The Killing Floor franchise has always had a bit of a cult following. With Killing Floor 3 out now players may be jumping into the series for the first time. Even if you are a veteran of the series you may need a refesher. So with that said, here is a beginner’s guide for Killing Floor 3 to give you some tips to survive the waves of Zed’s.
Killing Floor 3 is an up to 6 player co-op horde mode game. While you can play the game solo, it really shines when you have a group to slay the Zed’s with. Unlike previous games in the series where you can choose how many waves you want to fight, Killing Floor 3 sticks with the same everytime. 5 waves of regular Zed’s followed by a final boss wave.
Inbetween each wave players will have an opportunity to stock up on ammo and armor and purchase new weapons if they so choose using the money (dosh in Killing Floor 3) they have earned during the waves up to that point. Since the waves get more difficult it only makes sense to want to maximize your arsenal heading into them.
Aim For The Head
The single most important tip we can give you is to try and get as many headshots as possible, especially on the basic Zed’s. That may seem like a given if you are used to playing shooters, but in Killing Floor 3 it is extra important. Not only do headshots typically cause the most damage, but each kill with a headshot increases the Zed Time meter.
What is Zed Time you ask? Once the Zed Time meter is full the game will significantly slow down for a moment, giving you the perfect opportunity to rack up some easy headshots and damage in general.
Find The Glow
When it comes to the bigger enemies you will want to continue to focus on headshots of course, but their weakspots are actually where they are glowing. Take the fleshpound for instance. If you can shoot it in its glowing chest or the core it has in it’s back it can be just as effective as getting a headshot.
Considering these types of Zed’s take much more damage to kill, it may be beneficial for you to do so as aiming for the chest of a hulking enemy can give you more leeway on your aiming.
Multi-Tool Kit Is Your Best Friend
Whether you are playing with a group or playing solo, the multi-tool kit is likely the most important tool you can carry in the game. The multi-tool kit is used to activate turrets, ziplines and armor lockers. All 3 of these things can be vital to your teams survival in each wave.
Now it should be noted that if you are playing in a pretty full squad you may not need to carry a multi-tool kit. There are only so many things that can be activated at once and they all have a cooldown effect that will likely last longer than the wave anyway. So if you see a few squad members using multi-tool kits, it might be better to carry an ammo or syringe kit instead to help the team that way.
Find Your Playstyle Quickly
Killing Floor 3 features 6 different classes for you to use. The Commando, Firebug, Engineer, Sharpshooter, Ninja and Medic classes. While each one plays a bit differently and it can be fun to use them all, we recommend finding the one you like best and sticking with it for the most part.
This is due to the games levelling system. Each class levels separately from the rest and your perks and upgrades are locked to that specific class. So if you play the Commando class constantly you may have a really strong character within that class, where as your medic character may still be a level 1 or 2 and not very well equipped for battle.
Having said all of that, if you see a lobby full of 6 commandos you may want to change classes for at least that match. The good thing however is that you can still purchase the guns from each class inbetween waves. So you could still stick with the commando class in our example and then purchase say a medic weapon to help with some healing. You just won’t have the skill of the medic.
Find The Best Spots On Each Map
The single best piece of advice we can give for strategy is to try and find the best spots on each map to work together as a team and keep you out of danger as much as possible. As we mentioned above with the multi-tool kit, the turret’s scattered about are your best friends a lot of the time, and are usually setup in spots that are best for surviving. They do eventually have a cooldown so it's a good idea to know where a few of them are.
Finding a fairly open area where there’s not a lot of areas the Zed’s can come at you from is a good strategy to have. The tiny corridors and rooms can have you easily trapped and you want to be able to get out of dodge if things get dicey. Plus if you happen to get downed your teammates will have a much easier time getting to you if you aren’t trapped in said corridor.
Stick Together
Lastly, as is the case with pretty much any PvE game, the best plan is to always stick together with your teammates. Hopefully you are all communicating and can find those areas mentioned above together, but if all else fails, do your best to remain with your teammates. Playing the hero and going off on your own will only get you killed quicker and without any support around you, you won’t last long.
