KF2 Fast Perk Leveling Tips and Multiperk Weapon XP Rules

This guide explains how perk experience actually works in Killing Floor 2 and how to level your perks quickly without cheating. The author's view is that cheats and perk-leveling maps give you a number, not knowledge. A level 25 who never learned zed weaknesses, weapon quirks and positioning still gets wiped on Hell on Earth. Normal leveling teaches you what to do against a Scrake or Fleshpound, which perks should ignore big zeds, and when to run or hold. The author also notes that the developers were working on a way to ban players for cheating.

Practical tips for gaining XP

Use weapons of the perk you want to level

You gain XP for the perk that owns the weapon you are shooting with. A good trick is to play a high-level perk with good health or movement speed while using the weapons of the low-level perk you want to train. You keep the durability of the strong perk while the XP goes to the weak one.

Shared XP

If weapons of different perks contribute to a kill, the zed's XP is divided between those perks. Land 99% of the damage with a Commando weapon, finish with a Demolitionist weapon and each perk gets half. With three perks involved each gets a third. This helps with big zeds and bosses: fire a bullet or two from the weapon of the perk you are leveling, then finish with your strong on-perk gun.

Knife XP

A knife gives XP to the perk it belongs to. If you spawn as Commando you hold the KF-Bar, and if you switch to Demolitionist in wave 2, your skills and grenades change but your knife stays. Kills with that KF-Bar still go to Commando.

9mm headshots

Decapitating a zed with the 9mm gives Gunslinger XP even if you are not playing Gunslinger.

Read the perk menu

The perk menu lists bonus XP sources. For Commando these are dealing damage with Commando weapons and killing Stalkers with Commando weapons. You only receive Commando XP when you kill or assist with a Commando weapon, and you get extra when you or a teammate kills a Stalker.

Heal teammates

Healing with your syringe or Medic weapons gives Field Medic XP and dosh. The HMTech-101 Medic Pistol weighs 1 kg and costs 200 dosh, so it is worth carrying if you have the space and money.

Weld and unweld doors

While waiting for trader time to end, welding and unwelding a door with the welder gives Support XP. Do not leave a door welded without a reason: zeds can teleport and a welded door may cut off an escape route.

Double XP weekends

Watch for Tripwire events that double XP and drop rate. They level perks about twice as fast.

Higher difficulty, more XP

Harder difficulties give more XP. Hard gives about twice the XP of Normal while remaining easy even in a random team. Suicidal brings a big jump in XP per zed and in the number of zeds, but is not worth it if your team struggles with the first waves. Suggested ranges:

Difficulty	Perk level
Normal	0 to 10
Hard	5 to 20
Suicidal	15 to 25
Hell on Earth	20 to 25

Assist equals kill

An assist grants the same XP as the kill, so if a zed is already decapitated and you have not touched it, a 9mm bullet or a bash earns the full amount. Tagging every zed is faster than only chasing kills. Two warnings from the author: never deal enough damage to enrage a big zed, which usually causes a wipe on high difficulties, and do not do it if your team is struggling. Stealing trash kills is fine, since the game is about survival and not the scoreboard, but do not spray at a zed a teammate is about to finish.

How multiperk weapons give XP

A multiperk weapon belongs to one perk but also receives bonuses from another. For example the Medic Assault Rifle belongs to Field Medic and is multiperk with Commando. In a Medic's hands the Medic skills apply; in a Commando's hands the Commando passives and skills apply instead.

XP always goes to the perk whose weapon you are using, but you can also earn extra XP for the perk that owns it. Every perk has a primary and a secondary way to earn XP.

• Support: primary is dealing damage with Support weapons; secondary is welding doors.
• Commando: primary is dealing damage with Commando weapons; secondary is killing Stalkers with Commando weapons.

In-game text says "killing zeds with", but it is really "dealing damage with". Primaries are always the same idea (dealing damage with perk weapons), except Firebug, where it is fire or microwave damage.

When the primaries match

The XP goes entirely to the perk you are playing. Example: the M16 M203 belongs to Demolitionist and is multiperk with Commando. Both primaries are "damage with the perk's weapons", so as a Commando you gain full Commando XP and no Demolitionist XP, and as any other perk you gain Demolitionist XP (except as Survivalist).

When the primaries differ

The XP is split between the two perks. Example: the Husk Cannon belongs to Firebug and is multiperk with Demolitionist. Firebug levels from fire damage and Demolitionist from damage with Demolitionist weapons. As a Demolitionist, if a zed dies from afterburn or ground fire, you gain Demolitionist XP and a very small amount of Firebug XP. Playing any other perk, you simply level Firebug.

Secondary XP sources

Secondary bonuses are earned regardless of which perk you play or whether the weapon is multiperk:

• Berserker: killing zeds near a player
• Commando: killing Stalkers
• Support: welding doors
• Field Medic: healing teammates
• Demolitionist: killing Fleshpounds
• Firebug: killing Crawlers or Bloats
• Gunslinger: headshots
• Sharpshooter: headshots
• SWAT: killing Clots
• Survivalist: not available when you play another perk (the Freezethrower is not an exception)

For example, killing a Hell on Earth Fleshpound gives a bonus of 30 XP to Demolitionist, whether you used an M16 M203 as a Commando, a Demolitionist weapon, or an off-perk Medic weapon.