While Dead Island 2 may mainly focus on melee weaponry and combat with a wide variety of bats, hammers, and knives to use against zombies, players still have the chance to experiment with guns that also come with their own assortment of modifications and perks to make them even stronger.
While the amount of artillery in the game is limited when compared to melee weapons, this doesn't stop them from being as lethal as their swinging counterparts. As players explore Hell-A in Dead Island 2, they are sure to find a gun that suits them, but these weapons are by far the best.
8 Sporting Rifle
As the first weapon players are likely to get their hands on, the Sporting Rifle is a lethal weapon that specializes in picking off zombies from a distance. This is first seen when it has its moment of fame as players are tasked with killing off zombies from the second story of a house.
While the Sporting Rifle may not be the best weapon in many situations, especially if a player likes to get their hands dirty, it's still a brilliant way to avoid large groups of danger as the player can easily cull the numbers from afar before running in.
7 Pistol
Another common gun that players are likely to find consistently throughout their exploration of Hell-A is the Pistol. The Pistol fires significantly faster than the Sporting Rifle and is more effective at close range, allowing players to put a couple of decent shots into a zombie before switching to their favorite melee weapon to finish the job.
A large issue with guns in Dead Island 2 is the price of ammunition, and therefore it isn't suitable to rely heavily on killing a zombie with a pistol but instead to hinder them with it. Eventually, a Slayer may have enough materials to make their own ammo, but until then, they should be careful.
6 Nail Gun
Not all guns shoot bullets, but that doesn't make them any less deadly. Besides the usual pistol or rifle, players are also able to find the infamous Nail Gun to shoot lethal shots straight into a zombie's head.
The nail gun is surprisingly rarer than any usual gun, but this may be due to how dangerous it actually is in combat. Players are able to attack zombies from a lot closer with this weapon, and hitting them directly to the head is sure to do some intense damage to an unsuspecting creature as it quickly drops them to the ground.
5 Machine Pistol
While bullets are valuable, a gun that will certainly throw away a player's ammunition is the Machine Pistol, which fires its bullets in quick succession. While this may sound like a waste of ammo near the beginning of the game, by the end, players are sure to have all the resources they need to fabricate their own rounds.
Eventually, players will also easily find more ammo around Hell-A that they can collect and use. The Machine Pistol is better suited for taking down groups of zombies as its spray has a better chance of hitting multiple at once, especially if a player struggles to aim.
4 Peggy
Given to the Slayer after completing the side quest called 'Creature Comforts' in Bel-Air, Peggy is an incredible hunting rifle that requires a sharpshooter to make the most of it. As a named weapon, it's essentially a Sporting Rifle with better style.
However, with it already having the perk High Caliber equipped, Peggy is suitable for knocking down its foes with lethal damage though this does make handling the weapon a lot harder. Naturally, a player will want to keep their distance while using Peggy, which may make the gun see fewer fights; when it is used, players are sure to remember it.
3 Shotgun
Ignoring weapons that work the best at a distance and instead taking a step forward for more offensive weaponry, the Shotgun is a lethal gun that players will constantly be fabricating ammo for. Both the shotgun and the Assault Shotgun are incredibly useful when dealing with runners as they throw themselves at the player or many of the Apex variants players are likely to face.
Besides this, shotguns also have a lot of force behind them, and therefore if a shot to the gut doesn't kill a zombie, it will certainly knock them down to leave them open to a stomp to the head.
2 Auto Carbine
For those looking for a gun that works better at mid to close range, then they need to look no further than the typical Auto Carbine. Like any assault rifle, the Auto Carbine is brilliant at eating through ammo, but aiming for the weakest parts of the undead means players a likely to use a lot less.
Similar to the Machine Pistol, the Auto Carbine is crucial for dealing with a group of zombies. The ranged weapon is sure to deal a fair amount of damage to the entire hoard, leaving them with either no health or so little health that a kick would end them.
1 Big Shot
Out of all the guns that are available in Dead Island 2, the greatest is the legendary heavy pistol known as Big Shot. Players will unlock this gun after completing the side quest 'It's Not Our Fault,' another quest players will find when exploring Bel-Air near the end of the game.
Unlike any other heavy pistol, Big Shot fires explosive rounds that blow up anything it hits. This perk, known as Boomstick, sets off an explosion as soon as the gun is fired, and these rounds have a chance to traumatize zombies, leaving them vulnerable to another shot or even a melee hit.
Dead Island 2 is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.