Yet Another Zombie Survivors Items Guide
Understand the version 1.0 item pool, chest choices, build roles, tradeoffs, unlocks, and wording traps.
Quick answer
- Items provide passive benefits for the rest of the current run.
- Choose every item for a clear job: damage, status, survival, economy, or control.
- Version 1.0 added 21 items through story missions, achievements, and meta-progression.
- Read penalties and trigger conditions before replacing a reliable item.
See item decisions inside a version 1.0 run
This current review shows how item choices support a complete squad and build in the full-release game.
Continue reading
These related Yet Another Zombie Survivors pages answer the next questions around this topic.
How the current item system works
Items are passive upgrades that last for the current run. Follow the golden chest arrow, open the item chest, and choose one of four offered items. You can hold only one copy of a named item, though different items can stack benefits toward the same stat or damage plan.
Treat every item slot as a job in the build, then replace the slot only when a new item performs that job better. In a normal run, limited space makes replacement part of the decision. Infinite mode removes that pressure and can display a much larger inventory.
Use the current in-game Item Archive and the full chest tooltip for exact values. The pool has changed repeatedly, and a screenshot or tier list from Early Access may show an old effect, an unavailable item, or a reward that moved in version 1.0.
The 21 items added in version 1.0
The full release added these items:
| Black Box | Jailbroken Phone | Ragged Patch |
| Hijacked Signal | Access Keycard | Brave Toaster |
| Mushroom Mushroom | Dartboard | Silencer |
| Mana Potion | Fishing Pole | Accumulator |
| Hyperactivity | The Word | Great Nade |
| Power Generator | Boiling Pot | Pawn Shop Receipt |
| Last Round | Acoustic Guitar | Easter Egg |
Five of the new items come from main-story missions. Most of the rest come from achievement and meta-progression unlocks. The release notes name the additions and their unlock routes, while the Item Archive provides their current effects after they are discovered.
Two achievement rewards changed at release. Why'd You Pick That? now rewards Great Nade in place of Skip Rope. Curly Little Potato now rewards Easter Egg in place of Jade Amulet. Check the reward shown in your current build before following an older unlock checklist.
Choose items by the job your build needs
Start with the build's weakest required job. A strong effect that does not help the current weapons, abilities, or survival problem can still be the wrong chest choice.
| Job | What to inspect | Verified examples |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon damage | Weapon modifier, cooldown, attack speed, magazine, critical trigger | Axe, Magazine Clip, Scouter, Sugar Rush |
| Ability damage | Ability modifier, cooldown, duration, critical trigger | Wrench, Solar Panel, Nuts & Bolts, Homing Pigeon |
| Damage type | Matching tags and any penalty to another family | Detective's Pipe, Power Glove, Plague's Visage, Special Snowflake, Spoil Canister |
| Status plan | Burn, freeze, electrify, toxify, or injured interactions | Icon of Cinder, Icon of Stillness, Icon of Tempest, Icon of Pestilence, Jacob's Ladder |
| Survival | Maximum HP, healing, regeneration, revive, dodge, armor | Apple, Health Potion, Medkit, Jewel of Life, Plot Armor, Stretcher |
| Economy and choices | XP, cash, reroll, banish, chest, or pickup value | Wooden Stick, Lucky Bill, Rock 'n' Roll, Ban Hammer, Golden Key, Pickup Pick |
| Conditional burst | Boss kills, full-health targets, damage taken, or SOS triggers | Coffee Cup, Giant Enemy Crab, Positive Attitude, Ring of Power |
Direct modifiers are the easiest to value. Axe favors weapon-heavy squads, while Wrench favors ability damage. Solar Panel supports both weapon and ability cooldowns. Magazine Clip helps weapons with magazines larger than one, so it has little value for a weapon that fires from a one-round magazine.
Damage-type items need a full accounting. Detective's Pipe boosts fire, ice, and electric damage while reducing kinetic, bleed, and explosive damage. Power Glove pushes the opposite family. Pick one only after checking where the squad's real damage comes from.
Status icons become more valuable when the squad can apply their matching effect consistently. A high tag count without a reliable application source leaves part of the item unused.
Hidden costs and wording traps
Some items trade one stat for another. Glass Cannon doubles outgoing damage and halves maximum HP. The gain is huge, yet it can turn a comfortable boss hit into a failed run. Wooden Stick gives more XP while lowering weapon and ability damage. T-Pose Doll adds dodge chance while reducing movement speed.
Conditional wording matters just as much as the headline number:
- Scouter checks weapon attacks against full-health enemies.
- Homing Pigeon applies the matching idea to ability attacks and has a trigger interval.
- Coffee Cup and Sugar Rush need a boss kill before their short buffs activate.
- Pills needs health pickups collected at full health.
- Camping Set rewards standing still, which may conflict with a hazardous map.
Version 1.0 also fixed damage-type tag calculations and clarified that Glass of Milk is not a healing item. That classification matters for challenges that restrict healing items, even though Glass of Milk can grow maximum HP through kills.
Potato is intentionally secret. Its description is a discovery puzzle, so a normal value comparison cannot explain it without spoiling the effect. Keep it when experimentation is the goal; skip it when the run needs a known answer immediately.
Reroll, banish, lock, and replacement decisions
Use rerolls when all four choices miss the build's current job. Banish removes a weak or incompatible option from later pools. Lockdown is useful when the offered item is good but another immediate choice matters more. Item Pool presets can reduce future noise before the run starts.
When the inventory is full, compare the outgoing and incoming items in four steps:
- Identify the exact job of the item you would lose.
- Check every penalty and activation condition on the replacement.
- Confirm that the current squad can trigger the new effect often.
- Keep the old item when the replacement adds only theoretical value.
This method is more reliable than a universal tier list. Map hazards, squad members, weapon upgrades, game mode, and the next boss can all change which item performs best.