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FAQ/Strategy Guide

by carios23

Unofficial Killing Floor Game Guide 
By Cristian0

Index
1. About Killing Floor	[&1]
2. General Strategy		[&2]
3. Weapons				[&3]
4. Perks				[&4]
5. Enemies				[&5]
6. Core Maps			[&6]
7. Patriarch tactics	[&7]
8. F.A.Q				[&8]
9. Steam achievements	[&9]
10. Copyrights			[&A]

1. About Killing Floor	[&1]
	This game is $20 in the United States and right now it is only available on
Steam. Tripwire is self publishing this game in America so
that you can buy it in retail stores.  The plot is simple; a crazy mad
scientist called the Patriarch performs experiments on himself and on other
specimens to become more powerful.  They swarmed the UK. Then, you are dropped
from a helicopter in the middle of everything and you have to kill waves of
specimens until the mad scientist appears in the last wave. You have to kill
him too.
	There is a trader, a black female armed to her teeth that sells you weapons,
that spawns in defined locations across the map. Once you kill every specimen
in the wave, you are given a couple of minutes to run to the next location.
Therefore, it is important to keep in mind how far you are from the trader
before the wave ends.  If you are caught too far away from the trader, you
might not get there in time. Be aware, levels like the office and foundry 
with several floors might be deceiving as the distance is only calculated 
horizontally.

2. General Strategy		[&2]
	Team work is important in KF. You have to be able to communicate with your
teammates so that they are aware of what you are all going to do.  If everyone
goes in a separate direction, you will all probably end up dead. This is
especially true in hard and suicidal modes.
	It is important that your teammates cover all the angles. It is preferable you
do not do this alone.  You are not going to be able to reload fast enough if
you keep switching from side to side. If you are letting things through,
communicate to your teammates on the other side so that they are not surprised
when they are being attacked from behind.
	When covering big entries such as the tunnels in West London, make sure one
person shoots the specimens on the right and the other one shoots on the left.
Ammo is scarce especially in suicidal mode. Do not waste it on things that are
already dead.
	Ammo is precious on harder difficulties; try to kill several specimens with
one shot. This is easier to do with the slower specimens.
	Do not try to steal your teammates? kills, there are plenty of specimens to
go around, find an angle to cover and stick to it.  Make sure you communicate
if you decide not to cover anymore so your teammates do not get surrounded. 
Having a couple of specimens within melee contact to you usually means 
you are dead or will be seriously injured. Also, sharing money between player
is fairly common so do not worry about not getting enough money for not having
enough kills.
	It is advisable to level your perks before playing higher difficulty
modes. Play Hard on level 2, or 3, and Suicidal on level 4, or 5. Please do 
not join on the last wave of a suicidal game with a level 0 perk as you will
put more stress on the team and in some cases might even get you kicked or 
banned.	
	
3 Weapons				[&3]
	There is a modest yet decent array of weapons in KF.  You should be able to
find something to fit your game style.

3.1 Melee Weapons
	These consist of the knife, machete, axe, katana and chainsaw.  The knife is
the weakest and the chainsaw is the strongest. I believe the machete does less
damage than the axe but is faster so I guess they even out.
The knife is important however because you walk the fastest when holding it.
Therefore, you should pull it out every time the wave ends so that you get to
the trader faster. The katana is the latest addition to melee weapon and it is
very powerful so you are not just limited to use the chainsaw anymore.

3.2 Range Weapons
	These consist of the 9mm, hand gun, bull-up, shotgun, hunting shotgun, level
action rifle, flamethrower, and the AK47.  You are able to dual wield the 9mm
and the hand gun but still I feel accuracy suffers. Most of these in my opinion
are a little weak to take down tough enemies except for the hunting shotgun.
The only problem is that it takes long to reload it. The AK47 has a nice kick
to it but still is not quite as powerful as the hunting shotgun.

3.3 Long Range Weapons
These consists of the L.A.W. (Rocket Launcher), and Crossbow.  

3.3.1 L.A.W.
	The rocket launcher was widely used to take down the Patriarch. But, since it
takes too long to reload, it is difficult to kill the Patriarch with it before
he heals. Also, if you are trying to trap the Patriarch inside the church or a
barn, it is likely you are going to blow a door open and he will escape. I
would recommend you use your weapon of choice. Mine is the hunting shotgun.
3.3.2 Crossbow

 	The crossbow is pretty much your sniper rifle. It is the only weapon that
allows you to effectively snipe across the map.  However, if you like to use
this weapon, I will recommend having teammates covering specimens getting near
you. Otherwise, it will just get annoying.

4. Perks				[&4]
There are 6 perks in killing floor. They are mostly based on the weapon you use.

4.1 Support Specialist
	This is one of the most popular perks even after it was nerfed. It increases
your damage with the shotgun, the hunting shotgun, and the L.A.W. It also
increases the speed of welding.  
	When playing a support specialist, you are expected to weld. Make sure you
keep the door welded. Once the door goes down, you cannot weld it until the
next wave.  This class can deal serious damage. The hunting shotgun allows you
to one-shot everything in normal. It is also a very nice option to kill the
Patriarch with.

4.2 Field Medic
	The field medic can be leveled by healing your teammates. It can be leveled
while playing any other perk.  Basically, this class allows you to heal faster,
take less damage, and walk faster.

4.3 Commando
	The commando has seen an improvement in versatility in patch 2.0 due to the
addition of the AK47.  Basically, you have an option between the AK47 and the
Bullpup which means you either pick power over accuracy or the other way around
respectively.  Commandos are able to spot invisible women. This allows them to
protect themselves and the group for no getting ganked by invisible women. A
commando provides long range with the Bullpup to kill sirens by using the
scope. The AK47 has good range but it does have a feeling of spraying rather
than aiming.

4.4 Firebug
	Let me make this clear, if you are going to use a flamethrower, you have to
pick this perk. This is especially true if you are learning because if you play
with fire you will most likely get burned. I know that is clich� but I could
not help it. The perk provides protection to fire damage that will occur from
shooting an enemy too close to you.  I have found that it is not good to keep
the fire button pressed the whole time. It is better to click several times as
you will save ammo and average more damage.

4.5 Berserker
	The berserker is the melee class. Your two choices are the chainsaw and the
katana on the later waves. If you are not skilled enough, do not stray too far
away from the group. It is very likely you are going to get surrounded. In
addition, you want to stay close to a field medic as berserkers tend to take a
lot of damage when trying to take many mobs at once. When scrakes come close,
the berserker is the best equipped due to the perk benefits to handle them. You
should be able to take one down with no damage to you after the group has given
it a couple of shots. Do not let scrakes get close to the range perks.

4.6 Sharpshooter
	In my opinion, sharpshooters are there to snipe sirens. Do not let sirens near
the group. A couple of sirens can wipe the group out in seconds. It is beyond
me why a group of armed British commandos go to kill zombies with a crossbow
instead of a 50 caliber sniper rifle, so go figure. Anyways, the crossbow will
have to do. You also get more damage with your handguns but the range is
limited so at this point I prefer playing the other perks.

5. Enemies				[&5]

5.1 Clot
	The clot makes the majority of the specimens in the game. The will be the
equivalent of pawns in a chess game. They are slow and many but when they get
to you they will lock you into place. This will allow for other clot to lock
onto you and other specimens to hit you. In this situation, try to hit the clot
ASAP or knife your way out of it.

5.2 Bloat
	The bloat is the slow fat guy that spits acid/poison when he is within range.
He will spit at you even if he has no head, go figure. If he blows up near you,
he will also poison you. The screen will get all green and the acid will deal
damage over time.  This is a low priority for the range shooter as he is slow
but should still be kept in mind. He is still coming for you.

5.3 Stalker
	The stalkers are invisible women that try to sneak behind you.  It is easy to
take them down when they come at you but they deal serious damage if they get
behind you. Make sure your teammates are covering your back.

5.4 Gorefast
	This guy is red and fast, and he will cut you up if you do not take care of
him quickly. Two or three swings from this guy and you are done. A pack of
these must be dealt with immediately because if let loose they will wreak havoc
on your squad.

5.5 Crawler
	The Crawlers are the annoying black grasshopper like specimens. In a couple of
jumps they can get in top of you and deal some damage. One alone is not much
trouble but if 3 or 4 sneak behind you, it will be trouble.  Make sure to check
the vents on the roof which might be overlooked as a specimen spawning point.

5.6 Siren
Sirens are the most underrated enemies in the game. These are actually
responsible for a majority of wipes. If you let them get near the group, they
have an AOE that will hurt everybody?s health without hurting your armor.  Two
sirens near the group are almost instant wipe. It is strictly necessary that
all long range players focus fire on a siren once she spawns. Sharpshooters
must be aware and keep these on high priority.

5.7 Scrake
	Scrakes carry chainsaws, really? Anyways, these are not supposed to be regular
zombies but "specimens".  They are going to walk slowly towards you, and then
accelerate when they are near you. A couple of these are nastier than one
fleshpound so be aware. They are blue and carry chainsaws, you cannot miss
them.  Berserkers are very effective against them and a support specialist
using a hunting shotgun too.  

5.8 Fleshpound
	The fleshpound is the strongest specimen in the game. He is going to walk
slowly towards and then rush at you.  At this moment, he is going to stop for a
second, enrage, roar, and his chest light is going to switch from yellow to
red. So, run or hit him hard. In normal difficulty is easier to solo with a
shotgun, but in higher difficulty I recommend announcing to your team that
there is one coming and that you need another set of hands to take him down.

6. Core Maps			[&6]

6.1 West London
	West London is probably the most popular map. It consists of an office
building, a church, and a couple of streets and tunnels.  There are several
places you can hold up in this map. You can hold up inside the church and split
the group to take care of each door. Go into each tunnel and split the group to
cover each entrance to the tunnel. However, stay in the tunnel as specimens
dropping from above can easily gank you.  The street near the church is okay,
but make sure somebody is covering the alley. The other street, I am not a fan
of. It has too many spots where enemies can drop from.

	A popular technique is to weld the fence shut from the inside as you can shoot
through the fence.  Ensure somebody is taking care of specimens dropping from
the wall so that they do not do too much damage. Also, make sure you have
somebody taking care of welding both doors as the fence blowing up in mid wave
usually means a wipe.

6.2 Farm
	The Farm is the largest of the core maps.  It consists of barns and farm
houses scattered around the country side.  I would avoid going inside these
houses on hard or suicidal as they provide little room and you can be easily
surrounded.  In this map, it is very important to know how far you are from the
trader at the end of the wave. There is a small chance you will not make it in
time if you are more than 100m away.

	There are two ways I like to tackle this map. The first one is standing on the
bridge with the truck. This is a nice spot as it is centric and nearby to most
trader locations. You should have one teammate covering the other side of the
bridge. It is of extremely importance that you do not let specimens to get on
the back of your teammates covering the other entrance. Therefore, stand on the
bridge and do not walk away from it. This is to not allow invisible women
behind your teammates.  If there are 3 or more people available, this is a
great spot to have 2 on each side covering the bridge?s entrance and have the
rest of the team sniping specimens coming from the sides. You have a lot of
room to snipe so use it to your advantage.

	If you have problems making it to the truck, I will suggest staying next to
the side of a house rather than inside. Make sure you have two teammates
shooting each side, and someone shooting specimens coming from opposite side of
the wall. The rest of the team should switch spots when needed such as in
situations when a fleshpound approaches or there are too many scrakes to
handle. Remember to always communicate your status to your teammates.

6.3 Offices
	Easily the most hated map in the game.  I have two favorite spots to hold up
in here. One is the roof, keep the door on the back welded. Make sure you have
the person welding alert you when specimens jump from the back and come out of
the burning stairs.  The idea here is too channel all the mobs from the door to
the tunnel so that grenades and shotgun become very effective.  The roof will
also provide a lot of room if you are not comfortable with fights in closed
quarters.

	The other place that I like is the corridor that has an overview of the
parking lot where there is a trader.  Weld the door that goes into the square
room with several cubicles. Then, handle the specimens coming from both stairs.
Pay attention to the roof as the occasional pack of crawlers might show up.
Make sure you do not fall into the parking lot because you might not make it
back.  I have seen this happen a few times when you are still in the trader
room and the time is up and you walk too far into a window. 

	At all costs, try and avoid the parking lot, this a death trap and it is a
nightmare to pull off. When fighting the Patriarch, I advise to weld the
Patriarch in the square room full of cubicles. The cubicle's walls protect you
from rockers and the machine gun. I wish my cubicle were like that. Anyways,
please look at Patriarch strategies for more details on this.

6.4 Biotic Labs
	Biotic Labs is a fun map. There are plenty of places to hold out here. My
favorite place is where the two big rooms that have a trader in it. We weld the
door on the right, and then take on the two hallways.  Then, have somebody be
aware of the burning debris. This room is also a good place to fight the 
Patriarch.

6.5 Manor
	Manor is a relatively easy map when played correctly.  First of all, avoid the
manor! Staying in there is asking for it. Another bad spot is to stay in the
shack where the trader is at as you got specimen coming from every way. My
favorite technique is to weld the manor's front door and throw grenades through
the windows. Teammates must cover your back as you are going to have some
specimens coming in between the barbed wire fences.  The other good spot I like
is the cave going to the manor's basement. Weld the door and wait for them to
come down the cave.

	Strangely enough the manor might be a death trap but it is a good spot to
fight the Patriarch. I like fighting him in the main room and weld him in. Have
somebody on the roof, and some people downstairs.

6.6 Foundry
	The foundry is the latest addition to the game. It is huge compared to the
older maps. Make sure you are close to the trader and remember those 50 meters
do not include those 6 flights of stairs. I have seen several people holding up
in the center of the Foundry where the big gears wheels are at. This place is
horrible since it is easy to get surrounded. Also, remember in this map, you
can always have specimens jumping from the upper levels.  I like to hold up in
the second floor above the trader at the end of that huge room.  It is easy to
hold them coming up the stairs and have somebody snipe them when they come to
you passing the gears.  Other teammates can keep the door to the other side
welded and clear the specimens coming from the hallway. Make sure you do not
get surrounded by the specimens jumping down from the upper floor. Stay close
to your teammates and you should have no problems. 

	If for some reason, you cannot make it back to your favorite spot. I recommend
staying on a set of stairs. Split the team in two and cover the upper and lower
floor. Make sure they do not go past you or the other team will suffer.

7. Patriarch Tactics	[&7]

7.1 About the Patriarch
	The Patriarch is the final boss and creator of all the specimens. He spawns
after the last wave in a random spot in the map usually away from the trader. 
He has several abilities. He can cloak, rush at you, heal, and deal insane
damage.  

7.2 Strategies
	The most popular strategy is to lock the Patriarch into a confined room and
not let him escape.  Once the Patriarch is low enough in energy, he will cloak
and run away from everybody.  At this time he is going to heal. The idea is to
let him in the room and weld the door after him.  There is a good chance the
person that does this is going to die, but it is worth it. When the Patriarch
starts running to the door, he is going to start pounding the door to be able
to escape. At this point you should hit him hard but do not use grenades
because you will blow the door open and he will escape. If he is about to blow
the door open, it might be a good idea have somebody weld the door while he is
pounding on it but this person might die soon too.

	If someone hits the Patriarch hard, he is going to kneel down. At this point,
get out of cover and hit him with everything you got.  He is going to rush
towards you and impale you with whatever it is that comes out of his chest so
stay away from his line of sight. If he is standing and staying still, he is
going to shoot his machine gun or fire a rocket at you, take cover immediately.
That machine gun can easily wipe everybody, be smart and use common sense. The
key is to trap him and do not let him heal. 

8. F.A.Q.				[&8]
	I have compiled the most frequently asked questions while I am
playing online. There are no stupid questions so I will try to answer most of
them here. Questions regarding controls are answered with the default ones.

	Q: How do I give money?
	A: Press 'B'.
	
	Q: How do I talk in game?
    A: Press 'T' for chatting and CAPS LOCK for voice.
	
	Q: How do I heal myself?
	A: Press '5' to switch to injection. Then, press middle mouse button 
	  (alternate fire).
	
	Q: How do I drop my weapon?
	A: Press '\'. This comes in handy in situations where your team had no 
	   time to buy weapons. If you are carrying two weapons. It will be nice
	   if you spare one. Also, when you run out of ammo. Drop it and pick one
	   up from the floor with ammo.
	   
	Q: How do I unweld?
    A: Press the middle mouse button (alternate fire) while using the soldering
	   tool.

    Q: Why aren't my perks leveling in this custom map?
    A: Maps have to be white listed in order to be able to level your perks. 
       Developers have said that as long as the maps do not look like a
       leveling scheme, there should not much trouble to get the map 
       white listed.
	
	Q: How do I check if a custom map is white listed?
	A: Go to this thread 
	   http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=34248

	Q: I made this awesome map. How do I get it white listed?
	A: Make a post in this thread 
	   http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=34247
	
    Q: I want to run my own dedicated server. How do I do that? 
    A: Tripwire has a thread on their forums explaining the process
       http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=30579
       Linux users go here
       http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showthread.php?t=30911
	   
	Q: How do you unlock those cool characters you are playing with?
	A: You have to buy the costume pack add-on for the game. It is only
	   2 bucks. It might seem silly to pay money for these but you will be
	   supporting the developer that spends time patching the game.
	   
	Q: I have to do to a clean install in my computer. Do I lose my perks?
	A: No, perks are stored online. Only video, audio, and controls are 
	   saved to your computer.
	   
	Q: I found this weapon on the floor. How much can I get for it?
	A: When you sell a weapon you get 75% of its value.

9. Steam achievements.	[&9]

	There are 43 achievements available to unlock on Steam. Most of them are 
	self explanatory, but I will add tips and tricks to some. Most of these
	you get by just playing a lot.
	
    -------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Pub Crawl				Win a Long Game on West London on Normal 
							Difficulty
							Tip: You do not need to play the entire game,
						    just stay until the end
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Lord of the Manor 		Win a Long Game on Manor on Normal Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
  	Chicken Farmer 			Win a Long Game on Farm on Normal Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	The Boss 				Win a Long Game on Offices on Normal Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Lab Cleaner 			Win a Long Game on Biotics Lab on Normal 
							Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	The Long War 			Complete a Long Game on all 5 Core Maps on Normal 
							Difficulty.
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Hard Pub Crawl 			Win a Long Game on West London on Hard Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Duke of the Manor 		Win a Long Game on Manor on Hard Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Cattle Farmer 			Win a Long Game on Farm on Hard Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Hard Boss 				Win a Long Game on Offices on Hard Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Lab Assistant			Win a Long Gmae on Biotics Lab on Hard Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	The Hard War 			Complete a Long Game on all 5 Core Maps on Hard 
							Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Suicidal Pub Crawl 		Win a Long Game on West London on Suicidal
							Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Emperor of the Manor 	Win a Long Game on Manor on Suicidal Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Alligator Farmer 		Win a Long Game on Farm on Suicidal Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Mad Boss				Win a Long Game on Offices on Suicidal Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Lab Professor 			Win a Long Game on Biotics Lab on Suicidal
							Difficulty
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	The Completely			Complete a Long Game on all 5 Core Maps on 
	Suicidal War			Suicidal Difficulty
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Experimenticenticide 	Kill 100 Specimens
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Experimentimillicide 	Kill 1000 Specimens
 	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Experimentiolttacide 	Kill 10,000 Specimens
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Facist Dietitian 		Kill 200 Bloats
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Homer's Heroes 			Kill 100 Sirens
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Keep Those Sneakers		Kill 20 Stalkers with explosives
	Off the Floor! 			Tip: Support specialist perk may help here
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Random Axe of Kindness 	Kill 15 Specimens with a Fire Axe in a single 
	                        wave
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Bitter Irony 			Kill 2 Scrakes with a chainsaw in a single wave
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Hot Cross Burn			Kill 25 burning specimens with a crossbow.
							Tip: Find a friend that likes to play Firebug, 
							and equip you crossbow with Sharpshooter perk.
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Dignity for the Dead 	Kill 10 specimens feeding on dead temmates
	                        corpses
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Social Outburst 		Kill 8 specimens with one grenade
							Tip: Find a narrow tunnel and time it correctly
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Careful spender 		Kill 4 specimens with a single shot from a
							hunting shotgun
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	It's Not Easy Being		Cause a specimen to die by luring them into 
	Greasy 					bloat acid
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Too Close for Comfort 	Finish off a Fleshpound using a melee attack
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Master Surgeon 			As a medic, kill 8 specimens using a knife in a 
							single wave
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	It's What's Inside		Turn 500 specimens into giblets
	That Counts 	
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Quarter Pounder			Turn 5 Fleshpounds into giblets
	With Ease
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Self Medicator			In Co-op Mode, use the syringe on yourself 
							100 times
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Thin-Ice Pirouete		Complete 10 Waves when the rest of your team
							has died
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Philanthropist 			Give 1000 pounts to teammates who have 50% of 
							your cash or less.
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	I Like To Watch 		Acquire 5 minutes of "Zed-Time"
	                        Tip: Spend 5 minutes as spectator
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Mr. Perky				Get All of your perks up to Level 5
	                        Tip: Get a life! and I do not mean a second life
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Straight Rush 			Kill the Patriarch before he has a chance to heal
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	The L.A.W. That Broke	Deliver the killing blow to the Patriarch with
	the Camel's Back 		a L.A.W. Rocket
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------
	Death To The Mad		Defeat the Patriarch on Suicidal
	Scientist 
	-------------------------------------------------------------------------   

10. Copyright			[&A]
	This may not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other web
site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a violation
of copyright.

Copyright 2009 Christian Rios

All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.

If you are interested in joining a clan that plays this game as a team, visit
www.clant4c.com
Also, check out my blog at www.chrisrios.com to see what I am up to :)
Email me with suggestions or questions at [email protected]