KF2 SWAT Guide (Autumn 2019): Skills, SMGs, Tactics

This page paraphrases a community guide to the SWAT perk (also called Tactical Response Operator or Special Forces Operator) written in autumn 2019. SWAT came to Killing Floor 2 with the 2016 Tactical Response update and plays as a heavy support class: submachine guns with a very high rate of fire, flash grenades and a lot of bullets thrown at the ZEDs.

Cover artwork of the original guide.

Basics

The SWAT operator.

Pros:

• Decent damage output per magazine.
• Can be strongly fortified with Heavy Armor Training and Assault Armor.
• Good starting weapon.
• Highest rate of fire of all perks.
• Best suited to trash ZEDs, medium ZEDs and Scrakes.
• Can act as support with the Cripple skill.
• Great stun capability thanks to concussion grenades.
• Can be built for tanking with Heavy Armor Training.
• All SWAT weapons are good for crowd control.

Cons:

• Low mobility.
• Expensive ammunition.
• Considerable bullet spread.
• Mostly useless against Fleshpounds.
• Runs out of ammo quickly if handled sloppily.
• Weak against bosses.
• No bullet penetration at all.

Skill tree

SWAT skill tree.

Level 5

• Heavy Armor Training: 50 armor on the first wave; while you have armor, ZED attacks do not take health, Siren damage is halved and Clots cannot grab you.
• Tactical Movement: 100% movement speed while aiming down sights, crouching, or both.

The author thinks armor is not a reliable defense because it is hard to restore, and often skips buying it when short on cash. Perk weapons have a large spread, so you aim down sights a lot, which makes Tactical Movement the preferred pick. It lets you kill a Scrake or suppress a chasing Fleshpound while moving at full speed.

Level 10

• Close Combat Training: 110% damage with the M9 pistol and knife, plus one extra pistol at round 1.
• Tactical Reload: faster reloads with perk weapons.

Close Combat Training is handy for easy cash in the first two or three rounds, then becomes useless. Take Tactical Reload afterwards.

Level 15

• Suppression Rounds: every perk weapon bullet deals 200% stumble power.
• Ammo Vest: ammo reserves +30%.

SMGs already stumble well, so extra stumble helps little. Most SWAT weapons have small reserves (MP7, MP5, P90), and even the Kriss runs dry in six-player games, so Ammo Vest is close to mandatory.

Level 20

• Assault Armor: maximum armor 150 and an extra 50 armor at round 1 (100 with Heavy Armor Training).
• Cripple: every bullet slows ZEDs down to 30%; very effective on legs.

Cripple is the pick if you are running from a healthy Scrake or Fleshpound: it buys time to stun or kill it or wait for a teammate.

Level 25

• Battering Ram: full speed during Zed Time, and running into a ZED knocks it out for a second.
• Rapid Assault: real-time rate of fire with perk weapons in Zed Time, unlimited ammo and 200% stumble power.

The guide recommends Rapid Assault. A trick from the author: you may start with Heavy Armor Training, Close Combat Training and Assault Armor to get free armor and extra dosh from the second pistol at the start, then switch back to your regular build.

Weapons

All stats below are for perk level 25 with the Ammo Vest skill.

HK MP7SD

HK MP7SD.

Damage low-medium, rate of fire high, recoil medium, magazine 60, reserve 429, stumble very low, no penetration, weight 4. A solid all-match weapon, but too weak against bigger ZEDs or hordes.

MP5A3

MP5A3.

Damage medium-low, high rate of fire, medium horizontal recoil, magazine 80, reserve 416, weight 4. A little more damage per shot than the MP7 but runs out of ammo fast; skip it if you can get the Kriss.

FN P90

FN P90.

Damage medium, rate of fire medium-high, magazine 100, reserve 455, weight 5. Large magazines keep fire constant, but the spread is still big.

Vector Kriss Super V

Vector Kriss Super V.

Damage medium-high, extreme rate of fire, very low recoil, magazine 66, reserve 644, weight 6. The author says it destroys a Scrake in about 3 seconds using around 40 bullets, empties a magazine in 4 seconds, and the reserve nearly covers a six-player HoE wave. The top recommendation.

UMP-45

UMP-45.

Damage high, rate of fire medium, recoil medium-high, magazine 60, reserve 437, weight 5. Strong in close quarters but inconsistent at range, so it is a poor Fleshpound weapon because their armor covers much of the body and part of the head.

MAC-10 (multi-perk)

MAC-10.

Damage medium-low, high rate of fire, no recoil, magazine 64, reserve 499, weight 4. Its incendiary rounds put ZEDs into a panic state each time their resistance threshold is broken, leaving them helpless for 5 seconds or more, with a cooldown between panics. About 30 bullets make a Fleshpound panic. Good against everything except Scrakes.

Tommy Gun M1928 (multi-perk)

Tommy Gun M1928.

Damage medium, medium rate of fire, very high recoil, magazine 100, reserve 425, weight 6. Not recommended for SWAT, as it mostly eats early-wave money. For Commando with the 50% recoil reduction it can replace the SA80.

Stun grenade (flashbang)

Stun grenade.

Capacity 5. Stuns ZEDs for a couple of seconds and deals medium explosive damage in a short radius. Useful for breaking through hordes, weakening big ZEDs, finishing enemies and helping teammates. Enraged Fleshpounds and bosses ignore it.

Advanced tactics

Tactical notes.

• Scrakes are easy: throw a flashbang, wait for the blast, then pour bullets into the head. Without a flashbang you need a lot of free space.
• For Fleshpounds, take an RPG or C4 plus M4-203, or a Pulverizer if you melee well. Together with a Kriss this fits your inventory weight.
• SWAT is nearly useless against bosses and can be a burden on boss waves.
• Commando is the natural partner: a good Commando extends Zed Time and SWAT's real-time fire can kill two Fleshpounds in about 8 seconds during it.
• Start shooting whenever someone triggers Zed Time, even with no one near you.
• Enable music vocals in the audio menu, just for fun.

Conclusion

SWAT is a valuable addition during regular waves, especially next to a Commando, but the author advises having no SWAT on boss waves.