KF2 Weapon Upgrade System Explained: Tiers, Costs and Damage Tables

This page rewrites the "Upgrades" appendix of the community Survival Handbook. It explains weapon tiers, how the trader upgrade system works and gives the damage tables for each weapon. The values come from game version 1081 (Back and Kickin' Brass) and may be out of date for current patches, so treat the tables as a reference for relative gains.

Title art of the Upgrades appendix.

Weapon tiers

Most weapons belong to a Weapon Tier from 1 to 5. The tier a weapon starts at is its Base Tier. Tier 1 weapons are starting weapons (and sometimes lie on the ground in maps), for example the AR-15 Varmint Rifle, Crovel, MP7 and 1858 Revolver. Tier 5 weapons (HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle, M99 AMR, Helios Rifle, Killerwatt) are among the strongest and can only be bought at the trader. Higher tiers usually mean more damage and more utility: the Support's SG 500 (Tier 1, pump action, slow) versus the AA-12 (Tier 4, full auto, magazine fed, faster reloads).

A Tier 1 AR-15 found lying on the ground in Burning Paris.

Tier is only a general indicator, not a guarantee. Skill and situation matter: a pump or single-shell reload weapon like the SG 500 can be better in a panic, since you can load one shell and fire immediately.

Tier price ranges

Tiers can be told apart by the trader price:

Tier	Price range
Tier 1	200 to 300 Dosh
Tier 2	650 to 850 Dosh
Tier 3	1100 to 1300 Dosh
Tier 4	1500 to 1600 Dosh
Tier 5	2000 to 2500 Dosh

Exceptions:

1. Stock equipment has no tier: the 9mm pistol, knife, welder, syringe and hand grenades are present in every perk (grenades and knives differ by perk). You cannot buy, sell or drop them, although you can buy more grenades.
2. Pistols with single and akimbo versions cost about 50% for a single pistol. For example the Tier 4 .500 Magnum costs 750 Dosh alone and 1500 as a pair, so a single Magnum is still Tier 4 even though its price falls in the Tier 2 range. Use the dual price to determine a pistol's tier.

Single and dual pistol prices differ.

How upgrades work

Upgrades are accessed in the trader window. Each upgrade raises the weapon's tier by one, up to 5, and its damage rises as well. Example, the AR-15 Varmint Rifle (Base Tier 1, 4 kg, base damage 30): Tier 2 gives 36, Tier 3 gives 42, Tier 4 gives 54 and Tier 5 gives 60, which is 200% of the original. This beats the Tier 4 SCAR-H base damage of 50 already at Tier 4. These are base values before perk skills.

At the time of writing, upgrades only improve damage; for Field Medic weapons (HMTech-101, 201, Hemogoblin) the syringe recharge speed improves too, and damage-over-time effects are amplified. An upgraded weapon gets an orange glow.

An upgraded HZ-12 (orange glow) beside a stock one.

Costs and weight

Current tier	Upgrade cost	Weight
Tier 1	500 Dosh	+1
Tier 2	600 Dosh	+1
Tier 3	700 Dosh	+1
Tier 4	1500 Dosh	+1

For the AR-15: 500 Dosh to Tier 2 (5 kg, 36 damage), 600 to Tier 3 (6 kg, 42), 700 to Tier 4 (7 kg, 54), and so on. The damage gain per tier is not the same across weapons, so some weapons benefit more.

Exceptions

1. Pistol upgrade cost: single and akimbo variants of the same pistol cost the same to upgrade (the Magnums are both Tier 4 at 1500 Dosh).

2. Dual pistols: only one of the two pistols is upgraded (the other has no orange glow), because the game treats a dual set as one weapon; upgrading both would allow duplicating upgrades by dropping the pair. Upgrading two single pistols separately does not work either, since one loses its upgrade when combined.

   A pair of upgraded .500 Magnum revolvers; only one glows.

3. Pistol weight: pistols gain no weight until upgraded past Tier 3 (so the 1858 Revolver can be upgraded twice and the M1911 once without extra weight). Exceptions: the HMTech-101 starts adding weight after Tier 2 (it also gains syringe recharge), the HX25 grenade pistol counts as an explosive weapon and adds +1 per upgrade, and both 9mm pistols have no weight penalty. Dual pistols add +2 per upgrade.

4. 9mm pistol: it has an extra first upgrade for 200 Dosh before the 500 Dosh step, the only weapon that can be upgraded more than four times.

5. C4: the only non-Tier 5 weapon that cannot be upgraded.

Impact on gameplay

Upgrades pull lower-tier weapons toward the damage of their higher-tier relatives, opening many unusual loadouts. For example the M4 Combat Shotgun (single shell reloads, better in a panic) can be upgraded to a damage level close to the AA-12, so you can choose the situational benefits without giving up output. Players can also use favorites with comparable effectiveness. Remember that a Tier 5 upgraded Tier 1 weapon is not automatically better than a native Tier 4 weapon, and that upgrades differ by weapon.

Statistics by weapon

The images below list for each weapon the base tier and price, weight, total cost to fully upgrade (not counting the weapon) and the damage at each upgrade level (for Field Medic weapons also the syringe recharge rate), all as base values without perk modifiers. Example: the HMTech-201 SMG costs 2800 Dosh to fully upgrade from Tier 2 and after the first upgrade deals 24 damage per shot with 9 ammo per second syringe recharge. The AR-15 costs 3300 Dosh for all upgrades.

Pistols

9mm Pistol (Single / Dual)

HMTech-101 Pistol

1858 Revolver

Dual 1858 Revolvers

M1911 Pistol (Single / Dual)

Spitfire (Single / Dual)

.50 Desert Eagle

Dual .50 Desert Eagles

AF2011-A1 (Single / Dual)

.500 Magnum Revolver (Single / Dual)

Shotguns

SG 500 Pump-Action

VLAD-1000 Nailgun

Double-barreled Boomstick

HZ12 Multi-Action

Dragonsbreath

HMTech-301 Shotgun

M4 Combat Shotgun

AA-12 Auto Shotgun

Doomstick

Submachine Guns

MP7 SMG

MP5RAS SMG

Tommy Gun

HMTech-201 SMG

Mac 10

P90 SMG

Heckler and Koch UMP

Kriss SMG

Assault Rifles

AR-15 Varmint Rifle

SA80 L85A2 Bullpup

Mkb.42 (H) Carbine Rifle

M16 M203 Assault Rifle

Kalashnikov AK-12

Hemogoblin

SCAR-H Assault Rifle

Stoner 63A LMG

HMTech-401 Assault Rifle

FN FAL ACOG

HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle

Killerwatt

Rifles

Winchester 1894

SPX 464 Centerfire

Crossbow

M14 EBR

Rail Gun

M99 AMR

Misc Weapons

Freezethrower

Explosives

HX25 Grenade Pistol

C4 Explosives

M79 Grenade Launcher

Seal Squeal

RPG-7

Seeker Six

M32 Grenade Launcher

Flame Weapons

Caulk n' Burn

Flamethrower

Microwave Gun

Husk Cannon

Helios Rifle

Melee Weapons

Crovel Survival Tool

Katana

Fire Axe

Road Redeemer

Pulverizer

Hemoclobber

Eviscerator

Static Strikers

Zweihander

Bone Crusher

Battleaxe

Knives

Scalpel

KF-BAR

Machete

Kukri

Lawn Mower Blade

Gore Shiv

Utility Knife

Fireman's Knife

Bowie Knife

Hand Grenades

HE Grenade

Frag Grenade

Flashbang

Medic Grenade

Molotov Cocktail

1/2 Stick of Dynamite

Nail Bomb

Freeze Grenade

EMP Grenade

Tamari's KF2 community

The author's community has over 800 members and runs modded servers (mostly Controlled Difficulty) with quality-of-life features, 25 extra Prestige levels, 187 custom server achievements and custom modes such as Arms Race, True Endless and ZED Wars, for North America, Europe and Southeast Asia / Australia.

Banner of the community mentioned in the guide.