The Art of War is a Side Quest that doesn't become available to players until after they've finished Dead Island 2's Main 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.
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 of Dead Island 2's most difficult Side Quests.
Head Down Into The Metro & Check The DBD Crew's Laptop
Right after talking to Rosa, players are going to want to head out of the Serling Hotel and use the Map to Fast Travel to the Metro, 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 the Laptop or one of those airlock doors Emma, Sam B, and Patton go 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 the Laptop should be right there.
After interacting with the Laptop, players are meant to hang around until it finishes starting up (must be a pretty old computer). Dead Island 2 players don't need to defend the DBD Crew's Laptop, 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 some Crushers, a Butcher, and a whole lot of basic zombies, so get ready to rely on that Fury Mode. Anyway, after the Laptop finally finishes loading, players will be able to see a piece of Digital Artwork Graffiti the 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 the Laptop, and players will need to head through it into the tunnel full of Bursters to 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 a whole lot of Caustic-X blocking 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 of DBD Supplies in 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 a Mutator waiting at the end of the car.
Thankfully, players with some good aim or a Rifle (one of the best gun options in Dead Island 2) can actually fire at this Mutator from far back and have it trigger all the traps for them. Otherwise, just pull out a Pistol and use it to shoot all the wires from a safe distance to get through the train car safely. At the end of this one is a note titled More Than Gangbangers that will push the Quest forward and have players heading towards a nearby door leading to the DBD Crew Rebels.
As an added bonus, there's also a Putrid Commuter, who is even harder than Putrified Slobbers tend to be, will drop the Putrid Subway Car Keys when 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 the End of the Line Story 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 zombified Darkest Before Dawn Crew will start heading toward the player's way-past-overpowered Slayer. This crew includes:
- Javier: A Named Variant Burning Walker.
- Noel X: Another Named Variant Burning Walker.
- Oscar: A Named Variant Inferno Crusher.
- Little Ed: A 'not-so-little' Named Variant Firestorm Slobber.
It's a lot of Apex Zombies in a small space, never mind the fact that they're Named Variants, so it'll be a tough fight for players who never got used to Perfect Dodging/Blocking. After killing Little Ed, he'll drop the DBD Chest Key as well as the Javier is Disappointed note. Take this Key and use it to open the blue and black Military Stash in the small room to the right of where Little Ed was. 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, the Wildstyle Fire Axe is also considered as part of the 'Quest rewards' that players receive. On top of this, however, is the Glass Cannon Numen Skill Card, the Superior Ranged Cremator Mod, and a whopping 5,000 XP (instead of the usual 3,000 XP, in case the player isn't already at Max Level). To go over these rewards a bit more in-depth:
- Wildstyle Fire Axe: A Superior Rarity Axe (odd that it's not Legendary) that scales its level based on the player's level when the DBD Chest was opened. Also has the Tear N' Sear Perk locked to it by default.
- Glass Cannon Autophage Skill: One of the more noticeable Autophage Numen Cards, as it gives a moderate boost to Critical Damage overall, even more so when the player's at low health, but in exchange their Toughness is sizeably reduced while it's equipped. And, considering how squishy a player with 3+ Autophage Perks is, this can be pretty risky to use.
- Superior Ranged Cremator Mod: The strongest Fire Damage Mod for Ranged Weapons. Converts all Weapon Damage into Fire Damage while also giving the weapon a major Damage Boost. Like the other Cremator Mods, successive hits with the weapon will apply the Ignited effect. However, Superior Mods take fewer hits to apply Ignited than Rare does, and a lot less than Common Mods would.
Unlike many other Side Quests, players don't even have to report back to Rosa for 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 or Fast Travel point anywhere near the Military Stash Chest.
Dead Island 2 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X\S.