10 Best Skill Cards In Dead Island 2

Skill Cards are one of the main ways to customize a Slayer in Dead Island 2. Each one provides its own boost to a specific stat or attack that can aid players on their journey through HELL-A. Skill Cards can be found throughout the game, but slots in the Skill Deck will be limited until more are unlocked.

The Skill Deck is where the inventory of available Skill Cards is found. Dead Island 2‘s Skill Deck has five separate sections, Abilities, Slayer, Survivor, Numen, and Innate, each with Skill Cards unique to them. For example, the Innate Skill Cards are two cards that come unique to the Slayer selected and can’t be changed, but all other slots on the Skill Deck can be customized in any way. Not all Skill Cards will be available at the start of the game. Even though some can be found through exploring, the majority will unlock through completing tasks, some of which will not be unlocked until late-game.

Related: Dead Island 2: Best Skills To Unlock First

10 Corpse Bomb

Corpse Bomb is a Skill Card in the Slayer category, which is one of the two that has the most available slots. This card applies specifically to Dead Island 2‘s Fury mode, where killing Zombies will cause them to erupt into a powerful explosion. This can be incredibly helpful at taking down nearby Zombies, especially since Fury mode is most often used when under attack by multiple enemies. There are many options for the Slayer section, but prioritizing higher amounts of damage in Fury mode should be a goal for most players, especially when other cards can complement this one and prolong Fury mode.

9 Corpse Blossom

This is one of the Numen Skill Cards, which has the least available slots of any section, with Dead Island 2 only allowing players two cards. Corpse Blossom is a card that states when Zombies are killed via Fire, Shock, or Caustic damage; they will cause a large explosion of the same damage type. This can be incredibly useful when facing large groups of Walkers since they are the only Dead Island 2 Zombies weak to all damage types and are everywhere throughout the game, but it can be helpful with other Zombie types specifically weak to these damage types as well.

8 Vivisuction

This is one of the most straightforward Skill Cards in the Skill Deck. Vivisuction simply allows the ability to regain health when using Dash Strike on zombies. Since Dash Strike is one of the other highly recommended Skill Cards, this one is pretty much a given as it pairs perfectly with it. Not to mention that players should take advantage of any helpful and simple way they can regain health so as not to waste time hunting down Energy Drinks and Protein Bars or, even more significantly, not waste Health Kits. Vivisuction’s main appeal is its simplicity to reap its very valuable reward.

7 Ravenous

Ravenous is a Survivor Skill Card, the other largest section in the Skill Deck alongside Slayer. Ravenous states that killing Zombies in Fury mode will replenish the Fury meter and help the Slayer stay enraged longer. This is pretty significant as one of the main appeals of the Autophage tier system is the ability to prolong Fury mode. However, most are unwilling to take the associated drawbacks of those tiers. Since this isn’t an Autophage Skill Card, this card allows a way to gain a portion of that benefit without the hit to other stats.

6 Safe Space

Safe Space is another Survivor card and appropriately categorized as it triggers an explosion that drains the stability of all nearby Zombies anytime a Med Kit is used. Since Med Kits are only going to be used, usually, in times of desperation when taking massive amounts of damage like a rush of Zombies or a Dead Island 2 boss fight, this is a no-brainer when it comes to building the Skill Deck. Not only is it creating a new way to affect Zombies in times of crisis, but it also gives players some breathing room before getting back into the fight, which makes it something everyone should take advantage of.

5 Lightning Strike

Another great Skill Card to be paired with Dash Strike is Lightning Strike. This card allows Dash Strike to electrify Zombies and cause Shock damage at the cost of a small drain in Health. If already utilizing Dash Strike, this is a great way to increase its power. Especially since this means players can Mod their weapons to do other types of damage but still have a way to deal Shock damage if needed. However, keep in mind that this is an Autophage card meaning it will bring up the tier level depending on how many other Autophage cards are already equipped.

4 Hack and Dash

Hack and Dash is a fairly simple Skill Card. It gives a small boost to attack speed every time a Zombie is maimed. Depending on the weapon being utilized, this can be a fairly easy task to accomplish without even trying meaning players reap the rewards without having to put in any real extra effort. Skill Cards like these are important to consider because equipping something with a complicated way to gain its effects could mean never actually getting any benefit from that card. While this card’s perks may not be as desirable as others, its ease of achieving means that it will never just be a wasted slot.

3 The Limb Reaper

As with the Vivisuction Skill Card, The Limb Reaper card creates the ability to regain Health, but this time in exchange for maiming a Zombie. As stated, any ability to regain Health should be a top consideration for players as it can be one of the most useful perks in the game. Not to mention, if this is used with Dead Island 2‘s Hack and Dash card, players get an attack speed boost, and every time a Zombie is maimed, they will regain Health. Maiming is something that players are likely doing regularly anyway, so why not tack on some additional benefits.

2 Dash Strike

Dash Strike is an Abilities card, which for the most part, are pretty basic with slight variations. Dash Strike is an attack that lets Slayers Dash forward and strike Zombies, leaving them weakened. While it may seem pretty standard or even a little boring, this attack becomes very useful, especially when the Dead Island 2 Apex Variant Screamer Zombies start popping up. While it’s a good attack to utilize against most Zombie types, Dash Strike can break a Screamer out of their sonic scream, which can make them easier to finish off rather quickly, especially with the weakened effect.

1 Surgical Focus

Surgical Focus is an Abilities card that is one of the most broken in the Skill Deck. It’s an Autophage card, however, so it will bring up the Autophage tier. Surgical Focus builds the Fury meter when maiming Zombies but drains the Fury meter if taking damage. This might not sound useful, but it works while actively in Fury mode, where maiming Zombies is a given, meaning that players can build their Fury very quickly and prolong it an insanely long time. If stacked with the Fury extending benefit of the third tier of Dead Islands 2‘s Autophage system and the other maiming Skill Cards, players could become an unstoppable machine.