KF2 Survivalist Guide: Skills, Best Weapons and Builds

A community Survivalist guide for Killing Floor 2, written by a player who calls it "a KF1 Berserker that decided to off-perk a crossbow". It is a bit rushed by the author's own admission, with many interactions left uncovered. For other perk overviews see KF2 perk roles and perk and weapon mechanics.

Survivalist guide artwork.

Who you are

The Survivalist's role varies with your skill tree and weapon choice. It is a misconception that it is a pure jack-of-all-trades: you still depend on your perk skills. You can pair any weapon, but that does not mean you will do well with it. Flamethrowers, for example, are incredibly bad because you have no Firebug skills for ground fire. Weapons like the Helios, Mac 10 and Dragonsbreath are fine, though better alternatives exist.

Versus other perks

Compared with the Commando you lose:

• Slightly less recoil.
• Zed-Time extension.
• HE grenades.
• 40% damage with assault rifles (the biggest deal).

You gain:

• Up to 20 weight, enough for an extra weapon.
• +25% movement speed and a very good 75% melee damage boost.
• 25% damage resistance, which makes you tanky for a pseudo-Berserker or pseudo-perk style.
• Quick weapon switching, good for takedowns.
• Molotovs or healing grenades.
• The ability to use Berserker and SWAT weapons with little drawback. You clear trash as well as a Berserker but lack Smash; SWAT has more ammo and magazine size but you are only at about a 10% damage disadvantage.
• Combat armor like SWAT's: while you have armor you cannot take health damage (Sirens bypass this).

You lack the Support's shotgun penetration, the Firebug's ground fire and crowd control, the headshot multipliers of Sharpshooter and Gunslinger, the Berserker's Smash and the Medic's buffs. The mentality to adopt: use weapons that give you an advantage other perks cannot have, rather than imitating a perk entirely, which only makes you a worse version of it.

Skills

• Weapon Handling: pick what benefits your weapon. Firebug weapons are not affected differently (the Mac 10 follows SWAT's reload speed, the Dragonsbreath follows Support's), and the Survivalist's own weapons are not affected, so the Killerwatt reloads the same either way.
• Survival Techniques: almost always Melee Expert, for the melee damage and for getting more from the 25% movement speed (you can kite an enraged Fleshpound and parry or block to safety). Medic Training gives a faster syringe and more health per syringe (about 26 instead of 20) but does not exceed the 10 HP/s healing threshold, and you lack Medic buffs. Use the Hemoclobber and take Melee Expert.
• Equipment: Ammo Vest versus Heavy Harness. SWAT and Gunslinger weapons rarely strain weight, so use Ammo Vest. Heavy Harness lets you pair two 10-weight weapons.
• Destruction: Zed-splosion is useful for utility and trash clearing but can mess up precision perks' shots; it can stun big ZEDs without enraging them. "Make Things Go Boom" suits a Demolitionist-oriented build.
• Specialist Training: Madman is clunky but can burst Scrakes with an AA-12 in Zed-Time. Lockdown stuns any ZED you shoot in Zed-Time (not fully tested).

Notable weapons

Weapons discussed in the guide.

Survivalists can take down Scrakes and Fleshpounds, but worse than Sharpshooters or Gunslingers.

• HRG Winterbite: good crowd control and damage; freeze weapons suit the Survivalist's fast weapon switching. Cheap and can be upgraded once for 500 dosh with no weight increase.
• Hemoclobber: great poison CC, weight 4, kills trash and keeps you alive. Essential on almost every build.
• RPG: the best bet against Fleshpounds, and can kill Scrakes point blank; a last resort.
• AA-12: decent but eats ammo; dedicate it to big ZEDs or trash, and carry a backup.
• Desert Eagle: decent cost and firepower, fast reload and switching, a good backup.
• Railgun: strong because it is overpowered, decapitating Scrakes with two headshots on 6-player HoE (the author believes); auto-aim mode lowers damage.
• Killerwatt: the Survivalist's own T5; aim at a Scrake's head and keep firing, as its electric effect prevents enraging. Sluggish reload and ammo can run out.
• Helios Rifle: less effective than on a Firebug (missing 40% damage), but you can pair it with the Killerwatt, two strong T5s.
• Freeze-thrower: reliable crowd control, though not once a Fleshpound is enraged, and arguably outmatched by Winterbites.
• Vlad Shotgun: natural shotgun penetration; can kill a Scrake point blank on HoE if all shots hit the head (needs CC, and T4 minimum).
• M4: enough for trash and barely for a Scrake and Fleshpound on HoE; freeze them first and unload at point-blank. T4 does Scrakes; T5 barely kills a Fleshpound within 8 shots.
• Centerfire: cheap but with expensive ammo; a T4 is a competent Scrake killer.
• HMTech-101 Pistol: weight 1; helps teammates, a staple off-perk weapon.
• HRG Boomstick: a direct upgrade to the Boomstick, but explosive damage is worse on Scrakes. Firing both barrels while jumping gives a larger jump, a lifesaver for kiting Fleshpounds or bosses.
• MP5 and UMP: reliable cheap trash clearers; the UMP is arguably the best off-perk from SWAT's arsenal.
• SCAR-H: decent for trash and holding a lane; SWAT weapons work better than Commando weapons on a Survivalist because of recoil.
• Eviscerator and Frost Fang: you are only missing 10% damage and run 25% faster with them since they count as melee through alt-fire. The Frost Fang's shove becomes a melee attack, its alt-fire blocks and parries and it freezes Scrakes.
• Katana: cheap and shreds trash, but the Hemoclobber made melee weapons mostly irrelevant. Rush it in wave 2 if possible.
• HMTech 201: weight 3; with the 101 total weight 4; good ammo economy.
• HMTech 501: does not suffer the recoil issue; decent trash killer with healing grenades, but costs 2000.

Weapons to avoid

M99 AMR (expensive ammo, 2500 dosh, weight 13; use the Railgun instead), the Flamethrower (no ground fire skills), and the Healthrower (useless with Medic Training; use 101, 201, 301 or 401 instead).

Sample builds

Hemoclobber is in nearly all of them, and you can add an HMTech-101.

• M4 + Winterbites + Hemoclobber (Scrake takedowns).
• RPG + Vlad + Hemoclobber (Vlad for trash, RPG for Fleshpounds).
• UMP + SCAR-H + Desert Eagle + Hemoclobber (dedicated trash clearing).
• Boomstick + HRG Boomstick + Hemoclobber (jump around the map).
• Seal Squeal + Railgun + Hemoclobber (Seal Squeal for trash and helping Demolitionists on Fleshpounds, Railgun for Scrakes).
• Killerwatt + HMTech 201 + Desert Eagle (swap the 201 for a UMP with a good Medic nearby).
• Eviscerator + Frost Fang + Hemoclobber (permanent 25% speed on all three, essentially a Berserker with 5+ extra weight).

Choose weapons that all benefit from the same reload-speed skill. For the boss wave the Killerwatt is a decent and unique choice, and the HRG Boomstick works because you survive better than a Demolitionist when close to the boss.

A non-melee build is also possible with LLLLL skills (swap Ammo Vest for Weapon Harness when you need the extra weight); the author says it is not finished.

Tips

• Block or parry when an enraged Fleshpound attacks; use your fast weapon switch.
• Do not try to fill holes in the team; you are not the most competent Medic.
• Drop a Medic grenade at your feet if cornered for breathing room.
• Keep the Hemoclobber loaded: its alt-fire is your panic heal, and you can use it on a teammate if you doubt using it on a crowd.
• Block a Fleshpound to reset its rage so a Sharpshooter can freeze it.
• Abuse your 25% movement speed, especially in open spots.
• Avoid buying armor until you have all your weapons: armor wastes 300 dosh each wave.
• When chased by a Scrake with low health, alt-fire it with the Hemoclobber from a safe range to heal and poison.
• Get a solution to Scrakes and Fleshpounds before wave 5.
• On wave 1, hope for a Varmint, MP7 or Crovel (with Melee Expert); the worst starts are a Crovel without Melee Expert or a Caulk 'n' Burn.