Character Attributes Explained in Dead Island 2

Master Dead Island 2's character attributes! Learn what Toughness, Stamina, Health Recovery, Critical Damage, Agility, Peak Health, and Resilience do for your zombie-slaying survival.

In Dead Island 2, each character possesses seven core attributes that influence their combat effectiveness and survivability. While some, like Peak Health, are self-explanatory, others, such as the distinction between Toughness and Resilience, can be less clear. This guide breaks down each attribute to help you understand their impact.

What Do the Character Attributes Do in Dead Island 2?

The seven attributes are Toughness, Stamina, Health Recovery, Critical Damage, Agility, Peak Health, and Resilience.

Toughness

What it does: Toughness determines the total physical damage you take from zombie attacks. A higher Toughness value means you'll sustain less physical damage.

In-game effect: Along with Peak Health and Resilience, Toughness contributes to a character's overall durability. Ryan has the highest Toughness, while Amy has the lowest.

Stamina

What it does: Stamina dictates how many heavy attacks and special combat moves you can perform consecutively before needing to recover.

In-game effect: Consuming Stamina is indicated by a white bar. Heavy attacks and special moves like Drop Kick and Ground Pound use Stamina, but dodging and sprinting do not. Characters with high Stamina, like Dani, have more combat flexibility. Stamina regenerates when not in use. While important for offensive actions, it's generally considered less critical than other attributes.

Health Recovery

What it does: Health Recovery governs the speed at which your health regenerates, both for general passive healing and when recovering from critical damage.

In-game effect: Health regenerates passively over time, even outside of safe zones. While this regeneration is minor, it offers opportunities to recover health if you have the patience. Bruno, Carla, Ryan, and Amy have decent Health Recovery, while Jacob and Dani have less. The differences are not drastic enough to make or break survival in critical moments.

Critical Damage

What it does: Critical Damage increases the amount of damage dealt by critical hits.

In-game effect: A higher Critical Damage stat means your critical hits will inflict more damage. Critical hits are relatively common, with headshots often resulting in critical damage in the early game. Bruno has the highest Critical Damage, while Carla has the lowest.

Agility

What it does: Agility determines your base movement speed.

In-game effect: A higher Agility stat allows you to run faster, which can be useful for evading zombies or quickly traversing the environment. Amy is the fastest character, while Dani is the slowest, though the differences are not extreme.

Peak Health

What it does: Peak Health determines your maximum health pool.

In-game effect: This is the most straightforward attribute, defining your total health. It also influences how much health you gain upon leveling up, meaning the health difference between characters can widen over time. Jacob has the highest Peak Health, while Bruno has the lowest.

Resilience

What it does: Resilience determines your protection against elemental damage (Fire, Shock, Caustic) and associated status effects (Ignited, Electrified, Melting).

In-game effect: A higher Resilience stat reduces the damage taken from elemental attacks and slows down the buildup of negative status effects. The source text cuts off before providing specific character Resilience values or further details.