Tactics Killing Scrakes with M32 blunt headshots

[Skater901]

So I've seen a few videos about this, and seen it mentioned in a thread (I forget which), but I've never been able to get the hang of it myself.

For those that don't know what I'm talking about, there's a trick with the M32 vs Scrakes where you can fire blunt shots up into its head at point blank range and kill it with 4-5 grenades. Because the grenades flinch the Scrake, you kill it without taking damage.

This seems like an incredibly useful technique for those "ohsh-" moments where you're a Demo with a Scrake coming right for you and you can't keep backing up really but you can't kill it either. Unfortunately, I cannot get the blasted thing right. All my attempts on Testmap generally result in two head shots and then the rest are body shots, and then I've emptied my M32 and the Scrake chainsaws me in the face until I die.

So my question to you, fellow forum goers and slayers-of-zeds, is this: do you have any tips/advice/anything to help me actually nail this trick and consistently land the head shots?

All advice is appreciated!

 

[vealck]

There is no way to learn proper aiming by reading a post, but you can optimize the process a bit or maybe try some other tricks

People usually do this by using whole M32 mag, which is a terrible waste of ammo. Instead of flinching sc with bodyshot and then having to score 5 headshots on an undamaged scrake you can:

Predamage: one mk23/hc mag or 5 lar shots won't enrage scrake and reduce the nades needed to 3(!)
Skip the bodyshot: start with a headshot, sc will still flinch and no damage is wasted on body. You might want to crouch and use iron sights, I find it easier that way.

Alternatively you can zap SC with Zedgun MkII, it will raise damage enough to stun SC on blunt headshot. You can even fire 4 nades very fast before his headzone drops and kill him extra fast.

Also, you can always predamage SC and take advantage of the slowbug.

I put together a quick video for you

Killing Floor - M32 Demo Fun - YouTube

 

[Skater901]

There is no way to learn proper aiming by reading a post, but you can optimize the process a bit or maybe try some other tricks

People usually do this by using whole M32 mag, which is a terrible waste of ammo. Instead of flinching sc with bodyshot and then having to score 5 headshots on an undamaged scrake you can:

Predamage: one mk23/hc mag or 5 lar shots won't enrage scrake and reduce the nades needed to 3(!)
Skip the bodyshot: start with a headshot, sc will still flinch and no damage is wasted on body. You might want to crouch and use iron sights, I find it easier that way.

Alternatively you can zap SC with Zedgun MkII, it will raise damage enough to stun SC on blunt headshot. You can even fire 4 nades very fast before his headzone drops and kill him extra fast.

Also, you can always predamage SC and take advantage of the slowbug.

I put together a quick video for you

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UdM8RyClO8

Well I was hoping for things like "aim the dot at his chin in order to achieve head shots" "don't fire too fast or his head hitbox gets messed up" "remember that explosions shift his head box so account for that" etc. (note that I'm not sure if any of those are true, just examples I thought of)

I've been trying to pre-damage with Handcannon (though I usually use Mk23 when I play Demo) to make it use less grenades. Even doing it with 6 grenades would be ok though; this isn't something I plan to do on every Scrake I see, but rather in an "OH ****" situation where I HAVE to deal with a Scrake. Of course, one wonders if I would have time to pre-damage it in a situation like that...

The video is nice, I appreciate you making the effort, but it doesn't really help me to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Also LAR and Zed Gun II kills aren't really practical; I don't use either of those weapons as a Demo on HoE heh. I also tried doing that Fleshpound thing you did at the end but I apparently can't get headshots, only torso shots.

 

[vealck]

Well, just 3 hc or 4 mk shots will decrease nade headshots needed by 1. Starting with headshot for initial flinch saves another one. For more general tips, I'd say that crouching and using iron sights makes it easier, at least for me. The rest is a matter of proper rhythm, if you let SC to enter sawing animation, your attempt will most likely fail, I think it may have something to do with sc body volume overlapping your muzzle point or something like that.