Dead Island 2 Best Characters [Tier List]

Dead Island 2 contains six characters known as slayers, but choosing which among them is the best character is a bit tough choice. You can select it in the beginning, and you cannot change it again mid-journey; hence it is essential to go for the perfect one. 

Rank Division

The characters in Dead Island 2 can be ranked according to the skill set they possess, and the best ones are present in S-Tier. Although each one may look like a fine choice, you should take a thorough look to select them because you can choose them only once. Here, we have ranked each character according to their abilities which may help people with moderate gameplay, irrespective of their skill level.

A brief look at our table summarizes all characters:

Rank	Name	Pros	Cons	Gameplay
S	Jacob	Peak Health, Stamina	Resilence, Health Recovery	Agressive
	Dani	Peak Health, Stamina	Resilience, Health Recovery	Agressive
A	Carla	Toughness, Resilience	Agility, Critical Damage	Defensive
	Ryan	Toughness, Resilence	Agility, Critical Damage	Defensive
B	Bruno	Agility, Critical Damage	Peak Health, Toughness	Stealth
	Amy	Agility, Critical Damage	Peak Health, Toughness	Stealth

S – Rank

The S-rank consists of the best slayers in Dead Island 2. They offer an all-around build to cater to almost every scenario effectively. The essential skills they possess include Peak Health and Stamina. Nonetheless, they both lack Health Recovery and Resilience, which is balanced out by their other attributes.

Jacob

His strengths include immense Health and Stamina, which allows him to encounter enemies face to face. His special attacks significantly boost his damage attributes, making them lethal for any enemy. Having the perfect combination of offence and defence, Jacob is undoubtedly the best character.

Although low Resilience makes him vulnerable to hazardous environments with effects like electricity and fire, so you should remain cautious around such places when playing with him because it can damage him significantly. Moreover, his immense Health stat counters for his low Health Recovery, but it still gives a prolonged healing rate which may be fatal if you keep it unnoticed.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	3 / 5
Stamina	4 / 5
Health Recovery	2 / 5
Critical Damage	3 / 5
Agility	3 / 5
Peak Health	5 / 5
Resilience	1 / 5

Innate Skills

Jacob’s innate skills focus on damage buff, giving him the necessary offensive expertise, making him perfect for playing aggressively. Combined with proper weapons, Jacob becomes a killing lethal killing machine.

Feral

• It provides a damage buff for continuous attacks, which increases as the number of attacks increases.
• Using this boost, he can take care of a hoard of enemies barging toward him, giving them a tough time without losing much Health.

Critical Damage

• A unique skill that boosts Critical Damage when his Stamina gets low. In addition, it replenishes Stamina too.
• Nevertheless, this ability has a rare chance to activate because his Stamina doesn’t get low very often.

Dani

Moving towards Dani, her skills match Jacob, but the key difference which sets them apart is their innate abilities. Hence, she becomes a good choice if you prefer a little safe gameplay. Her top-most abilities include great Stamina and Peak Health, which allow a good window for offensive gameplay without worrying much about the damage taken.

Dani’s weak points consist of Low Health Recovery and Resilience, which makes her more prone to damage via environmental factors like electricity. Moreover, her slow healing makes it challenging to get back into fights after taking considerable damage. Nonetheless, her innate ability counters this effect, and she heals when killing zombies on a spree.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	3 / 5
Stamina	5 / 5
Health Recovery	1 / 5
Critical Damage	3 / 5
Agility	3 / 5
Peak Health	4 / 5
Resilience	2 / 5

Innate Skills

Looking into the innate skills of Dani, she can heal herself while beating zombies, and she even got a decent damage buff. Therefore, they almost negate the cons of her general abilities, making her equally playable as Jacob.

Thunderstruck

• Dani’s heavy attack triggers a Forceful explosion on zombies, damaging multiple of them on impact.
• It is useful when you get cornered by zombies, and her great Stamina will allow you to spam this attack many times.

Bloodlust

• Having one of the best abilities in her arsenal, Dani can heal when she kills multiple enemies simultaneously.
• Combining both her abilities can help you take care of a swarm of zombies, and you will regain Health too.

A – Rank

The next coming slayers are the heavy-body characters of Dead Island 2, having most points dedicated to Toughness and Resilience. This makes them invulnerable to almost any kind of external danger; hence, they are most suitable for people who prefer safer gameplay. On the other hand, they lack Critical Damage and Agility.

Carla

She has the highest Resilience and almost the best Toughness, but she lacks Agility and Critical Damage. Therefore, she won’t be cornered by enemies quickly. Consequently, she is a good choice for people new to Dead Island 2. Her lower stats don’t affect her much, although killing zombies may take a little extra effort.

Considering her stats, we suggest players pick her if they opt for playing defensively. She will absorb the attacks thrown at her without losing a lot of Health because of her moderate Peak Health and Health Recovery. For the offensive part, you rely on her innate ability Mosh Pit.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	4 / 5
Stamina	3 / 5
Health Recovery	3 / 5
Critical Damage	1 / 5
Agility	2 / 5
Peak Health	3 / 5
Resilience	5 / 5

Innate Skills

Carla’s Dig Deep improves her already good stats, Toughness, but the other one gives a better damage output. That makes her a better choice than Ryan, who has about the same set of attributes.

Mosh Pit

• Mosh Pit gives her a Damage Boost to fight enemies more effectively.
• It is activated only when she gets close to multiple enemies, so it is easier to eliminate a lot of them at once.

Dig Deep

• Dig Deep adds to her already high Toughness, making it the best.
• This makes her formidable to physical attacks even more.

Ryan

An ideal choice for people who want to beat up zombies but are afraid to die while doing so. He exhibits outstanding Toughness with identical Resilience, making him the most defence-biased character. With the blend of these attributes with others and his exclusive ones, he is also a good option for new players.

As far as his downsides are concerned, he doesn’t have much Speed, having the lowest among others due to his bulky body. Another aspect is the low Critical Damage of his attacks, which gives him a little tough time against stronger enemies. Anyways, he is still a fun character if you are looking for a bit casual game.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	5 / 5
Stamina	3 / 5
Health Recovery	3 / 5
Critical Damage	2 / 5
Agility	1 / 5
Peak Health	3 / 5
Resilience	4 / 5

Innate Skills

Ryan’s innate skills dominate the defensive domain, too, because both of his abilities are focused on either Health regeneration or damage blockage.

Retaliation

• It gives a modest damage boost if you dodge or block attacks.
• It also negates any incoming attack’s damage to some extent.

Seesaw

• For every knocked-down zombie, you will replenish some portion of your Health.

B – Rank

The B – Rank slayers are the most vulnerable, with minor points in Toughness and Health domains. However, their high Agility and critical damage make them a good choice for people who play with stealth. Due to their low health stats, they cannot take most enemies head-on; hence complicated gameplay is required.

Bruno

Being a B – Rank, Bruno’s abilities focus on Agility and Critical Damage, while his Peak Health and Toughness suffer greatly. Unlike the tank characters of A – Rank, Bruno’s perks allow him to go for a strategic approach to take down zombies. This includes relying on stealthy, quick, and deadly attacks instead of the usual aggressive or defensive gameplay.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	2 / 5
Stamina	3 / 5
Health Recovery	3 / 5
Critical Damage	5 / 5
Agility	4 / 5
Peak Health	1 / 5
Resilience	3 / 5

Innate Skills

Bruno’s innate skills primarily focus on damage boost rather than his weak side, which is his Health and Toughness. Anyhow, these perks allow him to make stealthy attacks from behind. Thus, you must adjust your approach according to his pros and cons.

Backstab

• Any attack from behind increases the damage.
• It helps to perform stealth attacks effectively.

Rapid Reprisal

• Blocking or dodging attacks boosts stamina and heavy attacks.

Amy

Amy is one of the fastest characters in Dead Island 2 and secures 5 points in Agility and exceptionally high Critical Damage. On the other hand, with the least Toughness combined with low Peak Health, Amy cannot take much damage, so your best option is to adopt a hit-and-run strategy. Having these traits, you can ensure a safe distance from zombies after giving them a fatal hit.

Attributes

Attribute	Points
Toughness	1 / 5
Stamina	3 / 5
Health Recovery	3 / 5
Critical Damage	4 / 5
Agility	5 / 5
Peak Health	2 / 5
Resilience	3 / 5

Innate Skills

Even with low Toughness, Amy lacks innate skills to counter her weaknesses. Therefore, using her entirely relies on the player’s experience and skill. Nonetheless, these help her strengthen her Stamina and damage to use her other attributes effectively.

Relief Pitcher

• She regains Stamina when hitting enemies with thrown weapons.
• This is beneficial for players to keep a safe distance from zombies. It might be a problem when they get too close because of Amy’s low Toughness.

Divide and Conquer

• Hitting any separated zombie gives a damage boost.
• You can use Amy’s high Agility to run and isolate zombies and then kill them later, taking advantage of this ability.

Best Characters For Gameplay Styles

Aggressive Gameplay

• You can rely on Jacob and Dani for aggressive gameplay due to their immense Peak Health and Stamina.
• These characters have a decent combination of health and attack perks, with decent scores in other attributes.
• It helps them survive battles longer while keeping an upper hand in fights.
• Their innate abilities provide necessary support in fights, boosting damage.

Safe Gameplay

• For defensive and safe gameplay, Ryan and Carla work the best, having tank-like attributes of vast reserves of Toughness and Resilience to stand against any enemy.
• Due to their low Agility, they cannot run away from danger. Therefore, their best option is to stay at a place and face the enemies head-on.
• They can withstand any great wave of zombies with proper weapons and innate skills.

Stealth Gameplay

• Amy and Bruno are the best characters in Dead Island 2 if you are looking for stealthy, strategic, but fun gameplay.
• They have high Agility, which allows them to get out of the most dangerous locations quickly.
• Using their high speed and critical damage properly, you can perform deadly stealth attacks at zombies.
• Luckily, their innate skills are also designed to give an advantage in these situations, boosting damage on attacks from behind the back or attacking a solo zombie.

Final Thoughts

In this article, we ranked all the characters in Dead Island 2 based on their skill set and attributes. The most crucial skill-set included an excellent combination of defensive and offensive stats that can withstand any situation easily. Consequently, Jacob and Dani seemed the most promising in these terms.

However, others were quite good too, but their perks required a little complicated gameplay. You can try them as well to experience a little more challenge. Moreover, You should play and see which character suits you.

Do check out our other guides on Dead Island 2:

• Dead Island 2 Best Ways To Get Money
• Dead Island 2 Trophy Guide