Dead Island 2 Numen Cards: Unlock, List & Guide

Dead Island 2 introduces Skill Cards as a new gameplay mechanic. The rarest of these cards are the Numen cards, a set of five highly powerful abilities. This guide explains the Dead Island 2 Numen cards, their abilities, and how to find them.

Numen Cards Explained

Dead Island 2 has a gameplay mechanic known as Skill Cards. These cards function as typical playing cards, providing the player access to exclusive perks and abilities.

There are four types of Skill Cards: Innate, Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen. Innate skills are unique to one Slayer and cannot be activated by others. On the other hand, Abilities cards can be used by any Slayer and grant them unique attack options and Agility.

Survivor skills, as the name suggests, are primarily healing cards focused on keeping you alive for as long as possible. Slayer cards, conversely, are more directed towards improving offence and provide both damage and dismembering bonuses.

Lastly, there are the Numen cards, the rarest of the Skill Cards. Numen skills allow the Slayer to perform abilities otherwise reserved for zombies. These cards are among the strongest and provide the Slayer with unique powers.

How To Unlock Numen Cards

Considering their strength, Numan cards can only be unlocked after finishing Main Quest #21, “The Search for Truth”. You get a Numen card when you defeat the boss in this quest (the Anger Mismanagement card).

After that, you will find Numen cards at different points. These can only be acquired through specific means, such as completing Main and Side Quests. Additionally, you might find some through your journey under the Metro.

Dead Island 2 Autophage Explained

When you acquire certain Skill Cards, you’ll notice that some have the words “Autophage” written in the description. This is also true for some Numen cards. But what does this mean?

Autophage abilities are special abilities that you will unlock later. These grant you several boosts and perks depending on the number of Autophage cards you have equipped. You can have a maximum of 3 Autophage cards equipped and a minimum of one.

Here are the different Autophage tiers and the effects they give you:

Autophage Tier #1

• Increases the duration of Fury Mode.
• Killing zombies in Fury Mode generates a small amount of Fury.
• Killing zombies also grants a little Force bonus.
• However, this tier reduces your Toughness.
• Requires: 1 Autophage card.

Autophage Tier #2

• Hitting an enemy after killing another grants you some Stamina.
• Killing zombies during Fury Mode will regenerate some of your Fury.
• Increases the duration of Fury Mode by a significant amount.
• Hampers Stamina replenishment as a consequence.
• Requires: 2 Autophage cards.

Autophage Tier #3

• Killing zombies grants a massive Damage and Health bonus.
• It grants high Fury regeneration if a zombie is killed during Fury Mode.
• It dramatically increases the duration of Fury Mode.
• Limits Health regeneration acquired from Energy Drinks, Med Kits, and Protein Bars.
• Removes Health regeneration entirely.
• Requires: 3 Autophage cards.

All Dead Island 2 Numen Cards And Effects

Here’s a list of all 5 Numen cards, their effects, and how to acquire them.

Anger Mismanagement

• Effect: When Fury Mode is over, the player will stay in it, but it will deplete health gradually. This effect goes away once you reach critical health.
• Autophage Skill? Yes

Anger Mismanagement is a Numen Skill Card that gives you a second chance at controlling your Fury. When you enter Fury Mode, it will last a lot longer. Once you’re about to exit Fury Mode, the card will activate it again, depleting your health instead.

Fury Mode will deplete your health consistently until you reach critical health, at which point it will stop. Anger Mismanagement is the best choice for players who love entering Fury Mode and taking out several enemies quickly.

However, keep in mind that this isn’t an Autophage skill. This means that it won’t add to your Autophage card count and won’t be providing you with the benefits that Autophage cards offer.

How To Acquire:

This is the first Numen Skill Card you will acquire in Dead Island 2. It can be found right after you defeat the boss in Main Quest #21, “The Search for Truth”.

This quest has several spoilers ahead. Hence, we won’t spoil too much. But know that there are several revelations made during this quest. Additionally, you get to unlock new Numen cards.

Born Survivor

• Effect: An explosion will occur at critical health, triggering Fury Mode. Also, melee attacks when Fury Mode is activated will regenerate some health.
• Autophage Skill? Yes

Born Survivor is one of the most resourceful Dead Island 2 Numen cards. This card lets you make an explosive comeback when your health is critically low. Your character will generate an explosion as soon as your health falls below the critical level.

This explosion will damage nearby enemies and send you into Fury Mode. If you don’t know what that is, Fury Mode is when you drop all weapons and go berserk. During this time, you can eliminate many zombies in a single go with just your bare fists.

But that’s not all. Using the Born Survivor Numen card also grants you some health regeneration upon melee hits. Considering this state gets activated at critically low health, the gradual health regeneration is a much-needed bonus.

On top of that, this is an Autophage skill. It means that it will count toward your Autophage card count.

How To Acquire:

To acquire Born Survivor, you must complete Main Quest #21, “The Search for Truth”. This will let you use Numen cards. After that, you must complete Main Quest #23, “The End Of The Line”.

After completing this quest, you will receive the “A Patton Emerges” trophy. If you want more information on how to get all trophies, here’s our Dead Island 2 trophy guide. Additionally, you will receive the Born Survivor Numen card.

Glass Cannon

• Effect: Critical Hits deal more damage than before. This damage also increases at critically low health. However, it significantly decreases your Toughness.
• Autophage Skill? Yes

Glass Cannon is a Numen card that takes critical damage to the next level. Firstly, it grants you more critical damage on every Critical Hit. Combined with other skills boosting your Critical Hit rate, this card overpowers every hit.

But there’s more to it than that. The critical damage bonus increases even more when you’re low on health. Critical health is a terrifying state, as you can die any minute. Hence, a skill card that lets you quickly take down enemies makes a great way to escape sticky situations.

However, this card will deplete your Toughness. It will reduce your defence against enemy attacks, especially in critical health. Hence, you must be careful and not take unnecessary damage from enemies. This card is also an Autophage card, adding to your Autophage card count.

How To Acquire:

First, you must unlock Numen cards by completing Main Quest #21. Then, you must complete the Side Quest “The Art of War.” This Side Quest can only be accessed and completed post-game. Hence, it’ll be a while before you get this Numen card.

In this quest, you must enter the Metro and defeat the Darkest Before Dawn gang. During the pursuit, you’ll pick up several essential items, including items belonging to Diego. And, of course, you’ll pick up the Glass Cannon Numen card.

Corpse Blossom

• Effect: Zombies taken down via a status effect explode upon death. Additionally, the explosion applies the same status effect to other zombies in the area.
• Autophage Skill? No

Corpse Blossom is an excellent example of how a curse can spread among people. This Numen card makes zombies explode upon death if they are killed using an elemental attack. Elemental damage includes Fire, Caustic, and Shock damage.

This deals damage in an area to nearby zombies, which is best for melee weapons as they aren’t very efficient at handling hordes.

But that’s not what makes this card so rare and powerful. It’s the fact that the damage dealt by the explosion is also the same type of elemental damage as the target zombie takes.

This is perfect for completing specific achievements and dealing damage over time to multiple enemies. However, this card is not an Autophage skill, meaning it doesn’t count towards your Autophage cards pool.

How To Acquire:

Corpse Blossom can be acquired only after you have unlocked the ability to use Numen cards. After that, you must complete the end-game Main Quest “The End of the Line.” This is the 23rd Main Quest and requires you to reach the helicopter atop Hollywood Boulevard through tunnels and underground channels.

Seismic Stomp

• Effect: Skull Stomps create an explosion that damages enemies in the vicinity and depletes the enemy’s Stability. This skill also puts the zombies in a Bleeding state.
• Autophage Skill? No

Seismic Stomp is the ideal way to land the finishing blow on a zombie. It changes the way your Skull Stomps damages and interacts with enemies. For every Skull Stomp you perform, an explosion damages zombies within an area.

On top of that, the zombies will constantly lose Stability, which will make it easier to knock them down. Having this effect applied to several enemies in one go means you can incapacitate multiple zombies with just one hit.

Additionally, all the zombies that take damage from the explosion enter a Bleeding state. This damages them over time and will knock them down quickly, considering that they have lost their Stability.

However, Seismic Stomp is not an Autophage skill. Hence, it won’t add to the Autophage card count.

How To Acquire:

You can acquire Seismic Stomp after unlocking Numen cards in general by completing Main Quest #21. After that, enter the Metro and walk into the tunnel on fire. You’ll eventually reach a stationary subway train. Once you get this, look toward the south to find a door. Enter the door and then go left. You’ll find a small alcove with the Seismic Stomp card right there.

Final Thoughts

Dead Island 2’s card system changes how you activate your skills and interact with the environment. Of these, the Dead Island 2 Numen cards are the strongest, consisting of five cards that grant you insanely powerful abilities.

To summarize, there are five Numen cards: Anger Mismanagement, Born Survivor, Corpse Blossom, Glass Cannon, and Seismic Stomp. These can be unlocked after you complete Main Quest #21 through several quests and tasks.

For more information on Skill Cards in Dead Island 2, check out our Dead Island 2 Skill Cards guide.