Dead Island 100% Achievement Guide + fix for broken achievements

This is my 100% achievement guide for Dead Island, I also include a fix for bugged achievements.
A few achievements are straight forward so I have left them blank, please let me know if you need any help with anything and I'll try my best.

Achievements Not Unlocking

On the menu of the game you can go to extras > achievements. Some achievements get bugged and unlock in game however don't unlock on steam, so if your in game achievement numbers don't match up with your steam ones don't worry there's an easy fix.

also take into account the extra 10 achievements that are part of the survival mode, if you've done any of those make sure you're not counting them towards the matching total

The numbers SHOULD match like this:


If the numbers mismatch and you're missing some on steam follow this guide:

First you need to turn off Steam Cloud Synchronization. Find Dead Island in your steam library and right click it, go to properties then click on the update tab, uncheck the box at the bottom called 'Steam Cloud'

Now find your steam folder, usually its in Local Disc (C:) > Program Files (x86) > Steam

Once you're in the steam folder find the userdata folder and open it, click on the top folder within it and then find the folder called 91310

Inside the 91310 folder go remote > out > profiles

Inside the profiles folder should be a file called default.pro, this file tracks achievement progress in game, so that means achievements such as finding all the collectibles and visiting every area on the map will be reset if you haven't yet unlocked it, so I would recommend either finishing those and then doing this or you can copy and paste it elsewhere to keep a backup safe. However if you've already done those achievements or don't mind resetting them then delete this file.

Now the only achievements it should show as being unlocked are the ones you've unlocked on steam!

Story & Levelling Achievements

These achievements will come with finishing the game:

Hell in paradise
Complete act 1.



No raccoons in here
Complete act 2.



King of the jungle
Complete act 3.



Banoii redemption
Complete act 4.



Learning the ropes
Reach level 10.



Dedicated student
Reach level 25.



School of hard knocks
Reach level 50.


You most likely will not be level 50 by the end of the game, make sure you're doing all side quests and killing lots of zombies.
See the XP and Money Farming Strategy tab of the guide for help with this achievement.

Enemy & Weapon Achievements

I want one of those
Customize 25 weapons



Can't touch this
Use a hammer to kill a series of 15 zombies without taking damage.


For this achievement I found a hammer, levelled it to max and would go around killing zombies, I would make sure to kick them to the ground first to minimize the likelihood of taking any damage


Humanitarian
Kill 50 human enemies.



A taste of everything
Kill a zombie with 10 different melee weapons.



To put it bluntly
Kill 250 zombies using blunt melee weapons.



Hack & slash
Kill 250 zombies using edged melee weapons.



Guns don't kill but they help
Kill 250 zombies using firearms.



Tae Kwon Leap
Kill 25 zombies with your bare fists.



Karma-geddon
Kill 50 zombies using a vehicle



Rageman
Kill 100 enemies with Fury attacks.



A very special day
Kill 250 zombies with modified weapons.



Swing them sticks
Kill 150 enemies using Analog Fighting controls.


For this achievement you need to enable analog fighting controls, if you own a controller go into the game settings > controls > change input to xbox 360 controller (even if that's not what you're using it doesnt matter) then change the controls at the bottom from digital to analog. Start killing zombies and eventually you'll get the achievement!
Alternatively if you don't have access to a controller you can follow this guide.


One is all I need
Kill 5 Infected in a row with a single blow.


For this achievement you need to kill INFECTED, the fast zombies, in one hit. Most of the time you can one shot them with a pretty good weapon. I got this achievement on act 2, I ran around the city with a max level machete one shotting any infected I saw. Make sure you don't kill infected that are burning or already damaged as that won't count as a one shot and will reset the counter, also try and avoid being grabbed by a regular walker as that will also reset the counter.
If you're struggling to find infected there are tonnes that spawn in the quarantined zones of act 2, the areas that are zoned off by big white walls.
Also if you're at the beginning of the game the quest to protect the workshop is a good place to get this achievement if you use the machete given to you by Nikolai in the black hawk down quest.


10 heads better than 1
Kill 10 zombies in a row with headshots.


This achievement is a bit annoying but not too hard, I got this on act 2 after getting max ammo for my pistol after the quest 'drowned hope' to save some people at the pump station. I went around the city finding zombies and kicking them to the ground, I then punched them until their health was low and finished them off with the pistol.


Catch!
Kill an Infected with a grenade blast.


For this achievement you need to make sure you're killing INFECTED, the fast zombies. I got this in my playthrough during the second time you visit the Town Hall when everyone is dead/turned, there is a dead military guy on the ground with a grenade next to his body, I picked it up and then found some infected zombies jumped up on a box and threw it at the ground.


Tis but a flesh wound!
Sever 100 limbs.



Warranty Void if Used
Create a customized weapon.



Steam Punk
Create weapons to rival the gods of fire or thunder.


For this achievement you need to make a weapon that either uses electricity or fire, I got this achievement using the shock mod.


First!
Kill a Suicider with a grenade


This achievement isn't very hard just make sure when you find a grenade you save it until you find a suicider, the big pink bubbly guys, I'm pretty sure it one shot's them as they're very squishy but I shot one a bit before using the grenade just in case.


Ah! Spoiled meat!
Kill a Butcher using an axe


Butcher's are the strong enemies with no hands you first find in the jungle, I would recommend if you find a strong axe giving it to Jin to keep until you get towards the end of the game


Rootin' Tootin' Lootin
Loot 25 Exceptional Weapons.


For some reason the description says 25, luckily it's actually only 5. Still, this achievement is a bit of a pain, you might be lucky and not have too much trouble with it, however if not, first off I would recommend playing Purna as she has a perk that at max level increases the chance of finding rare weapons by 15%
I'm sure there's better ways of getting this achievement but personally I just kept fast travelling between Bunker #2 and the Fishing Village, opening the chests in these 2 locations (3 in the bunker and 2 in the back room of the building you spawn looking at in the Fishing Village)

This is the achievement that took me the longest so good luck!


Oh, no you don't
Kill a Ram using tackle skill.


For this achievement you need to play as Sam B, it's not very hard just make sure you level up the tackle skill to max, I unlocked it on the first ram you come across in front of the church, I got his health low then after he finishes his charge I just sprinted into him over and over until he died and the achievement popped


Light my fire
Set 10 zombies on fire simultaneously


Find a group of zombies and try and bait them all to the same area I did it here:
Theres 2 areas here with groups of zombies, I just took out the ram then ran around trying to get a big group of walkers together, once I had enough I climbed up onto the building ledge and threw a molotov down!

Collectibles

Gotta find 'em all
Find 60 collectibles



Nearly there
Find 120 collectibles.


You can find a really good guide on where all of the collectibles are here

Miscellaneous Achievements

Cardio
Travel a distance of 20 kilometers on foot.



Road Trip
Drive a total distance of 10 kilometers.



How many days exactly?
Play Dead Island at least 28 days after starting it for the first time.



Knock, knock
Breach a locked door with the first blow.


Just hit the middle red part of the door QTE on your first go and you'll get this achievement.


Savior
Save 5 people besieged by zombies.


While playing through the game sometimes you can come across people trapped by zombies yelling out for help, kill all the zombies and speak to them and it will track progress towards this achievement. Just help 5 people and it will unlock!


There and back again
Explore the entire island.


There is a really good guide you can find here It shows all of the locations you need to visit in each act.
Alternatively if you don't want to find all of them on your own you can use this save file guide.


Gesundheit!
Heal yourself with a medkit 100 times


For this achievement I bought a tonne of medkits towards the end of the game and just ran around walking into zombies until it popped.


Everybody lies
Use a large medkit to heal an injury of 5% or less.



Busy, busy, busy
Complete 75 quests cumlatively.


There are 53 main quests so make sure you're completing as many side quests as you can so you get this by the end of the game


Right 4 Life
Complete act 1 with 4 different characters.

Co-op Achievements

If you need help with any co-op achievements, I recommend making a post on the discussions, I'm sure there's people out there who will help you out.


Need a hand?
Join another player's game.



People Person
Play with 10 different co-op partners for at least 15 minutes each.



Together in the light
Complete 5 quests in a single co-op game with the same partners.



Going steady
Complete 25 quests while playing with at least one co-op partner


Originality
Play in a co-op team of 4 different playable characters.



Menage et Trois
Complete 5 quests with 3 co-op partners.

XP and Money Farming Strategy

Similar to the achievement to find 5 exceptional weapons there is a strategy I have found to get lots of money and xp. It takes a bit of time but it does work.

First off, to farm money, like in the achievement mentioned above you can fast travel from Bunker #2 to River Village and open the chests in these areas (2 in the River Village and 3 in Bunker #2) Take the weapons you find in these chests.
You can then fast travel to the Warehouse or where ever else a trader is found (I found the warehouse the easiest as Florencio is right beside you when you spawn) Sell the weapons you collected from the chests.
To farm XP spend all of your money buying nails from any traders who sells nails (again I found Florencio in the Warehouse the easiest) then travel to the Church and keep giving Bruno nails (500xp for 3 nails)
This method is a bit slow but it's the fastest I've found that hasn't been patched or requires you to edit files.
Also sometimes the traders will stop selling nails, after a while they will reset and start selling them again so just go do something else for a little while and come back.

Another good way to get XP is the arena!

[Hydrofoil Goat]

Need someone with the original version of the game to help with the coop achievement. All I need is one person to play with for 15 mins. Add me if you can help.

[♡Alice Cousland♡]

Thank you for the guide! Really helped keeping things in check.

[♥ Barney ♥]

The drive you installed Steam on (mine is on my C drive), then click on userdata, then a folder with a long number xxxxxxxx (different for everyone), then folder 91310, then remote, then out, the profiles, default.pro should be in there.

Steam > userdata > XXXXXXXX > 91310 > remote > out > profiles > default.pro

[Ben Panther]

i don't see a folder called 91310 . could you help? i looked in both of the folders

[Dekardi]

thought maybe its the cloud sync since you had to deactivate cloud to reset .pro but im not sure thats why i thought i ask thanks for the response

[Minxy]

Did you accidentally edit the name and change it to prr? I've never heard of .prr before, but I might be wrong.

[Dekardi]

any idea why i have a default.prr now? (got both a default.pro and a default.prr)

[Dekardi]

thanks for the quick response

[Minxy]

Just for Dead Island! And no that shouldn't cause any issues.

[Dekardi]

btw is the "default.pro" just a data for dead island or does it include other games?