KF2 Sharpshooter In-Depth Guide: Builds and Shots to Kill

The Sharpshooter is a long-range precision perk, and many players underrate it. This in-depth guide, originally written by a Hong Kong player, covers the role, skill choices, loadouts, exact shot counts for Hell on Earth with six players, advanced tricks and boss advice. Numbers come from the game version of its writing, when weapon tiers and the older skill menu applied, so use them as a reference rather than a promise on current builds. For other Sharpshooter pages see the Sharpshooter perk page and the KF2 perk skills and builds guide.

Part 1: The role of the Sharpshooter

1. Big-Zed hunter. Your top priority is the Scrake, Quarter Pound and Fleshpound. You should be the first to start a take-down.
2. Medium-Zed terminator, particularly for Husks and E.D.A.R.s, since you need a long-range perk against enemies that can hit you from afar.
3. Trash Zeds are lowest priority. Commando and SWAT are the trash experts. Rioters and Gorefiends are the exception, because the starting Winchester 1894 kills them with one headshot.
4. Laning: stay with precision perks such as Commando, SWAT, Gunslinger and Support. Never lane with a chaotic area-damage perk like Berserker, Firebug or Demolitionist.
5. Memorise the shots your usual weapons need to kill each Zed. The tables below help.
6. Create Zed Time by scoring headshots. This is the Sharpshooter's most important job on high difficulties.

Big Zeds such as the Scrake are the Sharpshooter's main targets.

Part 2: Skills and loadouts

The guide assumes 6 players, Hell on Earth and a level 25 Sharpshooter. Skills are written left (L) or right (R) per tier, and X means either option.

Wave 1: LLRRX. With Sniper and Stability, the Winchester 1894 one-shots Rioters and Gorefiends and one-body-shots trash Zeds. A Bloat needs two headshots to decapitate. Since the Winchester is tube-fed, Tactical Reload (level 15) greatly speeds it up. Do not forget your 9mm: one headshot on Clot variants and three on Bloats.

Waves 2-5: keep LLRRX until you can afford the M14, Railgun or M99. Ask teammates for Dosh; the kit is expensive. The Winchester also one-shots Sirens, E.D.A.R.s and a Husk's fuel tank.

There are two play styles.

Railgun or M99 build

It deletes Scrakes, Quarter Pounds and Fleshpounds with one or two headshots, but trash handling is weak. Skills must be damage-oriented (Sniper and Stability), and these loadouts cost more than 3000 Dosh.

1. Tier 5 Railgun + SPX 464: big Zeds plus medium Zeds.
2. Tier 5 Railgun + .500 Magnum Revolver + dual 9mm: big Zeds with slightly better trash clearing.
3. M99 AMR + .500 Magnum Revolver.
4. M99 AMR + dual 9mm + HM-TECH 101 pistol: adds healing for teammates.

The M99 builds allow flexible skill choice: LLRRX, as Sniper and Stability let it one-shot Scrakes and Quarter Pounds, and extra ammo helps (five extra M99 bullets means five more Scrakes or Quarter Pounds).

M14 / FN-FAL build

It greatly improves trash clearing, but you need consistent headshots, 10 to 15 with the right skills, to decapitate a big Zed.

1. M14 + FAL, the "Zed Time generator" build.
2. Tier 4 M14 + Tier 4 SPX (M14 for trash and medium, SPX for big).
3. M14 + fully upgraded Tier 5 SPX.

Skill configuration for these: RLLRX. With Marksman (level 5) and either level 25 master technique, headshots often trigger Zed Time.

Skill configuration with the master techniques at the bottom.

A Sharpshooter loadout.

Two notes on skills

• The in-game description of Ranger is vague. In practice, the stun power of your perk weapons is hugely multiplied inside Zed Time and does not stack with Ballistic Shock. Hence a single shot from any Sharpshooter weapon (9mm included) stuns a Scrake, Fleshpound or Quarter Pound during Zed Time.
• Dead-eye (level 20) cuts the shots needed to kill big Zeds by one. The extra 10 percent recoil reduction also helps with the high-recoil FN-FAL.

Ranger's stun multiplier overrides Ballistic Shock instead of stacking.

Part 3: Shots to kill (6p Hell on Earth, level 25)

Abbreviations: HS is headshot, BS is body shot, ReU is Rack 'em Up (level 15 skill).

Wave 1 (skills LLRRX)

Zed	Winchester 1894	9mm
Cyst, Alpha Clot, Slasher	1 HS or 1 BS	1 HS or 3 BS
Rioter	1 HS or 3 leg shots	Never use the 9mm
Gorefast	1 HS or 2 BS	2 HS or 6 BS
Gorefiend	1 HS or 3 BS	4 HS or 12 BS
Bloat	2 HS (do not body shot)	3 HS (do not body shot)

Headshots with a Sharpshooter are far better than body shots, since it is a precision perk.

Waves 2-10: Railgun builds (skills LLLLX)

Zed	SPX 464	.500 Magnum	Railgun
Cyst, Alpha Clot, Slasher	1 HS or 1 BS	1 HS or 1 BS	N/A
Rioter, Crawler, Stalker	1 HS	1 HS	N/A
Gorefast	1 HS or BS	1 HS or BS	N/A
Gorefiend	1 HS or 2 BS	1 HS or 2 BS	N/A
Siren	1 HS	1 HS	N/A
Bloat	1 HS	1 HS	N/A
Husk	1 HS	1 HS	1 HS
E.D.A.R.	1 shot to the chest core	1 shot to the chest core	1 HS
Scrake	N/A	N/A	2 HS, or 1 HS with at least 1 ReU
Quarter Pound	N/A	N/A	2 HS, or 1 HS with at least 3 ReU
Fleshpound	N/A	N/A	2 HS

For the second Railgun shot, the auto-aim can be the follow-up.

M99 builds (LLRRX)

Zed	.500 Magnum	M99
Trash, Crawler, Stalker, Gorefast	1 HS or BS	N/A
Siren, Bloat, Husk	1 HS	N/A
E.D.A.R.	1 shot to chest core	N/A
Scrake	N/A	1 HS
Quarter Pound	N/A	1 HS
Fleshpound	N/A	2 HS, or 1 M99 HS plus 2 Magnum HS

M14 + FAL build (RLLRR)

Zed	M14	FAL
Cyst, Alpha Clot, Slasher	1 HS or 1 BS	1 HS or 2 BS
Rioter, Crawler, Stalker	1 HS	1 HS
Gorefast	1 HS or 2 BS	1 HS or 2 BS
Gorefiend	1 HS or 4 BS	1 HS or 4 BS
Siren	2 HS, or 1 HS with ReU x2	2 HS, or 1 HS with ReU x5
Bloat	3 HS, or 2 with ReU x1	3 HS, or 2 with ReU x3
Husk	Fuel tank, or 3 HS (2 with ReU x3)	Fuel tank, or 3 HS
E.D.A.R.	2 chest shots, or 1 with ReU x1	2 chest shots, or 1 with ReU x3
Scrake	10 HS (9 with ReU x2)	11 HS
Quarter Pound	11 HS	11 HS
Fleshpound	14 HS (13 with ReU x2)	16 HS (15 with ReU x1)

Tier 4 M14 + Tier 4 SPX (RLLRR)

M14 does the trash and medium work with the same counts as above. The Tier 4 SPX takes: Scrake 4 HS, Quarter Pound 4 HS, Fleshpound 5 to 6 HS (6 with ReU x0-1, 5 with x2). The M14 alone needs 9 HS for a Scrake (8 with ReU x1) and 12 HS for a Fleshpound.

M14 + Tier 5 SPX

Scrake 4 HS (3 HS with ReU x3), Quarter Pound 4 HS, Fleshpound 5 HS on the SPX. The M14 alone needs 10 HS for a Scrake (9 with ReU x2), 11 HS for a Quarter Pound and 14 HS for a Fleshpound (13 with ReU x2).

Part 4: Big-Zed take-downs

Over-capping

Over-capping lets you carry more ammo than normal by swapping skills in the trader time:

1. After the wave, buy the guns you want at the trader (skip if your loadout is done).
2. Open the menu with Esc and switch Dead Eye (level 20) to Always Prepared.
3. Buy ammo.
4. Reload your sniper rifles.
5. Throw them on the ground (do not get spotted, as others may sell them; use a corner close to the trader).
6. Switch back from Always Prepared to Dead Eye.
7. Pick the guns back up to enjoy both bonuses.

Do not pick up ammo from Support or ammo boxes afterwards, or the effort is lost. If you use Always Prepared for the whole match, you need no over-capping.

Reload cancelling

Method 1: watch the animation. As the magazine goes into the gun, press V (bash) then Mouse 1 almost instantly. Method 2: watch the ammo counter. When it changes from 0 to 1, press V then Mouse 1 at once.

This works on magazine-fed guns (M14, FAL, 1858 and Magnum revolvers, Railgun) and not on tube-fed ones (Winchester, SPX 464). Method 1 is riskier but lets you watch Zeds; method 2 is safer but pulls your eyes to the HUD. A dry reload with cancelling is slightly faster, except for guns that hold one bullet per magazine (Railgun, M99 and Crossbow).

Per-weapon notes

• Railgun (LLLLL): nerfed since the weapon upgrade system, it no longer one-shots a Scrake on 6p HoE unless you have at least one Rack 'em Up with Sniper, Stability and Dead Eye. With two ReU you can skip ADS and no-scope Scrakes.
• M99 (LLRRR): one-shots Scrakes, with or without ADS.
• M14 (RLLRR): needs at least 10 consistent headshots; head tracing is key.
• FAL (RLLRR): try full auto on Scrakes, especially in Zed Time. Recoil is tough; semi-auto with more back-pedalling also works.
• SPX Tier 4: 4 headshots kill a Scrake. SPX Tier 5: use the 9mm first for at least 3 ReU, then 3 headshots.
• Quarter Pounds are manageable for Railgun and M99 users, and you have freeze grenades. M14, FAL and SPX users should freeze and focus fire with teammates when 4 to 6 spawn together.
• Fleshpounds: the Railgun and M99 need 2 headshots. Aim the first manually; the second can use auto-aim for a decap, not a clean kill. To save an M99 bullet, fire one M99 shot then two Magnum shots for a decap only.

Railgun in Zed-hunting mode.

Part 5: Advanced notes

1. Sharpshooter is the team's second-best asset: triggering Zed Time through headshots. The best is the Commando's Zed Time extensions.
2. The passive 25 percent damage bonus applies only to headshots, unlike other perks whose global bonus applies to both. Headshots are everything.
3. Choose your loadout by your teammates. Railgun or M99 works if a Commando, SWAT or Support truly keeps trash and medium Zeds away from you. If not, M14/FAL makes you less dependent on others.
4. Switch off Railgun auto-aim after buying it, with the middle mouse button (alt-fire). Auto-aim halves the damage. In the HUD or scope, a yellow or red rhombus means auto-aim is on. Use it only for a follow-up on a big Zed or to kill Husks and E.D.A.R.s when there is no time to aim.
5. Re-buy strategy: if the Winchester 1894 is empty or has fewer than 2 magazines after a wave, sell it and buy a new one. A new one costs 200 and comes with 60 bullets.
6. Crouching is the difference between an average and a great Sharpshooter. Stability (level 10) is a must; Ballistic Shock is only for when you do not know a Zed's attack animation.
7. Boss wave: a Tier 5 Railgun with reload cancelling gives the highest damage per second in the game, around 2000. Pair it with a Boomstick for dodging. Freeze grenades hold the Patriarch so he cannot flee and heal. Skills LLRRR; body shots are fine because Sniper and Stability give a global 55 percent bonus on the boss. An alternative is LLLRL with T5 Railgun, dual 9mm (for ReU stacks) and a medic SMG for trash and healing.
8. Leave at least one bullet in the Winchester and SPX when reloading, since loading the first bullet takes longer.
9. Freeze grenades (25 damage, best crowd control): use them when the defence line is breached, when several big Zeds appear (especially Quarter Pounds), and when the Patriarch is about to flee or Hans Volter enters his last phase (under one third health, red health bar), where 3 to 4 are suggested.
10. For FAL recoil, tap-fire: hold for 0.5 s, wait another 0.5 s, and repeat.
11. Use quick consecutive headshots to decapitate Husks and Bloats before they hurt anyone (M14/FAL builds).

Final words

The author thinks the Sharpshooter has the most balanced skill tree of the ten perks and says it is the least played perk according to Tripwire. Without it, Zed Time triggers less often and big Zeds appear more often. Credits go to Abyss (Hong Kong), the KF-TestingMapRedux map by Fauxy_ and the Killing Floor 2 wiki.