Is highscore for survival even true?

[FireSeeker]

The top score I could get in survival was about 700 k, after that my ion shotgun just didn't do enough damage and I couldn't get a bonus in time. But that lands me at about 100k at the scoreboard. Not that I care, in fact i couldn't care less, but I just wonder - is the scoreboard actually real and such scores are achievable somehow or are those just cheaters?

[AxisHebrew]

Speaking as someone who has a top score in Waves, #160 at time of writing, I am not cheating. I have grinded hours on this game and sussed out personally which perks I prioritize and what synergizes together. Top tier perks include: Lucky, Bloody Mess (w/o this your bullets get absorbed by monster bodies for a moment after dying as the models disappear, w/ this their bodies explode and *allegedly* get more points), Telekenetic, Perk Expert/Master, Poison Bullets, Bonus Economist, Tough Reloader, and the two perks that combo to slow time by 10% and give a 4x damage boost when time is slowed. Also for me a good run takes a lot of bad runs inbetween. I'd recommend going through the campaign and going touchless if you're looking to do something for practice aside from just grind different survival categories.

[FireSeeker]

Thats amazing, thanks for the tips! What's Your favourite weapon?
But I still don't believe the top scores are achievable without cheating (I'm not talking about You here personally, I totally believe You did it, I didn't play waves yet so I don't judge, I don't know whats possible there). I'm mainly playing normal survival, I've unlocked all perks an all but 2 weapons, I don't know how to get them. I've recently managed to score about 2,5 mln and that got me to about 3500 in the scoreboard. I sometimes get about 1-1,5 mln. 300-500 K is what I get most of the time. I can get most out of gauss minigun or a shotgun, preferably gauss shotgun, with fastshot and fast reload. But still, the longest I've lasted was about 12-15 mins. The top scores are way higher than mine, and there are dudes that supposedly lasted for about 6-10 HOURS! Using Ion cannon or sawn of shotgun. I don't know how this can be done, other than by cheating or having extreme luck. At about 700k - 1 mln normal weapons just don't do enough damage, even with perks buffing damage. It's just not enough to kill mobs fast enough. Only bonuses can effectively clear the map- fire bullets + shotgun is amazing, plasma thingy isn't bad either. So either some people get extremely lucky and get bonus after bonus after bonus and last that long, or I don't know. And fire bullets are only really worth it if you're having a shotgun of some sorts, otherwise you still shoot single bullet, which is not enough.
So how did the #1 guy stand 6 hours using... ion cannon...?? insane!

[AxisHebrew]

To answer your favorite weapon question, I have to actually give multiple answers.

For fun, I really enjoy the mini rocket swarm, that shoots out your entire clip at once. It reduces stress of aiming for me, and I have a list of perks that I prioritize if I get this weapon going:
1. Tough reloader - must have, as with this weapon you're only vulnerable for a split second when firing the rocket
2. Favorite weapon - also must have, as it adds 2 ammo and once you've got these perks going for this build you might be unhappy with it later if you pick up some BS,
3. Stationary reloader - you freeze enemies around you very consistently with how quickly this gun fires, absolutely rocks
4. Fast shooter - decreases the amount of time you're vulnerable
5. Rapid reloader - this plus Stationary basically gives a reliable freezing ring depending on enemy density
6. Ammo maniac - the 20% more ammo scales with each of the other ammo upgrades, leading to a max ammo of 12 from the original 6 rockets, I am listing this number assuming that you also pick Sharpshooter to add 1 more ammo and some damage
When not given one of these perks I will then prioritize the others listed in my last post. Also, something I forgot to mention in my last reply is that Mr. Melee is a very useful perk, as it does damage every time an enemy touches you, even if you don't take any damage i.e. w/ a shield on.

If I am actually going for a record score, I would go with the sawed off, the jackhammer, or the ion/plasma shotguns. The gauss shotgun doesn't really do well with poison bullets early on, which can lead to you getting swarmed due to not putting out enough damage. Still a good gun though, and shotguns are generally the move for going to a highscore. By the time you're done picking new perks you should just be training powerups to your best ability, hitting plasma bullet drops then grabbing fire bullets to maximize the time. Do not leave yourself hanging firing just plasma bullets, you really want to make sure the last powerup you pick up is a fire bullet. Also, you should be keeping an eye out for slow time powerups at this point like a hawk as well, as it will keep your ability to react as well as damage higher.

How they did it with the ion cannon? Likely a great set of perks, built around poison bullets and ion's ability to spread poison like wildfire. But that is just a bit of speculation, they may have cheated to get the #1 spot lol. Several years ago at this point the devs reset the leaderboards because the previous versions had obvious cheat scores up there with completely unrealistic scores and times.

[Meat Miracle]

Not sure which high scores you mean, some of the top ones used to be cheaters, you could tell from having too few perks or play time for such a high score.

You want one of the fast firing shotguns, Sawed-off or plasma shotgun or perhaps Jackhammer, they have the highest bullets per second which translates to killer power with the flame shot powerup. Combine that with the perk that does Quad Damage when in reflex boost, and you can consistently wipe the screen with reflex boost + fire bullets. You'll also be chaining reflex boost and Shield to Freeze to Shield constantly, if you run out of either you die in a split second.

You can rake up hundreds of millions that way, but keep in mind it will take over an hour and gets pretty monotonous midway through.

There used to be a few other tactics too, but over time they patched out most of them. I wish the splitter gun didn't suck as much now...

[arcassam]

also don't forget about perks Living Fortress and (don't remember its name) that, which gives you additional 66% of EXP and you die. but you need to catch it in time, i risked a lot in vain

Living Fortress adds a lot of damage during endgame, while monsters are freezed. you can feel the difference.

i think, Reflex Boost should be highest priority most of the time (to react better and to increase your damage), then Freeze (to use LF), then Shield

[Plandercozeron]

Getting 500-600 mil in Survival and Waves is real (i'm around #100 or so). But mostly it's like playijng casino getting random perks. The secret is to get sawed-off or shotgun when you're ready and the get fire bullet bonuses