Dead Island 2 Characters & Stats Ranked: Who To Pick

We explain the stats of all the Dead Island 2 characters and let you decide who's more suited to you.

First Published April 21, 2023, 06:13

Dead Island 2 is a sandbox-style first-person zombie slaying game. You can select between six playable characters at the beginning, each with unique attributes and skills. 

Every character favors a different playstyle and offers plenty of potential for build crafting. Selecting the appropriate character, weapons, and skills cards are essential to building the most powerful zombie slayer. 

All of it begins with your character, and to help you out, we have curated a Dead Island 2 character list that pinpoints each character's strengths and weaknesses. 

All Dead Island 2 characters' stats explained

Dani 

The sharp-tongued Irish lass boasts the highest stamina among all characters. Her Innate Skills Thunderstruck allows her to trigger a forceful explosion from her heavy attack, whereas Bloodlust lets her regain health from slaying multiple enemies in quick succession. 

Dani is a great choice if you prefer to deal heavy attacks from hard-hitting weapons like Hammers and Claymore. Having Dani will also allow you to execute ability maneuvers more often than not.

Ryan 

The chiseled exotic dancer is the tank character of Dead Island 2. Ryan has the highest Toughness of all characters, which lets him soak up plenty of damage in the field. His Innate Skills Retaliation gets him a moderate force boost when blocking or dodging, whereas Seesaw allows him to regain health every time he knocks an enemy. 

Ryan is a great choice if you prefer being in the enemy's face. Two-handed weapons like Hammers and Pickaxe will let you deal the most damage and knock down zombies, thus giving you an additional boost. 

Carla

The fearless mechanic is also a tank character, but unlike Ryan, she has high Resilience. She can withstand the most elemental damage. Her Innate Skills Mosh Pit gives her a minor damage boost when near multiple zombies, whereas Dig Deep gets her a moderate toughness boost when her health is critical. 

Carla can also soak up a ton of damage, so if you like to kill zombies while being stationary, she's the one for you. However, she does the least critical damage, so you're better off using high DPS weapons like Swords and Katans instead of dealing heavy attacks from Hammers and Claymore. 

Amy 

The quick-witted athlete has the highest Agility of all characters. Naturally, she's incredibly mobile, so if you prefer moving around and dealing damage from a distance, she's a great choice. Her Innate Skills Relief Pitcher allows her to regain stamina by throwing weapons at zombies, whereas Divide and Conquer give her a minor damage boost she attacks a lone zombie. 

Amy also has high critical damage, so aside from throwing weapons, it's also best to use long-ranged rifles or Katans to deal successive attacks and make a quick getaway.

Bruno

The LA-born hustler deals the highest critical damage among all six characters. His Innate Skills Backstab gives him a moderate damage boost when attacking zombies from behind, whereas Rapid Reprisal boosts his agility and heavy attack charges when he block or dodge attacks. 

However, Bruno has the least health of them all, so we won't recommend playing as him if you're new to the Dead Island franchise. 

Jacob

The gritty stuntman has the highest health among all the characters. His Innate Skills Feral gets him a minor damage boost when attacking in quick succession, whereas Critical Gains gives him a moderate critical damage boost and also regains stamina from critical attacks when his stamina is low.

Jacob is the most standard playable character in Dead Island 2, with pretty much average stats aside from health. As such, he's a great choice for any build you want to pursue. 

Written by Shreyansh Katsura

Shrey's obsession with analyzing, introspecting, and discussing every minute detail of video games brought him to game journalism. He's currently a staff writer at GINX Esports TV, where he covers Destiny 2 and Fortnite on a regular basis. When he's not playing the games he's writing about, he's agonizing over his painstakingly long list of JRPGs he can't find time to finish. You can catch him on Twitter @Shrey2828, flexing his Fortnite's Victory Royales or talking about this group of phantom thieves he calls his best friends.

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