KF2 Perk Roles and Builds: Sleepwalker's Diary (v1065)

This is a translated Russian-language guide written for the game version 1065, marked by its author as outdated. It is an opinionated, role-based overview of several perks, with dependency on the team, weaknesses, target priorities and builds. The author notes it is mostly for solo players and less useful for experienced ones.

Commando

Commando.

Profile. Team dependence: high. Weaknesses: large zeds, bosses and low damage density. Range: medium, a front-line perk.

Target priority. Primary: Cyst, Clot, Slasher, Crawler, Stalker. Secondary: Gorefast, Gorefiend, Siren, Husk, Bloat, Abomination Spawn. Undesirable: Scrake, Quarter Pound, Fleshpound, Patriarch, Hans Volter, King Fleshpound, Abomination.

Features. Night vision, longer zed time, one of the best perks to start with (along with SWAT and Firebug), sees Stalkers and lets the team see them, shows zed HP (so the team can be told when to finish large zeds) and sees a stealthed Patriarch with the team.

Commando level 25 skill screen: Tactical Reload, Impact Rounds, Prepared, Hollow Point Rounds and ZED TIME - Machine Gunner shown as selected.

Builds.

• Main: M16 M203 or SCAR-H plus Stoner 63A LMG.
• Solo: M16 M203 + SCAR-H + C4. Assault rifles are for small fry. If you must rush a Bloat, a point-blank grenade-launcher shot to the head removes it on any difficulty.
• Team: HMTech-401 + M16 M203 or SCAR-H + HMTech-101, doing medic duties on the side.

Skills. The author prefers High Capacity Mags (+50 percent magazine size), Impact Rounds, Tenacious, Eat Lead (+100 percent), and ZED TIME - Tactician over the machine gunner option. For accurate players and the solo build: Tactical Reload + Impact Rounds + Tenacious + Hollow Point Rounds + ZED TIME - Tactician. Prepared is pointless unless you max ammo, and with a Support in the team it adds nothing.

Details.

• The Commando wins on quantity, not damage, so cooperate with a damage dealer such as a Demolitionist, Support or Sharpshooter. An effective Commando often has the most kills.
• He is the most vulnerable to his own grenades. They are strong against Fleshpounds and Quarter Pounds (200 percent explosive damage).
• Do not shoot the big "butcher" zeds unless you are sure you can kill one fast and alone; Sharpshooter or Gunslinger suit them better. Even experienced players die by angering too many at once. The more small zeds are around, the less you want to provoke one, and if something else is hitting you, leave it alone.
• The AR-15 starter has single and burst modes; use single shots for low recoil, higher accuracy and faster Clot kills.
• A boss is not a Commando priority: keep killing the small zeds that spawn before a new phase.
• Night vision is "trash" according to the author.

Killing a boss alone as Commando. Bosses get slightly weaker when a player drops out. Carry C4, stick charges on the boss at good moments (Hans Volter while he drains a teammate and stands still; Patriarch while firing his gun or rockets with his back to you; King Fleshpound during his attack cooldown) and damage it with weapons until just before it heals. When it begins to heal, detonate the charges on it. For Hans this breaks his shield and forces a retreat; for Patriarch, if you ran away before the syringe is used, you can finish him; King Fleshpound does not heal but stays near you, so wait for his laser. Use as many charges as you can. C4 is chosen because Commando damage is sustained, not burst, so it cannot kill strong zeds quickly.

Field Medic

Field Medic.

Profile. Team dependence: medium. Weaknesses: large zeds, bosses, dying teammates. Range: medium.

Targets. Primary: healing, Cyst, Clot, Slasher. Secondary: Crawler, Stalker, Bloat, Gorefast, Gorefiend, Abomination Spawn. Undesirable: Siren, Husk, Scrake, Fleshpound, Patriarch, Hans, King Fleshpound, Krampus.

Features. Resistance to Bloat acid; poisons zeds to buy time against large ones; HP symbiosis (healing teammates heals you); the most effective medic has the fewest kills because he is focused on healing; medic grenades heal 5 HP per second and poison zeds.

Field Medic level 25 skill screen with the team-oriented left tree selected.

Main build. HMTech-401 Assault Rifle + HMTech-301 Shotgun + HMTech-101 Pistol. The rifle is the best healer (4 shots before cooldown), the shotgun is best for damage and the pistol is a supplement.

Details.

• The Hemogoblin is "a weapon for perverts" in the author's opinion, not for winning: bleed does not push back, disorient or repel like fire.
• The main value of a medic is healing as often as possible by cycling healing shots between weapons while the other one recharges.
• The entire left tree is aimed at the team, so such a medic depends on others. Listen for movement so you are not surrounded, and look for teammates yourself since they are busy shooting.

Solo build. RPG-7 (best against Fleshpound and Quarter Pound; ballistic damage against Scrake) + HMTech-301. The right tree improves the player himself. The author warns that the community may kick a selfish medic and suggests Survivalist for that.

Cautious build. HMTech-401 + HMTech-101 for alternating healing + Pulverizer, which improves survival with explosive hits against Fleshpound and Quarter Pound, pushes away surrounding mutants and nullifies damage by blocking. Skills stay on the left side except Combatant Doctor for 10 percent extra speed. The author considers this build even higher priority than the main one but suggests switching to it after gaining experience.

Berserker

Berserker.

Profile. Team dependence: none. Weaknesses: Husk, an overwhelming rush, Hans Volter. Range: close.

Targets. Primary: Siren, Scrake, Fleshpound, Quarter Pound, Patriarch, Hans, King Fleshpound, Krampus. Secondary: Gorefast, Bloat, Cyst, Clot, Slasher, Crawler, Abomination Spawn. Undesirable: Husk, Gorefiend.

Features. Night vision; takes as many large zeds as possible; cannot be grabbed; can block a doorway; the most durable perk; minimal need for money; can kill any number of mutants alone, including bosses.

Berserker skill screen.

Main build. Eviscerator + Katana + HMTech-101, or Eviscerator + C4 + HMTech-101, or Eviscerator + HMTech-101 + HMTech-201 (if you need healing and have no medic).

Details.

• With only an Eviscerator or VLAD-1000 you waste the fourth skill, designed for melee.
• The author never understood buying the Zweihander: it deals more slashing damage than the Pulverizer but cannot push back, only pierce, and does not knock down, so being cornered by a large zed is likely fatal.
• Skirmisher regenerates 2 HP per second.
• Alternative builds: Striker (RPG-7 + Pulverizer), Barrier (Pulverizer + RPG-7, or Bone Crusher to lock doorways), Scavenger (Pulverizer + Katana + VLAD-1000, larger kill coverage, less damage against large zeds).
• Skills: Juggernaut when blocking a door with an active medic behind you, otherwise Skirmisher. Resistance gives 20 percent resistance to all damage and an extra 20 percent against Siren screams and Bloat acid; Parry suits technical players. Smash vs Massacre: light attacks early (especially with the Katana), the other late. Always Spartan over Rage.
• EMP grenades stop raged large zeds temporarily and work on bosses.
• Blades push back worse than other melee; the Berserker is the top boss killer, with the Eviscerator only. Kill Patriarch from range with blades and block and stun Hans with the saw while retreating; boss hits cannot be parried. When Hans heals, take hits yourself instead of weaker teammates.

Demolitionist

Demolitionist.

Profile. Team dependence: high. Weaknesses: Siren screams, lone mutants. Range: long.

Targets. Primary: Husk, Scrake, Fleshpound, Quarter Pound, Patriarch, Hans, King Fleshpound. Secondary: Gorefast, Gorefiend, Cyst, Slasher, Clot. Undesirable: Siren, Bloat, Stalker.

Features. Can mine a door; hands out grenades to teammates (one per wave); one of the worst perks to start with; lit dynamite explodes on contact (great against Fleshpounds, but may hit an invisible Stalker and kill you).

Demolitionist skill screen.

Builds. Main: RPG-7 + M16 M203 or M79. Radioactive: RPG-7 + HX25 Grenade Pistol + HMTech-101 or Spitfire (the HX25 can create several radioactive zones in one zed time). Bomber: M79 + M16 M203 + C4, as a second Demolitionist or a sniper's support.

Skills. Crowd control: Shock Trooper + Extra Rounds + Fragmentation Rounds + Concussive Rounds + ZED TIME - Destroyer of Worlds. Target kill: Shock Trooper + High Impact Rounds + Sonic Resistant Rounds + Armor Piercing Rounds + ZED TIME - Mad Bomber. The best position is behind cover from the group; particularly useful against King Fleshpound.

Survivalist

The perk lineup; the lower right icon is the cut tenth perk.

Before release on 18 October 2016 there were nine fully developed classes and a tenth was expected: the Urban Ninja, a perk the developers later said was too similar to the Berserker and not suited to the setting. It would have inherited the katana, and shurikens were rumored. A glimpse of it survived in Steam content for KF2. Another cut idea was Crawlers walking on walls and ceilings, dropped because of the load on mechanics and balance. Survivalist replaced the Urban Ninja.

Survivalist was immediately nicknamed a "hobo" and players are often kicked for it; try it last, after the other nine. There are two ways to use it:

1. Replace the skills of one of the six perks named in its Weapon Handling skill (Support, Sharpshooter, Demolitionist, Commando, SWAT, Gunslinger) with more survivability. Replacing a Medic or Berserker is pointless because they are already durable. Firebug was poorly adapted: the level 5 skill does not mention it, fire damage still hurts, and a missed Molotov on Hell on Earth can kill you.
2. If the whole team is chasing a Darwin award, just pick Berserker and carry the team.

The author calls Survivalist the strongest perk after Berserker, able to repel wave 10 of HoE alone. A solo Survivalist needs to counter the Fleshpound, break through a group, use speed, and ration ammo. His example kit: RPG-7 (1500 Dosh, 9 kg), Boomstick (650, 4 kg), Desert Eagle (550, 2 kg).

• Countering the Fleshpound. A fast RPG-7 reload with the damage buff kills even several at once. Block unavoidable hits with the knife and run with it (+25 percent run speed with a melee weapon, a Berserker bonus). A Fleshpound that has not switched targets will catch you; choose open ground, turn, block, and ideally jump back so you take one of two hits.
• Breaking through. The Boomstick's double shot opens a path; then switch to the knife and sprint.
• Speed. Run with the knife out to avoid Clot grabs and slash while running. Hitting a Siren while running stops her scream. Hitting Bloats while running lets you dodge their vomit. An aiming Husk will not use the flamethrower until it fires, so you can run past it.
• Pattern shooting and economy. Do not spend an RPG-7 shot on two or three Clots.

PvP mode (Versus)

Screenshot from the guide's PvP section.

The author says balance is imperfect; speed is 2-3 times faster than PvE and zeds are no longer dumb meat: it becomes "keep them off you". Players below level 25 should avoid it because there is no matchmaking. There are 4 waves.

• Wave 1: everybody picks SWAT with Close Combat Training, since early zeds are Clots, Cysts and Slashers and SWAT cannot be grabbed by them.
• Wave 2: switch to at least Firebug, Support and a Medic (mandatory). Support is best with a Boomstick against players and a regular shotgun against zeds.
• Wave 3: Support with AA12 and Boomstick; Firebug with both flamethrowers or a flamethrower plus microwave gun, used first to push large mutants back; Medic with rifle and shotgun.
• Wave 4: maximum buying; a second Medic or Support is possible, Firebug required.
• Boss: a Berserker with the saw, a semi-auto and a medic pistol. Do not saw Sirens. If the whole team dies, you can stall and keep the Patriarch from catching you.

See also perk overview for beginners and Versus Survival.