Episode 5: First Blood

The primary mission is to head to the crashed transport location, which is straight to the east. As Olivia suggests when you leave the monastery, I also recommend finding a forest truck nearby for easy access to the destination without a tedious long run.

This might also be your first time driving a vehicle in the game. If you look carefully at the map, you'll find they're almost everywhere, and refueling them is easy since many abandoned vehicle loot points have a chance to carry fuel. Once you reach the destroyed transport site on the highway bridge, clear any nearby zombies and inspect the dead guard on the truck as shown above.

It turns out Olivia's intel about the Chimera convoy was correct, but the bad news is it escaped into the swamps and we need to track it.

Jump into the floodwater and head to the island to begin tracking the escaped Chimera. You'll need to use your Survivor Sense to follow the highlighted blood trails and footprints to track this abomination. Follow the trail closely, making sure to deal with any infected that block your path. Eventually, the main location you track it to will be a distant island shrouded in strange mist.

Before swimming over, make sure you're well prepared by repairing any broken weapons or crafting plenty of bandages for healing. Having one or two Molotov cocktails or grenades prepared in advance won't hurt either. Additionally, depending on your current proficiency with the game's combat, this boss battle might be a bit tricky, even if you're playing in co-op mode with one or two friends.

Swim to the island and after investigating the nearby corpse, this will trigger a cutscene where 'The Mist' launches an ambush. This horrifying monster that looks like a wendigo seems to have crawled straight out of 'Until Dawn'. The Mist is a fast and agile infected Chimera. Its most notable attack is the ability to jump from heights and pounce on you, constantly sprint-running, and even using nearby zombies to leap and launch surprise attacks.

It can also perform breath attacks and catch you off guard with its claw strikes. Overall, the key to this battle is patience - I mean, trying to hit this thing will be extremely painful, especially when using two-handed weapons against it. Jump or pounce attacks can be easily dodged with the right timing. The actual animation when it performs that move has a slow and obvious range. If you always keep a close eye on The Mist's position, you should be able to avoid it.

Besides that, one trick I found in co-op mode is to make sure there are no biter zombies nearby. Once it lands and continues its breath attack, that's when my partner and I get our window of opportunity to combo attack it for massive damage. Also, as long as you successfully dodge and perform consecutive attacks, you or your partner should eventually be able to trigger your Beast Mode. This will allow you to easily stun and cut down a large portion of The Mist's health.

After successfully defeating 'The Mist' and completing the 'First Blood' main quest, you'll receive the following rewards. Make sure to spend your newly acquired Beast Point to get a new skill for Crane's Beast Mode.

Rewards: - 5,000 XP - 800 Old World Currency - 1 Beast Point This marks your first major victory against a powerful Chimera. Use your Beast Point wisely to unlock new abilities that will help in future encounters.