Maintenance keeps your weapons alive: it slows wear in a fight and makes repairs work. Build 42 also added sharpening. This page has the repair materials, the failure maths and how to sharpen. Updated for Build 42.21 Stable and 42.22 Pre-Release, November 2026.
Your Maintenance is added to half your weapon skill to decide how often a hit wears the weapon down, so it matters as much as the weapon skill itself. It also improves repairs: a successful repair restores the material’s tier × 10% of the missing condition, plus 5% per Maintenance level up to 25% at level 5 (one source).
| Material | Skill | Tier | Maintenance XP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duct tape (2 of 4 uses) | None | Better | 10 |
| Glue (2 of 5 uses) | None | Basic | 5 |
| Adhesive tape (3 rolls) | None | Basic | 5 |
| Zip ties (1) | Maintenance 1 | Basic | 5 |
| Wood glue (2 of 5 uses) | Carpentry 2 | Better | 5, plus 5 Carpentry |
| Epoxy and fiberglass tape | Maintenance 3 | Best | 15 |
| Epoxy and rags or denim strips | Maintenance 4 | Basic | 1 |
From one 42.21 guide (one source).
Every attempt, even a failed one, adds to the weapon’s Repaired count. Each previous repair adds 2% to the fail chance, and from the third repair the amount restored is divided by the number of repairs. A failure still uses the materials and costs 1 condition. Opinion Repair once or twice with good material, then replace the weapon. Weapon choices are on weapons and melee weapon stats.
| Method | Needs | Time | Damage chance per step at Maintenance 0 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Grindstone | Stand at one | 130 | About 6% |
| Whetstone | Whetstone in hand (20 uses of condition) | 300 | About 11% |
| File | File in hand | 180 | About 21% |
Each level of Maintenance lowers the damage chance by 1%. Sharpening restores sharpness only, never condition, and a slip costs 1 condition. An improvised whetstone is 2 stones at a surface with Maintenance 1, learned from three magazines or automatically at Maintenance 2.
Repairs and sharpening (5 XP each) are the steady sources. DIY Expert starts at Maintenance 2 and Handy adds one more, so that pair reaches the epoxy repairs on day one. More jobs and traits are on traits and occupations.
Skill books, in order: Basic Repairs, Better Tools Made Easy, Home Guide to Tool Repairs, Maintaining High Grade Tools, Understanding Biomechanics of Tool Use.
| Source | Maintenance |
|---|---|
| DIY Expert | +2 |
| Blacksmith, Burger Flipper, Carpenter, Chef, Construction Worker, Lumberjack | +1 |
| Traits: Blacksmith Knowledge, Bushcrafter, Handy, Tinkerer | +1 |
(One source: pindrop.gg.)
Every skill uses the same XP ladder in Build 42 (one source: pindrop.gg skill guides).
| Level | XP for this level | Running total |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 75 | 75 |
| 2 | 150 | 225 |
| 3 | 300 | 525 |
| 4 | 750 | 1,275 |
| 5 | 1,500 | 2,775 |
| 6 | 3,000 | 5,775 |
| 7 | 4,500 | 10,275 |
| 8 | 6,000 | 16,275 |
| 9 | 7,500 | 23,775 |
| 10 | 9,000 | 32,775 |
Starting level changes how fast you learn: ×0.25 at level 0, ×1 at +1, ×1.33 at +2 and ×1.66 at +3 or more. Fast Learner multiplies by 1.3, Slow Learner by 0.7. Skill books stack on top of this.
Maintenance makes every weapon last longer, so it multiplies everything else you do. A DIY Expert starts at +2, which means the ×1.33 learning rate from the first swing. If you pick one boost for a melee build, this is the one that keeps paying.
Read Volume I before your first fight and keep a cheap weapon for training: the XP comes from hitting things, not from what you hit them with.
It slows how fast weapons wear in combat and makes repairs more likely to succeed and restore more.
Epoxy with fiberglass tape (Maintenance 3); duct tape is the best no-skill option.
Each previous repair raises the fail chance, and low Maintenance raises it further.
Use a grindstone, whetstone or file; the grindstone is fastest and safest.
Repair and sharpening figures come from one Build 42.21 guide and are marked. Sources: PZFans weapon repair. Your game is the final word: if it disagrees with us, tell us and we will fix the page.