Red skulls have a positive use when preparing zombies: the developer states that more corruption allows better skills to develop. White skulls are useful for burial quality. Choose the intended role before altering organs; do not optimise a worker by copying the original game’s white-skull percentage model.
Table of Contents
Prepare a fighting force
The official combat devlog confirms that you can equip zombie fighters, position squads or raise their banner and lead them. Prepare your currently unlocked troops and equipment, then inspect the battle objective before committing materials to defenses. The game’s worker specialisation does not establish that a corpse automatically inherits a lifetime profession or that lungs and glands create a chemical artillery unit.
Keep the equipment actually shown by the game separate from speculative unit names. A complete named unit roster, army-cap formula and organ-to-class recipe are not supplied by the developer overview. Check the squad interface and active unlock tasks for those particulars. Steam PC 1.006 specifically prevented destroying Defender’s Emblems and thereby blocking squad unlocks; do not treat that quest item as disposable stock.
Fight for the objective
Town battles take place in the streets you later restore. The official examples distinguish holding off waves in the Town Square from advancing on several fronts and capturing control points in central streets. Barricades and towers can hold approaches while your squads cover the objective. Choose positions for the actual threat directions rather than assuming every encounter is the same gate defense.
Town liberation is a scheduled weekly activity, while sewers provide combat on other days. Check the in-game calendar and current mission. The official combat overview confirms archers, barricade-based tactics and personal combat supported by potions; it does not rank a single universal best army.
Current limits and fixes
Steam PC 1.008 fixed Panic not triggering above the zombie cap, so workforce expansion is not unlimited. Version 1.007 grants zombies red tech points for winning fights. Version 1.010 fixes banner placement in Central Districts Purge: Part II and a crash in Battle Operation Potato Part I.
What if my army loses? Check the actual encounter result. This guide does not promise automatic revival or claim that every defeat destroys all Town machinery.
How many soldiers do I need? Use the current objective, available squad slots and cap, not an unsupported fixed zombies-per-district formula.
Related guides
Sources
Sources and known gaps
- Official developer announcement
- Official developer announcement
- Official developer announcement
- Official developer announcement
- Official developer announcement
- Official developer announcement
- Graveyard Keeper 2 - Official Demo Launch Trailer | TinyBuild Connect Showcase 2026