KF2 Solo Fast XP Leveling: Endless Wave 10 Runs and Loadouts

This guide is written for one purpose: to level a perk as quickly as possible while playing alone. It is deliberately sarcastic, but the advice underneath is practical. The idea is to play a short Endless run, stop at the right moment, and use a proven loadout for the perk you are leveling.

Which mode to play

Use Endless mode with 10 waves. A standard five-wave Survival match is a poor fit for fast runs, because the Suicidal and Hell on Earth bosses punish slow reactions.

Endless works for this because bosses that appear before wave 11 are surprisingly fragile, even on Hell on Earth. In Endless, enemies and bosses grow tougher the higher the wave counter climbs. That is why you quit after the wave 10 boss: the wave 15 boss has the standard Survival health and damage and would flatten an XP-farming loadout.

Wave 10 is also a small gamble, because the wave may carry a modifier. It can help you or ruin the run, which is why the guide lists weapon recommendations for every perk.

Difficulty by perk level

• Below level 15: play on Hard. The skills that change a perk the most (Parry, Tight Choke, ZED Shrapnel, Speedloader, Tactical Reload, Weapon Harness) arrive at level 15, and without them the perks feel weak.
• Levels 15 to 20: play Suicidal.
• Level 20 and up: go to Hell on Earth. Level 20 unlocks the "booster" skills (Smash/Massacre, Hollow Point Rounds, Battle Surgeon, Armor Piercing Rounds, Heat Wave, Headcracker/Knock 'em Down, Dead Eye, Spontaneous Zed-splosion, Cripple).

A finished run gives about 4000 XP on Hard, 6000 XP on Suicidal and 8000 XP on Hell on Earth, without the Prestige XP bonus.

The map: Skyfall

Official maps and most community maps were not designed for XP grinding. The author recommends a Workshop map called Skyfall (Workshop item 1376709476), made by NoxXaFOX.

Drawbacks:

• Zeds spawn in one area and the player area is separated from it by a transparent gap that zeds can cross but you and your grenades cannot. As a Berserker you must wait for zeds to come into melee range or hide behind a pillar from ranged attacks.
• There is a bottomless pit, so careless movement means a fall.

Benefits:

• Zeds and bosses spawn right in front of you and can be picked off from a distance. Melee zeds need time to cross the gap, and Husks, E.D.A.R.s and bosses can be hit first.
• The map has platforms with free ammo, armor and weapons. After wave 1 the first platform guarantees a Freezethrower and a 9mm. A non-Survivalist can sell the Freezethrower for 550 dosh, which together with selling tier 1 weapons nearly pays for the first weapons of the loadouts below.
• The author nested ammo boxes inside ammo boxes, so picking up one box usually refills the weapon you hold to full or close to it.

Loadouts by perk

The numbers with a plus (for example +2) are weapon upgrade levels.

Berserker

• Skills: Skirmisher, Butcher, Parry, Massacre.
• Weapons: +2 Hemoclobber (the reason to take Massacre rather than Smash, because you will not spam strong attacks with it; its healing helps on Suicidal and above and against the Abomination) and +1 HRG Teslauncher. The Teslauncher is full-auto and deals microwave damage, which gives bonus damage against zeds with metal parts (Sirens, Scrakes, Fleshpounds) and also benefits from Massacre and the Parry buff.

Commando

• Skills: Tactical Reload, Fallback, Tenacious, Hollow Point Rounds.
• Weapons: +1 M16 M203 (low recoil, high fire rate and a grenade launcher that handles Quarter Pounds and softens Fleshpounds) and the HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle (awkward recoil, best at close range, but it fires healing grenades).

Support

• Skills: Tactical Reload, Salvo, Tight Choke, Concussion Rounds.
• Weapons: +1 AA12 (a shotgun that works at range, helped by Tight Choke) and a +2 or +3 Double-barreled Boomstick (good spread for Crawlers, and can stumble a raging Fleshpound). Upgrades differ between level 15 and level 20.

Field Medic

• Skills: Resilience, Combatant Doctor, Acidic Rounds, Battle Surgeon.
• Weapons: +1 HRG Incision (a reskinned Rail Gun with an EMP effect, lots of ammo and healing darts that do damage) and a +3 HMTech-201 SMG, which becomes the trash-clearing workhorse once fully upgraded.

Demolitionist

• Skills: Bombardier, High Impact Rounds, Fragmentation Rounds, Armor Piercing Rounds.
• Weapons: RPG-7 (the go-to for Fleshpounds and Scrakes; a Scrake is weak to a close direct hit, not just the blast), HRG Kaboomstick (cannot hurt you with its own splash, two shots, and the alt-fire throws Quarter Pounds and weaker zeds back) and an upgraded 9mm pistol for Bloats, since explosives do little to them. Get the first pistol upgrade as early as possible, particularly if the first boss is the Abomination.

Firebug

• Skills: Bring the Heat, Barbecue, Zed Shrapnel, Heat Wave.
• Weapons: +2 Dual Spitfires (slow projectiles that hit hard, stronger with Zed Shrapnel and fine to spam) plus either the Helios Rifle or a +1 Husk Cannon. The Husk Cannon kills Fleshpounds quickly but then you spam the Spitfires on Scrakes; the Helios wastes ammo on both. Flamethrowers lack the range for this approach.

Gunslinger

• Skills: Steady, Rack 'em Up, Speedloader, Skullcracker.
• Weapons: +2 Dual .50 Desert Eagles, +2 Dual HRG Winterbite (a strong panic-spam weapon with stumbling power that can stun or freeze bosses; it makes switching Skullcracker unnecessary) and a +1 HMTech-101 Pistol (better than the 9mm once upgraded, has a red dot, and pairs well with Steady's ADS damage).

Sharpshooter

• Skills: Sniper, Stability, Tactical Reload, Dead Eye.
• Weapons: +3 1858 Revolver (efficient against anything that is not a Scrake or Fleshpound once upgraded), the M99 AMR (even kills Quarter Pounds with a body shot) and an upgraded 9mm as a backup.

Survivalist

• Skills: Heavy Weapons Training, Medic Training, Ammo Vest, Spontaneous Zed-splosion.
• Weapons: Killerwatt (its beam melts big zeds and bosses) and the M14 EBR (good damage and penetration, fast reload with the perk skill).

SWAT

• Skills: Tactical Movement, Close Combat Training (swap to Tactical Reload after wave 1), Suppression Rounds, Cripple.
• Weapons: +2 HRG Nailgun (penetration and good damage against armor) and a +1 Kriss SMG.

Reader notes from the comments

A commenter pointed out that the RPG-7 deals both impact and explosion damage even at long range, so you do not strictly need to be close to kill Scrakes, and that the same applies to the other "arming" Demolitionist weapons. Most players still find it easier to land the headshot at close range, so getting near is not a bad idea. You can check damage numbers with cheats or a damage-number mutator. If you want other approaches to leveling, see fast perk leveling strategies and multi-perk XP rules.