Wrestlers are a strong type of infected in Dead Island: Riptide and first appear in the main quest The Crossing when Wayne mutates because of the chemicals being mixed in the tunnels.
Overview[]
These zombies can smash the ground knocking the Heroes down. They are powerful enough to kill the Hero with a single direct hit or reduce the hero's health by half if in the shockwave zone emanating from the impact point. Luckily, it moves very slowly. It is first seen when Wayne mutates after leaving the tunnels towards the highway, they are then encountered in later parts of Henderson.
Appearance[]
The Wrestler has a build similar to that of a Thug. The main difference, however, is that a Wrestlers right arm has mutated to become three times the size of its left, giving the zombie an extremely disproportionate (and distinctive) look. Its intestines have been ripped out, either by zombies or the mutation process, and this type of Zombies skin (apart from Mutated Wayne) is always a rotten-brown color. Additionally, a Wrestler is almost naked, with their only clothes being a pair of damaged jeans. Combined with their massive size (even larger than that of a Thug), Wrestlers immediately stand out against any other zombie, and should, thanks to their massive threat to the Heroes.
Behaviour[]
The Wrestler will often hang around with other basic zombies, such as Walkers or Infected, likely for extra protection to distract you. The zombie moves very slowly and his heavy footfall can be heard from a way away, giving the player an early warning of his whereabouts. The zombie will occasionally roar when idle and will not wander about a lot. When spotting the player, he will slowly lumber towards them, dragging its mutated arm behind it, to perform one of two different attacks. One is a ground pound, where he will raise up his mutated arm before slamming it to the ground again, causing a shockwave that is capable of knocking you over. The other attack is a sweeping swing, where he twirls around the arm to send you flying if it connects. Both of these attacks are slow, however, especially when they are winding down, giving ample opportunities to get some quick hits in even if you were knocked down.
Strategy[]
There are several different ways to deal with the Wrestler.
- One method is the tried and tested 'lob explosives and molotovs at it until it dies' tactic, where you get onto a ledge that the Wrestler can't reach and just throw throwable items at it to take down its health. Because of its slow speed due to the heavy mutated arm slowing it down, you can even be on level ground and use this tactic, but make sure you have plenty of space, as even though it's slow, it will still reach you eventually.
- Another method is the ol' 'guns blazing' strat, or more specifically, using a sniper rifle to get in a couple of headshots on it. Their heads are very fat, like a Floater, so there's plenty to work with. A few headshots will easily take it down, especially if you have a good rifle (blue rarity or higher).
- Because of the slow speed of this special infected, you can kite around it as you would with a Floater, leaving it unable to attack because it's trying to keep up with you.
- Because of this, some of the Floater strategies will also work with the Wrestler.
- It's ill-advised to remain near to a Wrestler if you engage it in melee combat. If you get too close to it, it will likely perform its ground-pound attack, throwing you backward and causing massive damage. As a result, it's advised to only attack it a few times and dodge out of there when it goes for an attack.
- Take out any other smaller zombies around it first before dealing with the Wrestler. If you get grabbed by a Walker when the Wrestler is going for an attack, you could easily die from not being able to get away.
- An also great way is to use a melee weapon. This method works very well. When you find it, use a melee weapon (It's advised to use strong and long weapons), then slash at them. They will be stunned for a moment. Then, they will do their attack, which you need to move somewhere to avoid it. Once it has done, repeat the cycle again and again until it dies.
Notable Wrestlers[]
Trivia[]
- It may be just a coincidence, but the Wrestler's design closely resembles a Charger from Left 4 Dead 2.
- This as a result has caused people to joke about the very "resembling difference" with the Charger.
- In the Definitive Edition, the guts hanging from the Wrestler's stomach now move around.
- The Wrestler's main slam attack animations had some slight changes in the Definitive version; instead of slamming almost his whole arm to the ground, he strikes down fist first and the attack is fairly a bit quicker.
- When you smash the Wrestler's head as a final blow, the same as you would with a Walker, the Wrestler will also play the same animation of punching at the air before falling down if not interrupted. This is strange because the Wrestler doesn't have a smashed-head model like the other zombies. It's also very illogical for it to punch with its mutated arm like the Walkers do when their heads are smashed.
- A Wrestler's remains can be seen shortly into the tunnels, in a pile of glowing green chemicals.
- The Wrestler is one of the few notable zombies to so far not to make any other appearances after Dead Island: Riptide.
- The Stomper, a zombie that appeared in Dead Island: Retro Revenge, is similar to this enemy.
Gallery[]
