In Project Zomboid, water is an essential source of survival. While there are many water sources, making a rain collector is one of the most convenient and sustainable ways to preserve it.
Making the rain collector allows you to use a versatile and high-capacity container to store water efficiently. This guide will show you how to make a rain collector in Project Zomboid.
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In Project Zomboid, you can make the rain collector barrel when you reach level 4 in the Carpentry skill, equip the hammer, and have these items in your inventory: 4 planks, 4 nails, and 4 garbage bags. Next, right-click on the ground, select “Carpentry”, then “Furniture”, and choose “Rain Collector Barrel”.
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How to Make Rain Collector in Project Zomboid
In Project Zomboid, the rain collector barrel is considered the best water container.
There are two types of rain collector barrels, which have different maximum capacities:
- Small rain collector barrel: can hold 160 units of water, which can be converted into 8 water bottles.
- Large rain collector barrel: can hold 400 units of water, which can be converted into 20 water bottles.
It’s impossible to find the rain collector barrel anywhere. However, all rain collector barrel types above can be made by right-clicking on the ground.
In general, small and large rain collector barrels have the same recipe: level 4 or level 7 of Carpentry skill, a hammer, 4 planks, 4 nails, and 4 garbage bags.
Now, let’s get to the details!
1. Level up Carpentry Skill
Carpentry skill is the first requirement for making any wooden tool, including rain collector barrels. You need at least level 4 Carpentry skill to make the small rain collector barrel and level 7 Carpentry to craft the large one.
Choosing some specific professions provides 1 to 3 levels of Carpentry skills. They are Park Ranger, Construction Worker, Repairman, and Engineer. Especially when you choose Carpenter as your occupation, you’ll immediately gain 3 levels in Carpentry.
Moreover, the Handy trait gives you 1 Carpentry level.
If you didn’t choose those professions or traits, you need to do some disassembling work to reach level 4. In fact, the fastest way to gain Carpentry level is by disassembling furniture. To disassemble, right-click on any piece of furniture and select “Disassemble”.
This action requires you to equip a hammer and sometimes a saw in your inventory.
2. Get a Hammer
To make the rain collector barrel, you need either 1 of the following hammers: Hammer, Stone Hammer, or Ball-peen Hammer.
A hammer, or normal hammer, is the most popular type in Project Zomboid. You can find it when breaking crates, on metal shelves in houses, tool stores, or on army bases.
Similar to the hammer, you can find a Ball-peen Hammer in crates or garages.
A stone hammer is craftable, and luckily all required materials can be found via foraging: Tree Branch, Stone, and either Ripped Sheets, Dirty Rags, or Twine.
Additionally, if you play through “Custom Sandbox”, you can tick the box “Starter Kit” in the “Character” menu while creating your world, as there’s a chance to spawn with a hammer in your inventory.
3. Get 4x Planks
Although planks are available in warehouses, crates, or storage buildings, most players prefer collecting them using a hammer and smashing doors.
The number of planks received from smashing doors is typically between 1 and 2 per door.
In addition, using the saw to convert logs into planks is considered the quickest way to obtain planks, as each log can be converted into 3 planks. This method also helps level up Carpentry skill.
Not to mention that you can also obtain planks by disassembling furniture.
4. Get 4x Nails
Nails are everywhere in Project Zomboid. The fastest way to obtain nails is to disassemble the wooden furniture.
Disassembling furniture also levels up your Carpentry skill. Furthermore, check out this post to learn more ways to obtain nails.
5. Get 4x Garbage Bags
Most garbage bags can be found in trash bins. Besides, you can search for trash cans in schools, trash bins in residential houses, or gas stations to get garbage bags.
You can find 1 garbage bag in every trash can or trash bin.
6. Make The Rain Collector Barrel
Once you gather enough materials and have at least level 4 in Carpentry, making the rain collector barrel is straightforward.
Stand near the place you want to put the rain collector barrel, then right-click on the ground, and select “Carpentry” => “Furniture” => “Rain Collector Barrel”.
There’s a green bar on your character’s head while crafting, which indicates the process. When it’s done, you’re ready to collect your first raindrops. You can also right-click on the rain collector barrel to check its capacity.
It’s advisable to place several rain collector barrels on top of your base or near the farm for better use.
That’s how to make a rain collector in Project Zomboid!
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