The Art of Waris a Side Quest that doesn’t become available to players until after they’ve finishedDead Island 2’sMain Quest. And rightfully so, as this Side Quest has players going up against pretty much every Apex Zombie variant in the game, as well as a whole bunch of regular zombies.
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To grab it, players need to talk to Rosa in the Serling Hotel in Ocean Avenue, and she’ll send the Slayer down into the Metro to go up against a group called the Darkest Before Dawn Crew. This Side Quest involves point defense, exploration, dealing with traps, fighting multiple named zombies, and even making it through a hallway of Bursters. So, let’s go over exactly how players can easily get through one ofDead Island 2’smost difficult Side Quests.
Right after talking toRosa, players are going to want to head out of theSerling Hoteland use the Map toFast Travelto theMetro, since they would’ve already located this Fast Travel spot while finishing the Main Story Quest. The first thing the Quest wants players to do is ‘Check the gang’s hideout near some broken train cars for the military stash’. Note how it says ‘near’ not ‘inside’, so players don’t need to loot the nearby train cars to progress.
The train cars do have some good supplies in them and even some Superior weapons, but the traps and zombies can be really tedious to deal with, so it’s up to each individual player to judge if they’re worth looting or not. In any case, following the tunnel backward, players should either run into theLaptopor one of those airlock doorsEmma,Sam B, andPattongo through at the start of the 2 Main Story Quest. For those who run into the door first, just go to the right of the door and theLaptopshould be right there.
After interacting with theLaptop, players are meant to hang around until it finishes starting up (must be a pretty old computer).Dead Island 2players don’t need to defend the DBD Crew’sLaptop, however, they just need to clear out all the zombies that head their way until the Quest objective tells them to stop.
Among these waves of undead are someCrushers, aButcher, and a whole lot of basic zombies, soget ready to rely on thatFury Mode. Anyway, after theLaptopfinally finishes loading, players will be able to see a piece ofDigital Artwork Graffitithe DBD Crew was working on that mentions checking the train cars for their supplies.
Loot The DBD Supplies In The Broken Down Train Cars
The Quest marker will then point towards the airlock door to the left of theLaptop, and players will need to head through it into the tunnel full ofBurstersto progress. Get through this tunnel and out the other side and there’ll be more zombies waiting in front of the first broken-down train car (with awhole lot of Caustic-Xblocking its entrance). There aren’t any supplies or Quest objectives in this first car, it just serves as a tunnel to the next stretch of the Metro tunnel with more train cars.
Now, the Quest designers probably intended for players to search through the box ofDBD Suppliesin the right-most train car first, but that’s pointless as doing so doesn’t push the Quest forward. Instead, just head towards the train car straight ahead after walking through the initial car those zombies in acid were in front of. Like the other two train cars, which players can choose to loot or avoid,this is full of tripwires set up to Combat Shotguns. There’s even aMutatorwaiting at the end of the car.
Thankfully, players with some good aim or aRifle(one of thebest gun options inDead Island 2) can actually fire at thisMutatorfrom far back and have it trigger all the traps for them. Otherwise, just pull out aPistoland use it toshoot all the wires from a safe distanceto get through the train car safely. At the end of this one is a note titledMore Than Gangbangersthat will push the Quest forward and have players heading towards a nearby door leading to theDBD Crew Rebels.
As an added bonus, there’s also aPutrid Commuter, who is even harderthanPutrified Slobberstend to be, will drop thePutrid Subway Car Keyswhen killed that opens a nearby lockbox (unconnected to this Side Quest).
Fight The DBD Crew & Open The Stash
Again, players will recognize this area from theEnd of the LineStory Quest, as they had to balance the pipe pressure three different times to get through this room initially. Head through this room into the tunnel ahead, and the zombifiedDarkest Before Dawn Crewwill start heading toward theplayer’s way-past-overpowered Slayer. This crew includes:
It’s a lot ofApex Zombiesin a small space, never mind the fact that they’reNamed Variants, so it’ll be a tough fight for players who nevergot used to Perfect Dodging/Blocking. After killingLittle Ed, he’ll drop theDBD Chest Keyas well as the Javier is Disappointednote. Take this Key and use it to open the blue and blackMilitary Stashin the small room to the right of whereLittle Edwas. As soon as the chest opens, the Quest auto-completes itself.
The Art Of War Quest Rewards
Technically since the Quest completes before the box fully opens, theWildstyle Fire Axeis also considered as part of the ‘Quest rewards’ that players receive. On top of this, however, is theGlass Cannon Numen Skill Card, theSuperior Ranged Cremator Mod, and a whopping5,000 XP(instead of the usual3,000 XP,in casethe player isn’t already at Max Level). To go over these rewards a bit more in-depth:
Unlikemany other Side Quests, players don’t even have to report back toRosafor the reward, which is nice. The only downside, however, is that they’ve got to run back through the Metro to get out, as there isn’t an exit orFast Travelpoint anywhere near theMilitary Stash Chest.
Dead Island 2is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X\S.
