This weapon is arguably the most powerful and most useful weapon in the game if used right. It's good for any class, but it's especially great for Berserkers, Supports, Medics, and Firebugs.


Its secondary fire is the most useful thing about it, and should be the main thing you use its ammo on, unless you absolutely have to use the primary fire in an emergency. The secondary fire is an area of effect (AoE) stun ball that can stun fleshpounds in 2 successive hits and everything else in 1 hit (except Patty who takes 4).

All specimens stunned by this weapon are significantly slowed and take extra damage, and most cannot use special abilities while they're stunned. When stunned, fleshpounds take 13% extra damage from all sources (this damage stacks with their 2x extra damage from explosives), scrakes and the Patriarch take 25% extra damage from all sources, sirens and bloats take 50% extra damage from all sources; and clots, gorefasts, stalkers, crawlers, and husks take 100% (double the damage) from all sources. The stun balls are best used to completely nullify the abilities of fleshpounds, scrakes, sirens, and any large group of specimens for 3 seconds; more than enough time for the team to nuke and destroy them. Stunned fleshpounds cannot enrage; and are made calm if they were already raging when stunned, stunned scrakes are temporarily calm; unlike fleshpounds they will continue to rage when the stun ends, and stunned sirens cannot do damage with screams; nor can they destroy grenades, pipe bombs, stun balls, etc. This is great for Supports/Demos trying to stack explosives on fleshpounds. Oddly, unlike sirens, husks and bloats can still do damage with their ranged attacks while stunned; albeit they attack much less often.

The ZED Gun Mk2 is a great team-oriented weapon; if the team is getting overwhelmed by specimens, you can use it to deescalate the situation by simply shooting a stun ball or two into the group, potentially saving lives. Stun balls pierce through players without affecting them, allowing you to stun things up front, even from behind your team. The stun balls' AoE explosion also goes through all walls and objects, so use this to your advantage by getting the first strike against sirens. Multiple people using the ZED Gun Mk2 is even better, because it will mean that more dangerous specimens can be stunned for longer, and ammo won't be so tight on later waves.

It's also important to note that stun balls have a special ability dubbed the 'One Hit Stun' (OHS), called as such due to its ability to stun a fleshpound in a single hit. This is a result of stun balls gaining twice the stunning power when you're physically touching a specimen, which oddly also do 2x stun power to anything in their AoE, too. The OHS can be used in some advanced techniques to stun things quickly without you getting hit, IE stunning a fleshpound in a single blast as any class and moving back before it can hit you (can be done easily whilst he's doing his rage animation), near-instantly stunning Patty with 2 stun balls solo (risky to do if you're not a Medic), or re-stunning a fleshpound with 2 OHS' once a stun has worn off; which we'll get to next.

Stun immunity. One downside of the stun balls against the scrake and the fleshpound is that every time a stun wears off on them, it will take twice as many stun balls to stun them again. IE a scrake will take 1 stun ball to stun at first, then 2, then 4, etc. A fleshpound will take 2 to stun at first, then 4, then 8, etc. It's difficult to re-stun the scrake or fleshpound after the third stun, so be sure to make stuns count. However, it should be noted that any specimens who are already actively stunned can have their stun time of 3 seconds reset with a single stun ball or Mk1 stasis beam tap-fire, thus allowing you to reload and keep them stunned for as long as you have ammo. This is excellent for when multiple fleshpounds, scrakes, and/or sirens are all bunched up and need to be nullified for extended amounts of time. Note: If you do the OHS on a fleshpound within 1 second of the first stun wearing off, you can re-stun it in a single shot, as it still has residual stun power that hasn't decayed yet.

Also, stunned specimens take exponentially increasing damage over time (DoT) from fire. This can allow a level 6 Firebug to solo kill a stunned 6-man HoE scrake or do over 11k damage to Patty with a single incendiary grenade (note that additional fire resets the DoT, so wait until the fire ends to get max DoT).

The primary fire can also be used to decapitate lesser specimens with a single headshot, which can be useful for lone bloats, gorefasts, etc if you're low on other ammo. You can also go full auto with bodyshots to quickly take out pesky sirens at a range (the gun does extra damage to sirens and bloats), if need be.

The Zed Gun Mk2 costs £750 to buy, holds 240 ammunition (which means that you have a total of 16 stun balls, at 15 ammo per), costs £120 for a full ammo refill (2 ammunition for £1), and weighs only 6 units.


One good and cheap loadout for a Berserker based on this weapon is the katana, the axe, and the ZED Gun Mk2. This will allow you to take out all lesser specimens with the katana, take out scrakes and fleshpounds with the axe, and nullify groups of sirens, scrakes, and/or fleshpounds with the ZED Gun Mk2 so that the team can nuke them.

Another good loadout for a Berserker based on this weapon is the claymore, flare revolver, and the ZED Gun Mk2. This will allow you to take out lesser and stronger specimens with the claymore (it can kill numerous specimens with a single swing, often resulting in it killing things faster than the katana; and it kills large specimens faster than the axe), take out lesser specimens at a range with the flare gun (crawlers die in a single flare shot, allowing you to dispatch big groups of them easily with this weapon); and burn sirens at a range (a burning siren cannot scream until she becomes crisped, giving you lots of time to deal with her), and nullify groups of sirens, scrakes, and/or fleshpounds with the ZED Gun Mk2 so that the team can nuke them.

A good loadout for a Support Specialist based on this weapon is the HSG-1, AA12/hunting shotgun, and the Zed Gun Mk2; with a machete or 2 pipebombs being optional. The HSG1 will allow you to dispatch big groups of lesser specimens easily, the AA12/HS will allow you to easily take down big specimens when used in combination with the ZED Gun Mk2 (stunning a 6-man Hell on Earth scrake will allow you to easily kill it on your own with a barrage of AA12/HS fire if necessary (though if you have a Zerk or Sharpshooter on the team, you may want to let them deal with it to conserve your ammo), and stunning a 6-man HoE fleshpound, quickly throwing 3 grenades at its feet, and then blasting it with 10-12 AA12/2x2 HS shots will allow you to easily solo kill it; whilst saving your team's ammo), and nullify groups of sirens, scrakes, and/or fleshpounds with the ZED Gun Mk2 so that you and your team can nuke them.

Medics can use it to great effect with any combination of mediguns, pistols, etc. Using this weapon as a Medic will allow you to effectively support your team's high-damaging classes, by rendering groups of powerful specimens helpless so the team can nuke them. Thanks to their amazingly durable armour and universal speed boost, Medics using the Zed Gun Mk2 are uniquely effective with the One Hit Stun technique, allowing them to safely run up to fleshpounds, shoot them once to OHS them, and then running back before being hit. It can also be used to safely re-stun fleshpounds/scrakes who have already been stunned once/twice, by running in and shooting them twice at point-blank. This will save you ammo and give you and your team more options, whether you're holding or kiting.

See the 'One-hit Stun' in action here:

Preview: On higher difficulties like Suicidal and Hell on Earth, the Patriarch can be a real problem, even for the best of teams. Switching to Medic and using the ZED Gun Mk1 and the Mk2's One Hit Stun technique together against the Patriarch should allow you and your team to kill him easily, as long as you keep up the stun and have some good, high-damaging classes (level 6 Supports with AA12s and hunting shotguns being one of the best). Here are some in-depth tips to make this strategy as easy as possible for you and your team.

Strategy: The ZED Gun Mk1 and the ZED Gun Mk2 can both be carried by any class, as they'll weigh exactly 15 units combined. However, it's naturally best for a Medic to use them, as Medics have insanely durable armour and an innate universal speed boost; the latter of which allows them to easily outrun the sprinting Hell on Earth Patriarch whilst he's stunned. Once Patty is stunned, he'll continue to relentlessly go after whomever his target was at the time of stunning. As long as you had aggro, he'll continue to chase you, but he cannot outrun you as Medic; so long as you avoid any obstacles. During this time, you should attempt to stay close enough to him that you can continue to stun him and chase him if he runs to heal, but avoid his ranged attacks behind cover, if need be (this requires level knowledge and a cool head). If done correctly, you will be able to continue keeping him stunned and harassing him for several minutes before needing to find more ammo (which is plentiful on boss time and very efficient for the Mk1). This should give your team more than enough time to get in and do massive damage whilst he's chasing you, often preventing him from being able to heal even once (damage from any source will stop his heal, including ZED Gun primary fire, Medic grenade gas, etc). Generally speaking, you shouldn't try to body-block Patty to attempt to expedite this process. He does massive melee damage and you're playing for the chase game. Also be sure to communicate with your teammates beforehand, so that they understand that you're going to take aggro, chase and harass the boss, and that they need to follow you and nuke him.

Technical: Against the Patriarch on any difficulty, the ZED Gun Mk1 on its own takes about 40 units (30 with constant laser headshots, since the head has a 1.25x stunning power multiplier) of continuous secondary fire zaps in order to stun him, whilst the ZED Gun Mk2's stun balls have the stunning power of roughly 10 units of the Mk1's secondary fire each. Note, however, that because of the delay in between stun ball shots and the fact that it has to reload after two stun balls means that you can't stun the Patriarch with just one ZED Gun Mk2 without the One Hit Stun. Note that employing the OHS on Patty is risky and will often result in you taking a melee hit, or worse, however. Multiple people using ZED Guns on the Patriarch will stun him proportionally faster, IE two people using two ZED Gun Mk2 stuns each will stun him instantly at range. Once the Patriarch is stunned by either ZED Gun, he will move significantly slower, take 25% more damage from all sources, he cannot use his cloak ability, and he will use his ranged attacks much less often. Note though that when he does use them, they retain full damage and accuracy, and must be avoided by taking cover, running tight circles around him as he uses the minigun, or by jumping over the rocket post-launch. The stun lasts for 3 seconds, and once he's stunned, you can continue to reset his stun time by giving him a quick tap-fire from the ZED Gun Mk1's alternate fire, or by shooting him with a stun ball from the ZED Gun Mk2. You have enough time to safely reload the ZED Gun Mk1 or the ZED Gun Mk2 before the stun wears off. If the stun does wear off at any time, you can quickly re-stun him with a few units of Mk1 laser energy or a Mk2 stun ball for a short time afterwards; before the stun power fully decays. The fastest and most reliable way for one player to safely stun the Patriarch (IE not taking a hit for a One Hit Stun) is to carry both ZED Guns and begin by shooting him with both stun balls from the ZED Gun Mk2. Then without reloading the Mk2, quickly swap to the ZED Gun Mk1 and begin lasing him in the head for maximum stun power. If done correctly, he should be stunned before you use 20 units of your Mk1 ammo (saving you 10 Mk1 units thanks to the Mk2 stun balls and 10 units thanks to the headshots), and you'll have stunned him 25% faster than the Mk1 could on its own with headshots (taking 3 seconds if you don't miss any Mk2 stuns or Mk1 headshots, whereas the Mk1 alone with precise headshots takes 4 seconds, or 6 seconds with precise bodyshots).

Melee Lock And Nuke Strategy: A nearly unbeatable strategy for Hell on Earth is for 33% of all the players to be Medics with both ZED guns (using the strategy aforementioned), whilst 66% of all the players be Support Specialists with AA12s and hunting shotguns, or other high DPS classes such as Demos (LAW, M32, or 2-3 pipebomb stack trap + flamethrower/other projectile weapon; employing the massive burst-damage sweet-spotting technique (if done right this causes all the pipes under Patty to detonate twice and also deal double damage; dealing 4x damage overall, which averages to around 13k for 2-3 pipes; often sending his corpse to space) or a lone Firebug (letting incendiary grenades burn all the way through whilst Patty is stunned for 11k damage each). Then when the Patriarch arrives, the Medic(s) should get him quickly stunned with their Mk2s and Mk1s, whilst the DPS classes all chase and nuke him. The Medic(s) should then use the ZED Gun Mk1 to keep the stun going, whilst also purposefully melee locking the Patriarch by running in and out of his melee range before being hit (one at a time until their armour is nearly gone). This will force Patty to melee attack rather than running or shooting. This will result in the Patriarch taking damage very quickly (especially due to the 25% extra stun damage bonus), and as a result he'll try to run and heal almost immediately; before dying a swift death. Even if he escapes the melee lock, he'll be too slow to outrun the Medic(s), all but assuring his doom. Just be careful not to have three or more people swarming around the Patriarch at any given time, as this will cause him to do his roundhouse swing that does the damage equivalent of two regular melee hits to everyone around him; making short work of any non-Medics. As always, communication and situational awareness is key here.

High-DPS/Solo Medic Strategy: Another excellent strategy for Medic (especially in low-player games) that's based around dealing big damage over time (DoT) as opposed to stunning him as fast as possible, is to take the ZED Gun Mk1 and a flare revolver; with pipebombs and a katana/medigun being optional. With this loadout, you'll stun Patty 25% slower than if you had the Mk2, but you'll be slightly faster and you'll be able to do 2,700 damage per flare revolver shot if each one is allowed to burn through fully (since fire DoT increases exponentially on stunned targets). In a multiplayer game, this will allow you to do lots of DoT with your team whilst also keeping Patty stunned and harassed. And if everyone but you dies, you'll have the potential to skillfully beat him solo, even if he has multiple heals left on 6-man HoE. Since you'll be able to keep him stunned, outrun him while he's stunned, and deal good DoT. Just avoid his occasional minigun and rocket attacks, and be sure to deal with all of his minions that he spawns with each heal; before engaging him. Note: If there's another player using fire weapons, you should instead focus on stunning and harassing Patty, as they'll be resetting your flare gun DoT and vice versa; crippling your DoT.

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