Project Zomboid Electrical XP: Best Actions per Level

Short answer: in the wiki's recipe table, dismantling a TV or radio-type device gives Electrical 10 XP each, and crafting a Makeshift Ham Radio gives 30 XP. These are the wiki's table values; I have not confirmed them in Build 42.21 gameplay. Dismantling needs no magazine and no level, so you can start it at level 0. Crafting needs a recipe you have learned from a magazine, by Electrical level, or by researching a device.

All five skill books cut the XP you must earn to about one twelfth overall (the top multiplier is 16). In the calculation below, taking Electrical from level 1 to 10 for a character who starts at exactly level 1 (100% XP gain) needs about 273 device dismantles at 10 XP each, with all five books read. Without any book it is about 3,270. These are my own calculations, not numbers measured in game. The assumptions are listed further down.

This article is written for Build 42.21, which was released to Stable on 28 September 2026 (checked in the Steam news on 11 October 2026; there is no newer build). The numbers come from the official wiki, and the wiki disagrees with itself in one place. See "The wiki disagrees on dismantle XP" for which value I used.

Recipe and item names are the English names used on the wiki, so you can match them against the crafting menu.

Where the XP comes from: dismantling and crafting

The wiki's "Scrap Electronics" page has recipe tables that include the Electrical XP (page tagged 42.10.0, tables with an infobox version of 42.20.0). Here is the XP column.

• How I read the table is my interpretation. The headings are Ingredients, Tools, Recipes, Skills, Workstation, XP, and Product. I read the Skills value as the required level and the XP value as the Electrical XP you get.
• The same scrap buys very different XP depending on what you make. For radios it is 10 for the radio, 20 for the walkie talkie, and 30 for the ham radio.
• The recipes that add a timer, sensor, or remote to a bomb also give XP (2 to 14), but they need a bomb as an input, so I left them out of the calculation.

The wiki disagrees on dismantle XP

The wiki's "Electrical" page lists far less XP for dismantling.

• Its "Leveling" section (tagged 42.20.0) gives 0.5 XP per electronic device, 1.25 XP per small furniture item, and 2.5 XP per tile of furniture or commercial kitchen appliance.
• The recipe table above (the Scrap Electronics page) gives the same TV and radio dismantles 10 XP. That is 20 times more.

I have not checked in game, so I cannot say which is current. I used the recipe table, because the Electrical page itself flags its Mechanics section as still based on Build 41. If 0.5 XP is right, a dismantle-only run needs 20 times as many devices. Dismantle your first three to five devices and watch the XP bar to see which value your game uses. 10 and 0.5 are base values. A character that started at Electrical 0 gains only 25%, so the bar will show 2.5 or 0.125 XP (starting-level multipliers are covered below).

The Electrical page also says repairing a generator gives XP (1.25 per scrap, repairing 4% + 0.5 x Electrical level %). That figure falls under the same disagreement, so I left it out of the calculation.

Level by level (all five skill books read)

The wiki's experience table lists the XP needed per level and the skill-book multiplier. Dividing one by the other gives the XP you actually have to earn with the book read. The table converts that into a number of TV or radio dismantles (10 XP each).

With no book at all, the same route needs about 3,270 dismantles, roughly 12 times as many. For level 9 to 10 alone it is 900 against 57, a 16-fold gap. So for Electrical, find the books before you hunt for devices.

Assumptions behind this calculation (change any of them and the numbers change):

1. The character starts at exactly Electrical level 1, with 100% XP gain. Starting at 2 or 3 and above gives 133% and 166%, which lowers the counts, but I did not recalculate. Starting at 0 means 25% actual XP gain, about four times the counts above. The wiki does not say whether that multiplier stacks with the skill-book multiplier, and I could not confirm it.
2. Each action gives exactly the XP in the recipe table above.
3. The XP-per-level table and book multipliers are the Build 41.78.16 values (see below).
4. The "crafting alternative" column assumes you already know the recipe and have the ingredients. I did not check where the ingredients come from, or whether the parts from dismantling cover them.
5. I did not check the net result of alternating dismantling and crafting (whether dismantling a crafted device returns its parts).

Crafting depends on knowing the recipe

The recipe column of the table lists a magazine and an Electrical-level auto-learn. I read "Auto-learnt if any of" as: the recipe is learned automatically when you reach that Electrical level.

• Without the magazine, crafting XP is hard to use until the auto-learn level. A ham radio, for example, cannot be made until it auto-learns at Electrical 8 unless you have its magazine or a successful research. Between levels 3 and 7, finding magazines comes first.
• The table also has a "Researchable from" entry, so researching the matching device seems to be another way to learn a recipe. I did not check its requirements, so the magazine and auto-learn description here leaves that path out.
• Dismantling needs no magazine and no level. With a screwdriver you can do it from level 0 at a base value of 10 XP (a character that started at Electrical 0 actually gets 2.5 XP before other modifiers), so it is the early-game engine.
• The Electrician occupation starts knowing 11 recipes. The starting Electrical level (+5) meets the requirement of ten of them; only the long-range remote controller (Electrical 6) is above it.
• The Engineer occupation knows 12 recipes and the "Generator Maintenance" knowledge entry.

Skill books, VHS tapes, and starting level

• Read each book once you have entered its level band. Per the Skill book page, the multiplier rises in steps of 10% of the pages read (that page is tagged 42.13.2). If you stop reading partway, the multiplier does not reach its maximum.
• Three VHS tapes (How Electricity Works, Muldraugh AV Club, TV repair) give +75 Electrical XP each. The wiki says entertainment XP is limited to the first 3 levels and any overflow. It does not explain how the overflow is counted, and I did not check.
• Starting level changes your XP gain (Skill page): 25% at 0, 100% at 1, 133% at 2, and 166% at 3 or more. The Electrician starts at Electrical +5 and the Engineer at +1.
• For XP-rate traits, the Electrical page lists Crafty and Fast Learner at 130% and Slow Learner at 70%.

What changes with Electrical level

• Connecting a generator needs Electrical 3. Level 2 is enough with the Inventive trait, the Electrician or Engineer occupation, or the magazine "How to Use Generators" read (Generator page, tagged 42.13.1). Running one is covered in the generator guide.
• Hot-wiring a vehicle needs Electrical 1 and Mechanics 2, or the Burglar occupation (Vehicle page, tagged 42.16.0). The success chance rises with Electrical level.
• Battery connector: at Electrical 5 you can use a screwdriver and a piece of scrap electronics on any lamp to make a battery connector, so lamps can run on batteries during an outage (Electrical page).
• Generator repair: 1 scrap electronics repairs 4% + 0.5 x Electrical level %.

If you are unsure, follow this order

1. Find and read Electrical I. Bookshelves and bookstores have it. Read it all the way through (it covers levels 1-2).
2. Carry a screwdriver and dismantle TVs, radios, and walkie talkies. No magazine and no level needed. After the first three to five, check the XP bar to see whether the game uses 10 XP or 0.5 XP.
3. I suggest watching the three VHS tapes (+75 each) after reading the book. Entertainment XP is capped, but the wiki does not say whether that order pays off, and I have not tested it.
4. At level 1, craft radios and flashlights (10 XP; Guerilla Radio - June 1993 / Sparky's Lighting Guide). With no magazine, keep dismantling.
5. At level 2, read Electrical II and make walkie talkies (20 XP, Sparky's Radio Guide).
6. From level 3, make ham radios (30 XP). Look for Guerilla Radio - May 1993; without it, wait for level 8.
7. Read the books at I = level 0, II = level 2, III = level 4, IV = level 6, V = level 8. VHS tapes after the books (an untested suggestion).
8. If you want to connect a generator, aim for level 3 (level 2 with the right occupation or trait).

Sources and limits

Build 42.21 was released to Stable on 28 September 2026. I checked the Steam news list on 11 October 2026 and there is no newer build.

• Official blog: "42.21 Stable Released"
• Steam announcement: "Build 42.21 Stable Released"
• Wiki: Scrap Electronics (tagged 42.10.0; the Electrical XP recipe tables)
• Wiki: Electrical (tagged 42.20.0; books, VHS, traits, the Leveling section)
• Wiki: Skill (tagged 42.3.1; the XP table and gain by starting level)
• Wiki: Skill book (tagged 42.13.2)
• Wiki: Generator (42.13.1), Vehicle (42.16.0), Electrician (42.20.4), Engineer (42.21.0)

Four limits, up front.

1. Dismantle XP is contradicted inside the wiki (10 XP versus 0.5 XP). My calculation uses the former.
2. The XP-per-level table is the one the wiki labels as Build 41.78.16 values. The Skill page is tagged 42.3.1, and I cannot confirm from the page that Build 42 uses the same values. The "XP needed" and the counts depend on it.
3. Most pages I used are tagged earlier than 42.21 (only Engineer is tagged 42.21.0). Read each statement as describing that page's tagged version, not as "verified on 42.21". I did not check whether the 42.21 changes mention Electrical.
4. How "Auto-learnt" should be read, how researching a device teaches a recipe, how the overflow of entertainment XP is counted, whether the starting-level multiplier stacks with the book multiplier, and the net parts when you alternate dismantling and crafting are all unconfirmed (each is noted in the text).

Related: Generator guide | Carpentry XP | Metalworking (welding) XP | Skill book guide