Dead Island 2: All Apex Zombie Variants & Combat Tips

All Apex Zombie Variants in Dead Island 2

There are 11 Apex zombie variants in total, and each one is nastier than the last. Hold on to your seats, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

• Crushers
• Inferno Crushers
• Bursters
• Slobbers
• Putrefied Slobbers
• Firestorm Slobbers
• Screamers
• Voltaic Screamers
• Butchers
• Vicious Butchers
• Mutators

Crushers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: Crushers are swollen with autophage-reinforced muscle fibers! Their OVERHEAD SMASH sends a seismic shockwave through the ground. JUMP over it to avoid getting knocked silly!
• Under the Skin: A Crusher resists EXPLOSIVE and is WEAK to BLEED damage. Its arms and head are most vulnerable, but its legs are very tough.
• Sliced to the Bone: MAIM a Crusher’s arm to prevent FLAIL and OVERHEAD SMASH attacks and harvest some fun zombie parts.
• Deep in the Guts: Crushers are EXPOSED after their OVERHEAD SMASH and KICK attacks. EXPOSED zombies take more STABILITY damage.

Potential Parts:

• Oversized arm bone
• Leaky implants
• Infected sinew
• Alloy Synthetic Fibers

Note: Crippling the arms of this apex zombie is the best way to guarantee an “Oversized arm bone”.

Inferno Crushers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: The Inferno Crusher can channel high-voltage plasma during combat, which causes FIRE damage. Repeated hits from this monster could IGNITE you!
• Under the Skin: You can extinguish an Inferno Crusher’s flames with WATER or CHEM BOMBS. But be warned — it’s only temporary…
• Sliced to the Bone: Inferno Crushers are IMMUNE to FIRE and RESIST EXPLOSIVE damage. They are WEAK to BLEED damage.
• Deep in the Guts: Inferno Crushers can become very AGGRESSIVE when they feel targeted. If you briefly back off it may calm down a little.

Potential Parts:

• Oversized arm bone
• Leaky implants
• Infected sinew
• Flammable fluid
• Alloy
• Synthetic fibers

Bursters

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: Bursters are bloated with volatile gas and infectious black ichor that spreads the zombie plague (good thing you’re immune!) — so expect a big explosion if they get close to you.
• Under the Sun: Bursters are WEAK so SHOCK & PROJECTILE damage. Drain their STABILITY to cause them to fall over and explode.
• Sliced to the Bone: Burster explosions will damage nearby zombies as well as humans, so use them to your advantage!
• Deep in the Guts: Be careful! A Burster’s explosion can be tainted by damage effects! Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you…

Potential Parts:

• Bloated Spleen
• Infected Flesh
• Blast Gland
• Alloy
• Synthetic Fibers

Note: You can use dropkick to launch Bursters into other enemies.

Slobbers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: Slobbers are disgustingly swollen with CAUSTIC bile that they puke all over their victims.
• Under the Skin: Slobbers resist BLUNT and PROJECTILE damage. They are IMMUNE to CAUSTIC damage, but WEAK to SHARP, SHOCK, and BLEED damage.
• Sliced to the Bone: Get close to a Slobber as fast as possible to stop it from puking CAUSTIC bile and force it into melee combat.
• Deep in the Guts: Slobbers are EXPOSED while vomiting. Hit them from behind to DRAIN STABILITY faster.

Potential Parts:

• Bloated Spleen
• Chrhotic Ichor
• Toxic Gallbladder
• Alloy
• Synthetic Fibers

Note: Backstab this apex zombie as often as possible. It takes effort on their part to turn around and face you.

Putrefied Slobbers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: A Putrefied Slobber vomits huge, sticky Bile Blobs. Bile Blobs attach to surfaces and explode when a victim is close.
• Under the Skin: Putrefied Slobbers are IMMUNE to BLEED damage. They are WEAK to SHARP and SHOCK damage.
• Sliced to the Bone: Hit Slobbers while they are EXPOSED from a missed grapple to DRAIN more STABILITY.

Potential Parts:

• Bloated Spleen
• Chthonic Ichor
• Toxic Gallbladder
• Insect Larvae
• Alloy
• Synthetic Fibers

Note: Be very careful when dealing with this apex zombie’s bile blobs. They don’t all blow up at once, nor can you chain bile explosions. It’s best to look for gaps between bile blobs.

Firestorm Slobbers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: The Firestorm Slobber has mutated to vomit a flaming torrent of organic napalm. The haze of naphtha and caramelized human flesh will sting your eyes!
• Under the Sun: Firestorm Slobbers resist BLUNT and PROJECTILE damage. They are IMMUNE to FIRE but WEAK to SHARP, SHOCK, and BLEED damage.
• Sliced to the Bone: Dodge or use cover to avoid damage from a Slobber’s vomit attack. Lure them out of their pool of vomit to hit them in (relative) safety.
• Deep in the Guts: Fully deplete a Slobber’s STABILITY and it will fall to its knees, helpless and VULNERABLE.

Potential Parts:

• Bloated Spleen
• Flammable Fluid
• Toxic Gallbladder
• Alloy
• Synthetic Fibers

Note: Firestorm Slobber’s flames are more potent than you think. Don’t overstay your welcome. For your own good.

Screamers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: A Screamer’s voltaic lungs produce a plasma-induced stream of sonic shockwaves. These sonic maelstroms are strong enough to force you backwards, and will annoy other zombies into a frenzy!
• Under the Skin: A scream attack can be interrupted by an impact from a thrown MELEE weapon, or any other PROJECTILE attack.
• Sliced to the Bone: The Screamer is brittle as a bird and WEAK to BLUNT damage. Use a BLOCK in its sonic maelstrom to feel a little less like you’re wading through molasses.
• Deep in the Guts: Screamers are EXPOSED while screaming. Your attacks will drain more STABILITY.

Potential Parts:

• Leaky implants
• Infected spine
• Screamer lungs
• Synthetic fibers
• Alloy

Note: Any attack can stop this apex zombie from screaming. Even bouncing a Curveball off it can cause it to stop. Other than that, you will want to farm Screamer lungs.

Voltaic Screamers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: The lungs of Voltaic Screamers have reached hyper-capacitance! Their sonic maelstrom delivers a helluva SHOCK!
• Under the Sun: Voltaic Screamers are IMMUNE to SHOCK damage. They are WEAK to BLUNT damage.
• Sliced to the Bone: A voltaic scream will arc between other zombies, making them temporarily able to SHOCK you.
• Deep in the Guts: Decapitate a Voltaic Screamer and you’re sure to get an Electrified Brain out of it! Worst. Pinata. Ever.

Potential Parts:

• Leaky implants
• Infected spine
• Screamer lungs
• Electrified brain
• Alloy
• Synthetic fibers

Note: Electrified brains are a rare resource that can be obtained from this apex zombie. The best way to get it is to aim for the Voltaic Screamer’s head.

Butchers

Unlockable Zombie Intel:

• First Blood: The Butcher feeds on corpses to regrow its own body. If you don’t finish it off quickly it will run away, find a corpse, and REGENERATE with frightening speed!
• Under the Skin: Butchers resist BLUNT, FIRE, and BLEED damage. And their blade arms are IMMUNE to ALL damage!
• Sliced to the Bone: Butchers can block Projectile attacks with their blade arms preventing loss of HEALTH or STABILITY.
• Deep in the Guts: Pull off a PERFECT DODGE or BLOCK on a Butcher’s MELEE attacks and it’ll briefly be EXPOSED, so that your follow-up attacks will DRAIN more STABILITY.

Potential Parts:

• Infected blood
• Blade arm
• Regenerating Tissue
• Alloy
• Synthetic fibers
• Blades

Note: Don’t lose sight of this Apex zombie. Hunt it down if even there is a horde separating you. A constantly healing Butcher is a never-ending headache.

Vicious Butchers

• First Blood: The Vicious Butcher is hyper-aggressive and can cause BLEED damage with the sharp debris embedded in its body.
• Under the Skin: The Vicious Butcher is resistant to BLUNT and FIRE damage and immune to BLEED damage. It can get AGGRESSIVE after suffering attacks.

Potential Parts:

• Infected blood
• Balde arm
• Regenerating Tissue
• Blades
• Alloy
• Synthetic fibers

Note: Vicious Butchers will eat their own flesh to restore Health. We don’t know how that works but we no choice but to roll with it.

Mutators

• First Blood: Mutators blend into the horde, looking like Walkers or Shamblers. Loud noises will trigger their transformation early.
• Under the Skin: The Mutator’s warped physiology is resistant to PROJECTILE and EXPLOSIVE damage.
• Sliced to the Bone: A Mutator can eject a salvo of barbed bone darts from its ruptured chest cavity. These PROJECTILES cause BLEED damage.

Potential Parts:

• Oversized arm bone
• Leaky implants
• Infected spine
• Blade arm
• Infected sinew
• Mutated heart

Note: Mutators are the Apex of Apex zombie Variants. They hide among lesser zombies. You can kill them in their weaker form if you backstab them fast enough. But if they start transforming, a tough fight is all but guaranteed.