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How to get the best Dying Light 2 weapons

Whether you’re looking for ranged weapons or rare drops, here are the best Dying Light 2 weapons you should keep an eye out for and how to unlock them

A man threatening the protagonist with a machete - one of the Dying Light 2 weapons

Looking for the strongest Dying Light 2 weapons? Surviving in Villedor is no easy task, and with hordes of infected everywhere you turn, you’ll quickly learn what a difference a good weapon can make in Techland’s gory zombie game.

As you explore and progress through the story, you find plenty of loot scattered throughout the post-apocalyptic city, including weapons and materials. Blunt weapons, such as maces, hammers, and sticks, can knock enemies down, whereas slashing weapons like axes and machetes can slice through limbs. There are also ranged weapons that enable you to fight from a distance, though you won’t find guns lying around Villedor – it’s a bullet free zone. Instead, you unlock bows at a specific point in the campaign.

With the exception of specific mission rewards, you will find only random weapons in Dying Light 2. Depending on your level, they have variable stats so your weapons will get better as you level up. You can tell how good a weapon is by checking out its rarity, which ranges from common ‘white’ weapons through to uncommon (green), rare (blue), unique (purple), and finally artifact weapons, which are highlighted in gold. Artifact weapons have the highest durability, the most weapon mod slots, and the most stat bonuses. Here’s how to find the best Dying Light 2 weapons.

Airdrops

Airdrop crates often contain rare items, so we recommend attempting to loot them whenever you spot one. You can usually find them on rooftops, identifiable by the tell-tale parachute dangling from the roof next to them. They take a bit of climbing to reach, but they’re worth the effort.

Related: How to repair your weapon in Dying Light 2

Towards the end of the game, you gain access to the Newfound Lost Lands area – the Sunken Airdrops here have particularly good loot, and there’s a high chance you’ll find artifact weapons there.

A man in makeshift armour pointing to a tall tower in Dying Light 2

GRE trailers

You can discover artifact weapons while out looting normally, if you’re lucky; but if you’re in particular need of an upgrade, your best bet is to find GRE trailers. You can unlock GRE trailers with the GRE key, and each one contains a random artifact weapon as well as other rare loot. As far as we know, these weapons don’t respawn alongside the other loot in the trailer, though, so once you pick them up, they’re locked to your level for the rest of the game.

Quest items

Bow and arrow

The bow and arrow is your ranged weapon in Dying Light 2, but you can’t access one until partway through the story. You automatically receive the basic bow after completing the “Let’s Waltz” mission, several hours into the game, along with a set of arrow blueprints. Further arrow blueprints with powerful elemental effects are available to buy from Craftmasters.

Paper Clip bow

The Paper Clip bow is an upgrade to your standard bow and you can find it during The Shoe mission – it’s on a shelf in Lawan’s apartment.

Holding a bow and arrow in Dying Light 2

Vendors

You can exchange Old World Money for weapons and accessories at vendors across the city – as you level up, the stock on offer improves, too.

Boomstick

We mentioned earlier that you won’t find guns lying around, but there is one gun you can craft yourself, called the Boomstick. You can purchase the blueprint for this weapon from any Peacekeeper craftmaster after completing the Observatory mission – it’s quite a way into the main story, after gaining access to the Central Loop.

Rewards

PK Crossbow

Who needs guns when you’ve got a ridiculously strong semi-automatic crossbow? The PK crossbow is the fourth alignment reward from the Peacekeeper faction, so you’ll need to hand over four Facilities to the PKs before receiving this powerful ranged weapon. You can’t mod it, but you can craft several different types of bolts to use with the crossbow instead.

Other than that, we recommend you keep an eye out for randomly generated weapons with good attributes that increase your damage. No use having a strong weapon if you can’t stand and fight, so to increase your health and stamina, here’s where to find Dying Light 2 inhibitors. If you’re struggling to figure out Dying Light 2 safe codes, we’ve got you covered there, too.