Afflictions

Appendices

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Welcome to Tamari's KF2 Survival Handbook - a consolidated resource for tips, tricks, and tactics for Killing Floor 2 that aims to help you become a better player and learn a bit more about the game while you're at it.


This guide is focused on: Afflictions

Afflictions are states in which a Zed's normal behavior is impacted for a short period in some way. Afflictions range from complete incapacitations and stuns to more subtle movement speed reductions. The best way to think of them are as an equivalent to debuffs.

This guide will first explain the relevant terminology/vocabulary and concepts to understanding how Afflictions work, and will then delve into specifics, including numerical statistics and video examples.

These Appendix guides are a lot more technical and fleshed out than the normal guides in the Handbook. They aim to serve as a reference resource and a complete breakdown and analysis of the topic they revolve around.

There's a lot of reading ahead, but if you stick with it through to the end, you will learn a great deal about Afflictions and the way they work.

Enjoy!

As mentioned above, Afflictions are states where normal Zed behavior is temporarily impaired. You've most likely interacted with this mechanic several times, even if you are a new player, but you may not have fully understood what it was or how it worked. This guide aims to help you with that.

Figure 1 - A Scrake affected by several Afflictions. In order from left to right: Stun, Freeze, Burn, Bleed


There are many perk skills, weapons, and attacks that can apply Afflictions to Zeds. We measure the effectiveness of a specific weapon's/skill's ability to apply an Affliction to a Zed as Affliction Power. The amount of Affliction Power it takes to afflict a Zed is known as the Zed's Affliction Threshold.

Zeds possess natural resistances to the varying types of Afflictions, with Large Zeds having some of the highest resistances next to Bosses. We'll discuss this in more detail a bit later.

So here's the basic idea:

Even if the Affliction is not applied immediately after the first attack, the Affliction Power is still added to a running total, which slowly bleeds off over time. The rate (per second) at which Affliction Power decays from a Zed is known as the Affliction Dissipation Rate. If you continue to attack a Zed with a specific Affliction before it fully dissipates, you can stack the power high enough that the Affliction will eventually be applied.

To properly explain this, consider the M14 EBR and the Crossbow. On a per-shot basis, the M14 and Crossbow have Stun Powers of 15 and 100 respectively, independent of any modifiers. When using these weapons against a Scrake, which has a Stun Threshold of 100, the M14 takes several consecutive shots to stun, whereas the Crossbow can usually stun in one shot.


Before you move on to the next section(s), here's a quick recap of the vocabulary introduced in this section:

Affliction Power

The effectiveness of a weapon/skill/ability at applying a specific Affliction to a Zed. Repeated applications of a specific Affliction Power will stack on a Zed until the Affliction is triggered. Weapons/skills/abilities with more Affliction Power will trigger the Affliction faster.

Affliction Dissipation Rate

The rate at which a specific Affliction Power decays from the Zed. Measured in units/time, usually Affliction Power per second.

Affliction Threshold

The amount of Affliction Power required to trigger the Affliction on the Zed. Higher Affliction Thresholds require more applications to reach, making the Zed more resistant to the Affliction.

Here is a list of all the Afflictions in KF2, as well as a description of their effects and application sources. Includes video examples:


An Affliction that causes a Zed to fall to the ground in a ragdoll state, completely incapacitated for a few moments. Brought about by explosives, ballistic damage, and certain mechanics like Goomba Stomping (see Section 1.2 of the Handbook if you don't know what this is).
https://youtu.be/mt8hFDOEy2c

An Affliction that immobilizes a Zed, preventing any further actions for a short time. Brought about by some weapons with high burst damage (such as the Rail Gun or M99 AMR), some grenades (Flashbangs and Nail Bombs), and some perk skills (such as the Firebug's Level 15 skill Zed Shrapnel).
https://youtu.be/XD5xAcFrRes

An Affliction that causes a Zed to stagger and lose balance, momentarily pausing AI. Brought about by most grenades/explosives and ballistic damage. Certain perk skills like the Commando's Level 10 skill, Impact Rounds, or the Support's Level 20 skill Concussion Rounds amplify the Stumble capabilities of those perk's weapon sets.
https://youtu.be/mI1e1kGiSEc

An Affliction that causes a Zed to flinch, and sometimes stagger, momentarily pausing AI. Inflicted by damage from Melee weapons and certain mechanics such as Bash Cancelling (see Section 1.2 of the Handbook if you don't know what this is).
https://youtu.be/UWw6tDzIe6Y

Same as Melee Hit, but from bullets.

An Affliction that reduces a Zed's movement speed for a brief period. Brought about primarily by Freeze damage, though some perk skills, such as the SWAT's Level 20 skill, Cripple, can also facilitate this effect.
https://youtu.be/MtIp6mU4qI0

Similar to Stun. Caused by the Survivalist's Freezethrower and Sharpshooter's Freeze Grenades.
https://youtu.be/HRkK4Kdw5Zs

A special debuff, causing Zeds to become more susceptible to the Affliction Power of other Afflictions, as well as attack 25% slower, move 30% slower, and deal 30% less damage. As of now, the only way to afflict a Zed with Bleed is to use the Field Medic's Hemogoblin.
https://youtu.be/yYAGAX1Xafo

An Affliction that causes a Zed to enter a frantic state, rapidly moving around in random directions. Panicked Zeds can still move, but will not pursue any targets or attack. Brought about by Burning, Electric, Poison, and Microwave damage.
https://youtu.be/nFZNdHD0cNk

Certain environmental traps as well as the Berserker's EMP Grenade and the Killerwatt inflict Electric damage, which also has a calming effect on enraged Zeds.

This is the order that the game uses for applying Afflictions in the case that multiple are stacked on a Zed at the same time:

[Highest Priority]

Knockdown
Stun
Stumble
Freeze
Snare
Melee Hit
Gun Hit
Electric
Burn
Poison
Microwave
Bleed

[Lowest Priority]

Note that Electric, Burn, Poison, and Microwave are collectively known as Panic.
Knockdown takes the highest priority, with Bleed taking the lowest priority.

Once a Zed has been afflicted, applying additional Affliction Power will not trigger the Affliction again until a short period of time has passed. This period of time is known as Affliction Cooldown, and is an example of a scenario where a Zed becomes temporarily immune to a specific type/range of Affliction.

Basically, a Zed cannot be afflicted again while they're on Affliction Cooldown - unless an Affliction with higher priority is applied.

Consider an example in which a Scrake is on fire. Burning damage causes Zeds to panic, moving around wildly in random directions. If you were to throw a Freeze Grenade, it would Freeze the Scrake even though it is technically still panicking and on Panic Cooldown. This is because Freeze is a higher order (has more priority) Affliction than Panic. Otherwise, in order to Panic the Zed again with fire, you would have to wait until the cooldown period ends.

If you're confused, see the Affliction Precedence subsection above for a full reference of how the game prioritizes the differing Afflictions.

The length of a specific Affliction Cooldown varies slightly depending on which Affliction was applied, and what Zed the Affliction was applied to. Also note that a Zed's Affliction Cooldown applies to ALL players regardless of who originally applied the Affliction. There is no way to shorten a Zed's Affliction Cooldown.


Affliction Cooldown explains why you cannot repeatedly Stun Scrakes or Fleshpounds with the SWAT's Flashbang in a short period of time, or why you cannot repeatedly Stumble a Zed back with the Firebug's Level 20 perk skill, Heat Wave, without waiting a short bit in between.

In fact, here is a quick example video showcasing exactly what I mean:
https://youtu.be/527MmnxTdh0

Notice how I have to wait a short bit in between Flashbang stuns. Even when I spam them at the Scrake, the game will only allow me to Stun him periodically.

Now wait a second. I know what you're thinking..

Well you inquisitive soul, allow me to explain.

Flashbangs can apply up to 400 Stun Power (remember, explosives apply Affliction Power based on proximity) when they detonate at a Zed's feet. The Scrake has a Stun Threshold of 100, which is much less than the amount of Stun Power a single Flashbang can deliver. So the issue here is not that a single Flashbang "isn't enough".

What's actually going on here is that the Scrake has a Stun Cooldown of 5 seconds. This means that once the Scrake is stunned (by the first Flashbang), he cannot be re-stunned again for 5 whole seconds.
In fact, no other lower order Affliction could be applied during this Cooldown either (again, see the precedence list above if you are unsure what I mean by this). The only Affliction I could apply during the Stun Cooldown would be Knockdown, since it has a higher priority.

If you still aren't convinced after all that, count the time between stuns in the example video! You can see that I throw the second Flashbang well before the 5 seconds is up, which is why the Scrake doesn't get stunned again.

So there you go. Proof that Affliction Cooldown is a thing.

It's important to realize that this mechanic is in play, because it is possible to waste resources that apply Afflictions, like grenades, if you try to use them too quickly.

Also, you might think that this only applies to ME, the person who threw the Flashbang... but remember, Affliction Cooldown applies to ALL players while it is in effect. Because of this, it would not matter if another player had thrown their Flashbang first. The moment their Flashbang stunned the Scrake, the Cooldown would activate, preventing my own Flashbang from stunning the Scrake again.

This is not just limited to Flashbangs either. If the other player had stunned the Scrake with a headshot from the Rail Gun instead, I STILL would not be able to stun him afterward for 5 seconds. Affliction Cooldown is completely independent of what weapons you use to either apply or re-apply the Affliction.


Aside from Affliction Cooldown, there are a few other special scenarios where a Zed gains temporary immunity to specific Afflictions. They are as follows:

• Zeds afflicted with any of the four Panic Afflictions (Burning, Electric, Poison, Microwave) gain immunity to Stumble, Melee Hit, and Gun Hit.
  
• Zeds that are Blocking gain immunity to Knockdown, Stun, Stumble, and Freeze (all other Afflictions have their effectiveness reduced by 80% as well).

A Zed Blocking refers to situations where the Zed holds up its weapon to cover its face/head. The Zeds that can Block attacks are:

• Gorefasts
  
• Gorefiends
  
• Bloats
  
• Scrakes
  
• Quarter Pounds
  
• Fleshpounds
  
• Bosses

Figure 2 - Zeds performing a Block

On higher difficulties, Zeds block more aggressively, making it harder to apply Afflictions to them. It's not always possible to judge when a Zed will block, but in general, Blocking is one of the first actions they'll perform upon taking any sort of damage.

So if you know you cant afflict the Zed with the first shot or grenade, try to "bait" out the block by shooting the Zed with small arms first. After the Zed lowers it's guard, you can safely attack with the afflicting grenade or weapon. Gorefiends and Gorefasts are a common example of two Zeds where you may need to do this, as they both have a tendency to block very often.

This further applies to Large Zeds. Because of the danger these Zeds pose to you and your team, it's important to bait out the block so that you don't waste your Flashbangs or Freeze Grenades, as those grenades become very valuable on higher difficulties. If you see teammates about to fire at a Large Zed, wait for a moment before throwing your grenade, so that they don't trigger the Zed to block while you are throwing your grenade, which would ultimately waste the grenade's effect.

Affliction Vulnerability is essentially a multiplier that scales an incoming Affliction Power up or down. Vulnerability is completely dependent both on hit zones and the type of Zed being attacked. In other words, different Zeds and their body parts have varying vulnerabilities to specific Afflictions.

In general, a Zed's weakpoint has the highest vulnerability to Afflictions. A Zed's weakpoint is usually, but not always, the head.


Actual weapon/ability damage IS scaled similarly, but not by this mechanic.


To better understand how Affliction Vulnerability works, consider the Bloat as an example:

Bloats have 40% Stumble Vulnerability on all body parts, which means that any applications of Stumble to those body parts will only be 40% as effective as usual. Conversely, you can think of this as an 60% reduction in effectiveness if that makes it easier to understand.

Next, consider the M16 M203 Assault Rifle, which has a Stumble Power of 10.
A Stumble Power of 10 means that the M16 is capable of adding 10 Stumble Power toward a Zed's Stumble Threshold with each shot.

However, if you shoot the Bloat with the M16, it turns out that only 4 Stumble Power would actually be applied. This is because the Bloat has 40% Stumble Vulnerability.

From a mathematical perspective, 4 Stumble Power was applied because 40% of 10 is equivalent to 4.

On the other hand, if you shoot a Crawler with the M16, the result would be significantly different.
Crawlers have 200% Stumble Vulnerability on all body parts, which means that applications of Stumble Power to those areas are actually doubly as effective as usual.

In this case, the Crawler would actually receive 20 Stumble Power instead of the usual 10 (the Crawler would also be dead.. but its just an example so bear with me).

Here is a handy formula for calculating the raw amount of Affliction Power you can deal to a Zed:

One thing to note is that perk skills can also affect the amount of Affliction Power applied to a Zed. An example of this is the Commando's Level 10 skill, Impact Rounds:

Using this skill would mean that the M16 would now have an initial Stumble Power of 25 per bullet (150% of 10 is 15, and 10 + 15 = 25). Modifiers from skills like this are applied BEFORE being adjusted by the Zed's Affliction Vulnerability.

Also, Zeds can reduce the amount of Affliction Power they receive through Blocking. Blocking reduces the effectiveness of most Affliction Powers by 80%, applied AFTER all initial calculations/adjustments (from the above formula or from skills) are made.


By reducing or amplifying the amount of Affliction Power being applied, the Zed's Affliction Threshold can be reached either slower or faster. Recall from earlier that a Zed's Affliction Threshold is the amount of Affliction Power that has to be applied before the Affliction takes effect.


If a Zed has a high Vulnerability to a specific Affliction, then it will take less work to get them over the threshold, and vice versa.

Bosses and Large Zeds have some of the lowest Affliction Vulnerabilities in the game. When combined with their high Affliction Cooldown times, it makes them extremely resistant to Afflictions overall. It takes a lot of work to afflict a Large Zed or Boss, and once you actually do, you must wait for a significant amount of time before you can afflict them again.

This section will give you detailed statistics about the capabilities of Afflictions against each individual Zed. The following values are base values, meaning they are the natural values without any special modifiers, for example from perk skills, abilities, or resistance zones.

These values are consistent with KF2 v1081 (Back and Kickin' Brass)

Since there are so many combinations of perk skills, weapons, and Zed mechanics, it would be nearly impossible to compile a full list of each individual scenario. If anything, this section simply serves as a reference.


Here is another quick recap of all the vocabulary I've introduced so far. This will help you interpret the data in the following diagrams:

Affliction Threshold

The amount of Affliction Power required to trigger the Affliction on the Zed. Together with Affliction Vulnerability and Affliction Cooldown, forms a Zed's natural resistance to a specific Affliction.

Affliction Dissipation Rate

The rate at which a specific Affliction Power decays from the Zed. Measured in units/time, usually Affliction Power per second.

Affliction Cooldown

The period of time after an Affliction is applied during which a Zed gains immunity to Afflictions of the same type or lower precedence. If an incoming Affliction has a higher precedence than the current Affliction and surpasses the threshold, the new Affliction takes effect instantly, regardless of the cooldown status. After the cooldown ends, the original Affliction can be re-applied to the Zed if desired. The effects of a Zed's Affliction Cooldown apply to ALL players for the time it is in effect, not just the original player. Together with Affliction Threshold and Affliction Vulnerability, forms a Zed's natural resistance to a specific Affliction.

Affliction Vulnerability

A multiplier used to increase or decrease the amount of Affliction Power applied to a Zed. Vulnerabilities are dependent on hit zones. In general, a Zed's weakpoint has the most Affliction Vulnerability. Bosses and Large Zeds have the lowest Affliction Vulnerability overall, making it more difficult to debuff them. Together with Affliction Threshold and Affliction Cooldown, forms a Zed's natural resistance to a specific Affliction.

Affliction Threshold
Electric: 25
Bleed: 65
All others: 100

Affliction Dissipation Rate
Electric: 50 per second
Poison, Burning: 10 per second
All others: 20 per second

Note that Bosses have full and permanent immunity to Poison-based Panic. Not the Poison damage itself, just the Panic effect.

Cyst / Alpha Clot / Slasher / Rioter

Bloat

Crawler / Elite Crawler

Gorefast / Gorefiend

Stalker

Husk

E.D.A.R.

Siren

Scrake

Fleshpound / Quarter Pound

Dr. Hans Volter / The Patriarch

King Fleshpound

Abomination / Krampus

This section will give you detailed statistics about weapons and their abilities to apply Afflictions to Zeds. The following values are base values, meaning they are the natural values without any special modifiers, for example from perk skills, abilities, or resistance zones.

These values are consistent with KF2 v1081 (Back and Kickin' Brass)

Here is another quick recap of the vocabulary needed to interpret the data in the following diagrams:

Affliction Power

The effectiveness of a weapon/skill/ability at applying a specific Affliction to a Zed. Repeated applications of a specific Affliction Power will stack on a Zed until the Affliction is triggered. Weapons/skills/abilities with more Affliction Power will apply the Affliction faster.

Weapons are organized by type (Assault Rifles, Shotguns, etc). For weapons with different firing modes and attacks, you will see small notes in Parentheses next to the Affliction Power values indicating what source/attack the power is applied by.

For example, consider the M16 M203 Assault Rifle:

M16 M203 Assault Rifle

As you can see, the M16 inflicts 10 Stumble Power to Zeds with each bullet, 400 Stumble Power with direct grenade launcher impacts, and 1 to 400 (based on proximity) Stumble Power from the grenade launcher Explosion.

For Pistols, the values shown apply to both Single and Akimbo variants.

This should help you understand and interpret the data more easily.

If you forget what a specific Affliction is or how it works, check the List of Afflictions subsection above for a full reference.

9mm Pistol

HMTech-101 Pistol

1858 Revolver

M1911 Pistol

.50 Desert Eagle

AF2011-A1

.500 Magnum Revolver

SG 500 Pump-Action

VLAD-1000 Nailgun

Double-barreled Boomstick

HZ12 Multi-Action

HMTech-301 Shotgun

Dragonsbreath

M4 Combat Shotgun

AA-12 Auto Shotgun

Doomstick

MP7 SMG

MP5RAS SMG

Tommy Gun

HMTech-201 SMG

Mac 10

P90 SMG

Heckler and Koch UMP

Kriss SMG

AR-15 Varmint Rifle

SA80 L85A2 Bullpup

Mkb.42 (H) Carbine Rifle

M16 M203 Assault Rifle

Kalashnikov AK-12

Hemogoblin

SCAR-H Assault Rifle

Stoner 63A LMG

HMTech-401 Assault Rifle

HMTech-501 Grenade Rifle

FN FAL ACOG

Winchester 1894

SPX 464 Centerfire

Crossbow

M14 EBR

Rail Gun

M99 AMR

HX25 Grenade Pistol

C4 Explosives

M79 Grenade Launcher

Seal Squeal

Seeker Six

RPG-7

M32 Grenade Launcher

Freezethrower

Killerwatt

Caulk n' Burn

Flamethrower

Microwave Gun

Husk Cannon

Helios Rifle

Crovel Survival Tool

Katana

Fire Axe

Road Redeemer

Pulverizer

Hemoclobber

Eviscerator

Static Strikers

Zweihander

Bone Crusher

Battleaxe

Scalpel

KF-BAR

Machete

Kukri

Lawn Mower Blade

Gore Shiv

Utility Knife

Fireman's Knife

Bowie Knife

HE Grenade

Frag Grenade

Flashbang

Medic Grenade

Molotov Cocktail

1/2 Stick of Dynamite

Nail Bomb

Freeze Grenade

EMP Grenade

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I hope this guide has helped you to learn a few new things to give you that edge out on the Killing Floor. If you have any questions, leave a comment below! I will be updating this from time to time as more things are discovered.





Be sure check out the rest of the Handbook, where you can learn a bunch of other odds and ends about KF2 to help you improve your gameplay:
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Thanks for reading!
- Tamari