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Because it turns out, there’s an easier way to play the game other than lower the game’s difficulty. All players need is a cool and level head—sometimes a bit of out-of-the-box thinking so that they can outsmart the brainless zombies and human enemy AI who don’t fare that much better. These tips ought to make Dying Light less about dying.
Updated February 7th, 2022, by Sid Natividad: With the advent of Dying Light 2: Stay Human, a renewed interest in zombies is taking the world by storm again. One simply cannot get enough of these flesh-eating undead as even Netflix timed the release of All of Us Are Dead perfectly to coincide with Dying Light. As always, the best way to get used to the second game, is by playing the first.
It just happens that Dying Light is quite a handful. Hence, some more Dying Light tips are surely appreciated. Because as it is, Dying Light tips and tricks might just save some newbies from a frustrating experience. So, we’ve added even more Dying Light tips for beginners.
15 Use Vans As Vantage Points & Combat Advantage
When running out in the streets of Harran, it’s best to treat the whole locale as a desert in disguise. As with all deserts, one must look for an oasis so they can plot out their movements without endangering themselves too much. In Dying Light, these oases come in the form of vans.
Actually, any tall vehicle will do. Players simply need to keep most of the infected away from them and vans or other tall vehicles are usually off-limits to the day walkers. Vans, however, offer the added advantage of having some good loot in their trunk. They usually contain medkit crafting materials or scraps.
14 Don’t Ignore Air Drops
In Dying Light, the game becomes a lot less tedious if players finally get the grappling hook. It turns essentially turns the protagonist into Spider-Man and makes traversal as well as parkour a lot easier. That’s why some players rush the game in order to get the grappling hook earlier.
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One of the best ways to do this is by chasing each and every air drop. They not only contain essential materials and resources but they also give out tons of experience which makes player progression faster. The only downside is that air drops usually come down at night so it’s a big high-risk, high-reward.
13 Dismantle All White Weapons
Short on supplies or scraps? Then look no further than the inventory. Because in many instances, players will usually have a surplus of weapons at the ready in case their main ones break. As the game progresses further, players will naturally find rarer and finer weapons.
This leaves the white-quality or tier weapons a lot less desired or stuck in the inventory. Instead of selling them as junk, some players might want to turn them into something more useful as these white weapons can yield some decent number of scraps. This way, repairing the main weapons becomes less tedious.
12 Stay Off The Ground
In conjunction with always looking for tall vehicles to act as benches for prolonged parkour runs, players will also want to utilize the game’s parkour mechanics to the fullest. That means staying off the asphalt or the dirt as much as possible. This way, they get to avoid the infected a lot easier.
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It might get fiddly or even dizzying at first but playing “the floor is lava” in Dying Light can easily become second nature. Moreover, it also lets players easily level up their parkour skill tree. Sure, the grappling hook might nullify all that effort and grinding, but some abilities in the parkour skill tree are quite nifty.
11 Use The Kick Button When Out Of Stamina For Running
One of the most annoying things ever in Dying Light is when Crane runs out of breath. This can happen during combat or rushed parkour runs or even escapes. Running out of stamina during these crucial moments can spell death or wasted medkits at the very least.
Thankfully, there’s a workaround for empty stamina and that would be the kick button. Pressing the kick button on zero stamina will reset the meter and make Crane ready for action once more. This works well for running but not so much for combat so make sure to use it wisely.
10 Get Drop Attack ASAP
Early on, one of the most common drawbacks in the game is weapon breakage. Each weapon has a set lifespan or number of swings before they join the Lord in the high heavens. One way to circumvent this rather disheartening game mechanic is to grab the Drop Attack skill in the Power tree immediately.
It lets players finish off their targets with a dropkick. It’s pretty nifty for conserving weapon health or even ammo. It does require the Ground Pound skill but that one’s a useful crowd control ability for escaping tight situations so it’s a win-win.
9 Prioritize Survivor & Agility Trees
It might be tempting to go all-out in the Power tree but players will do well to ignore the rest of that skill discipline in their first playthrough and focus instead on survival. The best way to do this is by ranking up their Survivor skills and also their Agility skills.
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Increasing the Survivor tree rank actually makes it so that the weapons and other items players find in the game become better or of higher quality. Meanwhile, the Agility tree is full of must-have augmentations for parkour which makes escaping and traversal faster and less daunting.
8 Don’t Be Afraid Of Losing Weapons
As for the fragile melee weapons in the game, players must simply embrace their transience. The faster they adapt to this, the less stressful the game will be as time goes by. In any case, they needn’t worry since they’ll always find better weapons later on.
If they prioritize upgrading their Survivor skill tree, then they can rest assured that they’ll find much better replacements for melee weapons and other items so long as they keep looting locked containers and other storage. Besides, there are some NPCs that repair weapons.
7 Stock Up On Flares
Night mode usually brings a negative impression to beginners and they end up avoiding night runs altogether because of the horror aspect and also the increased risks. However, they can make night runs easier by stockpiling a crucial component: flares.
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Flares provide players with a temporary respite in the night as the light they produce can stave off some hungry Volatiles. Players can either craft or locate these flares during daytime airdrop runs or just by general looting. This way, they can get a blanket of security in the cold and dark animosity of nighttime.
6 Don’t Be Afraid To Do Night Runs
Speaking of night runs, players also needn’t fear the dark too much. Initially, night in Dying Light only seems so dangerous because of all the sounds and the escalated enemy types. However, players might soon notice that dying during the night doesn’t inflict too much penalty.
In fact, dying during a night run doesn’t even decrease the experience, unlike dying during the daytime. Thus, players can risk night runs all they want. It’s one of the best and fastest ways to gain some experience and good airdrops in the game. They just need to get past the initial shock.
5 Always Buy Materials Or Blueprints From The Shop
Crafting is such an integral part of Dying Light that players can quickly run out of materials as they replace each missing medkit or repair their favorite weapons. Some weapons also cost a lot of materials and can easily drain the inventory.
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One good way to keep the supplies going is the always check the merchants in the Tower upon returning. Merchants almost always sell specific supplies. This way, players can control what they’re getting, unlike in loot runs where they might get random stuff. Plus, it minimizes the need for looting too much outside which is important in saving daylight time.
4 Retreat Or Avoid Fighting
The best way to conserve supplies, weapons, and even ammunition? Abstinence, of course. That seems counterintuitive especially if one’s armed to the teeth but do keep in mind that Dying Light is a survival game. Looking for a skirmish with a shiny katana or a newly-found gun is a good way to waste resources.
Instead, players should just avoid encounters altogether. Often, running away from fights is the best way of winning them in Dying Light. There’s really no need to fight roaming zombies anyway. This is where the Drop Attack or Ground Pound skill become extra useful.
3 Reserve The Molotov Cocktails For Humans
There will come enemies who won’t let players leave, especially in the second area. For those special kinds of idiots, the players will have to reserve a lovely weapon against them: fire. To be more specific, throw some Molotov cocktails at them.
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These things can be crafted and supplies are easy to acquire, making them the ideal choice against human enemies. One bottle is usually enough for one person, sometimes two if players are lucky. No need to waste these hard drinks on boorish zombie hordes who won’t appreciate their alcoholic kick.
2 Volatiles & Zombies Can’t Swim
As for how to escape or run away from zombies in order to avoid an endless fight, try swimming. That’s a good trick. Turns out zombies and even the Volatiles don’t have swimming animations and thus can’t follow the players into the water.
In the event that they do, they’ll certainly die since they can swim. Heck, even something as shallow as waist-deep water can sometimes do the trick for regular zombies. Volatiles won’t follow as well. Sadly, this survival clutch technique won’t work when one’s being chased by Toads or any Volatile with a spit attack. They’ll just machine-gun the swimming players with acid.
1 Refrain From Using Guns
Last but not least, avoid using the most powerful weapon type in the game. This is a piece of rather sad advice since players are more or less deprived of firearms during the first act or area that they might feel too trigger-happy in the second, but Molotov cocktails and melee weapons are simply more cost-effective.
There’s also the fact that melee weapons usually don’t attack zombie hordes while even one bullet can bring down a squad of hungry dead on top of the players. So unless it’s absolutely necessary or a human armed with a gun is giving too much trouble, put the gun back in the holster and stop feeling like a lucky punk.
Dying Light was released on January 26, 2015, and is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
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