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Tactics Specimen Information

scary ghost

Grizzled Veteran
Sep 13, 2010
899
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California
Here are some things about specimens you may or may not know, which might help you in game. The specimens I am posting about are:

  • Bloat
  • Gorefast
  • Husk
  • Scrake
  • Fleshpound
  • Patriarch
I am not going to copy code since that will make this post even longer but I will list the source files so you can have a look at the code for yourself. The base KF files are located in the KFMod folder and the specimen specific code is in KFChar. All damage multipliers can be found in the TakeDamage() of the respective specimen files. The monster base class is located in KFMonster.uc.

General
All specimens take additional damage when they are decapitated. In addition, some can be stunned if enough damage is dealt:

Decapitation:
http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showpost.php?p=673763&postcount=63

Stunning:
http://forums.tripwireinteractive.com/showpost.php?p=732162&postcount=8

Bloat
[ZombieBloat.uc, ZombieBloatBase.uc]
The bloat has 2 damage modifies and a charging puke attack.

Damage Multipliers

  • 1.5x -> Flame damage
  • 0x -> Bloat Bile
Charge Chance
The bloat will sometimes move while doing the puking animation. The chance for this to happen increase with difficulty.

  • 20% -> Beginner
  • 40% -> Normal
  • 60% -> Hard
  • 80% -> Suicidal/HoE
Gorefast
[ZombieGorefast.uc, ZombieGorefastBase.uc]
The only thing interesting about the gorefast is his charging melee attack.

Charge Chance
The gorefast may randomly do a charging melee attack when he is within range. The chance varies with difficulty and increases up to 40% on HoE.

  • 10% -> Beginner
  • 20% -> Normal
  • 30% -> Hard
  • 40% -> Suicidal/HoE

Husk
[ZombieHusk.uc, ZombieHuskBase.uc]

Husk behavior is a tad more interesting than the bloat's. The 2 big things about a husk is how often they fire their cannon and how much flame resistance they have. These values are calculated in the PostBeginPlay() function. Note that there were only 4 difficulties when the husk was added. As such H.o.E and Suicidal share the same values.

Damage Multipliers
Of course, husks have flame resistance and it increases with difficulty. This resistance is controlled by the variable, BurnDamageScale. Multipliers are, in order of increasing difficulty:

  • 0.5x -> Beginner
  • 0.25x -> Normal
  • 0.1875x -> Hard
  • 0.125x -> Suicidal and H.o.E
Firing Frequency
The frequency of husk shots also vary with difficulty. As you would expect, husks fire their cannon more frequently on higher difficulties. The frequency is handled by the variable, ProjectileFireInterval. To make the shots more unpredictable, a random number between 0 and 2 is added to the base frequency when determining the time to fire the next shot. That is handled in the RangedAttack() function.

  • 6.875 - 8.875s -> Beginner
  • 5.5 - 7.5s -> Normal
  • 4.125 - 6.125s -> Hard
  • 3.3 - 5.3s -> Suicidal and H.o.E
Scrake
[ZombieScrake.uc, ZombieScrakeBase.uc]

Up until recently, there wasn't anything interesting about the scrake either. But with the new flinching mechanics for suicidal and HoE, they are worth looking at.

Damage Resistances

After the balance patch, Scrakes now have resistance to crossbow head shots on Suicidal and H.o.E. And no, scrakes do not have explosive resistance.

  • 1.0x -> All attacks except...
  • 0.5x -> Crossbow headshots on Suicidal and H.o.E

Scrake Stunning/Flinching
There is a confusion in terminology regarding scrakes. The patch notes say that scrakes can only be stunned once but anyone who plays berserker or sharpshooter knows that you can stun a scrake multiple times. Really, the patch notes should say scrakes will only flinch once on suicidal and H.o.E.

  • Stun - Specimen stops moving and/or hangs his/her head down.
  • Flinch - Specimen simply doesn't attack but is still mobile.
    • Ex: Katana a scrake on hard or below. He won't attack you but will be right up in your face the whole time.
So the question now is how much damage do you have to dish out to stun a scrake? I have long had a suspicion that it was around 670 but I finally tested it out with the help of Anemia's BalanceMutator and working on my Super Zombies Mutator, I determined your attack needs to deal a minimum of 667 damage. The video below demonstrates my test method. The conclusion drawn is confirmed in the source code as well. See the part about stunning in the "General" section at the top of the post.

  • Test 1 - My new crossbow deals 667 damage and stuns the scrake.
  • Test 2 - Lowering the damage to 664 results in the scrake shrugging off every bolt and never stopping.

Killing Floor - Scrake Stunning 01 - YouTube

Knowing that we need to dish out at least 667 damage, the next question is what weapons can do this?

  • Claymore Sword
    [ClaymoreSwordFire.uc, ClaymoreSwordFireB.uc, DamTypeClaymoreSword.uc, KFMeleeFire.uc, KFVetBerserker.uc]
    • Alt fire head shot for level 5+ zerker
    • Alt fire head shot from the back for any perk
      • Not recommended unless you absolutely have to
    • Alt fire backstab for level 1+ zerker
    • Primary fire head shot for the back for level 3+ zerker
    • Primary fire back stab for a level 3+ zerker

  • Axe
    [AxeFire.uc, AxeFireB.uc, DamTypeAxe.uc, KFMeleeFire.uc, KFVetBerserker.uc]
    • Alt fire head shot for level 5+ zerker
    • Alt fire head shot from the back for any perk
      • Not recommended unless you absolutely have to
    • Alt fire backstab for level 2+ zerker
    • Primary fire head shot for the back for level 3+ zerker
    • Primary fire back stab for a level 5+ zerker
  • Katana
    [KatanaFire.uc, KatanaFireB.uc, DamTypeKatana.uc, KFMeleeFire.uc, KFVetBerserker.uc]
    • Alt fire head shot from the back for level 3+ zerker
    • Alt fire backstab for level 4+ zerker
  • Chainsaw
    [ChainsawAltFire.uc, ChainsawFire.uc, DamTypeChainsaw.uc KFMeleeFire.uc, KFVetBerserker.uc]
    • Alt fire back stab from level 2+ zerker
      • Alt fire and primary fire both have 1.0x head shot multiplier
  • Lar
    [WinchesterFire.uc, DamTypeWinchester.uc, KFVetSharpshooter.uc]
    • Head shot for level 6 sharpshooter
  • Xbow
    [CrossbowArrow.uc, DamTypeCrossbowHeadShot.uc, KFVetSharpshooter.uc]
    • Head shot for level 1+ sharpshooter on Suicidal and HoE
    • Head shot for any perk on Hard and below
  • LAW
    [LAWProj.uc]
    • Any perk can stun with body or head shot
You will notice that I left out shotguns, M32, M79, and pipebombs. That is because the damage dealt must be from 1 blow and the damage from these weapons, excluding pipebombs, is actually from multiple blows.

  • Hunting Shotgun
    [BoomStickAltFire.uc, BoomStickFire.uc, DamTypeShotgun.uc, KFVetSupportSpec.uc]
    • The damage comprises of 20 (or 10 for single barrel) pellets. Each pellet only does 50 damage, which is nowhere near the 667 threshold even with perk and head shot bonuses.
  • M32, M79, and M203
    [M79GrenadeProjectile.uc, M32GrenadeProjectile.uc, KFVetDemolitions.uc]
    • Head shots will deal ~672 damage but, like the shotgun, the overall damage is a sum of smaller attacks. In this case, the individual damages being 336 a piece.
  • Pipebombs
    [PipeBombProjectile.uc, KFVetDemolitions.uc]
    • The oddball exception. Even though they deal out 1500 damage, I rarely ever see one stunned by a pipe bomb blast so I wouldn't count this as a reliable stunning method.
Another video I made later about scrake stunning, specifically about crossbowing scrakes off perk.

Killing Floor - Scrake Stunning 02 - YouTube

This confirms a few things I have just said about scrakes. You need to deal 667 per hit to stun and unperked xbow only does 600 to scrakes on suicidal/HoE because of their 50% resistance on those difficulties. On the other hand, a perked axe alt fire to the head does 687 damage per hit, enough to stun lock the scrake.

Fleshpound
[ZombieFleshpound.uc, ZombieFleshpoundBase.uc, FleshpoundZombieController.uc]

The most interesting specimen to look at I think. They have the rage conditions and all sorts of damage multipliers to look at.

Damage Multipliers
Pretty much everyone knows fleshpounds are weak against explosives, or neutral with regards to the LAW (no, fleshpounds don't have law resistance), and strong against everything else. So I'll just break down exactly much how stronger or weaker they are against the weapons at your disposal.

  • 2.0x -> frags and pipebombs
  • 1.25x -> M32, M79, and M203 nades
  • 1.0x -> LAW
  • 0.75x -> M14, LAR, Impact [from dud explosives and husk cannon] head shots
  • 0.5x -> All other attacks except...
  • 0.35x -> Crossbow head shot on Suicidal and H.o.E
  • 0x -> Bloat Bile
In the code, there is an extra multiplier which appears related to the fleshpound doing a blocking animation. I have yet to see the fleshpound make any blocking motions so I believe this code is never used. But if he ever does block an attack, it will do 0.4x damage, and that value is set by the variable, BlockDamageReduction.

Rage Conditions
There are two ways a fleshpound will become mad: either you deal out a big chunk of damage in a short period of time, or he gets frustrated.

In the fleshpound base file, there is a nifty variable named RageDamageThreshold. This variable determines how much damage the fleshpound can take before enraging. The damage accumulator is named TwoSecondDamageTotal. These variables are used in the same TakeDamage() function.

  • RageDamageThreshold is set to 360
  • TwoSecondDamageTotal is only reset if 2 seconds have passed since the fleshpound last received damage.

To understand how frustration works, you will have to head over to the fleshpound's controller file. In there, the variables of interest are RageFrustrationThreshhold and RageFrustrationTimer. They are used in the Tick() and BeginState() function of the ZombieCharge state.

  • RageFrustrationThreshhold is initialized to be 10 seconds when the ZombieCharge state is entered
    • When the fleshpound spots a target, it has a random value between 0 and 5 added to it thus giving you a range of 10-15 seconds before he rages
  • RageFrustrationTimer is reset when you break line of sight, the fleshpound attacks, or it tries to avoid a tossed grenade
    • The fleshpound leaves the ZombieCharge state when one of these 3 events happens
    • TY Benjamin for the grenade tip
Patriarch
[ZombieBoss.uc, ZombieBossBase.uc]
The big boss of the game. Nothing too fancy about him.

Damage Multipliers
The patriarch will gain some resistance to pipe bombs if you attempt to win bomb him. The specifics are posted here and the quick version is:

  • Takes 7.5% less damage per pipe bomb
    • Can stack up to 14 pipes before they do 0 a piece
  • Must wait 3 seconds in between explosions if you want to deal full damage for each pipe
Healing Mechanics
The patriarch can heal up to 3 times. When he will heal is based on his current health. The hp level that triggers healing and how much he heals is set in the PostBeginPlay() function.

  • 1st heal - 80% of max hp
  • 2nd heal - 50% of max hp
  • 3rd heal - 31.25% of max hp
The patriarch will always restore 25% of his max hp with each heal.
 
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So... Does a crossbow body shot do more to the fleshpound than a headshot?
If so, I've been aiming wrong all this time...

But thanks for that post, learnt a few things.

Oops, that should be only on Suicidal and H.o.E. Fp has a higher resistance to xbow head shots but the xbow head does deals 4x more damage than a body shot. Without the sharpshooter bonuses, a head shot only does 420 damage and instantly ragees the fp while a body shot does 150.
 
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Hmm, I always thought that pipe bombs did stun scrakes if they're not charging. When charging they definitely shrug it off, but I'm pretty sure they stop from pipes. Not the full head down stun but the don't attack, stand still and look around like an idiot for a second stun (unless this is the flinch you're talking about, though he doesn't move for a second).
 
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Hmm, I always thought that pipe bombs did stun scrakes if they're not charging. When charging they definitely shrug it off, but I'm pretty sure they stop from pipes. Not the full head down stun but the don't attack, stand still and look around like an idiot for a second stun (unless this is the flinch you're talking about, though he doesn't move for a second).

Hrm..I know I haven't seen him get stunned on HoE from pipe bombs, haven't tried on lower difficulties. Why that is is something I have yet to figure out. The only explosive that I can stun the scrake every time with is the LAW.

@Xebo
Thanks!
 
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Maybe it was on a lower difficulty, I mostly play HoE but also play suicidal and hard. I could've sworn it was on HoE as well but maybe I'm imagining things or saw something different (perhaps a law or something else hit it at the same time? dunno). I don't play the demo perk so I'm not exactly the one dropping the pipes and paying attention to this stuff. :D

Oh, very informative post btw. Good read. :cool:
 
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Good post as always.

Just one question I tink of:
If a fleshpound spot player A, and after 8 seconds he managed to break line of sight but player B is in his sight at the 5 second mark. In this case the fleshpound will still rage at 10-15 second mark or 15-20 second mark?

I believe it should reset the timer to 0 and actually rage at the 20 second mark. From what I can tell in the code, the fleshpound picks 1 player as its target and when it loses track of that player, it ends the ZombieCharge state. So in your example, player A breaks line of sight so the Fleshpound state leave ZombieCharge. Since player B is right there, it immediately targets player B and starts the ZombieCharge state from the beginning, which resets the timer back to 0.

That's how I believe the code works. I haven't tested this so I'm not 100% sure that is how your situation will turn out.

Maybe it was on a lower difficulty, I mostly play HoE but also play suicidal and hard. I could've sworn it was on HoE as well but maybe I'm imagining things or saw something different (perhaps a law or something else hit it at the same time? dunno). I don't play the demo perk so I'm not exactly the one dropping the pipes and paying attention to this stuff. :D

Oh, very informative post btw. Good read. :cool:

Yeah, if you see a scrake get stunned by a pipebomb, let me know. It must be possible since pipe bombs have a higher base damage than the law. Thanks for thumbs up =).
 
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yeah i have seen scrakes get stunned by pipe bombs but rarely on suicidal or HOE. but it does happen alot on hard games. but most times it just make the scrakes mad and charges >.>

Yeah, so I'd say no to pipe bombs being a reliable stun method vs. scrakes. The damage code for explosives is always a pain to look at so there probably is something going on behind the scenes that isn't plainly visible in the source code.
 
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Yeah, if you see a scrake get stunned by a pipebomb, let me know. It must be possible since pipe bombs have a higher base damage than the law. Thanks for thumbs up =).

I see them get stunned by pipes regularly. But there are a few catches:

-They have to be pretty much "Ground Zero" of the pipe explosion. If something "Really close" to them sets it off, they'll get hurt bad, but not quite enough for a stun, usually.

-They don't seem to get stunned, even on a direct pipe hit, if they're "Raged". They'll keep right on running (But will usually be near-dead!)

-If the pipe drops them below the rage point, they'll often snap out of the stun on their own (I dunno why, seems random, but far from uncommon), and charge someone.

-If they're hit by a decently powerful hit (Shotgun, other bomb, hand grenade, all common when the pipes are poppin'!), they'll usually snap right out of the stun before you can even see it through the smoke.
 
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I see them get stunned by pipes regularly. But there are a few catches:

-They have to be pretty much "Ground Zero" of the pipe explosion. If something "Really close" to them sets it off, they'll get hurt bad, but not quite enough for a stun, usually.

-They don't seem to get stunned, even on a direct pipe hit, if they're "Raged". They'll keep right on running (But will usually be near-dead!)

-If the pipe drops them below the rage point, they'll often snap out of the stun on their own (I dunno why, seems random, but far from uncommon), and charge someone.

-If they're hit by a decently powerful hit (Shotgun, other bomb, hand grenade, all common when the pipes are poppin'!), they'll usually snap right out of the stun before you can even see it through the smoke.

Huh, so there is more to it. Why can't pipes stunning a scrake be as simple as an axe to the head....:confused:
 
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I just tested it a little on the test map. Sometimes they stun, sometimes they don't (mostly the latter), and it seems if the pipe causes a rage it doesn't stun. Also if the scrake runs over a pipe while raged and manages to absorb most of the explosion he gets "rage stunned", where he runs in slow motion for a second or two, then goes back to his usual raging.

Weird mechanic but it is what it is I guess.
 
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I just tested it a little on the test map. Sometimes they stun, sometimes they don't (mostly the latter), and it seems if the pipe causes a rage it doesn't stun. Also if the scrake runs over a pipe while raged and manages to absorb most of the explosion he gets "rage stunned", where he runs in slow motion for a second or two, then goes back to his usual raging.

Weird mechanic but it is what it is I guess.

Yeah, oh well. So we can just put pipes in the "unreliable" category for scrake stunning.
 
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Doesn't the chainsaw alt fire deal 675(540*1.25[assuming level 6 zerker]) damage to the head? It doesn't stun scrakes, or at least I can't get it to stun them. Any idea on that?

Chainsaw only has 1.0x multiplier for head shots so no, it won't stun from the front. Thanks for reminding me about the chainsaw, it will stun from the back though.
 
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Ah, kk. Another error on the KF wiki. Thanks for the info, I'll stop wasting my armor attempting to stun them with it.

Yeah, the KF Wiki is full of errors. The kinds of errors make me believe that the contributors who make them have never looked at the code beyond the default properties, or have even tested what they write for that matter.

And no problem, glad the thread was of some help :).
 
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