How Not to Suck at KF2: Dos, Don'ts and Perk Roles

This page paraphrases a short community guide that lists the habits that get players disliked or kicked in Killing Floor 2, then covers core mechanics and gives one-paragraph role advice for each perk. It dates from the early days of the game, so some details may have changed since.

Cover of the original guide.

Dos and don'ts

Game difficulty. Play Normal and Hard until you know your perk. Do not join Suicidal below level 10, because you are missing key skills. Most perks should be level 15 or higher for Suicidal, and you should not join Hell on Earth under level 20. Joining high-level games just to show off at low level annoys everyone.

Welding. Do not weld doors shut. It is almost never helpful, it cuts off an escape route, and it distracts the team, who must worry when the door will fall to the ZEDs behind it.

Running off alone. Do not. Multiplayer is about the team.

Enraging.

• A Fleshpound enrages after enough damage and stays enraged until it hits someone. It also enrages if it cannot reach you for long enough.
• A Scrake enrages after enough damage and stays enraged until it dies.
• Pro tip: you can de-rage a Fleshpound by stepping in and parrying its attack.
• Pro tip: you can briefly interrupt a Scrake's enrage with incapacitation. Only electricity (killing an EDAR through its weak point, or a Berserker grenade), freeze and stun always work.

Medic pistol. Buy one: 200 dosh, weight 1. Alt fire shoots healing darts, and the iron sights button locks darts onto a player. If you fire fast enough, you can get 3 darts out of one charge instead of 2.

Knife and pistol. Learn to use them. Alt fire with the knife repeatedly stabs a Rioter in the legs, and with good timing his attacks keep getting interrupted.

ZED kill priority.

• First: Husk, Siren, EDAR, Bloat. Their splash damage can take down a party fast.
• Then: Fleshpound, Scrake. They do huge damage to one person. Kill them if they are in camp or step aside, otherwise focus on the splash ZEDs.
• Call out Fleshpounds and Scrakes, wait until the heavy hitters are ready before enraging them, and use stuns.
• Pro tip: an EDAR dies instantly in an electric blast if you hit the glowing weak spot on its chest plate.
• Pro tip: shoot Rioters in the legs unless you can headshot-kill them.

Money. Berserkers need little, heavy-damage perks need a lot, Medics need a bit extra early. Do not beg for dosh every round. A little extra for a tier 2 weapon is fine, tier 3 and 4 is not.

Weapons on the ground.

• Do not sell a dead player's weapon. It angers them and weakens the team.
• If you pick up a dead player's weapon, tell them.
• Check your inventory after every round for weapons you picked up by accident.
• Before the boss, some perks stockpile weapons on the floor. Do not pick them up and sell them.

Black sheep. Some perks have bad reputations because of how people play them:

• Berserkers run off alone and do not protect the camp.
• Firebugs light ZEDs and move on, enrage Scrakes and Fleshpounds, and ignite distant targets, which confuses them and makes headshots harder for others.
• Gunslingers go cowboy and run off.
• Survivalists are often players who do not know what they are doing. It is one of the hardest perks, since you must know every role. Practice healing, crowd control, tanking and damage with the specific perks first.

Game mechanics

Incapacitation effects. After an incapacitation ends, a ZED cannot be incapacitated again for 5 seconds, which is long in a fight.

• Stumble: briefly distracts the ZED. Explosions cause it.
• Stun: the ZED stands dazed, ripe for headshots.
• Freeze: the ZED is completely frozen, ripe for headshots. Freeze has no cooldown.
• Confusion: the ZED stumbles around. Caused by fire, poison and electricity. Use carefully, as it makes headshots very hard.
• Pushback: the ZED stumbles backwards. Caused by Firebug's Heatwave and sometimes parrying.

Stun and freeze are the most useful, especially on Scrakes and Fleshpounds. Stumble and confusion buy breathing room but spoil headshots. Pushback gives range.

Grenades.

• Sharpshooter grenades freeze.
• SWAT and Demolitionist grenades stun.
• Gunslinger grenades may stun.
• Berserker grenades confuse.
• Medic grenades release healing gas that also poisons enemies.
• Firebug grenades (molotovs) create ground fire.

Do not worry about wasting grenades. Pro tip: healing grenades are the only ones whose effect passes through closed doors.

Strengths and vulnerabilities.

• Cysts, Alpha Clots, Slashers and Stalkers resist microwave weapons.
• Bloats resist explosions and melee.
• Sirens resist piercing, poison and fire.
• Husks resist piercing, poison and fire, and are vulnerable to microwave.
• EDARs resist poison, and are vulnerable to fire, microwave and explosives.
• Gorefiends are vulnerable to shotguns.
• Fleshpounds resist bullets, melee, fire and poison, and are vulnerable to explosives.
• Scrakes resist explosives, fire and poison, and are vulnerable to bullets, particularly the ballistic part of an RPG-7 shell.

For microwave-resistant ZEDs, use the microwave gun's ground fire instead.

Parrying. Everyone should learn it. Equip a melee weapon (even the knife), face the enemy, and press alt fire just as you are about to be hit. A successful parry shows a green flash, reduces damage (depending on the weapon) and can stumble the ZED.

XP and dosh. Everyone who did any damage to a ZED gets the same XP and dosh when it dies, so you do not need to chase kill shots. You also earn XP and dosh for healing teammates.

Perk notes

Berserker. Crowd control for medium and big ZEDs and protecting the team. Keep Gorefasts, Gorefiends, Bloats and EDARs busy and bunched up at a moderate distance. You are also the meat shield who parries Scrakes and Fleshpounds, which takes timing, until you unlock your resistance skill. Use grenades (electric blasts confuse ZEDs), keep moving in arcs while swinging, do not take ammo crates you do not need, and share money, especially with the Medic early.

Commando. Keep small and medium ZEDs away at range. Call Out reveals cloaked ZEDs to nearby players. You have no damage resistance. Extend Zed Time by killing a ZED in the last half second of it. Learn headshots and short bursts (the starting rifle should almost never be in full auto), and bash with your weapon to interrupt attacks such as the Gorefiend spin. Your grenades have a very short fuse.

Demolitionist. Kill big ZEDs, especially Fleshpounds, and groups of small ones. Scrakes resist explosions, so the ballistic part of your shots matters. All explosive weapons except the flare gun, C4 and dynamite have a minimum arming distance, so bash to create distance. C4 has the highest damage in the game, and you carry one extra C4 per 5 levels. Dynamite has the longest fuse (5 seconds) but explodes on contact with a ZED and stuns, useful for helping headshot perks kill a Scrake. Beware of enraging heavies with splash. Fire from higher ground, and stay a bit back from the trader pod so teammates taking grenades do not open it. Pro tip: stick C4 on the Patriarch without detonating to see where he is when cloaked.

Firebug. Crowd control of small and medium ZEDs. Use short bursts, make ground fire work for you (with the Groundfire skill it also slows enemies), finish what you ignite, and be careful not to enrage heavies. Molotovs give breathing room. Pro tip: microwave weapons confuse metal-clad ZEDs (Husks, Sirens, EDARs) with zero incapacitation cooldown, interrupting their attacks.

Gunslinger. Highly mobile heavy damage. Headshots and reload speed are key. Prioritize Husks, EDARs, Sirens and Bloats, and help on Scrakes and Fleshpounds. Grenades may stun.

Field Medic. Keep the party alive. Use iron sights to lock darts onto a player. Healing grenades save more lives than darts and also poison ZEDs, so use them freely. Damage resistance and damage bonus buffs are gold: boost Sharpshooters on Scrakes, Demolitionists on Fleshpounds, and Berserkers with resistance. Stay near the escape route and throw a healing grenade toward it as a beacon. Pro tip: the level 25 Zed Time skill Airborne Agent heals the team if you run around the camp, and poisons ZEDs.

Sharpshooter. Take big ZEDs down from range. Priority: Scrakes, Fleshpounds, Husks, EDARs, Sirens, Bloats. The Railgun can kill Scrakes and Fleshpounds in one shot, but do not use target assist, which cuts damage by 50%. Freeze grenades set up perfect headshots, and a good Medic's buffs raise your damage a lot.

Support. Deal lots of damage to things that take more than one shot, and help against Scrakes and Fleshpounds. You weld faster and earn XP for it, but never weld doors in multiplayer. You give teammates 20% extra spare ammo once per round (30% ammo and 20% armor with the Resupply Pack skill), so keep distance from the trader pod.

Survivalist. Step in where the team is weak. You need experience with other perks first. Benefits: damage resistance, bonus damage with all weapons, and flexible skills. Pro tip: the Centerfire and Winchester get reload speed whatever level 5 skill you pick.

SWAT. Short to medium range heavy damage. Ammo is expensive, so headshot and use short bursts. The flashbang stuns, useful for lining up a Scrake or Fleshpound. Pro tip: Heavy Armor Training means Clots cannot grab you even with no armor.