The Best Base Defenses In 7 Days To Die

Summary

Landmines are effective in long-range defense but need replacing once used.
Wooden spikes are cheap but don't last long, best used to block entrances.
Iron spikes are upgraded wooden spikes, more durable, and can be used in various tactical ways.

7 Days To Die spent over a decade in Early Access. The result of this extended development time is a well-polished example of what a zombie survival game should be. With RPG-like player progression, great multiplayer support, and, of course, hordes of zombies, the game is fun and immersive.

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Posts 1

By Lucas Simons

One of the things that 7 Days To Die does well is integrating tower defense-style gameplay. Every seven days, 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 to find a defensive position and reinforce it to fight off the zombie hordes, and this can be done by placing the best base defenses to defend their position.

8 Landmines

So Much Fun To Watch Go Boom

Pros: Good damage, effective at long range
Cons: Need to be replaced once used

As any experienced 7 Days To Die player 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.

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Posts 2

By Benjamin Joe

Landmines are 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.

7 Wooden Spikes

Very Basic Defense

Pros: Cheap to craft
Cons: Don’t last long before they break

For the first couple of Blood Moon nights, most players, especially those new to 7 Days To Die, won’t have access to the more advanced base defenses on this list. This is where Wooden Spikes can 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.

6 Iron Spikes

An Upgrade Over Wooden Spikes

Pros: Quite cheap to craft, last longer than Wooden Spikes
Cons: Will eventually break

Iron Spikes are 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.

5 Electric Fences

Slows Zombies Down And Applies Damage Over Time

Pros: Can apply DOT to whole groups of zombies
Cons: Require electrical power, which players may not have access to

Now we come to the first of the powered base defenses in 7 Days To Die. Electric Fence poles can be placed and wired up to a source of power such 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.

4 Blade Trap

Looks Nastier Than It Is

Pros: Has a decent number of hitpoints
Cons: Require thought when placing

The Blade Trap is 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.

3 SMG Turret

Fires 9MM Ammo Of All Types

Pros: Fully automated long-range defense
Cons: Needs to be reloaded and can waste ammo

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. The SMG Turret is 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.

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Posts

By Benjamin Joe

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.

2 Shotgun Turret

Massive Short-Range Damage

Pros: Fully automated short-range defense
Cons: Rapid falloff in damage as range increases

The Shotgun Turret works in exactly the same way as the SMG Turret. However, it fires shotgun shells and slugs instead. 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 in 7 Days To Die is 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.

1 Robotic Turrets

Flexible Automated Defense

Pros: Can be picked up and dropped where needed
Cons: Require a significant investment in perk points to be effective

Robotic Turrets have 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 decimate hordes of zombies. They don’t need electrical power to work, and can also be used as a hand-held weapon in a pinch.

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Posts 10

By Mac Wheeler

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.

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