8 Best Project Zomboid Mods Already Available for Build 42

While still in beta, Project Zomboid Build 42 is out, and players can test out all the new features the update offers. In the meantime, modders have used the beta to get a jumpstart on refining their mods for Build 42. The mods cover various aspects and generally result in a better experience depending on a player’s needs.

The Build 42 beta still offers plenty of mods so players will want to be picky about which ones they use. Project Zomboid players can use mods to add harsher survival, realistic food preservation, new cars, or simple quality-of-life enhancements. This list will cover the best mods players need to try out for the Project Zomboid Build 42 beta.

Food Preservation

Players wanting to enhance their survival experience can now preserve foods to last them through the harsh winter of Project Zomboid. As with most zombie shows, the winter is always the hardest season to survive.

With time to prepare, survivors can jar, salt, and dry meats to increase their shelf life. Dried meats last up to two months, jarred meats up to six, and salted and dried meats can last indefinitely. Pemmican is also craftable, giving players lots of options to avoid relying on a refrigerator to survive the winter.

Breakable Objects

Not every Project Zomboid mod needs to be a crucial part of survival, some can add small elements that improve the game’s immersion. This mod adds a few destructible objects to the game that can be satisfying to break.

Toll gate barriers will now shatter when driven past and will leave debris. Boxes, gnomes, and flamingoes will be crushed or tipped over when damaged. As a bonus, this mod removes collision from lamps, making navigating small indoor homes much easier.

Better Characters

Build 42 did not release with significant changes to character customization, but players can take matters into their own hands with this handy mod. Project Zomboid players can create their ideal survivor with higher-resolution textures.

The character customization has the option to add visible muscle that changes depending on strength level, new face shapes, and improved hair growth. The mod also adds 37 new details such as freckles, moles, scars, and even missing eyes. And if that wasn’t enough, the mod supports other cosmetic mods for when Build 42 receives wider modding support.

Zombification Cure

This Build 42 mod adds new ways to cure zombification, but not without effort. Finding the zombification cure involves finding a zombie in a hazmat suit. By default, these zombies are incredibly rare and drop the Zomboxivir medicine.

Related: Fear The Walking Dead Hints Potential Zombie Bite Cure

The medicine does not make players immune to the zombification disease, but grants the removal of the illness once per use. Players can also wear the hazmat suit and can even enable two unique pills to spawn. One pill grants infection immunity for 24 hours, while the other resets the zombification process.

Improved Audio

Good sound design goes a long way in improving immersion. This mod adds over 160 new audio interactions that range from interacting with objects, the UI, and in-game music devices such as radios, CD players, and boomboxes.

No new music is added with this mod, giving Build 42’s new music time to shine. This is the only version of the mod that currently supports Build 42. Headphones are a must for experiencing all the new sounds within Project Zomboid.

Better Descriptions

Traits were one major change in Build 42. The aim was to rebalance the traits and give better use cases for positive perks and harsher setbacks for negative perks. The perk point system was tweaked, so players may find themselves fiddling around trying to create a balanced character that matches their unique playstyle.

This mod will make reading trait descriptions much easier and omit the need to run over to the wiki for each trait and its exact effects. Occupations and traits have the wiki descriptions added, offering more detailed information and exact unit changes.

Desensitized Overhaul

Being panicked severely affects gun accuracy, making for an unfortunate combo. Survivors are easily panicked by a zombie horde, unless players have picked the desensitized trait or are using lots of beta blockers.

This Project Zomboid mod integrates a reasonable desensitization process to zombies. After 500 zombie kills, players have a slim chance of obtaining the desensitized trait. The chance increases with more kills and is given automatically at 2000 kills. The numbers can all be tweaked within the sandbox settings, giving players a chance to make the process harder or easier based on preference.

Atmospheric Improvements

The Last of Us was phenomenal at creating an atmospheric zombie setting that shows how our world would appear years after an apocalypse. Project Seasons adds a shift in scenery depending on scenery and how far players are into the apocalypse.

Vegetation will change depending on the season and get denser the further players are into their playthrough. Cars will also rust gradually over time. Dried leaves then complement roads alongside fallen branches. All these changes will improve the flow of time for each Project Zomboid playthrough.