Dead Rising 2 - All Survivors


Intro
Dead Rising 2 is similar to Dead Rising, but there are a few nuances. Chuck isn’t a photojournalist, so taking pictures is completely removed from the equation. Instead, you’ll have to collect cash to deal with a handful of greedy survivors. There will be several points where you’re free to do as you please in Dead Rising 2, just like Dead Rising, and these points are best used to get money for the survivor related events, gather hidden Zombrex, or just kill some Zombies.

You can help alleviate the stress of the money requirements by picking up cash while you run around slot machines, or smashing any ATM’s you come across. It may only be a 100 dollars or so, but it adds up. You’ll only need to gather about 20 to 30 thousand dollars. Be sure to pick it up along the way as I won’t be explicitly telling you to pick it up, as it is randomized.

You’ll also need to get Zombrex for Katey, and a few other survivors if you want to save everyone. There will be enough story Zombrex for Katey, conveniently just before she needs it.

The rest of the Zombrex must be found, or purchased from pawn shops around Fortune City. We’ll pick up the Free Zombrex when it’s convenient. You can also purchase Zombrex from the Pawn Shop, but it is very expensive. It starts at 25,000 and goes up by 25,000 for each one you buy. You’ll see that this won’t be a problem once we pass a certain point.

Just like the original Dead Rising’s all survivors guide, this will focus on a fresh new game file, rescuing all the survivors, killing all the psychopaths, and completing all the cases including Overtime Mode for the true ending.

I’ll be showing maps with routes through at various points. They will be accompanied by this countdown timer. This is your opportunity to pause the video if you’d like to take a longer look, or use it to follow along during your playthrough.

The start of the game is probably the most difficult, as it’s just very time sensitive and dense with things to do. As the game goes on you get significantly more breathing room. If you’re ever struggling, it may be worthwhile to restart the story. You’ll maintain Chuck’s level and money, and it will be easier to be successful, as you can repeat the easy ways to grind PP in the beginning for a stronger Chuck..

Game Start

When you start the game you’ll get your introductory cutscene, and immediately be thrust into the Terror Is Reality game show.

You’ll play a round of Slicecycles, one of the Multiplayer Terror is Reality games (good luck finding a match these days). You don’t have to win, but you should try to. Your goal is just to cut down as many zombies as you can.

If you want to win, you’ll want to aim for the ones that have balloons attached to them as they provide a bonus. Just accelerate with R2, and when you’re reaching the end of the arena, press L2 to slow down and start turning, then accelerate again. It’s a pretty easy mini-game, but winning is worthwhile. I’ve never lost it.

For winning, you’ll start with an additional 10,000 dollars and that will be to our benefit. If you don’t win, you can reset, and try again, or you can just continue, it’ll just be a little bit more intensive to farm the cash we need later.

Afterwards, you can run to the bathrooms on your left to save if you wish. Otherwise head for the elevator.

Once you regain control, grab the bat on your right. Don’t go out of your way to kill Zombies here, just follow the waypoint and knock over any zombies in your way.

Enter the green room on your left.

You have Katey in your arms now, so that means no weapon. The kick is functionally useless here. Just run past everything and you should shove zombies out of your way just by getting close to them. Follow the waypoint. There’s a pretty clear path for you to run. Exit the Arena, and you’ll end up in the Safe House.

Find Katey Zombrex
First things first is we need to get Katey Zombrex. If you don’t get Katey Zombrex, it’s a game over, so we need to get one, and give it to her around 7AM every single day. Unfortunately you physically have to be in the Security Room at these times. The first dose here is easy enough to get. You can use the washroom to save if you wish, otherwise, head down to the ventilation duct, and back into Fortune City.

There are several weapons to pick up here. The baseball bat, and sledgehammer are your best options. The baseball bat is your best bet for getting from A-B, as it knocks back zombies which can clear you a path. You can also grab a bag of chips by the trash can for a healing item.

On the newstand to the left of the Security Room entrance, there is a consistent Bowie Knife on the roof. Remember this, as it will be an asset later. You can pick it up now if you want, but you’ll be better served with the baseball bats and sledgehammer.

Don’t worry about killing Zombies right now, it’s not really worth the effort. There will be plenty of time for that later. Follow the way point, trying to dodge rather than kill the zombies. There’s coffee creamers in the large Dice game about halfway to Roy’s Mart if you need to heal, it’s an easy way to get consistent healing items throughout the game. Also make sure to snag some cash by the slot machines near the car if there’s any available, then enter Roy’s Mart on your left.

You’ll have to defeat 3 Looters in here. They aren’t overly difficult. Any of your weapons should be sufficient. The high damage on the sledge hammer works well, and will knock them over after the two hit combo. You should be able to hit both the looters in front of you, and be able to turn around and hit the looter behind you. This should let you stunlock them easily, killing them.

Once they’re dispatched, you’ll get the Pharmacy Key.

Talk to Denyce and get her to join. Then make sure to head into the back room, and pick up the Zombrex. There’s also Orange Juice and a Coffee Creamer here if you need to heal. Give Denyce a weapon, like a Baseball bat, before heading out. You can replace it with something from the looters if you want..

Now, we just have to get back to the Security Room. Do not go in between the car and slot machines, Denyce appears to get stuck in there and it’s a pain to get her out. The Survivor AI is better in Dead Rising 2, but it’s not perfect, you will still have to babysit a bit, just not as much.

Work your way back to the security room by hugging the right side of the mall. If you want to be efficient, you can enter Ye Olde Toy box on the right and grab a Bag of Marbles from the register, and a Stick Pony from the racks at the back of the store. This is going to seem worthless, but will come in handy shortly. Otherwise, continue to the Security Room by hugging the right side, going through the maintenance hallway, and enter the vents. You’ll get 10,000 PP for rescuing Denyce, which is a good start.

Current Goal: Being a good dad
We have to wait until 7AM to give Katey Zombrex, which opens up the first cases, so our hands are kind of tied. You can do a psychopath battle here, and it is a reasonable time to do it... in New Game+. However, for maximum PP gains, it’s best to wait for now.

The best course of action is to do a side quest to get Katey gifts. This yields large PP rewards, and is easy to accomplish in this time frame. It also has the added benefit of getting 2 Achievements, Father of the Month, and later, Father of the Year if you complete all the gifts, which this guide will.

Try and get as much of these gifts given to Katey as possible. Getting this early PP is fundamental to an easier playthrough as it provides higher attack damage, movement speed and probably most importantly, more inventory space.

If you grabbed the Marbles and Stick Pony on the way back with Denyce, give them to Katey now for a total of 30,000 PP.

Save if you wish, and head back out to Royal Flush Plaza via the vents. From now on, you should probably save every time you exit the Security room so I won’t mention it. I will mention a few saves along the way though, mostly before tight timings or psychopath battles.

Your first trip should head to Stylin’ Toddlers, which is immediately to your right after leaving the maintenance hallway. Here you want to pick up the Beach Ball first, and pocket it before grabbing the Giant Stuffed Elephant. Both of these are to your right after entering the store. The Giant Animals can’t be pocketed, so you have to carry them back. Just dodge zombies as best you can, even though the animals obstruct your vision like crazy.

Try not to attack with the Giant Animals. You can a little bit, but if they’re damaged you can’t deliver them to Katey. You’ll know if you notice rips along the bottom of them. If this happens, you’ll have to re-zone to get another one and try again.

Once you’re back in the Security Room, head back to Katey, and give her the Elephant for 10,000 PP, and then the Beach Ball for 15,000 PP.

Head back out to Royal Flush Plaza. Head across the food court to Astonishing Illusions. Inside, grab a Robot Bear, and take it back with you to the security room. Head to Katey, and give her the Robot Bear for 15,000 PP.

There are still 3 more Giant Animals to get but unfortunately they have to be done one at a time.

Head back to Royal Flush Plaza, and head left, if you didn’t take the trip with Denyce on the way back with the Zombrex, head to Ye Olde Toy Box and grab a Bag of Marbles from the Register, and a Stick Pony from the racks at the back of the stairs. Then, go up the stairs to grab the Giant Stuffed Donkey from Small Fry Duds. Then head back down to the Safe Room. Enter the security Room and give this to Katey for 10,000 PP.

Exit out into Royal Flush Plaza. Here it’s likely you’ll encounter two survivors, LaShawndra and Gordon. Ignore LaShawndra at the food court for now, instead head to your right, and talk to Gordon, and he’ll start following you. Then meet up with LaShawndra and get her to follow you before heading back to the Security Room.

This next one is fairly time sensitive. You can just wait around for a few minutes as it’s probably very close to 7AM for Katey’s Zombrex dose. If you want to maximize time, you can go for one last Giant Animal for an additional 10,000 PP. You should have enough time to get it, and return to Katey with just enough time to administer her Zombrex. Head up to the second level of Royal Flush Plaza, just like last time, and head to the Children’s Castle. Break the window, and steal the Giant Stuffed Bull. Hoof it back down to the Security Room, and administer Zombrex to Katey.

Katey Gift Checklist:
Bag of Marbles - Done
Beach Ball - Done
Stick Pony - Done
Water Gun - Pick one up at the Fortune Park
Robot Bear - Done
Giant Stuffed Elephant - Done
Giant Stuffed Bull - Done
Giant Stuffed Donkey - Done
Giant Stuffed Rabbit - Hidden in Royal Flush
Snowflake - Will get later
Funny Painting - Will get later
Father of the Month: Yes
Father of the Year:

Regardless of what you do, as soon as you give Katey the Zombrex, you’ll initiate Case 1-1, and be skipped forward in time to 9AM. If you have a Giant Bull, run over and give it to Katey. Then head down to the vents to get the Maintenance Key.

Getting the extra animal should push you to level 7, otherwise you’ll be level 6. This is a great starting point. Ideally you’ll have gotten attack damage, inventory, and hopefully a speed increase. These will all help immensely moving forward.

Second set of survivors
Case 1-2 may seem like a high priority. However, we actually have a ton of time to complete it. It’s time to go for some of the survivors now.

Save your game if you wish, and leave the Security Room.

From now on, you’ll have access to the Maintenance Rooms, and can craft combo weapons. Combo weapons are significantly stronger than standard weapons, and yield more PP for kills. This basically renders standard weapons obsolete, except in a few specific circumstances. Combo weapons will be the go-to for the rest of the play session.

There is a “standard loadout” we can get, similar to the original Dead Rising. The weapons and food within the Safe House changes day to day. It’s not overly important what’s in the safe house, but our standard load out will come from items immediately accessible from Royal Flush Plaza.

As you leave, grab the Baseball bat before the stairs. Then enter the Maintenance Room and make a Nail Bat by combining the nails, and baseball bat. You’ll do this automatically your first time through. It’s a very strong, and fairly durable weapon. You should be one or two hit killing zombies with standard swings. This will be our bread and butter as a way to clear zombies. Kills will reward 50PP, with 100PP for the special kill by holding the attack button.

On the room on the left side, you can pick up another box of nails and make a second Nail Bat. After exiting the tunnel, you can climb the News Stand to find a Bowie Knife. From here, break the glass and grab a pair of boxing gloves. Return to the maintenance room to combine these to make Knife Gloves. These are by far and wide one of the most overpowered weapons in the game. For combining it, you’ll get the scratch card, so you’ll only get 50% of the standard PP gains. However, that’s still 150 a kill, and does significantly more damage than the Nail Bat. These are always the preference for Psychopaths, but Nailbats are still good for clearing zombies out of your path, and work on Psycopaths in a pinch.

Set your marker to “Lost….”

If you have the inventory to spare here, on the right side of the News stand in Royal Flush Plaza you can grab the Combat 2 Magazine. This increases your PP gains from Weapon Kills by 10%. Magazines aren’t nearly as powerful in Dead Rising 2, but a few will be used through the game, mostly ones related to survivors. This is an optional pickup, but it will help with gaining some levels in the early stages of the game. It’s unlikely to make or break your playthrough though.

Head exactly the same way you went to Roy’s Market and instead, exit out onto Fortune Park.

If you can spare the inventory, grab a Water Gun from the fountain on the way down. It’s another gift for Katey and will net you another 10,000 PP. Try not to shoot it, if you fire too many shots you won’t be able to give it to Katey. If you don’t have the inventory don’t worry about it for now. You can always pick it up on the way back.

Head down the fountain and hang onto the right side. You’ll eventually run into Chad. Clear the Zombies around him, and talk to him. His wife is missing by the arena. Continue the same direction, and eventually you’ll find her standing up on a kiosk. Clear the zombies around her and talk to her. Eventually she’ll join.

Set your marker to “Short Sighted”. Now you’ll want to head back to Royal Flush Plaza by retracing your steps.

If you’re low on weapons you can also enter Cash Gordon’s Casino. There’s usually guards in here with handguns. Guns aren’t the best

If you need healing items, you can restock in the Paradise Platinum Screens on your way back, there’s a good amount of snacks and drinks right by the door.

Enter Royal Flush Plaza. Head left, and up the stairs. At the top, turn left again and enter Children’s Castle. Have a lengthy conversation with the elderly woman and eventually she’ll join. You have to carry her but conveniently this is one of the easier ways to get past zombies with survivors. Head back to the Safe Room by heading to the other set of stairs on the top level. Then head down, and hug the right wall until you reach the tunnel to the Safe Room. Then it’s smooth sailing back to the vents.
You’ll rescue the survivors with a short cutscene. If you have the Water Gun, head to Katey and give it to her for more PP.

Save if you wish, before moving on. The timing here is way tighter than I’d like, but it’s doable and will give you maximum PP gains.

Current Goal: Ted and Snowflake

Set your goal to “One Man’s Trash” we’ll do it on the way to Yucatan first. Exit the vents, and restock on 2 Nail Bats and optionally one set of Knife Gloves.

Head through Royal Flush Plaza the same way you just did for the last set of survivors. Exit out to Fortune Park. Follow the waypoint to Moe’s Maginations. Talk to the looter and you’ll activate the pawn shops around Fortune City. Pawn shops stock combo weapons, and Zombrex. You shouldn’t need to buy any Zombrex, as there’s plenty of free ones hidden around, and story Zombrex for rescuing survivors and doing requests. If you miss one, you might need to buy one, so make sure to activate these shops.

Our next goal is the first psychopath battle. Head up towards the Yucatan Casino. Stop at the Grotto to save. You definitely want to take a save here, maybe on a seperate file because this part can be difficult. Once you’re done, continue North to the Yucatan.

If you need to restock, on your left on the way to Yucatan Casino is a maintenance room with materials around to make Knife Gloves, and a Laser Sword. Combine the Bowie Knife, and Boxing Gloves inside the maintenance room. Then grab the gems, and flashlight to make a laser sword. Once you’re restocked, head into the Yucatan.

As soon as you enter the Casino, you’ll start the battle.

Ted is an absolute push over. He starts off with i-frames so hold back for a second. I think the Nail Bat actually works better here, as you can chain-combo him to lock him down. The Knife Gloves have a tendency to knock him over, which actually prolongs the fight. You should just be able to wail on him to take him down regardless.

Snowflake is the real issue.

Snowflake counts as both a survivor, and as a present for Katey, so you have to tame the tiger if you want to get the prestige of an all survivors playthrough.

This part is just terrible, and I would argue that it’s downright buggy. If it’s not buggy, it’s at least very precise, which is almost as bad.

You basically need to set a Steak between you and Snowflake, and pray that the tiger eats it.

There are 3 meats, and they’re all within the immediate vicinity. Two of them are up on the ledge, and one of them is simply hanging out on a rock.

The goal here is to grab a Steak, and wait for Snowflake to charge you. After attacking, Snowflake will run away for a brief period before charging you again. When the Tiger’s away, put a steak down between you and it by pressing down on the D-Pad, and walk backwards.

Hopefully instead of charging you Snowflake will slow down, and walk towards the steak and eat it.

You’ll have to repeat this process twice more with the remaining steaks.

It’s very easy to accidentally eat the steak. If you do, you should probably reset since it’s a pain to get more and we’re under a bit of a time crunch. I hope you took the save at the grotto.

Also be very careful of attacking Snowflake. The 3 steaks are enough to get the tiger to full health, but if you hit it, you may not be able to.

Expect Snowflake to straight up ignore steaks you place, and for the fight to go very poorly. It’s also really easy to die here. Snowflake does a lot of damage and can easily take you down, even if you’re in the high 30’s, and you’re likely around level 10 at this point.

It will take some time, a bit of luck, and some practise, but you should be able to pull through, it just make take a few attempts.

Once you’ve tamed Snowflake, you’ll want to head to the employee lounge to find Lenny. It’s very easy to miss Lenny. Talk to him, and you’ll explain you’ve tamed the tiger. He’ll then run off to turn on some slot machines. Follow him to the restroom area and press the button to turn on Mega Man 10. This is the most lucrative slot machine to gamble at in the Yucatan. Afterwards, talk to him, and get him to join.

Strongly recommended to save here at the restrooms, you don’t want to redo the process of taming Snowflake.  You can also examine the movie poster to get the combo card for “Freedom Bear”, and you may as well, since you’re here anyways.

If you need healing items, you can take a quick detour to Baron Von Brathaus. There’s plenty of alcohol here to stock up. Warning though: If you drink too much, you can make Chuck sick, and he’ll start to throw up periodically for a short time. You can avoid this by making a few mix drinks by using blenders strewn throughout the various bars around Fortune City.

The best mix drink combos are:
Wine-Wine - which makes our old friend the Quickstep. This increases your movement speed and is useful in several places. Generally these aren’t as necessary as they were in Dead Rising 1 but it’s good to have some on hand.

Beer-Beer - which makes our new friend, the Painkiller. This is makes Chuck take 50% less damage for the duration.

Basically, these are the two best and easiest to make mix drinks in Dead Rising 2. There are other ways to make these, but these are by far the easiest and most readily available.

Baron Von Brauthaus in the Yucatan Casino, and Shots and Awe in the Americana Casino are the two easiest places to stock up on mix drinks. Keep that in mind moving forward.

Once you’re finished, head over to the Pallisades Mall by hanging a left and following the wall.

In the Pallisade’s, you’ll want to immediately turn left and enter Shank’s to find 2 survivors here. Kill the zombies attacking the old man, and then talk to both Kenneth and Jack to get them to join you.

You can equip your survivors with Bowie Knives or other blades in here.

Now it’s time to complete Case 1-2: Alive on Location. Set your Marker, and head through the Pallisades, it’s pretty much a straight shot, just hold to the right side.

Enter Atlantica Casino. There’s nothing for us in the Atlantica currently, so just continue through by holding onto the right side and moving forward. Exit out to Fortune Park.

Head towards the Fortune City Hotel. It’s directly across from the exit of Atlantica Casino.

Here you’ll automatically meet Rebecca Chang, Action News Reporter. Talk to her to begin following her. She’ll lead you to a Restroom, and you can save if you wish. When you’re ready, talk to her, and follow her through the South Plaza to the Fortune City Arena. Try and avoid combat, as your weapons are probably getting low at this point. There are plenty of basic weapons to pick up along the way, like 2x4’s and pipes so you should be able to restock on some zombie deterrents along the way if you need to.

In the Arena, you can grab an axe on the right side if you need a weapon. Then follow Rebecca to the back and try the door to unlock it.

Immediately enter the room and pick up the Rescue Book. With our large posse of survivors this is a huge net PP gain. Throw away something if you can’t store it. This is important, we’ll be hanging onto it for most of the game. It’s fundamental to getting to near the level cap.

From here it’s just a matter of returning these survivors safe and sound. Cut through the arena, and head to the Americana Casino. You can take a save on your left in the washroom if you want. Otherwise, continue through the Americana Casino, and enter Royal Flush Plaza.

Hold left, and enter the tunnel to the vents. Enter to get a massive PP bonus from all of these survivors and the Rescue Book.

Once you’re back in the Safe House, make a B-line for the Security Room to complete the case. Once that’s done, make sure to examine Snowflake for more bonus PP, as the Tiger counts as a gift for Katey. Chuck’s really Father of the year here. One more knocked off our list.

Worker’s Compensation and Lush-ious Lady

Save if you want, then head back out. Restock on Nail Bats and Knife Gloves if you need them. Set your marker to “Worker’s Compensation” and head back to the Americana Casino by taking the doors on your right. You can examine the movie poster on the wall to get the Combo Card for “Tenderizers” by mixing MMA gloves and nails. These aren’t great, and you’re better off using Nailbats or Knife Gloves instead. Head into the Americana Casino.

Follow the waypoint and you’ll find Brittany and Stuart have barricaded themselves in and are looting slot machines. Pick up some of the drink cards or benches and throw them to get inside. You’ll need to knock some sense into Stuart, so unequip your weapons by pressing down on the d-pad and giving him a few knocks. He’ll eventually come to his senses. Talk to both of them and get them to join you.

Now set your marker to “Lush-ious Lady”. Follow the waypoint to the Americana Casino security room. Inside you’ll find Kristin, who is completely drunk. You’ll have to carry her. Exit the Americana Casino security room, and head to your left, and enter Royal Flush Plaza.

Head back to the Safe House by heading left and going through the tunnel to enter the vents.

Barn Burner and Brains Over Brawn

Our next goal is to rescue another set of Survivors before some psychopath battles. You might not have it showing up yet, but we want to do “Barn Burner”, which is in the Fortune City Arena. Exit the Safe House, and head right to enter the Americana Casino. Set your marker for “Barn Burner” as soon as it comes up. Make sure to restock on weapons here, including at least 1 pair of Knife Gloves and probably 2 Nailbats.

Inside the Americana Casino, since you’re not currently escorting anyone, it’s a good idea to restock on healing items as well. Head to the bar in the center and make some mix drinks using 2 beers or 2 wines. Hang onto these if you can, we’ll need them shortly. Now head towards the Fortune City Arena. Whatever you do, do not enter the Restrooms here just yet, it contains a psychopath battle and we want to be as high level as possible before we do it.

Enter the Fortune City Arena.

Head to the back, and through the green rooms from the very start of the game. At the back, you’ll find a Fire. Clear any zombies, and pick up the Fire Extinguisher behind you. Use this to put out the fires, before talking to Elrod and Trixie-Lynn. Eventually they’ll follow you. Use the healing items in here if you need them.

Head back into the main Arena area, and turn to your right to enter the South Plaza.

Set your marker for “Brains over Brawn” and head to the Ultimate Playhouse store. Inside you’ll find 4 survivors. There is a lengthy conversation here if you don’t have a female in your survivor posse, thankfully, we have Trixie-Lynn, so they’re quick to join.

From here, you’ll want to double back exactly the way you came. Avoid entering the Platinum Strip, or going into the Restrooms at Americana Casino for now. Just head back through the South Plaza to the Arena. Then through the Arena, and into the Americana Casino. Through Americana Casino, and into the Royal Flush Plaza before heading back through the tunnel to the vents and the Safe House.

Head back to the Security Room, you should be back in time to complete Case 2-1: Sign of Life.

You’ll probably want to save here.

Psychopath Battles:
Now that the easy survivors are out of the way, you should be around level 16 at this point. It’s time to do the next two Psychopath battles. You will have adequate time to do this.

Set your marker to “Meet the Contestants”. Restock on weapons, including preferably at least 2 pairs of Knife Gloves, and 2 Nailbats. You can also restock on healing items by going to the Americana Casino Bar to mix some Quicksteps or Painkillers.

Otherwise, head through Royal Flush Plaza to Fortune Park. Head to the Save Point in the center and save. Now head south to the Fortune City Arena, and you’ll encounter Leon, from the beginning of the game.

You’ll get a bike key after the cutscene, and it’s recommended to take get on it. The strategy I use for Leon requires us to go towards the grotto save point. Head there now.

Leon is ridiculous to take out while he’s on his slicecycle and you’re out in the open. Your goal is basically to goad him into crashing into a fence. Then you jump over it, and you should have an opportunity to hit him from over the fence, or you can jump over and get a hit on him as he taunts you after he crashes.

If you’re lucky, he’ll get caught in the fence and you’ll be able to collect a free win. Otherwise, you’ll just have to repeat the process of goading him into crashing into the fences. Leon seems to get stuck in the fences frequently, so it’s one of the best ways to take him down. I’ve consistently been able to get him stuck, it just takes a few attempts to do so.

Once he’s dead, you’ll unlock Leon’s trailer and the ability to mod bikes. This can be fun but isn’t overly useful to the playthrough.

Chuck the Role Model:
Your position will be reset to Leon’s trailer by the Yucatan Casino. Set your marker to “Chuck the Role Model”. Head to the restrooms in the center of Fortune Park to save your game.

If you’re out of weapons: Head back to Royal Flush Plaza, and back to restock at the Maintenance Room by the Safe House, before heading to the Americana Casino,

If you’re OK for weapons, you can just head straight for the Americana Casino.

Here, you should absolutely take a stop by the Bar in the center of the Americana Casino and mix several drinks. Quicksteps are good, as are Painkillers.

Brandon will pull a Scooby Do on you and jump out from various stalls here. Teleporting around. He almost always comes from behind you which actually makes this very predictable.

I prefer the Nailbats to the Knife Gloves here

Kill any zombies in here. Untie Vikki, and save your game. Exit the restrooms and head left. Enter Bennie Jack’s BBQ Shack, and head up to the second floor.

Here you can actually get onto the lights and access a secret area. Climb onto the counter and jump from light to light. Platforming is not Dead Rising 2’s strong suit. It can be difficult to pull off and may take a few attempts. My advice is to jump earlier than you expect to, since Chuck will grab onto ledges. If you jump too late, Chuck will just plummet like a rock, so try and jump early.

Once you’re across the lights you’ll land on an alcove above the Security Room near the Royal Flush Plaza entrance. Here, there’s cash, Zombrex and a Giant Stuffed Rabbit. Pick it all up, we need this Zombrex shortly. Grab the Giant Stuffed Rabbit and jump down to ground level.

Vikki should be fine. She won’t be able to climb up the lights, but will follow you along the ground, and she should be ignored by zombies.  She’ll meet you at the bottom.

Pick up the Giant Stuffed Rabbit and head to Royal Flush Plaza. Head back to the Safe House, and enter the security room via the vents. Now, take the Giant Stuffed Rabbit to Katey and fulfill the second to last gift for her.

Save your game.

Once Bitten and Code Blue

Set your marker for Code Blue, but there is an unlisted case we have to do first. Head out to Royal Flush Plaza. Get to the stairs on the left side, and head up to the second level. Enter Wily’s Travels to find an injured man named Jared. Give him the Zombrex you found in the Americana Casino, and he’ll join up with you. Give Jared your shoulder, and get him back to the Safe House.

Leave the Safe house now and re-enter Royal Flush Plaza. Head straight through and enter Fortune Park. Head left, and follow your marker up the Platinum Strip. Enter One Little Duck Bingo. As you get close Tim Duggan will die. You can’t save him no matter what. Talk to Sven and get him to join up with you.

Behind the counter there is cash, and the Leadership Magazine. This is a useful book as it improves survivors. Most notably any survivors that have limps are require you to assist or carry them will be able to move normally, with the exception of one. This is a good pickup if you can spare the inventory. Don’t worry about dropping it, it’s always here and we can get it again.

Head back to the Safe House with Sven. You can head through the Slot Ranch Casino, or through the Platinum strip to get back to Royal Flush Plaza. Then enter the tunnel, and zone through the vents. Sven will reward you with a Zombrex for saving him.

Take a save here.

Case 2-2: Ticket to Ride

Since this is the most time sensitive thing we have to do, it’s a good time to do Case 2-2: Ticket to Ride now. You’ll want to restock on weapons. You will want at least one pair of Knife Gloves, preferably two if you can get them easily. There is ample healing items so you should be fine on those.

Set your marker for Ticket to Ride.

Head through Royal Flush Plaza to Fortune Park. Take a save at the restrooms in the center if you wish, before heading into the Atlantica Casino. Get through the Atlantica, and enter the Pallisades.

Follow the Marker to the very back of the Pallisades, and enter the service tunnel.

The route here is linear. Follow the stairs and you’ll eventually come across a restroom. Save if you wish, before heading forward. Once you cross the yellow and black line, you have to fight a bunch of mercenaries.

You should be around level 19 at this point. With knife gloves, and a few attack ups in the bank you should be killing these Mercenaries in one swipe. You may have to do a follow up swing to take them down.

There’s not a lot of strategy here. Search and destroy all the Mercenaries. They aren’t actually as threatening as they appear, and you can body tank a lot of the bullets they shoot and come out ahead.

Immediately after you’ll find yourself on a Motorcycle and chasing down a train. Your goal here is to chase the train and get close enough so that when you jump off a ramp. Try and avoid zombies to help maintain your speed. Also try and avoid the debris that the mercs will throw at you. Eventually you’ll be able to catch up and jump off a ramp to get onto the train.

This is a linear hallway. Just like before, just run up to the mercenaries and slice them down with Knife Gloves. There’s a bunch of healing items at this first train car, so feel free to return if you ever need more. This parts pretty easy, just cleave through them all and reach the engine car and enter the door.

You’ll be back on the ground. This is the best time to get the free Zombrex down here. You can grab the service cart, or just walk back this way. You actually passed this Zombrex while chasing the train, and that’s a little hint.

180, and turn left down this tunnel. It’s a fair distance but as long as you hold left you’ll find a ramp up, and the Zombrex. It’s very close to a maintenance room that also contains the materials to make a nail bat, so make sure to get a refresh there if you need one.

Tastes like Chicken and Survivors

Set your marker to “Tastes like Chicken” and continue down the tunnels holding on the left side until you reach a loading bay. Enter the gate, and head to your left to grab some orange juice if you need a heal, and use the restrooms to save. Head back up the stairs and use the door to enter the Pallisades.

Now enter the Yucatan Casino. It’s straight ahead from the service exit.

There’s a Psychopath coming up, so head to Baron Von Brauthaus at the back of the Yucatan to stock up on Quicksteps, and Painkillers. Quicksteps are actually very helpful for this fight coming up. Save your game as well, since it’s nearby, and psycopaths can always go sideways.

When you’re ready, just follow the waypoint to the food court.

Once you’re in the foodcourt, just hold to your right and enter Cucina Donnacci.

Here you’ll engage Chef Antoine in a battle.

This battle isn’t actually that difficult.

Just run up to him, and unload on him with a bat. He’ll counter hit you with a frying pan after taking a few hits. Then he’ll run to the nearest food item and start eating to recover health. Just follow him around and repeat the process. Quicksteps can help speed up the process as the faster you get to Antoine the quicker the fight goes as he won’t be able to recover health.

You’ll spend most of the time just chasing him around as he gorges himself on food. The nail bat works pretty well, as do knife gloves if you have any.

Levels really do dictate the difficulty of Dead Rising, and if you’re following the guide you should be nearly 20 right now which makes things very easy.

After the fight, head to the back room and talk to Cinda. She won’t go with you until you find Jasper. Jasper is holed up in Hamburger Fiefdom, which is directly across from where you are. Just head across the food court, to Lombardi’s and lean left. Jump onto the Snack machines and climb onto Lombardi’s to reach Jasper onto of Hamburger fiefdom.

Talk to Jasper and get him to join. Then double back to Cucina Donnacci with him to get Cinda to join you.

Around this time, you should get notified of a scoop called “Rock Heroes”. Set your marker to it.
The stage is on the Silver strip, so head through the food court, and enter Slot Ranch Casino.

Just head to your left, and work your way through the casino to exit out onto the Silver Strip.

Now turn left and follow the waypoint to reach the stage. Jump onto it and talk to the Band members and eventually they’ll join you.
There’s an unlisted case available now in the South Plaza, so that’s our next target.

Head down the Silver Strip. You can enter the restrooms at the center of the park to save if you wish. Otherwise, head for the Fortune City Hotel entrance.

Move forward and head through the double doors to enter the South Plaza. Keep moving forward, but keep to the right. You’ll eventually find Willa and Terri. Clear the zombies from Terri and talk to her. She won’t join you without Willa. Jump up the scaffolding to talk to WIlla and get her to join. You’ll have to carry her. Help her out, jump down the scaffolding, and talk to Terri. She’ll join up with you. Carry Willa, and continue on your path through the South Plaza.

Our goal now is just to get everyone back to the Safe House. Continue hanging on the right side. You may encounter looters here, and you might have to drop Willa to deal with them. Continue forwards and enter the Fortune City Arena.

Just plow through the Arena. It’s a straight shot to the Americana Casino.

In the Americana casino,  head straight for Royal Flush Plaza.

In Royal Flush Plaza, hang left to reach the maintenance tunnel, head for the vents

You’ll likely get a call very close to the Safe House saying it’s 7AM and Katey needs Zombrex.  Continue onwards, and enter the Safe House.

You should get a Combo Card from Floyd here as a bonus reward for your troubles.

Head up to the Security Room, and give Katey her next dose of Zombrex.

Shopping Spree
This is a short and sweet little unlisted case, but you need to wait until 8AM for them to spawn. Restock on weapons at the maintenance room. Head left and head out into Fortune Park to kill some zombies. Just hang around the entrance to Royal Flush Plaza. You likely have about 20 real time minutes here. Just kill some Zombies with combo weapons to gain some bonus PP while you wait. Just kill whatever you can, and keep checking your watch. At 8AM, re-enter Royal Flush Plaza.

Inside, head up the stairs on the right side and enter Kathy’s Space. You’ll find three women in there. Talk to them, and they’ll agree to join you, but only if you carry their belongings. These survivors are special, in that they won’t respond to orders, instead they will only follow the package. You can throw it to cause them to run towards it if you need to clear a path. They will take a swing at you if you do this though, so it’s easier to just hang on to it.

Cross the second floor of Royal Flush Plaza, and head down the escalator. Hug the right wall, and make your way back to the Safe House.

Whatever you want.
You’ll have some time to kill here. It will be roughly 5 to 10 real time minutes.
You can realistically use this time for whatever you want.

My suggestion for how to use this time is to stock up on Knife Gloves, and Nailbats. Then enter the Americana Casino and run around looking for cash. Any machines that have cash near them are broken, and will always yield winning bets. Use these machines until they lose, before moving on. The goal is to get to at least 30,000 dollars during this time frame. It sounds like a lot, but goes by pretty quickly, especially if you’ve been diligent about collecting money along the way.

Mixing some drinks at the bar in Americana Casino is a good option. If you missed one of the Giant Dolls for Katey, now would be a good opportunity to get it as well.

Regardless, be prepared with weapons and health, and be back at the Safe House in time to complete Case 3-1: Boom Town and start Case 3-2: Run for the Money

Case 3-2 Run for the Money
Set your Marker for Run for the Money.

Restock at the maintenance room if you need weapons, and head to the Americana Casino. Immediately on your left you’ll find the first drill and mercenaries. These are just like the ones on the train, and you should be able to take them out with a single swing from the Knife Gloves.

There’s also ample healing nearby with the bar, but you should be resilient enough to slaughter everything in here without issue. Chuck just shrugs off bullets like a beast.

Pick up the Sledgehammer here as well, and use it to destroy the Drill. Combo weapons take a long time to destroy the drill, and the sledge hammer is actually very effective, so you should try and bring it with you if you can spare the inventory.

Head to the next waypoint, which should take you back to Royal Flush Plaza. Just run through Royal Flush Plaza to get to Slot Ranch Casino, and enter it.

Head to the back of Slot Ranch Casino and repeat the process of killing all the Mercenaries. Once you’re done, destroy the drill and leave.

Next up is the Yucatan. Head left out of the cashier, and straight through the food court. Enter Yucatan Casino, and make a straight shot to the 3rd cashier. Same thing here, take out the mercenaries, and destroy the drill. You can get healing items at Baron Von Brathaus and or save at the restrooms if you need to.

The final drill is at the Atlantica, but they’re actually drilling from the Fortune Park side. Exit out of the Yucatan onto the Silver Strip. Head down, following the waypoint until you find a black van on your left. Repeat the same process, destroy the mercenaries, then take out the van. The van has a lot of health, so it will take awhile to take it down.

Once the van’s down, the case is over. I would recommend returning to the Safe House to restock on supplies and weapons. There’s ample time before we do the next set of cases.

Everyone Loves Slappy and Wilted Flower

It’s another psychopath battle coming up, so make sure to stock up on any necessities. Knife Gloves, and possibly a few mix drinks from the Americana Casino Bar are a good idea here.

Once you’re set, set your waypoint to “Everyone Loves Slappy” and head for Pallisades Mall.

Run through Royal Flush Plaza and either go through the Slot Ranch Casino and the Food court to get to the Yucatan, or go through Fortune Park and the Silver Strip to get to the Yucatan.

Once we’re in the Yucatan, head to the large slot machine display in the center. You need to climb this to reach a hidden Zombrex. Pick this up now.

Final chance to save and restock on healing items at Baron Von Brathaus. Otherwise, head to the Pallisades.

Follow the waypoint up the stairs. Turn left and approach the dead mascot to trigger a psychopath battle.

Slappy can be very difficult and very frustrating.

Fortunately, he has a very predictable, and exploitable AI pattern. Setting it up is a bit difficult, but it trivializes the entire encounter.

What you want to do is perform a drop kick by jumping and holding the attack button. If you hit Slappy like this he’ll sit down, stunned. This is fairly difficult to pull off, but you’ll eventually land a successful drop kick.

Now you should use your knife gloves and hit him 3 to 4 times. At this point, he’ll get up, and start spraying fire while spinning around. Just get clear of him, and wait for him to get dizzy. Once he is, run up, and drop kick him again to knock him over.

Congratulations you’ve trapped him in an AI loop. A difficult fight is completely trivialized.

Keep repeating the steps until you achieve victory.

After the battle, you’ll get a Combo Card. Immediately head into Leigh’s (Lee’s) Fine Liquors. Heal yourself if you’re damaged, but make sure to grab a bottle of something, we need it shortly. Set your marker to Wilted Flower.

Head down the stairs, and turn left to enter The Venus Touch. Head to the backroom and find Linette, who’s sunburnt from the tanning bed. Also there’s something else weird here, I don’t know.

Give her the bottle of liquor from upstairs, and talk to her and she’ll join. She’s slow, so carry her.

Exit The Venus Touch and head to your right and head back up the stairs. Head towards your marker for Linette’s Passage and enter Brand New U. Head to the back room, and enter the changing rooms to take the shortcut to the restrooms in Royal Flush Plaza. This is a great shortcut and will be used at several locations.

Preparations
You have about 3 in game hours to kill here before the next psychopath. Recommendations are to stock up mixed drinks from the bar in the Americana Casino, and get situated with at least 2 pairs of Knife Gloves.

If you’re still behind on cash, you can gather money fairly easily by going to the now open cashier’s in Americana Casino. There’s a consistent 900 dollars on the desk to your right immediately after entering. Gather this money, and then exit out to Royal Flush Plaza. Repeat as often as you like for a fairly quick and consistent way to get cash. We’re going to need a minimum of 30,000 dollars. Repeating this step is an easy way to harvest the cash and kill some time if you need to.

Otherwise, kill some zombies and try to have an inventory full of quick steps, painkillers and knife gloves as you approach 5PM, at which point you should head to a restroom to save.

Here comes the Groom
At 5PM the Here Comes the Groom Scoop becomes available. Set your marker, and head out of Royal Flush Plaza to Fortune Park.

Head to the center of Fortune Park to use the restrooms to save. Then follow the marker up to the Silver Strip. Stay on the left side, and you’ll eventually reach the Swept Away chapel. This is easy to spot, the entryway looks like a giant heart.

Enter Swept Away, and prepare for a boss fight.

Randy can be a difficult psychopath because he deals a lot of damage. Of course, the strategy I use is basically just to trade blows with him. Every time he hits you with his chainsaw he’ll follow you with a questionable gesture. This allows you time to either run away and heal, or to smack him around with Knife Gloves.

You can use this to your advantage to simply trade blows with him. You should be around level 25 at this point, and have a lot of health and damage. Mix drinks like Painkiller will allow you to trade blows effectively as it halves the damage you take.

Not a great strategy, or a free win, but most of Dead Rising 2’s psychopaths actually pretty easy.

Afterwards, head back to the altar and talk to Danni. She’ll join you. Simply escort her back to the Safe House by going through the Silver Strip and Fortune Park to Royal Flush Plaza, or cutting through Slot Ranch Casino to Royal Flush Plaza. Then head through to the Safe House, as you’ve done a dozen times before.

Big Game Stakes
At 7PM, another unlisted scoop becomes available. For this one, we need to be carrying a gun. It should be around 6:10 to 6:30 at this point so we have ample opportunity to get one.

From the Safe House, head left, and use the shortcut that Linette showed you to get into the second level of the Pallisades. Head down to High-noon Shooting Range, which is the store at the very bottom on the second level. Grab a gun of your choice, any of them should be fine. You may want to grab a few of different varieties just as a precaution.

The head down the stairs, and head to the Atlantica Casino. Head through, and check your watch. If it’s not 7PM yet, hang around killing zombies or collecting money in the Atlantica. At 7PM, zone out into Fortune Park from Atlantica Casino.

Immediately on your left you should see Janus.

Equip your gun, and talk to him. He should join up almost immediately. Simply cross Fortune Park and head into Royal Flush Plaza. Then return to the Safe House with Janus.

Your reward for rescuing him will be 70,000 dollars. This is actually very important, as coming up shortly we will need 100,000 dollars. This 70 grand should put you over that threshold.

Par for the Course
Another unlisted scoop happens at 8PM. You probably have some time to kill here. This scoop is quick, and occurs in Royal Flush Plaza. Use the time to restock on items or kill zombies. From the Safe House, head out to Fortune Park. Kill zombies and check your watch. At 8PM, rezone into Royal Flush Plaza. Head for Sport Trance on the ground floor. You can also get there by going up the stairs, and entering Sport Trance from the top and heading down the stairs in the back.

You’ll encounter Luz here, who will be fighting a horde of Zombies. Simply clear them out and talk to her. She’ll join up without a fuss, and you can take her to the Safe House. It’s a pretty routine trip at this point. Head back to the Safe House through Royal Flush Plaza, like you’ve done a dozen times before.

Preparations and Case 4-1: The Source
You have some time to kill here. It should be roughly 2 and a half in game hours. This is prime time to gather more cash if you still need to hit that 100,000 threshold. We need it following this next set of psychopath battles, kill more zombies, and restock on weapons and healing items before a psychopath battle.

Stay close to the Safe House for now because around 9:30PM, you should get a call about Stuart trying to mutiny. You don’t need to do anything here, simply enter the Safe House when you get the call, and talk him down.

When you’re done you’ll get 10,000 PP for your troubles. Then you’re free to do as you want until 11PM. Get at least 3 pairs of Knife Gloves. Then head to the Yucatan Casino, and make mix drinks at Baron Von Brathaus. Quicksteps and Painkillers will be the preference, as always and the supplies are readily available here. When you get the call it’s 11PM and time for Case 4-1, make sure to save at the restrooms, before heading up the escalators to the Shoal nightclub.

Cleave through the zombie horde, at Shoal, and enter.

You’ll get a cutscene revealing who Rebecca’s source(s) are.

You only need to kill one of the twins. It’s wasted effort to go after both of them. Pick whichever you prefer. I go after Crystal, because Amber is best girl. Of course, I do tend to just damage them both, that way if I get more chances to hit one, both of them are prime opportunities to be taken down.

The twins spend a lot of time running around, so having a quickstep active is really helpful. They tend to distract you, and the other twin will come from behind or from the side.

With Quicksteps, and Painkillers, as well as Knife Gloves you should be able to make short work of them, just by trading hits.

There are healing items around if you run out of mixed drinks and need to heal.

After the fight, set your marker to Mail Order Zombrex. Head back to Baron Von Brathaus to restock on mixed drinks, and save at the Restroom. Then head to the Pallisades. Take the stairs up, and head to the shortcut at Brand New U. On the way, you can stop by Stan’s Large Print Books and Magazines to pick up a Gambling Magazine. It’s not critical, but it’ll save you a step shortly. Continue onwards to the Brand New U, and take the shortcut.

There are a few healing items by the register if you took damage.

Once you’re back in Royal Flush Plaza, save, and prepare for another Psychopath battle. If you need weapons, quickly make a few at the maintenance room. When you’re ready, approach the mail cart.

Carl is a pretty easy psychopath. The main concern is he’ll throw bombs at you, which can send you flying. His shotgun isn’t overly threatening, and he will have to reload it, giving you opportunities to hit him.

Quicksteps are nice to help you close the distance.

You can basically just run him down with Knife Gloves. Dead Rising 2 isn’t the hardest game.

You’ll get another Zombrex for your trouble, which is convenient, because Katey will need one soon.

Gather Gambling Magazines, and one of the most difficult parts of Dead Rising 2

Again, we have some time to kill before the next set of scoops.

Soon we’ll have to engage in a poker mini-game to save 3 survivors. You have to beat them all for them to join you. I’m terrible at poker. Thankfully, there’s a way we can hedge our bets to be more successful.

There are 3 gambling magazines around Fortune City. While you’re playing Poker, these increase your chance of having good cards, and from what I can tell, causes your opponents to make worse decisions, such as betting with worse cards instead of folding.

We want to pick these magazines up to give us the best chance of success.

The first magazine is at Ragazines on the second floor of Royal Flush Plaza. Go ahead and head there now by going up the stairs, and across the second level. Inside Ragazines, head to the center racks and it will be on the left side. Now, exit out of Royal Flush Plaza onto Fortune Park.

The second magazine is at the Shamrock Casino in the silver strip. Head towards the Yucatan casino. The Shamrock is on the right side, and obviously, features a 4 leaf clover as a sign. Enter the Casino, and head to the back of the building. The magazine is behind the bar.

If you didn’t pick it up on the way back to fight Carl the Postal Postman, the final magazine is in the Pallisades. Continue to the Yucatan, and head through it to enter the Pallisades. Move up to the second level, and head for Stan’s Large Print Books and Magazines.

With all three magazines we’re well prepared to win at poker. Of course, anything could happen so it’s absolutely recommended to save here. The closests saves are the upper level of the Pallisades, and the center of Fortune Park.

Head to either of these save locations, and make a save file. Then head to the Atlantica Casino. If you’re coming from Fortune Park, the Poker Room will be on the left. If you’re coming from the Pallisades, the Poker Room will be on your right, almost smack dab in the middle of the Atlantica.

Talk to the survivors here and engage in Poker. It’s a 100,000 dollar buy in, so hopefully you’ve gathered enough money to do it. You likely only have enough for one buy in, which is fine, it’s why we took the save.

It’s likely you’ll lose once or twice, but you should be able to come out ahead eventually. The Gambling Books do help, and the save earlier lets you ensure success. I’m terrible at poker, and I was able to beat this on my second try.

For winning you’ll get the 3 high rollers to join, and you’ll be rewarded with a million dollars. Your money troubles are basically over for the rest of the game. You’re done with the gambling magazines for now, and you can safely discard them. If you ever need them again, they’ll respawn in the same locations.

Make sure to grab a food or drink item from the Poker Room. There’s beer and other drinks around, we’ll need it shortly.

Set your marker to Hunger Pains. Exit the Poker Room, and head down to Fortune Park.

Run to the center and save if you never want to replay this poker minigame, just in case things go sideways.

Follow the marker south to Dining at Davey’s, it will be on your left. Inside you’ll find Richard who won’t join until you give him some food. Give him a beer or cocktail from the Poker Room and he’ll join up.

Now it’s just a matter of getting back to the Safe House. Head down and enter the Americana Casino. Now cut through it to reach Royal Flush Plaza. Then head back to the Safe House through the vents.

You’ll be rewarded with a bunch of PP, and Richard will provide you another Zombrex. With our million dollars we can buy all the Zombrex we need easily, so if you’re ever in a bind just head to the Pawn Shop. You won’t need to, but the option is always there.


Fetching Females
This is another easy to complete scoop. You likely got the notification while escorting your previous posse back to the Safe House.

Set your marker to “Fetching Females”. Restock on weapons at the maintenance room, since you had to cripple your inventory with gambling magazines.

Then head to the restroom in Royal Flush Plaza, and take the shortcut to the Pallisades.

From Brand New U, you can just jump over the railing to reach the swim bar in the center. Head up the stairs on the outside to meet Nina, Cora and Summer, a couple of Charlie’s Angel’s stand ins. Talk to Cora, and she won’t join until Chuck pays her 10000 dollars. Conveniently, we’re a millionaire, so drop some petty cash on Cora and they’ll all join up.

Then it’s just a matter of heading back up to the second level of the Pallisades. Hoofing it to Brand New U and taking the shortcut back to Royal Flush Plaza. Then it’s just a short run from the restroom to the Safe House. On your way back, make sure to grab materials to make a set of knife gloves. There’s a psychopath battle coming up, you should’ve gotten a notification for it “WWJWD?”. Enter the vents, and save your game.

WWJWD? and Bank Run
Set your marker to WWJWD?. If you need to restock on supplies, you can head to Shots and Awe at the Americana Casino to mix some Quicksteps and Painkillers. Also make sure you have at least 2 sets of Knife Gloves, preferably three. When you’re done, head outside, and work your way to Fortune Park, and then into the Fortune City Hotel.

Inside, head through the lobby to enter the South Plaza and towards the scaffolding.

Seymour just like most of the other psychopaths in Dead Rising 2 is a complete push over. Just charge him with knife gloves. Combo him until he knocks you down, then repeat the process. If you ever need to heal, use a quickstep or painkiller, and continue your onslaught. The fight should be over in less than 30 seconds.

On the saw directly in front of you is the Six Shooter. It’s a decent gun and can be used effectively on several Psychopaths. Then head towards the maintenance room and pick up Ray. Talk to him and let him know that you’ve killed Seymour and he’ll join up with you.

Head back the way you came and exit the Fortune City Hotel onto Fortune Park. Take a save in the center if you wish. You’ll probably need to kill some time here. At 6AM the scoops “Bank Run” and “Tape it or Die!” become available. Our goal right now is Bank Run, so head towards Slot Ranch Casino. Kill Zombies around the entrance and keep checking your watch until it’s 6AM. At 6AM, enter Slot Ranch Casino.

Set your marker to bank run. Head right, following the marker and you’ll eventually find Woodrow. Woodrow won’t join until he loots all the ATM’s in the Casino and Food Court. Just follow him around, and kill some zombies along the way for PP with combo weapons. This part doesn’t take too long, but it’s a bit tedious.

Once Woodrow’s finished looting, go ahead and make your way back to Slot Ranch Casino. Then head back down to Royal Flush Plaza, and then back to the Safe Room via the vent.

It will be very close to 7AM, and that means giving Katey her dose of Zombrex. You’ll likely get a call right before entering the Safe House, so go ahead and run to the Security Room and give Katey her Zombrex. Woodrow will also give you 50,000 dollars for your trouble.

Tape it or Die - 1
There’s an unlisted scoop available now. You’ll want to head to the KokoNutz Sports Town in the Pallisades for it. Once we get there you’ll just find you need to get components for a Plate Thrower, so we’re going to go ahead and come prepared.

Head through Royal Flush Plaza, and enter Fortune Park. Head up through the Silver Strip, and take a pit stop at the Luaii Wauwii, Grab some plates here. Now exit, and head to the maintenance room to your right. You’ll find a cement saw here. You can’t pocket the cement saw unfortunately, so you have to carry it back. Try not to use it, you don’t want it breaking before you can deliver it. Also make sure you don’t lose it when a zombie attacks you, make sure to pick it up.

Head into the Yucatan Casino. Then rush through it, and enter the Pallisades. Kokonutz Sports Town is to your right on the other side of the Pallisades. Head past the stairs, and The Venus Touch and enter Kokonutz. You won’t find anyone here, but head to the back room. Head down the stairs and you’ll find a group of survivors. Talk to them if you want, but your target is Wallace at the back by the work bench.

He’ll request plates and a cement saw. Give them to him, and he’ll make the Plate Thrower. You’ll get the combo card, and be able to take the prototype with you. It’s a reasonable weapon so you may as well give it a shot, or I guess 60 of them. You can’t rescue these guys now, so go ahead and leave them to their own devices. Run around using the Plate Launcher until it runs out of ammo, the next scoop isn’t available until 9 AM.

You will want to stock up on healing items, and weapons before this happens. You can take the shortcut at Brand New U to get back to Royal Flush Plaza to restock. If you already have ample weapons and healing items, that’s good too. Regardless, head to outside to the Fortune Park area at 9 AM, to get the next scoop.

Militia Men
This is probably one of the most difficult parts of the game, and definitely one of the easiest ones to die at. Unlike the mercenaries, the sniper rifles these guys have are actually threatening.

There are 4 snipers, and they’re all holed up in various parts of the strip.

If you’re coming out of Atlantica Casino from doing the Tape it or Die case, then you should head south past the Fortune City Hotel, and continue towards Moe’s Maginations. You’ll see Big Earl above you on top of the store. Go ahead and climb the cinder block, and get onto the roof.

These psychopaths all behave the same. If you’re far away, they’ll try and shoot you. If you get close, they’ll pull a machete out and take a swing. These guys just deal a lot of damage. Rush down strategies work, but will be best used with a Painkiller.

Conveniently, these guys will sit and wait for you wherever they are. You’re free to return to the Americana Casino to mix more drinks if you need them, and if you want, you can go ahead and save after every one in case you die, so you won’t have to repeat the process.

Once Earl is dead, eat his food, and head across the street to the Paradise Platinum Screens. To get up there, you’ll need to head towards the maintenance room, and use the ladder on the right side.

Up here you’ll encounter Deetz. There’s plenty of cover here, so you should have ample opportunities to heal if you need to. Take him out with Knife gloves. I actually used the Six shooter from Seymour and it was reasonably effective, but not the end all be all.

Once again, use Deetz food to heal before heading back down.

The next psycho is above Royal Flush Plaza. Make sure you hug the left wall while heading north, to avoid getting shot.

Getting up here is a bit confusing. You actually want to run past the entrance to the Royal Flush Plaza, and head towards the Slot Ranch Casino. There’s a maintenance room nearby, and the ladder up to the roof of the Royal Flush Plaza.

Take out Johnny next. Same approach as always, just cut him down with Knife Gloves and heal if necessary. Eat Johnny’s food once you’re done to heal.

The last one is by far the most confusing to get to. Derrick is above the Atlantica Casino, but to get there you have to go through some service hallways. If you need another pair of Knife Gloves, go ahead and use the maintenance room South of the Atlantica Casino.

Otherwise, from the maintenance room by the ladder to get up to Johnny, head straight across the strip, and slightly to the left towards another maintenance room. Head right, and enter the service way. You can restock on health at the snack machines if you need to, before heading down this hallway. Enter the Authorized Personnel only door, and head up the ladder to finally confront Derrick.

Same strategy applies, just run up to him and cleave him down with Knife Gloves, and heal yourself if you take damage. These guys won’t bother you anymore, which is good, because they can mess up survivors you’re escorting pretty hard.

Slave to Fashion, Art Appreciation and Chemical Dependency
You’re probably low on supplies now, but don’t worry you should be fine. Head back down from above the Atlantica, and head for the Fortune City Hotel. Go ahead and save in the center of Fortune City Park if you wish on the way.

Inside the hotel, head right towards the elevators to find Europa. She won’t follow you until you’re in your underwear. Head down to the South Plaza. Head almost all the way to the arena until you reach an unfinished store. It’s easy to find, it’s right next to the maintenance room. If you cut through the little shortcut shown, immediately on the wall to your right is a wall display with packages of underwear. Go ahead and strip down to your skivvies. Then head back to Europa by the elevators.

Talk to her and she’ll join. Don’t go too far from her though. She’ll claim the floor is cold, and request Chuck carries her. Go ahead and do it, it’s the easiest way to transport survivors anyways.

You may have some time to kill here depending on how long you took with the snipers. If it’s after 11:15 AM you’re good to go. Exit the Fortune City Hotel, out to Fortune Park. Now, enter the Atlantica Casino. Head through, and enter the Pallisades.

Our goal here is to head to Cleroux Collection Art Gallery on the second floor. It’s basically right next to where you fought Slappy. Hoof it to the other side of the Pallisades, and head up the stairs, and turn to your right.

Enter the Cleroux Collection, and head to the back of the store to find Randolph. He’s crying about being a terrible artist. Keep chatting him up and he’ll request Chuck buy his painting. Go ahead and throw down more petty cash for it and he’ll join up. This painting is actually one of the gifts for Katey, so go ahead and pocket it into your inventory. Pick up Europa and head around to Brand New U to take the shortcut back to Royal Flush Plaza.

You’ll need a Zombrex. If you’re short for whatever reason, you can buy one at the pawn shop next to Cleroux Collection on the way. It’s 25,000 but what else do we need a million dollars for?

Now we’re just going from the restrooms to the Safe Room, you’ve done this a bunch of times before, you know what you’re doing. Enter the Safe Room. Inside, you’ll want to complete Chemical Dependency. Up the stairs, Sullivan will be guarding Jared. Head inside, and give him a Zombrex. Leave, and return to the Security Room to give Katey the Funny Painting. This is the last gift, and should unlock the Achievement Father of the Year. You’ll know you have them all, as you’ll get an additional fulfillment bonus, and all the gifts you’ve accumulated will be removed from the Security Room.

Go ahead and save. You can use the

Know when to fold ‘em and Shell-shocked

Go ahead and set your marker to Know When to Fold ‘Em. Restock on weapons if you need to at the maintenance room, before exiting out of Royal Flush Plaza to Fortune Park.

Head up Fortune Park on the left side. If you threw away the Leadership magazine, you should definitely pick it up again now. Don’t worry, it’s actually on the way. Head into One Little Duck Bingo. Run to the back of the hall and pick up the Leadership Magazine from the counter. This is actually really important coming up so don’t skip this. Also, if you see any Queen Zombies here, it’s recommended to kill one and hang onto it. It’ll make a part coming up a lot safer.

Head across the street and into the Shamrock Casino. At the back of the casino you’ll encounter Bill. He won’t join you until you give him 20 grand. Then he’ll request another 5 grand. What a dink.

You should have another scoop, called Shell-shocked. Set your marker, it’s at the Americana Casino.

I had a lot of problems with Bill getting caught so I went ahead and went through the Slot Ranch Casino, through Royal Flush Plaza and just dropped him off. Good riddance.

Head around the right side of Royal Flush to enter the Americana Casino. Follow your marker to the back of the casino and enter The American Historium gift shop to find Dean. Dean is a war veteran and disabled, but refuses to be carried or offered a shoulder by Chuck. If you have the Leadership magazine, you’ll be fine, he becomes one of the fastest survivors in the game. If you don’t, you’ll need to find him a wheelchair. If you’re following the guide, you’ll have picked it up on the way to get Bill, so you should be fine.

Head back towards Royal Flush Plaza. Go ahead and stop at the Bar in the center of the Americana Casino to pick up some alcohol. Don’t mix it, just keep it as Beer, Vodka or Wine. Enter Royal Flush Plaza, and run back to the Safe House.

One Hit Wonder
Set your marker to One Hit Wonder.

Again, if you find a queen here, it’s recommended to pocket it for later, you’ll want one.

Instead of heading straight to the Slot Ranch casino, take a detour to the Modern Businessman and put on a Tuxedo. It’s extremely close by so it’s convenient, and you’ll need it anyways.

Head into Slot Ranch Casino. Follow your waypoint and you’ll get a cutscene with Cher stand in Bibi.

She’ll first request a drink, so give her whatever you grabbed from the Americana Casino Bar while you were with Dean. Next she’ll tell you to put on a tuxedo, but you’re already wearing one, so you’re good to go, despite not wearing any shoes.

Next she wants you to round up her fans. Head behind the curtain and pick up Firecrackers. There’s also another free Zombrex here you can pick up.Climb the boxes in the back and jump onto the ones on the left side to grab the Zombrex.

Once that’s done, head to the stage with the fire crackers and start throwing them to attract a crowd of zombies in front of the stage. There’s tons here so just keep hocking them. Once you have a decent sized crowd, talk to Bibi and she’ll direct you to the control panel.

You need to perform a Guitar-Hero style minigame here. It’s just a matter of pressing the buttons as they come. It’s not overly difficult but if you fail, Bibi will blow up everyone, and you’ll have to revert to an older save.

If you’re successful, Bibi will jump into the crowd. She was a psychopath, but now she’s a survivor. Go ahead and throw down a queen to avoid beating her to the point of mutiny by accident. Once that’s done, the rest of the crew will join you, so head back to Royal Flush Plaza.

On your way back, stop at Sport Trance to pick up a Golf Club for Luz. It may be full of looters so just cut them down.  Golf clubs are on the second level to the left of the stairs.

Head back down, and get back to the Safe House with your party of 4. Enter the Safe House, and meet up with Luz. Give her the golf club, and she’ll reward you with 50,000 dollars and some extra PP for fulfilling her request “Bent Wood”.

Go ahead and save. You have a bit of time to kill here, so go ahead and restock on weapons, and mixed drinks if you need them.

You’ll want to get situated to be at the Atlantica Casino entrance at 6 PM. Once you’re inside, head towards the Giant Clam on the right side of the Casino. You’ll also likely get a notification for Stranded Siren. Talk to Tammy, and she’ll say she’s not wearing any underwear so she must be carried in her mermaid costume. Go ahead and pick her up, and hoof it back to the Safe House.

Head out through Leisure Park, and then through Royal Flush Plaza to reach the Safe House.

Once you’re inside, you should be very close to the timeline for Case 5-1: Stake Out. Go ahead and enter the Security Room and wait if you have some spare time. You’ll probably have about 10 - 20 minutes of spare in game time here. You can kill some time outside the Safe House, or just AFK for a couple of minutes in the Security Room.

Talk to Stacy and she’ll remind you to head up stairs to the elevator. You’ll meet up with Rebecca and immediately start Case 5-2: The Getaway.

Case 5-2: The Getaway
Your destination is the Fortune City Hotel. This is a battle, but don’t worry too much about weapons or healing items, they aren’t really necessary.

Exit Royal Flush Plaza out to Fortune Park. Save in the center of Fortune Park if you want, then head to the Fortune City Hotel.

Inside, you’ll find mercenaries by the elevators. Just rush them and slice them to ribbons with knife gloves. When they’re all dead, go ahead and use the elevator to head to the roof top.

You’ll have to fight a helicopter here. The way to beat it is to wait for the green light on the crane to winch it down. Then while it’s pulled down, throw things at the blades. It’s a pretty easy fight. Just make sure to clear the winch once you throw something at the blades as it will loop back quickly. There’s tons of spot lights and money cases to throw so it shouldn’t be much of an issue. The dodge roll can be helpful here to dodge the winch or swinging helicopter.

Once you win, you’ll automatically be taken back to the Safe House. Go ahead and save.

Dead or Alive? And Two’s Company.
Set your marker for Dead or Alive? Restock on weapons if you need to. Then head to the restrooms to take the shortcut to the Pallisades.

Exit Brand New U, and jump off the railing to find Andy. Climb onto the slot machine he’s standing on. You’ll have to engage in a lengthy conversation here. Do not leave Andy at any point during this conversation as he’ll kill himself. Just keep talking, and eventually he’ll join up.

Now cleave through the zombies surrounding the slot machines. Head back up the stairs, and to the Brand New U to take the shortcut back to Royal Flush Plaza. Then just head back to the Safe House with Andy and take him inside. On the way back, if you need weapons, grab the Bowie Knife from above the news stand and a pair of boxing gloves for another pair of Knife Gloves.

You’ll have a bit of time to kill now. The next scoop isn’t available until 11 PM. You can play a few rounds of Poker for Ante Up to try and whittle down your competition. Otherwise, restock on weapons and mixed drinks while killing zombies for PP.

Around 11 PM you’ll want to start heading towards the Silver Strip. You’ll get a notification for Two’s Company.

Set your marker to Two’s Company. Make your way to the Silver Strip, and head for Hot Excitorama.

You’ll encounter two Comedians arguing over a trophy. Listen to their terrible jokes. Then pick up the Trophy and decide a winner. If you give it to Royce, Walter will cry and moan the whole way back to the Safe House. If you give it to Walter, Royce won’t join until you give him 5000 dollars. Pick your poison. I just ponied up the cash for Royce since  I didn’t want to listen to Walter crying.

Once you’ve got them both go ahead and run back to the Safe House. You should know the way at this point. You should pick up a bottle of Vodka or Whiskey on the way if you can find one. You’ll need it shortly.

World’s Most Dangerous Trick and Family Feud
Once you’re back at the Safe House it should be 12 AM, and you should get a notification for World’s Most Dangerous Trick. Go ahead and set your marker. This is a psychopath battle, so go ahead and restock on weapons, and or mixed drinks at Americana Casino if you need to.

But before that, Sven will have a request. He’ll want a bottle of hard liquor for disinfecting wounds. If you have one on hand, great, if not, there’s a box right next to him. This box does usually contain a bottle of vodka. Go ahead and smash it, and maybe you get lucky like me. Give it to Sven, and you’ll be rewarded with some small potatoes PP and another Zombrex for your trouble.

Again, go ahead and restock on weapons and healing items before heading to the Atlantica Casino.

Follow the marker all the way to the Atlantica Casino. Inside, continue towards the magic stage. Once you open the door, the battle starts.

Our strategy hasn’t changed. We’re level 40ish with close to max stats. Use the knife gloves and rush down Reed first. He’s the one with the rocket launcher. The fireworks can blind you, stunning you and making you drop your weapons. If this happens just pick them up again. Reed will do a circular swing to knock you away. Just close the distance and clean his clock.

Roger will run away from you like Naruto so go ahead and let him be a dingus on his own and don’t really bother to chase him. Eventually he’ll come back. Just move out of the way of his attacks and counter. You can trade blows with him just as easily.

You’ll get the combo card for the Rocket Launcher. Go ahead and pick it up. The next scoop is at 2 AM, so we have some time to kill. Go ahead and kill zombies, or replace weapons or mix drinks until 2 AM rolls around.

At 2 AM you’ll want to head for the Fortune City Hotel. Head up the elevator on the right side. Now hunt down Lillian. She’ll tell you about how she was separated from her mother at the Atlantica Casino.

Head back down the elevator, exit the hotel, and head for the Atlantica Casino. You’ll find Camille immediately in front of you fighting a horde of zombies. Go ahead and take them out, before talking to Camille. She’ll join you, now head back to the Fortune City Hotel, and up the Elevator.

Take Camille to Lillian and she’ll talk her down.

We’re on the cusp here, there are only 6 survivors left.

If you want to be efficient, and complete all the scoops, what you should do is take Lillian and Camille to the Pallisades. Take a quick detour to Cleroux Collection, and pick up a Peace Art. It’s a small potted plant that can be pocketed. Grab one of these as you’ll need it for a scoop soon. This just saves you a trip later, and you’ll have more time to complete Ante Up.

Then head through the Brand New U shortcut to get back to Royal Flush Plaza, before dropping these two off at the Safe House. Otherwise, just get them back to the Safe Room whichever way you want.

Go ahead and Save the game here at the rest room.
Now you have a lot of time to kill before the military arrives. It should be about 3-4 hours of in game time. This should be enough time to complete the Ante Up scoop. You can do a quick lap to get the Gambling Books if you want, but it’s beatable without them.

Set your marker, and head to the back room and play strip poker with the survivors you’ve rescued.

Of course, I’m not a fan of poker so I made a slicecycle and actually had some fun slaughtering zombies. To each their own.

At 7 AM you’ll have to give Katey her daily dose of Zombrex.

You’ll have a bit of time after this before Case 6-1: Help Arrives starts. You’ll absolutely want to be adequately prepared with a full weapon and mix drink set before this starts.

3 Knife Gloves, 1 Nail bat with the Rescue Magazine, and the rest of your inventory filled with Mixed Drinks is the ideal scenario here. Be back at the security room to finish Case 6-1, and start Case 6-2.

Dead Rising 2 is about to get significantly harder.

Case 6-2:
Set your marker to Case 6-2: Last Stand. Save your game.

You’ll know have to deal with mutated zombies that are significantly more aggressive. As long as you keep moving you should be fine. You should have level 3 speed at this point.

Head through Royal Flush Plaza, to the restroom and use the shortcut to take you to Brand New U. Head down to the first level, and exit the Pallisades and enter the Yucatan Casino.

Run through Yucatan, and exit onto the Silver Strip. Follow your marker, and you’ll be lead to a broken HUMVEE that bashed through the fence to the maintenance tunnels. Enter this area.

Check your map here, and locate a nearby restroom. Go ahead and save here. This next psychopath can be difficult.

Then follow your marker to some broken boxes and a busted Humvee, and pass through them to encounter Sergeant Boykin.

Boykin’s really annoying. If he hits you he’ll knock you over, shoot you, and then throw you away. Combo hits don’t really work, as he usually will counter with rolling away.

Regardless, you should be high enough level and have enough mixed drinks on hand to trade blows with him.

After the fight, you’ll have to escort Rebecca. If you have the Leadership magazine still, Rebecca won’t limp and will be able to run. I would still advise carrying her instead.

You can head back and save at the restroom if you wish. This part was a bit odd for me, for efficiency reasons I went to rescue the Tape it or Die crew by going through the Yucatan, and meeting up with them at the Kokonutz Sports Town with Rebecca, then took the shortcut through Brand New U to get back to Royal Flush Plaza and the Safe House.

You’re supposed to get 2 combo cards for rescuing the Tape it or Die crew here. You should get the Blazing Aces, and Exsanguinator cards, and I just didn't. If you’re an achievement hunter, you’ll probably want to just take Rebecca back to the safe house alone, then do a separate trip back to the Pallisades to pick up the Tape it or Die Crew after. It shouldn’t take much extra time at all, and you have more than enough time to do it.

My recommendation for this is just take Rebecca back to the Safe House alone. Then deal with the remaining survivors after, that should avoid any potential conflicts.

Once you get Rebecca back to the Safe House, you’ll immediately start an event to fix the gate. Don’t worry about this too much, it’s pretty easy. Just follow your waypoints around the Safe House to pick up the supplies you need. You won’t really need to help the survivors here, they’re pretty safe so don’t worry about them. Once you get all the items placed, clear any zombies around you, and hack the panel by mashing X to shut the door. Then you’ll go to the next scene.

Final Survivors
This will be the last set of survivors you can rescue in Dead Rising 2.

Head out of the Safe House, and to the restrooms in Royal Flush Plaza. Take the shortcut to the Brand New U in the Pallisades. Head downstairs and to the Kokonutz Sports Town and talk to the Tape it or Die Crew. They’ll join you. Head back up stairs, and back to Brand New U to take the shortcut back to Royal Flush Plaza. Follow the wall, and get these 4 back to the Safe Room.

There’s only 2 survivors left. They’re in an unlisted scoop in Fortune Park, right by the restrooms.

Go ahead and exit the Safe House and head through Royal Flush Plaza to Fortune Park. Head to the restrooms. Matthew and Michael will shoot you if you have guns on you. You likely do not, so don’t worry about it. Approach them and talk to them, making sure to clear out any zombies. Eventually they’ll join. Matthew is injured, so you can offer him a shoulder. Go ahead and do it, as it’s easier than having him follow you, especially if you don’t have the leadership magazine.

Head back to Royal Flush Plaza, then back through it and to the Safe House. Congratulations you’ve saved every survivor in Dead Rising 2. All 65 of them. The Leadership, and Rescue Magazine have served their purpose. Go ahead and dump them and use the Inventory space for weapons or mixed drinks.

All that’s left now is to finish the main story. But first, make sure to save.

Case 7-2: The Only Lead
Set your marker to Case 7-2: The Only Lead.

First things first though, restock your weapons, and head to the Americana Casino to get some mix drinks. Don’t worry, it’s actually a convenient stop on the way to our objective. Quicksteps and Painkillers again are the go to. Once you’re stocked, make your way towards the Fortune City Arena.

Go ahead and save at the restrooms if you want, then enter the Arena.

Cut through the Arena, and get to the South Plaza.

Follow the arrow through the South Plaza, and it will lead you down to the maintenance tunnels.

Jump down the stairs, and exit into the loading bay. Go ahead and grab the utility vehicle and drive it down into the tunnel. These things have weak durability so try and avoid hitting zombies if you can. Just follow the waypoint, and you’ll eventually reach a large security door. Use the keypad on the side.

Inside, you’ll immediately be shot by mercenaries. You’ll need to climb up the grey cabinet on the side, and then get onto the yellow machinery. Then get onto the upper level. Drinking a quickstep here will help a bit. Hop the fence, and take out the mercenaries with your knife gloves.

Get back on track and follow the waypoint to the next keypad. You’ll encounter two scientists here who will shoot at you. Go ahead and cut them down. You’ll get the lab card key and the laptop. You’ll immediately start Case 7-3: What Lies Beneath.

Use the elevator to leave this place.

All you have to do now is head back to the Safe House. Taking the exit on the right will lead you to the Silver Strip and you’ll end up in front of the Slot Ranch Casino. Then just hold right to get back to Royal Flush Plaza, from there, you know where to go. Enter the Safe House. Save your game, and enter the Security Room.

The Facts
If you want to access Overtime mode, you need to give TK a Zombrex. This is your last time, once you complete the facts, your ending is decided. Set your marker to TK is infected. Give him a Zombrex, and you’ll now get access to Overtime Mode.

Exit the Safe House. Stacy will radio saying she saw the perp heading to Fortune Park.

It’s time for final preparations. The final Psychopath of the main game will disarm all your weapons destroying them. Except, weapons that are attached to your fists, like the tenderizers, or big surprise, the Knife Gloves. Make a few pairs of Knife Gloves, and a few nailbats to clear space. Don’t worry about mix drinks yet, we’ll have a chance soon. Head out to Fortune Park when you have ample weapons.

When you reach Fortune Park, Stacy will tell you to head to the Yucatan Casino. Just head north, hugging the left side until you reach it.

Now she’ll tell you to head to the Elevators at the back. Conveniently this is next to the restrooms for saving, and Baron Von Brathaus for making more quicksteps and painkillers. Max out your inventory on mixed drinks, and save your game. In that order, you don’t want to have to mix more drinks if you end up dying.

Head up the elevator. Use the Nail bat or Knife Gloves to carve through the zombies and head up to the roof. Just follow your waypoint.

This is easily the most frustrating part of the game. Sullivan is by far the hardest part of Dead Rising 2. If you don’t have Knight Gloves you’re supposed to fight him bare fisted, or with guns, as he disarms any melee weapons you have.

You have to climb up to him, and you will frequently be thrown off this platform because it’s just way too small.

Hit and run tactics work best. Getting a single hit on him, and then backing out will be the best course of action. Try and bait an attack from him, then back away, before getting a quick hit in.

Bombs will drop and will break holes in the floor. Obviously try to avoid falling into these as it simply wastes a bunch of time and it’s a paint to get back out. You’ll have to reclimb all the scaffolding and have to deal with the zombies.

Regardless of difficulty, you should  have about 6 Painkillers and Quicksteps total, which is a lot of healing and damage mitigation. As long as you’re putting out some damage with the knife gloves, you’ll likely wear him down before he wears you down.

Overtime Mode
Just like the original, Dead Rising 2’s overtime mode has you collecting a bunch of items. The order you’re given is probably the most efficient route, as the loop is fairly good.

The compromising photo is in the Americana Casino. Just head into the first door on your right. Enter the back room and grab it from the desk.

Next up is the gift basket. This is in the Fortune City Hotel. Since you’re in the Americana Casino, you can head to the bar to buy some quicksteps, it will speed up this process. I would fill my inventory with them.

Otherwise head south to the Fortune City Arena. Cut straight through here to enter the South Plaza. Head through to get to the Fortune City Hotel. Behind the reception desk, you’ll find the the gift basket. Pick it up, and head out to Fortune Park.

Your next objective is to grab the expensive Champagne. You can find this at the Pub O’ Gold on the Silver Strip. Just head up, and it’s on the right side. You’ll see a giant Red headed girl in a leprechaun outfit on the sign above. Enter Pub O’ Gold, and grab the Champagne from the other side of the bar.

The case of queens is next, and it’s one of the more confusing ones to find. Just down the Silver Strip and enter the Atlantica Casino. Cut through, and enter the Pallisades. Now, on your left, enter the maintenance tunnel  and head right to go down the elevator you used in the previous cases. Follow your marker to find the case. You’ll have to jump on some machinery and then jump across to reach it. Collect the Queens.

Next target is the Mobile Headset. This is also in the underground but it’s a ways away, and the underground is full of zombies. Head back up the elevator to the Pallisades. You can exit onto the Silver Strip and run down to the Yucatan, or you can go through the Pallisades to get to the Yucatan, it’s your call. Either way, head to the restrooms at the back of the Yucatan to pick up the headset. It’s near the elevators. Now is a good chance to save, and restock on Quicksteps and Painkillers if you need them at Baron Von Brathaus.

Next target is the USB drive. This is also in the underground. Head down through the utility room next to the restrooms for a quick way down. Use a quickstep here to hopefully make you untouchable by Zombies. Then follow the waypoint. You’ll have to cross to the other side. Conviently the USB drive is on the way up to the Food Court, so grab it. Then head up the stairs to the food court.

The last item we need is a Lab Coat, from Roy’s Mart. Cut through the food court, and then through the Slot Ranch Casino to Royal Flush Plaza. Grab the Lab Coat from behind the counter.

We have everything we need, it’s time to head to the Arena and face off against TK.
Things are coming full circle here.

Head through Royal Flush Plaza, to the Americana Casino. You’ll want to stop at the Bar and make sure you have at least 1 Quickstep, and 1 Painkiller here. Otherwise, just head through the casino towards the arena. Stop at the restrooms on the way and save. This is your last save of the game.

Enter the arena, and follow the waypoint up the stairs.

You’re stripped of everything going into the battle with TK in the Arena. Of course, you can cheat a little bit. If you consume a Quickstep, and a Painkiller, you’ll start the battle with those effects active, giving you an advantage, even though you have no inventory.

TK himself isn’t too hard. Immediately start the fight by getting yourself a weapon. On the ledge above, you can find a Lead Pipe and a Spotlight. These should be enough to kill TK with maxed out attack power.

Strategy hasn’t changed much even though TK is more complex. Trade blows with him. Eventually he’ll run away and jump down below where you can’t follow him. You should use this time to raise Katey and Stacey using the crank in the middle. TK will try and rush you from behind here. If you get the timing right you can stop cranking and dodge in time, otherwise you’ll probably take a hit

Sometimes TK will charge you, and do your best to avoid this. It causes a quicktime event that’s annoying. After he starts charging you can just dodge him by rolling or moving out of the way. The same goes for his wind up swing, it’s actually easy to dodge, if you’re standing beside him he’ll probably never hit you with it.

TK’s not overly difficult. There are a few healing items strewn around but you should be around 45+ at this point with maxed out, or near maxed out stats. Try and stick to the initial area. If you head to the sides TK can use fireworks to knock you over and potentially lock you down.  Otherwise just club him down with your Lead Pipes and Spot lights until it’s all over.

That’s the end of Dead Rising 2. Best and canon ending. All Psychopaths killed. All 65 Survivors rescued. All 11 gifts for Katey, and to top it off we have a million dollars, whoo hoo.

You should be very close to level 50 now for New Game+. Pretty sure you need a grand total of 5 million PP for level 50, and I was about 100k short after the bonuses from the end game rewards. This is easy enough to get, just rescue some survivors, or give some gifts to Katey and you should be able to get there extremely quickly.