Sometimes the junk weapons you find on the ground - while better than relying on fisticuffs - just aren’t cut out for the job of teaching zombies about the value of personal space. Fortunately you can enhance and repair your weapons at a workbench, which will go a long way towards staying alive in Dead Island 2.

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You can repair any non-improvised weapon by spending cash.

How to Repair Weapons in Dead Island 2¶

Perhaps the most common function you’ll use at the Workbench is the ability to repair. This is a fortunately simple task in Dead Island 2, only requiring money. Just highlight the selected weapon while at a Workbench and hold the / button. The cost of repairing weapons increases by rarity and level, but you’ll be making more money at higher levels, so it balances out. Note that you cannot repair improvised weapons, presumably because bringing a piece of concrete-encrusted rebar to top form kind of doesn’t make a lot of sense?

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(1 of 3) There are three different types of upgrade slots,

How to Upgrade Weapons in Dead Island 2¶

Weapons of uncommon (green) or higher rarity can be upgraded at a Workbench. To do this, just select the desired weapon and press / to bring up the upgrade screen. Here you’ll find the weapon’s stats to the bottom right of the screen, with numerous slots to the left, which represent upgrade slots.

There are three different types of upgrade slots - a Mod slot, Perks slot(s) and a Fixed slot. All uncommon weapons have at least one of each of these slots, and rarer weapons may have more Mod slots. The Fixed slot, as the name implies, is inherent to the weapon type and cannot be changed - it will come filled with some upgrade or another. The other two (or more, in the case of rarer items) upgrade slots can be filled by a custom upgrade which you’ll have to craft upon installation, although you need to be wary, as Perk upgrades tend to have a downside as well as a boon. Creating upgrades consumes components and cash, and the available upgrades will vary depending on the [Blueprints] you’ve found and the type of weapon (not all blueprints apply to all weapons).

Still, the core concept is simple enough - find uncommon (or better) weapons, take them to a Workbench, opt to upgrade them, select an upgrade slot, then pick an upgrade and craft it. Voila. Your weapon is upgraded.

How to Fabricate Items in Dead Island 2¶

While in the Workbench menu, press the / button to navigate to the “Fabricate” menu, where you’ll be able to craft various consumables. This is a much less expansive category than weapon upgrades, but it works in more or less the same way - pick a blueprint and hold down the / button to craft the desired item.

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Scrapping weapons will score you components - especially if the scrapped weapon has upgrades attached.

How to Scrap Weapons in Dead Island 2¶

Not all weapons are winners, and storage is limited. If you don’t particularly need cash, you can always scrap unwanted weapons by selecting the weapon and holding down the button. You’ll gain various crafting components for scrapping weapons - especially weapons with upgrades installed.

How to Level Up Weapons in Dead Island 2¶

Once you find yourself a sweet weapon and slap on some mods, you can easily grow attached to it. As you cut your way through HELL-A, however, you’ll continue to level up while your poor implement of destruction will gradually fall behind, becoming less and less capable of disposing of the various undead you encounter. Fortunately, you can remedy this at a Workbench - select your trusty companion and hold down the / button to raise the weapon’s level to your own, increasing its stats (mostly damage) accordingly. Leveling up weapons costs money - the higher your level and the rarer the weapon, the more money this will cost. Surprisingly, the gap between the weapon’s level and your own doesn’t seem to affect the cost of leveling a weapon up, so you should avoid leveling up weapons arbitrarily, as it can be prohitively expensive. Be sure to repair weapons before upgrading them - repair costs increase with a weapon’s level, and the weapon will not be repaired when you upgrade it.