KF2 Complete Loadout Guide: Weapon Trivia, Reload Cancel, Loadout Traits

This is a long, opinionated theory guide to building Killing Floor 2 loadouts for Hell on Earth, built on top of a spreadsheet of game data. The original is largely made of icon-based loadout tables, so this page keeps the text content: general rules, weapon facts, reload cancel analysis, perk-by-perk comments and the trait method for designing your own build. Factors used to judge a loadout: self-sustainability (ammo box and Support refill rates, ammo prices), viability against a Scrake in a 6-player Hell on Earth game, versatility, specializations, total cost and fun. For the underlying data see the numerical data spreadsheet.

General trivia

Upgrades and tiers. Never upgrade without knowing how much good it does, especially for tier 5. T3 and T4 damage upgrades average about 15%, so a worthwhile upgrade is above that. Exceptions: explosives get an equal blast radius increase and Medic weapons get faster dart recharge, a separate value to look up. Going from tx1 to t5 is never better than tx2 to t5 for x1 below x2 below 4, but they often perform alike, and most fully upgraded on-perk weapons with the right perks can kill a 6-player Scrake in reasonable time. T1 to t2 has cheaper ammo and higher sustainability, while t2 weapons are initially cheaper and hit slightly harder.

Number of weapons. You always need at least one weapon that can potentially remove big Zeds quickly. 9mm and HM101 do not count until upgraded, and a single melee weapon only counts beyond two weapons.

• 1 weapon: best for team economy and reckless play, since you lose nothing on death if you give away most of your money; needs a self-sustaining weapon.
• 2: suboptimal, unless a 9mm, HM101 or knife is the second.
• 3: default, two mains plus one secondary; best for ammo box and Support refills and always two button presses from the weapon you need.
• 4 or more: diminishing refill returns and a loadout that is hard to keep filled.

Stream weapons (flame, microwave, freeze). Ammo gain penalties, identical fire rate and a minimum burst of 4 (3 for the microwave gun), but the stream lasts about a third of a second after the consuming burst (about 5 free ammo). They always have splash damage and create ground fire when conditions are met.

Akimbo. Dual pistols lower your initial magazine count, so you get less ammo from Support and a small penalty to max ammo with ammo-capacity perks. They do not double fire rate; with longer reloads the real increase is smaller, and .500 duals gain only 27% fire rate while having the slowest reload in the game (next to the Stoner LMG, which reloads faster on-perk). Magazine pistols akimbo probably have the slowest reload when exactly one round is left.

Identifying player skill

A bad player spawns as Survivalist, dies often, uses high-tier light or heavy weapons on trash early, has trouble deciding what to buy, asks for inappropriate sums, takes inactive or inferior perks (except Zed Time perks), takes off-perk heavy weapons not meant for Fleshpounds and Scrakes, and bottoms the scoreboard.

A good player spawns as SWAT or Medic, dies last among non-kiters, keeps light low-tier weapons as long as possible, is rarely seen at the trader, asks for specific sums usually under 200 (a T3 weapon by wave 1 or T4/T5 by wave 2), chooses perks specifically for the loadout and situation, is on top of the weapon meta and tops the scoreboard even as a pocket Medic.

Weapon trivia

Weight and one-hit kills.

• HM101 is the only 1-unit weapon and it heals.
• HM201 is the lightest non-pistol with enough damage to one-headshot a Clot, and it heals.
• AR15 is the lightest non-pistol, non-shotgun, non-lever-action weapon that can one-hit a Stalker (needs hollow points and the t2 upgrade).
• UMP, FN FAL and SCAR-H one-hit trash at t5 with perk levels 22, 25/20 and 20, but Stalkers resist SMG damage, so the UMP cannot one-shot them. The Tommy Gun one-hits trash at t5 only on Commando, also excluding Stalkers.
• The Husk Cannon can one-hit small Zeds, but explosion damage is inconsistent and its fire rate is not steady.
• The .500 has enough base damage to one-headshot Gorefiends and Rioters off-perk.

Things you might not know.

• Grenades deal damage based on the bonus of your currently equipped weapon.
• The Eviscerator gets Survivalist's tier 2 perk bonuses.
• The AK12 has a much higher fire rate in its secondary mode and higher base damage than a t5 HM401; with its upgrades and assault-rifle damage type it is a beast against everything but Fleshpounds.
• The Doomstick and DBB have knockback on the secondary all-out shot, useful for shotgun jumps and for dash-dodge kiting big Zeds.
• UMP and MP5 at t5 match a t4 Kriss.
• The FN FAL on Commando and the HRG Nailgun on SWAT beat all their on-perk weapons, especially against Fleshpounds and Scrakes.
• The Railgun deals more damage in manual aim mode (rifle damage type).
• The Hemoglobin is hitscan except in Zed Time.
• The S6 shoots faster in homing mode even without homing.
• The AF2011 cannot fire if exactly one bullet is left.

Firebug economy. With a max-level Firebug you can recover most of the Caulk 'n Burn ammo by repurchasing the gun for 50 dosh. The Spitfire has the biggest magazine gain per Support interaction and the second-best fire damage over time, perfect for Bloats and Rioters.

Shotguns. Nailgun shots ricochet, ideal for Support against Crawlers and Stalkers. After buffs, the M4 can kill big Zeds off-perk in one volley, which benefits mainly Survivalist and Support.

Demolitionist. The M16M203's bullets do not get Demolitionist bonuses (Commando and Survivalist do get them for bullets and shells), but as a double weapon it has the best economy for its weight class. The Pulveriser is an always-ready on-perk self-defense tool that can hit Fleshpounds and Quarter Pounds and buy time against raging Scrakes. C4 gains ammo from level thresholds but not the dedicated perk; Zeds gain 75% resistance after the initial explosion and C4 is not a proximity mine as in KF1, so it is rarely desirable, though C4 with Dynamite and the RPG is the only way to deal with several unenraged Fleshpounds at once.

Uncategorized. The 9mm is not affected by weapon-specific on-perk bonuses except from Survivalist, Sharpshooter or Gunslinger, and has high modifiers against Bloats. The crossbow and bow deal huge stun damage per shot and bolts can be recovered. The Stoner LMG has the largest total ammo pool and the highest ammo gain per box.

Reload behavior and reload canceling

Dry reloads are faster than or equal to tactical reloads (when the gun is not empty; dual pistols need at least two bullets), and elite reloads (perk-affected reloads that are not a flat percentage) are faster than normal ones. Exceptions by weapon:

• Tactical equals dry, normal equals elite: Railgun, S6, stream weapons.
• Tactical equals dry: dual 1858, .500 and dual .500 revolvers, Doomstick, DBB.
• Tactical equals dry, normal equals elite: HM301, 9mm, M1911, dual Spitfire.
• Tactical equals dry, elite: P90, M16, MP7, M14 EBR.
• Tactical slower than dry: Mac10, MP5, UMP.
• Dry slower than elite dry: VLAD-1000 Nailgun; for magazine pistols dry is slower than elite tactical.

The M14 requires precision at under 4 bullets left to save time, while the MP5 and UMP have a much bigger margin (over 5) and the Mac10 sits between (4 with extended magazines). You cannot reload cancel the Husk Cannon, M203, Pulveriser, single Spitfire, M4, lever-action rifles and pump-action shotguns. Single-shot weapons have a delay before the automatic reload that you can shorten by spamming left click. For lever-action and pump weapons, avoid reloading less than the maximum if you can. With a reaction time of at least 250 ms, reload canceling helps with most weapons; past 400 ms the number of weapons that save time drops sharply, and by 1.25 seconds none do.

Basic equipment notes

• Armor absorbs part of the damage, all of it for perks with Heavy Armor (SWAT, Survivalist). The only efficient armor states are full or none, so avoid buying it until later waves.
• 9mm: ideal for Crawlers (when upgraded to one-hit) and Bloats.
• Knife: ignore light attacks; stabs, heavy overhead slashes and parries are the staples. Stabbing does not interrupt attacks.
• Bashing is key: for emergencies, reload canceling and interrupting most Zed attacks, including Scrake and non-enraged Fleshpound attacks.
• Syringe: heal others first, since self-healing makes it recharge twice as long.
• Welder: do not touch it unless you understand why; a badly welded door can do more harm. Support can repair broken doors with it.
• Night vision (Commando and Berserker only) is better than the flashlight: more visibility and it does not trigger Zed evasive actions when you look at them.

Perk comments

• Field Medic: archetypes range from mmo support to accidental battle medic to the madman who switches class because the team is failing. Nobody owes the team a Medic. If the Medic becomes crucial to survival, the team is losing, because a good player babysitting is one fewer dealing with Fleshpounds and bosses. If people get hurt a lot, consider building around an off-perk Medic weapon for the XP and income.
• Commando (20+): dedicated Zed Time extender and cloaked-enemy spotter. Let him extend Zed Time by focusing on large Zeds yourself. Without grenades and an M203 or FN FAL, Fleshpounds are a problem. Several loadout lines are given by level (level 24 and above the Bullpup becomes superior to the alternatives, and one Tommy Gun is enough if a Support is present).
• Firebug: a "bootleg Berserker" with many on-perk weapon types. Needs a Medic to heal burns from teammates standing in the fire. One Firebug is enough. If you have a Spitfire Firebug, consider Support; if a clueless one, explain ground fire and ammo conservation: look 60 degrees down and tap fire in intervals.
• SWAT: a good default starting class on any wave: free 9mms and 100 armor are worth more than three times the starting kit. Great early, among the worst late; most switch as waves go on. Encourage the HM201 or dual UMP (level 22+) as secondary and use of grenades.
• Sharpshooter: either snipes big Zeds before they enrage or dies when swarmed. Cover his position with fire against trash so he can keep working. FN FAL or M14 players who mag dump with freeze grenades become useless when the grenades run out.
• Demolitionist: without an RPG you never want more than one in the team; he competes with SWAT and Commando for lanes and is helpless at close range.
• Support: never too many. Great for economy, and shotgun damage types work against nearly everything. Players often mismanage money and block ammo refills by browsing at the trader. Remind them that overextending to the front line is not worth dying, tell them about the VLAD shotgun for Crawlers and Stalkers, and scold badly placed welds: their specialty is rebuilding doors.
• Berserker: called the cookie-cutter class, with disabling weapons and exclusive bonuses (damage resistance, regeneration, fast running) that can all be active at once. The author says players of it are either obnoxious minmaxers or average players drawn to overpowered things, and advises ignoring them. Off-perking melee is the only valid use.
• Gunslinger: if M14 or FN FAL Sharpshooter could kite it would be the Gunslinger. If you accept the loss in range and squeeze the maximum rate from semi-autos (binding fire to the mouse wheel), it is generally superior to Sharpshooter. Cover him during Fleshpound takedowns.
• Survivalist: called the best class, and disliked because it is harder to grasp, needs skill, is not the all-rounder it claims to be and many people judging or playing it are poor. Its niche sits between Sharpshooter, Support and AoE Demolitionist, with faster reload in Zed Time, faster running (so it can kite) and Heavy Armor with general damage resistance. It has better early economy from map-spawned weapons. Treat bad Survivalists politely and do not prejudge the perk.

Building your own loadout

Think of a loadout as collecting traits and maximize positives while keeping negatives low:

• Effectiveness: one-hit kills on specific Zeds, or weaknesses against packs (clots to cloakers, low real fire rate), brutes (Gorefiends to EDARs, wrong cartridge) or hulks (Scrakes and Fleshpounds). No weakness implies versatility.
• Ammo: high gains from boxes and Support, cheap refills, large reserves, equal reserves; negatives are the reverse.
• Cost and risk: cheap and safe to die with (a single-weapon or t1 loadout) or expensive and risky (equally pricey main and backup, t5 9mms). The drop system does not distinguish upgraded weapons, so nothing is insured.
• Economy: consistent, easy to assemble in a few waves.
• Versatility: effective against most Zeds without glaring flaws.
• Straightforward vs complicated: under 5 weapons (exceptions: 9mm and dual 9mm, one melee weapon, HM101 to some extent) with a clear purpose for each.
• Fun vs irritating: subjective but measurable; for example, a complicated Sharpshooter loadout tends to be irritating.

A simple example: take a weapon used for Fleshpounds, add a .500, .50 or 9mm x4 and a Hemoclobber or an on-perk t1 or t2 weapon, and you get three weapons, versatility, straightforwardness, good economy and low risk.

Also check the related Survivalist pros and cons and all perks loadouts with the medic weapon rule.