7 Days to Die Mod Guide – Apocalypse Now

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Apocalypse Now is one of the most fun overhaul mods you can try out. Apart from the usual changes to the way the base 7 Days to Die experience flows, this mod goes a step further by placing a spin on horde mode survival games.

The result is a 7D2D mod that presents a challenge without overwhelming you too much. You won’t be feeling like a god by day 2 but there isn’t anything out there to make things needlessly hard either.

If you’re looking to get a head start on playing Apocalypse Now, then check out our guide below to get yourself fully prepared before you dive in.

What is Apocalypse Now?

Apocalypse Now is an overhaul mod built by a modder called Killerbunny264. Its primary claim to fame lies in its gamestage system which paces the experience in accordance to your tech level. While you’ll notice Apocalypse Now makes use of modlets built by other creators, don’t let this fool you into thinking it’s just a curated pack.

What Makes Apocalypse Now Different?

Killerbunny264 has infused a lot of their own designs into this mod. You’ll quickly find that you’re always working towards fighting bigger and badder zombies, giving the whole experience a bit of a long-game horde mode sort of feel. At the same time, the curve doesn’t aim to toss you in the deep end too quickly. This makes the pacing enjoyable as the mod never gives you more than you can handle.

Where most overhaul mods focus on giving you a massive challenge to tackle, Apocalypse Now has a more thoughtful design. It makes it so that every 7 Days to Die fan can enjoy this regardless of their skill level.

Apocalypse Now Features

As with any overhaul mod, it’s all about the extra mechanics, items, and systems, and Apocalypse Now packs a punch in that department.

Class System

Apocalypse Now has seven classes for you to progress through:

• Engineer
• Medic
• Farmer
• Survivalist
• Scavenger
• Hunter
• Miner

What’s particularly cool about this mod is that it makes all available class quests available right off the bat. This means you don’t have to make any hard choices to kick things off. Each class has 10 levels and obtaining Schematics for each of them is of high importance for progression. To level up, you’ll need to read 10 books per class that you need to craft through Research notes at a Research Desk.

New Weapons & Weapon Progression

Outside of the existing vanilla 7D2D weapons, Apocalypse Now packs a smattering of additional ranged and melee weapons you can use to obliterate your zombie foes. Upclose and personal tools of destruction include frying pans, swords, pitchforks, maces, and cleavers.

On the other hand, guns and rifles don’t look that much different from what you’d find in the base 7D2D experience. However, Apocalypse Now puts an intriguing spin on them. Each gun has a progression system of its own tied to it. You start off with the base version of each firearm and slowly work your way toward an advanced variant.

Guns have 100 levels in total, with max-level guns having slots for 8 mods. As if that wasn’t enough, a lot of mods also have their own advanced versions. When you toss in the fact that ammo can also be upgraded to deeper variants and you’ve got a weapon system that would make even AAA games blush.

The cherry on top? Once you reach a certain gamestage, you’ll start to see legendary versions of guns. At the moment, not all guns are covered but the modder is adding more with each update.

Resources & Crafting Progression

Crafting is vitally important in 7D2D and it’s doubly so for Apocalypse Now. To craft, you’ll need equivalent workstations for the stuff you’re trying to cobble together. Each type of station has its own tiered progression system, which varies from one category to the next:

• Workbenches – 3 tiers
• Chem stations – 2 tiers
• Cement mixers – 2 tiers
• Forges – 3 tiers

Progressing through each of these crafting tiers has a satisfying feel to it and gives you something to look forward to besides making stuff.

Naturally, crafting requires resources and thankfully those are plentiful in Apocalypse Now as well. They’re easy to spot and you’ll find pretty much every resource in all of the mod’s various biomes. Killerbunny264 has also added crystal nodes that you can mind for all types of ore while also having a chance of nabbing a gemstone that can be sold for a pretty penny.

Inventory & Building

It’s always great when mods consider your quality of life as a player and Apocalypse Now does a good job of that in the inventory department. What you’ll notice very quickly is that your item stacks can reach really high levels. In fact, you can stack the same item up to 50,000 times. This includes ammo which is super useful during Horde nights when bullets matter the most.

On top of the cool inventory changes, there are also some great materials you can use to beef up your base. Apart from the frames, you can develop your buildings with the following:

• Wood
• Reinforced wood
• Cobblestone
• Concrete
• Steel
• High-quality Steel
• Titanium

Although you might think that Titanium is the final frontier of building materials, you’ll be pleased to know there’s an even higher level. Polished Titanium will take your base from impenetrable to godlike levels of “stay out”. Each block of this highly reinforced material has a whopping 50,000 hit points. Which begs the question, what would you be trying to keep out that requires such resilience?

The Wasteland & Enemies

The Wasteland is one of the most dangerous places to explore but also crucial to take your progression to the next level. It’s a highly radioactive place that requires the right protection gear, lest you end up dead. Within this hazardous space, you’ll find important resources such as the highly coveted Titanium and radioactive materials that help advance your overall tech level.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a 7D2D mod without zombies and Apocalypse Now has them in spades. As your gamestage progresses, so does the power level of your bran-eating foes. Right from the get-go, enemies and critters can make short work of you but it’s easy to stay away if you’re underequipped. The way Apocalypse Now’s gamestaging works, you’ll find that it’s pretty straightforward to keep in lockstep with the increasing power of your foes. Keep in mind that it’s not just their strength and HP that improves, but also their health regeneration.

More Features & Additions

Killerbunny264 has done a…killer job of keeping their mod updated with new toys to play around with. Here are some of the latest features and additions that have been added since their most recent upgrade:

• 144-slot backpack
• 24-slot crafting queue
• Custom UI with food and water meters
• Air supply drops
• Tons of new crops, including apples, cherries, bananas, coconuts, and lemon trees
• Zombie bosses
• Explosives
• Apache helicopter with missiles
• Destructible traders
• Modlets included:
  • Bdubs Vehicles
  • Active ingredients
  • Pin Recipes
  • Gamestage Difficulty Bonus
  • 12 Slots Toolbelt
  • TFP Hornet
  • TFP Behemoth
  • Zombie Fall Damage
  • No Zombie Rage
  • Items Quality Rework
  • Menu Music
  • …and more

Apocalypse Now Beginner Tips

If you’re not already aware by now, Apocalypse Now has a lot of stuff to get through which can make it a bit overwhelming when first diving in. There’s plenty of progression to get through so having a head-start is quite important.

Here are a few tips to help you make a good start and enjoy everything the mod has to offer:

• Completing your Day 1 quest is crucial to kickstarting your playthrough so don’t skip it. Accept it, craft the bed and whatever else it asks of you, then you’re ready to do as you please.
• Focus on getting the starter quest for each class done to gather generic notes. These can then be used to craft a class book. As a start, you’ll want to choose between Farmer and Engineer. The former gives you a better start with food and crops while the latter will allow give you access to advanced stations and a Research Desk at level 3.
• All classes are important so once you’ve settled on a starter class, you should focus on leveling up the ones you need at any given time.
• Some great perks to put early points into include Sexual Tyrannosaurus, Iron Gut, Junior Chef, and Pack Mule.
• Don’t be fooled by foods in tins. A lot of them can make you sick so it’s important to cook them before consuming them. They’ll all have a Dysentery percentage and you’ll likely be tempted by low rates. Don’t take the chance as you’ll end up taking damage and a reduction to your stamina.
• The first couple of nights are when all zombies come out to play as they do in vanilla 7D2D. As a beginner, you might want to avoid exploring during the first few nights. Trader POIs are a great option for waiting out the night as Traders won’t kick you out like they do in the base game.