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DEAD ISLAND: EPIDEMIC
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This thread is to discuss and share things regarding Dead Island: Epidemic is a MOBA - a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena game of its own kind.
Rundown of the game
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/6OFkx50.jpg)
Dead Island: Epidemic (DIE for short) is a player vs player hunting and domination game. Twelve players arranged in three teams of four are pit against one another to search out supply points for their families back home. The general format of the maps is a somewhat symmetrical island vacation resort that has been infected and all humans -- barring the visiting player characters -- have been destroyed by a zombie virus. These zombies are found all over the map throughout a game and come in different shapes and sizes, some with special abilities which incapacitate players. The Puller zombie lashes out with his tongue and can hold a player down for as long as 5 seconds as they get beat upon by hordes of lesser zombies, or even enemy players. Zombies drop the supply points needed to get to the game-ending goal score that each team is racing toward throughout a match.
There is another major way to get supply: King of the Hill style supply points, designated by flags, give steady streams of supply points. Of course, these major objectives are fought over continually as part of the race to be the first to hit the game ending score and enter the Final Countdown before the game ends.
There are currently ~14 characters in the game to choose from and each has a unique set of abilities that can be contributed in a team fight or versus hordes of zombies.
That sums it up for the core elements of the game.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/IahKfqv.jpg)
There are no dragons in game. Write to the devs.
Features
The game hooks the player with buttery smooth gameplay (so long as you have a computer with reasonable specs) and highly intense back-and-forth gameplay which arises from the combination of a need for the steady stream of supply from holding Flags and the zombies which are just waiting to be hunted. Things can get especially frantic when special zombies pop up that drop 33x-100x the supply of a lesser zombie and can sweep a solid score lead into a neck-to-neck game at the drop of a hat.
There are just two ways to bring new supplies into the game: Kill zombies and control supply point flags. But that doesn't mean that we can't have another way to feed our children supply points: After a team has brought about 5/8th of the supply required to enter the Final Countdown back to their pickup truck (which serves as base for each team), the base becomes vulnerable to theft by other players! This represents another way that games hit serious reversals and the reigning king for a match can end up with egg on their face. Of course, it doesn't always have to come down to a dramatic reversal -- it is a viable tactic even to focus on playing as a raider and attempting to steadily fish supplies out of the enemy base from behind their back with a team of two players (to handle the defensive turret which otherwise interrupts those with thieving aims).
Special Zombies
There are some notable zombies. As I said above, certain special zombies called Pullers have a tongue lash which incapacitates player characters for upto 5 seconds if no help arrives to stun a player out of his disabling attack.
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/8OuuDV9.png)
Special zombie Floater
Floater zombies spit acid bile that covers the ground, dealing damage overtime.
Ram-type zombies charge nearly across the entire screen, dealing AOE damage and stunning those its tramples -- friend or foe alike. I rather enjoy watching this zombie run over a horde of lesser zombies like so many arranged dominoes before a toddler.
But so far we have not discussed the special, Special zombies. These guys we have discussed thus far typically drop 3 supply points. They just aren't that tough to kill if you are a solo versus them, although they do (rarely) spawn in an Elite form with bonus HP, damage, and a larger supply drop.
The real hunters are looking for the big prizes. The Zombie Looter is a giant zombie Santa Claus Pinata-type muthafucka given that he walks around with a garbage bag slung over his shoulder and upon death Drops about 100 supply points, representing several minutes worth of supply received by holding a single flag. The Looter however is pretty damn weak, his sole asset among Zombie Kind being that he is unusually large. Possessing a single strong melee attack and a bit of extra HP, he can be 1v1'd by an uninterrupted player (although it will take some time to clear out the possee he typically shows up on the map with).
![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/gqIgbx3.png)
Our second big prize is a doozey -- the Zombie Hoarder shows up on the map (spawning in semi-random intervals, just as the Looter does) and is truly a Boss Monster. He is completely immune to stuns, incapacitates, disables of any kind and furthermore he mutated some extra tongues and an extra aoe attack in the case that he spawns as a Puller-type. Same deal when he spawns as a Floater, puking out large puddles of bile that do way many damage if you spend any time steppin' on it.
There's more to know about zombies. Some stuff is not well-known especially such as exactly how the zombie spawns are regulated for the big uglies as well as the common cannon fodder. Important questions for those who want to optimize their gameplay by knowing the best times to go look for farming opportunities if there is a lull in the action. Some level of naivety regarding game mechanics is always one of my favorites when it comes to playing a new game but surely all of this will be investigated in detail as the game becomes more popular and more competitive.
CHARACTERS, PLAYA'
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Berg, a player character, concept art as a zombie
Let's have a rundown of some (not quite all) of the characters so that we can develop an idea of their different play styles. Several characters have had three versions made of them which have totally different sets of abilities and playstyles.
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Player Character Isys in her three flavors: Isys, Armored Isys, and Mutated Isys
Isys is a melee character who does steady melee damage and is somewhat durable for being a pretty little lady. Her survival is aided by a solid amount of Life Leech. She chases people down with dashing attacks.
Armored Isys, however, thrives in stationary positions. She can build a turret that deals serious damage to intruders on whatever she has claimed as her territory, damn it!
Mutated Isys is viscious in melee.
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Amber in her three flavors: Amber, Armored Amber, and Mutated Amber
Amber has solid support abilities. Her Q is a melee ability that snares and reduces the damage of enemies hit for a short period of time. Amber also has a heal castable on friendly players, and a smoke bomb which reduces damage in an AOE, among other abilities.
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The three flavors of Berg, the Lumbermancer
Berg throws great wooden logs and they stun people. He is a melee support with a solid cleave attack. Logs. Of course, he comes in an armored and mutated version.. wonder what those do. For one, Mutated Berg has a bad ass shield that reduces damage taken when activated.
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Bryce in his three flavors
Bryce is a surfer dude who likes shooting from range. Bryce is a steady ranged damage hero.
Armored Bryce wrecks with the highest burst damage ability in the game on his Q, a dashing Assault that can be reactivated twice more after the initial blow, once to stun and damage, and again for well fuck it, more damage!
Mutated Bryce is a disabler and debuffer.
Nitty Gritty Features
Alright so we've covered most all of the basics and how the gameplay works out. But how do the developers expect to make money? How about keeping players who aren't soley driven by a deep, blood boiling rage that insists that they play another, another, another game in order that they may see their foes driven before them, maimed, mutilated, and their families left starving without supply points?
Weapons
Well basically the idea is to keep players hooked with progression. You can shop for weapons, receive them in blue prints then craft them, and these weapons are arranged in tiers. Every character enters the game with a ranged and melee weapon and these weapons themselves level up between games. So your weapons level and your weapons themselves are swapped out as one finds new blueprints and can afford to craft them with the rewards that players receive at the end of each game. There are currently over 50 different weapons in the game with varying basic attributes -- Some give you more crit chance, or life leech, or reduce the cooldown on your dodge ability and increase runspeed, or increase the amount of Fury you generate. Fury is used for the secondary attack that each weapon has that does bonus damage and grants a dash forward (fists), knockback (pistols, shotgun), and so on.
The player's account itself also levels up. This prevents a player from progressing too fast, I guess. It isn't my favorite feature.
Characters
Characters level up throughout a match which allows the player to prioritize the order in which they acquire their abilities and player characters also level up between maches. This unlocks secondary and tertiary effects attached to abilities. Armored Bryce's second and third damaging strike on his Assault skill become unlocked after a person has played perhaps 10 or 12 games as the character. Buying a new character from the Shop and not having access to 100% of his abilities right off the bat can be a bit annoying but it is mitigated in that you will be placed in matches with other players who have not unlocked all abilities. It doesn't take long to level up to max for each character (same for each Weapon).
That about sums it up for progression.
Finally, Consumables
There are awesome consumables: Bandages to heal and grant minor buff, Grenades to throw and stun enemies, and Boxes to hide in:
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![[image loading]](http://i.imgur.com/5YZD1Qs.png)
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Grappling hooks to pull oneself across the screen quickly, pills to fill up your Fury bar or reset your Dodge, Supply hooks to literally steal supply from a character who is carrying it. And of course there's a brain with some fumes at the top left there. Mystery brain.
Other Modes
Briefly, there are other modes. You run through hordes of zombies with a crew of three to four players and fight a boss!
[timg]http://i.imgur.com/SsXgZJt.jpg[/timg]
Relaxing way to level up weapons and characters
Alright I believe that about sums it up for the feature set in Dead Island: Epidemic.
Media
Highlight Reel (Montage) - Dead Island Epidemic CLOSED BETA MOBA
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A full game with live commentary:
Dead Island Epidemic CLOSED BETA Bryce Pistols I
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Dead Island: Epidemic Armored Bryce Guide Video 1
Dead Island: Epidemic Top Tips Video 1
The field is open for discussion regarding all aspects from the basic features of the game to strategy talk and more. I hope you enjoy the read!
Best Regards,
RG
KB7N6-9I49B-PIIXZ 
Have the occassional person who jumps into the group too, just ask in the stream.
).
