Dying Light 2 weapons and best weapon mods explained

Dying Light press image fighting bandits — (Image credit: Techland)

Dying Light 2 weapons and weapon mods are incredibly useful to have handy when you need to fend off the Infected of Villedor. You’ll be able to arm yourself with numerous improvised melee weapons, including ramshackle katanas, axes made of disc brakes, and even bows with special arrow types. On top of each bladed or blunt weapon, you’ll also be able to slap on some elemental mods to inflict extra damage and special effects on your foes in Dying Light 2. If you need to know how Dying Light 2 weapons and weapon mods work, and what the best weapon mods are, we’ve got you covered.

Dying Light 2 weapons and how to get them

Dying Light 2 fully modded artifact weapon — (Image credit: Techland)

Dying Light 2 weapons are obviously very important for fighting and therefore surviving. As you play, you’ll be picking up new ones all the time from enemies you defeat, crates of loot, and mission rewards. Because you can't repair things, only boost durability by adding mods, it's very much a use and lose system. The short lifespan means you’ll be switching and replacing weapons constantly as you progress.

Aiden can hold up to four weapons of any type, including swords, axes, maces, machetes, sticks, hammers, knuckle dusters, and one or two-handed varieties. You’ll even find bows, although the first one you get isn't great so it's best to wait superior options later. Getting a good bow allows you to play ranged stealth very effectively, and you can clear enemy bases without ever being seen.

There isn’t really a best Dying Light 2 weapon type, as they all perform quite similarly. That said, one-handed weapons have lower damage but a faster swing speed, while two-handed weapons have high damage with slow swings that require good timing to land. Equip a variety of weapons so that you have the right tool for the job. For example, faster one handed weapons are often best against large crowds of zombies, while slower two handed options work well against bosses or smaller groups.

Dying Light 2 bows and crossbows

Dying Light 2 using bow to shoot bandit — (Image credit: Techland)

As we mentioned earlier, further in the game a Dying Light 2 bow becomes available, with lots of different arrow types for you to use. The first bow you get isn't really much good, but a later bow called the Paper Clip can be found during a mission called The Shoe. And if you don't get that mission, you can also buy it from traders. That does decent damage and lets you clear entire bases with stealthy ranged headshots. There's also a crossbow you can get for assigning enough facilities to the Peacekeepers.

Dying Light 2 weapon rarity and tiers

Dying Light 2 vendor selling artifact weapon — (Image credit: Techland)

As you progress through the story and level up, you’ll find that your weapons quickly improve in damage, and more gradually improve in durability and rarity. You’ll sometimes be able to find the top-tier Artifact rarity weapons in the big, dark-green containers found around Villedor, particularly in Military Convoys. Traders at major faction structures also offer a selection of decent weaponry for you to buy that improves in damage and rarity as you level up, although the weapons can be quite expensive. Here’s how each weapon rarity tier differs:

Common/White: Lowest durability.
Uncommon/Green: Improved durability.
Rare/Blue: High durability with up to two mod slots and one stat bonus.
Unique/Purple: Very high durability with up to three weapon mod slots and two stat bonuses.
Artifact/Gold: Best durability with up to three weapon mod slots and three stat bonuses.

It’s important to know that there isn’t a proper system for fully repairing and levelling weapons, although there are some things that can be done to repair weapons in Dying Light 2. If you find something you like, don’t get too attached and don’t be afraid to use it. You might want to save an Artifact weapon that you found early in the game, but you’ll quickly find that it gets outclassed in damage by lower-tier weaponry. Enjoy them while they last and always be on the lookout for higher-damage replacements.

Dying Light 2 trading weapons with vendor — (Image credit: Techland)

Once your weapons have reached the end of their lifespan, you’ll unfortunately find that there is no dismantling system in Dying Light 2 that allows you to break down your damaged tools for scrap parts. The only thing to do is sell them to a trader or use them until they totally break. Individual Dying Light 2 weapons are rarely valuable, so you’ll have to sell in bulk to get the greatest return for buying new and more powerful weapons that you can outfit with weapon mods.

How to use Dying Light 2 weapon mods

Dying Light 2 fire blast weapon mod — (Image credit: Techland)

Dying Light 2 weapon mods can really change up how your weapons behave and how much damage they do. While they’re not crucial – what with weapons having limited durability and easily becoming outclassed by newer weapons – they’re certainly useful for their elemental damage and status effects that can open some creative combat techniques.

To get weapon mods, you need to buy the blueprints from Craftmasters in Dying Light 2. Each Craftmaster will have a selection of mods for you to buy in their stock, so make sure you visit a few to pick up to fill out your personal stock of mod blueprints. Dying Light 2 mods and other pieces of gear can also be upgraded by a Craftmaster to improve their damage and effectiveness in other areas.

Dying Light 2 craftmaster weapon mod stock — (Image credit: Techland)

Once you’ve bought a mod, you can apply it to a weapon by opening your inventory and hovering the cursor over the weapon that you want to modify. Press Y/Triangle to open the mod menu, and you’ll be able to select a mods for every available slot on your weapon from the list of mods you have unlocked. You’ll need to make sure you meet the material cost to actually apply the mod, however. Once a mod has been applied to a slot, it cannot be changed or removed.

Dying Light 2 weapon mods are broken down into three different attachment slots: Tip, Shaft, and Grip. Functionally, the Tip and Shaft slots don’t have any particular traits other than to organise weapon mods and limit the combinations. Grip mods focus on enhancing a weapon by increasing its damage or increasing the rate at which it deteriorates. However, not all weapons have access to all slots, so you’ll be able to fully kit out only the best Unique and Artifact weapons. There’s also a bonus fourth slot for Charms, although those are purely cosmetic.

There are also several flavors of Dying Light 2 weapon mods that fit into these attachment slots:

Crit Mods: the effects of these mods are activated on a Critical Hit which has a random chance of happening when you strike an enemy. There are Tip and Shaft Crit Mods available.
Power Mods: these mods need to be fully charged by hitting enemies and can then be activated with a Power Attack. You can only perform such attacks if you have the relevant Combat Skill unlocked. You can get Power Mods for the Tip slot.
Blast Mods: these mods can be manually activated but have a cooldown time before they can be used again. You’ll find these in the Shaft slot.

Dying Light 2 modifying weapon — (Image credit: Techland)

Each mod has its own elemental damage type or effect that harms your enemies in particular ways. All of them deal varying amounts of extra damage but they also affect enemies in particular ways. Here are all the types:

Fire: Burns enemies over time and can spread to nearby enemies
Shock: Strong damage that can chain to other nearby enemies
Toxic: Causes enemies to stagger, allowing you to vault over them
Freeze: Has an immobilizing effect on enemies
Bleed: Deals high damage over time
Blast: Forcefully knocks enemies away

Dying Light 2 best weapon mods

Dying Light 2 toxic weapon mod stagger enemy — (Image credit: Techland)

While a lot of Dying Light 2 mods perform well and generally increase your weapon’s damage by a substantial amount when they activate, there are a few that we’d recommend you try as they proved to be particularly effective. Here are the best weapon mods in Dying Light 2 in no particular order:

Spark: Tip or Shaft slot Crit Mod that shocks an enemy on a critical hit and can chain to others nearby.
Flame: Tip or Shaft slot Crit Mod that ignites an enemy on a critical hit which can spread to other enemies.
Puff: Tip slot Power Mod that blasts an enemy back with a power attack once the mod has been fully charged.
Acid: Tip slot Power Mod that staggers enemies with the Toxic effect, making them good for vaulting over, when hit with a power attack once the mod has been fully charged.
Inferno: Shaft slot Blast Mod that scorches enemies with a blast of Fire that can also spread to others nearby.
Bane: Shaft slot Blast Mod that fires a blast that staggers enemies with the Toxic effect and deals damage, making them good for vaulting over.
Catapult: Shaft slot Blast Mod that blasts an enemy back and deals high damage thanks to a manually activated blast.
Slaughter: Shaft slot Blast Mod that fires a blast that staggers enemies with the Toxic effect and deals damage, making them good for vaulting over.

Any sort of Blast Mod for your weapon’s shaft slot will deal high damage, so those that apply the effects of Fire, Bleed, or Blast are very useful. Unlike Blast Mods, Crit Mods don't need to be activated manually and are instead random. This mean they provide good passive bonuses when they do activate, so it’s always good to have at least one – be sure to upgrade it to improve its effectiveness and critical hit chance. The most damaging effects, such as Fire and Shock, are great for this mod type,

In terms of specific mod effects, mods with the Blast effect in Dying Light 2 are useful for damage and the knockback. Confusingly, these aren't the same as Blast Mods for your Shaft slot. The strong knockback from the Blast effect allows you to make some space if you get overcrowded, or make enemies vulnerable to attack. Moreover, Fire and Shock mods are great for dealing high damage to potentially multiple targets at once. Finally, the Toxic effect is very useful for players that favor their parkour and vaulting attacks in combat as Toxic staggers enemies mid-fight.

Dying Light 2 The Only Way Out choices | Tell the truth in Dying Light 2 Cheers or make a deal | Help Hakon or leave him to die in Dying Light 2 Revolution? | Go to Aitor or Sophie in the Dying Light 2 Raid quest? | Keep a promise to Alberto or go to the center in Dying Light 2 Revolution | Dying Light 2 Meet the People of the Bazaar | Dying Light 2 Water Tower choice | Split the goods or fight in Dying Light 2 The Ball is in Your Court | Help Anderson or not in Dying Light 2 | Dying Light 2 radio tower | Dying Light 2 Juan choices | Dying Light 2 Aitor quest | Dying Light 2 True Friends