Characters attempt to find items by using the search button. Different locations will yield different types of items. Finding items is random: some are rarer than others, and you will not always find an item with a search. The skills Shopping and Bargain Hunting increase chances of finding items in malls.

Don't be discouraged if you don't find anything the first time around, often repeated searching is necessary, even in the same location. Be advised though not to spend all your AP's on places unlikely to yield anything useful.

For information regarding chances of finding items when searching, see Search Odds.

Item Locations

Users have reported on some of the Yahoo! discussion groups that nearly any item can be found nearly anywhere, although the chances of locating something (other than, perhaps, a newspaper) is very small, although the exact percentage is not known.

By Item

Binoculars

Found while searching mall sports stores, fort armouries, and stadiums.

Books

Found while searching libraries, schools and mall bookstores.

DNA Extractors

Only found while searching Necrotech buildings.

First Aid Kits

Found while searching hospitals, churches, and mall drug stores.

Prior to the introduction of lit searches and ransacking, first aid kits were about 1 per 3 searches (33%) in drugstores with Bargain Hunting and 1 per 7 searches (14%) in hospitals.

As of October 14th 2008 search rates in mall drug stores were drastically reduced, making Hospitals the best location to discover First Aid Kits.

Found while searching factories, power stations, mall hardware stores, and fire stations (and junkyards?). Prior to the introduction of lit searches and ransacking, portable generators were believed to be about 1 per 30 searches (3.33%) in factories, and somewhere around 2%-5% in mall hardware stores with Bargain Hunting.

By Building

Armories

Searching these may turn up pistols, pistol clips, shotguns, shotgun shells, flak jackets, mobile phones, or flare guns.

Auto Repair Shops

Searching these may turn up beer, crowbars, fire axes, fuel cans, newspapers, spray cans, or toolboxes.

Churches

Searching these may turn up crucifixes, first aid kits or wine.

Clubs

Searching these may turn up bottles of beer, wine or mobile phones.

Factories

Searching these may turn up crowbars, fire axes, fuel cans, lengths of pipe, portable generators, or toolboxes.

Fire Stations

Searching these may turn up fire axes, flare guns, or radios.

Hospitals

Searching these may turn up first aid kits, or newspapers.

Hotels

Searching these may turn up wine, or newspapers.

Junkyards

Searching these may turn up spray cans, baseball bats, books, mobile phones, crowbars, fire axes, flak jackets, fuel cans, knives, lengths of pipe, newspapers, pistol clips, or shotgun shells.

Libraries

Searching these may turn up or books, or newspapers.

Malls

Searching these may turn up a variety of objects. Characters with the Shopping skill choose which store to search. The full list of stores and the items found in each is in the mall description.