Learning how to make money fast in Dead Island 2 is useful if you want to craft or buy items. Especially since the match level mechanic can be really expensive. And when you’re first starting out, you probably won’t have anywhere near enough money.
Fortunately, other workbench services like repairing your items are nowhere near as costly. But, if you decide you want to buy a new weapon or get a fuse, you’ll probably be out of luck. So take a look at our tips below for making money.
How to Make Money Fast in Dead Island 2
Killing Zombies For Money is Too Slow
While you can get useful items from grinding away at zombies, wallets don’t give much.
If you plan on only farming zombies for money, this is probably the worst strategy. While you can find some great hotspots for grinding zombies, you won’t get much money from killing them. Even though you don’t directly get money per kill, they can drop wallets with some inside.
As someone at max level in Dead Island 2, I tend to get around $40 to $50 whenever a wallet drops. And since this isn’t consistent, you’re bound to be here for a while. Even if you take advantage of the best skills we recommend to kill them quicker. It’s just not enough. That’s why I recommend the next section as your best bet.
Sell Items to the Trader
You can see the value of an item before picking it up. In the case of ranged weapons, they don’t have durability impacting their price.
The best way to make money fast in Dead Island 2 is by selling items to a trader. You can find one at each major safehouse among the many districts in HELL-A. As you level up, you’ll start to get higher rarity weapons that are worth more than the basic common ones.
However, that also means the cost of buying items or using the workbench will rise too. Eventually, you’ll find yourself paying over $15k to match a weapon’s level to your own. This is where it can get pricey.
These items are close to max level so they’re more valuable than most. Also, you can sell extra parts for a little bit of money.
With that said, if you want to grind zombies for fun or to level up, you’ll definitely come across some weapon drops. You may want to store a few weapons or empty out your inventory before doing so, however. Especially since you only have 16 inventory slots for items.
By emptying out your inventory, you’ll have plenty of space to make money fast. Plus, you probably only need a couple of weapons to survive anyway. Unless you’re fighting a ton of difficult Apex Variants and don’t have a ranged weapon yet.
Sometimes you just have to slay a swarm of zombies. Multiple swarms.
But, make sure you don’t limit yourself by only bringing elemental weapons. As explained in our 10 Best Dead Island 2 Tips and Tricks guide, zombies can be immune to certain elements. So I recommend using plain weapons or ones with physical damage mods.
Regardless, it’s important to mention that an item’s durability impacts the amount of money you’ll get. However, the cost of repairing an item is too high for it to be worthwhile. For example, I had a broken Bo Staff worth $3,062. I spent around $4,500 to repair it and it became worth $7,655. For an extra $93, it’s not really worth your time.
Beware of traps when entering fuse rooms for loot.
All that aside, you can hunt down some fuse rooms if you’re looking for valuable items. They’re always a good source of a new weapon whether you’re looking to upgrade or get one to sell. Especially if you’re far enough in Dead Island 2 to get ranged weapons. These are a nice jump in value when you first start looting them.
Open Safes and Lockboxes For Money
You can revisit safes eventually to loot them again for more money.
This strategy isn’t perfect for making money fast in Dead Island 2, but it can be a nice side hustle. Safes typically don’t require keys to open, unlike lockboxes. So if you find yourself exploring The Halperin Hotel, be sure to check room closets for safes.
At the max level, each safe consistently gives me around $1,500. Even though I could only find a handful while searching rooms quickly. However, you may come across some safe-deposit keys for behind the receptionist’s desk. These boxes can give around a similar amount if they don’t drop items instead.
Getting keys for lockboxes can be frustrating so it isn’t always worth it.
Before I finish this guide, it’s worth mentioning that quests barely give any money. You can probably sell a couple of items and make more money than completing Dead Island 2’s story. This tends to be the same for completing side quests and Lost & Found ones too. But, you can get some money from Challenges.
That’s all there is to this Dead Island 2 guide on how to make money fast. Hopefully you can afford the many items you want while also upgrading your gear too. Fortunately, ammo and parts are relatively cheap at the trader. So it’s mainly items and level matching that are expensive.
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
Tuesday 2nd of May 2023
I've seen YouTube tutorials for money and exp exploits, what's the point when you end up scraping or selling the majority of loot drops because the inventory and stash isn't big enough for a fraction of the loot drops. The enemy mobs need nerfed because it's not even difficult even playing solo, im just playing casually and im level 26. I read the reaching level 30 the trophy on PSN is bugged for some players. But, im not seeing the point of money or exp exploits when the majority of loot drops get sold and the enemy mobs aren't even difficult.