{"id":22012,"date":"2026-06-11T08:28:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:28:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/7-days-to-die-magazines-guide\/"},"modified":"2026-06-11T08:28:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-11T08:28:55","slug":"7-days-to-die-magazines-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/7-days-to-die-magazines-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Days to Die Magazines Guide: Learn-by-Reading and Crafting Tiers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you started playing 7 Days to Die expecting to spend skill points to unlock crafting recipes, the 1.0 release has a surprise for you. Since the overhaul that arrived in Alpha 21 and carried through to 1.0, your ability to craft<\/em> almost everything is governed not by perks but by magazines you find and read. This is the Learn by Reading system, and understanding it is the difference between scavenging beat-up loot forever and forging your own quality gear. This guide breaks down exactly how reading magazines unlocks recipes, raises crafting quality, and which perks tilt the loot tables in your favor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Learn by Reading actually changed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Learn by Reading system replaced the older “Learn by Skills” and “Learn by Schematics” approaches. Instead of automatically unlocking recipes when you ranked up a perk, you now gain crafting ability by looting containers, finding Crafting Skill Magazines, and reading them. Each magazine raises a specific crafting skill, and as the wiki puts it, “Crafting Skill Magazines are items that are read to increase Crafting Skills, which unlock most crafting recipes.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crucially, crafting skills do two jobs at once. They unlock new recipes at certain thresholds, and they raise the quality<\/strong> of items you can craft. So reading magazines isn’t just about being able<\/em> to make a weapon, it’s about being able to make a better<\/em> version of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How reading unlocks crafting tiers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Every crafting skill starts at level 1 and climbs as you read magazines tied to that skill. Skill increases unlock recipes at set points and also bump the quality of what you craft. Tool, weapon, and armor quality in 7 Days to Die runs from Quality 1 up to Quality 6 (Legendary), and higher crafting-skill levels let you produce higher-quality versions of the same item. As of the 1.0 release, crafting a Quality 6 weapon or armor piece also requires the new Legendary Parts, so the top tier blends skill level with a rare crafting component.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The unlocks are also gated by technology tier. The developers structured the skill spectrum so that “each tech level has a separate range in the skill spectrum so that you have to work up through primitive tech and then iron tech and then steel tech.” In practice that means your first reads tend to unlock crude, primitive gear, and only after sustained reading do iron- and steel-tier recipes appear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not every skill caps at the same number. Some crafting skills run all the way to level 100, while others stop much earlier “depending on how many unlocks there are for recipes and quality tiers.” For example, the Harvesting Tools skill (fed by Tools Digest) reaches level 100, while the Seeds skill (fed by Southern Farming) maxes out at only 20. The Blades skill unlocks progressively better weapons at levels 1, 11, and 36, illustrating how a single skill staggers its recipe unlocks across its range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The magazine categories and what they unlock<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Magazines are grouped by crafting category, each with its own distinctively-named publication. Read enough of one and you progress that skill. Here are the magazine titles and the crafting skill each one feeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Magazine<\/th>Crafting Skill it raises<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Tools Digest<\/td>Harvesting Tools<\/td><\/tr>\n
Handy Land<\/td>Repair Tools<\/td><\/tr>\n
Scrapping 4 Fun<\/td>Salvage Tools<\/td><\/tr>\n
Furious Fists<\/td>Knuckles<\/td><\/tr>\n
Knife Guy<\/td>Blades<\/td><\/tr>\n
Big Hitters<\/td>Clubs<\/td><\/tr>\n
Get Hammered<\/td>Sledgehammers<\/td><\/tr>\n
Bow Hunters<\/td>Bows<\/td><\/tr>\n
Sharp Sticks<\/td>Spears<\/td><\/tr>\n
Handgun Magazine<\/td>Handguns<\/td><\/tr>\n
Shotgun Weekly<\/td>Shotguns<\/td><\/tr>\n
Rifle World<\/td>Rifles<\/td><\/tr>\n
Tactical Warfare<\/td>Machine Guns<\/td><\/tr>\n
Explosive Magazine<\/td>Explosives<\/td><\/tr>\n
Tech Planet<\/td>Robotics<\/td><\/tr>\n
Armored Up<\/td>Armor<\/td><\/tr>\n
Medical Journal<\/td>Medical<\/td><\/tr>\n
Home Cooking Weekly<\/td>Food<\/td><\/tr>\n
Southern Farming<\/td>Seeds<\/td><\/tr>\n
Wiring 101<\/td>Electrician<\/td><\/tr>\n
Electrical Traps<\/td>Traps<\/td><\/tr>\n
Forge Ahead<\/td>Workstations<\/td><\/tr>\n
Vehicle Adventures<\/td>Vehicles<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A few unlocks fall outside this system. Weapon and armor modifications are unlocked through Schematics rather than magazines, and a handful of unique recipes (such as the Can of Sham and Super Corn Seed) come from Perk Books instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where to find magazines<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Magazines are scattered through the world in predictable places. Prioritise these when you loot:<\/p>\n\n\n\n