This guide will talk a little bit about how a team should kite together (generally speaking), with some more detail on how to deal with trickier things such as Fleshpounds, especially when the team is broken up, or you find yourself the last player alive. It will then provide some handy tips which may save you in life or death moments when on the run.

To start, you can kite with any class on any map. Speed is not necessary to kite; you can outrun a raged scrake with no movement speed bonusses. Also any map can be kited, even the route choice has a lot of flexibility. The key to make kiting work for any map is the next section.

- Kiting rule number fu**ing 1.

What may be in front of you is a bigger priority than what is behind you. Have to leave the spot because you get overrun? Okay. Well, don't worry about the horde you just fled - seriously - worry about the new groups of zeds that are spawning in front of you or your team that are ready to make a human sandwich with zeddy bread. You can always outrun anything behind you (unless it is a raged fp), but you can't run away from a zed that is in front of you, as that means going back into the original horde that pushed you out of the spot.

A classic example of this is Outpost trucks spot. You get 3 fps and 3 scrakes, your crappy firebug rages the lot oh no! Demo tries to be a hero but gets cornered and eaten alive! Time to run! The rest of the team leaves out the right side and up the hill, everyone is focussing their fire back towards the spot to get their share of the kills, not giving half a sh** about the new horde spawning further up the hill and beyond. When it inevitably comes time to fallback further uh oh! The way is blocked by more zeds. rip gg. Drat! Solution? Who gives a rats dongle about the zeds behind you, just concentrate forward and work your way around the map and back to the spot, where you can then safely re-set up the "perimeter", and continue like normal. This isn't to say you shouldn't kill anything behind you when kiting, just don't kill so much that you end up getting large groups spawning in front cutting you off. Its always good to keep making forward progress.

- When you get a bad spawn in front

Let's say you hear the big zed spawn sound and a moment later you see 2 fleshpounds and 2 scrakes blocking your path. DO NOT RAGE THEM. The #1 priority when you get big zed spawns in front is to get past the big zeds first. You do this by lathering butter over your body and relying on luck - which works for some *ahem* - as well as using melee bash to avoid hits from scrakes and if youre the real deal even fleshpounds.

This isn't the most ideal solution though. It is best if a SWAT, Sharpshooter or Zerk throws their respective grenade to incapacitate the zeds, giving long enough for hopefully all or at least most of the team to run past safely. If you don't have any of these perks on the team, or none of them have any grenades, the melee bash should be enough, assuming your medic is on the ball and you don't take more than 2 hits by the zeds as you run through.

Basically, if a group of big zeds spawn in front of the team, getting past them is the priority. An exception to this is if there is a zed time and you are a Gunslinger / Sharpshooter / Support, in which case you can take out one of those zeds very quickly, reducing the risk of getting past. Once you've gotten past the big zeds, then it is safe to engage.

- Choke points

When kiting any map, there is usually one area which is narrow, likely to spawn big zeds and generally sucks. The prime example of this, is the staircase leading up to the courtyard with the fountain on Burning Paris. 9 times out of 10 there will be a big zed making its way down along with more than likely a husk or bloat. Trying to solo your way up this staircase is almost certainly suicide. The bloat can block the way completely, the husk can flame you, the scrake has free reign on you. Even with 2 players its very risky pushing through. Another example is the tunnel with the coach on Nuked.

Anyway, in these spots you need the whole team to be pushing. 6 people shooting forwards will eviscerate just about aything regardless of weapon and accuracy, unless you're all playing survivalist then rip. People who are usualy at the front can keep doing as they should but people who are looking backwards should temporarily peel their attention to the choke point. Having multiple people spreads the aggro of the zeds between more players, and theres a higher chance of zeds being bashed or otherwise incapacitated, which may result in avoiding damage altogether. Lots of butter also helps here too.

There are 5 key roles to kite, these have been "literally" named:

- Carver (up to 2 of these. Good classes include: Gunslinger, Zerk, Support, SWAT, Commando). Should be able to deal efficiently with trash while moving. Must have good map knowledge incase quick detours are required. Carves the path forward, killing the zeds that spawn in front of the group.

- Healer (1 should be enough :p. Best class is hurr Medic durr). um. heal people. ye. Also a very good trash killer to assist at the front and cover the Hoverer.

- Hoverer (Just 1 ideally. Good classes include Sharpshooter, Demolitionist, Support, Gunslinger). Must have good experience with killing big zeds efficiently as their preferred class. Also good spatial awareness, to be in the right place at the right time. Can move from front to back depending on where extra help is needed (e.g. a fleshpound spawns in front).

- Culler (Just the 1. Good classes include: Commando, Demolitionist). Probably will get the most kills. Their job is to just kill the zeds following the group. commando should seek to extend zed time as long as possible. Demo should make best use of nuke.

- Tank (Just the 1. Best class is hurr Zerk durr). Takes a beating from big zeds up the rear end. Also contributes to killing scrakes and fps with evisc. Effectively protects the Culler(s) from major hits.

Above they are listed in order from front to back. But from most to least important:

Carver > Healer > Tank > Hoverer > Culler > additional Carver

So with varying sized teams:

1 player: Carver
2 players: Carver and Healer
3 players: Carver, Healer and Tank
4 players: Carver, Healer, Tank and Hoverer
5 players: Carver, Healer, Tank, Hoverer and Culler
6 players: 2 Carvers, Healer, Tank, Hoverer and Culler

Most perfect team for kiting imo:

Commando at the back (Culler). Zerk also at back (Tank). Demolitionist in the middle (Hoverer). Medic in the middle (Healer). Gunslinger and Support at the front (Carvers).

- Fleshpounds hurt a lot, so block!

If you happen to be chased by a raged fleshpound, and you have at least 1 second before being hit, the best thing you can do is pull out the knife, hold a block, and jump just as he hits you. The block will immediately reduce the damage you take by 20%, and jumping will cause you to get knocked back, possibly avoiding subsequent hits. Seems simple enough, but I see so many public games where people just take it up the bu** every time a fleshpound is chasing them.

- Fleshpound takedowns when kiting order of operations:

1. Assuming it is already raged and running you down, first pull out your knife, block its attack and jump (as above).
2. Then immediately heal if you can.
3. Then take a look at your health, is it at least 60? good! then you can try for a takedown. Only shoot fps when they are calm, shooting an fp while it is raged risks re-raging it immediately, which is painful. So after you've taken the hit and healed, and the fleshpound has calmed down...
4. Simply go ham on him. throw yer nades, rinse yer aa12, spray yer kriss, rip yer deagles etc. Make sure you go for headshots obviously. It takes some practice, but keep shooting the fleshpound's head as it does the ground bash raging animation; this is precious time to do serious damage. As soon as it stands up and begins the charge, go back to step 1.

This tip isn't so much for the good gunslingers and supports, as they can quite comfortably kill a fleshpound before they feel a single lick from it. Its more for the commandos, medics, swats, and lesser skilled gunslingers and supports who may find themselves 1 v 1 with a fleshpound. Demo and SS shouldn't really have a problem, and Zerk can do whatever the hell he wants because he takes fu** all damage and dishes out a steamroll of pain on any zed that so much as looks at him. You probably won't end up in a situation like this often. But again, I see a few too many public games where the remaining alive half of the team is just running around the map like headless chickens too scared to shoot the fps, so they all just eventually die.

- Don't waste your heal!

If you are missing only 15 or less health from max, don't heal. You may need to use that syringe for a more deserving wound in a short time, which wouldn't be available if you wasted it to gain insignificant health to satisfy your OCD. Another way to think of it, is only heal if you're going to gain at least 16 health, otherwise it is a waste. Of course this doesn't apply if the situation is calm.

- Melee bash is your best friend.

Its not just something you have to quickly press when you are grabbed; it is one of your best tools against the zeds. Melee bash can be a good weapon for early waves, as it uses no ammo and it feels awesome. Most weapons' melee bash can 1 shot crawlers, stalkers, and all types of clot. Not only is it a fun way to kill zeds, but it is vital if you have to run past a zed especially when kiting. E.g. a bloat is in your way. Don't just let it goob on you, wack it in the face with your gun and you'll come out the other side squeaky clean. Same with scrakes, don't just take the hit, give him a bash and he will be stumbled long enough for you to get by safely.

THE ONLY TIME YOU CAN WELD. EVER

You look at your health and golly gosh! you're down to 30. You need a quick breather from the gorefiends and crawlers, or maybe a raged fleshpound is coming and you know you can't survive a hit even if you block. What ever can you possibly do in this dire time of peril? Pull your welder out, run through the next door and immediately close it and weld it behind you. This will give you a blissful 10-15 seconds of breathing space. In which you can check Facebook, kick the firebug who raged all the scrakes, gloat in chat about how awesome you are for surviving, or heal. Probably heal. Don't wait by the door though. nonononononno. keep moving forward a bit, leave them suckers behind that welded door in the dust. Get enough distance and maybe you can heal a second time; now you're sorted! Just be concious not to run tooo far away from the welded door, else the zeds stuck behind it may end up just using a different route to get to you, so try to keep it so the fastest route for the zeds to get to you is by going through the welded door. You almost want the door to break in this instance also, else if you have to kite around the map again, the way will be blocked. So make sure you know the door is broken down before fully moving on completely.

Using demo traps is also sometimes acceptable, but only if the whole team agrees on it.

- When kiting, it is more important to focus on zeds which may spawn in front of the group, rather than the zeds that already exist behind the group. Therefore it is also important to keep making forward progress around the map, so as to not get surrounded by zed spawns.

- If you get an unfavourable big zed spawn in front of the group, just focus on getting past the big zeds, preferably using an incapacitation grenade (Stun, Freeze or EMP). If that isn't possible, then some good old dart spamming and melee bashing will have to do. One your team is past the big zed group, then it is safe to start beef.

- When your team is approaching a choke point in the map, make sure everyone temporarily focusses forward to have the best chances of pushing through.

- Ideal team to kite with should comprise of 1-2 players carving a path, 1 player providing assistance when and where its needed, 1 medic healing the team, 1 tank at the back taking hits from big zeds, and 1-2 players culling the zeds at the back.

- Use the knife to block fleshpound hits, it reduces damage by 20%. Also jump as you get hit and it can prevent you taking subsequent hits.

- Only engage a fleshpound if you have at least 60 HP, unless you like to live dangerously.

- Use melee bash a lot! something in your way? bash it! clot being annoying? bash it! scrake blocking the path? Bash it! siren wants to scream at you? Bash it! you get the point.

- Weld a door behind you if you need to take a few seconds to heal/re-compose yourself if you are about to take a hit that you know would kill you (fleshpound), or just need to gain some ground to get the upper hand.