Outrun the zombie apocalypse with these Dying Light 2 tips

Want to make a good start in Villedor? Then you'll be in need of some Dying Light 2 tips. Although the game has a pretty handy hints tab, it only scratches the surface of this enormous experience. To help you get a head start, I’ve put together this beginners guide.

Let’s increase your skills, get the best Dying Light 2 weapons, and help you survive the perilous nights of Villedor.

Dying Light 2 tips: How to survive the zombie-infested city of Villedor

Adjust the difficulty in-game

I’ll start with a simple, but important tip: you can change your difficulty level (easy, normal, or hard) after starting a game. So, if you don’t know what difficulty level is best for you, don’t fret. Just pick one and try it out. You can even change it during a difficult fight.

Use your binoculars to reveal map locations

Want to know where to find the windmills? Or perhaps you’re looking for a safe zone? If you stand on a high place and look around with your binoculars (press B), you can mark any special place in sight. If you see the white lines in the middle of your screen (forming a square) getting smaller, you know you’re close to discovering a new location. If you don’t see any lines at all, there’s nothing left to be found.

Adapt your adventures to the time of day

The basics are simple: don’t roam the streets at night, and don’t go inside buildings during the day. At night, the streets are not only full of common Infected, but also Howlers. If a Howler sees you, it'll alarm the other Infected and start to chase you. Then zombies will come running from all sides, so it’s pretty hard to survive. If you do have to go out at night, stick to the rooftops.

During the day you can easily take a stroll through the city streets. There are some Infected, but no Howlers. If you want to go inside a dark building though, wait until it’s night—at which point most of the Infected will have gone outside. The Infected who stay behind are mostly "sleepers", who won’t attack you unless disturbed. 

Watch your immunity level

Once you step out of the sunlight, your immunity starts to decline. This also happens inside dark buildings during the day, but you can imagine how problematic it gets at night. There’s no way you’re going to survive a night-time outing without precautions. 

The UV light in safe zones will always protect you from turning into an Infected. As you can’t take a UV light with you on your loot hunts and night quests (not in the beginning of the game, at least), the next best thing is using UV Shroomz and Immunity Boosters. The Shroomz are found in rooftop groves (the gardens in the safe zones) and the boosters can be crafted or looted. 

Always take more than one weapon with you

Even better: take four. As you will notice quickly, Dying Light 2 weapons don’t last very long. They all have a durability meter, and if it runs out, you can no longer it. Although you can get modifications to increase durability later on, you need to replace your weapons often in the early game. Don’t push your luck by carrying only one or two. 

Choose the best Dying Light 2 weapon for your playstyle

But be mindful of which weapons you keep. Hit damage is obviously important, but there are a few more things to consider:

• Weapons have different rarity levels. Naturally the rarest ones (blue, purple, and gold) are usually better than the most common ones (white and green). 
• If you like defensive combat and landing heavy blows, choose a two-handed weapon. If you’re fond of fast-paced combat and you’d rather dodge than block, use a one-handed one instead.
• You can modify your weapon, so keep the ones with the most modification slots. This will cost you some resources, but it makes looting a lot easier. You can buy modification blueprints from Craftmasters. Find them in safe zones.
• While you’re at it, buy some throwable blueprints from the Craftmasters as well. Throwing Knives and Molotov Cocktails are very handy when facing a large group of Infected. 
• Note: there are ranged weapons in Dying Light 2. Just not at the start of the game.

Grab extra skill points

Your combat and parkour levels increase as you use them. If the moves are quite complex, such as wall runs or vault kicks, you’ll be awarded more combat and parkour experience. However, since every combat and parkour action increases your skill levels at least a little bit, try to use even the simplest actions while on your way.

For example, instead of running to a location marker at the end of the street, jump over the cars. This won’t cost you extra time, but it will upgrade your parkour level. Combine this with active landings, wall runs, and occasionally kicking or dashing through some Infected, and you’re always upgrading your skills. 

Farm Infected trophies for blueprint upgrades

Blueprint upgrades cost trophies. The first trophies you’ll need are dropped by uncommon and rare Infected. Unfortunately, finding uncommon Infected takes a lot of time, especially during the day. Here’s how to get them fast (and stay alive): 

• Go out at night and find an easily accessible UV-lit area—the entrance to a metro station will do nicely. 
• Say hi to a nearby Howler. 
• Run back to the UV light as soon as the chase starts. The UV-light protects you, but the Viral Infected will chase you for a while. 
• Stay near the UV and keep killing zombies until the chase ends. The ground will be littered with uncommon and rare Infected trophies.