Money is essential in Dead Island 2. You need it to buy weapons, weapon upgrades, ammunition, medkits – basically everything you need to survive the zombie apocalypse.
While zombies will occasionally drop small amounts of cash when you kill them, that is not nearly enough to get the high-level gear you need later in the game. You need to earn money faster through the methods below:
Loot and Sell Weapons
The #1 way to make money fast in Dead Island 2 is looting weapons from chests, police vans, and other containers, and selling them to traders.
- When looting an area, be sure to check every nook and cranny for lootable containers. Police vans, gun store shelves, chests in alleyways etc. often have weapons in them
- Weapons found as random loot drops from zombies can also be sold
- Before going on major looting runs, store any gear you want to keep in your locker so your inventory has space for more loot
- Sell weapons directly to the traders in safe zones. They will pay top dollar for knives, guns, blunt weapons etc. The better the stats on the weapon, the more money you will get
- As you level up, you will start finding rare ‘special‘ weapon variants that can sell for $1500+ each
I easily make $3000-$4000 from a good looting run this way, more at higher levels when special loot starts dropping. It adds up fast!
Complete Bounties
Bounties are timed challenges that award cash upon completion. They involve tasks like:
- Kill X number of zombies
- Kill X number of zombies with a specific weapon type
- Smash X number of zombie heads
- Get X number of rampage kills
Bounties award between $100 to $500 each. They are very easy to complete organically as you play through the game slaughtering zombies, so make sure to keep an eye on the bounty timer and try to cash them in.
Bet on Arena Matches
Once you have unlocked the Arena, you can bet on matches between AI combatants. The betting menu shows the odds for each fighter.
- Study the fighters’ stats and weapons and bet according to their chances of winning
- Start with small bets of $20-50 to get a feel for it
- As you get a better sense of the betting, increase to $100-500 bets on favorites
- Long shot underdogs with odds of 4:1 or higher can pay off big if they manage to win
It is quite easy to double or even triple your money through smart Arena bets. Just don’t get greedy and lose all your cash on one fight!
Craft and Sell Consumables
Craft valuable consumables like medkits using blueprints and cheap materials that you loot, and sell them to traders for 100% profit.
For example, a basic medkit requires:
- 1 Sterile Bandage ($5 value)
- 1 Disinfectant ($3 value)
So $8 worth of materials. But the medkit sells for $16!
Same goes for throwing weapons, grenades, mines etc. As long as you have the materials, you can easily double your money. Useful when cash is tight.
Just make sure to craft the items first before selling any excess materials, not the other way around. And don’t craft so much that consumables stop selling.
Replay Loot Runs
You may have noticed that when you revisit areas, all the containers have their loot respawned. You can exploit this by fast traveling between loot areas, collecting everything, stashing it all to sell, then manually saving + reloading the game. This tricks it into respawning all containers in the entire map!
It takes 10-15 minutes to fast travel around and loot the best areas like the Mall, Police Lockup etc. but nets you thousands worth of sellable weapons each time. It is an extremely effective method for stocking up money (and loot) fast.
Prioritize Valuable Loot
When you don’t have space to grab everything:
- Leave white/blue weapons – only worth $5-25 each on average
- Take purple/gold weapons – can sell for $100-500+ depending on type and stats
- Grab firearms first – all types of guns sell for a lot
- Don‘t loot junk items like alarm clocks, plates etc. that sell for literally pocket change
This ensures you get full value from every inventory slot and don’t have to throw away actually valuable guns and melee weapons because your bags were full of ashtrays and spoons!
Save Your Money
It’s easy to waste cash on impulse buys, especially weapons and upgrades. Avoid splurging and stay disciplined:
- Only buy essential weapons/upgrades you absolutely need
- Save up for the highly expensive late-game gear instead of frittering away money on small purchases
- Hang on to special rare/unique gear – they appreciate exponentially in value as the game progresses
- Repair weapons yourself using scrap rather than paying for fixes whenever possible
Follow this advice and your bank balance will steadily grow, granting access to the best goodies Dead Island 2 has to offer.
In Summary
Here are the most effective ways to earn money fast in Dead Island 2:
- Loot and sell weapons – Core method, nets thousands per run
- Complete bounties – Easy passive income from killing zombies
- Bet on Arena fights – Smart betting easily doubles your money
- Craft and sell consumables – 100% profit margins on medkits etc.
- Respawn loot via save/reload – Generates infinite quick cash
- Prioritize valuable items when looting – Maximize profits
- Save money instead of overspending – Essential for hitting cash goals
Got any other great tips? Share in the comments!
