The world of Dead Island 2 is full of secrets waiting to be uncovered. As a passionate Dead Island gamer myself, I‘m always seeking out hidden lore and powerful gear scattered across the world. One such mystery that caught my attention early on was a suspicious locked black van parked innocuously outside a villa.
This van radiated a sense of intrigue – what could be hidden behind those locked metal doors? The uniqueness of this vehicle compared to the other wrecks strewn about told me whatever was sealed within must be special. I just had to crack it open!
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through the secrets behind tracking down the elusive Cable Guy van key in Dead Island 2, including tips from my personal experience. With this key finally obtained, you‘ll be able to claim the rare weapon stored inside for yourself.
The Legend of the Cable Guy
Before the zombie outbreak, a local cable TV installer known only as the "Cable Guy" wandered the neighborhoods of Los Perdidos. Dark rumors surrounded this eccentric worker who became obsessed with illegally modifying his company van to horde electrical equipment.
Witnesses described him as a doomsday "prepper" type who was convinced a great calamity was imminent. When the zombie infection erupted, Cable Guy went even further off the deep end – now believing an "electromagnetic apocalypse" was upon the world.
He turned his black cable van into a makeshift Faraday cage to block this fictional threat. Lining its interior with complex electrical systems, Tesla coils, and homemade ghost traps formed from miles of cabling and gear pulled from telephone poles.
The Cable Guy himself also became more machine than man – grafting cables, fuses, and batteries to every inch of his body – calling them "protective wards." He was never seen without blue arcs of electricity randomly discharging from his person.
No one knows Cable Guy‘s ultimate fate after the outbreak. Though urban legends speak of sightings of his black van haunting Los Perdidos streets as he constantly "improves" his mobile fortress. They say if you listen closely, you can hear the electric hum of its electromagnetic shielding…
I knew I had to find if these stories were true! And the locked van outside the villa seemed like the perfect place to start…
What‘s Inside the Black Van?
Before we dive deeper into the key hunt, let‘s discuss exactly why you‘d want to go through the trouble of tracking down this mysterious van key yourself.
Inside the locked trunk of Cable Guy‘s black cable van is a unique melee weapon called the Electrocutor Tire Iron. This innocuous looking tire iron hides a secret – it‘s wired to unleash dangerous high voltage shocks!
Finding blueprints and work journals in Cable Guy‘s hideouts scattered throughout Los Perdidos shed more light on Electrocutor‘s origins. The mad scientist Cable Guy crafted it as the ultimate melee instrument for "banishing the electromagnetic horde" – assuming you could survive wielding its deadly power.
I had to see this terrifying weapon for myself! The Electrocutor packed nearly double the base damage of standard weapons thanks to makeshift volt capacitors grafted onto its sides, transforming each swing into a conductor for massive shock bursts. It was a bloodthirsty tire iron on steroids!
Between the tire iron‘s already high impact force combined with the searing electrical blasts, the Electrocutor Tire Iron promised to absolutely demolish zombie skulls with ease. This was a weapon perfect for my aggressive close-quarters playstyle.
There was no doubt in my mind – I had to possess this viciousDeath Island 2 melee augment. But first I‘d need to get pass the van‘s locks via that mysterious key. The secrets of Cable Guy and his vessel were so close!
Meet the Zombie With the Keys
To get your hands on the keys to Cable Guy‘s black van, you first need to track down and eliminate the mad scientist Turned himself – now simply known as The Cable Guy zombie.
As a sentient Infected, Cable Guy retains abilities tying back to his obsession with "upgrading" his body and van during his human days.
- Still draped in Tesla-like coils, hotwired capacitor batteries, and nests of tangled cabling
- Constantly channels deadly high voltage shocks through the wired clutter adorning his body
- Will violently attack anyone seeking his precious van and gear
That keyring holding the van keys can still be seen dangling from his makeshift harness of electrical equipment. But the undead Cable Guy has no intention of handing them over willingly. You‘ll need to track him down and destroy him to loot that keyring!
I crackled my spiked bat in anticipation and got to hunting…
Locating The High Voltage Zombie
Through my investigations into Cable Guy and his work, I discovered hints pointing to a certain area he was known to frequent in his human days – an alleyway not far from his old workplace Western Cable Offices.
It took time, but that hard searching paid off when I finally spotted him – a roaming High Voltage Walker Infected surrounded by dancing arcs of blue electricity from his gear. Without a doubt, this supercharged zombie shuffling down Westridge streets was my target – The Cable Guy.
After chasing down many dead ends, here is the exact location I can confirm where The Cable Guy spawns reliably:
- Spawn Point: Along Alpine Drive Road in Westridge
- Exact Location: Near the large drainage pipe opening south of Halperin Hotel Parking
- Conditions: Reach Halperin Hotel in story & return to area at night
However, be aware The Cable Guy‘s unique abilities make him a challenging fight compared to common infected…
Beating The High Voltage Menace
Now came the true test – taking down The Cable Guy himself! As a seasoned zombie slayer I‘ve handled some tough freaks, but this electrified corpse presented a new level of danger.
The Cable Guy zombie utilizes the entire lattice of wired gear enshrouding his body as a deadly weapon. Here are some key battle tactics I learned fighting him:
- Shock Blasts – He unleashes powerful directional shock bursts from coils and tesla rods. Dodge frequently!
- AoE Discharge – At low health he may trigger an area-of-effect shock explosion around himself – keep your distance!
- Immune to Electricity – His gear makes him nearly impervious to electric damage – use water, fire, gas, or melee attacks instead.
- Recharge Conduits – He can drain nearby electrical sources to rejuice himself – lure him away from power lines, substations, etc before engaging.
I narrowly won my first clash against Cable Guy. Without warning, he suddenly erupted with a room-wide blast of lightning bolts from an AoE discharge! Thankfully I learned my lesson…
Now when I fight him I carefully keep my distance – baiting out those dangerous directional blasts while strafing around cover. Once his capacitors deplete their payload, that‘s when you rush in!
Stay on the offensive then with vicious melee combos before he can re-absorb environmental energy. A few clean hits from my electrified claws finally put him out of commission for good!
As his corpse collapsed, smoking and sparks sputtering, I could finally retrieve my hard-earned prize…
Finding the Locked Black Van
With Cable Guy‘s keyring looted, the next step was locating his rumored black van itself to unlock. Through studying his notes, I discovered he often parked his mobile lab/armory near Goat Pen Villa in Bel-Air to scavenge rare components from abandoned movie star mansions in the area.
After some searching, jackpot! – I spotted the van tucked against a wall near some bushes just outside Goat Pen Villa‘s front gate. Looking just as sinister as described in the stories with strange antennas and satellite gear bristling from its roof. The ominous hum of electrical shielding could faintly be heard as I approached…
For other players, access the Goat Pen Villa fast travel point, then head south down the exterior wall to find the conspicuous black van.
Cracking Open the Trunk
This was the moment of truth! Time to see if the hours of reading up on Cable Guy‘s history and then battling his electrically-charged corpse would pay off. I fished out the van keys from my inventory, carefully unlocked the rear hatch, pulled open the creaking doors…
…and there it was – the Electrocutor Tire Iron in all its jury-rigged glory, resting inside a heavy volt-proof storage trunk. Sparking capacitors chained to the sides, wiring leading to a high voltage converter unit ominously grafted onto the business end.
I‘ll admit, seeing this vicious wrecking machine up close initially gave me pause on actually picking it up. Was all that power safe to handle? Cable Guy‘s madness was legendary – would wielding his custom weapon unhinge my brain as well?
But the temptation proved too great…I needed to test this baby out on the next horde! I claimed my hard-fought reward and never looked back. As a bonus, there was $100 cash stashed in the trunk as well – not bad!
Now it was time to put my deadly new tire iron through its paces against the zombie masses…
Unleashing the Weapon‘s Potential
After breaking in my new Electrocutor Tire Iron on dozens of shamblers, I became well acquainted with its strengths and great potential as a formidable melee destroyer:
- High Damage – Each blow carries nearly double the impact force of standard weapons thanks to extra weight and modifications. Skulls crack and burst with every crunch!
- Shocking Attacks – Its high voltage converter has enough juice to trigger electrocution effects on multiple enemies at once. Foes spasm helplessly as you pummel them!
- Rapid Swings – Surprisingly swift and agile for such a bulky weapon. Builds shock energy quickly through repeated impacts.
- Stunlocks Enemies – The stunning electrical blasts cause most targets to freeze and convulse – allowing you to land additional free hits as they seize up.
After tinkering with various mods, I discovered the Rare Melee Electrocutor mod takes the weapon‘s power to insane levels:
- 50% Damage Boost – Further multiplied damage from the tire iron‘s base wallop
- 20% Increased Attack Speed – Allowing utterly relentless beatdowns
- Sustained Shock DoT – Continues electrocuting targets after the first hit for even more piled up damage
At this point, even beefier enemies like Infected Juggernauts eventually succumb to the endless punishment!
Here are some key tips for mastering this epic weapon based on my experiences:
- Prioritize lone enemies or tightly clustered groups – maximize targets affected by the AoE shock bursts
- When mobbed, trigger repeated area shocks via slam attacks to disable enemies around you for escape opportunities
- Against elites, use stunlocking to safely land extended beatdowns while they spasm helplessly
- Manage your stamina! The rapid, heavy swings drain it quickly – switch to lighter sidearms if fatigued
Why Retrieve the Cable Guy Van Key?
As clearly evidenced above through battle testing, obtaining the keys to unlock Cable Guy‘s van pays off big time! Within lies one the most powerful melee weapons you can acquire during Dead Island 2‘s early game stages.
I can definitively say from my extensive zombie-slaying experience that the Electrocution Tire Iron and its electrical carnage vastly amplifies your damage potential compared to standard starter gear.
Let‘s recap the biggest reasons you should take the time to hunt down this awesome weapon:
- Exponentially multiplies melee devastation against enemies
- Allows aggresively close-up play for wrecking zombies
- Stunlocking enables safely dismantling tough enemies
- High efficiency against all zombie types
- Obtainable very early before elite gear opens up
- Cool visual flair and theming DECimage02
As a passionate connoisseur of high-performance zombie-mashing implements, I consider the Electrocution Tire Iron an easy top-tier choice for players favoring extreme, brutal melee action.
Smashing in skulls with an amped up sparking tire iron checks so many boxes: high thrill factor, visually spectacular, extremely powerful, and did I mention absurdly violent?!
In short, acquiring the van key opens up access to a melee slayer‘s dream weapon. Use it to go absolutely buck wild cracking zombies like living piñatas!
So put your salvaging skills to work by hunting down The Cable Guy, snag his keys, and claim your vicious voltage-infused prize! Just be warned – you may never unequip this addictively lethalAddress Island 2 legend.
Stay Electrifying Out There!
