Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | Best Loot and Item Priority

In Into The Dead: Our Darkest Days, looting is never just about taking things. It is hard to keep track of things, danger builds quickly, and picking up the wrong thing can make upgrades take longer or leave you with not enough weapons. 

There are general rules about item priority that help keep runs efficient and bases grow. These rules depend on what you need and when you need it.

How Item Priority Works While Looting

The order in which items are prioritized fluctuates based on time and needs. Even if it doesn't look as good at first, some loot is just worth more than other loot. The idea is to extract the most value out of each inventory tile while still taking care of important things like damage, survival, and crafting progress.

Always Favor Dismantleable Loot for Better Value per Slot

When choosing between a Wooden Box and a small stack of Wood, the Wooden Box is usually the smarter grab. The Wooden Box requires disassembly, but it can give at least six Wood. 

Even with a Dismantling Station Level 1 and any survivor, you get more Wood per inventory space. A direct stack is more immediate, but the dismantle value is higher once it gets broken down.

Upgrading the Dismantling Station to Level 2 improves this even more. You can get at least eight Wood from the same kind of dismantleable object. If Joe is available, the value climbs again because Joe gets extra salvage when dismantling. 

That can push the return to around eleven Wood, which makes the difference between eleven and four Wood feel massive when space is limited.

Once the Dismantling Station is live, loot that can be broken down tends to be the best early on and in the middle of the game. Things such as wooden boxes, scales, video cameras, and clothes may seem weak until they are broken down, but they usually give more making materials per item.

Some items, like Video Cameras and Scales, can also dismantle into several different components, which makes them even more flexible for crafting needs.

Top Combat Priority: Always Take Guns, Gun Parts, and Ammo

Weapon looting is simple when firearms show up. If the weapon is a Gun, if it is a Gun Piece, or if it is Ammo, it should be taken no matter what. 

Gun Pieces can be dismantled to make more Ammo, and full Guns can be used immediately. Ammo is universally strong because it is very good in this game, so these drops sit at the top of the priority list.

Food Priority: Skip Junk Food and Choose Better Meals

It's important to choose your meals wisely, but not all food is worth the space. Junk food is the poorest choice and is typically not worth getting. It's fine to consume meat and vegetables because you can turn them into tastier meals later.

Fully cooked meals that restore moderate and heavy hunger are strong pickups. If you have to choose between Junk Food and any cooked meal, the cooked meal is the better choice every time.

Junk Food also works well as a throwaway item when inventory space gets tight. If you already have nutritious food in your backpack, dropping junk food first helps you maintain your supplies stronger.

Low-Priority Utility Loot: Coffee, Herbs, Unknown Pills, and Coffee Beans

You should only take such things when it really makes sense to do so. It's okay to get coffee, but it's not always necessary. Herbs, Unknown Pills, and Coffee Beans should not be taken unless they are needed right away or the inventory situation allows it. 

These are low-priority items. Cups Of Coffee can be picked up when space is available, and you can always send another survivor later to loot more of the area.

Crafting Components: Take What Your Recipes Demand

Raw crafting components like Metal, Wood, Electrical, Fasteners, and Tape should be taken based on what your current recipes require. If Wood is running low, grabbing a bunch of Wood makes sense. If Metal is needed to finish a critical base upgrade, the Metal becomes the priority. The same logic applies to Electrical and other components.

In general, crafting components are worth prioritizing, but the overall top tier stays consistent. Guns, Gun Pieces, and Ammo remain premium loot. High-quality melee weapons are also important. Subpar melee weapons with single uses or only a few uses are usually a waste of space, unless the weapon is a Silent Killer.

Prioritize Components Over Food When Long-Term Systems Are Online

Crafting components can be more valuable than food when the base is set up to produce supplies. Cooking can cover a lot of hunger needs, especially when a survivor provides more recipes or more food per cooking session. Once that kind of survivor is available, food and water can start snowballing.

This gets even stronger when Water Collection Stations and Gardening are running. Gardening and a water collection station are great since they let you make things without risking your units outside or venturing out to explore. These systems work like semi-renewable resources, which makes it less hazardous to go on plundering missions.

Med Items and Buff Management While Exploring

Some supplies depend on the situation. Bandages should only be grabbed when they are needed. Med Kits have strong value because they can be used while exploring. If a Med Kit is found and health is missing, it can be used immediately.

Buff items matter too. Caffeine can be used if the buff is missing. Alcohol can also be used if that buff is missing. Junk Food cannot be used while out exploring, since eating is not allowed during exploration. Knowing this helps with inventory space management, because buff items can be used on the spot when a survivor can benefit from them.

Clear Dangerous Areas, Then Loot with Multiple Survivors

When an area is packed with loot, it can be smart to rotate survivors. A survivor you are willing to lose can be sent into a dangerous area first to clear most enemies or even all enemies. After the threat is reduced, other survivors can be sent in to scoop up everything safely.

When the inventory is close to full, sending a survivor back home is often the right call. You can still check for something better, but returning at the right time keeps progress steady and prevents a run from collapsing over greedy looting.

Also, check our Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Review and other guides below:

• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Beginner's Guide | Gameplay Tips & Tricks
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | Best Early Weapons
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | How to Move Your Base (Best Time to Relocate)
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | Relationships & Romance System
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | How to find the Revolver
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | All Survivor Locations
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | How to Manage a Massive Survivor Team
• Into the Dead: Our Darkest Days Guide | Best Shelter Upgrades Order