Doctor Aaron Welles, also known as The Mutant, is a character who appears in Escape Dead Island. He was a doctor working for GeoPharm until he was bitten by a zombie. He ultimately turned into a "mutant" when Dr. Faith Kimball gave him a faulty antidote.[1][2] He becomes one of Cliff Calo's main enemies in the game and the main boss at the end. He is first met in Mission 7 - Beauty and the Beast when he takes Linda Waterson to the GeoPharm Labs from the Mountaintop.[3]
He is found with Faith in his lab deep within the facility, testing out a cure on Linda. He suggests to Faith that they return to the villa,[4] but Faith is determined to try and save Linda. Aaron angrily smashes the machine Linda is being monitored with, angering Cliff, who shoots at him with a pistol. Further enraged by Cliff, who missed him,[5] he chases him through the greenhouse, resulting in Cliff diving through a window to escape him.[6]
He later gets a hold of Devan Mavropani,[7] who had gone to the Marina to look for a boat to escape with.[8] Faith informs Cliff of this after he fails to find Devan at the marina. Telling him that Welles has taken Devan to the villa,[9] Cliff breaks in and makes his way towards the top floor of the villa, where Faith has managed to get Devan away from Aaron. Cliff is chased by an angry Welles while going through the villa, only to escape when a part of the floor Welles was running on collapses under him, killing him from the falling rubble.
After Cliff is bitten by Devan and enters his own mind to battle the infection, Welles turns up, warning Cliff not to trust Faith or her cure, citing his mutated state.[1] Cliff ends up battling a shadow version of Welles before finally escaping his mind.
Appearance[]
Welles is a large, mutated monster of a person, easily far taller than Cliff, making him around 7 feet or possibly larger. He struggles to get through doorways due to his mutations. He is still wearing the remains of his clothes, consisting of a lab coat, complete with an ID Card still clipped on, gray trousers, white socks, and black shoes. His skin is stretched, ripped, and torn due to the mutation, revealing muscle and flesh, as well as veins popping out all over his body. He's still wearing his glasses and also has short, brown hair.[10]
Strategy[]
- Welles has a lot of health, but is not all too fast. You can outrun him, proving you still have stamina to use.
- Dodging is essential if he's close. Use it to get out of his way.
- He does a lot of damage with his fists. Try not to get cornered by the various minions that join him in the fight.
- Melee combat is not advised with him, as he does a lot of damage, and the other zombies with him can easily block you in, meaning you can't dodge and will be killed easily by their combined attacks.
- Using the hellfire shotgun is by far the best way of dealing with him. It can kill him in 24 shells, which is 2 full magazines. It will be around 4 or more magazines with the regular shotgun, thanks to its lower damage and lower magazine shell capacity (8 to the hellfire's 12).
- If the Underwater Labs DLC is installed and has been completed, the assault rifle works wonders on Welles. Thanks to its high fire rate, it can kill him in around 2 magazines rather quickly.
- Using a pistol is ill-advised, as it does barely any damage and is not worth your time.
Damage and Health[]
- Mutant Aaron has 500 HP and continuously regens 40.34 HP per second, even when damaged.
- Mutant Aaron deals 10 damage per punch.
- Shadow Aaron has 175 HP and does not regenerate his health.
- Shadow Aaron deals 10 damage per punch.
Notes[]
- It was Faith's cure that caused Aaron to be mutated like he is, as revealed by GeoPharm File 22 and Welles himself.[1][2]
- Only the Assault rifle, Hellfire shotgun, and regular shotgun can achieve DPS above 40.34, making it possible to kill mutant Aaron with these weapons at the expense of much shotgun ammo.
- Killing mutant Aaron in the labs' greenhouse causes another mutant Aaron to spawn at the entrance of his lab, meaning the player will always be chased. Nothing is achieved by killing mutant Aaron.
- Killing mutant Aaron in the Villa during Mission 10 and in Cliff's mind during Mission 11 does not reward anything; however, this time, no new Aaron is spawned.
- Aaron does not have a death animation and instead freezes in place, his body disappearing after 15 seconds and his clothes disappearing after an additional 2 seconds.
- Taking a picture of Welles with the Camera gives Snapshot 4.
Trivia[]
- Aaron is the only zombie whose shadow version is weaker than the 'flesh and blood' version.
- Aaron is technically the second zombie in the series to be able to speak/talk, the other being Suiciders from Dead Island and Dead Island: Riptide.
- Mutant Aaron Welles is the only zombie in the game to have less health on New Game +.
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Dialogue from Aaron during Deliverance: "I let Faith "cure" me. Now I look like this."
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 GeoPharm File 22: "Faith's cure will never work. We're willing to accept that it's a retrovirus, but the side effects... I mean, look at Dr. Welles!"
- ↑ Beginning cutscene of Beauty and the Beast
- ↑ Dialogue from Welles near the end of Beauty and the Beast: "We have to go back to the Villa then."
- ↑ Cutscene near the end of Beauty and the Beast
- ↑ Ending cutscene of Beauty and the Beast
- ↑ Dialogue from Faith during Father's Day: "Your friend, Devan, the Mutant got him."
- ↑ Dialogue from Devan in the opening cutscene of Beauty and the Beast: "I'm heading down to that Marina and getting off this island."
- ↑ Dialogue from Faith Kimball during Faith: "Can you make it to the Villa?" // "I can help you get him out. You just have to get me out, too. Agreed?"
- ↑ Escape Dead Island
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