"That's not gonna budge without a breaching charge." ― Judd
The Breaching Charge is an explosive tool in World War Z.
The Breaching Charge is a special device made out of a pair of connected water impulse charge bladders. The top bladder has a detonator loosely secured with some tape attached to it.
These handy explosives appear in specific spots throughout each episode in all but one Co-op Campaign chapters.
Overview[]
Function[]
The Breaching Charge is meant to blast open an entrance towards a sealed-off area using a timed simultaneous explosion. The usual targets for a breach are sealed doors marked with a "!" symbol with a few mission-related exceptions. The Breaching Charge is the only object that survivors can pick up and use to open these doors.
Using A Charge[]
A breach is initiated by holding the button prompt when near a breachable door. It takes five seconds to set up the Breaching Charge against the door and another four seconds for it to detonate. Be sure to stay away from the area in front of the door as the breaching explosion will harm anything in front of it.
There are several things that should be kept in mind when deciding to use a Breaching Charge.
The first is which breachable door you are deciding to break open. The contents behind the door are not always the same. Consider where your team currently are in the chapter. If you find a Breaching Charge early on, it may be better to hold onto that charge for doors you find towards the end or in areas where a swarm is expected to appear which tends to have sealed rooms containing most of the good stuff your team would want. Opening a random door you come across during the chapter may only reward you with items you do not really want or need. There are a few doors that lead into rooms with windows that you can use to take a peek at what possible items are in. Make sure to take a good look and judge if the contents within are worth it or not. However, in most cases, you will be left up to blind luck for what you find after a successful breach.
The second is when you decide to breach open a door. Breaching Charges are explosives tools, and obviously, the act of breaching requires making a very loud noise. If you are in a stealth scenario, opening a door will break stealth, forcing you and your team to fight a horde of zekes. In some areas, this will not be an issue or a very minor one. However, in other areas, this will be a problem you will have to face. If your team happened to break stealth earlier in that area, however, and have already dealt with the horde, opening that same door will now no longer cause any more trouble. If the situation seems risky, consider walking past that door and save your charge for the next one you come across.
The third is set-up. While preparing to breach a door, you are left vulnerable for five whole seconds as you place the Breaching Charge. If you decide to breach a door at a terrible time, you could be attacked and possibly incapacitated/killed by zekes during and after setting a charge. Be careful, be aware of your current situation, and do not be so hasty to bust a door down when things seem to look bad. Clear the area first before proceeding with a breach unless you have a team to cover your back.
Charge Locations[]
Breaching Charges spawn in only a few of the many fixed locations in a chapter. It could be difficult to remember every single one of these spawn points, but it is important that you keep your eyes peeled. In higher difficulties, Breaching Charges will never appear in some of these spots.
*Check the List of Breaching Charge Locations for details on where to find them on every chapter.