Okay, so I play Killing Floor a lot, and it surprises me just how many people don’t actually know how to play the game properly, as a result, I’ve written this short little guide to understand the basic rules and etiquette of playing Killing Floor as well as tips for each class and on ZED’s. Killing Floor is a Co Operative Survival Horror game made in 2008, and the word people always forget there is “Co Operative”. So let’s kick off with some simple rules. Note that this guide is aimed primarily at players who play on Beginner to Hard.


Rule 1: Always buy armour before buying a gun.
This doesn’t matter so much on Beginner or Normal, but on Hard, Suicidal and Hell on Earth, it is a must. On hard you may be able to get away with not having armour on waves 1 and 2, but anything after that and you need armour. You need some kind of protection when the cloaked Stalkers and long range Husks come out, and not having armour can almost certainly be the end of you. People will buy guns first because they want kills, but there’s no point racking up kills if you die halfway through the round.


Rule 2: If someone shoots off a ZED’s head, do not keep shooting it.
This is pretty simple. If someone has removed the head from a zombie, especially as a Sharpshooter, then don’t keep shooting it to get the kill, it will die in a few seconds and you shooting it, it won’t give them the kill which is rude and essentially kill stealing.


Rule 3: Do not shoot a ZED a Berserker is running towards.
You need to be up close to kill ZED’s as a Berserker (obviously), and it can very extremely infuriating every time you run up to kill a ZED for someone else to kill it just as you reach it. Everyone needs and wants kills in this game, not just you, so if a Berserker is running for a ZED, let him kill it and pick one of the 200 other ZED’s to kill.


Rule 4: Do not shoot a Scrake if a Berserker is hitting it.
Berserker’s can stun Scrakes and kill them without letting them rage, if you shoot it, it will rage and it will attack them, which is pretty much a ♥♥♥♥ move. This also leads to if a Berserker is taking care of a Scrake, try and protect them and kill the stuff attacking them.


Rule 5: If you see something big like a FleshPound or a Scrake, shoot it.
This one carries a huge "but" which I'll get to later. I don’t know how many times I've seen people just running away from these two, thinking someone else will take care of it, the only thing this will accomplish is getting others killed. When you see one of these two, try to warn people and then start shooting it, don’t just leave it because that can bring a whole team down in a matter of seconds. On higher difficulties however (I'm talkind Hard and above) do not engage any of tese and let a Sharpshooter or Demo take care of these effectively and efficiently seeing as the Demo can blow it up and the Sharpshooter can kill them in 1 - 3 shots with a Crossbow.


Rule 6: Do not keep asking for money.
With the new scoreboard, players can easily see how much money others have, this does not entitle them to give you some though. Ask once or twice for money, if no one gives any, then do what everyone else does and get some kills. That being said, don’t insult people who don’t give you money, more often than not they are saving up for something not being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. And don’t run in front of someone if they are giving money to someone else, because that is just stupid and selfish.


Rule 7: If you are a medic, do not rush in to get kills
If you pick the Field Medic class, then it’s your job to heal the other people you’re playing with, but many medics seem to run ahead in an attempt to get as many kills as they can. If you want to do this, pick another class, if you are a Medic, then stay back and heal your teammates whenever you can to keep them alive, only occasionally providing support if they start to get overwhelmed.

So now you know some basic rules, but people struggle to know what to do as the classes they pick, so this next part will be dedicated to good strategies and guns for each class, as well as some handy tips.

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Field Medic: This one is pretty self explanatory, you buy a medic gun as soon as you can and heal your teammates when they get hurt as per Rule 7. Stay back away from the ZED’s if possible and focus on healing, you get money from healing people as well as killing stuff so you don’t need to worry about that. Your grenades heal teammates and hurt enemies so use this to your advantage for healing a group of your teammates or cutting off paths that the ZED’s are using momentarily. There aren’t that many options for guns in this class, but the M7A3 Medic Gun and the Schneidzekk Medic Gun’s are your best bet here. In the later rounds you may want to buy something more powerful like a Crossbow or Grenade Launcher in case of emergency. Your advanced armour gives you extra protection, so don’t worry too much about being hit or caught off guard.

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Support Specialist: Shotguns, shotguns, and more shotguns. Get up close to the action if you’re using this class and use the shotgun’s penetration to kill multiple ZED’s at once. If you see something big like a Scrake or FleshPound, start shooting it because you can deal a lot of damage to these two in a very short space of time. Your aim is to get the AA12, but lower tier guns that are good would the standard shotgun and the HSG-1. Both the AA12 and HSG-1 are a good combination, the AA12 can take out big stuff with its automatic fire, and the HSG-1 because by pressing the alternate fire button you can change the gun between wide spread and narrow spread shots. You can carry more grenades as well so don’t be shy about using those either. You can also weld doors faster as a Support Specialist so get onto that too.

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Sharpshooter: It’s best to stay back as this class for most weapons unless you’re using the pistols. But definitely in the later rounds, hang back and pick stuff off from a distance. The Crossbow is extremely effective against Scrakes and FleshPounds, killing each with 1 headshot and two headshots respectively, if there aren't any around, try take care of Husks and Sirens for the team but keep in mind your ammo. The Lever Action is quite good on the lower waves but I would recommend the Crossbow over the M14EBR. The M99 may look like a very tempting gun to buy, but a lower Level Sharpshooter won't be able to maintain the ammo cost for it, in addition the only other weapon you can carry is your 9mm Pistol so bear that in mind, also only shoot for the head with this gun or you'll be out of ammo and have a Fleshpound or Scrake in your face before you know it. That being said, headshots should be your goal for every kill you make as a Sharpshooter so take your time to aim and don’t shoot madly as this class, you’ll run out of ammo halfway through the round. Sharpshooter is a god class to start with if you’re new to Killing Floor to get you used to the headshot system this game uses.

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Commando: Commando is a good all around class that uses various assault rifles. The lowest tier gun, the Bullpup isn’t that great, not is the AK47, but once you buy the SCAR or the FNFAL you’ll be set right up to the Patriarch wave. By hitting alt fire your can switch any Commando gun into semi automatic mode to make sure you don’t burn through your ammo too quickly. As a Commando you can also see Stalkers that are cloaked and the ZED’s HP above them even, you can even see the Patriarch when he’s cloaked so use this to your advantage and flush them out and take them down. Hang around near the front and take out anything you can, you can do some serious damage to the big stuff like Scrakes if you’re up close and wipe out little stuff like clots in the earlier waves so go nuts.

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Berserker: So playing as a Berserker can be a bit tricky as it requires you to get right up close to the ZED’s to kill them (DERP REALLY!?) Unfortunately this means the ZED’s are right next to you to hurt you as well, grab armour as soon as you can if you’re playing as this class. What weapon you want really depends if your prefer speed or strength. If your want speed then go for the Katana, if you want strength then go for the Claymore Sword or of you have the Community Weapon DLC, the Scythe. If you have the DLC you’ll definitely want to grab the Buzzsaw Bow too to take out large groups of enemies. Using the Katana you can flinch Scrakes and kill them without them attacking you so always try to do that, if you hit alt fire you can do a more powerful hit that can sometimes stun the larger stuff so try do this if you can. Crawlers are your worst enemy as you have to aim down to hit them, this isn’t so bad since they added the Area of Effect but still can be a pain so watch out.

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Firebug: So unless you’ve bought the Community Weapon DLC you haven’t got much choice here. Avoid the Mac 10 at all costs, the Flamethrower is much more powerful and can kill multiple ZED’s at once. If you have the DLC you can substitute the Flamethrower for the Trenchgun, and definitely buy either one or dual Flare Revolvers. You can’t do much damage to the big stuff with the Flamethrower but the Flare Revolvers seriously pack a punch. If you’re a level 5 Firebug or above then that means Husk’s shots don’t hurt you at all, which is a good thing because Husk’s are fire resistant and take a while to kill with the Flamethrower. Your main goal is to wipe out all the small stuff with this class, your grenades are also fire which is good to clear out large rooms and for use near welded doors as they do no damage to them.

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Demolitions: Again, not really much choice for this class, you’ll want the M79 Grenade Launcher for the earlier rounds and the M32 Grenade Launcher for the later ones. Try buying the M4 203 if you can for close encounters and use Pipe Bombs in the later waves as a last resort, just make sure you aren’t near them when they go off or they will hurt you. I would say don’t buy the LAW until the Patriarch, but just beware if you buy the LAW you can’t carry anymore guns besides a Machete and Pipe Bombs. Obviously don’t use the Grenade Launchers close to ZED’s, however if you are right next to them you can shoot them and kill smaller stuff while doing no damage to yourself. There’s nothing really more to say about this class, hang back and blow ♥♥♥♥ up!

So you’ve got tactics, good guns and a few basic rules. Now you need to know what you’re up against and how to take them down effectively and quickly. Here you’ll find a list of all the ZED’s in Killing Floor and how to neutralise them efficiently.


Clot: This guy is pretty weak and not really that dangerous on their own, they will hold you and grapple you if they get too close though which can allow other things to do serious damage. Since they’re weak though, shoot them with just about anything and they’ll die pretty easily.

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Bloat: The Bloat can be annoying at times, if he gets close his vomit will corrode away your armour and health very quickly on the higher difficulties. He carries a small machete he uses sometimes also, your best bet is either to kill him straight up from a distance or get in quickly and kill him. Taking his head off is a good idea as he then can’t vomit on you, this can be done easily enough with even the starting pistol so dispatch of him quickly to deal with the other ZED’s.

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Gorefast: Very similar to the Clot, but this guy can inflict a lot more damage and can move a lot faster. They don’t have much more health than Clots, but you’ll want to keep your distance from these guys as they can do a lot of damage in a very short time, especially in a group. Aim for the head like clots and you’ll be fine.

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Crawler: On their own, these guys are more of an annoyance than an actual threat, and the way they jump at you to attack you can make them hard to hit sometimes. However if there’s a group of them they can cause some major damage so try kill them before they get to you. One map in particular to watch out for them is MoonBase, these guys can stop your jump mid flight if they make contact, making it impossible to jump and escape, kill them as quickly as you can on this map. On normal maps however, don’t worry too much unless you get swarmed by them.

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Stalker: These guys aren’t too dangerous, their main threat is being cloaked unless they’re attacking, allowing them to sneak up on you easily, especially if you’re distracted taking down something else. Luckily they don’t do much damage unless your play Suicidal or Hell on Earth but anything can take them down. Commando’s have the advantage of seeing them cloaked from certain distances depending on your level, Commando’s also should have priority on killing Stalkers as they need the kills to level up.

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Husk: On harder difficulties this is someone to watch out for, his Fireball Cannon can aim at where you are going to be using an aimbot and do quite a bit of damage and inflict burning damage. Due to his Cannon being long range, he can shoot you multiple times while you’re dealing with ZED’s that are closer to you. Aim for the head on this one and don’t use fire based weapons. The Husk is fire resistant so use something like a shotgun or a rifle to take him out quickly.

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Siren: In my opinion, the most overpowered ZED in the game, the Siren can inflict huge damage in a very short space. She attacks by screaming, represented by red waves emanating from her. These screams can bypass your armour and sap your health in massive amounts, if you’re close to her when she screams, she can take away more than half your health, even kill you on higher difficulties. Take her out from a distance and don’t let her get close and she isn’t much trouble. Her screams will also destroy grenades and rockets mid flight so don’t try blowing her up.

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Scrake: This is one ZED you really need to be careful of. The Scrake carries a chainsaw attached to his arm and if he gets to close he’ll cause massive damage with it. If his health drops below a certain point he will rage and charge at you, attacking you very quickly and having the ability to kill you in a few seconds on harder difficulties even with armour. The best way to take out the Scrake is to get a Sharpshooter to shoot it in the head with a Crossbow or have a Berserker run up to it and repeatedly hit it in the head with a Katana as this stun locks it. Don’t shoot him with pistols or you’ll just cause it to rage and potentially kill you and your team.

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Fleshpound: The toughest ZED in the game besides from the boss, The Patriarch. Immediately discernible by his glowing yellow lights, the Fleshpound can cause massive damage to any player who gets close to it using the huge drills on his arms. The Fleshpound will occasionally rage and dash at a player, causing even more damage. A Fleshpound will rage for two reasons, one is where he keeps you in his line of sight for a set time, the second is if he incurs too much damage per second. The quickest way to take out a Fleshpound is to have a Sharpshooter shoot him in the head with the Crossbow or M99, this can kill him on 1 – 3 shots depending on what difficulty you play on. A Support Specialist with an AA12 can do a fair amount of damage too but is unadvisable on Suicidal and Hell on Earth.

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Patriarch: The Patriarch is the final ZED you will face, either on Wave 5, 8 or 11 depending the game length. He has huge amounts of health and is very deadly. He has three main ways of attacking, the first is a machine gun mounted on one of his arms, and this can deplete your health very quickly and even kill you in a few seconds. The second is a rocket launcher mounted to his other arm, this is an extremely dangerous weapon, and it can kill you in a single shot. You can tell when he is shooting one as you will distinctly hear him say “One in the pipe” before shooting. The third attack is a close range melee attack either by spinning round and knocking you or extending a tentacle from his stomach causing massive damage, staying away from him is the best option to kill him. You want a variety of perks to take him down, Medics are good for keeping the team healed and tanking the melee hits with his tough armour, Support Specialist for chipping away at his health, Sharpshooter for head shotting at a distance, Commando to see how much health he has left and where he approaches from when he cloaks, Firebug to light him up when he cloaks to see which direction he runs off too and cause burning damage and Demolitions for laying down Pipe Bombs and blowing him up with explosives. Berserker is not recommended as he needs to be up close to attack which is extremely dangerous when attacking the Patriarch, it is best to switch to another perk. As mentioned above, the Patriarch can cloak when he wants to, usually when he is retreating or coming in for an attack. He can also heal 3 times in a game, each time he goes off to heal, 10 or so ZED’s will spawn to distract you. Don’t stack more than 14 Pipe Bombs in one place however, after 14 pipe bombs, additional ones will cause no extra damage, and with each pipe bomb exploded in a 2 – 4 second gap he will gain a temporary resistance. Follow the tactics above and you should be able to take him down.

Tips for Rule 5 on harder difficulties suggested by ~Ren~
Extra info on Sharpshooter regarding Husks and Sirens and the M99 suggested by Bane the baneblade