Players wondering what happens when you die in Dead Island 2 are in the right place. This is a common question among many games where people are worried about losing progress or experience. Especially in an RPG where you’re grinding through those levels to reach better gear.
This can make it frustrating when you want to experiment with a new weapon or a new set of skills. Because you never know if you’re just going to get yourself into a bad situation. And then have a penalty like losing money. So continue reading our guide for what happens when you die.
What Happens When You Die in Dead Island 2
Watch out for environmental hazards that can deal more damage to you than zombies if you’re not careful.
Players jumping into this zombie slaying game will be happy to know that the death penalty doesn’t exist for the most part. This is because you won’t lose experience and will respawn at a nearby checkpoint most of the time.
The one exception is when you teleport to the next checkpoint without having reached it yet. This can be the difference between respawning forward 20 feet or getting locked out of a quest you’re currently working on. So it’s a dilemma but I imagine the developer is working on, but I do know some players pre-launch experienced this.
Since Dead Island 2 saving is automatic, you’re completely reliant on checkpoints.
Aside from bug-related checkpoints, certain deaths will reset quest progress. For example, you may enter an instance where you have to defeat several waves of zombies before moving forward. Dead Island 2 tends to reset those instances upon dying and send you back outside. Then, you just re-enter the area through a door or something similar.
I’ve also noticed that named enemies frequently return to where they initially were. For example, if you’re fighting an elite named zombie that started in a weight room but followed you far away, they’ll retreat. Zombies can hold aggro for a long distance if you’re familiar with leashing mechanics in MMORPGs.
Even though enemies won’t always recover their health, they can completely disappear before you get back.
The nice thing about this situation is that most zombies tend to remain at the same health. So if you’re close to killing one and it just barely finished you off, head on back before they can heal up. This is likely related to the instance so as long as you don’t get too far away or leave the district.
That’s all there is to know about what happens when you die in Dead Island 2. Fortunately, there isn’t really a death penalty. They certainly could have gone in the opposite direction by making you lose experience or damaging the durability of your weapons. Since there isn’t a set of difficulties, that doesn’t play a role either.
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.
John
Monday 5th of June 2023
Why would I be happy to know there's no penalty for death? It makes death meaningless and the player essentially invincible, it's a stupid mechanic.