KF2 Newcomer Encyclopedia: Modes, Perks, ZEDs and Tips

This page paraphrases a long community "pile of information" aimed at new Killing Floor 2 players. It covers the modes, what each perk does for the team, how to think about each ZED, and a handful of mechanics that are rarely explained in game.

Game modes

Survival is the main mode. You survive a set number of waves and then beat one of the randomly chosen bosses. Lengths are Short (4 waves plus the boss), Medium (7 plus the boss) and Long (10 plus the boss).

• Normal: fewer ZEDs, more dosh per kill and lower health. Stay here until you know the basics.
• Hard: special ZEDs such as the Gorefiend, Elite Crawler and Alpha Clot begin to appear rarely; ZED health rises a little.
• Suicidal: recommended from perk level 15 because the third skill configuration unlocks then. Specials appear more often, less dosh, tougher ZEDs, headshots start to matter.
• Hell on Earth: the hardest vanilla difficulty. Specials are frequent, dosh is scarce and health is extreme, so you must land headshots and know what works.

VS Survival lets players take either side: Survivors or ZEDs. ZED players are assigned bigger specimens as the wave progresses, and a coordinated human team matters a lot.

Weekly is a queue with a different odd rule each week. The difficulty is locked to Suicidal, and completing it earns rewards.

Perk roles at a glance

Perk	Role
Berserker	Melee. Parry to reduce damage, regenerates health, moves fast and keeps full speed in ZED time. The grenade disables ZED abilities and calms enraged ones. Immune to Clot grabs.
Commando	Rifles. Great against trash, weaker against large ZEDs. Passively reveals cloaked ZEDs and shows health bars.
Support	Shotguns and burst damage. Teammates can take ammo from you. Also welds doors. Watch the range limit of shotguns.
Field Medic	Heals with homing darts on alt-fire; each weapon has its own dart cooldown, so carry several.
Demolitionist	Explosives. Small ammo pool, huge damage (RPG), best against groups. Depends on situational awareness more than aim.
Firebug	Fire. A trash-clearing specialist, strongest in tight spaces with a high level.
Gunslinger	Pistols, can carry two of most weapons. Very high headshot damage.
Sharpshooter	Large ZED killer. At high levels a railgun headshot kills anything except the boss. Weak against trash hordes. Grenade freezes enemies.
Survivalist	Can use any weapon, but gets the weaker buffs of every class. Usually played as a medic and damage hybrid.
SWAT	Trash cleanup with high fire rate SMGs; flashbang stuns ZEDs, so use it on big ones.

Meet the ZEDs

Small (trash)

• Cyst (Clot variant): weak and slow; the only danger is its grab, which Berserkers ignore.
• Clot: slightly faster cousin of the Cyst.
• Slasher: fast, cannot grab you; on higher difficulties it can roll to dodge.
• Crawler: jumps at you and is awkward to headshot.
• Stalker: invisible; Commandos see them with a red glow. Dangerous to a Sharpshooter on higher difficulties.
• Gorefast: the biggest threat among the small ones. It combos with its saw arm. If it loses line of sight, it calms down.

Medium

• Bloat: keep your distance and shoot the head; bile does a lot of damage on high difficulties.
• Husk: dodge its shots by jumping. From Suicidal on it can rush you and explode; shoot the backpack tank.
• Siren: her scream destroys grenades and projectiles, a nightmare for Demolitionists, so kill her early.

Large

• Scrake: chainsaw sound on spawn. Slow while calm, then enraged once damaged. Do not shoot one before the team is ready.
• Fleshpound: the biggest threat; it randomly rages and sprints. Parry its attack with a melee weapon whatever your perk.

Specials: Alpha Clot (Rally buffs nearby ZEDs), Gorefiend (two saws, a spin attack), Elite Crawler (explodes into gas if killed by a body shot, but not by a headshot) and the Quarter Pounder (a smaller Fleshpound).

Bosses

• The Patriarch: rocket launcher, minigun, tentacle and mortars; he can heal three times.
• Dr. Hans Volter: dual assault rifles; at 3/4, 1/2 and 1/4 health he raises a shield and drains a player. Break the shield before the drain finishes to knock him down. If it will not break, heal the victim.
• King Fleshpound: spawns Quarter Pounders as his health drops, fires a chest beam (crouch to avoid it) and sends shock waves when he rages.
• The Krampus: melee only, has armor plates on the head, back and front, and eats ZEDs to create suicide bile carriers. Keep your distance.

Detailed resistances live in the Tripwire wiki. Trash ZED health only increases from Normal to Hard and then stays flat; health also scales with the number of players.

Mechanics worth knowing

Reload cancelling. When the ammo counter shows a full magazine, press the bash key and then fire to interrupt the bash. This works for nearly every weapon and saves time.

Door welding. Close a door and hold E to equip the welder, then left click to weld and right click to unweld. Welding gives Support XP. Every door has a maximum HP and will break even when welded; a broken door can only be repaired by a Support. Hordes pile up behind welded doors, which lets a Demolitionist plant a door trap and a Firebug throw a molotov that spreads under the door. See also the Chinese-language CD guide if you want harder matches later.

Team tips

• Share dosh and heal teammates. Healing gives Medic XP and a shorter cooldown.
• Call out Scrakes and Fleshpounds in chat even without a mic.
• Do not wake a calm Scrake before the team is ready.
• Use your bash on weak early-wave ZEDs to save ammo and dosh.
• You can sprint in every direction, so you can retreat while facing the horde.
• Jump when a large ZED hits you to be thrown farther away.
• Listen for large ZED spawn sounds and watch your back if you hear one you cannot see.