Game News

Dead Island 2: All Zombie Types and Their Abilities

HomeGame NewsDead Island 2: All Zombie Types and Their Abilities
Updated Read Time 4 min

Knowing the enemy is key to battle, or so they say!

Game Hub

Dead Island 2 Guide Hub

More guides, locations, fixes, reviews, and updates for Dead Island 2.

Open Dead Island 2 Hub
Dead Island 217 articles

Dead Island 2 features a large cast of zombies that range from the basic slow-moving types to some truly terrifying mutations.

Knowing each type of zombie and what they can do will be vital to surviving encounters with them.

In this guide, we’re going to cover all of the zombie types in the game. Don’t let them catch you off guard!

Shamblers

Source: ColossalKiwi

These poor suckers have been infected for a long while, so their body has mostly rotted off.

More From This Game

Keep exploring Dead Island 2

Open game hub

They walk slowly and can’t deal much damage, so they barely pose much of a threat. Don’t underestimate them in large numbers, but they shouldn’t give you much trouble overall.

Walkers

Source: ColossalKiwi

A step up from the shamblers, they haven’t been dead for too long. As such, they retain the ability to walk at a decent pace and hit harder.

They also come in a large number of varieties, such as firefighters and riot gear walkers. For example, some of them will be more resilient while others will have oxygen tanks on their backs.

Some of them have become crawlers due to their legs being damaged. Luckily, you can easily dispatch them as they can only slowly crawl on the ground.

Runners

Source: ColossalKiwi

These recently infected zombies retain their athletic abilities, and they will use that to sprint toward you at full speed!

They’re fast and deadly, so you should make sure to be careful when fighting them. They like to pounce when they get close, which can be taken advantage of with a timely dodge.

Crusher

The first of the special infected, also known as Apex Infected, is the crusher.

These bulky zombies are big and strong but also very slow. However, they can damage a wide area with their powerful ground pound ability.

Your best bet when facing one is to focus on attacking their arms. They’re its main weapon, and you definitely don’t want to get punched by these massive hands!

Slobber

A fat Apex Infected that primarily attacks you from a distance.

Slobbers have the special ability to spit poison at you, so you should keep an eye out for them. Fighting back using guns is a good idea.

They can also leave pools of poisonous puke on the floor which you should make sure to avoid. Thankfully, these pools are easily spotted due to their bright green color.

Screamer

The Screamer is a small and frail special infected, but one that you should not take lightly. It will let out a powerful scream once it spots you, as you might expect from its name.

However, this scream won’t just damage you and stun you! It will also alert every other zombie in the vicinity which will bring them all down upon you.

We highly recommend taking caution if you spot one of these out in the open. Ideally, try killing them from a distance before they spot you.

Burster

Bloated infected that explode when they take damage or get close to you.

You absolutely want to keep your distance from these ones, as the damage dealt by their explosion is absolutely absurd. They might even kill you in one hit if you’re not careful!

Thankfully, their explosion also damages other nearby zombies.

Try shooting them when they’re close to large groups of zombies! The explosion will kill all of them, making things way easier for you.

Butcher

The most dangerous and annoying of all the Apex Infected, these zombies will require your full attention to fight.

They’re as fast as runners and can deal as much damage as crushers with their sharp arms. These make them the most threatening of all zombies in the entire game.

Not just that, but they can pounce on you extremely quickly. If they pin you down, they will take the opportunity to tear you to pieces with their arms.

To make things even worse, they can heal by consuming corpses! Deal enough damage and they will use their speed to flee and heal themselves.

Of course, you can use that to your advantage. Chase them and follow them to their feasting ground and you will get a chance to deal damage while they attempt to recover.

ALSO READ: Wartales: How to Find and Destroy Bandits’ Lair

Reader feedback

Did this guide help?

Choose one option. You can change your vote later, but only one vote counts for this article.

Andrés
Written by

Andrés

Senior Game Guide Writer

Andrés is a veteran gaming writer with over twenty years of hands-on experience across a wide range of genres, including Action-RPGs, high-difficulty games, and narrative-driven titles. His work is based on direct gameplay, testing mechanics, progression systems, and strategies firsthand rather than relying on secondary sources. At GamesFuze, Andrés focuses on producing accurate, practical guides and walkthroughs that help players understand complex systems, avoid common mistakes, and make informed decisions throughout their playthroughs.

More articles by Andrés
Next guide to read

Dead Island 2: All Legendary Weapons Locations

Obtain these powerful weapons meant for taking down zombie hordes.

Read next
Locations