Dead Island 2 skill cards determine which powers your character has, and the selection you apply will add specific moves, abilities, and buffs to your Slayer. They are also linked to your Autophage abilities when that starts playing a part in Dead Island 2. Those latter powers have heavy pros and cons to consider, so you need to think carefully before you decide to use any.
There are a lot of Dead Island 2 cards that unlock as you level up. So while you'll start with a small pool, over the course of the game you'll build up a huge library of options that can radically alter how your Dead Island 2 characters or Dead Island 2 weapons work. Below, I've got a breakdown for all of the Dead Island 2 skill cards I've found for your ability, survivor, Slayer, and Numan skill slots. I'll explain how it all works, and hopefully you'll have a better idea of how to spec out your character builds.
Dead Island 2 Autophage abilities
It's best to think of Dead Island 2 Autophage powers as cursed abilities once you unlock them. They give benefits that will boost or enhance one thing, traded off against a debuff that will drain or reduce something elsewhere. So you might deal extra damage at the expense of health, for example. Or gain Fury faster when attacking, but lose it faster when you're not.
You also get some broader character-wide effects that stack and change depending on how many Autophage cards you have equipped. So there is a pay off for using as much as you can, but again, at a cost.
This are the buff you get for equipping Autophage cards:
- 1 Autophage card equipped - Boosts to Force, Fury mode duration and killing zombies regains Fury, but Toughness is reduced.
- 2 Autophage cards equipped - Attacking after a kill regains Stamina, there's a larger Fury mode duration and Fury regen on kills, but Stamina regeneration is reduced.
- 3 Autophage cards equipped - Kills boost Health and Damage, larger Fury mode duration and Fury regen from kills, but Health regeneration is stopped and healing items are less effective.
Dead Island 2 Ability Cards
Dead Island 2 ability cards are your basic combat skills, governing things like blocking or dodging, special attacks and so on.
What you pick depends entirely on how you play as there are defensive cards, aggressive cards and choices between area effects, targeted effects and so on. However, I'd recommend dodge over block though as it will always get you out of the way even if you miss the timing to stun a zombie.
Here's a rundown of all the Dead Island 2 ability cards we unlocked:
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Block | Press L1/LB to block attacks. A perfectly timed block can regain stamina and stun zombies |
| Dodge | Press L1/LB to dodge. A perfectly timed dodge can regain stamina and stun zombies. Unlocked at level 9 |
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Drop Kick | Jump and press R3 for a forceful jump kick that can send zombies flying. |
| Flying Kick | Jump and press R3 for a powerful jump kick. |
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| War Cry | Press R1/RB and L1/LB to boost toughness and weaken nearby enemies. |
| Ground Pound | Press R1/RB and L1/LB to hit the ground and drain stability of nearby enemies. |
| Dash Strike | Press R1/RB and L1/LB to dash at enemies and weaken them. |
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Blood Rush | Perform counters to build Fury. |
| Surgical Focus (Autophage) | Maim zombies to build Fury but taking damage loses Fury. |
| Street Brawler (Autophage) | Attacks build Fury but it drains unless it's full. |
| Served Cold | Block attacks or take damage to build Fury. |
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Overhead Smash | Press R1/RB in Fury mode to use a powerful ground pound. |
| Scream | Press R1/RB in Fury mode to let out a scream that weakens enemies. |
| Spitting Cobra | Press R1/RB in Fury mode to unleash a caustic vomit attack. |
Dead Island 2 Survivor Skill Cards
Dead Island 2 Survivor Skill cards are a big and varied list of ways to tune your abilities and get certain bonus to playstyles. They largely add bonus effects to dodges, block and special attacks that can boost things like health regen, add status effects or change cooldowns.
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Pain Threshold | Block or Dodge for a minor damage boost, |
| Warhead (Carla and Ryan Only) | Drop kick attacks trigger an explosion that drains enemy stability. |
| Wrecking Ball | Flying kick attacks weaken enemies. |
| Hot-Footed (Autophage) | Drop kick attacks set zombies on fire but drain health. |
| Vivisuction | Dash Strike enemies to regain health. |
| Rallying Cry | War Cry gives health and clears status effects for all players. |
| Blockbuster | Well timed blocks trigger explosions that affect enemy stability. |
| Lightning Strike (Autophage) | Dash Strike attacks electrify enemies but drain health. |
| Shin Shrapnel | Slide attacks do more damage and can send enemies flying. |
| Quake | Ground Pound attacks have more force and knock enemies flying. |
| Safe Space | Using Med Kits causes an explosion the drains Stability from nearby zombies. |
| Short Fuse | Activate Fury mode as soon as the meter is more than half full. |
| Pain Magazine | Well timed Blocks or Dodges trigger a recharge boost for you Curveball. |
| Invigorating | Counter attacks to regain more health. |
| Steadfast | Chain blocks to boost Toughness and Force. |
| Flare-Up (Autophage) | Ground Pound attacks set enemies on fire but drain health., |
| Greased Pig | Automatically break free when grabbed. |
Dead Island 2 Slayer Skill Cards
Dead Island 2 Slayer skill cards work in a similar way to Survivor cards by adding effects and boosts to stats when using certain attacks, but they focus more on special attacks and Fury.
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Skull Skewer | Hitting a zombie in the head with a thrown weapons will trigger an explosion. |
| Unrelenting | Attacking knocked down enemies gives a small boost to damage. |
| Heavy Hitter (Autophage) | Heavy Attack damage is boosted but using them drains health. |
| Surgeon | Maiming enemies give a boost to damage. |
| Janus Rage | A full Fury meter boost Toughness. One that isn't full boosts damage. |
| The Limb Reaper | Maim enemies to regain health. |
| No Mercy | Attacking enemies affected by a status, boosts damage. |
| Far From Done (Carla and Ryan only) | Blocking attacks or taking damage in quick succession boosts damage. |
| Hammer Fist | Dash Strikes get a Force boost and can send enemies flying. |
| Clear Sightlines | Knocking down enemies give a damage boost to any thrown or ranged weapon. |
| Breakdancer | Slide attacks boost agility and attack speed. |
| Pyro (Autophage) | In Fury mode attacks ignite zombies but drain more Fury. |
| Volatile (Autophage) | In Fury mode attacks trigger explosions but drain more Fury. |
| Caustic Blight (Autophage) | In Fury mode attacks deal caustic damage but drain more Fury. |
| Juggernaut | Overhead Smash attack generate more Fury and get a boost to Damage and Force. |
| Voltaic Scream | Scream attacks electrify enemies. |
| Deadeye | Hitting enemies with Curveballs triggers a recharge boost. |
| Tools of the Trade | Killing an enemy with a melee or ranged weapon boosts damage for that weapon type. |
| Pummel (Autophage) | Linking quick attacks will boost Force at the expense of a weaker first hit. |
| Carnage (Autophage) | In Fury modes attacks have extra damage and force but drain more Fury. |
| Hunting Season | Land ranged weapon or weapon throw hits to boost melee weapon damage. |
| Cull The Weak | Damage gets a small boost when attacking low health zombies. |
Dead Island 2 Numan Skill Cards
Dead Island 2 Numan skill cards are special top level abilities you'll access late into the game and in the end game.
| Card name | Effect |
|---|---|
| Born Survivor (Autophage) | At the point of death an explosion triggers that drains Fury and lets you attack zombies to regain health. |
| Seismic Stomp | Skull Stomps trigger explosions that drain enemy stability and makes them bleed. |
| Anger Mis-management (Autophage) | When in Fury you'll drain health once the Fury meter is drained. |
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