An in-depth guide for the Gunslinger

Just a guide for the Gunslinger, probably the best and all-round perk in KF2

Part 1: The Role of the Gunslinger

1. An inborn BIG-ZED HUNTER: Your top priority should always be the big zeds (Scrake, Quarterpound and Fleshpound). In other words, you have to be the first one (along with the sharpshooter) to initiate the big zed take-downs.

2. The destroyer of small and medium zeds

To be honest, you are pretty good at killing everything (LOL)



The above figure is the target priority provided by the Tripwire Officials. It is certain that you should deal with those big zeds first but at the same time, you need to be aware of the other zeds that may interrupt your big zed take-down.

3. Laning: The GS is strong enough to hold a lane by himself even multiple big zeds appear. Moreover, this ensures the aggro of the zeds is always on you (i.e. their heads are always facing to you) so that you can headshot them easily.

GS is also preferred to pair with a precision-based perk like the commando, swat, sharpshooter and support. Never consider laning with AoE perks like the berzerker, firebug and demo. Otherwise you may have a painful gaming experience.

4. Memorize the number of shots/bullets (of your commonly used arsenal) required to eliminate the Zeds.

I mean this takes time but probably takes less if you are free to check-out my list provided on part 4

5. Utilize the Zed Time mechanic to maximize your DPS.
Utilize the Zed Time mechanic to maximize your DPS.
Utilize the Zed Time mechanic to maximize your DPS.

(Extremely important and defines the necessity of Gunslinger on higher difficulty of gameplay. The GS is the ONLY perk that has the maximum possible DPS during ZT and this allows GS to demolish almost everything that comes to his eyes)

Part 2: Skill choice

Starting from wave 1 all the way to wave 10, the skill tree of the GS remains unchanged at most of the time.


Level 5: Steady VS Quick Draw

A great dispute has been observed across different platforms about which skill is better. Statistically, Quick draw offers you with more bonuses including the weapon swap speed and movement speed. However, Steady will massively reduce the bullet spread factor among GS arsenal.

Originally posted by Simple Rabbit:

Quoting from Simple Rabbit: (Read the comment section of the Youtube Video)
" Fat Cat when will you start do your gamer girl face reveal?
anyway. Steady Aim fan for life.
Other's may say Quick Draw is objectively better and for the most part they are right.
Hip firing with Quick Draw has less Recoil than ADS.
Hip fire penalty is 1.75
Slinger passive recoil reduction is 0.75x
Quick Draw is anoth 0.5x
Hip fire quickdraw is 0.65625
ADS is 1x
SLinger passive 0.75x
so 0.75x, ironically ADS would increase your recoil.
And on top of that there's the 2x swap speed bonus, and 5% movement buff.

However what people don't see is the Random Bullet Spread multiplier.
Recoil and Bullet spread are independent. This is why the FAL is a laser in Zed time, but Slinger Guns fly off to the side.
Sharpy guns have 0.007 mod spread mod. while Slinger guns are much more inaccurate at 0.015 if you're using 1911s/Revolvers or 0.010 if you're useing good guns like af2011 or deagles.
This is why the SPX is so easy to use in Fan Fire. it's not because it has less recoil or shoots slower, but it has Sharpy accuracy.
ADS reduces the random spread by a massive 0.5x and crouch reduces it by an additional 0.75x.
He is 2 times more accurate with ADS.

However Steady Aim =/= accuracy.
You can just as easily use ADS for long range shots with Quick draw, and hip fire up close to take advantage of less recoil and swap speed and movement speed. So yes technically Steady Aim is strictly worse.

Considering his favorite guns are revolvers which have higher bullet spread makes sense he likes steady. Not only does ADS make them look cooler it helps off set the terrible accuracy.

There isn't really a real argument for Steady Aim other than it looks cool, but it doesn't mean you can't make it work. is a specific playstyle of accuracy over anything else. legitimately you shouldn't need to swap weapons since Slinger guns are effective against all zed types, so it's as simple as empty gun then switch to back up gun. Only reason to switch would be utility like Med pistol and Syringe healing, so you can make it efficient by not getting hurt. And you can enjoy the extra ADS Accuracy and ADS movement speed if you can handle the extra recoil. And and Fat Cat can handle Recoil."

To summarise what Simple Rabbit has said, the Quick Draw skill offers you 34% recoil reduction while hip-firing together with 2X weapon switching speed and extra 5% movement speed. However, Steady gives a massive 50% reduction in random bullet spread, another 25% will be given if the player is crouching.

Nevertheless, I found myself as a GS, most of the time I will hip fire the zeds and hence Quick Draw is obviously a better option for me.


Level 10: Rack em Up VS Bone Breaker


Rack em Up (ReU) is the core skill for the GS to reach his highest skill ceiling. It is also the most important tool for a GS to demolish every zed that appears in his line of sight. Most of the time, ReU is always superior than the Bone Breaker counter-part, EXCEPT:

On boss wave, you may consider changing from Rack em up to Bone Breaker.


This is because the aggro of the boss is not always on you, you may have hard time in getting consistent headshots on the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Dr. Hans (stop dodging you idiot) and Patriach. Choosing bone breaker is a smarter choice if you are facing Hans Volter or Patriach. However, for the King Fleshpound and Abomination, Rack em up is still a preferred choice since their heads are large enough for you to hit.

But here comes the question, how the hell do I know which boss I am going to encounter?

Actually, there's a way to know which boss you are going to face, follow the steps below. (Thanks to Pathfinder's guide)

Step 1) Enter into a lobby of a public match or solo, the boss has been determined even before a game starts

Step 2) Press the ' button located at the left side of the "enter button" to open the console


Step 3) Type in the command: "getall KFGameReplicationInfo BossIndex" at the console


If the boss index equals to 0, the boss will be Dr. Hans Volter
If the boss index equals to 1, the boss will be Patriach
If the boss index equals to 2, the boss will be King Fleshpound
If the boss index equals to 3, the boss will be Abomination
If the boss index equals to 4, the boss will be Matriach

Level 15: Line em Up VS Tactical Reload

The tactical reload significantly improves reload speed of GS arsenals. By pairing the skill with reload cancelling, it can directly enhance your DPS.

It is worth mentioning that dry reload with dual M1911s, Desert Eagles and AF-2011s is much faster than reload with bullet(s) left in the gun.

Level 20: Skull Cracker VS Knock em Down


Skull Cracker is always the preferred choice since head shooting zeds can slow them down together with getting ReU bonus. When performing Big Zed takedowns, they can't even come close to you as they have been slowed down and don't forget, you have the 20%/25%(Quick Draw bonus) movement speed bonus to out-run them even the big zeds are raged.

[Poor Scrake and Fleshpound can't even hit me before they die]

Level 25: Whirlwind of Lead VS Fan Fire


Fan Fire is the signature skill of the Gunslinger. With Commando's Zed Time Refreshes, he has the highest possible DPS delivered out of the 10 perks, allowing him to exterminate any combination of Big Zeds in front of him. Only at ONE circumstance the skill Whirlwind of Lead should be used, that will be on the wave 1 when ammo sufficiency is a problem for newbie GS.

You can do a lot of things during 18 seconds of ZT with Fan Fire activated:

To summarise, it is not exaggerated at all to say that the skill tree and the selection of proper arsenal makes the GS an all-round perk.

Part 3: Loadouts

A huge diversity of load-outs are available to the gunslinger, these 3 are generally favoured in a 6 players, Hell On Earth lobby.

1) Dual M1911 pistols (Tier 4) + Dual Desert Eagles (Tier 4) + Single AF-2011 (un-upgraded)

This load-out suggested by Simple Rabbit (link to his GS quickie guide) offers you with the maximum possible DPS you can put out.


The upgraded M1911 and Deagles are preserved for big zeds while the single AF-2011 is more than enough for you to deal with trash and medium zeds.

2) SPX 464 + Dual Magnum + Dual Desert Eagles (Complete large Zed specialization)

This load-out is recommended if you are laning with a trash zed specialist such as the commando and swat.


SPX is great for you to handle enemies from medium to long range. However, all of the guns are considered OVERKILL for trash zeds. I found myself run out of Dual Deagles quite soon since it will be your major weapon to handle all trash and medium zeds.

3) Dual Magnums + Dual Desert Eagles + Dual M1911 pistols + HM-TECH 101 pistol


Probably the most complete load-out for the GS as this enables him to solo a lane. Magnums for Big Zeds, Deagles for medium/Big zeds, m1911/101 for trash zeds and 101 provides additional healing to your teammates too. It is recommended to upgrade the 101 and M1911 dualies ONCE and this massively increases their damage (+ 70% and +40% respectively) without increasing the weight)

POINTS TO NOTE:

1) The Dual Magnums can be substituted by the dual AF-2011s. However, a major prerequisite for the substitution is that you can manage the horizontal recoil induced by the dual AF-2011s.

2) The dual 1858 revolvers is quite a good starting weapon for the Gunslinger and they can be remained in your load-out even at later waves.

3) Since a huge degree of versatility can be found in GS loadout. Here are some extra ones suggested by IceBeam:


SPX META with the richest ammo pool for trash zeds

SPX + Dual .500 Magnums / Dual AF-2011s + Desert Eagle + 1911


T3 SPX + Dual .500 Magnums / Dual AF-2011s + Desert Eagle + Medic Pistol


The META with two tier 4 sets of dualies and no weapon upgrades

Dual AF2011s + Dual .500 Magnums + Desert Eagle + Medic Pistol


The variation of the sustained DPS META with enough space for a Medic Pistol

Dual Deagles + T4 Dual 1911s + AF2011 + Medic Pistol

Part 4: Number of shots required to kill or decapitate a zed

1) Dual M1911 pistols (Tier 4) + Dual Desert Eagles (Tier 4) + Single AF-2011 (un-upgraded)

HS stands for Head-Shots and BS stands for Body Shots

Unless specified, all of these take-downs start from 0 ReU

Zeds/Guns	Dual M1911 pistols (Tier 4) (For big zeds)	Dual Desert Eagles (Tier 4)(For big zeds)	Single AF-2011 (For Trash and medium zeds)
Cyst/Alpha Clot/Slasher	N/A	N/A	1 HS 1 BS
Crawler	N/A	N/A	1 HS 1 BS
Stalker	N/A	N/A	1 HS 1 BS
Bloat	N/A	N/A	3 HS (0 ReU) 2 HS (At lesat 2 ReU)
Gorefast	N/A	N/A	1 HS
Gorefiend	N/A	N/A	1 HS
Siren	N/A	N/A	1 HS
Husk	N/A	N/A	1 shot to fuel tank 2 HS (Decap Only)
E.D.A.R.	N/A	N/A	1 shot to chest core
Scrake	10 HS	13 HS 12 HS (At least 1 ReU)	N/A
Quarter pound	9 HS 8 HS (At least 1 ReU)	11 HS 10 HS (At least 1 ReU)	N/A
Fleshpound	12 HS 11 HS (At least 1 ReU)	14 HS	N/A
Rioter	1 HS	1 HS	1 HS (At least 2 ReU) 2 HS (No or only 1 ReU)

2) SPX 464 + Dual Magnum + Dual Desert Eagles (Complete large Zed specialization)

Zeds/Guns	SPX 464 Centerfire	Dual .500 Magnum Revolvers	Dual Desert Eagles (preserved for trash and medium Zeds)
Scrake	6 HS (X0,1,2,3 ReUs) 5 HS (At least X4 ReU)	8 HS (No ReU) 7 HS (At least X1 ReU)	12 HS
Quater Pound	6 HS regardless of ReU stacks	6 HS regardless of ReU stacks	10 HS
Fleshpound	8 HS	9 HS 8 HS (At least X1 ReU)	14 HS (NO Missing)

3) Dual Magnums + Dual Desert Eagles (refer to the above table) +
Dual M1911 pistols (Tier 3) + HM-TECH 101 pistol (Tier 2)

Zeds/Guns	Dual m1911 (Tier 3)	HM-TECH 101 Pistol (Tier 2)
Cyst/Alpha Clot/Slasher	1 HS 2 BS 1 BS (At least 2 ReU)	1 HS
Crawler	1 HS 1 BS	1 HS
Stalker	1 HS 1 BS	1 HS
Bloat	3 HS 2 HS (At least 3 ReU)	4 HS (At least 3 ReU) 5 HS (X0,1,2 ReU)
Gorefast	1 HS 3 BS 2 BS (X2 ReU)	1 HS (Decap) 1 HS (Clean kill if you already have at least 1 ReU)
Gorefiend	2 HS	3 HS
Siren	2 HS	3 HS
Husk	1 shot to back pack 3 HS	5 HS 2 shot to fuel tank
E.D.A.R.	2 shot to chest core 1 shot if 3 ReUs	3 shots to chest core (x0,1,2,3 ReU) 2 shots to chest core (x4 ReU)
Rioter	2 HS 1 HS (At least X3 ReU)	12 HS 7-8 "leg shots"

Part 5: Big Zed Take-downs

1) Dual M1911 pistols (Tier 4) + Dual Desert Eagles (Tier 4) + Single AF-2011 (un-upgraded)

Scrakes:

FPs:

QPs:

2) SPX 464 + Dual Magnum + Dual Desert Eagles (Complete large Zed specialization)

Scrakes:

FPs:

QPs:

For load-out 3, it is pretty much the same story as load-out 2. However, in extreme case, you can utilize your Tier 3 M1911s to hunt big zeds down.

To summarise the clips up, HEAD-TRACING is essential to successfully take down big zeds. You also need to familiar with the raging and attacking animation of those big zeds too.

Part 6: Advanced skills and notes for the gunslinger

1) The Gunslinger Buy Strat proposed by Simple Rabbit)

Main points from the video:

Wave 1: Use your dual 1858 Revolvers, save your 9mm for wave 2.

Trader Time before wave 2: Sell the 1858 revolvers and buy a single Desert Eagle and fill up the ammo

Trader Time before wave 3: Throw your Deagle onto the ground (Find a safe place to do it as your teammates may accidentally or intentionally took it and sold it). Buy another one at the trader, get back your Deagle thrown. Now you will have dual Deagles with additional 42 bullets for free.

Trader Time before wave 4: Buy a Single AF-2011

Trader Time before wave 5: Either upgrade the Dual Deagles or buy another AF-2011 (Remember to use the single pistol strategy: Buy pistol ONE BY ONE).

Trader Time before wave 6: Upgrade the Dual Deagles ONCE and refill ammo

Trader Time before wave 7: Buy a single M1911 pistol as save it as a back-up weapon (i.e use it only when you run out of ammo in both of your Deagles and AFs)

Trader Time before wave 8: Throw one AF-2011 onto the ground and upgrade the M1911 TWICE. Buy another M1911 pistol (Remember to use the single pistol strategy: Buy pistol ONE BY ONE).

Waves 9-10: Fill up everything and give dosh to your teammates

On boss wave: You may consider using 2 Tier 4 pistol with either of them upgraded once. You can also carry an upgraded medic pistol.


2) Apply 2-3 consecutive shots onto the zeds that may block their heads, especially for Gorefiends and Bloats)

3) Reload Cancelling is particularly crucial on a GS as this extensively improves his DPS

Method 1: Observe the reload animation, when the mag is about to be put into the gun, press V (key for bashing in default) followed by pressing Mouse 1 (Shoot). The interval between pressing the 2 keys should be almost instantaneous.

Method 2: Observe the Ammo HUD at the bottom right corner



When the number of bullets changed from 0 to 14 (take dual deagles for example), immediately press V (key for bashing in default) followed by pressing Mouse 1 (Shoot).

1. Method 1 is relatively risky buy allows you to focus on Zeds

2. Method 2 is safer but it shifts your focus to the bottom right HUD instead of the Zeds in front of you.

3. Dry reload with reload cancelling is notably faster if you are using dual M1911s, Dual Deagles and Dual AF-2011s.

4. Reload Cancelling is NOT APPLICABLE to Winchester 1894 and SPX 464 Centerfire since they adopt tube-fed system.

5. Try to leave at least 1 bullet inside the Winchester 1894 and SPX 464 Centerfire when start reloading. This is because a longer time is required for the player to load the first bullet into the gun.

4) Target prioritization is another crucial technique that a GS needs to master: Eliminate all those trash and medium zeds that could impose a major disturbance to your big zed take-down. In other words: DON'T BE AFRIAD TO SWITCH TARGETS as a gunslinger in the course of big zed take-down, especially when there is a lot of back-pedaling available to you.

5) Hit and Run (No Pun Intended): Speed is your biggest advantage. If the map is large enough for you to kite, raged fleshpounds and even the boss can't touch you.

I failed at the end LUL.

6) Since speed is your biggest advantage, it is worth running around the map to scavenge some ammo boxes/Tier 1 weapons/armor spawned during trader time. For example, the trader time is 1 minute on HoE difficulty, you may spend 30 seconds to look around and find some equipment. Use the remaining 30 seconds into 2 parts: 15 seconds at the trader and 15 seconds running back to your camping position. Such action can actually save you a lot in economy.

7) Over-capping is NOT APPLICABLE to Gunglinger since none of his perk skills provides extra ammo.

8) If time is allowed, try go get some ReU (X3 to X5) first by head shooting big zeds with the 9mm/HM-TECH 101. This can reduce the number of shots required to take them down.

9) In my opinion, the hardest part for a Gunslinger is to control the recoil of the dualies DURING ZED TIME.

A little summary from the above clips:

Avoid spamming mouse 1 during zed time unless the big zeds has a close proximity to you

You can shoot slower and simultaneously compensating the recoil 

A trick is to shoot 2-3 bullets consecutively, compensate the recoil and repeat. Once you have mastered it, you can increase the number aforementioned.

If you want to explore more, I will suggest watching the videos from famous GS masters in KF2 such as Keetoxx[www.twitch.tv] and mike5879

Acknowledgements and Final words

A huge thanks to Simple Rabbit, this guide will never be completed without his big brain.

A special thanks to IceBeam for suggesting extra load-outs for the Gunslinger and pointing out the utility of Quick Draw over the Steady counterpart. (Please go to the comment section to read more)

KF-TestingMapRedux all credit to Fauxy_

Killing Floor 2 Wiki[wiki.killingfloor2.com]

Some Final words:

Gunslinger is arguably the all-rounder in KF2, capable of dealing every Zed Type with successive headshots. Coupled with the movement speed and Skull cracker (Headshot slow down zeds), Zeds can not even touch him before they get wrecked by the Dualies. A professional GS will be the DPS powerhouse of your whole team, dishing out absurd amount of damage especially during Zed Time. In the progress of levelling up Gunslinger, it feels like playing a Jigsaw puzzle. When you have completed the whole puzzle, you will notice how perfect and powerful GS is.

Here are my guides to other perks in KF2, check them out if you are free!

Commando

Sharpshooter

Support

SWAT

Medic

[krraaken]

guys remember the rhinos have the highest dps

[FIRE-POWER]

Sorry, I deleted your comments accidentally LOL

[FIRE-POWER]

@Skivin I am sorry to tell you that I am not a fan of paid DLC weapons. However, the already existing weapons are better than rhinos/glocks. Deagles is much better than rhinos in terms of killing big zeds, which is your responsibility. The recoil of glocks is way too high which makes it extremely challenging to take down big ones from medium to long range. Despite a single glock can kill trash/mediums effectively, I would rather prefer a single AF-2011 since it weights lighter and can 1-2 shot most trash and mediums

[majzerofive]

Like for the Pathfinder's part, everything else is completely useless to me.

[N4]

Clobber on GS? Why not 6-man offperk railguns at this point.

[FIRE-POWER]

@Spoke That's an interesting way to play GS on endless mode. Despite I seldom use the clobber, I will definitely give it a try. Thank you for suggesting a new option, appreciate it

[Spoke]

Well, more options is always better, gunslinger is versitile and powerful enough that i'd say letting 4 weight isn't a big deal. Why yes, you can outrun everything, you cannot outrun 3 qp and 4 charging fleshpounds without getting damaged and sometimes you have to on endless. There's also random moddifiers.

With that said i had succes with running either
Dual AF's +1, Deagle +1 and the clobber
Dual AF's, Magnum, Deagle and the cloober
Single AF +1, Deagle +1, Dual 1911's +1 with the clobber

I do agree that sometimes ammo becomes an issue on survival but that can be remedied, TTK is slightly longer which isn't an issue on endless games where kiting is the default and the clobber is very powerful offensivly in tight spaces when multiple small zeds corner you.

[FIRE-POWER]

@Spoke I personally do not prefer non-perk weapons since the perk passive bonuses are not applicable. IIRC, The haemo-clobber belongs to medic/zerk cross-perk weapon. The HM-TECH 101 pistol can provide healing to your teammate which is regarded as a perk weapon for GS. Most importantly, it only weighs 1 block, which can fit into many GS loadouts.

Like what Panda has said, the passive speed bonuses and the "skill cracker" skill (head-shot with perk weapons slow zeds down) minimize the possibility for GS to get hit. However, if you still want to use the haemo-clobber for endless gameplay mode. You have to give up either 1 upgrade or 1 single AF-2011s, which is an exceptional weapon for trash and medium zeds.

[Spoke]

Yes on gunslinger. Homoclobber provides healing and a self heal which is useful when there's no medic or on high number waves in endless. I'd like to know what would be the best to pair with it.

[Panda]

@Spoke - simple advice - don't use homoclobber on GS, he's the fastest, he doesn't need to block something since nothing can hit you.