ast updated: December 3, 2019

I am primarily viewing this from the perspective of high-level Distance and Challenge play (NOT Outpost or Guild Wars), so more PvZ than PvP combat.

Without further ado, my thoughts are below. I categorized traits into three groups and ordered traits from most valuable to least valuable within each group. I also provided a brief description of how I primarily use each class.

Hunters: light things on fire and weaken/kill lines of walkers. Great to use with Sasha.
- Must-have traits: Revenge, Ruthless, Lucky, Critical Aim, Marksman
- Nice-to-have traits: Sure Shot, Vigilant
- Useless traits: Retaliate, Dodge, Iron Skin, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge

Assaults: stun large groups of walkers. Great to use with Sasha.
- Must-have traits: Revenge, Retaliate, Iron Skin, Lucky, Dodge
- Nice-to-have traits: Marksman
- Useless traits: Defensive Stance, Ruthless, Sure Shot, Vigilant, Bullet Dodge

Shooters: deal massive amounts of critical damage to targets from a safe distance. Great to use with Sasha, but also the most versatile of the ranged survivors because the Winter Bow allows you to pair them with melee survivors.
- Must-have traits: Marksman, Revenge, Ruthless, Lucky
- Nice-to-have traits: Sure Shot, Critical Aim, Vigilant
- Useless traits: Retaliate, Dodge, Iron Skin, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge

Bruisers: stun walkers and absorb damage. Must-have survivors beyond RSL40.
- Must-have traits: Punish, Retaliate, Iron Skin, Dodge, Lucky
- Nice-to-have traits: Defensive Stance
- Useless traits: Power Strike, Strong, Vigilant, Ruthless, Follow Through, Bullet Dodge

Warriors (balanced): weaken large groups of zombies, perform crowd control, and take some hits. Generally preferable to use Scouts and Bruisers, but can be useful with the right class bonus.
- Must-have traits: Iron Skin, Lucky, Strong, Dodge
- Nice-to-have traits: Retaliate, Ruthless, Power Strike, Follow Through
- Useless traits: Vigilant, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge

Warriors (crit damage): kill large groups of zombies with wider arc than Scouts. Generally inferior to Scouts in almost all situations, but can be useful with the right class bonus.
- Must-have traits: Strong, Power Strike, Ruthless
- Nice-to-have traits: Lucky, Follow Through, Vigilant
- Useless traits: Dodge, Retaliate, Iron Skin, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge

Scouts (threat reduction): be able to take a few hits and primarily focus on killing normal walkers to reduce threats. I treat Huntsman Daryl as this type of Scout.
- Must-have traits: Iron Skin, Lucky, Strong, Dodge
- Nice-to-have traits: Retaliate, Ruthless, Power Strike, Follow Through
- Useless traits: Vigilant, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge

Scouts (crit damage): fuck up all anything that moves with massive amounts of crit damage (glass cannons). Pair with Bruisers which can better absorb damage.
- Must-have traits: Strong, Power Strike, Ruthless
- Nice-to-have traits: Lucky, Follow Through, Vigilant
- Useless traits: Dodge, Retaliate, Iron Skin, Defensive Stance, Bullet Dodge