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I just got Dead Island on Steam last night as part of the summer sale (my favorite time of year). A friend and I plan on playing the whole game co-op, and I kind of want to play the Firearms character. However, I've heard in reviews and forums that guns aren't a viable option for a number of reasons, among them are these:

  • Ammo is extremely scarce
  • Guns do less damage
  • Guns don't even show up until late game

I'm looking for any hard evidence to support and/or refute any of these claims. I don't want to nerf myself by playing the Firearms character.

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    the great part about Purna is that her fury allows her to have unlimited shots with her special hand gun. Guns do start showing up in abundance as soon as you get out of chapter 1 too, so don't worry about picking Purna (she's my second favorite after Xian).
    – l I
    Commented Jul 16, 2012 at 14:12

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Guns are mostly useless against zombies. Humans, however, die to a single headshot 99% of the time. So that's helpful, especially when the alternative is charging a shooting opponent.

Suiciders are easy to kill with pistols, and killing them at range is a good idea, since they explode killing anybody in a couple meter radius.

Shotgun headshots are instant kills against anything, making them useful against special zombies. You may find ammo blueprints, making firearms more viable. Reportedly there are enough raw materials to be found to allow you to rely on crafted ammo for most of the game. There are also repeatable quests that reward some ammo: rifle ammo.

The fact that top gun mods are about 5 times worse than top melee mods puts another nail in her coffin.

Her fury skill, which gives you a revolver with unlimited ammo for a few seconds, can be useful, though other characters have capable fury skills as well, especially Xian.

Bottom line: guns are situationally useful, melee is still the workhorse of the game. Purna's skills may remedy this somewhat, but other characters are perfectly capable of using firearms effectively, making her a poor choice.

PROTIP: dropping a gun will empty its clip into your ammo pool, so you can benefit from picking up and dropping subpar firearms. If your friends have some guns they aren't going to use, have them trade the guns to you and drop them, getting some extra ammo.

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  • guns against zombies are alright as well, just aim for the head. And I agree, and against other gun wielding humans, going without one is just asking for trouble
    – l I
    Commented Jul 16, 2012 at 14:14
  • I do disagree with that purna is a poor choice, however. There's nothing stopping her from using melee as supplementing her firearms either :P Once you get the ammo crafting recipies, you can go through most levels with just guns as there's usually workbenches nearby.
    – l I
    Commented Jul 16, 2012 at 14:17
  • @yx. nothing is stopping her from using melee weapons, but everything is stopping her from using them effectively. Sam and Xian's skills are very, very good. Zombies aren't particularly phased even by headshots, in my experience. Not to mention the incredibly poor mod selection for firearms. Also, are you sure you can find enough materials to craft enough ammo to use guns as your primary means of inflicting damage?
    – kotekzot
    Commented Jul 16, 2012 at 15:21
  • absolutely, I've beaten the game with both Xian and Purna, though I didn't do the switch over to guns completely until chapter 3
    – l I
    Commented Jul 16, 2012 at 15:29
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The crafting materials can be bought from merchants (specifically metal scrap and bleach) since their wares randomly generate each and every time. You can just stock up when you find them so you'll have a near infinite supply of bullets as long as you can access workbenches.

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