Dead Island 2 Attributes Explained

Dead Island 2 Attributes explain how well a character is best suited for different situations. Before starting, knowing which Slayer will be your perfect fit is better. There are six playable characters in Dead Island 2, and you can select one of them to play and survive a zombie apocalypse.

Dead Island 2 Attributes

Ryan, Jacob, Dani, and the rest have different attributes that help them in various situations. For instance, Ryan excels in Toughness and can sustain a heavy load of damage from zombies. However, Ryan lacks Agility, which determines how fast a character can walk and evade zombie attacks.

On the other hand, Amy lacks Toughness but excels in Agility. Both characters supersede in one aspect from another, which is why it is crucial to select a character that best fits your play style and, most importantly, corresponds to the surroundings as well!

Creating a build requires focusing on the type of Attributes your character has. If you’re more of a fighter than a runner (someone who flees a battle rather than fighting), you’ll be perfect with Ryan, as he’s tanky! Or, if you’re interested in a more subtle and sneaky playstyle (someone with high Resilience), you can count on Carla!

Toughness

Do you want a character that can withstand the maximum amount of damage taken from zombies?! As you progress through Dead Island 2, you come across different variants of zombies. The stronger the zombie, the higher the damage you’ll take! When I first started playing, I chose Ryan to be my Slayer; he excels in Toughness and helps survive the toughest battles in Dead Island 2.

In terms of Stamina, Toughness, Critical Damage, Agility, and Health Recovery, there are no complaints while playing as Ryan. He can take as much damage from enemies as possible. However, any elemental damage, such as electricity, caustic, and poison vats, can inflict severe damage on him as his Resilience could be better.

Fighting tougher zombies with Ryan comes with a few health benefits, which I’ll talk about in the following Attribute. Anyways, the bottom line is that the higher your character’s Toughness is, the more you’ll be able to withstand zombie attacks such as bites, claws, and punches! But you have to be careful not to stand still like a scarecrow; fight back!

Stamina

As with any other survival game, Stamina works the same. You want to have a character that can perform various movement skills and special and heavy attacks as well. You don’t want a character that can only perform a single special attack and then lose all their Stamina!

The best Slayer in terms of Stamina is Dani, as she has the highest of the rest of the five Slayers in Dead Island 2. There’s no Slayer that has the worst Stamina. Who you choose doesn’t matter; they all have around 80% good Stamina. While you’re engaged in a fight, Stamina helps you perform Special and Heavy Attacks on zombies.

Hold the left-click on your mouse to perform a Heavy Attack and wait for the cross-hair to grow in size. As soon as the cross-hair hits its max radius, you let go of the button! If you aim at a zombie’s head or any weak spot, you’ll land a critical hit that does more damage than a regular attack.

Overall, the more Stamina you have, the more fancy moves you can perform! It also determines how fast your character can walk.

Health Recovery

There is no single Slayer in Dead Island 2 with the highest Health Recovery. On the other hand, there sure is one that has, by far, the lowest! She is none other than Dani (you didn’t expect that, did you?) So there’s no need for you to decide what Slayer to choose in terms of Health Recovery because they all share the same size. However, please think carefully before choosing Dani; as she’s the one with lowest Health Recovery. Ryan, Jacob, Bruno, Amy, and Carla have equal Health Recovery.

The above Attribute determines how fast a character recovers their Health based on consumables like protein bars, soda drinks, and med kits. Characters with skill cards that help with health regeneration pack an extra bar of Health (figuratively). These Skill cards can help a character regain their Health in certain situations. For instance, if Ryan successfully blocks or counterattacks any zombie, he significantly recovers more than half of his Health!

This perk comes real handy when fighting hordes of zombies altogether. You need skills like these to survive a group of zombies and situations with bulky zombies!

Critical Damage

As we move onto the third Attribute, which is Critical Damage, it determines the probability of landing a critical hit. A critical hit lands more damage than a regular attack and, if performed timely, can reach as high as 600 during the first quarter of your storyline! This means Critical Damage can increase the more you progress.

Furthermore, successful head shots and hitting the weak spots of different zombies can land you a Critical Hit. Bruno excels in Critical Damage and has the highest of all the other Slayers in Dead Island 2. However, if a character has three dots for the Critical Damage, that will also be wonderful and serve a great purpose to you. Because even with an 80% Critical Damage attribution, your character can damage the zombies tremendously!

Try hitting zombies on the head or their weak spots. You can check for weak spots for different zombies by going into the main menu and clicking on “Extras,” “Collectibles,” and then “Zompedia.”

Agility

Agility determines how fast your character can walk and evade attacks. Amy has the highest Agility in DI 2, whereas Ryan has the worst! You won’t have to worry about Agility while playing as Ryan because you can jump, walk, and avoid zombie attacks. If your Stamina runs out, you will have to wait until it recovers. The Stamina bar can be seen on the lower screen.

Related: Find out more about the trophies in Dead Island 2 by heading over to our “Dead Island 2 Trophy Guide [Full List]” guide!

Peak Health

The Peak Health Attribute refers to the maximum Health of your character. You will increase your maximum Health as you gain more experience and level up. For me, Ryan’s Health at the start of Dead Island 2 was below 800, and after leveling him up by gaining experience, it has increased to 1200.

Each character has their own maximum Health at the start, and you can increase it by gaining more experience. You can gain experience by killing zombies and also by killing them in various ways. The highest Peak Health goes to Jacob, and the lowest is assigned to Bruno. Peak Health doesn’t matter much in game because you have other perks and skill cards to help you regain Health! You can always gain more experience to increase your Peak Health.

Resilience

As you progress, you’ll find that elemental types will damage your character. These include caustic, slime, poison, bugs, electricity, and more! The character with the highest Resilience is Carla, whereas Jacob has the weakest. You’ll encounter vats of poisonous substances, zombies that throw caustic gas at you, and even slime! You’ll take damage if your Resilience is lower, and you’ll need Agility to evade them successfully.

Although characters with moderate Agility, such as Ryan, can also evade ranged elemental attacks from zombies, you don’t have to worry much about Resilience!

Closing Remarks

That is all from my side, and I hope that all of you understand the basics of Dead Island 2 Attributes. There are various Skill cards you can unlock and apply on your Slayers, depending upon the type of build you’re looking for. For Ryan, I chose Skill cards related to Health Regeneration and jump kick for more damage. You can drop any questions or further assistance regarding these Attributes in the comment section; I’ll be happy to help!