The Dodo's Commando Guide

Hi, this guide was made long ago and has been updated until some issues in our lives came and that TWI (the devs) disappointed us. So, with the time, energy and will away, we decided not to continue updating our guides (It's maybe not permanent). That being said, some info are still relevant. Have a nice read if you do read the guide. Last update: 16 December 2017 on the [V1.057]

Introduction

Hello and welcome to my perk guide! Today, let's take a look at a perk that won't command anyone at all: the Commando.

Using Assault Rifles and high tech goggles, the Commando is the only class capable of seeing zed's health, extending Zed-Time (Slow-Motion), and allowing his teammates to see cloaked enemies; making him one of the most central perks in a well-communicated team.

Your job: Eliminate every low and medium zed that can disturb your teammates from dealing with the big ones. Even though you are capable of supporting your team with them if necessary, Scrakes and Fleshpounds are not your priority targets. Take advantage of your weapon's range, aim for the head, kill trash, and communicate with your team and you'll earn your title of Commando.

Perk Weapons

The Varmint Rifle

At the start of the game, you spawn with the AR-15 Varmint Rifle, which is a good Tier 1 weapon that will help you for the first few waves. This weapon may have a bit of recoil, but deals twice the amount of damage as the 9mm. Its enough to decap low zeds easily, but it requires more attention with medium zeds. Another problem with this weapon is it's iron sight. Its quite obstructive, which makes it very difficult to see while using ADS. So I recommend that you do not use it, unless your target is very very far away. Like most of the other Commando weapons, you can switch between two fire modes:

• Semi-Auto – Always pick this one
  
• Burst Fire – Will shoot 3 bullets instead of one but has the exact same rate of fire and recoil as the Semi-Auto fire mode. So it's absolutely useless and wastes too many bullets.

Fast Stats
Weight: 4
Price: 200
Damage: 30
Magazine Size: 20
Ammo Reserve: 240 (12 Mags)

The SA80 L85A2 3615 C3PO … or Bullpup

With the same amount of damage as the AR-15, the British Bullpup will be a great help thanks to a very low recoil, bigger magazine size, and faster rate of fire. Its a good weapon against low and medium zeds, and ho god, it has a real sight! The next weapon in the list may be difficult to use without the right skills, so if you're a low level, don't be afraid to keep the Bullpup until the last wave. The fire-modes of the Bullpup are:

• Single Fire – Good for trash
  
• Auto Fire – Good for medium zeds, such as Sirens and Husks.

Fast Stats
Weight: 6
Price: 650
Damage: 30
Magazine Size: 30
Ammo Reserve: 270 (9 Mags)

Kalashnikov AK-12

As an upgrade to the Bullpup, the AK deals more damage and has a faster fire-rate while in Burst-Fire mode, but his high recoil may disturb some of you. This weapon may be difficult to handle at low levels, but you'll find that at higher levels and with the right skills and practice, the AK-12 will become one of your favorite assault rifles. One of the big advantages of the AK-12 is his incredible Burst Fire mode. Its capable of quickly taking down medium zeds and can even be useful for decapping Scrakes, you won't want to do without it anymore. If you're on Auto Fire mode, don't hold Mouse 1, as you'll easily lose control of the weapon. Use short bursts of 1-3 shots instead. The Fire-modes are:

• Auto Fire – Ideal for groups of zeds
  
• Burst Fire – Lower recoil and higher rate of fire. Good for medium zeds or bigger ones if you have to.

Fast Stats
Weight: 6
Price: 1100
Damage: 40
Magazine Size: 30
Ammo Reserve: 300 (10 Mags)

Perk Weapons (Continued)

Theres only one step between the Commando and the Sharpshooter : The SCAR-H

The Scar-H may suffer from a small magazine size, but this is the only disadvantage of the weapon. Having the highest damage of the Commando's weaponry, low recoil, and a good rate of fire; this weapon is ideal for every type of zed. You can never go wrong buying this must-have masterpiece. As a Commando you shouldn't be engaging a lot of big zeds, but if you have to, this is the perfect weapon for the job. A skilled Commando can decap a 6p HoE Scrake with less than a single magazine with the right skills. The Fire-modes are:

• Single Fire – Ideal for single low and medium zeds
  
• Auto Fire – Ideal for Big zeds and for goup of zeds.

Fast Stats
Weight: 6
Price: 1500
Damage: 55
Magazine Size: 20
Ammo Reserve: 340 (17 Mags)

The Light Machine Gun

The Stoner 63A does the exact same damage as the AR-15 and Bullpup, making it among the weakest of the assault rifles, but compensates by having the largest magazine size in the game. Of course, being a light machine gun, the Stoner does have a huge recoil and shot spread, meaning you will have to be closer to your target, but it also has the highest rate of fire of all the assault rifles (besides the insanely fast burst-fire mode of the AK-12)! Its fast rate of fire allows it to have a higher DPS than the AK-12, Scar-H or 401 HMTech Assault Rifle. But the fact that it has a huge shot spread and recoil along with its low stumble power makes it a poor choice for killing big zeds, that's not its purpose. So you'll want a bigger damage dealer like the SCAR before purchasing this weapon.

We can easily compare this weapon to one of the SWAT's SMGs: low damage, high magazine size and high rate of fire. Ideal for good crowd control and to decimate small trash with ease; however, It eats up ammo for breakfast, and its not versatile enough to rely on for the whole match like the AK-12 or the SCAR-H. Compared to the AK-12, it will typically take an extra bullet to kill whatever trash you are shooting at. This might not sound that bad, but it makes gorefiends more likely to block its killing shot and stalkers taking 2 body shots instead of 1. These are just a few examples of the inconveniences that makes the Commando feel weaker than it should with this weapon. Furthermore, the cost of using this weapon is not trivial: It's expensive at 1500 dosh, it's high weight only allows you to carry 1 other assault rifle, it's ammo is expensive and you can only carry around 6 extra magazines, and it can only be fired in full-auto so you'll inevitably waste some ammo and end up paying for bullets that didn't earn you anything in return.

It behaves more like a T3 weapon than a T4; it can be seen as an upgrade to the Bullpup, but not to the AK-12. The previously mentioned issues of high price and ammo consumption, low accuracy and range, etc. makes this weapon suboptimal at the job Commandos should be doing: easily clearing trash at any range and assisting in the occasional big zed decap. Also, to make this weapon perform at its best, you have to take skills that you normally wouldn't with other loadouts that sacrifice your survivability (no extra health, no fast weapon switch). However, the Stoner does offer something new for the Commando perk, and that is good crowd control. The high magazine size and rate of fire will allow you to deal with large mobs longer than with the other assault rifles, but this job is still better left to perks that excel in CC such as a SWAT, Firebug, or even Demo. So if you already have one of these roles on your team, skip the Stoner in order to be more effective at your primary job, the Bullpup and the AK-12 are already pretty good for high-volume trash killing anyways.


Fast Stats
Weight: 9
Price: 1500
Damage: 30
Magazine Size: 75
Ammor Reserve: 500

High Explosive Grenade

The HE Grenade has the most explosive damage-type of all the grenades. They can destroy an entire group of low zeds or save the life of a mate surrounded by zeds. Don't worry, there is no friendly fire. But be very careful, they have a very short fuse time (1sec), so if you are running and you want to throw a grenade at your attackers behind you, don't throw it at your feet while running, you'll die. Instead turn around, throw it, and run. Also, don't throw a grenade to a Fleshpound if he's not raged. Even if you hit him with all 5 of your grenades, its not enough to kill a 6p HoE Fleshpound, and the consequences could be disastrous (More about that later). You can only carry a max of 5 of them, so throw them strategically.

Fast Stats
Explosion Damage: 300
Radius: 6,5 metters
Fuze Time: 1sec

Multiperk Weapons

Some weapons that are originally from another perk can benefit from the passive bonuses and skills of the Commando.
Using Mulitperk weapons will give you XP for the perk you're using, not for the original perk that weapon belongs to.

Want to make things go boom?

The M16 M203 is an assault rifle combined with a grenade launcher which is perfect for groups of zeds or helping with Fleshpounds. In terms of damage it's as powerful as the Bullpup and the Demolitionist's M79, but with a reduced explosion radius, a bit higher rate of fire, a lower recoil and the incapability to change between fire modes. The big cons of this weapon is his high (double) reload time and the very low number of ammunition. The fact that the Commando already has very powerfull grenades and that he's not a perk that should use explosives, I don't recommend that you use this weapon. Also, on multi, this weapon force you to use Tactical Reload (faster reload) and Prepared (carry more ammo) skills in order to use this weapon efficiently. While, with the other assault rilfes, you have the choice to take the skills you want and that follow your playstyle. However, on solo game, taking a M16 M203 can be a good choice. As you will be able to take down a Fleshpound before he gets a chance to strike back. All the passive bonuses and skills apply to the bullets of the M16 M203 of course, but also to his grenades.

The grenade of the M203 must travel a certain amount of distance to detonate. If the grenade doesn't travel that distance, it will still deal an impact damage, but the damage would be far higher if the grenade explode. Be carefull with the explosion, it can hurt you or kill you if you don't pay attention. One nice thing about the grenade is that it travels in a straight line unlike the M79 which allows you precisely land the grenade exactly where you want to.

Fast Stats
Weight: 6
Price: 1200
Assault Rifle
Damage: 30
Magazine Size: 30
Ammo Reserve: 210 (7 Mags)
Grenade Launcher
Explosive Damage: 225
Radius: 5 meters
Ammo Reserve: 11

Medic Assault Rifle

Comparable to the AK-12 in a lot of points, the 401HMTech Assault Rifle is by far the best Field-Medic weapon. And like all the other medic weapons, the alternative fire of this weapon shoots a healing dart. After making contact with a player, the dart will GRADUALLY heal a certain amount over time. It also means that you cannot change the fire modes of the 401 Assault Rifle. Even if this weapon is typically used much more for healing rather than shooting, it remains an excellent assault rifle to use as a Commando as it has the highest stumble power of all the assault rifles, as well as dealing the same amount of damage with a bit lower recoil and a faster rate of fire than the AK-12 in full-auto mode (the insanely fast burst-fire mode of the AK-12 is still faster of course)! Like the Kalashnikov, the recoil is still high, so I recommend that you use bursts of 1-3 shots. You will miss most of your shots if you just hold the Mouse 1 button.

Fast Stats
Weight: 7
Price: 1500
Damage: 40
Magazine Size: 30
Ammo Reserve: 390 (13 Mags)
Healing Darts
Dart Recharge: 3sec / Dart
Dart Capacity: 3.33

Experience and Skills

As a Commando, you earn XP by killing enemies with Commando weapons of course! You also earn extra XP by killing Stalkers with Commando weapons, and anytime a teammate kills a Stalker that is visible from your Call Out bonus (below).
Earn enough XP and you'll gain a level, which will upgrade the perk bonuses.

Passive Bonuses

Perk Weapon Damage (1% / Level) - 25% at Level 25
Cloaked Enemy and Health Bar (10 + 2m / Level) - 60m at Level 25
Zed Time Extention (1+1 sec / 5 Level) - 6sec at Level 25 (More about that in Tips and Info section)
Reload Speed (2% / 5 Level) - 10% at Level 25
Night Vision Capability - Hold your flashlight button to use your Night Vision.
Call Out Cloaked Zeds - Your teamates will be able to see every cloaked zed you can see.

Skills

Every Five Levels you unlock 2 new skills to choose from:
The left side of the skill tree allows you to reload and switch weapon faster as well as deal more damage,
while the right side allows you to carry more bullets and have bigger magazine size

Level 5

Tactical Reload
Increase reload speed with perk weapons

High Capacity Mags
Increase magazine capacity of perk weapons 50%

I recommend that you take Tactical Reload for the early waves, then switch to High Capacity Mags when you have all your weapons. That's what I always do. On the higher difficulties, larger magazines can be very useful, especially for Commando's Zed-Time extension bonus. However, if you're a low level and don't play on the higher difficulties, Tactical Reload can be a good choice for the whole game.

Level 10

Fallback
Increase damage with your 9mm pistol and knife by 110%, and increase weapon switching speed 50%

Impact Rounds
Increase stumble power for perk weapons 150%

Most of the time take Fallback. Having more damage for your 9mm and Knife is very helpful, especially in early waves; it makes them strong enough to get through the first couple waves on their own, plus it also works with dual 9mm. This is great for your economy and will get you your precious T3/T4 weapon that much faster. Plus the faster weapon switch speed is always welcome. Impact Rounds, however, is not that useful as it does almost nothing. If you hit a big zed or a Boss, they have a chance to do a stumble animation that only lasts 1-2 sec. Furthmore, as a trash killer, you won't need this skill. But, if for some reason you have to deal with big zeds often during a match, maybe Impact Rounds can give you the precious few extra seconds you need. But it shouldn't happen. I'll go into more detail about the Impact Rounds skill in the Let's Get Deeper section.

Level 15

Tenacious
Increase total Health and Armor 25 %

Prepared
Carry up to 20% more ammo for each perk weapon

Always take Tenacious and switch for Prepared for the Boss wave. More health and armor is a great thing to have to balance this perk's average movement speed. As long as you're not wasting ammo on walls or body shots, you're not gonna need any extra. Tenacious can be used for the Boss if you don't trust your medic for some reason, but as Commando, you should be keeping a large distance from the boss so you shouldn't need much healing anyways. Also note that if you take Tenacious for the first wave, you'll spawn with 25% armor. The extra 25 armor on Tenacious doesnt affect the overall price of buying full armor. Prepared Also affect the 9mm pistol(s)

Also, there is a technique that allows you to have both of these skills at the same time, but you'll have to be quick. During the trader time: Take the Prepared skill, buy your weapons and ammo, but not your armor yet since it will be more expensive. Then drop your weapons on the floor and change your skill to Tenacious. It's very important to drop your weapons before changing skills, otherwise the max ammo will be reset, then pick your weapons back up and buy your armor.

Level 20

Hollow Point Rounds
Increase damage of perk weapons 25% and reduce their recoil 50%

Eat Lead
Increase magazine capacity of perk weapons 100%

ALWAYS TAKE HOLLOW POINT ROUNDS. This skill is just amazing. All your perk weapons will be easier to control, and more powerful, which is helpful against medium zeds and allows you to kill a 6p HoE Scrake with one SCAR magazine should you need to. Eat Lead is not that useful, personal experience, and it is a bit overkill when combined with High Capacity Mags.

Level 25 This Skills affect Zed-Time (Slow-Motion)

Tactician
During Zed Time, you reload perk weapons at full speed and switch perk weapons twice as fast.

Machine Gunner
During Zed Time, you do 3% more damage with perk weapons and shoot 3x faster with all guns.

This is personal preference. Most of the time I take Tactician for the first waves and switch when I have all my weapons, which I recommend you do. Since the Commando can extend Zed-Time, its better to have Machine Gunner IMO since its easier to kill zeds quickly, but you can keep Tactician if you prefer, both are great. Also note that if you shoot 3x faster, your recoil will be higher too. The level 25 skills can also depend on your choice of level 5 skills. Take Tactician if you have Tactical Reload or take Machine Gunner if you have High Capacity Mags. I will get more in detail about that in the Let's Get Deeper section. These 2 skills also affect the 9mm pistol(s)

Recommended Loadouts

Here are my recommended Loadouts, as the title says, with the appropriate skills and weapon choices.

The Commando

Skills
Right - High Capacity Mags
Left - Fallback
Left - Tenacious
Left - Hollow Point Rounds
Right - Machine Gunner

Weapons
Scar-H
AK-12
101 Medic Pistol or Katana

Use the Scar-H for single zeds and big zeds and use the AK-12 for groups of zeds. If you have everything you need and still have some extra dosh, take a Medic pistol. At only 1kg and 200 dosh, this little pistol can save your team's life. But if your medic is doing a good job and you prefer a little more protection, take a Katana so that you can Block and Parry to reduce the damage you take, especially from big zeds. I know there is enough space for it, but I highly suggest that you don't take a 201-Medic SMG, the cheaper 101-Medic Pistol heals the same and you shouldn't be using these for attacking anyways.
''Should I take dual 9mm"? Hmm, good question dude. Personally, I never take it. I don't find it that useful, you'll be fine with only one. Besides, purchasing assault rifles should be your first priority. And on later waves, taking a Katana or just carrying less weight for the faster move speed are better choices, as you won't use your 9mm that much. Also note that buying dual 9mm won't give you more ammo in reserve.

The Secret Medic

Skills
Right - High Capacity Mags
Left - Fallback
Left - Tenacious
Left - Hollow Point Rounds
Right - Machine Gunner

Weapons
Scar-H / AK-12
401HMTech Assault Rifle

Compared to The Commando, you'll have a stronger stumble power but less free slots. The high stumble power of the Medic AR makes solo Scrake takedowns very possible even without Impact Rounds, and even easier if you do take that skill since you can stumble twice in one mag, but again, this is not your job and you shouldn't attempt this unless you are confident in your ability since if you fail, you will probably die and the rest of your team will have to deal with a raged Scrake. Due to the high weight of the 401HMTech Assault Rifle, you won't be able to take a Katana, and the 2 free slots you do have won't be very useful. Taking a 101HMTech Medic Pistol is redundant since you already have the highest healing machine, and taking a Desert Eagle can be a helpful sidearm for emergencies, but I really don't think you'll use it much. Also this is a very expensive loadout. You are looking at 2600 Dosh if you go with the AK12, and 3000 Dosh if you go with the Scar-H, so you won't be able to have this final loadout until the later waves.

Some prefer to take an AK-12 instead of a Scar-H, due to the fact it deals more damage per mag than the Scar. And I understand that. But personally, I prefer to stick with the Scar. For me, the AK and the 401 are almost the same weapon. So I prefer having 2 different weapons in order to be sure to be able to deal with any situations, but that's only my preference. Benji2290, on the other hand, prefers taking the AK12. Both are equally viable in high level play and it really comes down to your preference and what you are more comfortable with. Do you prefer more damage per bullet + More ammo? Take the Scar-H. Or do you prefer more damage per mag? Then take the AK-12.

Light Machine Gunner

Skills
Right - High Capacity Mags
Left/Right - Fallback / Impact Rounds
Right - Prepared
Leur - Hollow Point Rounds
Right - Machine Gunner

Weapons
Stoner 63A LMG
Scar-H or AK-12

This isn't a loadout you should always take. While I find The Commando and The Secret Medic loadouts better, this one can work just fine if you don't already have a crowd control in your squad, and your team is well coordinated.

The Stoner 63A LMG will allow you to kill trash as fast as the SWAT perk and capable of taking down big zeds too, but only if you're accurate enough and in good range. Indeed, the recoil will be very high and you'll also have less health and armor than The Commando loadout, so you'll need to be very focused and careful when playing this way. When using this loadout, you won't often switch weapons, so maybe Impact Rounds is good choice since it will allow you to stumble medium and big zeds easier. But Fallback is great too because it will allow you to switch to your healing syringe and heal yourself faster, so this choice is up to your personal preference. Also when using this loadout, I suggest that you always aim with your sights. Aiming will reduce your recoil and you really need it.

Of course you can use the technique I told you on the Experience and Skills section that allows you to have both of the Tenacious and Prepared skills at the same time. But I decided to write taking Prepared because this is very important.

As said previously on other recommended loadouts, some prefer to take an AK-12 instead of a Scar-H, due to the fact it deals more damage per mag than the Scar. So the choice of the AK-12 or Scar-H will depend of your personal preference.


Your loadout will depend of the situation. Does the team need a better crowd control? Take The Machine Gunner! Do you need more self-protection? Take The Commando! You don't need any of this, but your team could benefit from a little more healing? Take The Secret Medic!

Recommended Loadouts (Continued)

On Solo

Skills
Left - Tactical Reload
Left - Fallback
Left - Tenacious
Left - Hollow Point Rounds
Left - Tactician

Weapons
Scar-H
M16 M203
Katana

Even if I don't recommend the M16 M203 on multiplayer, it's a great weapon to use on solo matches. Powerful enough to deal with low and medium zeds, this weapon also provide a grenade launcher which is ideal against a group of zeds, siren(s) or Fleshpound(s). If you face a Fleshpound, throw a HE Grenade and a M203 grenade right after that. These two grenades should explode at the same time, and then, finish him with another M203 grenade. With this technique, even a Hell on Earth Fleshpound should be dead before making contact with you. Also, never buy a 401 HMTech Assault Rifle on solo. You need extra space for a Katana so that you can block and parry to reduce the damage you take, especially from big zeds, since you won't have a medic to heal you.

On solo, I found the Tactician skill better than Machine Gunner. Firstly, you don't have an extended magazine, so Tactician + Tactical reload is a great combo. Second, you'll always have low zeds around you on solo, so you don't need faster rate of fire to extend your Zed-Time. Lastly, you don't even really need to extend your Zed-Time. Extending the Zed-Time is great for helping your teamates but it's not a big deal for you. Of course, it will help you but it doesn't matter if your zed-time last 3 sec instead of 20. On Multi however, it does matter.

Against The Boss

Skills
Right - High Capacity Mags
Left - Fallback
Right - Prepared
Left - Hollow Point Rounds
Right - Machine Gunner

Weapons
Scar-H
AK-12
Katana

During the Boss wave, your job is killing trash, again. While everyone is shooting the Boss, you'll be killing trash. To do that, I suggest you to use your AK-12 for trash and to use your Scar-H on the Boss IF and only IF their is no trash around. Also, your Call Out ability will allow you and your team to see the Partriarch when hes cloaked.

I don't recommend you to take the 401HMTech Assault Rifle as you won't be able to take a Katana and that Stumble power doesn't really matter agaisnt the Bosses, as they have huge resistance to that. Also, you should already have a dedicated medic for the boss, so you shouldn't need the healing capability of the 401.

I found the Prepared skill (more ammo) much better against the Boss as it can take a lot of ammo to take him down. Also, since you don't do a lot of damage compared to other clases, you should be focusing on trash and keeping a large distance from the boss and therefore not taking much damage, so you won't need the extra health and armor from Tenacious. But still, If you're not confident, you can keep Tenacious if you want. And if you're facing the Boss on solo, you defently need Tenacious. You should have enought bullets to take him down anyway.

Tips and Info

Before Getting Deeper into the Commando, here are some tips and information I want to share with you:

• What to do during the Zed-Time:
  • As a Commando, it's passive bonus description says that you'll be able to extend Zed-Time every time you kill a zed during the Zed-Time, BUT thats not really the case. You don't extend it, you RESET it. When it says that you extend Zed-Time by (x)sec. That number is not the number of seconds you can extend Zed-Time, it represents the number of TIMES you can reset Zed-Time. In order to not confuse you with that, I'll explain exactly why it says "Zed-Time Extention - (x)sec" later.
    
  • I'll try to make it clearer: Every Zed-Time lasts 3sec. Every time you kill a zed, the Zed-Time will be reset and lasts 3sec again. If you're level 25, it says ''Zed-Time Extention – 6sec''. BUT you don't extend Z-Time by 6sec, instead, you're able to reset Z-Time 6 times.
    So, every time you kill a zed during Z-Time, it will reset the 3sec timer, and you can do that 6 times as a level 25.
    
  • If you kill a zed 1sec after the Z-Time begins, the 2sec remaining of the Z-Time is not added to the Z-Time, that time is lost as the timer is now reset. Again, the Zed-Time always lasts 3sec, it can be reset, but not extended.
    
  • So for the best efficiency, try to kill a trash zed every 3 seconds to create the longest possible Zed-Time for you and your team. If you're level 25 (can reset Z-Time 6 times) but only kill a trash zed every 1 sec, the total Zed-Time will be 9sec, but if you kill a trash zed every 3sec, the total Zed-Time will be 21sec.
    
  • By doing this, you're allowing your team to take advantage of their Zed-Time skills at the maximum potential. This can be difficult to actually execute in practice, especially if you are new. But it is one of the most important roles of a Commando, and it is an advanced technique that is very worth getting the hang of, especially on the higher difficulties.
    
  • When it says "Zed-Time Extention - 6sec" its simply because a Zed-Time lasts 3sec in slomo but truly lasts 1sec in the real world. So if you extend the Zed-Time by 3sec 6 times, it will last 18sec in Zed-Time but only 6sec in the real world.
• Reload Faster: You may have noticed on your HUD that your weapons are reloaded before the actual reload animation is finished. There are ways to begin shooting before this animation completes which can save a lot of time. Melee bashing or switching weapons are common ways that can sometimes speed this up, but there is a more advanced trick that is even faster. To do this, hold Shoot (Mouse 1 by default), and when you see the number of bullets in your magazine refill, press Bash (V by default). This will cause your gun to fire instead of bashing, which immediately cancels the rest of the reload animation. Its difficult to get the hang of doing this, and if you do it too early, you have to completely restart the reload again which wastes a lot of time. But if you can get in the habit, it saves a significant amount of time and is immensely useful.
  
• With your Call Out Ability, your teammates will be able see Cloaked Enemies, but they won't be able to see Zed's health bars. So be sure to tell to your mates if a big zed is low health

Recurrents Tips you might see in other Perk Guides I've done:

• Communication is the key to victory. You don't need to say much, just a few words or letters to bring awareness to your team of a danger or your current situation. This can help prevent your team from being attacked by surprise by a threat that only you saw coming. You can write:
  • Sc for incoming Scrake
    
  • Fp for incoming Fleshpound
    
  • no amo when you're Out of Ammo
  or use the quick chat menu (Z button by default) which will bring up some suggestions. Just use your mouse to select the one you want, it takes only 1 sec and can save your team's life.
  
• Its not advisable to deal with the big zeds alone unless you ABSOLUTELY have to. Wait for your team to be ready before engaging. If you try to kill them before your team is ready, you'll have raged a monster that will decimate your team by surprise. So, inform your team of the incoming threat, make sure everyone is ready, and then fire together. GG ez win.
  
• Crouching will decrease the recoil.
  
• Healing decreases damage and duration of fire DOT by half.
  
• Losing Health will slow your movement speed at a linear rate, up to 15%.
  
• Carrying more weight will slow your movement speed, 0.533% per weight block up to 8%.
  
• Be very careful where you weld. Sometimes it doesn't help at all and will only make things worse. Remember that zeds can teleport, so don't weld a door unless you're absolutely sure that it will help your team survive and that its not a door that could provide an escape if things get messy
  
• If one or more of your teammates are dead, leave the last zed alive (preferably a low zed if you can). Grab their weapon, throw it at the trader, and repeat for all dropped weapons, but be careful, a weapon can only stay on the floor for 5 minutes before disappearing. You can reset the timer by picking up and throwing the weapon, even if it is at the same place.
  
• Healing a teammate with your own healing Syringe will recharge your Syringe twice as fast.
  
• Don't forget to share your money. If you have all your weapons, munitions, grenades and armor, you won't need money anymore, give it to your teammates. In a way, that will help you survive.

Let's Get Deeper

This section is for more advanced players (Level 25 – Playing Hell on Earth)

Tactician

If you know how to use the reload cancel technique I described in the Tips and Info section, the Tactician skill (reload in near real-time) is definitely worth it even if you don't have Tactical Reload (reload faster). This is because it allows you to extend Zed-Time, reload, and shoot again in time before your Zed-Time extension ends. But be careful, once you've finished your reload trick you have a very very small amount of time before killing an enemy. So, I suggest that you reload right after killing a zed and to be sure that you can kill a trash right after that reload. This technique is very risky and it won't work with the Stoner 63A LMG, since the reload time is too high for that. You'll need a bit of practice in order to use it properly. So if you're not confident, you can just keep your combo Tactical Reload - Tactician or High Capacity Mags - Machine Gunner.

Eat Lead when spawning

I know that some people prefer the Eat Lead skill (+100% Magazine Size) when spawning because the AR-15 is powerful enough to decap low zeds in one shot, but I don't recommend this because without Hollow Point Rounds, you can't decap Gorefasts in one headshot. And if you don't kill a Gorefast in one shot, there is a high chance that he will do his annoying block animation.

Impact Rounds

This skill increases the stumble power of Commando weapons by 150%. This will allow you to stumble Bosses, Scrakes, Husks, and Bloats, that you otherwise wouldn't be able to stumble without this skill. Except for the 401HMTech Assault Rifle, which has the highest stumble power of all the Assault Rifle. It's the only one that can stumble a target without this skill.

• To stumble, you'll need to shoot between 20 and 30 bullets in quick succession to the head or body of these zeds. So if you shoot your 20-30 bullets at a rate of 1 bullet per sec for example, it won't stumble anyone. You'll need to spam (if Semi-Auto or Burst) or hold (if Auto) your Mouse 1 button if you want to stumble a zed.
  
• For Husks, if you shoot at his head or backpack, he'll be dead before he gets a chance to do a stumble animation. So you're gonna need to hit his body to force him to do a stumble animation, same goes for bloats.
  
• A Scrake will do a stumble animation after shooting him with between 20 and 30 bullets. Stumbling a Scrake twice with anything other than the Medic AR is almost impossible, as he'll probably be dead before that happens.
  
• You'll have to use almost 2 full magazines between Boss stumbles.

As you can see, there are some benefits to using Impact Rounds, but as mentioned earlier in the guide, it's not hugely useful, and Fallback will generally be a better pick.

Thanks

Thank you for reading my Commando Perk Guide, I hope it was helpful. Let me know if there is something wrong in my Guide, or if I forgot something … I'll keep this guide updated as much as I can and I'll do another Perk Guide as soon as possible. If you like it and want to see more, their is my other Killing Floor 2 Guides

Perk Guides

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=792324879
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=804325801
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=807727513
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=874275491
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=885497234

Other Killing Floor 2 Guides

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=818253017

I'm not the creator of this guide, I'm simply a contributor, but it's a guide that have similarities with the Dodo's Guide and that can still help you, so I link it.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=740897435

Want to know all the stats their is to know about Killing Floor 2 ? Check this site
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=430466813

Updates

(Day/Month/Year)

22/11/2016: Guide Released / Added clarification about the term ''Zed-Time Extention (x)sec" in the Tips and Info section.

24/11/2016: Fix wrong stats about the relaod speed passiv bonusse - it's 2% per 5 Level, not per Level as I wrote it :)

27/02/2017: Updated for the 1.050 version.

Commando Changes:

• New Multiperk Weapons: M16 M203 and HMTech 401 - Medic Assault Rifle
  
• Prepared skill: Now also affect 9mm pistol(s)
  
• The 2 Level 25 skills now also affect the 9mm pistol(s)

Guide Changes:

• New section: Multiperk Weapons
  
• New Aesthetic of the Fast Stats + Added Reserve Ammo
  
• New Aesthetic of the Skills in Experience and skills
  
• New Recommended Loadouts: The Secret Medic and On Solo
  
• Change of the Recommended Loadout: Against the Boss

21/03/2017: Change the image of the M16 M203 in Multiperk Weapons

05/04/2017: Updated for the 1.052 version.

Commando Changes:

• New Perk Weapon: Stoner 63A LMG

Guide Changes:

• New Let's Get Deeper discution: Stoner 63A LMG Loadout

10/07/2017:

Commando Changes:

• Stoner Damage: 30 (was 25)
  
• Scar-H Damage: 55 (was 50)

Guide Changes:

• Rewritte the Stoner section
  
• Deleted the Light Machine Gunner loadout in the Let's Get Deeper section
  
• Added the Light Machine Gunner loadout in the Recommeded Loadouts section. It's no longer a loadout for pro players. Now, it's a viable loadout for everyone.

[Coco]

benji said it all Still seeing this type of comment after so many years feels so good and brings back fun memories of long debat and sharing with the community, trying to get the best of the guns, finding most optimal plays and loadouts, learning what others found and stuff... as well as writting our thoughts about all that with benji. It was hard to stop all that, but if some still have memories of those days, damn what at warm feeling. Cheers

[benji2290]

@Aesthetic Shrine Thanks for the kind words! While I don't play as much as I used to, I have fond memories of studying this game with Coco and sharing our findings with others. Comments like yours, especially years after we stopped writing, really hit me in the feels. Happy gaming, friend. Cheers!

[Bring Me Back]

I saw this guide pop up in my feed, just wanted to say thanks for helping me getting started when I first played this game back in 2017. All of your guides have been a huge help and even tho support has been discontinued, your advice has stuck with me since I first read literally every single perk guide haha.

Cheers mate.

[Coco]

Ho, my guides are older than I thought XD
The FN FAL wasn't introduced in the game at the time and I stopped updating these guides long ago

From what I remember about the FN FAL -in the context of me not really playing the game anymore and updates being added I barely read- it's a good weapon. It rocks as Sharpshooter, that's for sure, but what I'm not sure if it's that good on Commando because of the huge recoil and the SCAR-H being a thing

Yeah it's a good weapon and I don't think you shoot yourself in the foot by playing with it. It just might not be the most optimal strat if this is what you're looking for. Just have to be aware of the recoil, especially with its poor ammo capacity and its weight that doesn't really let you upgrade it without sacrificing the HMTech 401. Keep this weapon for Big Zeds of course and if you struggle, the SCAR-H is more forgiving. Yes, less damage, but better accuracy, way more ammo and less weight

[MrDeun]

wait... what about FAL?

[Ariel]

I'm very tankful for this guide. I can finally understand some of the mechanics of the commando perks... Thank you very much :)

[FlangEG]

I find the that switching the solo layouts work better. M16 grenades explode at impact taking only a few to destroy shield, crucial against Dr. Volter and the Patriarch.

[Coco]

I know you said it's your last comment, but don't hesitate to ask questions here, in other guides, on my profile comment section, or even add me as a friend if you think it will be a long discution

And thanks for your support :)

[Coco]

I'll do some mutli games and make my own opinion

[Bee O D]

Alright, thanks for answering man. Hope things get better.

In my experience when a new update drops in any game a bunch of people will start saying how it's now "ruined" and "dead". But seriously if you play it before and after the summer update I can barely notice a difference.
My point being don't listen to the majority of whining fourm dwellers. Play the game, and if the simple change of being able to upgrade you're weapons to Tier 5 really does ruin it for you then fine. But don't just quit on account on other people quitting.

Last comment lol

Good luck