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The Volatile[1][2][3] is an uncommon Infected-type in Dying Light.

Overview

The Volatile is an infected that only emerges during the night.[2] Most infected can be easily killed when in direct encounter with the player, however, this is not the case with Volatiles, and the player's best option is always to run when spotted and run to the nerest safehouse. as they are able to take several hits from high powered weapons and cause quick bursts of damage.[2]

Volatiles are broad-shouldered and slightly taller than the average Biter. Other physical markers include full-bodied nudity, exposed bone and muscle and a mandible jaw that are used against non-infected humans. They can audibly be identified by their heavy breathing and loud screeches. Volatiles are extremely fast; they can navigate through the dark at high speeds and can match the agility of the player, scaling obstacles and buildings in the same manner.[3] They have a special pounce attack that is very unlikely for low-level players to escape from, resulting in their likely death. However, after your second mission, you will get a UV flash-light. You can equip this, and when a volatile pounces, you can give them a face full of UV, pushing them back and giving you enough time to escape. Be careful, as it does need to recharge. Looking behind you while sprinting may be helpful when you encounter a volatile. Players at higher levels with the appropriate skill can shake their attacks off relatively easily, but a low level player will need an incredibly powerful weapon in order to have any chance of survival. In the event that a Volatile can see a player but not reach them, they will use a powerful spit attack similar to a Toad.

When time progresses to day, Volatiles will become frightened, they will start running to the nearest dark zone, such as a tunnel. While running for shade, Volatiles will always ignore the player even if they attack them during the day until they reach said dark zone, where they will become as aggressive as they are during the night.

GameSpot Expert Reviews

Evolved Volatile

Evolved Volatiles are a new form of Volatile encountered in The Following. Compared to its normal counterpart, Evolved Volatiles have a more arachnid appearance, with more prominent fangs, a spiked carapace, and an inky black growth over its skin resulting in an even less human appearance than the normal variants. They rarely appear in Hives, though are encountered often during the night. They can also withstand significantly more punishment against melee weapons and firearms, and will still attack you when you are camouflaged. Also, they have gained a unofficial nickname by players as Alpha Volatiles.

Using Volatiles for XP

Volatiles have around 2,000 health, requiring high-damaging weapons (such as guns or high-level melee weapons) to kill them. Late in the game, weapons such as short swords, machetes, and blunt weapons work extremely well against Volatiles because of the amount of damage per second. Volatiles are quickly dispatched when using these weapons, making for easy Strength XP, but can still prove problematic as fighting multiple can lead you to take some hits, especially if one pounces you. It is recommended to use flares when fighting them, as this gives you an area to stop and regain stamina or switch weapons. Volatiles will spit at you if you are in an area they can't reach, or if you're far from them. The spit can quickly drain your health, especially if there are multiple Volatiles. Fighting Volatiles can also cause multiple Night Walkers to show up, distracting you from fighting them if not dispatched first.

Safe Zones often have UV lights that shine in patches surrounding the fence/building. One trick is to lure a volatile close to one of these patches of UV, stay inside the light yourself.(but outside the safe zone) and just wait for them to become disinterested and run away. The entire time they're on the edge of the UV screaming at you, you'll be gaining bonus Agility for evading pursuit (unless you enter the safe zone, at which point the bonus stops and displays). This can lead to large amounts of free Agility for just standing there, but demands that you find and lure a Volatile to the area (usually not hard to find one or two close to a safe zone).

You may also throw blunt weapons at the monster, doing damage and giving you bonus night-time Strength. Blunt are recommended because you can just pick them up again when the Volatile runs away. You can also take a stash of Grey Blunt weapons with you at night to throw for the same bonus to Strength points without wasting durability on your good weapons, but you won't ever kill a Volatile that way.

You can also throw Throwing Weapons for Strength skill.

Tackle and Jump Back can give great Agility, but isn't worth the danger.

Flammable Liquid and Molotovs will kill it very quickly, though it's important to throw them in quick succession, as the Volatile will try to hunt you down after the first one is thrown.

BE AWARE: Volatiles will OCCASIONALLY come into the UV briefly to take a swing at you, but it seems to only happen if they JUMP toward you (if you're higher than ground level) or if you get close to them for a melee swing.

Early in the game, Volatiles give 2000 Strength Points when killed (On top of all the points you get while hitting them).

Strategy

  • For a descriptive video on how to handle the Volatile, visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkFfuYFi0Aw
  • Ultraviolet lights and flares can cause harm to the Volatiles similar to the Night hunter; the UV radiation can cause the volatile to walk into traps or off roofs, giving the player room to breathe. Also, using Survivor Sense will outline Volatiles in-game as well as on the minimap, making it easier to avoid them which is mostly the best option. If a Volatile must be engaged, be warned as they have very high amounts of health and can perform an instant kill grab. Use projectiles and save any rare and mighty weapons for such encounters during night runs.
  • Using the Takedown skill that the player can obtain can also kill a Volatile instantly if it is sneaked up on. Sometimes, however, it does not work and the prompt for the Takedown move will not show up on screen.[4]
  • The grappling hook is the one of the best tools to use if encountering Volatiles; it will get the player off the ground in seconds and aid in making long distance jumps, allowing some time to breathe. Without it, Volatiles will likely catch the player if their parkour skills are not great or they have not yet obtained higher free running perks that allow longer sprinting.[4]
  • Experienced players will have a multitude of options for fleeing from or fighting Volatiles. These include UV lights, flares (or Zaid's flares that last longer and burn brighter than the standard flares), firecrackers to draw them away from an objective or the player's path (sometimes going around is the best way, even if it is longer, it decreases the chance of being killed), and firearms. Firearms should be a last resort at night and should only be used if escape is guaranteed (don't get trapped in a small area or room and consequently be swarmed by a pack of Volatiles). Until the player is of a high level or has high damaging weapons, it is always best to simply stay away from the Volatiles[4]
  • Sometimes instead of running away from flares, Volatiles will simply stand at the edge of the light and do nothing, allowing the player to damage the Volatile without it reacting. Be aware that it may spontaneously decide to attack, in which case one can throw another flare and repeat the process. It is recommended the player takes on one Volatile at a time using this strategy.
  • A possible way to kill a Volatile is by luring it to a certain trap, such as electrical traps or even a river. With an electrical trap, have the Volatile come to the entrance of the Tower and once the trap is activated, it can electrocute the Volatile and kill it. With a river, lure a volatile near it and use a UV flashlight to force the Volatile to the edge. The Volatile will fall into the water and drown.
  • Throwing very powerful melee weapons can Kill Volatiles in 1 shot, but this is ill-advised if more than 1 Volatile is present. (Tested with 2379 damage Premium Katana)
  • Freezing Throwing Stars are very ineffective against Volatiles as they are only frozen for about half a second. Stasis Field Grenades, however, are probably the best way to take down a Volatile head-on. Although the Volatiles are not suspended by the grenade, they are still "frozen" on the spot and are unable to move or attack, allowing the player to easily walk behind the Volatile and perform a Takedown move. When Stasis Field Grenades are used on large groups of Volatiles (tested with about 6), they are all "frozen" (but not suspended) as they are supposed to, but the Takedown ability ceases to function properly and the Volatiles simply stiffen up before continuing to attack once the stasis wears off. The best strategy with Stasis Field Grenades are:
    • 1 Volatile - 1 Stasis Field Grenade followed by a Takedown, or throw a high damage melee weapon if the stasis is going to wear off before you can reach the Volatile to preform a Takedown.
    • 1-3 Volatiles - 1-3 Stasis Field Grenades (depending on how fast you can use Takedown on Volatiles within the stasis duration) followed by a quick succession of Takedowns.
    • 4+ Volatiles - Repeatedly throw Stasis Field Grenades (very wasteful, however) and strike the Volatiles while they are frozen with a powerful melee weapon (recommended 1500 damage MINIMUM). Remember to throw Stasis Field Grenades before the current stasis ends to keep the Volatiles frozen. The grenade detonates a few seconds after it is thrown, and you can be seriously injured or grappled by 4+ Volatiles within that time. It is advised to avoid confrontations with 4+ Volatiles as Stasis Field Grenades are expensive to craft and your weapons will take large durability loss. It is best to simply run away or avoid this many Volatiles unless you are deliberately looking to kill them or have a very large resource pool.
  • Infected camouflage is ALWAYS your friend when confronted by Volatiles.
  • Once camouflaged, do NOT under any circumstances attack a volatile. And don't cause any explosions either, especially around biters and gas-tanks. They will turn into Night Walkers.

Trivia

  • Volatile can spit Green acidic phlegm like toads if the player is in an otherwise hard to reach location, such as holding onto the side of a building.
  • Alternate Volatile
    The design of the Volatile resembles the Reaper vampires in Blade II
  • An alternate version of the Volatile is not in the final game, and is seen in one of the first screenshots of Dying Light. They appear to be a harder version of a volatile, and most likely would have replaced the first volatiles when the player advanced in level. They seem to have an intact head which does not open like the official Volatile, and does not have arthropod-like mandibles. Notably, they do not have visible sores which are susceptible to UV light, which is the main weakness of a Volatile; this ultimately would have made them extremely hard to kill and would possibly force the player to try to escape more.
  • If the player is using the PC version and have the settings on low, using enough flares will make the volatiles go into the T-postition; arms perpendicular to the ground and standing up with their back straight. (Confirmed on PC)
  • In the mission Siblings,while escaping the Volatile nest a Volatile will chase you but stay in the building if you make it out.
  • During the tunnel segment of the final story quest (following the activation of the antenna), dozens of Volatiles can be seen rallied around one extremely large Volatile in a closed-off room. This suggests that Volatiles have adapted to the virus so well that they have became an entirely different species separate from humans and have a pack mentality. This is an Easter Egg of a sorts, as it can only be seen once. Attempting to open the door will case the closest Volatile to attack the door, which is locked. However, since the player is not meant to interact with these Volatiles, there is no AI built into the character models, essentially making them background scenery. Using "blue hell" glitches, one can enter the room, and confirm that the Volatiles cannot be interacted with, including the massive one that does not appear anywhere else in the game.
  • Volatiles are also called "Nightmares" by some of the people at The Tower.
  • On occasion, they can bug through walls. This can be problematic as they can also leap at you through walls at times.
  • Volatiles are very similar to "Darkseekers" from I am Legend.
  • Volatiles are the separated versions of witches from the Left 4 Dead franchise. With screamers being the second, volatiles behave in a manner of witches. If the witch sees a player or the player attacks the witch, they will initiate a pursuit until they down the player. Only difference is that volatiles are more active, while witches are stationery at night. Also volatiles hunt in groups, whereas witches hunt alone and don't cause others to turn.

Gallery

References

  1. Dying Light Gameplay Walkthrough Demo: Parkour, Map, Coop, Crafting, Night, Weapons PS4 Xbox One PC
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Dying Light - 12-Minute Gameplay Walkthrough
  3. 3.0 3.1 Dying Light won't give you time to breathe
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 This is from my personal experience in Dying light. I have beat the story as well as side missions, safe houses, quarantine zones and maximum level for all 3 skill trees and continuing into NG+. My experience in Dying light may differ slightly from other players, so please do take this with a grain of salt.
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