All zombies are deadly, but not all zombies are DEADLY zombies, a category of high-level and hence especially dangerous enemies you may encounter in Dead Island 2. This page will discuss what, exactly, Deadly zombies are, where they spawn, how to defeat them… or if you should bother fighting them at all.

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DEADLY zombies are any enemy whose level is 3+ higher than your own. They can appear just off the beaten path and are incredibly powerful.

What Are DEADLY Zombies in Dead Island 2?¶

Most enemies scale to the player’s level in Dead Island 2… but this is an uneven sort of scaling. Enemies scale up to the player’s level, not down to the player’s level, and depending where you go, you could run into zombies whose level is significantly greater than your own. When an enemy’s level is three or more higher than your own, it’ll be designated a DEADLY enemy, and its level will be replaced by a skull.

Where Do DEADLY Zombies Spawn in Dead Island 2?¶

Dead Island 2 has no qualms about presenting difficulty spikes - you could run afoul of a DEADLY zombie just by setting foot off the beaten path a bit. Even an innocent detour to explore a parking garage, or opening the wrong gate or door, heck, you can find DEADLY zombies just by taking a bad turn in a main quest location. Simply put, DEADLY zombies can spawn just about anywhere, although they likely won’t appear directly in your path during main quests, they can be found awfully close. You’re almost certainly going to run afoul of them at some point.

How Do You Defeat DEADLY Zombies in Dead Island 2?¶

DEADLY zombies may live (or die?) up to their moniker, but there’s a slight complication - you can’t tell what level a DEADLY zombie actually is. Any enemy three levels higher than you will be designated a DEADLY zombie, but that may not be an insurmountable gap, especially if you are somewhat competent at dodging and aren’t using obsolete weapons. Of course, since you can’t tell what level a DEADLY zombie is, it could be significantly more powerful than you - you won’t know until you hit it and see how much (or little) damage you deal. In any event, expect DEADLY zombies to at least be challenging foes. They’ll probably kill you in one to two hits, while you’ll have to lay into them for a good while - expect them to survive a full counter combo, at the very least.

Dodging and countering is your bread-and-butter against these foes, but making use of debuffs also helps. Failing that, finding some high ground and throwing shuriken at your enemies may be an option. It’s not exactly sporting, but they’re zombies, they can’t have their feelings hurt by poor sportsmanship. Defeating DEADLY zombies isn’t very lucrative, either - you might get twice the XP that a zombie of your level would otherwise give you, but that hardly justifies the time, effort, wear and tear on your weapons and expended Med Kits that these fights may cost. All in all, the best strategy may be the simplest - just ignore them or retreat and come back when you’re a higher level.