In case you didn't get to play in the open beta, or didn't care to try out the new classes (known as Perks in the Killing Floor series) at the time, here is a guide to the Gunslinger and SWAT. If you like switching weapons for specific problems mid-fight Gunslinger's a good pick due to the range of damage available to it's weapons. The Gunslinger also gets a very good taste of all the other Perks' kits, with the LAR, SPX, Spitfires, HX25, and HM101 being from four different perks. The Gunslinger is an interesting addition to kf2, and I enjoy having them in the game. This post is not about how great or bad or 'op' the Gunslinger is but instead how it does many things very well all at once and thus makes other perks DESIGNED for those roles, ones that are a little off right now, look even worse.

Kf2 Best Perk
Best Gunslinger Perks Kf2 Mods

Berserker	Lawnmower Blade • Crovel Survival Tool • VLAD-1000 Nailgun • Pulverizer • Eviscerator • EMP Grenade • Zweihander
Commando	KF-BAR • AR-15 Varmint Rifle • SA80 L85A2 Bullpup • Kalashnikov AK-12 • SCAR-H Assault Rifle • HE Grenade
Support	Machete • SG-500 Pump-Action • Double-Barrel Boomstick • M4 Combat Shotgun • AA-12 Automatic Shotgun • Frag Grenade
Field Medic	Scalpel • HMTech-101 Pistol • HMTech-201 SMG • HMTech-301 Shotgun • HMTech-401 Assault Rifle • Medic Grenade
Demolitionist	Utility Knife • HX25 Grenade Pistol • C4 Explosives • M79 Grenade Launcher • RPG-7 • 1/2 Stick of Dynamite
Firebug	Fireman's Knife • Caulk n' Burn • Incendiary Trench Gun • Flamethrower • Microwave Gun • Molotov Cocktail
Gunslinger	Bowie Knife • 1858 Revolver • M1911 • .50 Desert Eagle • .500 Magnum Revolver • Nail Bomb
Sharpshooter	Kukri • Winchester 1894 • Crossbow • M14 EBR • Horzine Railgun • Freeze Grenade
SWAT	Tactical Knife • MP7 SMG • MP5RAS SMG • P90 SMG • Kriss SMG • Flashbang
Off-perk	9mm Pistol • Katana (Killing Floor 2)

Sep 11, 2019

An in-depth guide mainly focused on intermediate players who want to take already fairly good zerking to masterful zerking. While this guide focuses mainly on the highest level of play (6p HOE), beginner zerkers will still find this guide very helpful as it describes the general usefulness of all the perks and weapons and how to deal with dangerous zeds.

Prologue

Berzerker has always been seen as a rather easy class, both in KF1 and KF2. It has been described as having a low skill ceiling, and that anyone can play bezerker decently as long as they know how to parry.
This is true, and to play a decent bezerker capable of winning HoE games, you don't actually need to be all that good. Most bezerkers I see these days just run Katana +3 and go around M1 mashing everything, not exactly skillful gameplay.
However, trust me when I say that bezerker, contrary to popular belief, actually has one of if not the highest skill ceilings in the entire game. While it doesn't take much to get to the level where you can fairly reliably win HoE games with a good team as a bezerker, there is a huge gap between a 'decent' bezerker and a 'masterful' bezerker. And this is why so many people say bezerker is a low-skill class, because if what you're doing is already good enough, why bother going above and beyond?
This guide however will show you how to get from being 'decent' to being 'masterful'. Unlike most other classes, bezerker requires an immense amount of practice to get to the highest level.

The Berzerker's Purpose

The berzerker acts as 3 things:

A wall that prevents trash and big zeds from attacking the backline,
A crowd control specialist on par with the likes of the firebug,
A backup big zed killer when everyone else is either dead or out of ammo.

That is all you need to know about what berzerkers do. They are the vanguard. They are the first ones in and the last ones out. If the berzerker needs to back up, then chances are the entire team also needs to back up.

Beginner's Section (Part 1)

This assumes that you have never played berzerker before so you need a run down on how they play and what skills to go.
Dreadnought vs Skirmisher
On most maps and in most situations, Skirmisher will be the most useful. The huge amount of movement speed you gain from Skirmisher will allow you to kite every zed except raging fleshpounds, and also allows you to get out of sticky situations much more easily. The passive regeneration is also a huge boon as it lets you stay in the thick of it for much longer by healing chip damage from blocking and parrying.
Dreadnought does have its uses however, as when it comes to tanking and taking massive amounts of damage in a short period of time, Dreadnought will keep you alive more times than Skirmisher ever will. However, the lack of movement speed and regen means you have to rely on a medic to keep your health up as you will be constantly taking damage from not being able to run from zeds and not being able to regen passively. Dreadnought generally speaking, is only used on maps where the team has a particular hold point with only 1 or 2 entrances. In these scenarious, Dreadnought will beat Skirmisher every single time, even with just off-heals from commandos or medic pistols from the rest of the team.
Verdict

Skirmisher for most situations.
Dreadnought for holding a choke at a hold point.

Vampire vs Butcher
Both of these are quite useful honestly and it comes down to personal preference and team set up when deciding which one to use.
I personally use vampire most of the time as the damage loss is negligible against trash as long as you are using parry, smash and a good melee weapon like the Zweihander or Bonecrusher. Vampire will keep you more independent from the Medic so they are able to focus on healing others, and in some cases if you are killing fast enough, you are able to outheal the damage you are taking. This has saved me more than once when I've gotten myself trapped in a corner and the only way out was to fight my way out. With parry and smash, you will be killing trash in more or less a single hit and when trapped in a corner, you will be pretty much taking constant damage. Without vampire to slow the rate of damage I was taking, I would have been dead in those situations. It is also an extremely good option on pubs where teammates don't tend to buy medic pistols to heal others, so vampire will keep you healthy for longer before you need to rely on others.
Butcher's main usefulness is to patch up the damage you lose from not going Parry if you're a beginner and running Resistance. Otherwise, it's other draw is that it allows all of the top tier melee weapons to kill fleshpounds in a single combo. It is also more useful for fast attacking weapons like the Katana as there is an appreciable difference in number of hits to kill due to their lower damage. But then again, weapons like the Katana are mainly only used by beginners or lazy berzerkers.
Verdict

Either one is pretty good, but vampire is better if your team doesn't have a dedicated medic.

Resistance vs Parry
This one is simple. If you're a beginner and can't quite get the parry timing right, go resistance. Once you've gotten some practice and can reliably parry zeds, go Parry. The bonuses that come with Parry are simply way too strong to be ignored, and because of how easy it is to parry most zeds in the game, it isn't even that hard to get the bonuses. At the end of the day, even though Resistance seems more focused on tankiness, Parry will actually make you much harder to kill than resistance ever will. Just look at the stats:
Resistance

20% damage reduction and an additional 20% against poison and sonic damage.

Parry

40% damage reduction across the board, 5% extra attack speed and 35% more damage on all berzerker weapons, not just melee weapons.

Not only does Parry makes you more tanky than Resistance, but also lets you kill Zeds faster, which further minimizes the damage you take by reducing the time spent in combat.
Verdict
Resistance if you're an absolute beginner, Parry once you've gotten even a bit of practice.
Smash vs Massacre
Smash wins. Every. Single. Time. There is ONE weapon that I can recommend massacre on, and that is the Katana (or the Road Redeemer, but that weapon

Best Gunslinger Perks Kf2