The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners Loot Tier List and Crafting Guide

The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners by Skydance Interactive is the premiere Zombie Survival experience for VR both on the Oculus Quest and PCVR. Based in the Walking Dead universe, as the name implies, you take the role of “The Tourist”. Basically a Louisiana badass wandering the flooded, zombie infested ruins of New Orleans looking for the rumored “Reserve”, an underground military bunker containing enough weapons and supplies to equip a regiment and care for a horde of refugees. As always in the apocalypse, weapons and supplies are king. The only problem is, everyone else also wants to get to the Reserve, so finding it won’t be quick or easy. You’ll need weapons, upgrades, food, and medicine just to get there. The best way to acquire all of these things is by collecting junk, and then crafting it into something useful. Here’s the best way to do just that, and blaze your trail through zombies and bandits to The Reserve.

Without The Loot The Point is Moot

Before getting to what you should upgrade and buy, let’s start with what you should be taking back to your base when out in the zombie infested city of New Orleans. Not all pieces of loot are created equal, and you only have so much space in your backpack. Knowing what to take and what to leave can be the difference between a shiny new pump action shotgun, and facing off against five zombies with nothing but a kitchen knife and the will to survive.

S Tier

Box Of Loot

Always, always, always pick these up. No matter what color they are or what you need. The metal boxes of loot hold an insane amount of crafting material for a single inventory slot. They are the absolute best pieces of loot in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners and so should never be left behind. Don’t think about it, just take it. It’s also important to note that any unarmed NPC will drop one of these boxes when killed. That doesn’t mean you should do it… but it is an apocalypse. Sometimes even enemy patrols will have one or two on them, and those you won’t have to feel so bad about.

Medicine/Sterile Bandage

What’s not to love about free items? While not as effective as some other medical items you can craft with the upgraded Survival Workbench, bottles of medicine and sterile bandages are effectively free items that you won’t have to spend resources on and therefore are definitely worth the inventory slot when out on a run. Don’t scrap them, but keep any spares in your storage box. You never know when you might need them. Be careful not to take any dirty bandages though, they are hardly worth it.

A Tier

Destroyed Firearm

Ruined Pistols, shotguns, and rifles are extremely good pickups. Not only do they provide frames which are required to craft a working version of the same firearm, but they also give Workable Metal, Nuts and Bolts, and even Wood Scrap in good quantity. In the early days they are very common, especially ruined revolvers. Armed NPCs will drop either a whole or destroyed version of their weapon when killed.

Working Firearm

Working firearms provide both firearm frames as well as a good amount of resources, as their destroyed counterparts do. Make sure to unload them before scrapping. Sometimes armed NPCs will still drop their weapons in working condition. You can use them if you like, but keeping them for scrapping is better, as the firearms you craft yourself last for much longer.

Candelabra/Candle Stick

While it may not seem like much at first, the Candelabra is a fantastic loot item. Not only does it provide Workable Metal, which is especially useful in the early game, but it also contains sharp objects, which are needed for most melee weapons and constantly in demand. The shaft is also a nice bonus. While shafts may not seem very important, they are more scarce than they seem. The Candelabras and Candle Sticks are great all in one items and shouldn’t be left behind.

Toy Robot/PWNBOT

Toy Robots contain Nuts and Bolts, Workable Metal, and more. For a single junk item they certainly have a lot inside of them. Definitely worth taking.

Dragon Bar/Poseidon Tuna/Twinkle Toe/Cereal

These are the three best non-craftable food items in the game, and each provide the best resources for food crafting. The Dragon Bar is generally the best, while Poseidon Tuna, notable from other cans by it’s blue label, is the best source of Protein. Twinkle Toes and Cereal are the best source of sugar.

Chemical Vial/Effigy

Both the Effigy and the Chemical vial are excellent sources of gunpowder, which as you might guess is needed for crafting all firearms ammunition. The chemical vials can be found in the science lab in Rampart (the school) abundantly. Be careful to check each one though, not all contain gunpowder.

Keyboard/Headset

Keyboards and headsets are both great sources of many good resources in small quantities. Regardless they are very good pickups.

B Tier

Firewood

Firewood should definitely be coveted in the first few days, as they provide an astounding six wood in addition to a single shaft. After upgrading the crafting stations wood is still a very common resource found in other items, and is not needed in great quantities. So later on Firewood should be ignored, but when you are still upgrading your stations it is invaluable. Take enough of these early on and you will never run out of Fiber either.

Clock

Clocks contain not only Wood Scrap, but also Nuts and Bolts and Bindings. While none of these resources are especially rare, this is a good variety in a single item in good quantity. Not a bad pickup.

Large Can of Food/Dog Food/Can of Beans

Any of the larger cans of food contain a variety of foodstuffs such as Fiber, Water, and Protein. Not to mention a small amount of Workable Metal. All in all they are decent pieces of loot, but not as dense in singular rare foodstuffs as A Tier food items. Fiber and Water are common, while Protein and Sugar are not.

Skull/Box of Matches

Both of these are more common sources of gunpowder, though they do not contain much. As an added bonus they do both include some Wood Scrap. If you need some more ammunition in the short term, definitely pick these items up. Otherwise there are likely better alternatives lying around.

Two Handed Weapon

Before getting the backpack upgrade you will only have the capacity to hold two two handed weapons, three after the upgrade. These are items such as Hatchets, Fire Axes, and Crowbars. They are good pickups which don’t grant exceptionally rare resources, but are better than leaving with any of those two handed slots unoccupied. If a two handed firearm such as a rifle is available instead, favor those over two handed melee weapons.

C Tier

Book

Books aren’t for reading when the dead roam the earth, at least not these. Instead they are a good source of Bindings and Adhesives.

Pots and Pans

Pots and pans are essentially infinite durability melee weapons, which take multiple bonks on the head in order to bring down an opponent. Otherwise they are a subpar source of metal and other various pieces.

Dog Bowl

A decent combination of Nuts and Bolts as well as Workable Metal. Not the best item and just barely above D Tier. However, they are worth a backpack slot if you need both of those things.

Kitchen Knife/Screwdriver

Occasionally you can find Kitchen Knives and Screwdrivers out in the wild, which operate as decent weapons with low durability. As scrapable objects they are alright, containing some Sharp Objects, Workable Metal, and a Shaft. A decent pickup, but not the highest priority.

Broken Plank

These are wooden boards with a single nail in them, obtained by smashing a wooden barricade with a single or two handed weapon. These give some Wooden Scrap and a pittance of Workable Metal. While they do not give great resources, if no two handed weapons are available to fill your two handed slots these are better than nothing.

D Tier

Box of Razors/Empty Bottle

Boxes of Razors provide only Sharp Objects and are effectively garbage items that should always be left behind unless there is no time to grab something else. Empty Bottles are a better alternative. Not only are they more abundant, and also contain one Workable Metal as a bonus, they can be broken and used as weapons in a pinch. You will never want for Sharp Objects since empty bottles are so common, even forty plus days into a game.

Shoe

Old shoes are a decent source of Bindings and Adhesives, but grant them in inferior quantities to other items. You will likely find better sources of both in any given run, until the much later days.

Egg Timer

A great source of Nuts and Bolts and nothing else. Not often worth picking up due to many other items containing a lot of Nuts and Bolts as well as other resources.

Worn Photo

Contains some Wood Scrap and a bit of Nuts and Bolts, maybe some fond memories for somebody other than you. If you’re starved for wood this may be worth it, but probably not.

Soda/Beer

A source of Sugar, Workable Metal, and Water in small quantities. Only worth taking when starved for Sugar and unable to find anything better.

Lighter

Somehow contains a fair quantity of antiseptic. Not to mention a shaft. For this it may be worth it should you really need to craft some medical supplies. They are also extremely common in kitchens if you’re starved for shafts.

F Tier

Other Junk

Telephones, Radios, Pillows, medical tape, pillows, cigarettes, etc. There are a lot of junk items in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners and a lot of them are not worth taking. Some give only two to three resources apiece, and those not even particularly rare resources. It’s safe to assume that if an item is not in one of the tiers above, it’s never worth taking. Unless we’ve missed something! If we have then leave a comment.

Glue

A special mention here since glue seems like it should be a good item, containing a fair bit of adhesive, but adhesive is extremely common in other items which grant other resources as well. Don’t fall into the trap, leave the glue.

Progression and Upgrades

Now that you know what junk items are good for what materials, you’ll also want to know what you should spend them on. There are three workbenches, Survival, Firearms, and Gear. At first most of the good items and upgrades are locked and require a lot of resources to unlock them. Even with an abundant haul it is important to prioritize.

Most important of all is the Backpack Upgrade, which is the first upgrade on the second level of the gear workbench. This one is a no brainer as it grants an additional page of backpack slots as well as a two handed weapon storage slot. This allows you to carry 36 items in your backpack as well as two two handed weapons. Not to count your two hip slots and back slot.

That’s a lot of loot! Keep an eye on what resources you need next and rush to complete this upgrade. You will need a lot of Wood Scraps, Workable Metal, and Nuts and Bolts. Also ten Adhesives and ten Bindings. Here’s the complete list to get that far.

Level 1: 12 Nuts and Bolts and 24 Workable Metal

Level 2: 12 Nuts and Bolts and 24 Wood Scraps

Level 3: 24 Wood Scraps and 30 Workable Metal

Level 4: 24 Workable Metal and 24 Nuts and Bolts

Level 5: 30 Wood Scraps, 10 Adhesives and 10 Bindings

This can take as little as a couple of days if you optimize your looting. Not to mention you will gain several other very useful upgrades along the way.

Once the backpack upgrade maximizes your looting potential, what is next is up to your preference. Should you have a lot of gunpowder and firearms frames and desire to quickly blast away enemy bandits and zombies alike, going to the firearms workbench might be the next best idea. If you really want a Katana, which is arguably the best melee weapon in The Walking Dead: Saints and Sinners, then continuing to upgrade the Gear Workbench is for you.

For the most conservative player the Survival Workbench is the best pick. Not only does it grant an upgrade to health, but also the best medicines in the game. At least upgrading it as far as the health upgrade is a choice that will increase your survivability considerably. You can’t bring back loot if you’re dead.

Whichever way you choose to go, prioritizing the backpack upgrade and looting properly will get you to fully upgraded Workbenches in a few days. Not to mention an abundance of resources afterwards in order to craft whatever goodies you could want. Happy looting, stay safe out there in the apocalypse.

The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is available on Steam for 39.99$. It is also available on the Oculus Store for 39.99$. This is one of the best Virtual Reality experiences out there right now, with extremely polished survival gameplay and a compelling story. Not to mention an unmatched melee combat system, focusing on piercing the skull of course, because zombies.

If you like zombie games then this is one you should not miss. Even if you aren’t a huge zombie culture fan, this is a game that is well worth its price tag for even a single playthrough. There’s even an Arena Survival Mode, and a free end game DLC.

Having trouble sweating through your headset’s face cover? Try out new ones from VR Cover that repel sweat and are easy to swap in.