Dead Island 2: How to Use Curveballs

Early in Dead Island 2, you’ll be introduced to what the game calls Curveballs: grenade-type items on a short recharge timer that you can use to change the pace or style of a fight. Early in the game, Curveballs are a crucial way to control your environment and, true to the name, give your enemies a few nasty surprises.

Out of Nowhere: Dead Island 2’s Curveballs Explained

There are a total of 13 Curveballs in Dead Island 2. You can equip up to 2 at once, which work off 2 separate cooldowns.

You automatically receive your first Curveball, Meat Bait, for free from Carlos at Emma Jaunt’s house in Bel-Air. As you progress, you’ll stumble across several more that pop up directly in front of you on DI2‘s critical path. Others are quest rewards or bought from vendors. We’ve got a guide covering Curveball locations, should you need it.

Screenshot by GameSkinny

Early in the game, before you’ve got a few crucial parts of your zombie-slaying kit, your Curveballs are some of your best tools for surviving Hell-A. They become a little less so as your arsenal improves and the zombie population of the city gets increasingly weird, but there aren’t many situations in DI2 that you can’t tilt in your favor with clever Curveball use.

If you want to go all in on Curveballs, there are a number of effects that can speed up their recharge time. Consider equipping Skill Cards like Pain Magazine or Deadeye, or mod your gear with weapon perks like Primed.

There are no trophies / achievements in DI2 that are specifically linked to Curveballs, but they’re helpful when you’re going for combat-related unlocks like Hazardous Materials or Break a Leg.

Using direct-damage Curveballs to kill zombies gains credit towards the Batter Up! Combat Challenge. This is a little tricky, since the best Curveballs are the ones that don’t inflict HP, but it’s still entirely achievable. Just be sure to pick off random zombies with Curveballs whenever you’re going from point A to B within Hell-A.

How Curveballs Work in Dead Island 2

Screenshot by GameSkinny

By default, your Curveball button is mapped to Q on PC, R1 on PlayStation, or RB on Xbox. As noted above, you can equip two Curveballs at the same time, and swap between them with the T button (PC) or right on the D-pad (PlayStation/Xbox).

Each Curveball slot runs off its own recharge timer, so you can use up to two at once to set up big combinations. The Chem Bomb inflicts Soaked on its targets, which renders them vulnerable to electrical damage, while the Meat Bait can distract a whole crowd of zombies at once and set them up for a grenade or explosion.

Early in the game, many of your weapon mods take a few consecutive hits before they can inflict a status ailment on a target, but Curveballs don’t have that limitation. A zombie hit with a Curveball jumps straight to suffering any related status effects, such as Ignited, Melting, or Electrified. In a situation where you need something to be on fire/in shock/melting/bleeding right now, Curveballs are your best available option.

As a result, Curveballs work particularly well in conjunction with certain Skill Cards and mods, such as No Mercy or Contagious, which provide useful bonuses if you’re hitting a zombie that’s affected by a negative status effect.

That’s how to use Curveballs in Dead Island 2. For more tips on surviving Hell-A, check out our Dead Island 2 guides hub.

Featured screenshot by GameSkinny