Last Updated on by Samuel Franklin
Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter Guide – Best Build, Perks & Weapons Loadout
Our Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter guide details the best Sharpshooter perk and weapons loadout choices to create the ultimate long ranged rifle specialist that is capable of taking down even the largest ZED enemies in the game. While this class perk was not available in the first release the Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter release date was still during the Early Access period for the game and was part of the Bullseye update (14 June 2016). The Sharpshooter has changed in a number of ways since that time although the core concept of supporting the team from a great distance has remained untouched in that time.
Utilising primarily rifles the Sharpshooter can also use the hard hitting Rail Gun, crossbows and pistols to dispatch ZEDs for the team and also stop them in their tracks through utility. This gives the Sharpshooter class perk a clear role to play in terms of managing large ZED threats and damage output which is focused around using headshot mechanics. Your perks support this with the Sharpshooter having a narrow set of passive perk bonuses that include headshot damage, recoil reduction and weapon switch that allow you to land consecutive headshots and swap weapons for the task at hand. The trade off for this overwhelming power is a lack of survivability, ammunition capacity and overall effectiveness at close range which means you need a solid team behind you when playing as this class. The two main pathways when playing as the Sharpshooter involve leaning heavily into hard hitting guns and stun power for bringing down terrifying ZED threats or leaning towards a generalist build that sacrifices some of this power for greater enemy flexibility.
With this Sharpshooter build guide players will have the necessary starting point to create their own preferred loadout catered to personal KF2 preferences. This page includes details of general Sharpshooter tips, strategy, perks and weapon loadout combinations that are favoured by the community meta as they are optimal in the vast majority of situations. While these choices are superior most of the time Killing Floor 2 has a variety of challenges and factors that knowledgeable players should always consider as some alternative niche options might be effective in the right circumstances.
Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter Strategy and Tips
Playing the Sharpshooter your role is primarily to deal with the larger and deadly ZED enemies for your Killing Floor 2 multiplayer team although the spectrum of this role can change dramatically based on your weapon and associated perk choices. When fulfilling this role players should keep the following in mind:
- Even though the Sharpshooter has a damaged focus role on a team players should never forget about their Freeze Grenade that offers some of the best utility in the game and provides you with an additional method to handle high threats beyond damage.
- Be careful of the auto aim mode of the Rail Gun which is activated by default when purchasing this weapon from the trader. The current mode is displayed in the weapon UI at the bottom right of the screen and can be turned off using the alt fire button which will improve the damage of the weapon considerably.
- The Sharpshooter has a small pool of passive perks compared to other class perks with much of your strength driven by your perk skill choices that take some time to acquire. For this reason players who wish to dedicate themselves to the Sharpshooter will find a tougher path to class viability compared to others that are initially strong.
- Don’t be afraid to change your perk loadout in between waves when playing as the Sharpshooter based on your current weapon and team needs.
- With your Always Prepared perk the Sharpshooter can easily perform over-capping on their weapons to gain the benefits of this perk while being able to use Dead Eye during actual ZED waves. In order to do this players will want to visit the trader and activate Always Prepared during the trader time window before buying ammo and reloading the weapons before placing them on the ground, switching your perk back to Dead Eye and then picking up your weapons.
Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter Perks Build
The Sharpshooter has the following perk bonuses at maximum level:
- 25% headshot damage (1% per level)
- 25% recoil reduction (1% per level)
- 50% weapon switch (2% per level)
The Sharpshooter has the following active perk skills to select from:
| Perk Category | Left (L) Option | Right (R) Option |
|---|---|---|
| Movement | Sniper: Increase damage 25% while stationary and using perk weapons. | Marksman: Increase shooting speed by 25% and movement speed by 10% when using perk weapons. |
| Basic Technique | Stability: Increase damage 30%, movement speed 50%, and reload speed 20% while crouching and using a perk weapon. | Ballistic Shock: Increase stun power of perk weapons 100%. |
| Skill | Rack ’em Up: Each consecutive headshot with a perk weapon increases damage 10%, up to a maximum of 50%. | Tactical Reload: Increase reload speed with perk weapons. |
| Equipment | Dead Eye: Reduce recoil 10% and increase head shot damage 10% when using iron sights with a perk weapon. | Always Prepared: Carry one extra grenade and 25% more ammo for perk weapons. |
| Master Techniques | ZED TIME – Assassin: Any head shots with perk weapons have a 5% chance to trigger ZED Time. During ZED Time, increase head shot damage with perk weapons 35%. | ZED TIME – Ranger: Any head shots with perk weapons have a 5% chance to trigger ZED Time. During ZED Time, your head shots with perk weapons will stun any ZED. |
The Sharpshooter is one of the most flexible classes when it comes to perk skills in Killing Floor 2 with your choice of weapons, teammates, map and playstyle all being important factors to consider and it can even change wave to wave. Players should not be afraid to mix and match perk skills when playing this class. Notable active perk skills when playing as the Sharpshooter are:
- Movement: This first tier sets the scene for what players can expect from each side of the Sharpshooter perk skill tree choices. On the left hand side you’ll find a sniper focused perk that boosts damage when stationary while on the right hand side players have the option to shift towards a run and gun style approach that allows them to constantly reposition. If your focus is primarily on hunting big ZEDs with hard hitting weapons you want to grab Sniper while players that are leaning towards the automatic weapons with larger magazine capacities will want Marksman as you’ll be on the move more often.
- Basic Technique: At this tier players will find a significant power jump in the form of Stability that gives you damage, movement speed and reload speed when crouching that makes this a common position for the Sharpshooter to use. This takes some active thought initially until it becomes second nature with the benefits being powerful enough to warrant activating whenever possible. Ballistic Shock on the right hand side of this tier should not be your default choice but can sometimes still be viable where your team needs the additional utility and can afford to miss the additional 30% damage of stability.
- Skill: Like the tier above the left hand side has a huge potential boost to damage and further focuses our playstyle towards headshots to maximise the stacking potential of this. Players can see the current number of stacks in the centre of their screen with players able to either stack this up before a large ZED on easy enemies or stack it up on the same enemy through repeated shots. Given the huge boost to damage the situations you want Tactical Reload instead are rare although is effective in builds that use weapons like the M99 were the magazine size is small and the reload time is large. Keep in mind that at an advanced level of Sharpshooter gameplay players can become proficient at initiating reload animation cancelling on certain weapons which may mitigate the benefit of Tactical Reload.
- Equipment: The equipment tier of perks for the Sharpshooter once again gives us a damage boost while also helping recoil slightly in the form of Dead Eye which is our default option as a result as it helps us achieve our class goals. Without this perk you will lack some breakpoints against large ZEDs depending on difficultly so be careful of swapping this out for Always Prepared. The right side option does give a small boost to our utility through another grenade though and there are also some sneaky tactics you can use with the trader and Always Prepared that allow you to walk away with more ammunition than you would otherwise (known as over-capping, refer to the tips section).
- Master Techniques: With the ability to have head shots trigger ZED time across both these perks reaching level 25 can be a game changer for the Sharpshooter effectiveness and something you’ll trigger often during a game given headshots are core to our playstyle. The left side is suited to situations where we use slow firing high damage weapons and want additional damage for takedowns while the right side boosts utility and improves our chances at subsequent ZED time triggers given the stun effects.
Given the above the Sharpshooter best perks setup is LLLLL as your default option for large ZED killing and RLLLR for a generalist build. As noted above though these can change dramatically with each wave and situation so these should only be considered as a starting point when playing the Sharpshooter class perk.
Killing Floor 2 Sharpshooter Weapons Loadout Guide
As noted in the introduction the Sharpshooter can split into two distinct pathways that each have their own choices of Sharpshooter best weapons and in turn perks to buff those styles. On one side players can lean into the deadly heavy weapons of the Sharpshooter to cause massive destruction against the toughest ZEDs and on the other side create a flexible fighter that trades some of this power for the ability to handle all ZEDs reasonably well and be less reliant on teammates to clear lower tier ZEDs. As a result the following end game loadouts for your weapons as the Sharpshooter should be your priority for their optimal setup:
- Rail Gun and SPX 464: One of the core builds for the Sharpshooter that gives you fantastic large and medium ZED killing power and dive into the intended role of the class when supported with a party to handle the trash ZED enemies. The Rail Gun is the best Sharpshooter weapon for large ZEDs in Killing Floor 2 with its huge damage at the cost of fire rate and the single shot magazine which is further empowered with our perk choices of Sniper and Stability. This weapon has an alternative lock on fire mode that trades some damage for homing but is rarely used in practice. The SPX 464 is a popular pairing with the Rail Gun for its effectiveness against the medium tier enemies that don’t quite require Rail Gun ammo but are still durable. While the SPX 464 has a larger magazine size and starting ammunition than the Rail Gun this build does leave the Sharpshooter without an easy way to clear basic level ZEDs.
- Rail Gun or M99 AMR and .500 Magnum: Similar to the above loadout this gives players similar large and medium ZED killing proficiency with some hard hitting weapons at the core. However, with the Rail Gun option players can squeeze in the Dual 9mm pistols into their weight limit which gives you a usable backup option to clear waves by yourself if there are a lack of allies around to assist.
- M14 EBR and FN FAL: An alternative generalist build that trades some of your immediate power to kill large targets for general damage output and flexibility based on the Marksman perk. With this loadout the Sharpshooter is still capable of dealing with large enemies although requires some build up or multiple successive headshots to do so compared to the other builds above.
