Dead Island: Enemy Types

Walker

Walkers are a class of slow-moving, staggering undead that roam the island of Banoi looking for flesh to devour. Alone, these undead are of no threat because of their speed, but become very dangerous when they are in groups. Walkers are also masters of ambushes. You can find them lying motionless, pretending to be dead and then suddenly spring out to attack once you get close.

There is no sure way to tell if one is truly dead, so my advice is to treat every corpse you see as a potential threat and approach with caution. When faced with a walker, aim for its head or knock it down with a flying kick and then stomp its face to kill it. When you encounter a group of walkers, there are certain characteristics of walkers which you can exploit to your advantage. Walkers cannot swim. If you are near a pool or the beach, lure the walkers into the water and drown them. You will get experience and loot from the drowned zombies without even breaking a sweat. Walkers cannot climb steep gradients. Stand on a vehicle's roof or the back of a pick-up, crouch and attack with a bat, stick or long weapon until they're all dead. (Now wait just a sec...They're already dead!) Walkers cannot open doors. If you do not need to fight them, just find a doorway and close the door. If none of the above can be used, my last suggestion for you is to RUN!!! You will live to fight another day. As you progress in the game, you will start to find variations of walkers. Note that there are hybrid walkers which can have a mix of these variations. Flaming Walkers - These walkers move faster than the regular bunch and are on fire. Wide Shouldered Walkers - These walkers have more health than the regular ones. Tall/Long Arm Walkers - These walkers have a longer reach than the regular ones. Armored Walkers - Depending on which part of their body is protected, these walkers are more resistant to damage in those areas. Toxic Walkers - These walkers are surrounded by a green gas cloud which can poison the players once they get close. However, they can be easily killed by igniting them as the gas cloud is highly flammable. Armed Walkers - These walkers are known to carry simple weapons which they can throw or attack with.

Infected

Fast, vicious and deadly, the Infected are humans who have not yet completely turned into zombies. They still retain most of their muscle functions, thus allowing them to sprint and attack at high speeds. Once an Infected have spotted you, they will scream loudly to alert nearby Infected or Walkers while charging after you.

Infected can jump and scale low walls or objects unlike walkers, so not all heights can prevent them from reaching you. Running away is not an option either, because they can move just as fast as you can and will chase you to the ends of the Earth (Exaggerated? Probably, but I'm pretty sure they will chase you all over Banoi). Infected often come in packs of two or three, but have been known to bunch up to five or six in a group. To make matters worse, they are usually accompanied by other types of zombies. Thankfully, they have extremely low damage resistance and can often be killed by a well-placed strike to the head. When dealing with a single Infected, walk backwards and wait for it to charge. Once it lunges forward, striking for its head with a long-reaching weapon. When dealing with a pack, try to find a way to create a choke point so that you can fend them off one at a time. Kick them away if they are too close. Although they might have low hit points, do not let them catch you off guard. If they get up close, they can interrupt all player actions except for a kick. Additionally, do not engage them in deep waters as their speed is unaffected by the water while yours will be significantly reduced.

Thug

A thug is a tall, muscular zombie found in Dead Island. It moves very slowly and attacks by swinging its massive arms at the player. If you get hit, you will lose a good amount of your health and will be knocked off your feet. Thugs also have a massive amount of health and a decent reach. Without a good control of your character, players might find it hard to get close enough to damage it without getting hit.

A good, but brutal way to kill a thug is to dismember it first. Break or slice off its arms to prevent it from swinging at you, then its legs to prevent it from moving and all that's left is a helpless chunk of flesh waiting for you to end its miserable "life". If you prefer a more "humane" method, which I highly doubt so, you can choose to dispose of it with powerful weapons from a distance or with explosives.

Suicider

Now these are something you wouldn't want anywhere near you. The Suicider is a zombie that has been infected by a special strain of the virus. They can be easily recognised by the pulsing boils appearing on their upper body. Suiciders have been known to make garbled pleas for help and rumor has it that the minds of these zombies are still human but are unable to control their bodies.

Suiciders may be slow, but they can deal some serious damage to you if you are ever caught within their blast radius. They normally capitalize on opportunities wherein you are distracted or swarmed by other zombies to get close to you. Upon getting close, they will begin to swell and within a short time, explode into a shower of pus. The explosion is violent enough to knock players down, blind them and if it exploded close enough, kill the players. If you have a firearm, now's a good time to use it and pop a few rounds into the Suicider's head (at a safe distance). No guns? You can also do the same by chucking a weapon or two at it. Only as a last resort, jump kick the Suicider and then run for your life before it explodes.

Ram

The Ram is a giant zombie that wears a straight jacket that permanently binds its arms to its chest. On its face, you can find a leather muzzle that is used to prevent it from biting. Tough, strong and ferocious, this zombie will charge at you from a distance and if it hits you, you’re going to suffer some serious damage. At close quarters, it will use its legs to kick at you, causing damage to your health, losing of stamina and knocking you down if it lands.

Frontal attacks are ineffective against these terrifying zombies. If you are using a blade or blunt, you will need to find a way to circle behind it and hit it in the back. When using a firearm, headshots are probably the only effective means of damaging it, however, be prepared to use a lot of ammunition using this method. Elemental weapons are extremely effective against the Ram as they can penetrate the Ram's armor and damage it. It is advisable to always carry one with you at all times because your encounters with them will only increase as you progress in the game. If you are in a fairly open area, let the Ram charge towards you and then swiftly jump to the side. When it misses you, it will get disoriented for a brief moment. During this opening, you can land about 5 to 6 strikes at its back before it will attempt to kick at you. Jump away before it kicks and then let it charge at you again. You will only need to repeat this a few times before it is down for the count. If you are in an enclosed area, you can try standing next to a wall and wait for it to charge at you. Dodge at the last moment and let it crash into the wall. This will stun it for a few seconds allowing you to attack it from behind.

Floater

The Floater has a bloated and partially decomposed body capable of producing a corrosive green liquid that hurts, blinds and disorients players. Once it gets within range, it will start to vomit the liquid at you, so a good rule of thumb is to never allow its mouth to face you. However, do not attempt to close in on a Floater before it vomits because it will vomit in all directions when up close.

The water-filled bodies of Floaters make them susceptible to electrical attacks, so a weapon with an electrical mod will be highly effective against them. Another point that you should know is that the vomit of Floaters is flammable, therefore any zombies covered by the vomit becomes weak to fire damage. Possibly due to its bloated body, a Floater is slow and can be easily interrupted by melee attacks. A good way to deal with a Floater is to wait for it to start vomiting, dodge the vomit and quickly get behind the Floater. Launch a series of kicks, punches and strikes until you have depleted your stamina and then pull out to recover. If you come across a Floater that is lying on the ground, get close to it and kick like crazy as it wouldn't be able to get up easily.

Butcher

A zombie with no arms and quick legs, the Butcher can be considered as the scariest and toughest zombie in Dead Island. With the speed of an Infected and toughness of a Thug, this fella can dish out punishment at lightning speed and kill you in seconds. For this sole reason, Butchers are best to be dealt with from a distance.

If you are lucky enough to only be facing one, wait for it to charge at you and then kick it in the face. This will give you a one to two second opening to land one attack and one kick. Get out after doing so and wait for it to charge again. If at any point, the Butcher starts to scream, take advantage of this and land a few quick blows on it. Additionally, Butchers have the ability to regenerate their health, so avoid having prolonged battles with them. If you had been saving a strong weapon with elemental mods, such as electric or poison, for that SHTF situation, this would probably be it.

Humans

Who would have known that humans could become your enemies, especially when in this sort of zombie hell. Instead of helping you, these humans are out to kill you. Punks Basically vandals and thugs, they are armed with various weapons such as blades and guns which they have found or looted from others. Policemen Do not be fooled by their uniforms as these guys are not out to restore law and order. They have no intention of saving survivors, but every intent to kill them. Most of these officers will be carrying a rifle or shotgun. Soldiers Possibly with a hidden agenda to contain this outbreak, these fellas are in cahoots with the police. They are armed to the teeth with military grade hardware like automatic rifles. When dealing with these foes, it is best to keep your distance and take them out using throwing knives or guns from behind cover. Recklessly approaching them with a melee weapon will undoubtedly mean certain death. Needless to say, you should wait for them to start reloading before you come out from cover to shoot them.

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