Face-tanking zombie attacks surprisingly isn’t the best way to stay alive in a zombie apocalypse, and while strafing, kicking and disrupting enemy attacks with your own offense are viable means to win fights, sometimes good old fashioned dodging is your best bet. This page will cover dodging, blocking and counter attacking in Dead Island 2.
(1 of 2) Depending on your chosen Slayer, you’ll unlock the Dodge or Block skill card during the second story quest,
Depending on your chosen Slayer, you’ll unlock the Dodge or Block skill card during the second story quest, (left), and whichever isn’t unlocked earlier will be unlocked upon reaching level nine. (right)
How to Block and Dodge in Dead Island 2¶
To use pretty much any ability, you’ll need to equip the corresponding [Skill Card], and blocking and dodging are no exception. After you complete the first story quest Flight of the Damned you’ll arrive at Bel-Air, where, during the second story quest Desperately Seeking Emma, you’ll be tasked with infiltrating a mansion. During this quest you should unlock either the Block or Dodge skill card, which will be equipped automatically. Once this happens, you can block by holding 
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or dodge by pressing the same button. Regardless of which character you start out as, you’ll eventually learn the other defensive ability when you reach level 9.
Which is Better - Blocking or Dodging?¶
You can only equip one defensive skill card, so which is better, blocking, or dodging? Both help mitigate damage, but do so in different ways - blocking outright negates incoming physical damage as long as you have your dukes up, while dodging provides you with a quick burst of directional impetus to get you out of range. As much as we may personally prefer one or the other, both have their strengths and weaknesses that make them more or less suited for different situations.
Blocking is relatively absolute - keep your guard up and, assuming you don’t end up flanked, you’ll block incoming damage outright. Block right before an enemy attack lands and you’ll cause them to recoil, leaving them vulnerable to a counter attack (see below). Provoking counter attacks is easier with blocking than with dodging, as the timing window is broader, and since dodging doesn’t seem to give you any invulnerability frames, it’s not really any riskier. On the downside, blocking will not protect you from the attacks of some enemies, like Crushers or “spiky” variants, nor will it protect you from most elemental, ranged or AoE attacks. Blocking is best used against basic zombies - if it has range, thorns, elemental damage, an AoE or is just strong enough to power through your guard, blocking becomes something of a liability.
Dodging, on the other hand, has the decency to actually move you out of harm’s way… well, unless you dodge into danger, but the ability can’t be faulted for user error. It doesn’t provide any iframes, however, so you’ll need timing to actually mitigate damage. As another downside, provoking counter attacks is more difficult when dodging, as the timing window just seems shorter, plus it can be hard to tell when an attacker is actually left vulnerable - even mistimed dodges that avoid damage can leave the zombie off-balance but not susceptible to counter attacks. Where dodging excels is pretty much against any enemy whose attacks breaks block - which includes an awful lot of apex variants. Dodging also helps you close ground with Screamers, get away from Bursters or generally escape danger like elemental hazards.
For our money, dodging is somewhat better for general use, but blocking allows you to reliably perform counter attacks, and depending on supporting skill cards, (like Safety First which causes you to heal when you perform a well-timed dodge or block, or Invigorating, which gives you extra healing during a counter attack), this can make it very hard for the slayer to die as long as you have enough fodder zombies to counter and leech off of.
How to Counter Attack in Dead Island 2¶
Blocking and dodging not only keeps your soft, succulent flesh away from zombie teeth, but timing your defensive ability correctly and block/dodge just before an enemy attack lands, this can leave your attacker off-balance and susceptible to counter attacks. When you perform a well-timed block or dodge you’ll see a 
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prompt appear, letting you know you can press said button to perform a counter attack. This may take a moment to appear when you dodge, but once it appears the prompt will last a bit, so you only really need passable reflexes during the dodge itself.
Press the aforementioned button to perform a counterattack, where you’ll grapple with the zombie and perform a series of powerful attacks. Counter attacks doesn’t guarantee a kill, but you can perform up to three hits during a counter attack sequence, although you may be prompted to hit 
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for subsequent attacks. Not only does counter attacking deal significant damage, but performing a well-timed block or dodge (a prerequisite for stunning a zombie and leaving them exposed to counter attacks) will restore your [Stamina], and other skill cards can be equipped to also cause you to recover [health], damage, or [fury] whenever you perform a well-timed block/dodge or subsequent counter attack.
Performing counter attacks also doesn’t drain your weapon’s durability, making it a good way to dispatch enemies, heal yourself, and spare wear and tear on your weapons!
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