KF2 Perks, ZEDs, Bosses and Weapons: Chinese Community Overview

This page is a condensed English translation of a Chinese-language Killing Floor 2 guide, based mostly on data from the Tripwire wiki. It covers each perk's role, small tips, ZED and boss behavior, general mechanics and Commando and Support weapon stats. Numbers come from the 2016-2018 versions of the game and may have changed.

Perks at a glance

Berserker. A melee mower: ZEDs cannot grab him, and his skills center on survival and clearing trash. His EMP grenade briefly calms Scrakes and Fleshpounds, slows them, and reveals cloaked ZEDs, but deals low damage. Weakness: easy to die on high difficulties because he fights in melee. Not recommended for brand-new players. In later versions he holds the front line, and different melee weapons give different roles. Watch for Crawlers, Fleshpounds, Husks and Sirens too, especially when using the level-15 parry/dodge skill outside rage. The guide warns that EDAR is the Berserker's biggest counter.

Commando. A permanent support-damage role in gun and mixed teams. He sees cloaked ZEDs and health, and can extend ZED time so the team can maximize their level-25 skills. Skills center on high single-target damage and big magazines; hollow points are almost mandatory on high difficulty. His grenade is a high-explosive with a very short fuse that can kill the user. Weakness: sustained rather than burst damage, so Fleshpounds are hard without HE grenades. In updates his strength rose sharply, with FAL, AK-12, SCAR and 401 (pick two of four) handling Fleshpounds, and knockback makes Scrakes easy.

Support. Looks like support but does damage; teammates can take ammo from him, and every five levels adds one carry-weight slot. Skills center on sustainability and burst damage; the resupply skill is nearly a must on high difficulty. His frag grenade does low explosion damage but sprays many fragments in a large area with a long fuse. Weakness: shotguns need short to medium range. He is welcome in gun, mixed and AOE teams, and shotguns pierce well but always trade off damage, rate of fire or economy. Fast swarms such as Crawlers and cloaked ZEDs are his bane. Double-barrel and quad fire push the user backward, which can help escape being surrounded.

Medic. Heals and also deals damage, but the guide notes most players dislike the poison "toxic" medic. Skills center on buffing and healing. The medic grenade heals allies and hurts ZEDs. Weakness: damage is below the others, so do not expect to out-DPS. The most popular build is the buff medic: the level 10, 15 and 20 buffs give teammates speed, damage and resistance (resistance matters most for saving low-health allies). Do not trust random teammates; sometimes you are the last one standing.

Demolitionist. One of the core damage dealers in AOE and mixed teams, good against all sizes, can weld trap doors and hand out grenades. Skills center on impact blasting and AOE. His grenade is half a C4 pack that explodes on contact with a ZED. Weakness: poor in melee because close range stops some warheads from exploding. The most violent clearing perk and also among the least able to protect itself. Counters Fleshpounds, and the RPG's impact damage can hit a Scrake's head. Thrown grenades can stun. Once per wave, the explosive reactive armor locks health at 5 when a hit would drop it below that, and detonates around him to knock back and stun ZEDs.

Firebug. Not for beginners. A team ATM, trash harvester and, in the wrong hands, a wipe engine; ammo is incredibly cheap but the perk depends heavily on level. Skills split between ignite damage and ground fire for area control, which is usually more useful. His grenade is an incendiary that leaves a flare. Weakness: heavy ammo use, and it struggles against Scrakes, Fleshpounds and EDAR except with the Microwave gun. Fire causes damage over time and panic, which makes it hard for others to hit a Scrake's or Fleshpound's head, so do not ignite big ZEDs on purpose.

Gunslinger. A mobile burst-damage perk with the fastest movement speed in the game, great solo and quick to open fights, but fragile. Skills center on headshots (and hip-fire). Combo buffs make any weapon much stronger at five stacks. His grenade is a nail bomb. Weakness: ammo economy and swarms of Crawlers. Once surrounded he is basically dead.

Sharpshooter. Headshot specialist. His grenade is a freeze bomb with the strongest control in the game; several in a row can even freeze a boss. At max level each headshot has a 5 percent chance to trigger ZED time, pairing well with a Commando. Weakness: poor at close range. He should open fights on big ZEDs with single-target damage and freeze grenades. Some Gunslinger weapons also suit him, like Magnums or the 1858.

SWAT. Small-ZED reaper with strong suppression and tanking or mobile playstyles, and a great ZED-time ability. Flashbang stuns with low damage. Weakness: extremely weak against Fleshpounds, which tear through armor, while SMGs deal only 50 percent damage to them.

Survivalist. A mix of everything, with armor taking damage first. A fill-in role with the lowest pick rate. No single core skill; the level-25 skill with a good Commando makes damage uncapped. Weakness: master of none and expensive. Carry a Medic weapon to save teammates.

Small tips

• Demolitionist explosives knock ZEDs into the air.
• Support double-barrel and quad shots push the user back.
• Some melee weapons' shove is a stab with extra damage and range; shields have a shield bash that deals high damage and knocks ZEDs back or down.
• With two pistols you can switch aim mode (middle mouse by default); Backspace throws the current weapon; middle mouse also changes fire mode on most weapons.
• Bind a key to the last used weapon for fast switching and combos.
• Melee weapons can block, each with a different damage reduction; a perfect block adds about 10 percent and knocks ZEDs back for a counter. Berserkers should block often, dodge skill or not.
• Commando: your grenade fuse is short, so watch yourself. Medic: heal even when playing the combat build. Demolitionist: pay attention to where Fleshpounds go. Firebug: the flamethrower burns you at short range unless fully resistant. Support: weld doors without blocking teammates' escape. Sharpshooter: throw freeze grenades at big ZEDs. Gunslinger: watch ammo. SWAT: flashbangs do some damage. Survivalist: carry a Medic weapon.

ZED traits

Small ZEDs. Bloat is slow, spits acid that blurs vision, has lots of health, and is tall, so aim for the head; his body bursts into acid and leaves bile pools. He resists bullets and explosions by 50 percent but takes 100 percent extra fire damage. Crawler is fast (depends on difficulty), has little health, can dodge attacks, and may mutate on Hard and above. Slasher is the fastest of the clots, keeps running once enraged, grabs, and can dodge. Clot and Cyst keep running when enraged and can grab. Husk's fireballs knock back and ignite, he tries to self-destruct at low health, can flamethrow close players, has 50 percent fire resistance, and his backpack can be shot. Siren is slow, her scream ignores armor and destroys explosives, and she takes 100 percent extra explosion damage. Gorefast attacks quickly, runs when enraged, and can block. Stalker has low health, big attack motions, and is fast.

Large ZEDs. Scrake is slow before rage, blocks, locks onto whoever enraged him, never stops once enraged (EMP is only temporary), resists explosives by 50 percent but takes 300 percent extra RPG impact damage. Fleshpound is slow before rage, blocks, can rage randomly, always rages after enough damage, and calms down after hitting a player. He has 50 percent damage resistance but takes 50 percent extra from explosives.

Mutated ZEDs. Elite Alpha gains health and a rally ability (nearby ZEDs run, deal 20 percent more damage and take 20 percent less); now replaced by Rioter, and appears only in versus. Rioter is an armored Elite Alpha that appears only on Suicidal and above; headshot it with heavy weapons or hit the legs. Elite Crawler is faster and leaves a gas cloud on death (not if killed by a headshot). Gorefiend is a stronger dual-blade Gorefast. EDAR robots come in three types (controller, artillery, machine gunner), dodge attacks, survive losing their head, have a glowing core weak point that releases an EMP when destroyed, take extra damage from Microwave guns and explosives, and spawn more on higher difficulty.

Bosses

Patriarch (Kevin). Health scales with players and difficulty. Can cloak, knocks back surrounding players, heals three times when low. Heal thresholds: Normal 75 / 55 / 60 percent, Hard 85 / 65 / 80, Suicidal 95 / 75 / 80, Hell on Earth 99 / 85 / 90. When only one player remains he gains 20 percent speed per minute (cap 30) and breaks doors in one hit. Weak points: tentacles on the chest and the glowing right arm. On the highest difficulties his minigun can fire while moving. Below 42.5 percent health he summons ZEDs, below 35 percent he flees to heal. Counter: bring a medic pistol (or medic shotgun/rifle), burst him before and after each syringe, throw C4 for the finish, use a flamer to reveal him while cloaked, and split up when he uses the missile launcher.

Dr. Hans Volter. Shields at 60, 41 and 25 percent health; throws smoke grenades while shielded, flees then finds players to drain health (32.5 percent for the first shield, 27.5 for the second, 12.5 for the third). Three weak points: head (best), chest energy block and back pack. Does not shoot while shielded, summons ZEDs, takes extra fire and RPG damage, and has the strongest melee. Counter: medic pistol, or melee weapons with perfect blocks like a katana; C4 for finishing.

Abomination. Spawns with three armor plates (head, chest, back) and sprints after each is destroyed; takes reduced damage until all are gone. Spawns self-destructing minions, eats small ZEDs, and has a pull attack that drags in anything in front (friend or foe). Weak point is the head. Counter: keep moving to avoid minions, fight a war of attrition with a medic and a Support, or let a Sharpshooter handle the damage after the head armor is removed.

King Fleshpound. Weak points are the head and chest core. Brings mini Fleshpounds. Has a spinning charge and a chest cannon (only below 50 percent health, avoidable by crouching), shields up below 20 percent. Counter: Berserker tanks, Medic heals, Demolitionist and Sharpshooter deal damage while clearing mini Fleshpounds. Dodge the chest cannon.

Game mechanics worth knowing

• Money varies by wave: wave 4 gives money fastest, wave 10 slowest, wave 7 average.
• Z opens the quick message menu; options let you show the welder in the inventory, boss health bar, and auto-turn when grabbed.
• Elite ZEDs, shown with a blue-white glow, appear on Hard and above with higher odds at higher difficulty.
• Survivors earn more money each wave; dropped weapons are removed after a while by default.
• In solo or when you are alone, the HM-Tech healer's heal rises from 20 to 50, falling back to 20 when someone joins.
• Weapon upgrade costs are fixed: T1 to T2 500, T2 to T3 600, T3 to T4 700, T4 to T5 1500.
• Harder ZEDs pay more; assists give the same XP as kills; ZED health scales with players alive when it spawns.
• ZEDs may live a few seconds after losing their head; EDAR must be fully downed.

Commando and Support weapons

Weapon	Ammo	Price	Mag cost	Weight	Note
AR-15 Varmint Rifle	20/240	200	20	4	Starting; semi/burst
SA80 L85A2 Bullpup	30/270	650	30	6	Same power as AR-15
AK-12	30/330	1100	40	6	Strong, heavy recoil; good secondary
MKb.42(H)	30/300	1100	40	7	More power than AK-12, heavier
SCAR-H	20/340	1500	28	6	Late-game; small magazine
Stoner 63A LMG	75/500	1500	70	9	High capacity, AR-15 damage
SG 500 Pump	8/56	200	30	5	Support starting shotgun
Double-barreled Boomstick	2/46	750	13	5	Magazine unaffected by bonuses
HZ12 Multi-Action	16/80	750	64	5	Big reserve, pricey ammo
M4 Combat Shotgun	8/64	1100	38	7	Best value shotgun
AA-12 Auto Shotgun	20/120	1500	82	10	Great trash clear, expensive ammo
Doomstick	4/44	1500	40	11	Huge power, huge weight

The original also lists the Medic HMTech-101 pistol (15/240, price 200, weight 1; 100 dart charge, 50 per shot, 15 health per dart) and HMTech-201 SMG (40/480, price 650, recommended for SWAT), plus weapons for other perks. For beginner-oriented advice, see KF2 core strategy tips.