As I write this guide, I am assuming you are new to the game and that you are playing on normal. Some of this content can be applied to higher difficulties (healing, welding, and when to buy armor to name a few), but some of it cannot. This guide is meant to help you out of the awkward, low-level phase and to keep you from rage-quitting and switching to COD Zombies. Of course you can play on a perk leveling map, but that is just boring and does not make you any better at this game.

If you do not want to read this entire guide, I would recommend reading "If everything is level 0..."

Provides general information on the requirements for level 6 perks, and the items that the perks spawn with at a given level.

Explains how to start leveling perks from level 0 without getting killed all the time. Also the TL;DR version of this guide.

Explains how to maximize the efficiency of leveling up the non-berzerker perks. This includes getting stalker kills, weld points, healing, and headshots before reaching the perks' level 6 damage requirements or having to really grind for them.

Just some stuff that I do while playing that I learned over my experience on Killing Floor, all mashed into one section. Edit: I decided to put these in a separate guide.

Heal teamates for 100,000 health.

Spawns with...
Lv 5, 6: Armor
Lv 6: MP7M (Medic smg) (sells for 225 pounds)

Weld 370,000 door points
Deal 5,500,000 damage with shotguns

Spawns with...
Lv 5: Shotgun (sells for 200 pounds)
Lv 6: Hunting Shotgun (sells for 225 pounds)

Make 8,500 headshot kills

Spawns with...
Lv 5: Lever Action Rifle (sells for 200 pounds)
Lv 6: Crossbow (sells for 225 pounds)

Kill 3,600 stalkers with combat rifles
Deal 5,500,000 damage with combat rifles

Spawns with...
Lv 5: Bullpup (sells for 200 pounds)
Lv 6: AK47 (sells for 225 pounds)

Deal 5,500,000 damage with melee weapons

Spawns with...
Lv 5: Machete (sells for 200 pounds)
Lv 6: Axe (sells for 225 pounds)
Lv 6: Armor (only when playing on beginner, normal, or hard)

Deal 5,500,000 flame damage

Spawns with...
Lv 5, 6: Flamethrower (sells for 200 pounds)
Lv 6: Armor

Deal 5,500,000 explosive damage

Spawns with...
Lv 5, 6: Pipe Bomb (2) (sells for 0 pounds)
Lv 6: M79 Grenade Launcher (sells for 225 pounds)

When all perks are level 0, the perks you will get the most use out of are berzerker and firebug; everything else will only provide benefits that are so small, they will be barely noticable.
These perks will also give you free armor at max level when you spawn with them. Start with the berzerker.

Lv 0 ability: Can't be grabbed by clots

As tempting as it may be to smack things in the face when you spawn, don't do it; you will only have a knife. Instead, use your pistol that you spawn with and aim for the head (don't worry: you will be leveling up the sharpshooter, so you are not wasting precious experience). Don't be mistaken: the knife is a very strong weapon on basic zeds if you know how to use it (alt fire decaps basic HOE zeds off-perk), but you will want to practice landing headshots with the 9mm first because there are fewer consequences for missing. The berzerker is the class you will want to spawn with, as the firebug will require an investment to take advantage of its benefit. Play the berzerker until you reach 450 pounds, then switch to firebug and buy the mac10.

Note: If you don't know how to dodge crawlers, don't melee them, just shoot them. On normal, it takes 2 body shots of the starting pistol or 1 body shot of any sharpshooter pistol to kill them. Much better than to have them tear your armor.

Lv 0 ability: Mac10 sets targets on fire

It is not mentioned in the benefits, but the mac10 will set targets on fire ONLY if you are the firebug. The Mac10 is great for low levels because it is very cheap and the ammo is cheap while still remaining powerful. The incendiary effect for the mac10 will kill clots, gorefasts, crawlers, stalkers, and sirens with just one body shot, assuming you let them burn to death. The mac10 should cost 450 pounds when you are the firebug. Be sure to switch this weapon to semi-auto to avoid wasting ammo and to improve accuracy. When you get 1800 pounds and have full armor (the armor is very important), switch back to the berzerker and buy the katana.

If so, get a crossbow next. It is found under the sharpshooter tab and it stuns scrakes off-perk when they are shot in the face. You would get this if you are not strong enough to flinch-lock scrakes with a katana.

Buy a lever action rifle. This sharpshooter weapon only costs 200 pounds, and it will kill husks (and sirens) in one headshot. Great for when you are saving money for the katana, and when unloading a fully auto mac10 in a husk's face is too difficult. Edit: alright, it turns out that husks do not resist mac-10 fire because reasons.

Get the berzerker to level 6 first for the following reasons:

1) You will learn the mechanics of enemies (especially the scrake and fleshpound) much more easily since you are up close and personal.

2) The zerker can solo the patriarch on normal (assuming you learned the patriarch's mechanics).

3) It is very useful for leveling up the other perks using their respective weapons due to the berzerker's universally helpful stats (insane movement speed, damage/bloat resistance, can't be grabbed by clots, zed-time extensions).

There are perks that can reach a high level while leveling up the berzerker or other perks. I mention these perks because you spawn with the gear (with the exception of the commando part) that allows you to level them up, and you do not need be a level 6 berzerker to easily advance these perks.

Just pull out your starting pistol during the early waves and land headshots on clots, gorefasts, bloats, crawlers, and stalkers. These do not have much health (except for the bloat) for the other perks to benefit from and can be killed in one hit.

You spawn with a healing syringe... please use it on other people. Don't worry: it won't take up too much of your precious time killing zeds; just heal people when they take damage. You will make money, level up medic, and heal the same amount to teamates as a self-heal (20 hp) for only half the medicine in the syringe (50 medicine instead of 100). You can reach a level 6 medic without playing it if you do this while getting the other perks to level 6.

You will also spawn with a welder... use that too. Just like healing teamates, it won't get in the way of killing zeds. Just weld a bit (about 20-50 energy from the welder), check behind you, perform an action, and repeat. This action I mentioned can be healing, reloading, shooting, or something else that takes time while your welder recharges. The key is to minimize the time spent welding with no energy.

The reason you should be welding at all is that there can only be so many zeds spawned at any one time (I believe it's about 32 zeds... I could be wrong) and if a third of them are behind a welded door, you only have to deal with about two-thirds of the horde at a time. A welded door can mean the difference between a room full of zeds 24/7, and a mere zed showing up every ten seconds.

I would recommend unwelding when either of the following conditions are met:
1) There are 30-40 zeds remaining
2) The zeds are dealing more damage to the door than you can weld AND the door is almost destroyed. What you are supposed to accomplish in this situation is to stop a door from being destroyed when you still need it in the wave.

Note: If a teamate stands outside a door and will not come in, just close the door and weld it a *tiny* bit (10-20%). In many cases, you won't even have to weld since your teamate may freak out when he hears the door close and will quickly come inside.

Remember that your demolitions can be leveled up by simply throwing grenades. Just throw grenades when the situation calls for it. Keep in mind that the fleshpound takes additional damage from grenades; throw 2 of them for normal mode and shoot the hell out of it to make it temporarily stop while it prepares to rage, keeping it by the grenades (works really well with the support's AA12).

I understand that you do not spawn with a rifle, but I have heard horror stories of people trying to grind for stalker kills. If you are close to a level 6 berzerker (level 4 or 5... as soon as you can solo scrakes without the crossbow), carry an AK47 or M4 to kill stalkers and crawlers let's face it: crawlers are @$$holes.

By now, you should have learned the mechanics of the enemies in the game (I would recommend Youtube tutorials) and you are ready to level up the other perks. You would basically carry a claymore or katana around with full armor and another weapon to level up other perks while taking advantage of the zerker's powerful stats. I would recommend switching to the perk you will want to level up at some point to get a discount, and switch back to the berzerker.

I would recommend buying an HSG because it is reloaded with a clip instead of individual shells and is not very expensive. Just line up the zeds and aim between the chest and the head for maximum carnage (crouch if crawlers are present).

Any inexpensive rifle that is not a bullpup will do. I would recommend the AK47 due to its low cost and high damage per shot. The M4 works as well, but it does less damage per shot in exchange for a higher fire rate. Be sure to set the rifle to semi-auto to reduce recoil.

If you have the community pack, carry a flare revolver in addition to your combat rifle or shotgun.

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