As you work your way through Dead Island 2 you’ll probably want to know how to level fast. This can help you unlock new skill cards with unique passive buffs. Even though many skills are locked to progression in the story or other methods of getting them.
While reaching higher levels will definitely help you get stronger items, it is worth mentioning that zombies scale with you. Therefore, if you reach max level and decide, let’s go back to the first area, they’ll be near your level too.
How to Level Fast in Dead Island 2
Complete Quests for Experience
The fast travel system makes it easy to backtrack to safehouses if you don’t want to do a side quest yet.
One of the best ways to level fast is as simple as completing quests. This includes the main story, side quests, Lost & Found quests, and whatever you can get your hands on really. While the amount of experience you get from each quest varies, some of them can hit as high as 6,000.
Plus, you’ll often get other rewards like fancy weapons, skill cards, and sometimes money too. While you’re working through each quest, you’ll likely have to take out a bunch of zombies too. This stacks on top of whatever experience reward you get from completing your quest as well.
Side quests scale up with your level so you’ll always have a decent challenge.
Many of the major safehouses in each HELL-A district have several NPCs you can get side quests from. This is represented by a blue exclamation point either on the map or near the character. Whereas one safehouse further in the story is loaded with Lost & Found quests. Instead of a blue icon, you’ll see a red one.
It’s worth mentioning that Lost & Found quests can take a bit longer if you’re not sure where to look. This is because they usually require reading a journal and learning where to go. Instead of already having a map marker that tells you where the next objective is.
Grind Zombies at Hotspots
Slaughtering zombies for experience isn’t too bad once you have a good build going.
While slaying zombies in Dead Island 2 you’ll get a small amount of experience per kill. This varies slightly depending on the type of zombie as you discover tougher ones. For example, defeating a special Apex Variant is going to give you more experience than a basic Shambler. Here are a few examples:
- Shambler – 15 xp
- Walker – 20 xp
- Runner – 25 xp
- Crusher – 40 xp
- Inferno Crusher – 50 xp
This is where you can find the Venice Beach police station for grinding experience.
The goal here is to find an area in Dead Island 2 where zombies are constantly spawning so you can grind them. My favorite place is easily Venice Beach at the police station. This is because you can activate several car alarms to attract nearby zombies.
While working on my Best Skills to Use guide, I noticed I could reactivate car alarms multiple times. Sometimes it would be finicky, but as long as I had a window to break, it would trigger again. This became a little easier when I had AoE skills like Ground Pound and Overhead Smash though.
Skills that make it easier to stay in Fury Mode are great for slaying zombies.
Regardless, depending on how far into Dead Island 2 you are, you may have an easier time grinding zombies. It definitely helps to have unlocked Fury Mode and ranged weapons. You’ll have a better time taking out zombies quickly and dealing with annoying Apex Variants.
Otherwise, if you’re still a low level, I recommend completing more quests as previously mentioned. You’ll notice a significant increase in your zombie-clearing ability with the right skill cards. Even if you’re just using a rifle to quickly maim frustrating zombies.
What is the Max Level in Dead Island 2
Reaching max level in Dead Island 2 takes some of the fun out once you no longer get experience.
Whether you’re trying to unlock every skill card or 100% the game, you’re probably wondering what the max level is. This can take some time to reach if you like to explore. Which I definitely recommend doing since you’ll find all sorts of useful loot.
With that said, the max level in Dead Island 2 is level 30 which takes 298,500 experience to reach. Once you reach level 30, you’ll no longer get experience for killing zombies or completing missions. But, you can still grind money for repairing gear and buying new items.
Sometimes you’re better off running past a zombie if you’re trying to complete a quest to level fast.
That’s all there is to this Dead Island 2 guide on how to level fast. If you have some tips and tricks of your own, feel free to comment below and help others out. For those wondering, completing challenges doesn’t appear to give experience rewards. Even though you can get useful buffs from them.
Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.
Nikki_boagreis
Saturday 15th of July 2023
The game isn't that hard, in fact it's unbelievably easy. I don't see the need for exp or money glitches and exploits.