KF2 Gunslinger Perk Guide: Skills, Pistols and Builds

This guide was written in Portuguese and covers the Gunslinger: the masters of pistols, especially dual-wielded ones. They deal strong close-range damage, are quick and can keep fighting for a good while before reloading. A good Gunslinger always focuses on headshots, and depending on skills can be the member who kills the big ZEDs or the one with better mobility and weapon handling. See also Killing Floor 2 perk guides for team roles.

XP bonus

Gunslingers get XP for killing any ZED with perk weapons, or for landing headshots with them (the shot need not kill). The XP multiplier is the same on Normal, Hard, Suicidal and Hell on Earth.

Passive bonuses

• Perk weapon damage +1% per level (25% at level 25).
• Projectile damage resistance 5% plus 1% per level (30% at level 25).
• Movement speed +0.8% per level (20% at level 25).
• Perk weapon recoil -1% per level (25% at level 25).
• Reload speed in Zed-Time +3% per level (75% at level 25).

Skills

Every five levels you choose one of two skills.

Level	Skill A	Skill B
5	Steady: ignores the movement speed penalty when aiming and sharply reduces recoil; +7.5% damage with perk weapons while aiming	Quick Draw: reduces the hip-fire recoil penalty, +5% movement speed, +50% faster perk weapon switching
10	Rack 'em Up: consecutive headshots add 10% damage, up to 50%	Bone Breaker: +20% damage with perk weapons and +30% damage to arms and legs
15	Line 'em Up: no damage loss on shots passing through ZEDs	Speedloader: faster reload with perk weapons
20	Skullcracker: headshots slow ZEDs by 30%	Knock 'em Down: leg shots on running ZEDs massively raise knockdown power; chest shots greatly increase stumble power
25	Whirlwind of Lead: perk weapons use no ammo in Zed-Time	Fan Fire: perk weapons fire 3x faster in Zed-Time and reload in real time

Starting weapons

The Gunslinger's starting revolver.

1858 Revolver (single / dual): weight 2/4, price 100/200, damage 50, magazine 6/12, total ammo 144. Upgrades: 1 costs 500 (damage x1.15), 2 costs 600 (x1.6), 3 costs 700 (x1.95, weight +1 or +2 dual), 4 costs 1500 (x2.2, weight +2 or +4 dual). Recoil depends on stance and movement; crouching and aiming gives the least.

Bowie Knife: light attack 32, heavy 64, bash 15; block and parry reduce damage by 20%. Horizontal attacks do no more than 75% and less than 50% of base damage, depending on the angle.

Nail Bomb: damage 100, radius 10, explosive plus penetrating nails. Big damage and shrapnel in all directions, plus some stun.

9mm Pistol (all perks): weight 0/2, price 0/150, damage 25, magazine 15/30, ammo 75/60. Upgrades cost 200, 500, 600, 700 and 1500 for x1.2 up to x2 damage. It gets all passive bonuses and skills, and headshots decapitate Clots, Slashers, Cysts, Stalkers and Crawlers; it is weak against everything else. With the right skills Gunslinger, SWAT or Commando can keep using it in later waves.

Tier 2 weapons

The M1911.

Weapon	Weight	Price (single / dual)	Damage	Magazine	Total ammo
M1911	2/4	325/650	50	8/16	136/128
HRG Winterbite	2/4	325/650	-	6/12	150/144
Hand Cannon	2/4	550/1100	98	7/14	105/98
Rhino	2/4	550/1100	-	6/12	114/108

The Winterbite is a modified Spitfire with liquid nitrogen rounds.

Tier 3 and 4 weapons

The Hand Cannon.

• S&W 500 revolver (shown below): weight 3/6, price 750/1500, damage 160, magazine 5/10, ammo 100/95.
• AF2011-A1: weight 3/6, price 750/1500, 53 per bullet and two bullets per shot, magazine 16/32, ammo 288/272.
• Glock 18c: weight 4/8, price 750/1500, damage 37, magazine 33/66, ammo 462.
• HRG Disrupter: weight 4, price 1500, magazine 15, ammo 120.

The heavy hand artillery, the S&W 500.

Multi-perk weapons include the HX25 (Demolitionist, weight 4, price 300, 1 round, 29 ammo), the HMTech-101 Pistol (Medic, weight 1, price 200, damage 20, magazine 15, ammo 240), the Spitfire (Firebug, weight 2/4, price 325/650, damage 40, magazine 6/12, ammo 192), the Winchester 1894 (Sharpshooter, weight 5, price 200, damage 80, magazine 12, ammo 84), the SPX 464 Centerfire (weight 5, price 650, damage 165, magazine 10, ammo 70) and the Piranha Pistol (weight 3/6, price 600/1200, damage 115, magazine 6/12, ammo 66).

General strategy

• Watch your ammo and always aim for the head: your focus is aim and powerful shots. It is one of the fastest classes and can drop big ZEDs quickly without taking damage.
• Use your grenades on big ZEDs; though not as effective as the flashbang, some can stun a Fleshpound.
• Bone Breaker is the better choice against the Patriarch because his arm is more vulnerable than his head.
• Reload when Zed-Time is almost over: the skill makes reloading much faster, and after Zed-Time ends the reload is nearly instant. Zed-Time slows the map by 80% but the skill keeps the reload bonus at 75%; coming out you recover the 80%, so you reload about 155% faster.
• To avoid wasting time reloading outside Zed-Time, use the reload-cancel technique.
• Buying advice: start with tier 2 (which kills small and medium ZEDs with some ease), then tier 3 (medium and large), then tier 4 (large without problems), always focusing on damage and not running out of ammo.
• Use the starting 9mm on small ZEDs; it gets class bonuses and saves ammo.
• An upgraded HX25 combined with Whirlwind of Lead lets you fire unlimited explosive shots during Zed-Time.

Builds

Heavy fighter: level 5 right, level 10 left, level 15 right, level 20 left, level 25 optional. Killing big ZEDs is no problem, with a focus on damage and slowing ZEDs.

Against the boss: level 5 right, level 10 optional, level 15 right, level 20 left, level 25 left. Bone Breaker is more effective against the Patriarch, but he is not the only boss, so it is your choice. Whirlwind of Lead saves ammo and is probably more useful against bosses. Use your strongest weapons.

The author notes these are only a few of the most used builds and the weapons cited are the best examples of each, so feel free to create your own.