Dead Island - Story Behind Dr. Kessler's Casebook (LORE)

A guide to the very essential casebook of Dr. Devin Kessler.

Who Is Dr. Devin Kessler?

Dr. Devin Kessler is a survivor introduced in the Flooded jungle of Palanai in Dead Island: Riptide. He is a German scientist who researches Kuru and how it is affected by exterior forces, especially with the zombie outbreak. Harlow Jordan recommends the Hero visits Dr. Kessler after Marcus Villa betrays the Hero at the Paradise Survival Camp.

It is implied the reason Kessler chose to live and set up a biosphere on the island of Palanai was due to his fascination with the kuru outbreaks that occur intermediately within the Banoi Archipelago.

While Harlow claims that Kessler is a good and ethical man, the collectible files that can be found within the game make this highly debatable as they reveal he is working with Frank Serpo and his employers, the Consortium, the organization responsible for the outbreaks across the Banoi Archipelago, to further their research on combining chemicals, derived from the weapons left behind in bunkers when Japan occupied the island during World War II, with the Pathogen HK variant outbreak of the kuru disease to create a potent biological weapon to be sold to military organizations.

Additionally, Kessler's biosphere suffers from an outbreak as well, resulting in the deaths of his entire staff. Kessler seems rather unmoved by this and even blames the incident on the carelessness of his now deceased staff, only showing concern for the reagents that were left behind in the biosphere. The immune seem highly suspicious of this, making it debatable if the outbreak in his lab was indeed simply an accident or another twisted experiment to further test the potential of the virus mutations.

While it is never explicitly stated what Kessler's exact motives are, it is implied that he is primarily concerned about understanding more about the outbreak to satisfy his own curiosity as a scientist and researcher, having spent years researching the kuru disease and was fascinated by how it continuously adapts and mutates with each new outbreak, and is not concerned about any profit that could be secured in weaponizing the disease.

His previous research on how the kuru disease mutates from exposure to chemical weapons, contained within a paper he authored alongside Marcus Villa, before the two had a falling out, was what caught the attention of the Consortium and, thus, saw him as a viable resource for their operations on Palanai.

Dr. Kessler can be found in his biosphere northeast of the flooded jungle next to the washed out road to Henderson.

When the Hero reaches the research facility, Dr. Kessler complains he is too busy to let the Hero in, but is convinced after learning of the Hero's immunity. He asks the Hero to gather some reagents from his students who became Grenadiers. After obtaining the reagents, Dr. Kessler asks for samples of the Hero's blood to observe and discovers that while the virus does not affect the Hero, it is only suppressed. He warns the Hero about chemicals in the old Japanese tunnels which could mutate the virus in the Heroes, but relents and gives them the map to the tunnels.

If the Hero returns and speaks with Dr. Kessler before entering the tunnels, he will ask the Hero to get some samples from the tunnels as well as some research notes. Kessler is happy to have the research and asks the Hero for electronic scrap.

After killing the mutated Wayne, the Hero calls Dr. Kessler to find out more about what happened. He explains Wayne must have been infected for such a mutation to happen and brushes off the Hero's worries of being around so much of the chemicals.

After the Hero goes berserk on the prisoners at the ferry station, Dr. Kessler theorizes the virus in the Heroes must have mutated as a result of coming into contact with the chemicals, and enhanced their latent rage ability. He warns them not to come in contact with more Mutagen to curb further mutation.

The Casebook:

Details on each zombie type you meet when meeting them for the first time. It serves as a quick reference guide for the player to look over and be reminded of the weaknesses of each zombie type.

Over the course of the game, it will update as you meet new zombies and special infected, including the named zombies in dead zones. It is assumed that it was created by Dr. Kessler as part of his research into the continued infection.

Infected:



⭐ Speed: Very Fast
⭐ Special Skill: Performs series of deadly attacks, quickly recovers his balance.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down.
⭐ Threat Level: 2/5

"Very fast enemy that unleashes a series of dangerous attacks. Its speed lets it catch fleeing players, and it can also launch surprise attacks. Often travels in small groups."

Burning Infected:



⭐ Speed: Very Fast
⭐ Special Skill: Performs series of deadly attacks, quickly recovers his balance, causes additional fire damage.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down.
⭐ Threat Level: 2/5

"Burning version of the regular Infected, direct contact leads to fire damage. As a result, it must be kept at a distance, e.g. through kicking or the use of two-handed weapons."

Walker:



⭐ Speed: Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can grab and bite his victim.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down, moves slowly and therefore can be avoided.
⭐ Threat Level: 1/5

"The most common type of enemy, it is slow but can unleash devastating attacks. A minor threat on its own, Walkers almost always travel in groups. Do not let them surround you."

Toxic Walker:



⭐ Speed: Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can grab and bite his victim, causes additional toxic damage.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down, moves slowly and therefore can be avoided.
⭐ Threat Level: 1/5

"Toxic version of the Walker, direct contact leads to poisoning. As a result, it must be kept at a distance, e.g. through kicking or the use of two-handed weapons."

Burning Walker:



⭐ Speed: Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can grab and bite his victim, causes additional fire damage.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down, moves slowly and therefore can be avoided.
⭐ Threat Level: 1/5

"Flaming version of the Walker, direct contact leads to fire damage. As a result, it must be kept at a distance, e.g. through kicking or the use of two-handed weapons."

Drowner:



⭐ Speed: Very Fast
⭐ Special Skill: Performs series of deadly attacks, quickly recovers his balance.
⭐ Weak Points: Easy to knock back or knock down.
⭐ Threat Level: 2/5

"Very fast enemy that silently lurks in the water and launches surprise attacks. Usually seen in a group, it also presents a threat to people travelling boat since it hears and reacts to the sound of the boat's engine."

Thug:



⭐ Speed: Very Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can knock a victim to the ground, very tough, cannot be knocked down.
⭐ Weak Points: Moves slowly, can be attacked from behind, susceptible to attacks while taunting.
⭐ Threat Level: 3/5

"Very slow and extremely strong, cannon be knocked down. Its powerful attack can knock down players. Extremely dangerous in confined spaces, it rarely appears alone."

Ram:



⭐ Speed: Very Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can knock victim to the ground, very tough, cannot be knocked down, can perform a very powerful charge attack.
⭐ Weak Points: moves slowly, can be attacked from behind for bonus damage, susceptible to attacks while taunting and after performing a charge.
⭐ Threat Level: 5/5

"Large enemy that is slow-moving, but can perform a very quick and dangerous charge. Resistant to attacks against its head, it's difficult to kill. Avoid its charge and then attack its exposed back.

Suicider:



⭐ Speed: Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can explode, inflicting a great deal of damage to everything in range.
⭐ Weak Points: Very slow, can be killed from a distance using firearms or throw attacks.
⭐ Threat Level: 2/5

"Very slow enemy, explodes when the player comes within range. Keep your distance from this enemy, using firearms or thrown weapons. Its explosions can be used to kill other enemies.

Floater:



⭐ Speed: Very Slow
⭐ Special Skill: Can vomit a toxic bile at a distance, very tough.
⭐ Weak Points: Moves and rotates very slowly, attacks can be avoided.
⭐ Threat Level: 3/5

"Very slow enemy, uses a ranged attack that consists of toxic vomit. The player can use the enemy's slow speed to attack its back and avoid its attacks.

Butcher:



⭐ Speed: Very Fast
⭐ Special Skill: Performs a series of deadly attacks, its attack cannon be interrupted with one-handed weapon attacks.
⭐ Weak Points: Can be knocked back with a kick or two-handed weapon.
⭐ Threat Level: 3/5

"Very fast enemy, cannot be knocked down to the ground. It can dodge attacks and catch up with a fleeing player. The best fighting tactic for this enemy is to use the environment and perform ranged attacks."

Screamer:


​
⭐ Speed: Fast
⭐ Special Skill: It's scream can incapacitate everyone in range.
⭐ Weak Points: Has fragile body and can be easily killed when cornered.
⭐ Threat Level: 3/5

"Fast and very dangerous enemy. Always appears with a group of other enemies. If it gets close enough, its scream can stun the player, making attacks impossible."

Final Thoughts:

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