Curveballs

Think guns and melee weapons are the only way to send Hell-A’s undead back to the grave? Think again. Curveballs are Dead Island 2’s wildcard throwables, a gloriously unhinged arsenal of meat chunks, exploding pipe bombs, molotov cocktails, and electrified ninja stars that would make any zombie-slaying slayer grin from ear to ear. There are 13 of these bad boys hidden across the sun-soaked ruins of Los Angeles, and tracking them all down is well worth the effort. Best of all, they run on a cooldown rather than ammo, so you’ll never have to worry about running out of flaming bottles mid-zombie-apocalypse. You can carry two at a time, so choose your favorites wisely, or just grab whatever sounds most ridiculous and start throwing.

Base Game

Meat Bait

• Location: Bel-Air
• How to get: Obtained for free by trading with Carlos during the Call the Cavalry quest. It’s essentially the first Curveball you’ll receive in the campaign.
• Effect: Creates a gooey puddle that attracts regular zombies, not Apex types.

Shuriken

• Location: Halperin Hotel
• How to get: As soon as you pass into the Halperin Hotel region, early in the game, the Shuriken Curveball will be wedged into a car door directly in front of you.
• Effect: Throws out three Shuriken in a horizontal spread. They don’t do a lot of damage, but can stagger and even remove limbs if you aim them well.

Chem Bomb

• Location: Halperin Hotel
• How to get: You’ll receive the Chem Bomb as part of the main story when you’re in the Halperin Hotel and you come across a fire blocking the path.
• Effect: Removes flames and makes zombies traumatised and soggy.

Caustic-X Bomb

• Location: Halperin Hotel
• How to get: Complete the Ravages of Caustic-X sidequest.
• Effect: Explodes after a short while, dealing caustic damage and melting zombies that get affected.

Pipe Bomb

• Location: Beverly Hills
• How to get: While going through the checkpoints between Beverly Hills and Monarch Studios, keep an eye out for an open crate with the Pipe Bomb in it on one of the tables.
• Effect: Will explode after a couple of seconds once thrown.

Electric Star

• Location: Beverly Hills / Brentwood Water Reclamation Project
• How to get: You’ll be taken to the Brentwood Water Reclamation Project plant during the Justifiable Zombicide mission. While there, snag the Electric Star sticking out of the safety sign on the fence.
• Effect: Similar to the Shuriken in that it deals damage directly to the target, but also causes the shock effect and any elemental reactions that can be triggered.

Molotov Cocktail

• Location: Brentwood Sewer
• How to get: When you’re brought into the Brentwood Sewer during The Heart of Darkness mission, the Molotov will be in the office next to the Filtration Access and Servicing room.
• Effect: Lights any zombie hit with it on fire, plus leaves a lingering patch of fire on the ground.

Flashbang

• Location: Venice Beach
• How to get: Go to the radio tower near the military barracks. At the top of the tower, you’ll find Warrant Officer Rodriguez, who has the Cremains of the Day sidequest. Complete this and she’ll sell the Flashbang for $2,500.
• Effect: Traumatizes all zombies that get affected by the blinding blast, allowing you to perform a counter while they’re stunned.

Electric Bomb

• Location: Venice Beach
• How to get: Complete the Jo’s Rainy Day Stash Lost & Found weapon quest in Venice Beach.
• Effect: Think of it as a Pipe Bomb, only replace the explosion with a dome of electricity that is great for stunning groups.

Sticky Bomb

• Location: Ocean Avenue – Serling Hotel
• How to get: Bring Dougie at the Serling Hotel $1,500 and he’ll part ways with the Sticky Bomb.
• Effect: Will stick to a surface or enemy that it hits before exploding.

Bait Bomb

• Location: Ocean Avenue – Serling Hotel
• How to get: Another item Dougie will sell you, this time only after you beat The Search for Truth main mission. For just $3,500.
• Effect: Will also lure regular zombies, just like the Meat Bait, but will also explode after a while.

Nail Bomb

• Location: Santa Monica Pier / Lifeguard HQ
• How to get: Ezekiel, the trader at the Lifeguard HQ, sells the Nail Bomb Curveball for $1,500.
• Effect: When it explodes, it sends bits of shrapnel in a radius around it, doing bleeding damage over time to those it hits.

Military Grenade

• Location: Monarch Studios
• How to get: Complete the Boz Makes a Bang sidequest for Hana, which you can only get after beating The Rav-Ages of Caustic-X and Dez and the Mother of Satan quests.
• Effect: This high-explosive detonates on impact no matter what. The utility of it not having a timer makes it useful.

SoLA DLC

Hornet’s Nest

• Location: SoLA festival grounds
• How to get: Awarded automatically after killing your first Clotters at the end of the Shit Hits the Fan story quest, unmissable if you play through the DLC.
• Effect: Releases a swarm of hornets that attack and distract nearby zombies. Crowd control focused.