KF2 Back and Kickin' Brass Beta: Objective Mode, Changes

This page paraphrases a Russian-language review and translation of the Back and Kickin' Brass public beta (May 2019) for Killing Floor 2. The author notes the dates could still change: beta 1 began on 20 May 2019 and beta 2 on 28 May 2019.

Cover of the original review.

The new event: Objective Mode

The update introduces Objective Mode: you help Dr. Ogaya Bayu and Lockhart carry out dangerous jobs for good pay, dressed in steampunk outfits. New toys include the Seal Squeal grenade launcher (harpoons that pin ZED corpses to surfaces) and the Hemoclubber that heals teammates.

Key points of the mode:

• Each wave has a mandatory task you must finish to reach the next wave.
• Objective maps have a fixed number of waves. You cannot pick short, medium or long.
• The mode has its own story, UI elements, characters, environment pieces, special effects, cinematics and the voice of your employers.

A whole new map: Steam Fortress

Steam Fortress.

Steam Fortress is playable in Survival, Weekly Survival, Endless and Objective Mode. Its objective campaign has you helping Lockhart prepare a rocket for his trip to the Moon: you arrive at his island fortress aboard HMS Queen Victoria, survive ten waves, press buttons and deliver gears, then take off with the boss you must kill. Lockhart wishes you luck and the ending stays open.

The other objective maps described by the author:

• Zed Landing: you help Dr. Ogaya uncover what happened to a crashed Horzine plane and secure data before Horzine finds it. After clearing the wreck, escorting a drone and downloading the data, a volcano erupts (apparently provoked), and you hold off the boss until a helicopter finds you. The radio then carries strange sounds of struggle, which the author guesses means Horzine got Ogaya.
• Outpost: you help Ogaya download data from the servers of an abandoned Horzine outpost, then destroy the outpost and the boss.

Objective types

• Transport: carry a set number of items from a random point to a destination. The carrier gets a movement penalty of 53% when walking and 60% when sprinting. There is no penalty when playing solo or as the last survivor.
• Extermination and the boss objective are ordinary survival waves, so the author does not describe them.

Two new weapons

Seal Squeal.

Seal Squeal (Demolitionist). A semi-automatic explosive harpoon grenade launcher. Harpoons explode after 4 seconds, and the mouse wheel (alt fire) detonates all of them at once. A harpoon that kills a ZED pins it to any solid surface. Starting price 1100 dosh. The author did fine with it through wave 15 on Hell on Earth in Endless, pinning a weak monster and sending it with a harpoon into a crowd.

Hemoclubber.

Hemoclubber (Berserker and Field Medic). A long club with spikes that deals blunt and toxic damage to ZEDs and heals teammates on contact. A charged heavy attack releases a small cloud of healing gas that heals allies and hurts enemies. Starting price 1200 dosh. Ammo is limited: 3 shots per magazine, about 90 dosh for three.

Prestige 5

Prestige 5 emblem.

A fifth prestige level was added, with level 5 weapon skins:

Perk	Weapon
Commando	SCAR-H
Berserker	Eviscerator
Support	AA-12
Field Medic	HMTech-401 assault rifle
Demolitionist	RPG-7
Firebug	Microwave gun
Gunslinger	.500 Magnum
Sharpshooter	Railgun
SWAT	Kriss SMG
Survivalist	Killerwatt

New cases and keys were not yet working in the beta and were promised for the full release.

Balance changes in beta 1

Weapons:

• C4: price down from 650 to 300, one charge costs 50 instead of 27, you get one charge on purchase instead of two, and it moved to the pistol slot.
• Ice Thrower: alt fire spread up 300%, ground freeze mechanic added (like Firebug fire), stagger on alt fire, alt fire pierces up to 4 Clots, ground freeze damage up from 5 to 7 per tick.
• Husk Cannon: charge ammo burning removed, rate of fire up 79.3%, explosive damage 60 instead of 100, blast radius now scales from 30 to 60% with charge (max charge gives +300% instead of +150%), ammo reduced from 240 to 150, 1 spare magazine at purchase instead of 4, magazine price 125 instead of 90.

Perks:

• Commando: Fallback damage raised to 85% (was 50%), Hollow Point Rounds changed to 20% instead of 30%.
• SWAT: Close Combat Training likewise raised to 85%. Cripple now requires shooting heads and weak spots, with 66% faster slow application. Battering Ram gives +25% speed plus knockdown force and 450 blunt damage.
• Survivalist: Make Things Go Boom gets +40% explosion resistance.

Beta 2 fixes

Weapons:

• Husk Cannon: charge damage bonus 80% per level instead of 70%, so max charge is +500% rather than +450%.
• Ice Thrower: weapon switch animation 23% faster, carried ammo 500 (was 400), first upgrade lowers shard damage from 28 to 23, second from 36 to 26.
• Seal Squeal: weapon switch animation 25% faster, equip animation 15% faster.
• Hemoclubber: heal per hit reduced from 40 to 30%, carried ammo from 9 to 12 magazines, one spare magazine added on purchase, gas damage reduced from 250 to 200, gas healing from 50 to 30.
• C4: one spare charge returned on purchase (start with two), maximum raised to three.
• Weapon priority removed.
• Carried objects (gear and tablet): blunt damage reduced from 150 to 100.
• Commando Hollow Point Rounds back to +30%.

Bug fixes:

• Switching to the healer while carrying a tablet or gear no longer lets you fire any weapon without dropping the object.
• Fixed crashes when loading into VS Survival.
• Ice Thrower alt shards no longer deal cold damage.
• Carried objects no longer give much better block and parry protection.
• Survivalist Make Things Go Boom now applies to all weapons and damage types.
• The boss no longer treats the drone as a priority target.
• Steam Fortress: the trader pod no longer opens inside the rocket before the boss wave, or fails to be available.
• Santa's Workshop: Christmas ZEDs now speak their holiday lines.
• Seal Squeal harpoons no longer ricochet off some metal objects.
• Three skin bugs fixed: vault Kriss and Railgun skins and the HMTech-401 prestige skin now display correctly.