After some delays, the hotly anticipated open-world survival horror Dying Light 2 Stay Human is finally released. More than just a survival horror, the game implements several RPG mechanics, making it far more challenging to survive in its open city than it first appears. There are all kinds of undead monsters to avoid, and even the lowest level zombie can cause problems for its protagonist Aiden.
Dying Light 2 isn't just a zombie game where shooting or fighting oneself out of a sticky situation will suffice. Players need to know how to take advantage of the environment, how to use parkour, and when to keep their heads down if they want to survive the day and night cycles of Villedor. Keeping a few beginner's tips in mind will help Aiden conquer the apocalyptic landscape.
Updated September 1, 2022 by Michael Llewellyn: Dying Light 2 is getting a gladiatorial-style expansion in October. This piece of DLC is called Dying Light 2: Bloody Ties and appears to have a more pulp-like approach to storytelling and violence. The Dying Light 2: Bloody Ties trailer gives the DLC a Running Man and Smash TV vibe.
Throw in a bit of Gladiator and a zombie horde, and fans will have slaying zombies for fun with this expansion over the Halloween season. It looks set to appeal to new players, but playing the campaign with the side content first is a must. This beginner's guide has been updated with more tips to make Aiden a better fighter in preparation for the gladiatorial DLC.
12 Clothing And Gear Explained
As stated above, Dying Light 2 is an RPG at heart. The game implements classes that players can utilize to suit their playstyle. However, the clothes make up the classes, so having a matching set will adjust Aiden's abilities.
Each piece of clothing will have stats associated with its class. The classes are Brawler, Tank, Medic, and Ranger. The Brawler uses one-handed weapons and reduces stamina cost melee. The Tank class is the powerhouse that uses two-handed weapons, has better defense, and hits harder. The Medic class improves fall damage and boosts Aiden's healing abilities.
11 Picking The Right Weapon
Aiden has a vast choice of weapons scattered around the environment for him to use in battle. The weapons are upgradable, but their use is limited to their durability stats. In the early stages of Dying Light 2, it's a waste of valuable resources to repair and upgrade weapons. Upgrading and repairing are only worthwhile when the weapons become more advanced.
There are always items scattered around the city to use with better stats, so it's better not to get too bogged down with worrying about a reinforced pipe's durability. The weapons will be more effective if matched up with the correct clothing. For example, if Aiden is wearing clothes in the Tank class, he should use a two-handed weapon and vice versa.
10 Unlock Metros For Fast Travel
Dying Light 2's Villador City is vast, expansive, and fun to explore, thanks to Aiden's parkour skills. However, the campaign and side quests require a lot of ground to be covered, which can take a lot of time.
Thankfully, the fast-travel mechanic in Dying Light 2 will be available by finding the Metro Stations. To unlock them, Aiden must destroy all the undead lurking in the stations and switch the power back on via the generators. With the power generator back on, the Metro Station becomes a fast travel point on the map.
9 Practice Parkour First
Dying Light 2 has some of the best parkour mechanics since Mirror's Edge. The game's open-world city is an athletic playground for the protagonist Aiden to run, climb and explore.
Aiden can leap rooftops, grab ledges, scale walls, and swing from ropes to traverse its vast and dangerous city. As a result, practicing parkour mechanics as much as possible is vital. Furthermore, beginners should avoid tackling the undead unless necessary, and there's no better way to escape a horde than to use parkour. As Dying Light 2 is an RPG, so the more the player uses their abilities, the more skills they can unlock.
8 Learn How To Parry And Dodge
Even though there's a focus on parkour and escaping the many dangers lurking on the city streets in Dying Light 2, some fights are unavoidable. A quick tutorial will force Aiden into using combat and learning how to parry and counter enemy attacks.
This is important to keep in mind for several encounters as the game progresses. Furthermore, when interacting with The Peacemakers faction, they will get more combat-heavy upgrades to implement. Using the dodge mechanic to create openings instead of parrying, as enemies will continue to take big swings at Aiden. Execute a dodge and take advantage of an exposed enemy.
7 Avoid The Night
Before Aiden has access to the game's Nightrunner tools, it is better to avoid traversing the city at night. Items like the UV Flashlight are a great way to deal with the undead but aren't available until much later in the game. The nighttime also brings out the deadliest and most dangerous infected in the game - like the Volatile.
Consequently, in the earlier stages of Dying Light 2, beginners should focus on sleeping through the night and exploring by day. There will be occasions when one has to venture out at night, so being as fast and efficient as possible by implementing parkour and stealth is vital to survival.
6 Avoid Going Inside Buildings
There are lots of buildings to traverse in Dying Light 2, and even during the opening few hours of the game, it can be very tempting to go inside and explore. However, this should be avoided, as some buildings are infested with sleeping zombies and other powerful enemies.
Even though one can use stealth to avoid rousing them, it only takes one wrong move to wake a sleeper. It only takes one to awaken an entire building full of sleepers will be on Aiden's case.
5 Use The Mission Level Recommendations
Dying Light 2 uses an RPG-like leveling system that increases as Aiden earns experience points for exploring, fighting, parkour, and completing quests. However, the leveling process can be slow, and it can be tempting to try and tackle a mission or an enemy above Aiden's level.
Unfortunately, tackling a mission or enemy just one level above Aiden's can be too much. Just focus on missions that have the same level as Aiden as they are challenging in their own right.
4 Prioritize Main Missions
The best way to level up and obtain the best equipment in Dying Light 2 is by tackling the main story quests as much as possible. The game doesn't open up properly until much later, so prioritizing the main missions will unlock some of the best equipment in Dying Light 2.
The Nightrunner tools like the Paraglider will take several hours to unlock, but they'll only become available by moving forward with the game's main story missions.
3 Tackle Side Quests
It's not recommended for Aiden to wander too far off the beaten path in the early stages of the story, especially if he is under-leveled and under-skilled. However, taking on side missions appropriate to Aiden's level is an excellent way to gain experience and unlock skills.
The side quests also reward Aiden with weapons, currency, and blueprints to use and upgrade Aiden's weapons. As with the main missions, this is the best way to get Aiden strong enough to deal with the undead and other enemies in Dying Light 2.
2 Use Stealth Takedowns
In addition to combat and parkour, Dying Light 2 implements a simple but effective stealth mechanic that can make life easier by killing zombies instead of running straight into a fight. The takedown mechanic will kill a zombie in one move by holding the B button on Xbox or Circle button on PlayStation.
Using the stealth mechanic will also make it easier to get past hordes of zombies without alerting large groups. It's also a quick way to gain experience points in melee without getting into prolonged fights.
1 Level Up Aiden's Stamina
Perhaps one of the more frustrating aspects of Dying Light 2 is the stamina gauge, or rather the lack of one in the early parts of the campaign. When using inhibitors, Aiden will get a chance to upgrade his stamina. Leveling up his stamina bar is more useful in the early stages thanks to its improvements in climbing, escaping, and activating windmills.
It isn't just climbing where having better stamina makes Aiden's life a lot easier, as it also impacts combat. Running out of stamina and being unable to defend oneself will likely lead to death. Therefore, focusing on stamina first will go a long way to improving Aiden's quality of life in the city.
Dying Light 2 Stay Human is available now for the PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.