Dead Island 2is a game that has a deceptively large amount of content. When players hear that the game is broken into ‘zones’ and that it’s a bit more linear than the typical open-world title, it’s understandable to think thatDead Island 2might be lacking in how much there is to do.
RELATED:Games Perfect For Long-Distance Couples
But, the further players progress through the story, the more mechanics are unlocked and the more side quests become available, including one called ‘The Rav-ages Of Caustic-X’.
When The Side Quest Becomes Available & Where ‘Rav-ages of Caustic-X’ Takes Place
Like a lot of other optional objectives inDead Island 2, this Side Quest isn’t available until players pass a certain point in the main story.
Luckily, that’s pretty early on, as they’ll be able to start this one right after finishing theMichael Anders and the Holy GrailStory Quest inMonarch Studios. After getting the next Story Quest from Sam B and heading out the door behind the building the giant animatronic spider is above, players will hear another radio going off.
Answering this will lead to them speaking with Hanna, a student from VCLAwho asks the player’s Slayerto go and help out a friend of theirs,Rav, who is stuck in theHalperin Hotel.
Talking To Rav & Finding The Shipment Receipt
Disclaimer: It’s highly recommended to do Sam B’s Story Quest ‘Justifiable Zombicide’ first before this one, as the next Story objective after it has players returning to Emma’s Mansion while doing Rav-ages of Caustic-X first will force players to trek through Monarch Studios all over again.
Once players decide to go and help out Rav, they’ll need to take the same route to get to the Halperin Hotel they took the first time for theRoom Service For Major BookerStory Quest, unless they’ve reached the point of the storywhere Fast Travel is unlocked.
After arriving back at the same ballroom playersfought their first Crusher,Becki the Bride, they’ll encounter and speak with Rav who is sitting up on the second-floor balcony of the ballroom. Rav explains that he came to do some research on the experiments the army was doing with Caustic-X here after getting a tip from his Paramedic friend, but was trapped by Zombies after arriving.
Players will thenhead to the ambulanceRav mentions, which is straight backout in the Hotel’s parking lot, straight out the entrance of the Halperin. Simply follow the blue diamond marker that leads to the ambulance, and players will encounter both the Ambulance Driver (now a Slobber) and a Crusher. Defeat both of them and players should see the Caustic-XShipment Receiptsitting on one of the trash bins in the Caustic-X goop. Clear out the goop using Water or simply tank the damage to grab the Shipment Receipt, then head back to Rav.
After arriving back in the ballroom, the quest objective should automatically progress toDrop the beat to kick off the distraction Rav needs!Interact with the DJ Table at the opposite end of the ballroom to start the next phase of the Side Quest.
Players will then need tofend off incoming waves of Zombies (without leaving the ballroom)while Rav looks at the work area the scientists were using to figure everything out. After killing about 20+ zombies, Rav will report in that their plan was all worth it, as they found the data on Caustic-X.
But, Rav then mentions that their results for how quickly Caustic-X works on the zombies don’t make sense, and he’ll need to see it in action to understand everything. So, players will need tohead out to the pool area of the Halperin Hoteland kill zombies with Caustic-X while Rav takes notes on the results.
After reaching the pool, the next objective of ‘experiment poolside with fun new caustic ways to kill zombies’should pop up. All this means is that players need to use the Caustic element to kill zombies in this area, whether that’s by kicking them into the pool (the fastest method), blowing up Caustic-X barrels when they’re nearby, or kiting zombies to walk through puddles of Caustic-X Goop.After doing this with 14 different zombies, the Side Quest is just about done, all that’s left is to return to the ballroom and claim the rewards from Rav.
Rav-avages of Caustic-X Rewards
After returning to the ballroom, Rav will have only nice things to say about the player’s character. He’ll then mention he’s figured it all out and should now be able to caustic-ify a weapon instead of using acid on it before giving the player aRare Melee Liquidator Modand theCaustic-X Bomb. To elaborate on these rewards a bit more:
Overall, these are some pretty fantastic rewards, as Caustic Damage is absurdly strong inDead Island 2, and being able to place environmental hazards is always fun, though it can be a bit of adetriment to allies in multiplayer.
Dead Island 2is now available for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.
