Dead Space 2 Multiplayer

Titan Station Security Force in Dead Space 2 Multiplayer.

Dead Space 2 Multiplayer is a 4 vs 4 multiplayer gamemode that consists of team-based matches, broken down into two rounds each. Teams take turns playing as the Titan Station Security Force (human team), and the Necromorph horde. The human team must achieve a variety of objectives while the Necromorph team must prevent them from completing their objectives. The human team wins by completing all objectives before the match time is up, while the Necromorph team wins if the humans run out of time.

On December 8th, 2023, the servers for Dead Space 2 shut down, rendering this mode unplayable.

Summary

Each match takes place on a specific map and each map has its own unique type of objectives keyed to it. Completing an objective will of an objective adds time to the game clock, while also unlocking the next objective for the humans.

Objectives include a human operating a panel uninterrupted for a set amount of time, carrying a disk or information to a panel, entering escape pods, and damaging containers and Markers. These are performed in a narrative order, giving importance to each objective and the whole scenario.

Players from both teams can damage their allies with both melee and ranged attacks. Team Kills are penalized with a -20-point modifier. This includes during grapple attacks. Players can also damage themselves, killing yourself incurs a -100-point penalty.

Players gain or lose experience for their actions while in game and can receive a bonus for winning a match. Point Awards:

• Healing a Teammate: 20 points
• Rescuing a Teammate: 20 points
• Killing a Necromorph: 100 points
• Assisting in a Necromorph kill: 25 points
• Killing a Human: 300 points
• Assisting a Human kill: 150 points
• Completing an Objective (Human): 400-500 points
• Winning a Round: 1000 points
• Winning Both Rounds: +2000 points, total 4000 points
• Execution Damage Bonus: Variable. Determined by opposing players button mashing. Usually <100 points.
• Killing a Teammate: -20 points
• Suicide: -300 points (Human), -100 points (Necromorph)

Players can use experience to unlock new suits, weapons, and upgrades.

Humans

Security Team

This team's goal is to complete all the objectives before time runs out. Their play style is similar to Isaac's with Kinesis and Stasis, but also includes multiplayer exclusive abilities like area of effect (AOE) Healing. But, remember that you cannot pick up items with Kinesis to shoot at enemies.A great tactic is to stay in a group to easily dispatch AI Slashers and enemy players.

Humans start with Stasis, a Plasma Cutter, and a Pulse Rifle. The initial Stasis Module has a single charge, which is upgraded as the player levels up. The Plasma Cutter can be swapped out for other weapons that are unlocked by reaching higher levels.

The first weapon to be unlocked is the Line Gun at level 7, then the Force Gun at level 11, the Seeker Rifle at level 17, then the Javelin Gun at level 28. Additional suits are also unlocked by leveling up. These are purely cosmetic and have no impact on gameplay.

Human Multiplayer Weapons

Player vs. Player matchmaking is inherently different from single player vs. environment, so players should be aware of the differences between the weapons as demonstrated in the single player campaign, as opposed to the multiplayer arena. Security officers always spawn with a Pulse Rifle, and initially with a Plasma Cutter that they can swap out for different weapons when they unlock them at higher levels.

Pulse Rifle

The Pulse Rifle is the default weapon for the Human Security teams. It is always issued, and cannot be swapped out. The magazine capacity starts at 50, and is upgraded to 60 at level 19.

Primary Fire: Suppression Spray

The Pulse Rifle's primary fire is a high rate of hit-scan projectiles with a slight recoil. The rate of fire, combined with the large magazine size, makes this weapon very useful in a wide range of situations. As always, concentrating fire on limbs damages enemies more efficiently. Combined fire from multiple Humans can deal tremendous damage; this is a recommended tactic. Due to the damage this does alone to a Pack and/or Lurker, it is best to spam the Grenade due to the normal fire being to slow to be effective.

Secondary Fire: Grenade Launcher

The Grenade Launcher alternate fire launches an explosive projectile which has time to target and is affected by gravity. It uses 10 ammunition per grenade. Any player or AI slasher caught in the blast radius will be stunned, which forces Lurkers that are climbing on walls or ceilings to lose their grip and fall to the ground. It also interrupts charged ranged attacks from both the Puker and the Spitter. This is also good if a Spitter or Lurker moves back into cover and is unable to be shot with normal bullets, while grenades can be used because of it's splash damage to kill/damage enemies behind cover.

Plasma Cutter

The Plasma Cutter functions in Multiplayer exactly the same way as it does for Singleplayer, as a versatile equivalent of a pistol. Remarkably, due to higher pressure through Multiplayer to consider killing enemies much more important than conserving ammunition, its effectiveness as a weapon has shifted from primary weapon to special purpose deployment for emergencies.

Primary Fire: Single shot

Fires a narrow cutting beam at a high velocity, dealing a moderate amount of damage.

Secondary Fire: Rotate array 90°

Aligning this weapon so it is perpendicular to the limb being aimed at substantially increases the amount of damage dealt to an enemy. Doing so vastly increases the potential of the weapon.

Line Gun Lvl. 7

The Line Gun is a heavier weapon with high damage potential. Like in the single player campaign, it fires powerful lines of energy that pierce through targets and continue until they hit level geometry. The Multiplayer version initially has a 5-round capacity, which is increased to 7 at level 25. The weapon is hampered by a low fire rate, slow reload speed, and time to target.

Primary Fire: Single Line shot

The Line Gun's primary fire is a wide horizontal beam of energy that will heavily damage anything it comes into contact with. It pierces enemies, and will pass through them making it ideal for clearing constricted hallways by aiming the band at the target's legs. It is capable of killing AI slashers in one blast, by striking two limbs. This makes it very effective at thinning AI characters very quickly. It is also capable of killing Pack members in one hit, as long as one or more limbs are severed. Lurkers can be killed in one hit if the beam contacts two or more tentacles. Otherwise, it will take two blasts. Pukers and Spitters can take up to four blasts before succumbing.

Secondary Fire: Timed Mine.

This weapon is a rather unwieldy and unpredictable one, but is extremely effective for maps with many corners such as Fuel Core. The Spitter is the only necromorph capable of surviving an explosion from the Timed Mine. Every other Necromorph will be blown into chunks.

Force Gun Lvl. 11

The Force Gun, like in the single player, is highly effective in close-quarters combat. Alas, this is all the primary fire is good at. At far ranges, the primary fire of the Force Gun is completely useless, not even hitting the enemy or causing a knockback effect. Its primary fire is especially useful against the Pack, who die from 2 shots. The primary fire also works great against the AI-controlled Slashers; it knocks them down and takes them about 3 seconds to get back on their feet. Lurkers are also strongly affected by the primary fire due to their low amount of health. Against Pukers and Spitters, the Force Gun has a stun effect but takes about 3-5 direct shots to completely kill them. Due to its small (initially 5) magazine size and slow rate of fire, the primary fire is not heavily recommended. The secondary fire can reach a lot further and does much more damage, but is too precise to easily use against the Pack. It is useful against distant Lurkers and Spitters. Its better to start killing Pukers with the secondary fire then the primary fire when they come in close. The primary fire to the Force gun is not the smartest thing to use around allies (especially when traveling in a tight group) or to save an ally from a grapple, due to the friendly fire. The secondary is not recommended either, as it is too precise.

Primary Fire: Conical Force Blast

Using a large kinetic blast, the Force Gun causes any nearby enemy to be blown to pieces, with larger enemies, such as Spitters and Pukers, to be forced back with considerable damage at close-range. Perfect for close-quarters combat, this firing mode can easily splatter enemies into bits and knock back larger foes, giving the player a few moments to recollect themselves. However, be aware that it is not very effective at long range, not even hitting an enemy, and the wide-spread shot can easily damage one of your allies, so staying in a tight group is not recommended.

Secondary Fire: Concentrated Force Blast

Using a concentrated beam, the Force Gun shoots through multiple Necromorphs, making it ideal for closely-packed Necromorphs. Using only one round of ammunition, this firing mode is a great ammo saver. If in a closely packed group, it would be wise to use this firing mode, as it does not have a wide-spread effect as the first firing mode and is more precise. However, it does take a few moments to charge, so having another ally cover for you while it activates is an ideal strategy.

Seeker Rifle Lvl. 17

The equivalent of a semi-automatic sniper rifle, the Seeker rifle is an unwieldy weapon throughout Multiplayer, but once mastered, can be a vastly effective one. It functions exactly the same throughout Multiplayer as it does in Singleplayer, and tactics through Necromorph killing remain largely the same. This weapon should only be used in wide open maps such as titan mines and avoided in small maps such as Fuel Core and Academy. This weapon instantly kills packs with 1 hit, takes 2 shots (or 1 if you hit a tentacle) for a lurker and 3 shots for both the Spitter and the Puker.

Primary Fire: Single power shot

Fires a single shot, dealing a large amount of damage. Aiming at Necromorphs while in this mode still allows for one-shot kills with enemies like the Lurker or Pack while allowing a faster reaction time, given that the Secondary mode is not active.

Secondary Fire: Scope Toggle

Given that weapons in Multiplayer are generally accepted as un-upgraded versions of weapons during Single-player, toggling the scope on doubles the damage of the shot. Extremely useful for taking out ranged enemies, and also largely useful against larger enemies―the Slasher, Spitter, and Puker. However, it is ineffective when toggled against faster, smaller enemies.

Javelin Gun Lvl. 28

This weapon does a large splash effect and should be used for big Necromorphs like the Spitter, Puker and AI. This should never be used for packs at close range. That is asking for team kills or 1-3 Red-RIG'd humans. This is very dangerous for Lurkers as well if you can get a clear shot and they will not pull their tentacles back. This should be used mainly on Pukers and AI. Although if you can use Stasis on a Pack Member or Lurker for an easy instant kill. Also, keep in mind that it takes some time for the spear to hit the target, much like the Spitter's charged spit. It also, initially, only one clip of ammo at the start, so use it sparingly.

Primary Fire: Fires a single Javelin.

Secondary Fire: Electrifies last fired Javelin.

The javelin also automatically detonates when it hits a target. The electrical burst also lasts for a shorter time than in single player.

Necromorphs

Necromorph Swarm

This team's goal is to prevent the other team from completing the objectives. These players are able to play as one of four kinds of Necromorphs: the Lurker, the Pack, the Puker and the Spitter. They spawn in air vents similar to the Necromorphs in single player. Other computer-controlled Necromorphs will assist the players.

Necromorphs start with all 4 forms unlocked. These forms all have different respawn times, with respawn times based on the amount of utility that each form has. Like human players, increases in rank will also unlock enhancements for the Necromorphs.

Grappling (All shown controls are in their default setting)

Necromorphs can grab their opponents by pressing X/A (PS3 and Xbox respectively) to jump (for Pack and Lurkers), then the melee trigger to grab their opponents. For the Puker and Spitter, the jump button instead initiates a charge, whereupon right trigger will grab if the target is hit. One on One, a full-health human will always win a grapple. Both players are prompted to mash the A/X button.

The Necromorph player mashes to do additional damage to the Human, while the Human is attempting to prevent that additional damage. Humans below 50% health will usually lose a grapple to The Pack, Pukers, and Spitters. The Lurker can execute players below 50% health, but it requires lots of mashing since it has little health. All Necromorphs can be killed while grappling, and the human is vulnerable to both healing or damage from other players. However, they cannot use panels while being grappled. This makes grappling a very effective tactic for the Necromorph team to run out the clock.

Humans can shoot the Necromorph off, which, if successful, will end the grapple animation immediately and award the firing player 20 points for "saving" the ally.

Necromorphs can attack a human that is being grappled by an ally. This greatly increases the chances of the grapple being successful, or at least the death of the human. Ranged attacks, especially the Spitter's, must be aimed carefully to avoid hitting the allied Necromorph. If the Necromorph is killed, the grapple ends immediately.

Once the grapple animation starts playing, the victim cannot be saved. Killing the survivor will only end the animation prematurely, with the exception of the Pack and Lurker, which can survive as long as the grappled Human is killed before they are awarded the kill.

The Pack

Controls

• A + Right Trigger/ X + R1: Leaping Grapple Attack
• Right Trigger / R1: Melee Attack
• Left Trigger / L2: Sprint
• Right Bumper / R2: Not Used
• Left Bumper / L1: Not Used
• A / X: Jump
• B / O: Not Used
• X / Square: Not Used
• Left Stick: Move Character
• Right Stick: Look

Upgrades

1. Improved Melee Damage -Level 6
2. Improved Pair Damage -Level 18
3. Increased Health -Level 31
4. Stasis Resistance -Level 48

The Pack has the shortest respawn, around 3 seconds. They deal impressive melee damage and their small frame makes them difficult to hit. However, only 3-4 Pulse Rounds, or a single good hit from a special weapon, is enough to kill them. They can survive without their head. Stasis is very effective against them, due to their low toughness.

Lurker

Controls

• A + Right Trigger/ X + R1: Leaping Grapple Attack
• Left Bumper / L2: Sprint
• Left Trigger/ L1: Aim
• Right Trigger / R1: Melee attack, Ranged attack when aimed
• Right Bumper / R2: Not Used
• A / X: Jump
• B / O: Wall crawl
• X / Square: Not Used
• Left Stick: Move Character
• Right Stick: Look

Upgrades

1. Increased Ranged Damage -Level 3
2. Increased Melee Damage -Level 15
3. Increased Pair Damage -Level 27

Lurkers require about 4 seconds to spawn. They have slightly greater health than the Pack; however, their tentacles (which must be extended to shoot) are easily damaged at close range. Reduce the impact of this by not holding down the "Aim" button extraneously.

Lurkers can use ranged attacks to fire small needles which do decent damage to humans at a fast rate. Their ranged attacks launch a 3-shot salvo. Damage is greatly increased when more than one shot hits, requiring precision aiming.

They also have a melee and grapple attack, like all Necromorphs; however, the Lurker's grapple is shorter than the other's and requires the human be at a lower health if you want an execution.

The Lurker's signature ability is being able to climb up walls to provide additional mobility, and more importantly, better firing angles on its prey. Utilize this in conjunction with teammates to maximize the effectiveness of your Lurker.

Lurker Tactics

• Abuse the Lurker's ability to walk on walls. It provides excellent firing angles, and will catch most humans off guard. If you can find a good firing position on a vertical surface overlooking a human objective, you can easily take out opponents by taking advantage of the massive damage from all 3 barbs making contact with the enemy.
• Don't underestimate the Lurker's melee attack. If you have worn out a human player to the point where their rig glows red, and there are no other players nearby, rush them and melee them to death, constantly running back and fourth on the walls to avoid stasis or some kind of stun.
• Just because your body is covered by a ledge as you fire at enemies, does not mean your tentacles are invulnerable: one shot from a Line Gun and it's over.
• Use Hit-And-Run tactics, jump at the team, attack the human in the back, run away as the team begins to open fire. This will cause chaos, giving the stronger Necromorphs like the Spitter and Puker to cause the real damage.
• The Pack has the longest execution, if a fellow Necromorph is hit by stasis, immediately grab the human. This will allow the necromorph to assist you and killing the human and you get a kill.

Puker

Controls

• A + Right Trigger/ X + R1: Charging Grapple Attack
• Left Bumper / L2: Sprint
• Left Trigger /L1: Aim
• Right Trigger / R1: Melee attack, Puke attack (when aimed; hold to charge for more damage)
• Right Bumper / R2: Slowing projectile
• A / X: Charge
• B / Square: Not Used
• X / O: Not Used
• Left Stick: Move Character
• Right Stick: Look

Upgrades

1. Increased Ranged Damage -Level 12
2. Increased Melee Damage -Level 24

Pukers have the potential to be the most powerful Necromorph in multiplayer. They have a fast melee attack that deals heavy damage, a very effective grapple attack, a snare attack from their secondary fire which slows humans near its impact, and a short-ranged chargeable puke attack that causes massive damage and multiple stuns.

Pukers take 6 seconds to spawn, and they can take significant damage before dying.

Puker Tactics

• Combine attacks with your allies for enhanced effectiveness
• Spitter Charged Fire + Puker Snare Fire is very effective
• Puker grapple attack is extremely effective. Use on damaged enemies to ensure a kill.
• Due to its size, the Puker is very vulnerable to Stasis and concentrated fire. Strafing while approaching an enemy minimizes these risks.
• When spawning from a vertical vent (from the walls), the Puker pauses for couple seconds before you assume control. This is a very vulnerable time for the Puker: a human can put you into Stasis and kill you before you even get to move. Make sure the area is clear before spawning, or spawn on a ledge, out of the enemy's firing line.
• The Puker's long-reaching, fast-swinging melee attack is excellent at killing weakened enemies.
• The Pukers execution is extremely fast, if a human has a yellow RIG, smack him one more time and immediately grab him, killing him before he can heal.
• The Snare should be used non-stop on an Objective Item Holder; this will make them slower than ever.

Spitter

Controls

• A + Right Trigger / X + R1: Charging Grapple Attack
• Left Bumper / L2: Sprint
• Left Trigger: Aim
• Right Trigger/ R1: Melee Attack, Spit (when aimed; hold to charge for more damage)
• Right Bumper/R2: Not Used
• A / X: Charge
• B / O: Not Used
• X / Square: Not Used
• Left Stick: Move Character
• Right Stick: Look

Upgrades

1. Increased Execution Damage -Level 9
2. Increased Melee Damage -Level 21
3. Increased Ranged Damage -Level 35

Spitters act as a sniper for the Necromorphs.It takes 7 seconds to spawn, but the high power of all its attacks makes this worthwhile. It spit attack causes significant damage, and can instantly kill a full-health human if a fully charged attack connects with the head. Hold down the Fire button to charge the attack. However, it is also the largest Necromorph, and will often draw the attention of a whole team if it appears.

It is also very weak at close quarter battle, as it huge form makes it easy for humans to stun it until it dies. Its melee attack is slower than the Puker's.

Spitters can move very quickly while charging and sprinting, use this to your advantage

Spitter Tactics

• Treat the Spitter like you would a sniper class in any other game: Get to a high point, or a choke point with good cover, and fire away.
• Spamming the ranged attack can be useful for locking human players in a hit stun. Charged shots are more damaging than fast shots, but take more time to prepare. It will take 3 charged shots to the torso to kill a Human.
• The ranged attack of the Spitter causes splash damage. Use this to your advantage when attacking groups of enemies or attacking with an indirect line of fire.
• Due to the somewhat infamous reputation of the Spitter, Human players will often go out of their way to kill you. Since it's hard to run away as the Spitter and takes time to get back up to a ledge, kill your target quickly: aim for the head before he can do the same to you.

Slasher A.I.

Due to the fact that some Necromorphs can be easily killed, computer-controlled Slashers have been added to assist the Necromorphs by attacking the Humans. This is extremely helpful due to the tendency to directly attack a Human player, spawn close to enemies, re-enter vents to chase the humans, and assist you when surrounding them. Furthermore, the constant threat of enemies can easily drain the Human team's ammo. There can be 3 or more AI Necromorphs and they will all be Slashers which are deadly at close range and can grapple Human players. Therefore, the Necromorph team will have another tool to defeat Human team because of their sheer numbers.

Be cautious when maneuvering around the AI Slashers; they obstruct your movement and, when decapitated, their melee flailing can damage any player.

Maps

There are five maps included in the initial release, each with their own specific objectives.

• Escape: The Security Officers need to traverse a facility to a set of escape pods and escape the USG Ishimura.
• Titan Mines: Sprawl Security Team are required to find three separate components to a bomb in order to complete the process of destroying the Necromorphs and blowing open an escape for the team.
• Solar Array: The Human team have been ordered by Tiedemann to deliver the firing coordinates to the Solar Array.
• Fuel Core: The Human team is on a mission to eradicate the Necromorphs by detonating the fuel core.
• Marker Lab: The Human team must destroy the Marker experiments to keep them from falling into the wrong hands.

DLC Maps

Outbreak Pack

Two additional Maps were included in the Outbreak package. The Outbreak package is free and available only for Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game.

• Academy : The Sprawl Security Team is trapped inside the school and must activate the decontamination system in order to escape.
• Concourse : Communication with the Gun Ship is down and the Team must construct a homing beacon before they are overrun.

General Tips

• Necromorph players need to make good use of their various forms and grabs to win.
• If at all possible, split the Human team up, then have one player grab while the others rip him apart from behind.
• If the Humans are carrying an objective, use fast-spawning forms to mob them before they have a chance to react.
• If the Necromorphs must destroy an object, use the fast-spawning forms as well, and ignore the humans as you inflict damage on the objective.
• Communication is key, Necromorph or Human. Coordination is more important than personal skill.
• If you spawn in a vent under fire, don't be afraid to retreat right back into the vent you spawned from; while you will have to wait an extra 5 or 6 seconds to respawn as each variant, it gives you time to rethink the situation, and prevents an untimely death. Retreating into a vent also heals you, so if you survive a fight but are badly injured climb back into a vent to heal instead of entering the next fight at the brink of death.
• For Humans,the most important rule: stay together as the Humans are weak when on their own. Communicate with, and stay in sight of each other. If one dies, the remaining three need to find a position and dig in to wait for the other to respawn. Don't keep pushing, because it will make it easier for the Necromorphs to overwhelm your squad.
• As a human, check your corners, if there is a vent, watch out for any movement, as this could be your best tactic if your trying to get back to your team.
• If faced with multiple targets, get rid of the weaker ones first. Packs and Lurkers should be your priority. Though they're weaker in terms of how many shots it can take to bring them down, they're the fastest and can cause havoc if they engage you at close range.
• In an execution, due to the damage and rate of attacking, you will need at least 2 AI to assist in killing the Human.

See Also

• Dead Space 2 Multiplayer equipment and upgrades