Textbooks are special consumables allowing you to learn new, level up, or respec your survivors' skills.
About Textbooks[]
There are 3 types of Textbooks in the game:
- Community Skill Textbooks
- Quirk Skill Textbooks
- Training Manuals
Each Textbook can only be used once since they get consumed in the process. The Community Skill Textbooks can be found while looting. The best places to look for them are Libraries and Offices. Wandering Traders can also sell them. Quirk Skill Textbooks are only sold by Rare Skills Traders and Training Manuals are only sold by Mysterious Wandering Traders.
Community Skill Textbooks[]
Community Skill Textbooks allow you to teach a Community Skill to one of your survivors if they don't have a 5th skill yet. They can also be used to improve the basic community skills and specializations the survivors already have.
Each Community Skill has its own textbook.
| Name | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Chemistry Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Chemistry, or improves that survivor's Chemistry, Munitions, or Pharmacology skill. |
| Computers Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Computers, or improves that survivor's Computers, Electronics, or Programming skill. |
| Cooking Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Cooking, or improves that survivor's Cooking, Cuisine, or Nutrition skill. |
| Craftsmanship Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Craftsmanship, or improves that survivor's Craftsmanship, Construction, or Metalwork skill. |
| Gardening Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Gardening, or improves that survivor's Gardening, Agriculture, or Herbalism skill. |
| Mechanics Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Mechanics, or improves that survivor's Mechanics, Automechanics, or Engineering skill. |
| Medicine Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Medicine, or improves that survivor's Medicine, Surgery, or Pathology skill. |
| Utilities Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor the basics of Utilities, or improves that survivor's Utilities, Electrical, or Plumbing skill. |
There's also a unique Textbook called Copy of The Knowledge, by Lewis Dartnell. Though it has a unique name, it works as a regular Chemistry Textbook. Fun fact, this book actually exists in the real world. In the game you can get it through the Recover a Classic Personal Goal.
Quirk Skill Textbooks[]
Quirk Skill Textbooks allow you to teach a Quirk Skill to one of your survivors if they don't have a 5th skill yet. While the game has dozens of these Skills, only 10 of them can be learned with these textbooks.
The following Quirks Skill Textbooks can be found in the game:
| Name | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Driving Textbook | 
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Driving. |
| Fishing Textbook |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Fishing. |
| Hygiene Guide |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Hygiene. |
| Lichenology Textbook |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Lichenology. |
| Recycling Guide |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Recycling. |
| Scrum Textbook |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Scrum Certification. |
| Secret Shopper's Guidebook |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Shopping. |
| Sewing Guide |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Sewing. |
| Sleep Psychology Textbook |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Sleep Psychology. |
| Soundproofing Guide |
|
Teaches one survivor as much as they can learn about Soundproofing. |
Training Manuals[]
Training Manuals allow you to respecialize your survivors' Core Skills. The survivor must have their core skill specialized to be able to use the manual. When doing so, the manual allows you to pick any of the 4 specializations available for that skill. This comes with a penalty though - your survivor will also receive a negative Trait which decreases the skill's experience rate by 66%, requiring you to put 3 times the effort into getting to level 7 with the skill than usual.
Each Core Skill has its own training manual.
| Name | Icon | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Combat Training Manual | 
|
Teaches a broad base of different hand-to-hand combat techniques. |
| Firearms Training Manual | 
|
Teaches a broad base of different firearms techniques. |
| Mental Training Manual | 
|
Teaches a broad base of different mental conditioning techniques. |
| Physical Training Manual | 
|
Teaches a broad base of different physical techniques. |