Tips for moving up the difficulty ladder?

[CaptainTempest]

Hey all,

I was wondering if anyone had any pointers when it comes to moving to the next difficulty level.

For some background, I've only ever played KF1 on Normal aside from one or two rounds on Bedlam on Hard to get that one Halloween achievement. Plugged about 100 hours into the first game and I've got 40 hours under my belt in the second. So far, I've completed three of the six maps in KF2 on Hard with a surprisingly cooperative group of randoms, but I'm wondering if there are any key things I should know before continuing on Hard, advancing to Suicidal, and eventually (god forbid) attempting HoE. Any skills to develop? Habits to break? Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

[DoctorDragon]

Depends on your favourite perk(s) and which weapons you tend to choose. How you handle the economy is also important and you have to know the maps pretty well to succeed on Hell on Earth. We could probably tell you a bit more if you tell us what perk you play mostly.

 

[Utterrandomness]

I remember when I progressed up the difficulty ladder in KF1, the biggest change was ofc going from Hard to Suicidal, where Scrakes could not flinch more than once within a short time, which nulified the infamous katana flinch-lock kill.

One thing I was wondering was if there were any specific techniques that only work on lower difficulties in this game? Like, for example, on Hard you can stumble a scrake once every so often with a gun bash, but maybe this doesn't work on Sui or HoE?

 

[TheTCREngineer]

Like, for example, on Hard you can stumble a scrake once every so often with a gun bash, but maybe this doesn't work on Sui or HoE?

Works everytime lad. Though I recommend sprinting away from the Scrake while clearing the trash bags if there is any. You can outrun most of the Scrakes attacks by holding shift or holding s(a.k.a walking away) Works most of the time for me.

 

[CaptainTempest]

Depends on your favourite perk(s) and which weapons you tend to choose. How you handle the economy is also important and you have to know the maps pretty well to succeed on Hell on Earth. We could probably tell you a bit more if you tell us what perk you play mostly.

Perk I play mostly is Support, currently at 22. I swap between Ammo/Supplier depending on the waves we're on, and I find myself always using Fortitude, Tactical Reload, and Strength.

My usual path when upgrading weapons from the trader is get the Boomstick as quickly as possible, and sticking with that and the pump-action until I can acquire the AA12. I usually end the game with AA12, Boomstick, and Medic Pistol, though now that I have Strength, I've got some room to experiment with what I can carry.

 

[xmrmeow]

obviously different perk bonuses are more viable; this really becomes evident at higher difficulties.

Certain zeds have abilities to watch out for, like the Husk will run at you when he's at low hp and self destruct, doing massive AOE damage that can 1 hit a player on Hard. Husk gets a flamethrower that he'll use when a player is close on suicidal.

Also all zeds move faster on higher difficulties.

I play mostly suicidal and HOE.

To the other guy; I actually like regeneration better on support over fortitude. It outheals bloats and husk fireballs and unless you have like 2 medics, I'd say it's all around better for survivability. You should test it out if you haven't; MUCH better than medic's nanobots which heal half as much half as fast.

 

[CrashFu]

My advice is to ignore all the elitists who like to belittle everyone who isn't playing on HoE right now, and advance through the difficulties at a comfortable pace.

Ideally, you'll want to hit a 5th-level milestone in whatever perks you like playing before jumping up to the next difficulty (IE 5 for hard, 10 for suicidal, etc.), AND reach the point where you're beating the game on more than half of your attempts on your current difficulty, and things are starting to feel easy. Also, do some behind-the-scenes research, like enemy resistances and odd quirks of various weapons (like how the T3 firebug weapon does less DoT than the T1 but more direct damage, or how C4 gets a damage penalty if you try to blow up the same enemy with more than one at a time)


Too many people just cheat their way to fast perk level gains, look up a few easy-win strategies, and jump straight into the higher difficulties without learning the fundamentals first, and that's no good at all. The lower difficulties exist for a reason; KF2 is more than just its highest difficulty setting.

 

[Lt. Jiggy Wiggy]

Take it slow, keeping going to a certain difficulty until you're completely comfortable in it, then advance. It's essentially just practice.

Just watch out for Husk's Monkey Blast.

 

[Brethillith]

Learn to communicate. Even that small "Scrake behind us!" -warning will go a long way...

Don't think you can kill everything by yourself. Never leave your group if at all possible.

Learn to move/kite when needed. Even if one place on "Hard" is a viable camp spot, it could easily be overrun on "suicidal".

Learn to manage/avoid enemy rage. Shooting that FP in the head with some small PewPew -gun and pissing him off will only get your team deader than dead.

Learn to shop fast. If at all possible try to leave that last lil bugger zombie alive so you can get to trader is often a good idea (not as crucial as in KF1 but still...).
Don't run to shop if you are not sure that all SCs n FPs are dead !!!!!!!

Try to stick to your class/role, and use the specific gear. Only try off perk weapon if you are sure you know what you are doing.

Learn to shop smart. Money is scarce on higher difficulties so don't go buying stoopid things

Learn to enjoy the challenge!

 

[Zourin]

For commando: Backup + Dualie 9mm's (and tactical reload at 10). It's hard to not appreciate what the deep ammunition pool and rapid fire can do for you when 9mm's do about the same damage as a bullpup. Larger Magazines doesn't offer you more ammunition, so I see it as a sideways step unless you're abandoning the use of the pistol entirely. Once you get Call-Out, it's time to up the difficulty.

For Medics leveling up.. Snag Enforcer and the Combatant skill and keep yourself alive. You're no use to anyone dead, and your healing on normal difficulties isn't going to be a whole lot to make use of the armor repair feature. Once you hit 15-20, then swap over and start playing Hard with Healing Surge, Armament and Regeneration. Your level bonus' and the extra hits your team will likely take will mean plenty of opportunity for you and a more team-centric build-out.

 

[q3.railgun]

Make friends, add people that played similarly to you and you had a good time with.

I mostly just bug test and stratcraft now but if you're generally looking for a good time playing with friends can't be beat.

 

[Bluntman420]

Take your time. Try to practice on solo when trying harder difficulties before joining multiplayer games. Practice your headshots!! Headshots get more and more important the harder the difficulty gets. Make friends when you get comfortable on solo and then try to get yourself a team who works together, teamwork is key on SUI/HOE. Good luck!

 

[DrearierSpider]

Self damage multiplier goes 0.1-->0.2-->0.3-->1.0 as you move up the difficulty ladder. In other words, you only really need to worry about it until you're on HoE, and even then only with certain classes, but it can really screw you over if you don't now about it in the wrong situation (take it from someone who learned through experience :O).

 

[JoelFig]

Support-specific pointers as you move up in difficulty.

*scrakes rage with less damage, watch your penetration.

*Ammo becomes a precious resource even if you aim well, which means hardly missing and usually landing head shots. Ways to circumvent this issue include 1)running "Ammo" 2)"Strength" for an extra weapon if running "Supplier" 3)lining up the zeds to do as much damage per round; weapon bashing and your pistol can be used for single targets 4)limiting your involvement in taking down beg zeds(this one is dependent on the situation and how well your team handles their role, so it is likely to be out of your control).

*Speaking of big zeds, your grenades are the best against Fleshpounds, so make them count.

*When you can't outrun your enemy, the boomstick's pushback can save your life.

*More on the boomstick-it's most effective range is point blank in their face, so naturally you want to get close. If it is dangerous to approach the zed directly, you can always stumble them with a bash and set up the shot. You want to be killing everything below a scrake in one shot.

That's all I have for now.

 

[C_Gibby]

The jump from normal to hard is probably the biggest one, namely because the zeds all increase in health, including all the trash ones. No more 1-shot 9mm decaps, for instance.

It's easier once you get a few levels under your belt and try get the most out of your ammo/dosh pool. Getting really consistent with headshots as mando and getting groups with support does a lot. Also its an excellent idea to get the medic pistol, no matter your perk. It's inexpensive at 200d, and its great for healing bros. It gives you a little money back each time as well. Oh and it's not a bad pistol either.

 

[MrRogersBestNeighbor]

There's numerous things I could tell you, but it'd be easier to remember if I just list the most important things to keep in mind that could literally make or break a game (not just your performance in a game):

Communication- If you have a mic, inform your team the moment you see a scrake or fleshpound (or both) and where it is. If you don't have a mic, type in chat sc or fp and where they are if you can type fast enough. Much more on this in the other points.

Choosing the right team- If your team has no Medic, either be the Medic or leave and join another game (at least for suicidal+, hard could also very easily be a disaster if the players aren't competent at healing themselves). Having a Berserker to act as a tank for scrakes and fleshpounds is also ideal, perhaps necessary.
Also, only play with teams who are appropriately leveled. You could probably do alright with one player who is very low level (as long as it isn't the Medic or Berserker), but 2+ is most often going to be a major problem. As a general rule, the levels should be: Hard 5+, Suicidal 15+, HoE 20+ (ideally 25)

Stay AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE from Hans- Hans does significantly more damage on Hard+ and can take you out in a second with his melee attacks. Also, if you see your teammates too close to Hans, TELL THEM! (Unless they're a Berserker of course). Even if you don't have a mic, it's more important for you to type it out in chat than to do damage as a dead teammate will do far less damage. And if you see teammates standing over Hans' grenades, again TELL THEM! (assuming you have a mic). And stay in view of the medic! Which leads me to the next point.

-Always stay in view of your medic (or at least have the option to get in view of your medic very quickly when needed without the chance of being overrun). This is especially important against Hans. And if you see teammates fighting Hans or scrakes/fps out of view of the medic, it doesn't hurt to remind them to stay in view (especially if they're taking significant damage and the Medic has to constantly struggle to get over to them).

If you don't use effective communication, you'll notice a huge difference between how your team performs. I've found playing without my mic to be incredibly difficult. Any time I want to play games without it, rarely does it turn out well (assuming other players don't have/or aren't using one).

For Suicidal+-
Conserve ammo- Use your pistol whenever possible for single low threat ZEDs. You'll quickly run out of ammo otherwise. If you're Commando/Support, headshots are crucial. And as Commando, you'll want to use single shots every chance you can (when things aren't too crazy).

Get good with hip fire aim- You'll get overrun very frequently depending on the team, so having decent hip fire aim is incredibly important so you can move quickly while firing and conserving ammo (not missing too many shots).

This could really apply to any difficulty, but is extremely important on Suicidal+. Try to get your team to fight Hans in the most open part of the map- It's best to fight him in the most open area of the map for three reason:
1. Hans can more easily stay in view of everyone, ensuring that everyone can put out a steady stream of damage on him at all times.
2. It's easier for everyone to stay at a distance from Hans so they aren't ***** slapped to death in a second.
3. This is probably the most important one, people are far less likely to get out of view of the medic(s).