Dead Island Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Dead Island Wiki

Only the Strong Survive is a hard difficulty main quest given to the Hero by Earl in Dead Island.

Synopsis[]

Protect Earl from waves of zombies while he reinforces the truck.

Walkthrough[]

  • Talk to Earl again to start the quest.
  • He tells them that he was bitten but can still work. He can turn the truck into whatever the heroes want, but it won't be quiet, so they need to protect the workshop while Earl is working.
  • The door will open to allow you to exit and upon leaving, it will close up again. It will now remain closed until you have killed all the Infected that charge at you.
  • They will come in either pairs or fours, so take out your best weapon and prepare to kill them.
  • There are several methods to defeat them, see below. If you don't want to use any of them, just stand your ground and aim for the head when you swing at them.
  • Every attack will come from the way you came in, through the open double fence doors. However, the last attack will come from the right (facing away from the workshop door).
  • The doors to the workshop on the right will burst open and several Infected and Walkers will come for you.
  • Take the Infected out first before dealing with the Walkers.
  • After this, no new attacks come so wait ten seconds or so until the quest log updates and the door opens again.
  • Upon entering the workshop again, a cutscene will play showing the new, improved truck. However, as Logan goes to enter it, it's shown to be locked with Earl holding the keys. He wants them to take Jin with them, as he is infected and doesn't want to harm her when he turns. Reluctantly, they take Jin with them so that Earl will give them the keys. He then locks himself in the back room. You then get control of your character back as the cutscene ends and the quest finishes.

Strategies for deal with the Infected[]

Method One:[]

To your right (facing away from the main door) is a small covered area above some barrels. There's a ladder to allow you to climb up it. When the Infected spawn, climb the ladder and wait for them. They will gather below you where you can then either throw something at them (like a Deo-Bomb or Molotov Cocktail) while remaining safe on the roof. Just make sure to back away from the edge after throwing it so you don't get caught in the blast. If you don't have a throwable, you can leap down and kill them before they can react to you. This works for every attack. If the Infected don't spot you when they spawn, just jump down until you near them scream, then climb up the ladder to rinse and repeat.

Method Two:[]

There's several ladders to reach the very top of the workshop roof. You can climb up it and force the Infected to climb up to reach you. This is handy because they will only come from one area, being the bottom left corner (facing away from the main door). By employing this strat, you'll know exactly where they'll come from and what direction, so you don't get caught off guard. You can even camp where they climb up and just hit them on the head as they try and climb to the roof. However, this doesn't work for the final wave with Walkers, as Walkers can't climb, so you'd have to jump down to deal with them. There's also a chance that an Infected will clip into the workshop as it climbs up, making it unreachable and therefore unkillable, making you reload the last checkpoint.

Method Three:[]

There's many stacks of barrels around the area, which you can reach the top of with some parkour skills. When you reach the top, the Infected will gather around the bottom, meaning that if you have a long handed weapon like a Fire Axe, Pickaxe, Sledgehammer or Large Baseball Bat, you can kill them without risk to yourself. However, this is the most dangerous strat, as you can easily slip off the barrels to the floor and sometimes the Infected might push one of their own up the barrels because of the collision.

Method Four:[]

This is a very unorthodox method, and requires a lot of set up, so for some people it might now be worth it, as you can be done with the quest with one of the other methods before you've even set this one up. It involves bring several other vehicles to make your life easier, as well as setting it up during the quest prior (Misery Wagon). In single player this is easily done by leaving the armored truck at the Old Marina Workshop and hiking back to the Lighthouse to get one. Use the beach and go around to the downed helicopter and from there go to the Lighthouse to avoid the Lighthouse Gas Station and its many foes (or simply go up the hillside). With the second vehicle park it (ahead of time) and simply jump on the hood once you're locked out of the workshop. The Infected can't climb on the hood but are still able to detect you, making them easy prey to any attack.

Notes[]

  • This is a good chance to get a lot of meat for the meat bait blueprint if you use a blunt weapon, as you can only obtain it from Infected and there sure is a lot of Infected for this quest.
  • Make sure to loot the workshop interior before heading out, as there's three metal chests, some medkits and a box of pistol ammo plus a workbench. Use these to prepare before going out.
  • The Infected are marked on your minimap as white skulls when they spawn. Use this to your advantage.
  • If low on health, climb one of the ladders to find a pipe and some energy drinks. The attacking undead will not be able to follow, allowing you time to rest and heal. You can wait a while and they will start walking away until you climb down, allowing easy kills while their backs are turned. Though the former experience is not typical, as the Infected may instead congregate under the area the player stands and wait for them to come down.
  • Before the Infected come, you can grab the nearest Propane Tank and throw it near a ladder. You can then climb the ladder, wait for them to gather around the Propane Tank and when you feel there are enough Infected, throw a weapon or shoot it (you did get the 15 pistol ammo in the garage when you were there, right?) for an easy group kill. Be careful, as waiting too long will make them return to their areas. Also be careful not to be near the explosion of the tank, as it can knock you off the building, causing fall damage.
  • Hiding in the dumpster near the fence is a very good tactic, especially if you want to get the One is all I need and Can't touch this achievements/trophies. There are more enemies than those you'd need to get these awards. Just make sure you walk to the very front so the Infected can detect you. If they are very far away, get out of the dumpster to lure them in, then quickly jump back in. This is a good way to complete the mission without any loss of health at all.
  • The Infected are able to climb some boxes so be careful what elevated positions you use. They are easy targets while climbing, however.
  • Make certain to loot the second building that opens up when the workshop is locked. Loot it inside and on the roof for collectables. Inside Earl's building there is a box of Pistol ammo. Thoroughly loot his building as soon as the chance arises since you'll be locked out for the rest of the game.

Video Walkthrough[]

Advertisement