After completing the entire game on nightmare with only two players, I decided to make a guide for those who are not fortunate enough to have a team of four solid players. Playing nightmare with two players is more manageable, in our opinion, than a four-man. It seems that the corruption cards and mutation spawns are significantly stronger and more frequent depending on the number of human players you have. Below will be our decks, tutorial videos, and advanced tips to help you get that fresh Zswat drip!

First, we never took it slow on any map. We both used Mad Dash and Run Like Hell for our first two picks. The zombies and mutations on the maps usually despawn or struggle to keep up when one person runs ahead. There are some situations where the map will force you to fight before you can continue forward. In those situations, we would generally use a minigun spawn if available. If there were no minigun spawn available, we would then create a location to kite. If there were not enough space to kite, we would have the bots hold areas down for us.

The bots are very powerful, but they are very buggy at the same time. To ensure the bots shoot at the zombies, the host of the party must stay close to them. The bots struggle the walk and shoot at the same time. On top of that, the bots are terrible in narrow areas (especially ones with [dead] Sleeper nests nearby). To get the most out of the bots, make sure they are on a flat surface close to the host. The bots can hold off entire hoards by themselves if positioned correctly. Also, if you ever see a bot with a medkit out, immediately stand next to them to be healed. Their medkits will always recover a small amount of trauma, even without support upgrades.

Second, positioning and map knowledge is everything. I recommend that everyone play the maps on veteran a few times and focus mainly on where the zombies spawn. Knowing the spawns allows you to kite hoards safely. It also benefits how you will hold certain areas. Remember, zombies and mutations generally cannot spawn where you are looking (unless it is a gore nest or water). There are many scenarios where we'd leave me in one room to prevent zombie spawns and have my teammate go out and break the nest. It is also essential to know all the minigun spawns. We used the minigun every chance we got. Have those tool kits ready!

Third, team composition and weapon choice. I played mom with a high damage shotgun build for big guys. My teammate played Holly with a tanky crowd control build. My weapon of choice was a Tac-14 with a range attachment. His weapon of choice was the machete or bat; he used an SMG or AR for his primary. It is important to note that we did not fight often. There are many games where we both had less than ten kills. We only fought when we absolutely had to. The game kept cheesing us with nonstop mutation spawns, so we cheesed the game with nonstop sprinting.

In conclusion, speed is a more consistent and safer way to complete nightmare. We mastered all the areas where the game forced us to fight. By using my shotgun power to absolutely destroy big guys and my teammate's melee/tank build to control hordes, we were able to complete our entire nightmare run in less than 9 hours.

• Control zombie spawns by having teammates stay in certain areas.
  
• If there are no map objectives, run to the safe room with minimal combat.
  
• Use color blind mode on weak points to see mutation spawns through the thick fog.
  
• If you are playing nightmare with only two players, you will get the bot's money every round.
  
• Firecrackers are better than pipebombs in certain situations because firecrackers do not kill the ridden. Instead, the ridden has to then run back to you from the firecracker location. On the other hand, Pipebombs kill the ridden and allow them to respawn in front of you.
  
• Reduce damage received from [close] Blight Ridden by backing up and jumping when you kill them. Jumping prevents the acid pool from touching them toes. But it is best not to shoot them and kite.
  
• My shotgun build can solo snitches once you get above 50% weakspot damage. Stand close to them and unload. Alternatively, you can have your Holly stagger the snitches her melee while you shoot it to prevent it from screaming.
  
• If you stack a bunch of hip-fire accuracy cards in your deck, the shotgun becomes a long-range slug gun dishing out massive amounts of damage. This will weaken you against common Ridden but destroy weak spots at a decent range.
  
• If you sprint, let go of shift, then jump, you will maintain your sprint speed while in the air without consuming extra stamina. Use this everywhere you run!
  
• You can maintain full-speed bunny hop momentum in water by run jumping from a solid into the water; once you reach the water, do not stop jumping. This should allow you to move at full speed in the water if you do not miss any of your hops.
  

Teammate: Millennialz
Card decks: https://imgur.com/gallery/sVMDLmM
Zswat Skins: https://imgur.com/a/7tJtsxO
Act 1 video tutorial: https://youtu.be/d4ups3MfXRk
Act 2 video tutorial: https://youtu.be/Q1RG4juyUQs