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.

How Do Attributes Work

In the game, characters like Ryan, Jacob, Dani, and others possess different attributes that make them suitable for various situations:

1. Ryan: Excels in Toughness and can withstand a heavy load of damage from zombies. However, he lacks Agility, which affects his walking speed and ability to evade zombie attacks.
2. Amy: Has high Agility but lacks Toughness. She can move quickly and evade threats more effectively.
3. Carla: Known for high Resilience, making her suitable for a more subtle and sneaky playstyle. Resilience likely helps her withstand challenges and dangers.

Toughness

Selecting a character like Ryan, who excels in Toughness, is a wise choice if you want to withstand maximum damage from zombies. Here are some considerations and benefits of choosing a character with high Toughness:

1. Survival in Tough Battles: Ryan’s high Toughness allows him to survive challenging battles and endure attacks from even the toughest zombies in the game.
2. Balanced Stats: In addition to Toughness, Ryan also has good stats in Stamina, Critical Damage, Agility, and Health Recovery, providing a well-rounded character capable of dealing with various situations.
3. Health Benefits: Ryan’s ability to withstand damage means that he can engage in battles for longer periods before needing to heal or recover, making him a reliable choice for combat-oriented players.
4. Elemental Weakness: It’s important to note that characters like Ryan may have weaknesses to elemental damage, such as electricity, caustic, or poison. These vulnerabilities can pose challenges, so it’s essential to be cautious when facing enemies with elemental attacks.

Stamina

Stamina is a crucial attribute, as it directly affects your character’s ability to perform various actions, such as special attacks, heavy attacks, and movement. Here’s how Stamina works and why it’s essential:

1. Performing Actions: Stamina is used to execute special attacks and heavy attacks on zombies. Having higher Stamina allows you to perform more of these actions in succession during combat.
2. Critical Hits: Stamina also plays a role in performing critical hits. When executing a heavy attack, waiting for the crosshair to reach its maximum size and then releasing the button results in a critical hit. Critical hits deal more damage than regular attacks and are effective for taking down tough enemies.
3. Movement Speed: Stamina affects how fast your character can walk and move around the game world. Higher Stamina means your character can maintain a faster pace, which can be crucial for both exploration and combat.
4. Character Choice: Characters like Dani, who have higher Stamina, excel in performing multiple actions and maintaining movement during combat. However, it’s worth noting that all Slayers in Dead Island 2 have relatively good Stamina, so your choice of character may not significantly impact Stamina-related gameplay.

Health Recovery

Health Recovery determines how fast your character can regain health through consumables like protein bars, soda drinks, and med kits. Here’s what you need to know about Health Recovery:

1. Character Variations: Among the Slayers in Dead Island 2, there is no single character with the highest Health Recovery, nor is there one with the lowest except for Dani. Ryan, Jacob, Bruno, Amy, and Carla all have equal Health Recovery rates, making them relatively balanced in this aspect.
2. Skill Cards: Health Recovery can be enhanced through skill cards that provide additional bars of health or offer health regeneration abilities. These skill cards are beneficial for situations where you need to recover health quickly, especially when facing hordes of zombies or powerful enemies.
3. Combat Benefits: Some characters, like Ryan, have specific skills or abilities that allow them to recover a significant portion of their health when blocking or counterattacking zombies. These combat-related health recovery abilities can be invaluable when dealing with multiple enemies.

Critical Damage

Critical Damage directly affects your character’s ability to deal increased damage by landing critical hits. Here’s what you need to know about Critical Damage:

1. Landing Critical Hits: Critical hits occur when you successfully target a zombie’s weak spot or aim for headshots. These hits deal significantly more damage than regular attacks, making them essential for taking down tough enemies efficiently.
2. Character Variations: Among the Slayers in Dead Island 2, Bruno excels in Critical Damage and has the highest attribute in this category. However, characters with three dots (80%) in Critical Damage can still deal substantial damage with critical hits. The effectiveness of Critical Damage increases as you progress through the game, allowing for even more devastating critical hits.
3. Zompedia: To identify the weak spots of different zombies and improve your chances of landing critical hits, you can access the Zompedia in the main menu under “Extras” and “Collectibles.” This resource provides valuable information about various zombie types and their vulnerabilities.
4. Optimizing Critical Hits: To maximize your damage output, aim for headshots and exploit the weak points of zombies. Critical hits are especially effective against powerful enemies and can help you conserve resources during battles.

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 represents your character’s maximum health, which increases as you gain experience and level up. For instance, my character, Ryan, started with under 800 health in Dead Island 2 but reached 1200 after leveling up.

Each character begins with their own initial maximum health, which can be raised by gaining experience. You earn experience by defeating zombies in various ways. Jacob has the highest Peak Health, while Bruno has the lowest. In the game, Peak Health is not the most critical factor since you have additional perks and skill cards to help with health restoration. You can always boost your Peak Health by gaining more experience.

Resilience

As you progress, various elemental types can harm your character, including caustic, slime, poison, bugs, electricity, and more. Carla has the highest Resilience, while Jacob has the lowest. You’ll encounter hazards like poisonous vats, zombies with caustic gas attacks, and slime. Lower Resilience leads to more damage, and Agility helps you dodge these hazards.

Characters with moderate Agility, like Ryan, can also evade ranged elemental attacks from zombies. Overall, you don’t need to be overly concerned 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!