First of all there are seven perks in the game – Medic, Berserker, Sharpshooter, Firebug, Commando, Support Specialist, Demolition. Every perk has 7 levels ( from 0 to 6). Level 0 is the lowest perk level and therefore must be increased to level 6. Levelling your perks is necessary if you want to benefit from their strong sides, also it increases your chances of surviving all 10 waves, it gives you a bigger chance to survive higher difficulties such as Suicidal and Hell on Earth, higher level perks spawn with their unique weapon. And finally, the cost of the weapons that are common for every perk reduces.

1. Firebug

The Firebug is primarily a supporting class and is good for map control. This perk has some advantages:

• One of them is the crowd control. Setting smaller zeds on fire, will help your team to deal with the bigger ones faster and more efectively. On normal difficulty and even on hard you might be able to kill all types of zeds, but the harder the difficulty goes and the more players are on the server, you need to give up on being Chuck Norris.
  
  
• Once you get to level 5, you will have 100 % resistance to fire damage.
  
  
• This perk can be helpful for detecting clocked zeds such as stalkers and against the Patriarch when he becomes invisible trying to heal himself or charge against someone.
  
  
• The weapons of this perk have the abillity to slow down the burning zeds which can be very helpful when you're trying to run and find a safe place.

Although a lot of people play with this perk all 10 waves, we would play with it maximum until wave 4, even if we have a good team due to its disadvantages :

• After wave 4 are spawned stronger specimens with more health such as the Scrake and on wave 7 - the Fleshpound. On begginer difficulty it’s possible to kill them alone even with level 0. Hoewever, on Suicidal and Hell on Earth difficulties it is impossible to kill them alone, even if you have maxed your perk and have the strongest weapons for it so you have to deal with your supporting role.
  
  
• Setting Scrakes and Fleshpounds on fire enrages them and your entire team can get killed if they aren’t quick enough to kill them.
  
  
• If a greater specimen is raging when the "crisping" takes effect, its movement will become unpredictable, making it difficult for teammates to take it down, and causes the specimen's head hitbox to move unpredictably, making it difficult for a Sharpshooter to take them down.
  
  
• Fire prevents other teammates from seeing the enemies around them.

2. Sharpshooter

The Sharpshooter specializes in long-range weaponry and headshots.

• As a sharpshooter, you get a damage bonus with the 9mm pistol, handcannon, mk23, magnum revolver, lever-action rifle, M14-EBR, the crossbow and the M99 AMR. You also get an additional headshot damage bonus of up to +50% (at level 6) of base headshot damage.
  
  
• This perk is very good for map control as it deals 60 % more damage at level 6 with it's class weapons, 50 % more headshot damage at levels 5 and 6 which means that this perk can do around 110 % total damage. If you use weapons that are common for other perks, you will take advantage only of the 50 % more headshot damage.
  
  
• The headshot bonus makes the perk ideal for killing bigger specimens such as Scrakes and Fleshpounds.
  
  With the Sharpshooter's bonuses, almost all of the weapons in your aresenal will be able to take down a Scrake. But there will be different methods involved in the process. The safest method for killing Scrakes is by stunning them. When stunned, the Scrake will be imobilized for a couple of seconds, which gives you the perfect opportunity to bring him down. There is also no limit to how many times a Scrake can be stunned, but you have to be very careful because if a Scrake is hit by a grenade or recieves any other type of explosion damage while stunned, it can sometimes bring him out of the stun. If he has taken sufficient damage, that will send him raging right into your team.
  
  As for the Fleshpound, if you're confident enough and don't miss those headshots, then killing it will be easy, but remember that all it takes is for one of the zeds to attack you and mess up your aim. Because good teams are hard to find and you can't relay on anybody to give you a proper cover, in some situations where there are a lot of zeds around you, it is best to run to a safe place, hiding from the Fleshpound's line of sight and proceed to killing it when you're absolutely sure that you can kill it.

3. Field medic

The Field Medic, commonly known as the Medic heals injured players and therefore is a valuable part of the team. If you decide to play with this perk, remember that the Medic must stay alive and heal all the team when needed. One of the strongest sides of this perk is his speed and armor. The armor of this perk can absorb more damage than any other class's armor. So if there is a Fleshpound, for example, and nobody is willing to enrage it, you can crouch infront of him and start shooting at him (the term tank usually used in game). This will make it rage, ofcourse, but with your armor it is almost impossible for you to die. Be sure that your team is around when you rage the Fleshpound so that they can kill it fastly. You can throw a healing grenade under you when the Fleshpond starts hitting you to be sure that you won’t die.

• Note

DO NOT play with this perk if your only intention is to make kills. Making kills is needed in case you are the only one left of your team and ofcourse for self- defense. If you want to top the scoreboard with the most kills, then this perk is not for you.

4. Berserker

When playing as this perk you should know that the Berserker (also known as Zerk) is the melee specialist of the team and as such is almost always on the front line beating back the horde. This perk is most effective while using Knife, Machete, Fire axe, Katana, Claymore, Chainsaw, Scythe and Dwarfish Axe.

• The Berserker is the fastest perk of all (moves up to 30% faster than normal when wielding any melee weapon other than the Chainsaw, has drastically improved melee damage, backstabs make significantly more damage too.
  
  
• Berserkers have 40% resistance to all damage types in the game (which can be very useful against the Bloat acid for example).
  
  
• Another strong side is that they cannot be grabbed by Clots and can stun large specimens (such as the Scrake) using melee weapons.

Melee Locking

This perk is very useful for performing melee lock with his weapons - the art of keeping the patriarch in place so he doesn't move while you and/or your team brings down his HP. This technique can be done as a non-berserker too (with the medic perk). As for the other perks, the results will be far less reliable without the medic & berserker's speed. [/list]

The basic idea is to:

1. Be as close to the patriarch as possible when he begins his attack
2. Back off out of his reach before his attack lands
3. Get up next to him again before his attack ends, and repeat

Melee lock in action:

                                                                                                                                                              

5. Commando

The primary role of the Commando is supporting the squad by taking out the weaker foes: Stalkers, Clots, Gorefasts, Crawlers. With his rapid fire rate, he can easily take down large groups of them. The Commando specialises in using the Bullpup, AK-47, M4, SCAR Mk 17 and FN FAL. Also he receives a damage bonus while using those weapons, larger magazine, and less recoil. For all of his weapons he recieves faster reloading speed too. The strongest side of this perk is his ability to see the specimens' health bars and detect cloaked enemies at range. This ability can be very useful for the team, as it makes it hard for the specimens to sneak up on the team, especially in dark areas and by reading the specimens' health bars, the Commando can inform the team when is the best moment to coordinate their attack.

6. Support Specialist

The Support Specialist, often referred to as just Support is a class that can be effective against both small specimens such as Bloat, Clots, Gorefasts and Stalkers and large specimens such as Scrakes and Fleshpounds. The Support Specialist can output a large amount of damage at close range, carries mainly shotguns such as Hunting shotgun, Combat shotgun, HSG-1 shotgun and AA12. This perk has imroved grenade damage, his shotgun damage and penetration is significantly improved and has faster welding speed. He has a bigger weight capacity than the other perks, giving him the option to carry a large variety of weapons. Also remember:

       • You will be slower than your team

You have to remember that the more you carry, the slower you are gonna be. Usually the loadouts for this perks weight a lot and in most cases you will have +20 kg. Therefore you will always have to be one step infront of your team if you don't want to fall behind.

       • The support's shotguns aren't very good for ranged kills

The shotguns perform much better at short distance, at longer distances you will waste too much ammo trying to make kills.

       • Your welding bonus can indeed be useful

Remember that, as a Support Specialist, welding doors is one of your tasks. This perk is up to 2.5 times faster in welding doors than other perks. If refusing to do so, you can potentially kill your entire team if holding a position where welding doors is an essential part of the gameplay, as it takes atleast two players to weld as well as you. Also remember that if you don't want to spend so much time welding you can unweld a door when the zeds build up behind it and clear them (be careful not to let the zeds break it) and after that weld it again.

       • You will need time to reload

It is best to sit back and use your team as a cover whilst you reload, or find a decent and safe path to back down when you run out of ammo.

7. Demolition

The Demolition is specialized in explosives and therefore is a heavy supporting class. The advantages of playing with this perk are:

• The Demolition inflicts up to 60% more damage with explosives, he can carry a larger number of grenades and pipe bombs too.
  
  
• The choice of weapons for this perk varies from M79 and M32 grenade launchers to M4 203 and the L.A.W rocket launcher. It is important to note that both grenade launchers and L.A.W have a safety mechanism that will prevent the explosive from detonating too close to the player. But that doesn't mean that you can't do self - damage, because the radius of these explosives is very large.
  
  
• It might not seem obvious, but there is a headshot damage multiplier on this perk's weapons (headshots with explosion weapons do atleast 2x the normal damage), and it makes a big difference to aim for the head, rather than shooting in the body or using splash damage.
  
  
• Fleshpounds take extra damage from explosives and therefore are Demo's specialty. They are best dealt with using an M32 Grenade Launcher with, but not necessarily, frag grenades or peipe bombs.

The disadvantages of playing with this perk are:

• The Demolition's weapons produce too much smoke clouds upon detonation. However eye-pleasing that may look to you, your other team members will not view them the same way, especially if it masks the presence of other dangerous zeds such as scrakes and sirens. Sharpshooters would especially expect a clear field of vision when needing to do their job.
  
  
• The Husk's fireball can detonate projectiles in mid-air and cause severe self-damage or death. Therefore you have to be careful when throwing hand grenades or firing the L.A.W if a Husk is charging up a shot.
  
  
• This perk will need major help with killing small specimens in close proximity to him due to his vulnerability at close range. In most cases the demolition will be carrying grenade launchers and won't have much room for pistols, or if he does - the whole equipment will weight a lot, meaning that he will become slower which is not the best option.
  
  
• If you play as this perk, bear in mind that a Demolition should spend his money and explosives carefully during the early rounds, because the cost of explosives is high. Even on high levels with large discounts, it can still take quite a few rounds for the Demolition to save up enough money to buy weapons and ammunition, in which case a good supporting team is needed.
  
  
• DO NOT ATTEMPT to kill Scrakes, if there are sharpshooters, supports or berserkers in your team. Dealing with Scrakes with an M32 launcher is very cost ineffective, ammo intensive, and dangerous. The L.A.W can be a bit more useful when dealing with scrakes, because it CAN stun them, but this is a poor primary method of dispatch, because you need a direct hit on the Scrake which is often hiding behind other specimens. Furthermore, Scrakes are not vulnerable to the damage this perk inflicts unlike the Fleshpound.

When starting a game, there are five difficulties to choose from which determine the number of speciments each wave has, how fast and strong they are and how much money they give to a player when killed. The HP and the movement speed of the speciments is also determined by how much players are in the server.
The difficulty level is indicated on the left side of the server information row; one green bar for Beginner, two yellow bars for Normal, three orange bars for Hard, four red bars for Suicidal, and a red skull for Hell On Earth. Be sure and check the difficulty of the servers before you join, because you may not be prepared to assist your teammates on higher difficulties.

A recommended difficulty for new players who need to get used to the gameplay of this game. Players spawn with £300. There is also a Trader time extension (from 1:00 to 1:30), speciments are very easy to kill, even the Patriarch (compared to other difficulties) and should be relatively easy to defeat. No tactics are really needed to win this difficulty, regardless of whether you're playing with a team or solo.

This difficulty is for players that have played through beginner a couple of times and think they're ready for something more challenging. Players spawn with £250. The Patriarch is now a solid obstacle to those people which are seeking a challenge. Normal mode does require team work and shouldn't be underestimated by a player which is just starting out.

This mode is for players who have leveled up their perks a bit and feel like normal difficulty is no longer a challenge. Players start with £250. Killing the Patriarch on hard requires a proper strategy, foresight and teamwork, especially for a relatively unleveled team.

This is a mode for skilled players. Players now spawn with £200 at the start of the game and money earned from speciments is lower; the ones which get the most kills should donate to those who are in need of money and equipment. The Patriarch decimates an unwary team with ease and any player acting alone can be easily overrun. Tactics are a requirement and without teamwork a squad will fail relatively quickly.

This difficulty is for Hardcore players. Players spawn with £100 and earn 35% less dosh from specimens. Additional modifications were made to make the game harder, such as:

Scrake:
1. Scrakes have 50% increased headshot resistance to crossbow;
2. Scrakes do not have explosive resistance (BUT IT IS STILL NOT A GOOD IDEA FOR DEMOS TO SPAM NADES AT THEM)

Fleshpound:

Resistances:
1. 50% resistance to nearly all regular damage (assault rifles, melee weapons, etc.)
2. 25% resistance to Lever Action Rifle, M14 and Blunt Impact headshots
3. 65% resistance to Crossbow headshots (applies to Suicidal and Hell on Earth difficulties only)
4.Highly resistant to fire damage over time

Weaknesses:
1. 25% more damage from M79, M32 and M203 grenades
2. 100% more damage from Pipe Bombs and Frag Grenades
3. No resistance or weakness to LAW rockets

Patriarch:
Pipe bombs used against the Patriarch have damage reduction if he receives several damage in a short time: -7,5% damage for each other explosion under a 3sec delay, up to 14 = immune.

The weapons that we will mention below are the ones we prefer using while playing. Ofcourse other combinations can be made too.

1. Firebug

• Flamethrower

You can use this weapon for map control by killing smaller specimens such as crawlers, clots, gorefasts, bloats and stalkers. When fired against a squad member or any specimen at close range, the user will catch fire unless he is atleast a level 5+ Firebug which has 100% resistance to fire.
Note: Avoid firing Husks, because they have 75 % fire resistance.
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• Husk fireball launcher

This weapon can be used to kill bigger specimens if needed such as the Flespound and the Scrake.
Note: If you want to use the maximum power of this weapon, you can charge it first, but be aware that it will take you 3 seconds to fully charge it.
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• Trenchgun

One of the best non - DLC weapon for the Firebug. It doesn’t require charging like the Husk fireball launcher and deals a decent amount of damage.

Note: The trenchgun is ineffective against the Fleshpound and Scrake on higher difficulties, so it is generally wise to let your team initiate the attack on these specimens before enraging them. However, on normal difficulty, a Scrake can be killed using one magazine of the trenchgun with the appropriate Firebug level.
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• Flare revolver

The best DLC weapon for the Firebug in my opinion. It deals massive damage, but it is only available for purchasing from the trader after buying the Community Weapon Pack on Steam, though not owning the pack does not prevent a player from picking dropped ones up.

1. Flamethrower (If you are careful not to flame the bigger specimens like scrakes and fleshpounds) + Trenchgun
2. Flamethrower or Trenchgun + Dual Flare revolvers (from DLC)
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2. Sharpshooter

• MK23

This pistol deals less base damage compared to other pistols such as Handcannon (33 less damage) and Magnum (22 less damage), but it has larger clip size compared to them. It can be used to take down smaller specimens.
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• Handcannon

This pistol deals the most base damage from all the pistols for the Sharpshooter, but keep in mind that your ammo may run out before the wave ends, because this pistol hasn't got a large clip size. In that case it is good to have both MK23 and Handcannon or Dual Handcannons in order to be sure that you will have enough ammo to survive the wave. This weapon can be used against both small and large specimens.
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• Crossbow

The Crossbow is a very powerful weapon, capable of doing massive headshot damage. I would recommend using this weapon to take larger specimens such as Scrakes and Fleshpounds. Scrakes have increased 50% resistance against crossbow bolts at Suicidal and above difficulties; Fleshpounds have 65 % resistance against crossbow bolts at Suicidal and above difficulties, so keep that in mind if you play highter difficulties.

Note: Try to save ammo when possible and be very accurate when hitting specimens, because the crossbow has a total of 36 arrows which can run out before the wave has ended and they aren’t very cheap to buy from the shop either. In case your ammo has run out, you can replace this weapon with Lever action riffle, but be aware that it won’t be very useful against the Flespound at higher difficulties, it is good against Scrakes though.
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• M99 AMR

Last, but not least this weapon deals the most damage compared to the weapons for the Sharpshooter mentioned above. Because of the huge cost of ammunition for the M99 (£ 5000), it is advised that the Sharpshooter uses the M99 only for Scrakes, Fleshpound and the Patriarch. When not - in a dire situation. It is often necessary for other members of the team to contribute large amounts of money so that the Sharpshooter has enough ammunition for each wave. It is also advised that the Sharpshooter gets ammo by picking up the green boxes scattered around the map, as it can save hundreds/thousands of pounds.

1. mk23 + handcannon + crossbow
2. Dual Handcannons + crossbow
3. M14 EBR + mk23 + handcannon - You can replace both mk23 and handcannon with lever action rifle or to keep one of them.
4. S.P Musket (from DLC) + mk23 + handcannon - Again both mk23 and handcannon can be replaced with lever action rifle or to keep one of them.
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3. Field Medic

• Schneidzekk Medic Gun

The best weapon used from the Medic to heal his teammates. It allows healing from range, doubles your healing capacity, does good damage, has low recoil and high rate of fire, at 952 rounds per minutute and has low weight.

1. Schneidzekk Medic Gun + Crossbow
2. Schneidzekk Medic Gun + Flare revolvers
3. Schneidzekk Medic Gun + Katana
4. Schneidzekk Medic Gun + Grenade launcher
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4. Commando

• M4 carbine

This weapon is functionally similar to the AK-47, deals less damage, but is with better accuracy, and has more ammunition.
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• SCARMK17

This is a tier three weapon for the Commando class. When playing with it you should know that it has much higher firepower, slightly higher rate of fire, lower magazine capacity and a higher damage per shot in comparison to its predecessors (the Bullpup and the AK47).
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• FNFAL ACOG

This is a good tier 3 weapon for the Commando too. FNFAL ACOG and SCARMK17 share the highest damage output of the Commando weapons, but the FNFAL ACOG has a faster rate of fire and considerably lower recoil.


At early game M4 carbine, late game FNFAL ACOG + SCARMK17.
Note: There are a lot of people complaining that the Commando is the weakest perk of all. One way to make your perk stronger is to buy FNFAL ACOG or SCARMK17. After that gather around £1200. When you have them switch to Demolition perk for one wave and buy M32. After the wave has ended, switch back to Commando and now you will have M32 for the bigger specimens and FNFAL ACOG or SCARMK17 for the smaller ones.

5. Demolition

• M79 grenade launcher

This weapon is a single-shot grenade launcher. It is a cheaper and lighter option of the M32. It is important to remember that low level Demos should buy this first before saving for the M32 to stay efficient throughout the waves rather than using a weaker weapon like the pistol for earlier waves.
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• M32 grenade launcher

This grenade launcher has projectiles that are equal in power with the M79 grenade launcher, but the M32 can fire all six grenades in under two seconds, whereas the M79 can only fire one before reloading. Therefore this weapon should be used to take down larger specimens such as Scrakes and Fleshpounds. If you aim in the head you will have no problem killing them.
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• L.A.W.

Players using the L.A.W. should know that they will be unable to carry any other weapons except for a knife or pipe bombs. This is the reason why the L.A.W is commonly used only against the Patriarch. This weapon deals massive damage, but be aware that the reloading speed is slow and after firing one bullet you have to reload your weapon again.
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• Pipe bombs

When planting remember that pipe bombs only explode when a set amount of hp steps on them. They weight only 1 block, there's no limit on how many you can plant, meaning you should go buy some, plant them and buy some more. Note that you can only carry 2 if you aren't a Demolition.
Also the speciemens try to avoid them, meaning that they are only really effective in tight alleys or when planted in a way so that the specimens can't walk around them.

Note: What not to do when you place pipe bombs.

1. Never stay on the pipe bombs that you have planted, because if a specimen walks over them, they can detonate and you will blow up with them. You shouldn't stay on them against the Patriarch too if you don't want him too shoot a rocket at them, blow you up and screw your pipe bombs too.
2. When planting pipe bombs be sure that there aren't any specimens around you that can make them detonate.
3. A common mistake is that a lot of people stack pipe bombs ( put a large number of them in one place). It's best to spread them out and be sure that they aren't very close to each other, because the Patriarch becomes immune to them if there are alot of pipes closely dropped to each other. Also put pipe bombs next to NON WELDED doors and NOT in the doorframe - the Patriarch will shoot any door that is welded and screw your pipes. It's OK to shut a door and place a few pipes a pace or two back.

M79 grenade launcher + M32 grenade launcher + Pipe bombs.

Against the Patriarch - L.A.W. The L.A.W. requires time in order to be reloaded and in these seconds the Demo is very vulnerable, so if you are sure that your team won't be able to support you, stay with m32, so that you would be able to instantly run if the Patriarch charges towards you.

6. Berserker

• Fire axe

The Fire axe is a powerful, but rather slow melee weapon. Keep in mind that it is the fourth most powerful melee weapon available in terms of single shot damage after the Claymore, the unlockable Dwarfs!? axe and the DLC Scythe. It has a primary fire function - a horizontal swing, and a secondary fire function - a powerful overhead vertical swing used against Scrakes, Flespounds and the Patriarch.
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• Claymore

Like the Fire axe, the Claymore is a swung melee weapon that is slow and powerful with an even slower and more powerful alt-fire. It also has a long reach, making it easier to kill the specimens before they can reach you. This weapon can be used to kill larger specimens such as Scrakes and Flespounds too.
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• Buzzsaw bow

The buzzsaw bow is part of the Community weapons pack and can be bought from the steam store. It is the only ranged weapon belonging to the Berserker and functions differently from the other weapons. When fired, the buzzsaw bow launches a spinning saw blade whose trajectory is linear for a brief period of time and then arcs downward. So keep in mind that if you aim at a target which is far from you, you must aim above his head due to that downward movement of the saw blade.

1. Axe / Claymore sword + Dual flare revolvers
2. Axe / Claymore sword + Buzzsaw bow
3. Axe / Claymore sword + handcannon + grenade launcher + pipe bombs

Useful tips

1. For the last combination of weapons you must join a server before the map has started and select Demolition perk. There is a period of 5 seconds before the game starts after all the players have marked ready in which period you have to switch to Berserker perk. In this case you will spawn without your axe if you're level 6, but you will have a grenade launcher for free and 2 pipe bombs.
Note: You can pick up scattered ammo and there is a chance that you recieve more pipe bombs.
2. When atempting to kill Fleshpounds land one hit in the head, wait until he hits you back and try to avoid his attack then land another hit in his head and repeat over and over. The time frame between two consistent shots must be atleast 2 or 3 seconds if you don't want to enrage the Fleshpound.
3. When hitting the Flespound from time to time look your back if you don't want to be blocked from someone or something.
4. Also don't let the Flespound see you for a long period of time, because that would enrage him too. This goes for all the perks in the game.
5. On Hell on Earth and Suicidal difficulties when attempting to stun Scrakes, the Katana can stun scrakes only from behind using alt fire (middle mouse).

6. Support Specialist

• Hunting Shotgun

A very powerful shotgun that can take down multiple targets with one hit. Be aware that there are a few disadvantages using this weapon such as slow realoading, it is ineffective at medium/long range, both shells must be spend before realoding.
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• HSG-1 shotgun

This is a good shotgun for the Support Specialist as it has fast realoading speed, useful for both short and long range, large magazine and light weight.
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• AA12 Shotgun

The AA12 has the lowest single shot damage of all four shotguns, but it has the highest rate of fire and damage output which can be used to kill a Fleshpounds under most circumstances. Also the alt-fire option for this weapon can be switched to semi-automatic. If you plan on playing with this perk it is really important to buy this weapon as fast as you can (before wave 7).

1. Hunting shotgun + AA12 shotgun
2. HSG-1 shotgun + AA12 shotgun
3. HSG-1 + hunting shotgun + melee weapon (useful for taking down scrakes if there are no other perks to deal with them).

Note ! Jumpshot combos for support shown in the videos work only on listen servers. The other combos for this perk work on both dedicated and listen servers.