Chapter 1
Maintenance in Build 42
Every swing wears your weapon. Maintenance is the skill that makes it wear slower, and the skill that fixes it when it does.
Maintenance does 2 jobs. First, it lowers the chance a melee weapon loses condition on a hit. Second, it gates the repair and assembly recipes: tape, glue, epoxy, sharpening, spear binding and more.
Slower wear
Each level makes the "does it chip?" roll fail less often.
Repairs
Tape, glue and epoxy recipes that put condition back.
Sharpening
Whetstones, files and grindstones for blades.
Assembly
Spears, improvised weapons, rebuilding a broken axe from its parts.
The fixer's loop
- FightEvery melee hit trains the skill.
- CheckRead the tooltip after each fight.
- SharpenWhen sharpness drops.
- RepairWhen condition drops.
- SalvageWhen it breaks, keep the parts.
- RebuildNew handle, old head.
Why it matters
Good weapons are rare. An axe that lasts 3 times as long is 2 fewer trips into a zombie-filled hardware store.
Chapter 2
Build your fixer
Maintenance trains itself as you fight. The head starts are about the recipes you know on day 1.
DIY Expert (job)
Starts with Maintenance 2 and fast Maintenance XP. Also +1 Carpentry. It used to be called Repairman.
Handy (trait, 8 points)
+1 Maintenance, Carpentry, Carving and Masonry, plus improvised weapon recipes.
Tinkerer (trait, 4 points)
+1 Maintenance and repair-minded recipes. A cheaper pick.
Bushcrafter (trait)
+1 Maintenance alongside Carving, Knapping and Foraging.
Watch out: point costs change
The game makers still tune traits and jobs. Always read the numbers on your own character screen.
Maintenance is a normal skill with 5 books at 3, 5, 8, 12 and 16 times XP. Read Maintenance I before your first big fights.
Chapter 3
Condition: how weapons wear
A weapon does not lose condition every hit. It rolls a die every hit. Skill makes the die bigger.
When you hit a zombie, a tree, a car or a door, the game rolls 1 in a number. If it comes up, the weapon loses 1 condition. The number is the weapon's hidden base value plus your Maintenance modifier.
Secret: the modifier formula
Maintenance level, plus half your weapon skill level, rounded down. Most weapon skills also carry a hidden −1, so weapon skill only helps from level 3 up. Maintenance helps from level 1.
| Example | Chance to lose 1 condition per hit |
|---|---|
| Axe, no skills | About 1 in 35 |
| Axe, Maintenance 5, Axe 4 | About 1 in 47 |
| Axe, Maintenance 10, Axe 10 | About 1 in 63 |
Those use the axe's base of 35, plus twice the modifier. The point is the shape: skill nearly doubles a weapon's life.
Secret: spear charges wear faster
A spear charge attack multiplies the chance by about 0.66, which means it breaks the spear sooner. Charge only when it counts.
Wear and repair calculator
Uses the official wiki formulas. The weapon base number is the axe's 35 unless you change it.
Chapter 4
Head, handle and sharpness
Build 42 split many weapons into parts. An axe is a head on a handle. Each has its own bar.
Handle condition
The "main" condition. This is the bar the hit roll wears down. Tape and glue repair it.
Head condition
The metal part. Wears at its own rate. On the current version, grinding does not restore it. A failing head is a warning to salvage.
Sharpness
Blades dull with use. Dull blades hit worse. Whetstones, files and grindstones restore it.
Watch out: not every weapon has every bar
A crowbar has one condition. An axe has head and handle. A machete has sharpness. Read the tooltip for that exact item before you reach for a tool.
Chapter 5
Reading the tooltip
The tooltip is your inspection report. Hover the weapon and read it before every repair decision.
Find the limiting bar
Look for Condition, Head Condition and Sharpness. Whichever is lowest is the problem. Fix that one.
| What is low | Do this |
|---|---|
| Condition or handle | Repair with tape, glue or epoxy |
| Sharpness | Sharpen with a whetstone, file or grindstone |
| Head condition | Plan a replacement. Carry a backup. Salvage the head when it breaks. |
Secret: the tooltip also warns about XP
Weapons that do not train Maintenance say so in their tooltip. Read it before a training session.
Chapter 6
Sharpening
A dull blade is a blunt stick. Sharpening is quick, cheap and worth doing after every fight.
Sharpen a blade
Hold a whetstone or a file with the blade in your inventory. Right-click the blade and sharpen. A grindstone workstation does the same job faster.
- Whetstones and files are in-hand crafts. No table needed.
- Crude whetstones can be crafted at a low Maintenance level.
- Some blades cannot be sharpened. Players report the katana has a sharpness value but no sharpen recipe.
Watch out: sharpening fixes sharpness only
It does not restore condition, and it does not restore head condition. If the blade is cracked, sharpening it is a waste of a whetstone.
Chapter 7
Repair with tape and glue
Repairs put condition back. Each repair is a roll, and each one you do makes the next harder.
| Material | Needs | Good to know |
|---|---|---|
| Adhesive tape | Low Maintenance | The weakest fix. Cheap and common. |
| Duct tape | Low Maintenance | Better than adhesive. |
| Wood glue | Carpentry 2 | For wooden weapons. |
| Epoxy | Maintenance 3 | The strongest fix. |
| Epoxy with rags | Maintenance 4 | A stronger epoxy recipe. |
Repair a weapon
With the material in your inventory, right-click the weapon and choose the repair option that appears. Most adhesive and epoxy repairs are surface crafts, so stand near a table or workbench.
Secret: the fail chance formula
Fail chance is 25, minus 5 per repair factor, minus 5 per Maintenance level, plus 2 per previous repair. At high Maintenance it hits 0%. At low Maintenance, a much-repaired weapon fails often.
Watch out: some weapons refuse tape
Players report the machete cannot be taped or glued, only sharpened. The nightstick takes both. Check the recipe list on the item.
Chapter 8
Break, salvage, rebuild
A broken axe is not gone. It is a head waiting for a handle.
Search the ground
When a handle or head hits zero, the weapon breaks. Look on the ground and on the zombie you were hitting. The surviving head, blade, handle or stick is often still there.
Rebuild it
Open the Crafting menu. Find the assembly recipe for that head. Add a new handle. Long handles are carved with Carving 3.
Secret: a broken machete becomes a knife
The machete blade salvages into a Machete Knife at Maintenance 2. Nothing is wasted.
Secret: zip ties
Zip ties unlock at Maintenance 1 and bind a lot of improvised weapons together. Keep every bag of them.
Chapter 9
Guns: a different rule
Maintenance is the melee skill. Guns follow their own rules.
- Gun wear is set by Aiming and Maintenance together.
- Guns are repaired with another gun of the same family. There is no gun repair kit in the normal game.
- Tape and epoxy do nothing for firearms.
- Sharpening does not apply.
Secret: keep a donor gun
A worn shotgun fixes a shotgun. Retire your main gun before it hits zero and feed it its twin. The Firearms guide has the repair table.
Chapter 10
What each level unlocks
Maintenance gates recipes. Here is the ladder players report on the current version.
| Level | Unlocks |
|---|---|
| 0 | Tape repairs. Fighting trains the skill. |
| 1 | Zip ties. Some weapon assembly. Crude whetstone knowledge. |
| 2 | Fix Saw. Machete Knife from a broken machete. |
| 3 | Epoxy repairs. |
| 4 | Epoxy with rags. |
| 5 and up | Ever-slower wear. Higher repair success. Some armor and improvised weapon crafts. |
Watch out: this list comes from fan data
Recipe gates shift between patches. Your crafting menu greys out what you cannot make yet. Trust it over this table.
Chapter 11
Tools and materials
A small repair kit covers almost everything.
Tape
Adhesive tape and duct tape. Garages, offices, tool shops.
Glue and epoxy
Wood glue and epoxy from hardware stores and garages.
Whetstone and file
Kitchens, garages, tool boxes. A crude whetstone is craftable.
Zip ties and wire
Binding for improvised weapons and spears.
Spare handles
Carved long handles, sturdy sticks, planks.
A grindstone
A workstation for fast sharpening at base.
Secret: the workbench matters
Most adhesive and epoxy recipes need a surface. A table or workbench near your weapon crate saves walking.
Chapter 12
Training plan: 0 to 10
Every melee hit has about a 50% chance to give Maintenance XP. Repair and sharpen recipes give it too. Fighting is the grind.
Levels 0 to 3: fight with cheap weapons
Read Maintenance I. Clear houses and parking lots with spare blunt weapons. Every hit is a chance at XP. Tape your weapons when they drop. Each repair is XP too.
Levels 3 to 6: repair everything
Read II and III. Epoxy is yours at 3. Fix saws, sharpen blades, assemble spears. Recipes that list Maintenance give XP on completion.
Levels 6 to 10: keep swinging
Read IV and V. There is no shortcut. Melee combat plus a steady repair habit gets you there.
Secret: low-durability weapons teach more
The base XP per hit depends on the weapon's hidden wear number. Weapons that chip easily give 2 XP a hit. Sturdy ones give much less. Train with cheap, breakable weapons and save the katana.
Watch out: hitting a nearly broken weapon on purpose does nothing extra
XP is per valid hit. Condition does not change the amount. Do not wear a weapon to zero for "bonus" XP.
Level by level: Maintenance
The best single thing to do at each level. Read the matching book first when one exists.
| Level | Do this for most of your XP | Why |
|---|---|---|
| 0 to 1 | Read Maintenance I. Fight with cheap breakable weapons | 2 XP a hit on low-wear weapons |
| 1 to 2 | Tape every weapon that drops. Zip ties unlock | Each repair is XP |
| 2 to 3 | Fix saws, salvage a machete into a knife | Level 2 recipes pay on completion |
| 3 to 4 | Read Maintenance II. Epoxy repairs unlock | Better material, higher success, XP |
| 4 to 5 | Sharpen every blade after every fight | Sharpening is XP |
| 5 to 6 | Read Maintenance III. Assemble spears and heads on handles | Assembly recipes count |
| 6 to 7 | Keep fighting with mid weapons, repair often | The 50% per-hit roll never stops |
| 7 to 8 | Read Maintenance IV. Level the weapon skill too | Half of it joins the modifier |
| 8 to 9 | Same loop. Repair before zero, never after | Broken weapons give nothing |
| 9 to 10 | Read Maintenance V. Months of fights | No shortcut |
Repair kit checklist
Materials
Tools
Habits
Your ticks are saved in this browser, on this device only.
Chapter 13
Tips, tricks and fixes
20 tips from the workbench
Setup
- Take DIY Expert, Handy or Tinkerer.
- Read Maintenance I before your first big fight.
- Grab every roll of tape, tube of glue and whetstone.
- Put a workbench next to the weapon crate.
- Carry a backup weapon always.
Using weapons
- Read the tooltip after every fight.
- Sharpen when sharpness is low, not condition.
- Tape when condition is low, not sharpness.
- A failing head means replace, not repair.
- Shove and stomp instead of swinging when you can.
- Charge with a spear only when it matters.
- Level the weapon skill too. It halves into the modifier.
Repairing
- Epoxy beats duct tape beats adhesive tape.
- Each repair makes the next one harder.
- Wood glue needs Carpentry 2.
- Guns only repair with a donor gun.
- Search the ground when a weapon breaks.
- Rebuild heads onto new handles.
- Broken machete becomes a knife.
- Train with cheap breakable weapons.
Fix-it table
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| No repair option. | Wrong material, or the weapon refuses that route. | Try another material. Check the item's recipe list. |
| Repairs keep failing. | Low Maintenance and many previous repairs. | Level up. Use epoxy. Retire the weapon. |
| Sharpening did not help. | Condition or head is the problem. | Repair or replace instead. |
| The head is at zero. | Head condition cannot be ground back. | Salvage the head. Or replace. |
| No Maintenance XP from fighting. | The weapon does not train it. | Check the tooltip warning. Use a different weapon. |
| I cannot use epoxy. | Maintenance below 3. | Use tape until then. |
| Tape did nothing to my gun. | Guns need donor guns. | See the Firearms guide. |
| Weapon broke mid-fight. | No backup. | Carry 2. Always. |
| I cannot rebuild the axe. | No handle. | Carve a long handle at Carving 3. |
| Recipe needs a surface. | Most adhesive crafts do. | Stand by a table. |
Chapter 14
Fixer's test
7 questions. Get them all right and nothing breaks on your watch.
Chapter 15
Words and sources
Fixer's word list
- Condition
- How intact a weapon is. Zero means broken.
- Head condition
- The separate bar for a weapon's metal part.
- Sharpness
- How keen a blade is. Dull blades hit worse.
- Maintenance modifier
- Maintenance level plus half the weapon skill.
- Repair factor
- How good a repair material is.
- Whetstone, file, grindstone
- 3 ways to sharpen.
- Epoxy
- The strongest repair glue.
- Salvage
- Taking the surviving part from a broken weapon.
- Donor gun
- A gun used up to repair another of its family.
How sure are we?
Every fact here was checked in September 2026 for game version 42.20.4. Order of trust: the official wiki, then well-sourced fan guides, then player reports.
- The wear roll, modifier formula, fail chance formula, 50% XP chance, and XP by weapon wear number. Confirmed on the official wiki's Condition and Maintenance pages, updated this month.
- The axe example numbers. From the axe's base of 35 on the official wiki. The skill combinations are illustrations.
- Recipe level gates, which weapons refuse tape, and head condition not grinding. Fan guides for 42.19 and 42.20.4.
- Job and trait values. May change.
Sources
- PZwiki (the official wiki): Maintenance, Condition, Axe (item), Sword, Whetstone
- PZfans weapon repair and Maintenance leveling guides for 42.20.4
- Gamers.wiki weapon repair guide for 42.20.2 (head, handle and sharpness model)