Dead Island 2 has introduced a skill card-based level up system for special attacks or passive abilities. These can be switched around at any time in the game.

There are also “Autophage” cards, depending on how many you have on and let your character slip into the virus you get certain huge bonuses with a few setbacks. There are also innate skills which are specific skills that each character has to start out the game, information on those can be found here-(https://www.gamersdecide.com/articles/dead-island-2-best-characters-who-choose). 

Below are the 15 best skill cards to utilise throughout the game, that any of the characters can use. Enjoy. 

15.Heavy Hitter (Autophage)

What Heavy Hitter Excels in

• Causes high damage
• Simple to use
• Counts as one step on the autophage scale

Heavy Hitter adds a large damage bonus when the player utilises a heavy attack. However as this is an autophage skill there is a downside, that downside is that it does slightly drain your health when you use it. 

This Slayer skill card can be found inside a disaster relief crate in the photo booth on The Pier. 

14.Pain Magazine 

What Pain Magazine Excels in

• Isn’t autophage so has no penalties
• Easy to use

This card adds a recharge boost to your active curveball items whenever you hit a well-timed block or dodge. 

This means that things like the meat bait or Molotovs can be that much more helpful in an extended fight, and makes completing the in game challenges relating to curveballs way easier. 

This skill card will be unlocked upon reaching level 28. 

13.War Cry 

What War Cry Excels in

• A nice little two-for-one deal on your stats
• Unlocked early on into the game
• Also effects your friends in your game
• Can give you a lot of breathing room in a fight

War Cry gives you the ability to let out a huge scream/shout which will boost the toughness level for you and any friends you are playing with as well as weakening any nearby zombies and briefly stunning them. 

This skill card is found during your search for Major Booker in the Halperin Hotel.  

12.Volatile (Autophage)

What Volatile Excels in

• A lot of fun
• Gives you more opportunities to witness the new F.L.E.S.H programming
• Increases your damage in fury mode

So for those not at that point of the game yet, you eventually unlock fury mode, where you tap into the power of the virus and can rip enemies apart with your bare hands. This skill card creates damaging explosives from melee attacks while in fury, this can also damage nearby undead. However due to it being an autophage skill, each attack will drain your fury metre reducing the time you stay in that zone. 

You can obtain this skill card as a random drop after defeating a burster. 

11.Anger Management (Autophage)

What Anger Management Excels in

• Allows you to stay in Fury mode indefinitely…for a price
• Can make slaughtering a horde like a walk in the park
• Perfect for taking out the evolved apex zombies especially the butchers 
• Can be obtained quite early 

This skill allows you to stay in fury mode for a little while longer with the downside that it will drain your health to do so. There is a similar skill to this later in the list but this one is still worth mentioning. 

This skill is obtained during The Art of War quest. 

10.No Mercy

What No Mercy Excels in

• Has no downsides like autophage cards
• Can be utilised in huge groups
• Requires no actual skill or change in gameplay

No Mercy increases your attack damage to the undead of Hell-A when they are dealing with a status effect like burning or bleeding. So if you use a flaming bat, you will essentially be able keep increasing your damage each swing. 

This skill unlocks when you reach level 25. 

9.Ground Pound

What Ground Pound Excels in

• Can be used on a large amount of undead
• Unlocks very early into the game
• Stuns, knocks over AND drains the stability of enemies

Unlocked at level 13 for your special attack skill slot, ground pound lets your character thrust both fists into the ground and let out a shockwave to nearby enemies. As mentioned above this shockwave; stuns, knocks over and drains the stability of the undead in a close radius. When being swarmed this is the skill you want. 

8.Hot Footed (Autophage)

What Hot Footed Excels in

• So much fun
• Applies a status effect to enemies

This skill is fantastic fun, allowing you to set the undead on fire with the simple and beautiful dropkick (mentioned later in this list). However as an autophage skill it does drain your health to do so…but it is worth it. 

This skill can be obtained by completing the Plumbing the Depths quest in Ocean Avenue. 

7.Corpse Blossom (Autophage)

What Corpse Blossom Excels in

• Easy to use
• An autophage skill with no downside 

This skill will mean if you have set 6 zombies on fire, then you kill 1 the remaining 5 will then explode in a fiery explosion. This works for all the other status effects in its own way. A lot of fun and can clear a crowd. 

This skill is obtained by completing the mission The End of the Line. 

6.Flying Kick 

What Flying Kick Excels in

• High damage
• Stuns enemies
• Unlocked very early

Now anyone who has played any Dead Island will tell you that this flying kick is not as good as the dropkick. They are completely right it isn’t, however if you want to change up your play-style then this alternate option is great high damage at the cost of some stamina, but will take out most standard zombies in one kick. 

This skill is unlocked at level 7. 

5.Spitting Cobra 

What Spitting Cobra Excels in

• High damage
• Creates caustic damage to multiple enemies

A special attack skill for use during fury mode. You gain the power of the slobber zombies and can spit caustic acid. Although useless agains slobbers, firefighter, hazmat/caustic and riot gear zombies. These are not the trickiest enemies in the game, caustic damage is one of the few things that a butcher can’t block. 

You gain this skill from the quest Boardwalking Dead. 

4.Dodge

What Dodge Excels in

• Preventing you from taking damage
• Helpful way to get around 

Dodge does what it says on the tin…you can dodge attacks. A well timed dodge will regain some of your stamina and stun zombies leaving them open to a devastating counter attack. The other skill like this is block, but after playing a while with each one the dodge skill is so much better, and can help you close the distance and get behind some apex undead. 

This skill is unlocked at level 9. 

3.Ravenous

What Ravenous Excels in

• Increases your fury mode times
• Can take down every zombie in a whole area if you’re lucky

Very similar to the Anger Management skill, Ravenous lets you stay in Fury mode for longer, but this time not at a detriment to your health bar, but for each zombie you kill while enraged you get time added to the clock. 

If times right this could allow you to wipe out whole areas of the map. 

This card is a random drop from the hardest apex zombies in the game, the butchers. High risk, high reward. 

2.Safe Space

What Safe Space Excels in

• A perfect ‘save me’ skill
• Doesn’t use any stamina 
• Unlocked very early into the game 

Every gamer has been in those clutch situations, where you have no where to go, your health is low and you’re surrounded, well the good folks over at Dambuster Studios have you covered with this skill card. Safe Space emits a forceful explosion that pushes zombies in the area away, stuns and drains their stability metre whenever you use a Medkit. 

This skill card is unlocked at level 4. 

1.Dropkick

What Dropkick Excels in

• Clearing your path
• Knocking the undead into traps
• An icon of the series

Dead Island, Dead Rising and Dying Light will seemingly have us believe the best way to survive the zombie apocalypse is to unleash our inner luchadores and start hitting dropkicks left and right. Although the flying kick does great damage, this is what you will pick for that skill slot. The ability to send 3,4,5 zombies flying is just too good to pass up. There is a couple second period where you are on the floor open to attack, but that time period is not an issue at al;. 

This is unlocked right at the start of the game, and is by far the best and most useful skill going.  

Please comment below on which skill cards you have been using in Hell-A and if there are any I missed that should of made this list. 

You may also be interested in:

• Dead Island 2 Best Characters - Who To Choose?

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• Dead Island 2 Review - Is It Worth Playing In 2023?

Cheers.