True Support Guide for KF2: Skills, Shotguns and RPG-7 Builds

This guide, written in Russian by a Support main with around two thousand hours, treats Support as the team's ammunition and utility provider, not its top damage dealer. It is aimed at level 25 Supports on Suicidal and Hell on Earth. The author does not claim it is the only correct way to play. For other takes see Support shotguns and loadouts and the general Support perk page.

The recommended skill build.

Skill build

• Level 5, Large Capacity Magazines. Picking up two ammo boxes gives you a third as a bonus, and bigger magazines mean fewer reloads. The author suggests it mainly for players using the Boomstick and Doomstick.
• Level 10, Fortitude (150 HP). Support has to stay alive to keep the team supplied, and the extra health gives a medic time to heal. It helps on waves and on bosses. For small zeds the health is plenty; against large ones it is not.
• Level 15, Tight Choke. At level 25 you already have 500 percent penetration, so the tighter spread is the better pick: it lets you snipe at mid to long range with the Benelli and pour damage into large zed heads. A must for stick users.
• Level 20, Resupply Pack. The cornerstone of a true Support, and it raises your maximum ammo. Concussion Rounds are mainly for solo play.
• Level 25, Barrage. Penetration is already covered; Barrage lets you fire pellets in real time at zeds.

Weapons

Head health of a Scrake with six players is about 1512 / 1584 and of a Fleshpound 1636 / 1716, so you can work out how many pellets are needed. Only the seven Support-class weapons are covered.

SG 500 Pump-Action.

• SG 500 (Mossberg 500A Cruiser): 140 damage per shot; fully upgraded (+4) damage doubles (0.25 percent per upgrade by the author's notation). A decent starter, but slow fire rate and reload.

HRG Buckshot.

• HRG Buckshot: 140 damage; +2 gives about 30 percent more. Light (two weight blocks) and uses the secondary slot. Do not buy two; leave akimbo to Gunslingers. Weak, five-shot drum, heavy recoil.

HZ12 Multi-Action.

• HZ12 (DP-12): 200 damage per shot; +3 gives about 30 percent more. The best option for small zeds, with a decent magazine and medium fire rate.

AA-12 Auto Shotgun.

• AA-12: 140 damage; +1 gives about 15 percent. Best against crowds of small zeds, very high fire rate, but poor against Scrakes and Fleshpounds unless in zed time, because body hits waste the whole ammo pool.

Double-barreled Boomstick.

• Boomstick: 250 / 500 damage; +3 gives about 15 percent. Made for kiting and finishing Fleshpounds and Scrakes: jump and fire into the head as they attack. It takes skill.

Doomstick.

• Doomstick: 240 / 960 damage. Does it one-shot a Scrake on Hell on Earth? Add 55 percent (30 from the skill plus 25 from level) to 960 and the answer is no, unless a medic buff helps. Upgrading for 15 percent is your call. Heavy, small ammo pool, hard to headshot in a melee scrum.

M4 Combat Shotgun.

• M4 (Benelli M4 Super 90): 240 damage; +2 gives about 20 percent. In the author's opinion the best Support weapon, effective against everything.

Two builds with the RPG-7

The RPG-7 as the key slot of both builds.

The author kept dying as Support when teammates aggroed several Fleshpounds and then retreated. Nothing in the Support shop stops two or more Fleshpounds, so the RPG-7 became a staple. It also lets you compensate when the team lacks someone to kill big zeds quickly, for example when the Sharpshooter uses a crossbow, M14EBR or rail gun, the Berserker hides behind you, or there is no Demolitionist.

• Build 1, balanced: HZ12 for small zeds at close to medium range, Benelli for Husks, Bloats, EDARs and Sirens at medium to long range, and RPG-7 for clusters of small zeds or of Fleshpounds. About 250 shells is plenty for the shotguns.
• Build 2, monster killer (double penetration): Benelli M4 +2 and RPG-7 +1, with a new pistol as a spare for small zeds.

General play

Do not crowd the trader pod: stand back so the team can reach your ammo and armor.

• Stay near the team at all times, including trader time, because teammates take your ammo for new weapons.
• Stand away from the trader pod so people can reach ammo and armor.
• Pick up ammo boxes yourself whenever possible, since few teammates leave them for you and Berserkers swap grenades for your ammo.
• Work with the Demolitionist on repairing broken doors and mining them, and tell them about the feature if they do not know it.
• Aim to kill at least two small zeds per shot, ideally three or four.
• Leave at least one shell in the Mossberg and Benelli when reloading, since a fully empty reload takes longer.
• Husks and EDARs both die to one M4 shot at any range: aim at the back of a Husk and the chest of a robot. The real enemy, the author jokes, is the SWAT on your team; seriously, it is the Crawler.

The Crawler, the Support's true enemy according to the author.

Support is the perk most integrated into team play, so use that, and your teammates will thank you.