Dead Island 2: How to Get Mutated Hearts

Crafting is a vital combat feature in Dead Island 2 that helps players maintain and upgrade their weapons. Weapons can be upgraded with status effect mods, defensive abilities, and perks with the right ingredients. Of course, some crafting items are more common than others. One of the rarest and hardest to come by is a Mutated Heart, which goes into making one of the best weapons in the game.

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By Jake Fillery

Now, Mutated Hearts are not really 'found' anywhere, unlike other things such as Fabric or Chemicals. Players will have to seek out a specific Zombie variant if they want Mutated Hearts in Dead Island 2, and they can use this guide to find out which one and how to farm the valuable resource.

Updated May 31st, 2024 by Jacob Buchalter: While both the Haus and SoLA DLCs for Dead Island 2 add quite a bit to the game overall (even if fans are conflicted as to how 'good' these DLCs are), they don't add a ton of new Walker Variants. The SoLA DLC really only adds 2 overall, though it at least does dress the Walkers up in festival gear so they blend in with the setting. This is all to say that the method for getting Mutated Hearts in this game hasn't really changed, as Mutators still spawn in the same locations and nothing else has been introduced that also drops this Zombie Part. Let's break it down in fine detail exactly how Mutators work, how they fight, and how to spot them before they even mutate in the first place.

How to Get Mutated Hearts in Dead Island 2

Obviously Mutated Hearts Come From Mutators

Obtaining Mutated Hearts in Dead Island 2 is a bit of an involved process, as it basically demands that players are in the late-game stages of DI2's story (more specifically, you're past The Search for Truth you're good to go). Mutators are these gigantic lumbering Apex monstrocities that have an absurd amount of health, deal an absurd amount of damage, and blend in with the other Walkers before mutating absurdly well.

When these Apex Walkers are first introduced in the Search for Truth with Subject: Noah, you'll sort of get the Spartan training method where you'll learn about how to deal with Mutators as you're fighting them. Compared to all the other Apex Walkers, Mutators still do have a weak area (in particular their legs and unmutated arm) but it's a lot less of a glaring weakness than the ones the rest of the Apex Variants have.

Attack Patterns & How To Spot Them

How to Deal With Them & How To Spot Their Pre-Mutated Forms in a Crowd

Mutators, while scary, don't have a ton of different attacks to trip you up. All of their attacks can be tough to handle, but once you understand how to tell them apart these Apex Walkers are a lot easier to deal with:

Attack 'Name'	Description
Slap & Slam	The attack you'll probably see most often. The Mutator 'swipes' at you with their relatively 'normal' arm before winding up and slamming their bone-blade arm into the ground, creating a shockwave around the point of impact.
Wide Swipe	Typically used when you attack the Mutator from their blindspot or the first attack they use after recovering from being staggered, the Mutator literally does an almost spinning swipe with their 'normal' arm, pushing you back and dealing a bit of damage. Also commonly used in combination with their Slap & Slam attack.
Lunge	The Mutator literally lunges forward, stabbing you with its blade-arm. There's not much wind up to this, so if you see it leading with the blade-arm, be ready to dodge to the side.
Bone Barrage	Whenever you keep a bit too much distance between you and the Mutator, they'll start using this attack as a way of telling you to get closer. Essentially, the Mutator curls up a bit, as if it's inhaling to let out a big scream, before reeling back and firing these bone shards out of its open chest 'maw'.
Grab & Devour	Lastly, the Mutator has a grabbing attack where it swings its 'normal' arm overhead and tries to grab you. You can either block this or avoid it, but if you're grabbed you'll have to complete a QTE while taking constant Bleed Damage from the Mutator's protruding rib cage. Fail the QTE, and you're instantly killed.

Finding Mutators in a Crowd

Now, what's the actual best way to kill Mutators? Well, the best way overall is to take them out before they actually become Mutators. Before you get too close to them, Mutators can be part of any crowd of Walkers, only undergoing their disgusting transformation if you get too close. Thankfully, while these Walkers were smart enough to blend in with the crowd, they never differentiated themselves too much. Just about every single pre-mutated Mutator has the same appearance that you can clearly see from afar as long as you're looking for it. What you want to look out for is a Walker that has all these traits:

Bald
Is basically skin and bones
Greyish skin
Shirtless
Is wearing Cargo Pants (greyish/greenish)

As long as you get a good headshot on these pre-mutated Mutators with a strong gun, you can kill them before they even start mutating. And, this seems to be the best way to farm Mutated Hearts as well, as the chance they'll drop a Mutated Heart if killed before mutating seems to be a lot higher, though we can't fully confirm this info.

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