KF2 New Player Survival: Rage, Dosh, Levels and Comms

This guide was written in 2015, soon after the Gunslinger class and new maps arrived, when the author kept joining servers full of low-level Gunslingers who died constantly. It is a plain-spoken checklist of what new players should know so the team does not wipe before the boss.

Why you die out of nowhere

You do not need to know every fact, but read at least one guide for the class you level. These three things cause most surprise wipes:

• Scrakes auto-rage on higher difficulties once the total number of ZEDs drops below 5. If you ignore Scrakes until they are all that is left, the team probably wipes.
• Scrakes and Fleshpounds rage when their health falls below a threshold. The threshold is lower on high difficulties, so one shot can set one off. Do not attack one if you cannot kill it, if your team does not know, or if your team is not in a position to help.
• A wounded Husk charges and suicides for an instant kill. Finish a Husk completely if you engage it. If one is charging, run back and alert the team.

If you see someone who does not know this, educate them instead of berating them. See also ZED target priorities for new players.

Weapons and dosh

• Aim for headshots every shot. Set Commando weapons to single fire and play like a Sharpshooter. On higher difficulties where headshots are not instant kills use full auto, but tap, never hold.
• In the first rounds it is fine to look for ammo and be stingy with dosh, since you do not need armor or better guns yet. In later rounds invest in your teammates as much as in yourself.
• In the final trader break do not be stingy. You cannot take dosh with you, so spread what is left. A broke teammate cannot protect you from the boss.
• Do not steal dropped weapons. Picking up a dead Medic's gun and selling it hurts everyone. Pick it up and hand it back at the trader.
• Do not beg for dosh in early rounds. A level 0 Gunslinger on Suicidal does not need a high-end gun in round 3.
• When you do need dosh, ask specifically: "need $300 for ammo please".

Levelling and difficulty

Perk trainer maps will not teach you the real maps; shooting ZEDs in a cage is nothing like kiting on Farmhouse or Black Forest. Learn new maps on low difficulty without Suicidal or Hell on Earth insta-kills. Joining a Suicidal server at level 4 just gets you killed with 150 ZEDs still alive, and teammates will not give dosh to someone likely to die early. The exception is a good Medic, who is welcome at any level if nobody else plays one, but you must keep healing.

Rule of thumb, moving up about every 5 perk levels:

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

There is leeway if you are very experienced, but do not play above Hard in the single digits. Going from 0 to 5 takes about an evening.

Communication

• Get a mic. A cheap clip-on mic is enough; you do not need a gaming headset. Test levels first, use push-to-talk and keep the TV off the open mic.
• If you cannot use a mic, type: "fp" for Fleshpound, "sc" for Scrake. "2 fp" can save a team.
• Do not spam the built-in "Request Help" and "Request Dosh" voice commands; if you cry wolf, nobody comes when two Fleshpounds are on you.
• "Request Healing" is not for topping off 80 HP. Use it when you are under fire and about to die.
• If you get lost, say where you are: "I'm at the barn", "We're all at the trader".
• For every Scrake or Fleshpound, call its status and location: "raged sc in riverbed", "2 fp main street".