Dead Island: Epidemic

Dead Island: Epidemic

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TrashCat's Ultimate Crossroads Guide
By TrashCat™
This guide contains all you need to know to become better at and also have a much more fun experience when playing Crossroads!
   
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Introduction
Hello fellow Dead Island Epidemic players!

Forum Post Link - http://steamproxy.net/app/222900/discussions/0/622954302099722611/

My goal for this guide is for it to be the ultimate resource for newer players to gain knowledge about how to play crossroads more effectively and also even for more experienced players to maybe learn something new. I will first discuss all the different types of special zombies that may appear around the map and how to best defeat them. After that, I will give some insight on some basics as well as using teamwork to more efficiently work as a team rather than every man for himself. Next, I will discuss all the various missions, both normal and boss missions, that you may encounter when playing crossroads and how to make completing those missions with a gold star much easier. Lastly, I will give some extra tips and tricks and other helpful information at the end.

Feel free to leave feedback and I hope this guide helps you out!

Weapon Mod List
http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=383278060

TrashCat™

Zombies & Game Mode
In Crossroads, there are a variety of different zombies with various characteristics. The following is a list of all the types of zombies you will encounter when running around the map:

  • Walker - attacks slowly while dealing low amounts of damage.
  • Infected
    • Runner - Has high movement and attack speed and will chase a player until killed.
    • Spitter - Spits slime at players dealing moderate damage and should be killed quickly.
    • Veteran - An upgraded form of the walker zombie and has increased damage plus health.
  • Special
    • Floater - Charges up to spit acid causing area damage and also a knock back punch.
    • Puller - Will charge up and lash out its tongue to pull a player towards it unless knocked off.
    • Butcher - Has a triple slash cleave attack and a pounce attack both dealing high damage.
    • Ram - Stomps to knock back players and a charge attack dealing high damage in a line.
    • Suicider - Pounces on you and will blow up dealing high damage if not knocked off in time.
    • Looter - Can appear during missions. During the final timer, killing it will drop 20 supplies.
  • Elite
    • Floater - Spits pink acid that is much stronger than its normal version.
    • Puller - Getting pulled in by this will deal much more damage than the normal version.
    • Butcher - Deals highly increased damage and should be dealt with quickly.
    • Ram - Deals highly increased damage and can easily one hit kill players with its charge.
  • Massive
    • See Boss Mission section for full strategy

Ruffian - A type of special zombie with various attribute buffs

Zombie Attribute Buffs

Attributes are added buffs on zombies that make them more dangerous. Zombies will glow if they have attributes on them, and any attributes are listed at the top of the screen under the name and health of the zombie.

Deadly - Damage output increased by 50%.
Tank - Reduces damage taken by 35%.
Enraged - Increased Attack Speed by 50%.
Speed - Increased Movement speed by 50%.
Projectile Resistant - Reduces Projectile type damage by 75%.
Melee Resistant - Reduces Melee type damage by 75%.
Area Resistant - Reduces AoE type damage by 75%.
Plague - Deals damage to players standing close to the zombie.
Unstable - An infectious explosion does damage to nearby players 2s after the zombie is killed.
Amplifier - Zombie standard attacks inflict Amplify.
Numbing - Zombie standard attacks inflict Weaken.
Uncontrollable - Zombie cannot be stunned, incapacitated, slowed, feared, etc.
Relentless - Greatly Increases Max HP and Damage output.
Slaughterous - Only on Massive zombies bosses that use stronger version of their skills.


Crossroad Game Type
Normal - Available as the default Crossroad game mode.
Infectious - Complete 3 Normal missions collecting at least 400 supplies.
Contagious - Complete 5 Infectious missions collecting at least 500 supplies.
Deadly - Complete 5 Contagious missions collecting at least 600 supplies.
Endemic - Complete 5 Deadly missions collecting at least 600 supplies.

All games have a total of three missions, one each during morning, day, and night.

Basics & Teamwork
Throughout Crossroads, you will work with three other players whom you may or may not know. Working together to complete the missions makes the run much easier and can even get you some new friends to play the game with for a better experience. This section will list a bunch of various basics as well as things that can help out your teamwork for a fun Crossroads game.

Supplies
  • Each supply you carry will increase damage by 0.5% so let defensive characters carry more.
  • Carrying 0 to 50 supplies will not have any negative effect on your movement speed.
  • Pressing "G" will drop up to 25 supplies. Share supplies between the team to reduce burden.

Ping and Emotes
  • Holding down "Z" and moving your mouse in one of six directions will show a menu where you can choose to communicate using an emoticon. You can also use the number keys 1-6 on your numpad.
  • 1 is thumbs up, 2 is truck, 3 is run, 4 is heal, 5 is peace, 6 is taunt.
  • Using thumbs up to indicate a good job boosts morale. Use the heal emote if you indicate you need heal or wish to use bandages. Use the truck emote if you want to carry some supplies.
  • If you are unable to type or speak to others, using the emotes are helpful to communicate.



  • Holding down "Left Alt" and moving in one of four directions will bring up a menu showing four different choices for map pings. You can open this on the main game or on the mini map as well.
  • Pressing "Left Alt" and simply clicking without choosing one of the four special pings will simply make a normal ping without any special indicator.
  • Up is attack, Right is danger, Down is defend, and Left is an arrow director.
  • Using a ping if you are pounced on or pulled is a good way to get your team to help you out.
  • Also use a ping to indicate to go a different path if it is faster than the one you are on.



Other Tips
  • If you haven't been attacked and don't attack or use any skills / dodge, your health will quickly regenerate until you next attack / dodge or get attacked. Do this to save bandages.
  • The game will attempt to balance out your level with varying amounts of experience per zombie kill, so worrying about who hands in supplies for the 1xp per box is not necessary.
  • You may concede and give up the game by pressing "Escape" and selecting the concede option.
  • Not every mission you do will be a gold star, but don't let that ruin your game. You can still get good drops even if you don't have the maximum number of supplies.
  • After the boss missions, Looters will appear and will drop 20 supplies when being killed. Make sure to hunt these down and quickly deposit the supplies to receive the extra bonus rewards.
Basic Missions (Part 1)
Barricade Destruction

This is a fairly straightforward mission where you simply break down a barricade to a house guarding supplies. Waves of zombies will attack you as you are doing this mission so it's best to take down Floaters and Rams quickly since they can put a stop to your goal by targeting everyone attacking the barricade. This mission awards up to 200 supplies for a gold star.






Supply Point

For this mission, all players on the team must be within radius of the flag to capture it within the time limit. Pullers and Rams will attempt to take you outside the capture radius, so make sure to kill those quickly. As suggested above, use the ping command to alert your teammates in case you get pulled so that they can rescue you. The second picture shows that despite common rumor, you do not have to be standing within the circle around the flag to capture. You should rather just have the flag icon above your character in order to be actively capturing. This is useful because you can use the barrels and boxes around the flag site to dodge incoming enemy attacks so that you do not stray too far from the flag. This mission awards up to 200 supplies for a gold star.








Multiple Special Ruffians

Upon reaching the destination, this mission features a variety of Ruffians both named and not named that can spawn. From experience, this is usually either two Butchers, one Screamer, and one Ram; or simply five Butchers in a row. As long as everyone on the team puts forth an effort to kill the Ruffians, this mission usually does not give too much trouble as it is most likely your first mission in the set of four. Problems can arise if someone gets pounced by a butcher while being attacked by multiple zombies or the Ram charges over him while he is pounced. Just remember to clear out all the lesser zombies and the Ruffians should not be too much trouble after that. This mission awards up to 200 supplies for a gold star.






2x Looter Ruffians

This mission is similar to the above mission except it features two Looter Ruffians that spawn with a bit of zombie interference. As long as all players focus their attacks on the looter or better yet, there is someone who can tank the hits for the team, this mission is fairly easy to get through with little to no problem. If you are having problems on this mission, players with pistols or a shotgun can shoot while walking backwards or side to side in order to avoid attacks while other team members can melee the Looter. This mission awards up to 200 supplies for a gold star. At higher difficulties, these will be resistant to melee or ranged so make sure to check their attributes.








Collect Supplies

Supply collection mission is featured at various sites including an abandoned supply truck, a crashed tour bus, and a downed helicopter. Players must collect supplies while being attacked by swarms of enemies at the same time. A good tactic for this is to have at least 1 or 2 players always collecting supplies while the other 2 or 3 protect the collectors against the current wave of zombies. It is advised that when an elite or Looter Ruffian spawns that all players quickly get rid of it so it does not create a snowball effect where there are too many hard monsters around the area at once. You are granted a gold star on this mission for collecting 250 supplies within the time limit.








2x Ruffian with Elite of same type

In the higher stages, this mission can be tougher depending on which type of Special zombie spawns. The two Ruffians and Elite can be Puller, Butcher, or Floater. Although these Elites do not have resistance to melee or projectiles, they function similar to the boss category dual elites that are explained near the end of the Boss Mission section in full detail. The best strategy is to take out both of the Ruffians and then have everyone focus all their attacks on the main Elite. For the Puller and Floater Elites, this mission does not give too many problems unless there is an unlucky combo and someone can not get away in time. However, the Butcher spawns prove tough even for stronger teams as the Butcher Elite does enormous damage. If you do have trouble on the Butcher Elite don't give up as it is one of the harder enemies in the game due to the high movement and attack speed coupled with very high damage output. In a last case scenario, you can lure the Elite to base if you do have that much trouble with it. This mission awards up to 250 supplies for a gold star.





Basic Missions (Part 2)
Cocoons

When arriving at the point, there are eight cocoons where four of them contain a civilian that needs to be rescued. Waves of zombies will storm the area to make this mission tough if your team does not have adequate area of effect damage to take care of the zombies and the cocoons at the same time. A good strategy is to have at least one person dedicated to attacking the cocoons while the others both attack the cocoons while killing zombies. Don't forgot to ping your map if you get pulled as this mission is prone to having lots of pullers in a confined space. When attacking cocoons, once the cocoon gets to roughly half health, it is guaranteed to have a civilian inside and your team should focus on that cocoon rather than gamble on the others first. If you use that strategy, you won't waste precious time attacking a cocoon only to find 10 to 20 seconds later that it just contains an infected zombie. Each civilian freed gives you 60 or 70 supplies up to a total of 250 supplies for a gold star.






Three Civilians

Notoriously known as one of the harder missions at higher infection levels, saving the three civilians can sometimes come down to luck rather than skill. This mission features three separate waves of zombies that each have one boss type Ruffian. The first wave will have a Puller, the second will have a Butcher, and the final wave will have a Looter. It is highly recommended to allow the civilians to heal in between each wave of enemies simply by waiting until their health is restored so that you have the best chance to ensure their survival. The best tactic is to simply stand around the three civilians rather than run around and kill monsters. This will allow you to safely protect them and not allow them to be killed if they are not in your vision. Each civilian saved gives you 80 or 85 supplies up to a total of 250 supplies for a gold star.






Enemy Supply Truck

First, you must destroy the enemy turret which does heavy damage so make sure your team is with you when you want to take it down. Once the turret is down, you may begin collecting supplies from the enemy truck while waves of zombies attack you. There are two notable elite hoarders that will appear during the mission and should be killed immediately as the waves of zombies are rather intense as compared to the standard missions. Once the mission is over and the timer has run out or you collected enough supplies, the truck bomb will explode so make sure you are not standing near the truck or you will take damage. You are granted a gold star on this mission for collecting 250 supplies within the time limit.

Boss Mission (Part 1)
Note: At lower infection levels, your boss experience may differ from what is explained in the guide to be easier for you, but the general strategy to defeat the boss is mainly the same.

Part 1 will include the three different massive bosses.
Part 2 will include the three different dual hoarder bosses.

Massive Puller

This boss is rather straightforward and may be considered the easiest of the three massive bosses. At the beginning of the fight, the boss will simply prance around the area and slash at your team which is a cue to deal as much damage as possible to it in this stage.Throughout the fight, special or elite Pullers will spawn and should be killed quickly to avoid to many tongues to dodge. In addition to the regular elite Puller skills, this boss features a few new attacks that can be daunting if you are not ready for them. The first is a single target slime spit that will encase you in a slime cocoon. Your teammates will then need to attack the cocoon to free you if the boss doesn't hit you first to free you, otherwise you will most likely die due to the cocoon dealing heavy damage over time. The second attack is a charge up multi target slime spit where the Puller will roar on its back legs and shoot slime up into the air landing where the pink targets are. I suggest simply running around in straight lines during this attack so as not to get stuck in a cocoon. Each time the Puller targets you, it will shoot two slime balls at you and then target someone else, unless nobody else is alive. The final attack has a similar charge attack to the tri-tongue pull but this time the Puller spits out multiple slime balls in a straight line doing heavy damage with every hit. Once you become familiar with the attack animations, you can deal heavy damage and then dodge the tongue pull attack. The easiest way to die here is from being stuck in a cocoon so make sure to free your teammates if they get stuck.






Massive Screamer

Coming as a surprise to those who see Screamers as a joke who just cause confusion, the massive Screamer boss can put up a challenge if you do not know how to properly fight her. To start, the Screamer roams around the area and your team wants to deal as much damage to her in this stage as possible. For her attacks, the Screamer has a variety of skills that do high amounts of damage if you are not paying attention. The most basic skill she uses is a slime ball thrown at a target that appears on the ground which causes a small circle of high damage dealing bubbling slime to show up. These pools of slime last for a bit of time and will slow you if you step in them, so getting stuck in one may prove fatal. Her next attack is a charge that when released, she spins in a circle and releases confusion while rotating three times. Simply walking around the confuse spell or dodging is the best trick. The next skill is the most problem causing to newer players who fight her. The Screamer throws a purple blob up into the air that lands at a target location and a corrupted zombie with red health appears; usually throwing two of these in succession. Killing this zombie as quickly as possible is extremely important because if you do not, it will explode into a very large circle of purple slime as well as spawn a butcher. Make sure to ping the location of this zombie so your teammates can help you kill it quickly. There is one of these in the second picture so you know what to look out for. The final attack the Screamer uses is a slime aura that bounces between her and players nearby, so distancing yourself from teammates is highly important or else the bounce can do extremely high damage. The main tips for this boss is to dodge the pools of slime she throws down as well as quickly killing the little zombie minion she spawns.








Massive Ram

The massive Ram can be considered the hardest of the three bosses not just due to the high amounts of damage it does, but because he moves around a lot when attacking making it hard to inflict damage while dodging his attacks at the same time. After the initial period of time when the boss simply roams around allowing you to inflict damage, the Ram will begin its infamous onslaught on your team. Its signature move is when it stops in place and jumps causing boulders to rain from the sky onto the glowing red circles all around the area. The best tactic is to get far away from the boss or simply dodge the boulders, but sometimes if you are unlucky, you will be unable to get away from a combo of boulders falling from every direction. Another move the Ram uses is a single target charge where a red target will appear above its chosen victim and that player will have to get out of its way or else receive heavy damage from getting hit. If the Ram misses and hits a wall, he will be dazed for a short time. The Ram may also throw a boulder at a single target, throw players who get too close up into the air, and slam his foot down causing a strong knock back to close players, so be ready to dodge those skills as well. The last and most troublesome skill is the multiple charge attack the Ram uses. The Ram will charge around the area and deal heavy damage to anyone he hits. When the Ram is doing this, it is advised to simply dodge rather than try to attack at the same time until you are more familiar with the fight so as not to die. A good tactic on this fight is once the Ram used a skill, get behind him and attack his back. This usually makes him roar up for a moment allowing you some time to inflict damage before his next series of attacks. Using ranged weapons is very beneficial in this battle as the boss moves around a lot. Once you learn the animations and how the boss uses its skills, the battle will not be as hard and you can work towards getting a gold star on this fight.




Boss Mission (Part 2)
The following bosses always come in a pair where the first boss is always RANGED only (Melee resistance) and the second boss is always MELEE only (Projectile resistance). You are at a serious disadvantage if you use the wrong weapon on these bosses as you will do next to zero damage. You can see which boss has what attribute resists at the top of your screen in case you get confused, but they will always spawn in that order.

Since I can't stress this enough, remember!
  • 1st Hoarder = Use your pistol, shotgun, rifle, or ranged skills [Projectile]
  • 2nd Hoarder = Use your fist, light, or heavy weapon [Melee]

Try to focus your attacks only on the hoarder which matches your skill set. Ranged characters should mainly attack the ranged only hoarder and same for melee. Of course, you can simply switch your weapon to better fight either hoarder, but the extra proficiency for certain characters increases their damage possibly making one or the other hoarders easier.

Elite Floater then Dual Butcher Hoarders

Fighting the dual Butchers can be tough when you first get to this difficulty due to the speed and damage they inflict. The best tactic for this is if any of your teammates unfortunately get caught by a pounce attack, everyone should immediately rush in and do as much damage as possible because the boss will be focusing purely on whoever it pounced while the rest of the team can deal heavy damage. Luring the ranged only boss away is very useful if your team is not able to kill it fast enough because dodging the pounce and cleave attack from both at the same time is extremely dangerous and few make it out alive. Although not always, whenever the Butcher misses a pounce, it usually then quickly uses a cleave attack in the direction it came in so as to catch players who dodged the original attack off guard. Once you learn the animation for the pounce and cleave attacks, this boss gets slightly easier minus the high damage output they do.






Elite Butcher then Dual Floater Hoarders

This boss fight can be rather hectic once the hoarders spawn. Killing the ranged only boss as quickly as possible is very important as the melee one is a lot harder to kill due to giant pools of acid usually standing around the feet of the boss. Once the ranged boss is down, melee characters can simply rush in and dodge the acid spit to deal quick damage. These hoarders have similar skills to their elites including an extra long charge up which spits one acid pool that splashes into a very large acid pool. If you are not careful, you can easily get caught in this and die so always pay attention to the animation of the boss so you can dodge the attacks.






Elite Ram then Dual Puller Hoarders

This mission will open with two Suicider Ruffians, then one named elite Ram, followed by another two Suicider Ruffians, and finally the bosses. These Pullers have similar attack animations as their elite counterpart with the exception that their tongue and poison attacks are now in a cone rather than in a straight line. The tongue attack can now pull in up to three players at once in a cone shape. Similarly, the acid is also in a much larger cone and will do more damage. A good strategy is to lure the two of them apart or else there can be up to 6 tongues at one time which can be rough to dodge and may end up in a wipe if you are not careful. If they are separated, the attacks are much easier to dodge and you can focus on whichever is your strength. Melee characters should focus on the second Puller once it spawns.






John Loki

At infection level 13 and higher, John Loki will always spawn after both bosses have appeared. John Loki is simply a Looter but always features the plague attribute that creates a poisonous cloud causing heavy area damage around him. I suggest simply using ranged attacks and keeping him at a safe distance to kill him unless time is running out and you must give it your all in a melee attack. During the boss fight, John Loki is known for creating havoc by running around and doing large amounts of damage to players trying to fight the boss. A good tactic is to try to lure either the boss or John Loki away from others so that the two do not mix creating a much harder fight. If you are still struggling at this infection level where John Loki appears, slowly dragging him towards the base is a good tactic since the turrets will turn him into zombie mush rather quickly.




Extra Stuff and Advanced Tips
This section will contain various extra information about the game you might find useful as well as some advanced tips for a variety of the characters to further your skill when playing Crossroads and the game in general.

Tips and tricks you might not have known
S. = Survivor, A. = Armored, and M. = Mutated
  • By default, pressing your middle mouse button will free your camera to view more the area; pressing again will lock it back on your character.

  • The higher level you are in Crossroads, the higher level the enemies will also be. Do not fall for the false truth that you need a higher level to successfully kill the boss. Try to avoid killing enemies if not necessary so as not to inflate your level and make the run harder for you and your team.

  • Pressing T will release you from M. Berg's Bulwark skill (spiky shell) and also cancel the cast time of any of your own skills such as M. Bryce's Slithering Vein (E), Fuse's Dual Launchers (F), Xian Mei's Lingering Cut (F), and Mr. White's Beatdown (F).

  • Xian Mei's Heavenly Strike (E), Fuse's Rocket Man (E), M. Amber's Spring Strike (E), and M. Berg's Leap (F) all have the ability to jump over barriers, obstacles, or cliffs on the map.

  • Charlie's Slice n Dice (R) gives the ability to pass through enemies as well as objects such as cocoons, allowing you to run through all of them in succession to deal faster damage.

  • Charlie's Slice n Dice (R) at level 3 allows you to free yourself if tongued by a Puller. A. Berg's Berserk (F) can also do this as it removes the lesser debuff of being pulled.

  • By default, pressing Left Control as the control modifier will have A. Isys's Sentry Gun (Q), A. Amber's Command (Q), and M. Bryce's Infected Sprout (F) lock on to a chosen target. This will work on enemies, cocoons, and even barricades.

  • When battling a Spitter, if you run in a zig-zag pattern while it is spitting acid at you, you can more easily run around the attacks and not take any damage.

  • If two to four zombies are attacking you at the same time in close proximity, with fast enough attack speed you can rotate attacking each one as to interrupt their attacks and not take damage.

  • Veteran zombies are the only infected zombie that cannot have its attack interrupted with basic primary attacks. Only a stun or incapacitate will prevent their attacks.

  • No experience is gained when turrets at base kill zombies so plan your attacks for the last hit on higher tier zombies to gain the experience.

Account level at which you can equip higher tier weapons
Weapon Tier
Account Level
Type
Power
1
1
Ordinary
167
2
2
Ordinary
181
3
5
Ordinary
195

4
8
Ordinary
209
5
11
Formidable
223
6
14
Formidable
237
7
17
Formidable
251
8
20
Formidable
265
9
23
Lethal
279
10
26
Lethal
293
11
29
Lethal
307
12
32
Lethal
321
13
35
Perfect
335
14
38
Perfect
349
15
43
Perfect
363

16
49
Legendary
377
Ending Comments
Hopefully after reading this guide, you learned a whole bunch of new things about Crossroads and will be able to have a better experience while playing. Once you know how the various missions work and how to better fight all the bosses, Crossroads becomes more fun as you can relax and enjoy the game rather than always be afraid to die in a few moments.

Feel free to leave suggestions or feedback in the comments so that I can add any requested section into the guide or fix any errors. Good luck hunting!

~TrashCat™
46 Comments
TheSouzakill 7 Jun, 2015 @ 11:32pm 
How i drop tier 15 weapons? I have only tier 13.. ;(
RowlPal 6 Jun, 2015 @ 4:47am 
Do the Boss Missions mentioned in Part 2 exist anymore? I've played several Crossroad matches, but I've only encountered Massive Zombie based missions.
RowlPal 6 Jun, 2015 @ 4:45am 
DexJ, I believe that is an old hud. It's been updated, but I couldn't tell you the time it was because I took a long break from this game, so it was updated when I returned.
DexJ 20 Apr, 2015 @ 1:35am 
How do you have this hud ?
. 24 Mar, 2015 @ 8:43am 
I hope you could do an endemic crossroads survival guide, buddy.
K'mar 3 Feb, 2015 @ 8:49pm 
They have updated the Crossroads to be more consistent and shorter.
funtimes69 3 Feb, 2015 @ 5:48pm 
hey great guide. could you describe what each status effect do? a few are rather ambiguous like Disarm, Incapacitate, etc. then there are others that sound the same like Slowness, Cripple, Incapacitate, etc. There are fewer that work differently depending on which character uses it for instance, Sam B's Taunt (i might be wrong) can taunt the End Bosses whereas MBergs can't.

Here's a list so you don't have to look them all up and which character cause them so if you have you can test.

Stun (White)
Cripple (White Samb)
Confusion (White Wanta)
Weaken (Samber)
Immobolize (Samber)
Dispel (Samber) (Distinguish Lesser Debuffs to Greaters)
Disarm (Samber Voltage)
Slowness (Samber)
Incapacitate (Sbryce)
Haste (Sbryce)
Hemmorhage (Charlie)
Disable (Charlie)
Rupture (Charlie)
Blind (Roy)
Amplify (Roy)
Invisble (Mamber)
Immaterial (Wanta Mamber)
Chill (Hailey)
Frozen (Hailey)
Taunt (Mberg Samb)
Cooldown Pause (Voltage)

Thanks and again great guide.
kya 2 Feb, 2015 @ 11:52am 
Good job on that guide! :Ageha:
Naviut 2 Feb, 2015 @ 7:13am 
XD better than the in game tutorial!
badebier2 27 Jan, 2015 @ 11:30pm 
Excellent guide, good job trashcat.