Skills, now known as Skill Cards in Dead Island 2, are a type of card system featured in the game that are incredibly central to how the game functions. These collectibles can be acquired through leveling up, or hidden through the city of LA as you scavenge them from the corpses of zombies.
Some of these Skill Cards make you quicker, more mobile, and stronger, while others reward you with buffs each time you perform that flawless decapitation.
These Skill Cards can enhance the attributes and combat abilities of their Slayers to make things a little easier for them. They can also be combined together to form enhanced, more powerful variants of the selected skills. While a lot of the skills are universal and can be used on any Slayers, some of them are unique to a single character and can only be used by them.
The different Skill Cards in Dead Island 2 are divided into five different categories: Innate Skills, Ability, Survivor Skills, Slayer, and Numen. These five different categories of Skill Cards can be swapped out and combined at any moment during the game, giving players the flexibility to customize their playstyle and characters just as they wish, being able to adhere to various niche situations in the game spontaneously.
Let us further elaborate on the various skill types found in the Skill Cards, below.
The different skill types in Dead Island 2
The skills present in Skill Cards can be split up into five different classes, all of which focus on different aspects. Some skill types focus on mobility, while others on attack or survivability.
Innate skills
Innate skills are attributed to Skill Cards that are unique and can be used only by a single Slayer. These innate skills typically characterize a Slayer’s playstyle and highlight their unique traits and skills, which means an innate skill of a particular Slayer cannot be used by another Slayer. These cards cannot be swapped out and provide incredibly powerful abilities that players can pair with other Skill Cards in the game.
For example, Dani’s Thunderstruck Skill Card—which is an innate skill—adds a forceful explosion on impact on Heavy Attacks, while Bloodlust—another innate skill—allows her to regain HP when slaying multiple zombies one after the other.
Ability
Ability cards are skills that let the slayer gain additional movement or attack options. By using these Skill Cards, the Slayer can perform various useful actions like dodging incoming attacks or blocking them completely. Some examples of ability cards include Drop Kick and Dodge, the former letting players regain stamina while leaving the zombies open to counter-attacks, while the latter stuns zombies with well-timed dodges, letting the Slayer perform a powerful jump kick attack that sends the undead pests flying.
Survivor skills
Survivor skills are a type of Skill Card that focuses on the healing of the Slayers, or just increasing their total health. The main aim of these Skill Cards is to focus on keeping the slayer in good condition and aiding them in getting through alive.
An example of a Survivor skill is Safe Space, which activates upon using a Medkit. The skill releases an explosion that drains the stability of nearby zombies making them easier to knock down.
While Survivor skills are meant to keep Slayers healthy and keep them far from harm’s way, we do know that combining the Survivor cards Flare Up and Quake with the Ground Pound Abilities card creates a “truly devastating ground smash that topples zombies and ignites the floor underneath them,” so it would be in your best interest to not assume Survivor skills to be more passive than they actually are.
Slayer
Slayer cards are Skill Cards that are designed for offense. These cards often give Slayers bonuses for performing certain actions, like scoring headshots or cutting off limbs. A lot of the Slayer skills are basically buffs related to combat action.
For example, Hammer Fist is a slayer skill that unleashes a powerful punch at the targeted zombie, sending them flying with a shockwave effect. There is also a Slayer card that grants a moderate boost of damage for ranged weapons when you knock a zombie down. Further information on this card such as its name will be updated here when it becomes available.
Numen
Numen cards are the fifth and final type of Skill Card available which focus on the more zombie-like abilities. These skills let the Slayer use various zombie-based attacks.
One of the Numen Skill Cards revealed to the public is Spitting Cobra. Upon activation, the Slayer will spit acid from their mouth, instantly melting any zombies that it manages to coat while also dealing heavy damage to those zombies that are not immediately killed.
Below is a list of all the Skill Cards categorized by their five types, revealed so far.
List of all Skill Cards in Dead Island 2
Innate skills
- Critical Gains (Jacob)
- Feral (Jacob)
- Divide & Conquer (Amy)
- Relief Pitcher (Amy)
- Retaliation (Ryan)
- Seesaw (Ryan)
- Bloodlust (Dani)
- Thunderstruck (Dani)
- Dig Deep (Carla)
- Mosh Pit (Carla)
- Backstab (Bruno)
- Rapid Reprisal (Bruno)
Ability
- Dash Strike
- Dodge
Survivor skills
- Safe Space
Slayer
- Hammer Fist
- Limb Reaper
Numen
- Spitting Cobra
Related: All playable characters in Dead Island 2 so far
What is a Skill Deck in Dead Island 2?
The skill deck is where you can browse your collection of Skill Cards and choose which ones you want to equip.
A lot of the time, throughout the game, you are bound to come across enemies that you weren’t expecting to run into, and the cards you currently have equipped with won’t be the most useful in situations like this. To adapt on the fly and make sure you’re working with the right tools to get the job at hand completed smoothly, your skill deck is fully remappable, at any point.
If you wish to change up a single card or simply change up your entire playstyle, you can do so at any given point in time with complete ease. You can experiment with various perks and abilities that your Skill Cards grant you to discover useful and fun synergies that go with your specific playstyle.
