What are the best ways to defeat Crushers in Dead Island 2

While exploring Halperin Hotel in Dead Island 2, you’ll meet the Crusher. The first boss of the game, known as “Becki the Bride” is a buff, gigantic zombie that can crush your dreams of progress if you aren’t paying attention. In this way, the game teaches you how to deal with one of the several Apex Zombies that will bar your path throughout the various regions of Hell-A. While these can seem tough and are capable of knocking out most of the slayers in short order, they can also easily be defeated.

If you want to defeat Crushers, just pay attention to their moves, and know their weaknesses. There are a few ways to make these powerful foes into a puddle of body parts and gore if you’ve got the know-how. Even the tougher variants, that can create shockwaves of fire can be bested.

---

How to defeat Crushers in Dead Island 2

The first Crusher you’ll encounter in Dead Island 2 is Becki the Bride, while on the mission “Room Service for Major Booker.” This colossal, muscle-bound zombie can be very intimidating when first encountering them. The moveset for Crushers is thankfully simple. They’re slow to move, but can still deplete your health in short order.

Crushers are a tall Apex Zombie variant, with heavy muscles and incredible damage. They have access to a few notable moves - a slow combo punch, and a ground slam. The combo will typically be two to three hits in succession. It also jumps and slams the ground, knocking down anyone in the radius.

As these zombies get lower on health, they will start doing this repeatedly, so be aware of that. The best way to avoid this is to jump. Since you will be fighting these up close for most of the game, jump, and hit them a few times while the animation is triggering. These zombies are also weak to Bleed damage but resist explosions.

You can also use kicks to stagger these Dead Island 2 zombies a bit, and Overhead Smashes. If it’s a one-on-one fight, you can just use dodges during their punches, and after a few, they’ll stagger, leaving them open to a few heavy strikes.

My favorite way to fight Crushers regardless of which slayer I'm controlling is to maim their arms though. Cutting off their arms means they can’t punch you - but they still try. It’s hilarious to watch them struggle. They can still do their ground slam, so be aware of that devastating Dead Island 2 attack.

I’ve also found great success using caustic weapons/damage against Crushers. Though I often shoot them in the legs, the head is the way to get good critical damage against this Dead Island 2 foe.

No matter which archetype of this zombie you fight, they go through this same pattern, so they’re predictable and easy to overcome. You can even defeat them with a solid gun before they get anywhere near you. When fighting them, I use Caustic-X as my go-to Curveball, but Molotov Cocktail can also be satisfying - as long as it’s not an Inferno Crusher.

Dead Island 2 is an intense adventure, no matter which character you’re playing as. The various Apex Zombies are dangerous, but you can easily defeat them with the right knowledge. You can find our review of the game here.