What should you protect first?
Use this guide for the carry decision between contacts. If infection is active, treatment timing comes first. Open the infection treatment guide and act on that state before reorganizing the rest of the pack.
For an ordinary scavenging stop, protect this survival floor in order:
- Keep one repeatable attack. A firearm is supported only while its current loaded rounds or carried compatible ammunition give it a job. A current Melee weapon is the fallback when no ammunition family supports the firearm.
- Keep recovery that matches the failure. and a restore health. delays infection, while cures it.
- Check the team state. Share only after the teammate is close enough to collect the dropped item.
- Check Inventory capacity. If the game says the Inventory is full, remove one unsupported or duplicate weighted item before attempting the pickup again.
- Treat Supply Items as extraction value. They do not replace ammunition, health recovery, or infection treatment.
This order has a cost: you may leave a useful weapon or progression pickup behind. The alternative is to change the order only when a more immediate failure is already active. Infection timing, missing health recovery, or the loss of every repeatable attack can each make the current item more important than optional cargo.
Which current state matches your run?
The cards below cover every combination of team position, capacity, recovery coverage, and compatible ammunition. Read one card only. Your recovery need is covered when no health or infection failure is active, or when the matching item is held. At full health with no active infection, use a covered-recovery card even if you hold no Medical item. Do not search for treatment merely to satisfy the grid.
Compatible ammunition is present when the retained firearm has usable loaded rounds or you carry matching ammunition. It is absent only when both are missing. A firearm with loaded rounds never belongs in an ammunition-absent card.
Sixteen fixed states
Match all four conditions before acting
Recovery need covered means no health or infection failure is active, or the matching item is held. Compatible ammunition present means the retained firearm has usable loaded rounds or carried matching ammunition.
Regrouped with the squad
Stop optional looting and move with the squad.
- Why
- The pack already covers a repeatable attack and the current recovery risk.
- When it holds
- No health or infection failure is active, or its matching item is held. The firearm has usable loaded rounds or carried matching ammunition.
- Cost
- You leave optional loot behind.
- Alternative
- If a nearby teammate names a missing recovery or ammunition need and you hold a spare field item, drop that spare and confirm the pickup.
Take matching ammunition if it is here; otherwise keep the Melee fallback and move with the squad.
- Why
- Recovery is covered, while the firearm still lacks repeatable support.
- When it holds
- A current Melee weapon can cover contact until matching ammunition appears.
- Cost
- Leaving now gives up a longer ammunition search.
- Alternative
- Swap to a firearm supported by ammunition already held instead of extending the search.
Take the Medical item that matches the current health or infection risk.
- Why
- The attack already works, but the pack has no answer to the named recovery failure.
- When it holds
- The item is Bandages or a Medkit for health, or Phalanx Pills or Experimental Gene Therapy for infection.
- Cost
- The pickup uses room that could hold another attack option.
- Alternative
- If the visible Medical item has the wrong treatment field, leave it and keep moving with the squad.
Take matching recovery first and use the Melee fallback until ammunition support appears.
- Why
- One pickup closes the recovery failure without depending on an unsupported firearm.
- When it holds
- A current Melee weapon remains usable and the Medical item matches the live risk.
- Cost
- The firearm remains unsupported until matching ammunition appears.
- Alternative
- If no matching recovery is present, stay with the squad instead of searching alone for both gaps.
Keep the working pack and stop taking optional weighted items.
- Why
- Removing attack support or required recovery would open a failure that is currently covered.
- When it holds
- Every retained weighted item still has a current job.
- Cost
- You leave the new item behind.
- Alternative
- Drop one true spare for a nearby teammate who needs it, then keep the remaining attack and recovery floor intact.
Remove ammunition that fits no retained firearm, then take ammunition that supports the firearm you kept.
- Why
- The replacement turns occupied space into support for a current weapon.
- When it holds
- The pack contains an unsupported ammunition entry and a matching pickup is present.
- Cost
- The removed ammunition cannot support a later weapon swap.
- Alternative
- If there is no unsupported entry to remove, keep recovery and the Melee fallback, leave the pickup, and move on.
Drop the duplicate or unsupported attack option, then take matching recovery.
- Why
- The retained firearm already has ammunition, while the Medical pickup closes an uncovered failure.
- When it holds
- Another retained attack still works after the removal.
- Cost
- You give up the removed weapon profile.
- Alternative
- Leave the Medical pickup when the item has the wrong treatment field or the removed weapon has a separate required job.
Confirm the firearm has no loaded rounds or carried matching ammunition, then drop it, take matching recovery, and keep the Melee fallback.
- Why
- Only a firearm with neither source of ammunition is unsupported in this state.
- When it holds
- A current Melee weapon remains after the empty, unsupported firearm leaves.
- Cost
- You lose the firearm as an option if matching ammunition appears later.
- Alternative
- If no Melee fallback exists, keep the firearm until the team can replace the attack role safely.
Separated with the squad
Stop optional looting and move to regroup.
- Why
- The survival floor is complete, and a longer search increases separation without fixing a current gap.
- When it holds
- The route to living teammates or the active mission remains usable.
- Cost
- You leave open capacity unused.
- Alternative
- Take a route-side item only when it does not delay the regroup path.
Regroup with the Melee fallback instead of widening the route for ammunition.
- Why
- The missing ammunition does not justify becoming harder for the squad to reach.
- When it holds
- The Melee weapon remains usable for the regroup route.
- Cost
- The firearm stays unsupported for longer.
- Alternative
- Take compatible ammunition when it is already visible on the regroup route.
Take matching recovery if it is on the regroup route, then return to the route.
- Why
- The attack is supported, and one route-side pickup closes the remaining survival gap.
- When it holds
- The Medical field matches the current health or infection risk.
- Cost
- Even a short pickup can delay regrouping.
- Alternative
- If the item requires a side search, move to the squad and solve the gap together.
Take route-side matching recovery first, then regroup with the Melee fallback.
- Why
- Recovery closes the more immediate failure without starting two separate searches.
- When it holds
- The item is already on the regroup route and the Melee weapon remains usable.
- Cost
- The firearm still lacks repeatable ammunition.
- Alternative
- If no matching recovery is visible, regroup now and let the team cover both gaps.
Keep the pack and regroup before dropping anything.
- Why
- A distant teammate cannot use an item left behind, and the current pack already works.
- When it holds
- No recovery failure is active or its matching item is held, and the firearm still has loaded rounds or carried matching ammunition.
- Cost
- You leave the new pickup behind.
- Alternative
- After regrouping, drop a true spare only for a teammate who can collect it now.
Keep any required recovery and the Melee fallback, leave the optional pickup, and regroup.
- Why
- An optional pickup does not repair the unsupported firearm, and required recovery must stay covered.
- When it holds
- The current Melee weapon can cover the route.
- Cost
- The firearm remains unsupported until the team or route supplies matching ammunition.
- Alternative
- Replace an unsupported ammunition entry only when compatible ammunition is already at your feet.
Replace a duplicate attack option with route-side matching recovery, then regroup.
- Why
- One supported attack remains, while the Medical item closes the missing recovery field.
- When it holds
- The removed attack is genuinely duplicated and the recovery item matches the live risk.
- Cost
- You lose the removed attack profile.
- Alternative
- If either condition fails, leave the pickup and solve the gap after regrouping.
Confirm the firearm has no loaded rounds or carried matching ammunition, then replace it with route-side matching recovery and regroup with the Melee fallback.
- Why
- Only a firearm with neither source of ammunition is unsupported in this state, so the swap closes one proven failure and keeps a repeatable attack.
- When it holds
- A current Melee weapon remains and the matching Medical pickup is already on the regroup path.
- Cost
- You lose the firearm as an option if matching ammunition appears later.
- Alternative
- If either condition fails, keep the current items and regroup before making the swap.
The separated cards keep the regroup route ahead of an optional search. They do not tell an actively infected or badly damaged player to ignore the live failure. Resolve that failure first when the matching item is already held, then return to the card for the carry decision.
How should you share a field item?
The safe handoff is local and explicit. Stand beside the teammate, select the spare field item, press the drop action once, and wait for the teammate’s pickup prompt. Do not hold the same action for a routine handoff because the current control assigns the held action to throwing.
Transfer boundary
Share only when the teammate can collect the item
Field item and teammate present
Default: Select the spare item, press the drop action once, and wait for the teammate to use the "Pick Up" prompt.
Why: The current control says: Press key to drop the currently selected item. Hold key to throw currently selected item.
Condition: The player is beside you and the live inventory allows the item to be dropped.
Cost: Your inventory loses that item before the teammate confirms collection.
Alternative: Pick it back up if it remains available and the teammate cannot use it.
Teammate separated
Default: Keep the item and regroup before transferring it.
Why: A dropped item does not close a teammate's gap while they are somewhere else.
Condition: The teammate is not close enough to confirm the pickup now.
Cost: You carry the spare until regrouping.
Alternative: Use the item yourself only when your own matching health or infection state needs it first.
Purchased or equipped Loadout item
Default: Do not plan a transfer.
Why: Loadouts are character based and items cannot be shared between responders.
Condition: The item belongs to the Responder's Loadout rather than a live field transfer.
Cost: Another Responder must cover the need from field items or their own Loadout.
Alternative: Share a droppable field item after regrouping.
Name the field before dropping anything. “Need healing” should mean Bandages or a Medkit. “Need infection treatment” should mean Pills or Gene Therapy. For ammunition, name the caliber or the retained firearm. The Inventory query exposes those relationships on each record.
A spare is not the only copy that keeps your own plan alive. If you have one Medkit and no other health recovery, it is not a spare merely because another player is damaged. The cost of sharing it is accepting your own uncovered health state. Stay together and keep it until a later transfer no longer opens that gap.
Which recovery or ammunition gap comes first?
When a recovery gap and compatible-ammunition gap are both open, take matching recovery first and keep a current Melee fallback. This holds while the Melee weapon can cover repeatable contact and the Medical pickup matches a real risk. The cost is leaving the firearm unsupported. The alternative is taking compatible ammunition first when the team already covers recovery and the route requires the firearm now.
At base values, Bandages restore 25 health and a Medkit restores 100. Skilled Medic changes those amounts, and the health cap can waste part of a use. Read the healing mechanism before giving away the smaller held item merely because another item has a larger printed result.
Ammunition must match the retained firearm. For example, uses . The weapon and ammunition guide covers compatibility, loaded-round limits, and the next swap. Do not keep an empty unsupported firearm by spending the only recovery slot on it.
Melee avoids the ammunition gap but spends stamina. Keep at least 20 points for the next critical action before using it as the fallback. The stamina mechanism gives exact current weapon costs and the recovery boundary.
Should you carry more Supply Items?
Normal Supply Items and Critical Supplies use different carry rules. The current values and stack boundaries are below.
Current Supply Items
Keep progression cargo separate from survival gear
Small Supply Items
- Value
- 2
- Base stack
- 40
- Inventory
- No capacity
Medium Supply Items
- Value
- 5
- Base stack
- 10
- Inventory
- No capacity
Large Supply Items
- Value
- 10
- Base stack
- 5
- Inventory
- No capacity
Critical Supply Items
- Value
- 300
- Base stack
- Separate pool
- Inventory
- 1 kg
Normal cap: 1000 points.
Successful extraction: The Civil Recovery Corps uses supplies to provide for their volunteers and survivors they've rescued. Collecting supply items and successfully extracting with them will result in your character gaining Credits and Character XP that will eventually level you up.\n\nSupplies are pooled together at the end of the game, so the more people who make it out alive with supplies increases the total Credit and Character XP for everyone.
Early Extraction: No Credits rewarded for Early Extraction.
Small, Medium, and Large Supply Items use no Inventory capacity. Do not drop survival gear to make kilogram room for those normal tiers. Their own stack limits and the normal operation cap can still stop further value from being added.
Critical Supplies are different. One current Critical pickup uses 1 kg and carries 300 points in its separate pool. Keep it when the pack still preserves a supported attack and matching recovery. At full capacity, the cost is a real weighted slot. Leave it when taking it would remove the only item that covers a current failure.
Supply value becomes useful through successful extraction. Extracted Supplies are pooled for Credits and Character XP, but the game gives no exact Character XP conversion for each tier. Early Extraction explicitly gives no Credits. Use the Early or Final Extraction guide before choosing whether to keep that value in the mission. Do not promise the team a Credit result from the early fallback.
When does noise change the handoff?
Regrouping and sharing can require movement, but the item transfer does not justify an avoidable contact by itself. Use the current sound fields to judge the route, not to predict a guaranteed zombie response.
Route cost
Do not turn a resource handoff into an avoidable gunshot
- Standard walking
- 4 m hearing stimulus radius
- Standard gunshot
- 45 m hearing stimulus radius
- Silenced gunshot
- 10 m hearing stimulus radius
- Base Inventory
- 10 kg before skills or a Satchel
These are stimulus radii, not guaranteed reaction distances. If the teammate and route are already clear, walk to the handoff. Use a firearm only when the contact must be taken, not merely because a spare item is waiting.
Walk to a nearby teammate when the path is already clear. If contact blocks the only route, choose the supported attack whose ammunition, stamina, and sound cost the squad can afford. The noise mechanism separates standard and Power Plant movement from gunfire, alarms, distractions, and zombie calls.
The default costs time because walking and regrouping can be slower than firing through an optional contact. The alternative is a supported firearm when the contact must be taken. A silenced stimulus is smaller than the standard gunshot field, but it is not silent and neither radius proves which zombie reacts.
How do you recover from a bad swap?
Failure recovery
Return to the last working survival floor
The game says "Inventory Full"
Do not repeat the pickup. Drop one unsupported or duplicate weighted item, then use the pickup once. If every held item still has a required job, leave the new item.
The teammate did not collect the drop
Pick the item back up if it remains available. Keep it until the teammate is close enough to confirm the transfer.
The Medical item has the wrong field
Bandages and Medkits restore health. Phalanx Pills delay infection, and Experimental Gene Therapy cures it. Keep searching for the missing field instead of treating all four as one recovery type.
The firearm has no usable ammunition
When it has neither loaded rounds nor carried matching ammunition, use a current Melee weapon or a different firearm with support. Do not spend the only matching recovery slot to keep the empty, unsupported firearm.
The team split during the handoff
Stop dropping items. Reclaim the item if it is still available, then return to the living teammate cluster or active mission route.
The run leaves by Early Extraction
No Credits rewarded for Early Extraction. Do not count the carried Supply value as a Credit result on that exit.
Make one correction at a time. If ammunition support failed, restore a Melee fallback or match the firearm to ammunition already held. If recovery failed, take the Medical record with the correct health or infection field. If capacity failed, undo the last optional pickup and return to the last pack that fit.
The Inventory capacity mechanism starts at 10 kg, applies one active tier from each capacity-skill family, applies the Satchel afterward, and counts the bag’s own weight. Use its fixed pack cases when one item must leave.
When is the Inventory task finished?
Stop scavenging when the pack has one supported attack, matching recovery for the current risk, and no required item waiting behind an unsupported duplicate. If the squad is separated, finish by returning to the living teammate cluster or active mission route. If the squad is regrouped, share only a true spare that another player can collect now.
Supply Items do not extend the search by themselves. Normal tiers cost no Inventory capacity, while Critical Supplies use a real weighted slot. In both cases, successful extraction is the boundary that turns carried supply value into the shared progression result described by the game.
This guide covers the current team position, Inventory capacity, recovery, ammunition support, Supply value, local transfer, noise cost, and failed-swap recovery. It does not predict loot locations, teammate behavior, zombie hearing outcomes, or the exact Character XP returned by one Supply tier.
These decisions apply to Hotfix 1.0.4.0. The game facts were checked on September 3, 2026.