Killing Floor - How to do it solo

Killing Floor is a lot of fun with others, but sometimes you feel like going on a killing spree yourself, in this guide I'll try to explain how to play solo from Beginner to Hell on Earth.

Intro

Killing Floor can be a lot of fun even if you play alone, but it is slightly harder as you have no backup and every specimen will be going after you alone.

Please keep in mind that this guide is about how I prefer to play solo games, you're free to post tips in the comments, I won't mind adding some things to this guide to make it a more universal approach at teaching players how to play solo.

The Perks

Here I'll show you which perks to use in what waves (on a long game, thus 10 waves), please keep in mind that I will mostly talk about level 6 perks, if you plan to play on lower difficulties you don't need to be level 6, a level 4 Berserker can still wreak some serious havoc!

Wave 1
Field Medic

I always play the first wave as a Medic, because at level 5 or 6 you spawn with free combat armor which you keep if you switch perks later on.
In the first wave you will only face Clots, Gorefasts and Bloats, neither of those are a serious threat so you shouldn't have trouble taking them out as a medic without losing too much of your combat armor, especially on level 6 as you will resist 75% of all incoming damage with armor and you'll aslo resist 75% of the damage from Bloat bile.
(If you're a level 6 Berserker and plan to play on hard or below, it is not needed to start as e Medic, as you will spawn with armor on those difficulties.)
For more info on the Medic, head over to the KF wiki![kf-wiki.com]

Option 2

Sharpshooter

If your Medic/Firebug Perk isn't high enough, go Sharpshooter, no matter what level you are you will always get a damage, firerate and reload-speed bonus on the default 9mm pistol you spawn with.
Keep in mind that on higher difficulties specimens get more health, so the 9mm will be less effective, the last thing to remember as a Sharpshooter is that every specimen has a seperate head-hp counter, meaning you can remove the head so that they can no longer use special abbilities (Fleshpound Rage, Bloat Puking, you get the idea) and they will rapidly lose HP.
For more info on the Sharpshooter, head over to the KF wiki![kf-wiki.com]







Wave 2 - 10
Berserker
The Berserker is in my opinion the best perk for playing solo, no matter what level you are you can't get grabbed by Clots so the first few waves are pretty easy if you deal with Crawlers and Stalkers in time.
The Berserker also has a movement speed bonus, on level 6 you are 30% faster if you're holding a melee weapon, so you can easily outrun most specimens and stay out of harm (Keep in mind that Gorefasts, Scrakes and Fleshpounds are always faster than you if they rage).
Melee weapons are the Berserker's speciality, but I would higly advice to take a firearm with you as well to take out Crawlers, Sirens and Husks, the best option is the Lever Action Rifle (in my opinion).

Playing as a Berserker also allows you to live longer, on level 6 you will have 40% resistance to ALL damage and 80% resistance to Bloat bile, making you pretty much immune to it.
The last benefit you get as a Zerker is Zed-Time extentions, if you manage to kill a zed while in slow-motion you will extend the slow-mo time, up to 4 times. (if you're level 6)
For more info on the Berserker, head over to the KF wiki![kf-wiki.com]



Wave 11 (Patriarch)
Demolitions
As a Demo you can deal a lot of damage in a small amount of time, prefect for the Patriarch!

If you're level 6, you can carry 8 Pipe-Bombs, which is the Demo's umtimate tool of destruction, it is given that a Demo also gets extra explosive damage and resistance (On level 6, you deal 60% extra damage with explosives, and you have a 55% resistance to them)
For more info on the Demo, head over to the KF wiki![kf-wiki.com]

Tactics

Here I'll show you how I manage to stay alive and what you should and should not do while playing solo.

Once again, this is how I do it, there are other tactics you can use, if you know a good one feel free to post it in the comments below!

Kiting!
The most important thing to do while playing solo is staying mobile as you can easily get swarmed.
Kiting refers to running around the map and slowly picking off specimens, playing solo requires patience as you need to take your time, haste kills!
Kiting is more easy as a Berserker because of your speed and the fact that you can't be grabbed by clots.

What I usually do is run the same path over and over again while the specimens gather behind me, once you're sure they're all chasing you take short pauses and kill some trash zeds or more dangerous targets like Husks and Sirens if you have the time, then start running again to build some distance.

And last, do not take shortcuts from that path you've been following, otherwise you might just run into that mob that was chasing you.

HEAL WHENEVER YOU CAN, on lower difficulties you won't die that quickly, but on Suicidal and Hell on Earth the difference between 90 and 100 HP can mean the difference between life and death, full health gives you a few more seconds to get out of icky situations.

ONLY go for boss zeds (Scrakes and Fleshpounds) if you have the time and space to take them out, if a scrake is surrouned by trash zeds or even one siren don't go for him yet, since you can only focus on said scrake for a few seconds.

DON'T spam grenades if you see a large mob behind you, it may be very tempting but grenades are expensive and you might risk raging a Scrake or Fleshpound, which will allow them to quickly catch up with you and tear you to bits.

Prioritize Targets
Since you'll mostly be relying on melee weapons, specimens with ranged attacks form a real danger, take them out as soon as you can, in the loadouts section I'll show you how to do this.

Lay traps for the Patriarch!
You should have a decent amount of Dosh if you didn't waste too much on grenades and ammo, stay close to the trader and buy the M32 and Pipe-Bombs, then put down pipe-bombs at every possilbe entrance point for the Patriarch (The amount depends on the difficulty you're playing on, on Suicidal and Hell on Earth is use about 4-5 per entrance, but on normal 2 will do the trick most of the time.).
When you've thrown all your pipebombs down run back to the trader and buy as much as you can again (this is why I reccomended staying close to her), in the ideal situation you'll have 4-5 pipes in every possible entrance point.

Stay out of the Patriarch's sight!
There is nothing as annoying as getting blown up by your own pipes, if the Patriarch sees you too early hell either shoot you or shoot a rocket at you, causing every nearby pipe-bomb to detonate and thus ruin your traps and possible kill you too.
Shut the doors (dont weld them) and stay away from windows, make sure that the Patriarch can only see you when it's already too late for him.

Loadouts

Here I'll show you what tools of death and destruction to bring to the party, some of these weapons are DLC only and I'll provide you with an alternative.

Wave 1
You will always spawn with the pistol and knife, if you're a level 5 Medic you'll have armor too, and if you're level 6 you will get an MP7M, enough to take on the first wave.

Alternatively, if you aren't a high level Medic/Firebug, spawn as a Sharpshooter for the bonus stats on the 9mm pistol.

Wave 2
Switch to Berserker and sell the MP7M, then buy an Axe if you're a low level Berserker or a Katana if you're a high level Berserker and can afford it.

Wave 3
Keep the Katana or Axe, and buy the Lever Action Rifle, this is a great weapon to take out Crawlers, Sirens (on lower difficulties) and Husks.
If your armor is gone, don't re-buy it, you can survive well enough without it as a berserker.

If you own the First Community Weapon Pack DLC you should be able to buy a Scythe if you sell the Axe/Katana, I would reccomend giving it a try, the Scythe is very powerful and can stun Scrakes which comes in handy. (So can the Axe, but it does less damage.)

Wave 4
Refill your Lever action ammo if needed, but otherwise don't buy anything.

Wave 5
If you can afford/carry it, sell the Lever Action Rifle and buy a Crossbow, the advantage with this weapon is that you can recover bolts and it does a lot of damage if you manage to make a headshot, however, on Suicidal and Hell on Earth it is less effective.

If you own the First Community Weapon Pack DLC you can buy the Buzzsaw Bow if you saved enough, this is the weapon I use to take out Scrakes, Fleshpounds and occasionally a Siren or Husk if I'm in a tight spot, the great thing about this weapon is that you do a lot more damage with it because it's a Berserker weapon after all, and you can spot the recoverable saws easily unlike the Crossbow Bolts.

Wave 6
Buy nothing, unless you ran out of ammo for the weapon you're rolling with.

Alternative: sell your melee weapon and buy a Claymore Sword, this is your best option for raw damage if you don't have the Scythe available.

Wave 7
Same as wave 6, if you aren't sure you'll survive Fleshpound and Scrake attacks buy Combat Armor

Wave 8
Replenish ammo/repair vest if needed, but otherwise try to save up dosh.

Wave 9
Another save as much money as you can wave.

Wave 10
Refill/repair if needed.

Wave 11 (Patriarch)
Sell everything you own and swith to Demolitions, buy the M32 and Pipe-Bombs, follow my advice from the Tactics section and stay close to the trader, if you can buy even more pipes after you've thrown down the first batch.
Don't waste money on Combat armor if your traps are set, if that's not the case, buy armor again.

Videos

Here's a video of a short game on Hell on Earth difficulty, this gameplay is not flawless of course.

Patriarch on HoE (part 2 of the pervious video)

Conclusion & Contributors

I hope this guide will help you on your lone adventures!

Again, if you have tips, advice or constructive critisism, don't hesitate to share! I won't mind at all to make some additons to the guide.

And lastly, sorry if my english was odd in some sentences, it's not my native language :)

Did this guide help? please give it a thumbs up, it'll be greatly appreciated!

Thanks to Aster and // Interceptor // 桜 for the tip on not welding the doors in th Patriarch wave to prevent the pipes from blowing up if the Patriarch shoots the door.

[blueyandicy]

hahahaha im so sorry LOL i just was reading this and wanted to comment

[Shonkawakan]

A great part of skills can be recovered pretty fast, in case you'd want to try:).

[Tasi]

Did not expect to go back 8 years in time when I got a notification

At this point I'd need to relearn the entire game I'm afraid.

[blueyandicy]

he never updated it :(

[Tasi]

To be honest, I've switched to other means of taking Fleshpounds out, it takes longer but is less dangerous, I'll update the guide when I can :)

[Shonkawakan]

This game needs to be utterly defeated on all difficulties and have released all those achievements it dishonestly withholds :). So any tips on how it can be done will come in handy.
PS Beat the Wyre, long, on suicide, by zerker, right after having read you guide. Almost all FPs killed by 3 or 4th blade shot point blank in the face right when they were busy tearing me apart. I'm bad on learning useful things(.

[Tasi]

Thanks for the feedback/tips, I've also been discovering new ways to solo and I'll update the guide soon ^^

[Shonkawakan]

About tips: Patriarchs die just fine on suicide and HOE after 3-5 headshots from a crossbow if you play sniper or a buzzsaw bow if you play zerker. You just need to shoot with maximum speed, not miss and be lucky that time. No harder than to headshot an average FP from the right distance.
BSB is also good to one shot husks or kill scrakes and FPs with 2-3 precise headshots. Or to quickly clear the trash mobs off your way when you breaking through(or just cut down dozens of them in no time anytime you need them to die fast), or to save your life when you've just killed a couple FPs in close quarters, got less than 50 hp and can't see shit because of bile or blood visual effects. IF you're lucky enough this time)).

[Shonkawakan]

Nice guide. Thanx for reminding about a couple of good rules i still tend to break when it gets too boring and mostly pay with my char's life for it).
Tactics you describe are what i'm getting to lately, as i find little interest now to play my lvl6 sharp and zerker on normal or even hard. But for me now it still feels like the game's well protected from its succesful usage, as it seems next to impossible to find a perfect point to start from, way and pace on most maps to get all mobs behind without a couple of break-thru-the-big-crowd moments, taking out your armor and nerve. And then come FPs, getting raged for no reason, refusing to get pushed back far enough by the dwarfs axe or just not dying until they kill you. That why it mostly leads to a bad ending for me on the 7-10th wave on suicide and HOE.

[Dr Trager]

Loadout alternatives:
Flare revolver (swap with LAR) weighs 2 blocks, can 1 shot crawlers and 1 or 2 shot sirens (with afterburn) The burn damage is also great for slowing killing a FP from a distance. If using the LAR, you can simply headshot the FP once every 2 seconds. LAR headshots offperk wont rage the FP.
I consider the katana a must for trash, but try killing crawlers at range for the most part.
This leaves room for 1 more weapon of choice. The scythe is nice, but offers little utility. The dwarfs axe can also stun scrakes, and the knockback effect is useful against raging fleshpounds. The Zed eradication device MKII can stun scrakes and FP's with alternate fire, the primary fire is also useful against trash. The Sealsqueal harpoon gun has a high headshot multiplier. 1 headshot and 2 or 3 grenades should be enough to insta-kill a FP on solo, even offperk. Hope this helps :)