Dying Light 2 is certainly a meaty game, with plenty of questing, collectibles and, of course, Infected plaguing the streets. To give you the best start possible, we’ve come up with this list of eight things to do first in Dying Light 2, so you can get the most out of your time with the game and set yourself up for success throughout your adventure.
Choose Your Display Mode
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
The first decision you’ll have to make if you’re playing on PS5 or Xbox Series X|S is what ‘display mode’ you want to experience the game in.
You have three options here: Performance, Quality Mode and Resolution Mode.
- Performance Mode – runs the game at 60fps+ consistently but at the expense of resolution and other visual details such as ray-tracing.
- Quality Mode – runs the game with ray-tracing, but at the expense of the framerate most noticeably, and perhaps a slight resolution hit, too.
- Resolution Mode – runs the game in a 4K resolution but without the ray-tracing and 60fps lock.
From our experience, the game plays best in Performance mode, with both Quality and Resolution modes feeling really quite ‘chuggy’ in their framerates. Ultimately, though, the choice is up to you.
This can also be changed at any time by going into the game’s ‘Display’ settings and changing between the different options.
You can check out the video outlining the different ‘Display Modes’ above.
Sign Up to TechlandGG for the Hussar
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
When you first load up Dying Light 2, you’ll receive an invitation to sign up for TechlandGG, a hub for all community discussion, news, and information for fans.
Even if you’re not interested in engaging with TechlandGG properly, it’s well worth signing up just for the ‘Hussar’ exclusive weapon alone. This is a Polish saber from the 17th century that’s incredibly satisfying to slice through the Infected with. Plus, who doesn’t want a free weapon in a post-apocalyptic world? Nobody, that’s who.
Play Through the Opening Main Quests Until You Reach Central Loop
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
Dying Light 2 has quite the hefty introduction and tutorial section. The entirety of Old Villedor is basically a tutorial sandbox for you to get to grips with the various open-world activities and mechanics before it lets you out into the proper open-world section of the game.
While there’s plenty to do in Old Villedor, there’s also a lot that will be far easier once you’ve leveled up a bit, got some more powerful weapons, and boosted your health, stamina, and immunity. As such, we’d recommend exploring Old Villedor, while also largely focusing on completing the main quests until you reach Central Loop and are free to do whatever activities you wish.
Climb a Windmill & Scan for Points of Interest
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
Whether you’re still exploring Old Villedor or have pushed onto Central Loop, we highly recommend making use of the various Windmills dotted throughout the world.
Climbing to the tops of these and activating them causes a safe zone to appear around it, which provides a resting place protected by UV light. Before you jump back down, though, whip out your binoculars at the top and scan for points of interest.
This is far easier to identify new points of interest than navigating the city on foot to uncover what the points are, simply because it’s teeming with zombies and generally dense and slow to explore at ground level. You’re largely better off sticking to the rooftops so you can find your bearings more easily and keep your distance from the flesh-eating Infected that crowd the streets below.
Explore Old Villedor
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
Yes, yes, I know I said you should push through the main quests until you reach Central Loop above, but that doesn’t mean you should exclusively focus on these and ignore all of the sights, sounds, and valuable loot that Old Villedor has to offer.
By making use of windmills and your binoculars, you’ll find plenty of places to explore and scavenge for supplies. There are even some side missions you can pick up at the Bazaar that is well worth completing, too.
Have a dabble in Old Villedor, but don’t feel like you have to do everything before you move on. As we said before, returning later on will make some of this area’s trickiest missions and locales to explore far easier.
Plan Out Your Character Build
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
While Dying Light 2 doesn’t go full RPG in its mechanics, it does give players some control over their character build, particularly when it comes to the gear that you kit them out with.
As such, it’s worth taking some time to think about the way you want to approach the Infected in Dying Light 2. Are you going to go for the tank build, getting up-close-and-personal with the undead and bopping them with your preferred melee weapon while taking a few hits yourself, or do you prefer to be a super sneaky, parkour combat specialist, hiding in the cover of darkness and performing quick takedowns on Infected without being detected?
Whatever you decide, make sure you’re looking at all the clothing you pick up. Some items grant stat boosts to cater protagonist Aiden to your playstyle. Combine this with unlocking the right skills for your style of play and you’ll be more capable of taking on the tougher challenges in the game, the way you want to.
Unlock as Many Safe Zones as You Can Find
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
Safe Zones are incredibly important in Dying Light 2. These serve as points of rest that can be used as a ‘base camp’ of sorts for your nighttime scavenging of Inhibitors and other rare goods.
By unlocking Safe Zones, you can give yourself a sanctuary of safety far closer to some of the GRE Dark Zones, making it easier to retreat to safety should things go awry.
Not only this, you’ll find a ton of different resources like Chamomile, Honey, and Resin that you can use to craft Medicine and other handy items. This is particularly useful during the early hours of the game, where your health is pretty limited and you’re not all that powerful.
Run GRE Dark Zones to Farm Inhibitors
Things to Do First in Dying Light 2
Once you’ve got yourself kitted up and accustomed to the world of Dying Light 2, it’s time to try your hand running some of those GRE Dark Zones.
GRE Dark Zones are where you’ll find the Infected congregate during the daylight hours. This makes them incredibly risky to explore during the day, but when the Infected spill out onto the streets in the nighttime, they’re far less dangerous to poke around in.
It’s well worth doing, too, as Dark Zones often have Inhibitors that are used to quickly increase your max health and stamina. They’re also full of valuable loot and Immunity Boosters too, which are incredibly useful when you’re exploring during the nighttime.
Make sure you’re well prepared with plenty of Medicine and weapons before heading inside, though, just so you’re prepared for the worst.
For more tips and tricks to help you through Dying Light 2, check out our wiki or see more of our coverage on the game below.
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