a fantastic trait that’s a must have on Hunters for me.
• Marksman – More Damage to finish off enemies quicker is great.
• Lucky – This is extremely helpful to help get Sure Shot, Piercing, Dodge and more to activate more often.
• Dodge – Dodging an attack is always the best defense.
• Iron Skin – Taking less Damage can help you get more stars.
• Vigilant – I don’t overwatch a lot with Hunters, but getting more damage when you do is a nice bonus.
• Defensive Stance – I don’t overwatch with Hunters very often, but you could use this when backed into a corner in tough challenge missions to get some extra stars.
• Bullet Dodge – This is only helpful in Outposts and against Freemen.

Weapons

• Piercing – If a rifle doesn’t have Piercing, I will usually won’t upgrade it (unless it has Incendiary).
• Incendiary – This trait is very good on maps where you have plenty of space to set Tanks and Armored Walkers on fire and let them burn out, and is CRUCIAL in the Distance!!!
• Large Caliber – Some players must have Large Caliber, but I don’t need it…especially against tough walkers when having a trait that does more damage is very helpful.
• Destructive – Against tough walkers, this trait is extremely helpful when you get a critical.
• Lucky – This is extremely helpful to help get Sure Shot, Piercing, Dodge and more to activate more often.
• Lethal – Dealing more damage to multiple enemies can be very helpful.
• Accurate – More critical attacks is great, but less necessary when you have Sure Shot.
• Silenced – Not a bad Trait in theory, but I prefer more damaging Traits.
• Interrupt – Again, I don’t Overwatch a lot with Hunters, so I don’t care for this Trait.

---

If you own the Pitchfork or Kingdom Spear, Power Strike becomes much more useful on a Scout. You can safely overwatch from a distance, then attack without moving on the next move!

Heroes

• Carol – I am not a fan of her Leader Trait…
• Gabriel – His leader trait is nice, but I still don’t use him…
• Glenn – I often use Glenn when I need Supplies!!

Survivors

• Ruthless – More damage from the powerful Scout charged attack could be huge!
• Strong – Doing more damage is always a bonus.
• Power Strike – This trait can be extremely valuable if you use the Kingdom Spear or Pitchfork. It’s also helpful if you place your Scout next to where Walkers will spawn.
• Retaliate – If you get attacked, retaliating is always a great thing.
• Lucky – Increasing the chance of other traits activating is always great.
• Dodge – The best defense is dodging an attack.
• Iron Skin – Taking less damage can help you get more stars in challenge missions.
• Defensive Stance – I don’t overwatch a lot with Scouts in tough challenge missions, but if you do, Defensive Stance can be very valuable.
• Vigilant – If you like to overwatch with Scouts, more damage is great.
• Bullet Dodge – I use Scouts when I raid to grab the Trade Goods and run, but I will sometimes fight when someone blocks the Trade Goods so this Trait is occasionally helpful, but also exists on both Glenn and Carol.

Weapons

• Swift Strike – Gaining an extra attack point from a kill can be extremely useful.
• Threat Reduction – Reducing the number of Walkers that Spawn is extremely valuable when challenge missions get tough.
• Charging – Getting a charge attack quicker is a nice bonus, plus the extra damage in a charge attack is always nice.
• Destructive – Destructive will make a charge attack from a Scout even more powerful.
• Lucky – Increasing the chance of other Traits activating is very helpful.
• Lethal – More damage is always nice.
• Interruptor – This isn’t a bad trait, but I typically only overwatch on Raids.
• Accurate – More critical attacks is never a bad thing, but this trait eventually stops working when you get all body shots.

---

Survivor

• Aaron – Aaron’s leader trait and other traits make him a very powerful shooter. He is the only Hero Shooter that I’ve put good Badges on.
• Carl – Carl’s leader Trait is solid on missions where you know you will probably die.
• Merle – Merle has an okay leader trait, but other Ranged Survivor’s Leader Traits are probably more effective.
• Rick – Rick kind of blows. A shame for the main character in the show!
• Tara – Tara’s Leader Trait is okay for mid-difficulty missions where you may take some smaller attacks.

Survivor

• Ruthless – More damage from the powerful Shooter Charge Attack could be very helpful.
• Revenge – This trait should be pretty useful on tough missions.
• Lucky – Getting other Traits to activate more is a great thing.
• Dodge – The best defense is dodging the attack.
• Sure Shot – Getting more critical attacks is great, and this works even better with a Pistol that has High Powered.
• Marksman – Doing more damage is nice.
• Iron Skin – Taking less damage can help you get more stars in challenge missions.
• Vigilant – I use overwatch on Shooters more often since they can only attack one target at a time. The added damage is a nice bonus.
• Defensive Stance – Paired with Vigilant and Iron Skin, you can have a very powerful overwatch/meat shield Shooter.
• Bullet Dodge – This can be helpful in Outposts and against Freemen.

Weapons

• Piercing – This is a must have trait on a Pistol.
• Destructive – The extra damage on a critical attack is great against tough walkers.
• Charging – Getting a charge attack quicker is great on a Shooter.
• High Powered – Pair this trait with Sure Shot (and Piercing, of course), and will have a very powerful Shooter.
• Lucky – Getting other traits to activate more is always awesome.
• Lethal – More damage is never a bad thing.
• Accurate – More critical attacks is nice.
• Silenced – Good in theory, but I prefer a more damaging trait, especially with an overwatch Shooter.
• Interruptor – This trait is much more valuable when paired with Piercing on an overwatch Shooter.

---

Heroes

• Ezekiel – meh
• Jerry – meh
• Jesus – Jesus is the Melee version of Abraham. If you like to use Melee, Jesus is a solid leader to have on your squad.
• Michonne – Michonne has a great Leader Trait, but I still rarely use her.

Survivors

• Strong – Dealing more damage is always nice.
• Iron Skin – Taking less damage can help you get more stars in challenge missions.
• Retaliate – If you get hit, attacking back is great.
• Power Strike – When backed into a corner, Power Strike can deal a lot of damage to multiple enemies.
• Defensive Stance – Again, I don’t use Overwatch on Warriors often, but Defensive Stance can help you last a bit longer in missions.
• Ruthless – More damage to the Warrior’s charged attack could be very helpful.
• Lucky – Getting other Traits to activate more often is great.
• Dodge – The best defense is dodging the attack.
• Vigilant – I don’t use Overwatch a lot with Warriors, but if you do, Vigilant is a nice damage bonus.
• Bullet Dodge – I don’t use Warriors on Raids or against Freemen, so I don’t value Bullet Dodge on Warriors.

Weapons

• Wide Arc – I won’t upgrade a Warrior weapon without Gold Wide Arc.
• Lethal – More damage is great.
• Destructive – The extra damage on a critical is fantastic.
• Lucky – Getting other Traits to activate more often is great.
• Interruptor – I don’t use overwatch on Warriors, so I don’t use this trait very often.
• Accurate – Getting more critical attacks is never a bad thing.

---

Page last updated on: 3/2/18