KF2 Autumn 2023 Field Upgrades: Headhunt Weekly, Balance Changes

This page is a paraphrased translation of a Russian-language community post that retells the official Killing Floor 2 "Mercenary Report" for the autumn 2023 field upgrades. The report covers new matchmaking options and balance changes ahead of the Halloween seasonal event. The translator skipped the server-admin sections.

New weekly outbreak: Headhunt

Headhunt weekly branding.

Horzine has observed Zeds showing advanced behavior and is looking for fearless Mercenaries to help. In the new mission, called Headhunt, these Zeds are more formidable and have developed self-preservation: Zeds that used to charge endlessly through a hail of bullets now run away when you get close.

Reports also say they need more firepower, as if killing their clone brothers makes the survivors tougher. Those who met them say they are more aggressive and deal more damage. The team is advised to deal with these specific targets as soon as possible.

Not every Zed does this. Intelligence says only a few large types are affected: the post lists the Russian-localized Rioter, Berserker, Mini-Fleshpound and Butcher types, so check the in-game description for the exact set. To make the threat worthwhile, Horzine pays dosh to every squad member for each kill of these marked Zeds, while kills of other Zeds pay nothing. Trader time still gives the usual shared dosh. The HUD shows a counter of remaining marked Zeds, colored by threat level:

• Yellow: no buffs based on the remaining count are applied.
• Orange: fewer than 50% of the marked Zeds remain.
• Red: fewer than 10% remain.

Each Mercenary who completes the mission receives 500k dosh in the Safe and a new skin for the Desert Eagle.

Choose any weekly

Weeklies were introduced with the Summer Sideshow 2017 update, and 21 have been released since. Each player has a favorite, but waiting for it in the rotation took a long time, so players can now pick any weekly at any time.

In Weekly mode a drop-down lists the weekly modes, starting with the current one in rotation. Only the current weekly grants rewards.

You can also look for a specific weekly in the server browser through its icon in the main list.

Weekly servers in the server browser.

The weekly's name is also shown in the server details.

The server details name the weekly being played.

Find or Create Match works the same way as the offline selector.

Weapon balance

Killerwatt was powerful but awkward to use in its alt-fire. Changes:

Killerwatt, buffed in this update.

• Default fire damage up from 50 to 55.
• Alt-fire charge rate +30%.
• Camera turning while firing the beam is 5 times faster.
• Ammo capacity up from 300 to 450.

HRG Head Hunter and Reducto Ray shared a problem: affected Zeds took too long to return to normal. Recovery is now faster.

• Reducto Ray: growth rate doubled.
• HRG Head Hunter: the delay before head shrinking begins is cut by 5 times, and the shrink speed is reduced by 10%.

HRG Vampire: hip-fire used to have no crosshair in the center. A crosshair was added.

Perk balance

Players complained about the ammo cost of the class with the most expensive ammo (SWAT). Ammo is now 10% cheaper, except for the HRG Nailgun.

Many players said three Support skills went unused because their alternatives had more impact. They were improved:

• Fortitude: now also grants 10% resistance to all damage.
• Armor Piercing Shot: now also increases damage by 5%.
• Penetrator: gains real-time reload.

The Medic skill Acidic Rounds was seen as doing more harm than good in co-op. It was reworked so that Medic darts deal more damage, letting the Medic help in specific situations rather than poison Zeds in unwanted scenarios.

The translator adds his own opinion. He thinks the change made the skill worse for co-op: a Medic who actually heals would not choose it, a dart hitting a Scrake does tiny damage, and in a crowd you must now be careful not to land an Incision dart on a Scrake. For solo play he believes the skill became better.

Takeaways

• Headhunt is worth trying for the 500k Safe dosh and the Desert Eagle skin.
• Killerwatt owners get higher damage, more ammo and easier aiming in alt-fire.
• Support skills got stronger, so revisit your skill choices. For leveling advice see Leveling all perks.