KF2 Sharpshooter Guide: Skills, Weapon Stats, Upgrades and Builds

This is a translation and paraphrase of a Portuguese guide to the Sharpshooter in Killing Floor 2. It covers the perk's passives and skills, then lists weight, price, damage and upgrade costs for each weapon, and ends with general strategy and two build suggestions. Compare it with the Sharpshooter in-depth shot counts guide and the Sharpshooter perk page.

Overview

The Sharpshooter attacks from far away, deals huge headshot damage and has little mobility, the price of precision and damage. With high damage and low ammo, he focuses on killing the big zeds in few shots. He is vulnerable up close and must rely on teammates to protect him.

Bonus XP: Sharpshooters get bonus XP for headshots, even non-lethal ones.

Passives

• Headshot damage +1% per level (25% at level 25).
• Recoil -1% per level (25% at level 25).
• Weapon switch speed +2% per level (50% at level 25).

Skills (choose one per tier)

Level	Option A	Option B
5	Sniper: +25% damage while standing still with perk weapons	Marksman: +25% fire rate and +10% movement speed with perk weapons
10	Stability: +30% damage, +50% movement speed and +20% reload speed while crouching with perk weapons	Ballistic Shock: +100% stun power with perk weapons
15	Rack 'em Up: each consecutive headshot adds 10% damage, up to 50%	Tactical Reload: faster reload with perk weapons
20	Dead Eye: -10% recoil and +10% headshot damage while aiming	Always Prepared: carry up to 25% more perk weapon ammo and grenades
25	Assassin: 5% chance on headshot to trigger zed time, +35% headshot damage during zed time	Ranger: 5% chance on headshot to trigger zed time, headshots always stun any zed during zed time

Starting weapons

Winchester 1894.

Winchester 1894 (the Sharpshooter's starting weapon): weight 4, price 200, damage 80, bash 30, magazine 12, total ammo 84. Upgrades cost 500, 600, 700 and 1500 for damage multipliers x1.6, x1.9, x2.3 and x2.5 (and +1 to +4 weight). Recoil depends on stance, lowest when crouched and aiming. Projectile speed in zed time is 240 m/s.

Kukri knife and Freeze Grenade.

Kukri (default knife): light attack 32, heavy 64, bash 15; block and parry reduce damage by 20%. Horizontal attacks do 50-75% of base damage depending on angle.

Freeze Grenade: damage 25, radius 6 m, freezing damage. Very effective on Scrakes and calm Fleshpounds; one grenade freezes them for several seconds, enough for safe headshots.

9mm pistol.

9mm Pistol (every class starts with it): single/dual weight 0/2, price 0/150, damage 25, bash 20/22, magazine 15/30, total ammo 75/60. Upgrades cost 200, 500, 600, 700, 1500 for x1.2 to x2. It receives all passives and skills, decapitates Clots, Slashers, Cysts, Stalkers and Crawlers, is weak against medium zeds and nearly useless against big ones. With the right skills, Gunslingers, SWAT or Commandos can use it in later waves.

Tier 2

SPX 464 Centerfire.

SPX 464 Centerfire ("basically the Winchester, but better"): weight 5, price 650, damage 165, bash 25, magazine 10, total ammo 70. Upgrades 600, 700, 1500 for x1.15, x1.3, x1.45. Zed-time projectile speed 240 m/s.

Crossbow.

Crossbow: weight 6, price 650, damage 350, bash 26, magazine 1, total ammo 34. Upgrades 600, 700, 1500 for x1.2, x1.4, x1.6. Zed-time speed 150 m/s. Fired bolts can be picked up again.

Tier 3

M14 EBR.

M14 EBR: sniper rifle with a laser sight. Weight 7, price 1100, damage 80, bash 27, magazine 20, total ammo 120. Upgrades 700 and 1500 for x1.15 and x1.3. Zed-time speed 300 m/s.

Mosin Nagant.

Mosin Nagant: weight 7, price 1100, damage 250, bayonet bash 100 (range 2.5 m), magazine 5, total ammo 60. Block reduces damage 40%, parry 50%. Upgrades 700 and 1500 (x1.15, x1.3) also improve the bayonet. The bayonet thrust gets all Sharpshooter damage bonuses but cannot trigger Rack 'em Up alone. A Berserker using it gets no bonus but can still parry; Survivalist's passive gives up to 15% more bayonet damage while Melee Expert does not add damage.

HRG Beluga Beat.

HRG Beluga Beat: weight 7, price 1100, damage 100 uncharged (low frequency) or 240 charged (high frequency), bash 26, magazine 12, total ammo 96. Upgrades 700 and 1500 for x1.1 and x1.2. Alt fire switches frequency.

HRG Head Hunter.

HRG Head Hunter: weight 7, price 1100, primary 50, wave damage (alt fire, per stack) 150/300/500, bash 26, magazine 7, total ammo 112. Upgrades 700 and 1500 for x1.15 and x1.3. Each shot enlarges the zed's head by 30% (up to 90%); the wave damage passes through walls.

Tier 4

Rail Gun.

Rail Gun: weight 9, price 1500, damage 560 (280 in locked aim), bash 30, magazine 1, total ammo 32. One upgrade, 1500, x1.25. In zed time with locked aim it has no projectile and hits instantly. The middle mouse button toggles guided aim (auto-locks weak points) and unguided aim (double damage).

FN FAL ACOG.

FN FAL ACOG: a mix of precision and assault rifle. Weight 8, price 1500, damage 70, bash 26, magazine 20, total ammo 160. One upgrade, 1500, x1.15. It also gets Commando perk bonuses.

Tier 5

M99 AMR.

M99 AMR: weight 12, price 2500, damage 850, bash 30, magazine 1, total ammo 20. No upgrades. Half the penetration of the Rail Gun.

Compound Bow.

Compound Bow: weight 8, price 2000, regular arrow 250, cryo arrow 50 plus 75 explosion (radius 250), bash 100, magazine 1, total ammo 30. No upgrades. Charging raises penetration damage of both arrows but not the cryo explosion. Arrow speed 4000/10000/15000 units per second depending on charge. Picking an arrow off the floor when you have none makes the first reload longer. Projectiles last 180 seconds.

Multi-perk weapons

1858 Revolver.

1858 Revolver (Gunslinger's starting weapon): weight 2, price 100, damage 50, bash 22, magazine 6, total ammo 144. Upgrades 500, 600, 700, 1500 for x1.15, x1.6, x1.95, x2.2.

.500 Magnum Revolver.

.500 Magnum Revolver: weight 3, price 750, damage 160, bash 23, magazine 5, total ammo 100. One upgrade, 1500, x1.15.

Spitfire.

Spitfire: weight 2, price 325, damage 40, bash 22, magazine 6, total ammo 192. Upgrades 600, 700, 1500 for x1.25, x1.5, x1.75. Direct hits ignite zeds and leave residual flames. Projectiles are barely affected by gravity.

Corrupter Carbine.

Corrupter Carbine: weight 7, price 1500, damage 275, seed explosion 300 (radius 4.5), bash 26, magazine 40, total ammo 400, healing 15 per dart using 30% of healing ammo, full recharge 10 s. One upgrade, 1500, x1.15. Killing a zed while it carries a seed (lasts 6 s) releases a gas cloud that heals players (5 every 0.5 s for 5 s) and damages zeds. The seed shot costs 50% healing ammo with a 14 s cooldown; hitting a player heals 25.

General strategy

• You are not meant to fight every zed alone. As a big-zed killer stay in the middle of your team, ideally with a view of several paths, and drop hard targets like Sirens, Husks, Scrakes and Fleshpounds. Do not be a lone wolf.
• Aim for the head. With little ammo you cannot afford mistakes, and with the right skills your starting weapon easily kills small zeds.
• The Crossbow is a good choice if you want to save grenades for Fleshpounds, since even without Ballistic Shock one headshot stuns a Scrake.
• The M99 AMR is your strongest weapon and removes Scrakes and Fleshpounds easily, but it leaves only 3 extra weight blocks. Stay behind your team, do not handle small zeds with it, and the author recommends it only for the boss wave.
• Freeze Grenades interrupt big zeds and expose them to headshots, but freezing an enraged Fleshpound is nearly impossible.

Builds

Solo: skills right, right, left, left, left. More movement speed, stun power and headshot damage; the price is lower damage and reload speed, so prefer magazine weapons such as the M14 EBR rather than the Centerfire.

Co-op and boss: skills left, left, right, right, left. More damage, ammo, reload and movement speed. Use damage-focused weapons such as the Centerfire; for the boss wave swap to stronger ones like the M99.

These are only common builds; feel free to create your own.

Related perk guides from the same author

The original also links companion guides for every other perk (Gunslinger, Medic, Firebug, Commando, Demolitionist, Support, SWAT, Survivalist and Berserker), a general guide and a weekly challenge guide.