Dead Island 2: Best Skill Cards

This article provides a guide to the best skill cards to unlock in the game Dead Island 2, broken down by categories such as Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen.

Dead Island 2
Dead Island 2: Best Skill Cards | © Deep Silver

Dead Island 2 features a deep skill card system that allows players to further customize their Slayer character beyond their initial starting build. The game's skill tree is divided into four categories – Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen – and players can unlock new skill cards early and often throughout the 15-hour story mode. However, not all skill cards are created equal, and some are much better than others.

The skill cards in Dead Island 2 offer a wide range of abilities and upgrades, from increased weapon damage and proficiency to new combat moves and health regeneration. These skill cards are essential for players who want to progress through the game and survive against the hordes of zombies and other monsters that they encounter. In fact, some skills are so important that they can mean the difference between life and death for the player character.

  • To the matching skills against the zombies you can also get a matching controller !

This guide will provide information on the best skills to unlock in the first two categories of the skill tree – Abilities and Survivor – with light spoilers included for some late-game skills. Whether you're a seasoned player looking for some tips on how to optimize your Slayer character, or a new player trying to navigate the game's skill system, this guide has something for you.

Dead Island 2: Best Skill Cards

Dead Island 2 features a skill card system that offers players a chance to customize their Slayer character beyond their initial build by unlocking new skill cards throughout the game, with some cards being more useful than others. The skill tree is divided into four categories, namely Abilities, Survivor, Slayer, and Numen, and this guide will provide information on the best skills to unlock in the first two categories - Abilities and Survivor, with light spoilers included for some late-game skills. However, those who are spoiler-averse can still benefit from reading about the top skills in the first two categories.

Abilities

  • Dodge is better than block.
  • Drop Kick is great for clearing out zombies.
  • Dash Strike is a good special attack to choose.
  • Blood Rush paired with dodge can help you build Fury.
  • Overhead Smash lets you mimic an Apex Variant zombie in Fury mode.

Survivor

  • Ravenous gives you more Fury for zombie kills.
  • Vivisuction gives you a health boost with Dash Strike.
  • Safe Space provides an area-of-effect blast every time you use a med kit.
  • Short Fuse lets you launch into Fury mode when your meter is half full.
Dead Island 2 Zombie
Dead Island 2: Skill Cards for the Survivor | © Deep Silver

Slayer

  • Skull Skewer is useful for throwing weapons.
  • Corpse Bomb adds explosions when killing enemies in Fury mode.
  • Deadeye helps your Curveball items recharge faster.
  • The Limb Reaper lets you earn health back by hacking off zombie limbs.
Dead Island 2 Zombie 2
Dead Island 2: Skill Cards for Slayer | © Deep Silver

Numen

  • Corpse Blossom causes zombies killed by status effects to explode with that effect.
  • Born Survivor turns a killing blow into an explosion that drains Fury and allows you to heal by doing damage.
Sabrina Breitenmoser

Sabrina here; I work as an intern for EarlyGame. Growing up, I was completely enchanted by stories like "The Chronicles of Narnia" and "Eragon: The Legend of the Dragon Riders" and always dreamed of being an author. Yet, I eventually...