• Perk Decoupling - Play any perk as any specialist
  
• Massive improvements to all weapon handling
  
• Improved Weapon and Zed Audio
  
  
• New Commando Tier 2 - MKR350
  
• New Engineer Tier 1 - Streik Dual Defender
  
• New Sharpshooter Tier 2 - M14 EBR
  
• Polymer Tip Ammo - Ballistic/Cut with high Penetration and Bleed Affliction
  
• Match Grade Ammo - Ballistic/Sound with improved Accuracy and high Stumble Affliction
  
• Explosive Healing Darts - AoE Healing and Damage, perfect for solo specialists

Armor Repair only gives up to 20 armor, but it can save your life by simply preventing you from being at 0 Armor. As long as you have any armor, you gain up to 30% damage reduction, depending on your armor upgrade level. Base Armor gives 0% damage reduction, Green gives 5%, Blue gives 20%, and Purple gives 30%. It's generally never worth the dosh to upgrade to Green unless you can also afford Blue, not even for the free armor repair you get when upgrading.

As you increase difficulty up to Hell on Earth, you'll notice zeds move much faster. Normal running won't cut it, eventually you're going to need to learn some move tech. The easiest method is simply swapping to a knife, then there are other techniques like Diag-Dashing and SlideJumping. Thankfully every perk has a move speed skill, don't underestimate them.

Zeds always spawn near you. Shocking, right? More specifically, in multiplayer, they will always spawn near all players. If you're grouped up, it will force zeds to spawn from limited spawn points and then attack from more predictable routes. By funneling zeds down hallways, around corners, or through doors you can make each wave easier and faster for bunker strategies.

Try not to be off on your own. If you feel the need to be off protecting another doorway or flank... you are probably the reason zeds are spawning there. And definitely don't be that player who farms all of the kills while the rest of the party is grouped up waiting for the Zeds to come around the corner.

Enemies are composed of four basic substances: Flesh, Armor, Zedtech, and Mire. Some enemies are made entirely of Flesh or Mire while others are made of a combination of parts. Your damage can be more or less effective depending on which part of their body you hit. More on that later.

Ballistic damage is the most common, and could easily be considered the weakest. Force damage doesn't seem to stand out much with only one strength, but it has no weaknesses either. Being found on Explosive Weapons certainly helps, but other damage types are also effective.

Scrakes and Fleshpounds will be your biggest obstacles during waves, so bringing something to deal with them ASAP is going to be your highest priority, especially on HoE where they start showing up early! By the boss wave you should have enough dosh for two weapons to cover any potential weaknesses.
Weakness: Ballistic, Cut, Biological
Strength: Force, Electrical
Weakness: Force, Electrical
Strength: Ballistic, Cut, Biological
Weakness: Fire, Biological
Strength: Force, Acidic
Weakness: Force, Cold
Strength: Fire, Electrical
Weakness: Electrical, Acidic
Strength: Cold, Biological

Damage over Time: Bleed (Cut), Burn (Heat), Corrosion (Acidic), Toxic (Biological)
Hard CC/Interrupts: Confuse, Freeze, Knockdown, Panic, Shock, Stumble, Stun
Enfeeble is unique as the only debuffing effect without a DoT or interrupt, which means you're free to apply this debuff without worrying about overwriting other CC effects.

Weakpoints on Scrakes and Fleshpounds are either Armor or Zedtech. Exposed fleshy bits are vulnerable to Ballistic/Biological/Cut, but that doesn't mean all or any of the weakpoints are flesh.
Based on a combination of damage resistances (±15%) and weak zone multipliers (±10%), you can calculate how much each damage type will actually deal, depending on where you hit.

• Ballistic/Cut: Hollow Point Rounds, Kunai (throw/primary), Shuriken
  
• Ballistic/Force: Armor Piercing Rounds, Reactive Alloy Rounds
  
• Ballistic/Heat: Incendiary Rounds, Incendiary Shells, White Phosphorous Shells
  
• Ballistic/Cold: Cold Ammo, Samaritan (no ammo mod), Disciple (secondary)
  
• Ballistic/Electrical: Electric Ammo, Electric Rounds (Samaritan), Electric Slugs
  
• Ballistic/Acidic: Acidic Ammo
  
• Ballistic/Biological: Enfeebling Rounds (Pyre .357), Enfeebling Slugs, Poly-Synthetic Rounds
  
• Force/Soundwave: Explosive Rounds, Explosive Slugs, Overpressure Rounds, Frag Launcher (Knightsbridge), G33 (no ammo mod)
  
• Force/Heat: Incendiary Grenades, Vulcan TA (primary)
  
• Force/Acidic: Acid Grenades (DoT pool)
  
• Force/Biological: Enfeebling Smoke Grenades - G33, Biomorphic Projector (underbarrel)
  
• Cut/Electrical: Electrified Blade (Kiba), Dual Katanas (secondary)
  
• Cut/Force: Sai Blade Kunai (melee/secondary)
  
• Biological/Electrical: LF-85 (secondary)
  
• Ballistic/Soundwave: Match Grade Ammo

Passive proc chances are multiplicative, not additive. This means that you'd calculate the probability based on the likelihood of failure rather than success. The formula is: 1−(1−x)^y where X is the proc chance and Y is how many copies you have. 3x Deadly Resupply doesn't add up to 30% chance (10%+10%+10%) but is instead calculated as 1−(1−0.1)^3 = 10%/19%/27.1% chance to proc at least once, with a 1% chance for a double proc and 0.1% for a triple proc.

This also means that 3x Critical Strikes does not add up to a 4.5% proc chance. The tooltip is worded "Each shot has a 1.5% chance to deal 150% damage" rather than "to deal 150% more damage", meaning the actual probability is 1−(1−0.015)^3 = 0.0443% per shot to deal 50% more damage, making it one of the weakest passives for all mod slots.

• Allied Zed Time (multiplayer)
  
• Armor Repair (especially useful for melee coatings)
  
• Armored Allies (kill reliant, multiplayer+)
  
• Boss Bash Team-Up (multiplayer bosses++)
  
• Boss Basher (bosses only)
  
• Deadly Resupply (kill reliant, not good for weapons that use multiple ammo per shot)
  
• First Strike (especially useful for Streik Dual Defender/Three-Round G33)
  
• Kill Shield (kill reliant)
  
• Killshot Cure (kill reliant, multiplayer+)
  
• Melee Master (melee only)
  
• Panic Attack (Firebug and various weapons with Incendiary ammo types)
  
• Stumblesome (all-purpose)

Passives like Armored Allies, Boss Basher Team-Up, and Killshot Cure may not directly affect your character, but they're the most valuable passives available for multiplayer when used effectively.

• Ammo Efficiency
  
• Blood Transfusion
  
• Bounce Back
  
• Combat Cure
  
• Coordinated Carnage
  
• Critical Strikes
  
• Deadlier Zed Time
  
• Last Stand
  
• Long-Distance Operator
  
• Toxicity

Whether because of their atrocious activation conditions, abysmal probabilities to proc, or otherwise inconceivably insignificant impact, these passives will likely need a bit of balancing before they become viable.
For most slots there is a pool of 15 possible passives to roll from, and each passive can roll in up to 3 slots at most. Some passives line up just right and can be stacked without overlap for 3+3 like Deadly Resupply / Kill Shield.

Ninja Weapons are a bit different, just like their parts and mods. Most mod slots only have 8 possible passives, aside from Sights with 12. Some passives can only roll once, like Armor Repair on Coatings, but a few passives can still roll 3x, such as Melee Master and Kill Shield.

Gadget: Hellion (Acidic)
An autonomous drone that targets enemies with acidic projectiles.
Throwable: HE Grenade (Force)
A conventional military grade grenade with a short timer.

• Insider Trading is okay, but Fire Sale helps keep ammo costs down, especially once you've got two hungry guns to feed.
  
• Hothead and Offset aren't even bad, but Preferred Customer is in a league of its own.
  
• Not Dead Yet can give you an extra life every ~2-3 mins, but Booster Shot well help feed your stim addiction for A Real Rager at level 26, in addition to making them heal more over time .
  
• Time and Again gets you more zed time for your entire team, can't go wrong. Get Loaded is perfect when you have two fully-modded weapons to swap between, although it still works with a sidearm in a pinch.
  
• Limb Reaper is decent but only works for Ballistic weapons, rendering explosive weapons ineffective, and doesn't work on bosses. Barrels Blazing has a tendency of only kicking after you've already killed everything, or falling off if you need to turn and kite. A Real Rager is the clear winner as it turns your syringes into a huge DPS cooldown with added mobility on demand, giving you the power to focus large targets when you need it, or maximize damage output during a boss fight. This is where your stim addiction and those two extra syringes from Booster Shot come in.

• A Bigger Bang would be better if it also increased Corrosion Explosion's radius, Knockabout provides extra knockdown, while Think Fast removes all grenade self-damage to help ensure you never get cornered and trapped (or accidentally blow yourself up).
  
• Corrosion Explosion is good for area denial when you can get a lot of enemies to stand in the acid cloud, but Cluster Bombs is better if you prefer immediate results.
  
• Money-Spinner dosh can add up. Everybody loves an Action Hero, particularly when playing with explosive weapons. Scavenger gives an unlimited supply of grenades so long as there are enemies to kill.

• Acceptable Damage is mostly wasted when trash zeds die to the initial damage. Market Panic provides longer CC, giving you more time to focus priority targets. Guardian Angel is a good option for damage reduction on demand, an especially useful tool for melee builds.
  
• The extra duration from Extended Coverage is better and synergizes with more skills, especially in the frequently tight spaces where Widen Out isn't able to be fully utilized.
  
• Easy Upgrade is again mostly wasted when trash zeds die to the initial damage, though it does have some use to help take down large zeds. Slow Dance applies Enfeeble to make sure large Zeds are less dangerous. Caustic Cure can be useful, but also requires you to stand in the clouds... with the enemies. Surely a syringe would be safer?
  
• When paired with explosive weapons, able to hit multiple weak spots on multiple targets, Quick Return gives the fastest recharge time for any gadget. Business Expansion is a decent option for burst damage, but more frequent use is always better for clearing waves.
  
• Smog Warning is good to help clear lingering trash, Boom Cycle is another increase to initial damage, and Survivor Type prevents your health from dropping below 30 HP while standing in the acid clouds. Perfect for when you want to play as ZerkMando, the immortal melee monster... or just become immune to damage at will or whatever.

Ammo: Armor Piercing / Overpressure Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Magazine (optional)
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Start with your Ammunition of choice and the Heavy Frame Receiver first since they're the only mods that actually increase your damage. Add on the Suppressor, Reflex Sight, and Foregrip as your starting budget increases.
Ammo: Armor Piercing / Overpressure Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Ammo: Armor Piercing / Incendiary Rounds / Polymer Tip
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Drum Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Making use of new Polymer Tip Ammo with Bleed and Penetration, Incendiary Rounds with Burn and Panic, or the standard AP Rounds with Stumble, this versatile new AK has got you covered. Dual Mag gives great reload speed, while the Drum Mag triples your mag capacity, turning this AK into an LMG that's a perfect candidate for stacking Ammo Efficiency passives.
Ammo: Armor Piercing / Incendiary Rounds / Polymer Tip
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Drum Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
What was once a powerful Assault Rifle has become an absolute powerhouse now that Rearmament Update has improved its handling and precision. It may not have an Underbarrel Frag Launcher, but it makes up for it with access to a wide variety of ammo types.
Ammo: Reactive Alloy Rounds / Match Grade
Barrel: Mag-Channel Accelerator
Underbarrel: Frag Launcher
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Powered Box Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Poly-Synthetic Rounds (Ballistic/Bio) do great against smaller zeds, but deal even less against Fleshpounds. Luckily, the Frag Launcher brings exactly what you need in the form of Force/Soundwave damage. Match Grade has even proven to be a great new ammo option with its unique damage type, pinpoint accuracy, and high stumble.
Ammo: Explosive Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight (Pistol)
Sight: Reflex Sight (Pistol)
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Multi-Round Burst Fire Mode (optional)
AP and Electric rounds work fine too

Gadget: Wildfire (Heat)
A back-worn thermal energy device that releases an explosive ring of fire.
Throwable: Molotov Cocktail (Heat)
A breakable incendiary weapon that ignites an area and all enemies within it.

• Firewall, Too Hot to Handle
  
• Heat Exposure, Focus Fire, Scorched Earth
  
• Fuel to Burn, Slow Cook
  
• Red Zone, Hot Foot
  
• Extinguisher, Barbecue Bash, Explosive Reaction

• Cocktail Party, Boom Out, Firecracker
  
• Extended Edition, Out With a Bang
  
• Asphyxiate, Hot Mess, Up In Flames

• Front Row Seats, Ready For Action, Heat Therapy
  
• Footlights, Speedy Exit
  
• Triple Play, Red Carpet, In The Public Eye
  
• Hot Streak, Blast Zone
  
• Double Feature, Flammable Material, From The Ashes

Ammo: Nano-Thermite Rounds
Barrel: Magnesium Accelerator
Underbarrel: Empty
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Ammo, Barrel, and Receiver should be your first priorities.
Ammo: Nano-Thermite Rounds
Barrel: Compensator
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Affliction Amplifier

Ammo: Tar Fuel
Barrel: Wide-Angle Nozzle
Underbarrel: Incendiary Launcher
Magazine: Extended Fuel Tank
Internal: Slowed Tick Receiver

Ammo: Supercharged Plasma
Barrel: Plasma Focuser
Magazine: Pressurized Tank
Internal: Pneumatic Plasma Cooler
Despite the damage nerfs, this plasma cannon is still capable of blowing up entire hordes of zeds and dealing serious damage to large targets with its charged attacks thanks to its explosive Force+Heat damage type. Ultra Octane Fuel Tank provides a bit more damage at the cost of ammo efficiency, but Pressurized Tank will provide a sizable amount of increased damage per magazine.
Ammo: Electric Ammo / Enfeebling Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight(Pistol)
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Suppressed Cyclinder
Internal: Heavy-Action Hammer
This underrated sidearm packs a punch with higher damage than Sharpshooter's Disciple, only without the explosive rounds. You can swap for the Upgraded Speed Loader if you want more reload speed and don't mind the recoil.

Gadget: Sonic Storm (Sound Wave)
An augmented power suit with two turrets that obliterate enemies with sonic projectiles.
Throwable: Bouncing Betty (Ballistic)
A trigger-pressured mine that detonates to create a lethal circle of shrapnel.

• Repairman, Tool Up
  
• Hole Punch, Major Damage, First Contact
  
• Bleed For Speed, Man of Steel
  
• Scatter Plot, Full Blast
  
• Rally Beacon, Inner Rage, Chain Reaction

• Chaos Theory, Proximity Mine, Grounded
  
• Dismember The Day, Super Shredder
  
• Heated Exchange, Scrap Heap, Second Time Around

• Stabilize, Mobilize, Fortify
  
• Wall of Sound, High Frequency
  
• Bone Conductor, Clear The Area, Juggernaut
  
• Reforge, Sonic Salvo
  
• Take Charge, State of Confusion, Reverb Pedal

Taking Scatter Plot (20) instead of Full Blast will greatly increase the damage you deal with shotguns (ConTek CSG, Streik Dual Defender, Bonebreaker, and Dragon's Breath) for any non-slug ammo. Gadget skills aim to take advantage of Reverb Pedal's flat AoE damage along with High Frequency for more pulses. Tool Up and Reforge provide amazing synergy with Ammo Bags, letting you exceed the normal wave limit by dropping multiple bags each wave.

Ammo: Explosive Slugs
Barrel: Shotgun Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Lightweight Mag
Internal: Empty
Easily the best T1 weapon of any perk, so much so that it's the only T1 weapon I ever bother buying on other perks. Sporting great base damage and a point-and-click playstyle thanks to Explosive Slugs, this shotty will put a hole through just about anything short of Scrakes and Fleshpounds. This ability to one-shot most targets also makes it an ideal candidate for Deadly Resupply.
Ammo: Nano-Thermite Rounds
Barrel: Extended Barrel
Sight: Reflex Sight
Internal: Affliction Amplifier
This setup is cheap enough to be used as an Engi Starter, or as a budget secondary weapon on Ninja and Firebug. Keep in mind when running Flechettes that Cut damage is weak against Armor/Zedtech, try to aim for Flesh instead. Swapping for the High-Velocity Receiver also helps by providing more Penetration, allowing you to hit multiple body parts or pierce through armor to hit the fleshy bits behind it.
Ammo: Electric Slugs / Enfeebling Slugs
Barrel: Quad Barrel
Sight: Reflex Sight
Internal: High-Velocity Receiver
The Quad Barrel itself costs 2000 dosh, but also brings a ton of stats with it to justify the price tag. The damage potential with your secondary fire is massive. Note for Engineers that Scatter Plot only activates once per trigger pull, not once per shell, meaning you'll gain the most damage from Flechettes and Nano-Thermite Rounds by firing them one shell at a time.
Ammo: Explosive Slugs
Barrel: Shotgun Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Drum Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Bonebreaker feels fine with explosive slugs, but Scatter Plot and Incendiary Shells really make this weapon shine. Flechette Rounds apply Bleed Affliction quickly and do decent damage as well.
Ammo: Incendiary Grenades
Barrel: Extended Barrel
Sight: Red Dot Sight (optional)
Magazine: Three Round Cylinder
Internal: Affliction Amplifier
All of the ammo types can be useful, although some ammo types turn it into a support weapon rather than damaging. Acid and Incendiary grenades both leave pools on the ground, so you'll end up using them much like the Smoke Grenade variants by aiming at the ground. First Strike is excellent here with the Three Round Cylinder.
Ammo: Fast Focus Array
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Canister
Internal: Ultrasonic Plasma Cooler
Ifrit has great stats and a solid ammo pool. The primary fire plasma cutter beam couldn't be easier to use, just point at heads. The secondary fire is an shotgun-like electric pulse that helps quickly take down Fleshpounds with chest or headshots. Solid boss weapon against Impaler and Queen Crawler.
Ammo: Electric Ammo
Barrel: Compensator
Underbarrel: Laser Sight (Pistol)
Sight: Reflex Sight (Pistol)
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Using the alt-fire burst mode helps keep the recoil and spread under control while retaining a similar fire rate to full auto.

Gadget: Death's Hand (Ballistic/Force)
A forearm-mounted launcher that fires a homing arrow that seeks and eliminates enemies.
Throwable: Cryo-Grenade (Cold)
A supercooled liquid helium grenade that freezes enemies in their tracks.

• Sniper, Hunter
  
• Untouchable, Easy Prey, Big Shot
  
• Hardshell, Evasive Maneuvers
  
• Field Supplies, Flight Response
  
• Perfect Shot, Big Game Hunter, Rack 'Em Up

• Cold Snap, Chilling Effect, Freezer Burn
  
• Blizzard, Black Ice
  
• Frostbite, Polar Vortex, Ice Breaker

• Busy Bee, Buzz Bomb, Bloodsucker
  
• Sting Operation, Fight or Flight
  
• Giant Slayer, Killer Bee, Cold Blooded
  
• Arms Length, Target Run
  
• Queen Bee, Bug Out, Frosted Tips

Easy Prey (8) gives a 25% damage buff against any zed with an affliction, whether it's Freeze coming from Blizzard (16) and Polar Vortex (28) buffed Cryo Grenades, Frosted Tips (30) on your Gadget, or any other affliction including Stumble, Bleed, Burn, or Enfeeble. Big Game Hunter (26) gives 20% increased weapon damage to large zeds and bosses (as long as it deals Ballistic or Cold), in addition to another 15% with 10 stacks from large enemy takedowns.

Ammo: Explosive Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Air-tight Receiver
While you can afford to start with the Artemis, the HR-10 remains the better choice thanks to explosive rounds and higher base damage, letting you point-and-click your way through early waves.
Ammo: Cold Ammo
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Empty
Neither receiver option is worth the dosh. While you can get Explosive Rounds on the Artemis, I've found Cold Ammo to be easier to play with by freezing to line up free headshots. Be sure to swap from burst mode to semi-auto for faster fire rate.
Ammo: Armor Piercing / Cold Ammo / Incendiary Rounds
Barrel: Fast-Attach Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: AOS Sight
Magazine: Drum Mag
Internal: Air-Tight Receiver
An absolute beast of a gun, the M14 feels and sounds the best out of the new weapons. Using it as a hard-hitting semi-auto marksman rifle with the Air-Tight Receiver provides better performance than the Full-Auto Receiver. If you want an automatic weapon, try the MK350. Incendiary Rounds turn the M14 into a powerful Heat weapon for Firebug.
Ammo: Armor Piercing Rounds
Barrel: Fast-Attach Suppressor
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: AOS Sight
Magazine: Lightweight Mag
Internal: Hyper Velocity Receiver
Ammo: Reactive Alloy Rounds / Poly-Synthetic Rounds
Barrel: Heat Disperser
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Tungsten Receiver
Hard-hitting railgun that trades Cold damage for Force damage with Reactive Alloy Rounds (or Biological with Poly-Synthetic Rounds), but still applies Freeze thanks to the Heat Disperser.
Ammo: Explosive Rounds
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Laser Sight (Pistol)
Sight: Reflex Sight (Pistol)
Magazine: Suppressed Cylinder
Internal: Tungsten Receiver
A hand cannon with Explosive Rounds that also has a secondary Cold shotgun underbarrel that can Freeze your enemies. A fully modded Disciple is strong enough to use as a Starter weapon in place of a Primary weapon.

Gadget: Hebi-Ken (Electrical/Force)
A grappling hook that allows Nakata to pull himself towards enemies to deal devastating damage.
Throwable: Caltrop Canister (Electrical)
A throwable container that bursts outward with multiple electrifying caltrops.

• Yoroi, Kenko
  
• Kaishakunin, Roaring Tiger, Kuji-Kiri
  
• Skirmisher, Demon Stance
  
• Chi kai ri, Sakki-jutsu
  
• Ebb and Flow, Kyuketsuki, Unyielding

• Blunt Force, Swift Current, Kekkai Jutsu
  
• Hard Rain, Thunderclap
  
• Devil's Circuit, Raijin, Inazuma

• Eagle Strike, Shogekiha, Shinobi Shozoku
  
• Dead Calm, Warrior of The Wind
  
• Strike Thrice, Blood Hunt, Red Shadow
  
• Iron Castle, Lightning Incarnate
  
• Violent Sorcerer, Punishing Chain, Leopard Fist

Block timing is inconsistent in multiplayer, making parry based skills unreliable and not worth using. Roaring Tiger (8) can be swapped for Kaishakunin if you're not using heavy attacks, although you should be against large zeds. Punishing Chain (30) can also aid your survivability with more Hebi-Ken charges, each granting 8 armor and 5s of Red Shadow uptime.
Ebb and Flow (26) is the only skill you really need to swap if you want to run a Cut-focused ranged build. Note that using weapon bash counts as a melee attack to proc the healing effect. Skirmisher (14) is also recommended for the increased ammo capacity, but not mandatory.
Bleed damage is still weak, but Kyuketsuki (26) works decently well with new Polymer Tip ammo.

Coating: Stunning Coating
Grip: Reinforced Grip
Blade: Electrified Blade
Guard: Ornate Guard
Pommel: Balanced Pommel
The Electrified Blade is what really helps Kiba hold its own thanks to Fleshpounds vulnerability to Electrical damage. Although you can only get Armor Repair on your coating, and it only gives up to 20 armor, it will save your life by simply preventing you from being at 0 Armor. As long as you have any armor, you gain up to 30% damage reduction.
Coating: Enfeebling Venom
Grip: Textured Grip
Blade: Sai Blade
Pommel Ring: Weighted Pommel Ring
Ammo Pouch: Magnetic Ammo Pouch
Kunai are insanely strong as a melee weapon, and for some reason the stats appear to be highest for throwing when using the melee grip and blade. Bash is incredibly powerful, especially with a few Melee Master/Zed Time Rampage passives. Note that swapping to throw is significantly more effective against Scrakes than melee damage.
Sight: Minimal Sight(optional)
Arrow: Piercing Arrows
Frame: Reinforced Frame
Quiver: Large Quiver
String: Reinforced String
Exploding Arrows are great for dealing with hordes, but they're non-retrievable. Piercing Arrows on the other hand deal Ballistic/Force damage and can be picked back up after shooting. Swap to the Silk String if you don't have much time for charged shots or just want more fire rate.
Coating: Stunning Coating
Grip: Padded Grip
Blade: Tempered Blade
Guard: Heavy Guard
Pommel: Charged Pommel
This setup focuses on Block Power and Block Stamina, enabling you to do some truly nutty things, like facetanking bosses, even blocking Queen's P2 instakill charge. Don't underestimate how much damage your heavy attacks will do, especially with their secondary mode. Armor Repair Coating is your best choice for all the same reasons it's amazing on Kiba.
Coating: Stunning Coating
Blade: Triple Blades
Ammo Pouch: Magnetic Ammo Pouch
The fact that these have a base cost of 1200 and only have 3 mod slots is absolutely criminal. Sure, they give you as bit of move speed compared to other sidearms, but at what cost? 1200.

Gadget: Sanctum (Biological)
A barrier projector that heals all allies and damages all enemies within its radius
Throwable: Biotic Grenade (Biological)
A gas grenade whose biotic cloud fortifies friends and debilitates foes.

Passives: Doctor's Bag, Pill Mill, Symbiosis, Social Distancing, Chemical Reaction
Throwable: Cull the Weak, +1 Cap, Anesthetist, +1 Cap, Lingering Cloud
Gadget: Power Surge, Burn Unit, Field Hospital, Storm Shelter, Double Dose

Social Distancing is Medic's strongest skill and basically the perk's entire reason for existing. Heal and Deal can be used solo by running Symbiosis to proc self healing, but Chemical Reaction requires less micro, especially if you're not running a medic primary. The extra gadget duration provided by Storm Shelter allows extra time between Double Dose since you are able to activate Sanctum again any time before the first one expires.

Passives: Doctor's Bag, Pill Mill, Painkiller, Social Distancing, Heal and Deal
Throwable: Gas Expansion, +1 Cap, Anesthetist, +1 Cap, Lingering Cloud
Gadget: Power Surge, Outreach Center, Field Hospital, Energy Cycle, Resuscitator

Urgent Care can also be incredibly potent as your darts can be blocked by enemies or even allies, pairs with Healing Grenade Launcher for immortality, see more below. Stronger Prescription (8) seems to be bugged currently. The reasoning for Doctor's Bag (2) over Healing Hands is that there are only a few ways to restore armor, some extra healing is nice but I prefer armor on demand.

Ammo: Armor Piercing Rounds / Match Grade
Barrel: Suppressor
Underbarrel: Empty
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Extended Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
This loadout comes out to 3140 without a laser sight, just under the full 3160 Medic starting budget, aiming to utilize as much as possible for trade-in value the next wave. Not a bad starter weapon overall, decent accuracy and damage if you aim for heads.

Ammo: Efficient Battery Chemistry
Barrel: Confusion Additive Injector
Underbarrel: Healing Grenade Launcher
Magazine: Extended Battery
Internal: Slowed Tick Receiver
While the beam targeting can be unreliable, Biological damage is consistently effective against all small targets and even Scrakes. Where the REAL power of this weapon comes in is access to the Healing Grenade Launcher. Healing Grenades are counted as weapon healing for Social Distancing (20) and allow you to self-revive, in addition to being able to use them for ranged AoE team revives where Healing Darts would get blocked. Combined with Urgent Care for your Biotic Grenades and you, along with your entire team, can become immortal.
Ammo: Armor Piercing Rounds
Barrel: Suppressed Barrel
Underbarrel: Healing Grenade Launcher
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Lightweight Mag
Internal: Heavy Frame Receiver
Healing Darts having to compete for the Ammo mod slot hurts, but at least the MP6 has access to the Healing Grenade Launcher. Base damage is a bit higher than the VS-11, though its damage against large zeds could be better. Extended Mag would be nice but seems to be missing from crafting options.
Ammo: Efficient Battery Formulation
Barrel: Cold Fusion Converter
Underbarrel: Enhanced Foregrip
Sight: Reflex Sight
Magazine: Primary Battery Booster
Internal: Undervolted Receiver
Your healing darts will only heal 4hp, and with only 15 darts dumping your entire mag will only heal 60hp, the same as 3 Rapid-Release Darts from your Stim Pistol. This is is just enough for clutch Social Distance revives, but don't expect too much else. Works great with Sharpshooter's boosted Cold damage.
Same build as above, but swapping for the:
Ammo: Biomorphic Boosted Battery
Healing darts do the same base 3 healing, but with the Biomorphic Boosted Battery and Undervolted Receiver (+35%) they are increased to 12 + 2.7/s for 3s, or ~20 healing per dart. While they aren't limited like the VS-11 or MP6, they don't regen over time like your Stim Pistol either. Using Primary Battery Booster here lets you primary fire more to regen darts faster, synergizing with Heal and Deal to increase both damage and healing.
Ammo: Rapid-Release Darts
Barrel: Suppressor (optional)
Underbarrel: Empty
Sight: Reflex Sight (Pistol) (optional)
Magazine: Lightweight Mag (optional)
Internal: Dart Recharger Kit
The Stim Pistol is one of the best and most versatile sidearms available, allowing any class to heal with nothing but a Dart Recharger and either of the Healing Dart mods. Base Darts heal for 3 HP.
Instant Heal Darts: +14 healing = 17 total Healing per Dart
Rapid-Release Darts: +6 hp/s for 3s = 21 total Healing per Dart
While Rapid-Release Darts do heal for more overall, three Instant Heal Darts are just barely enough to pull off a rez (102hp) with the Social Distance skill. However, skills that buff you or your allies based on when you heal can be extended by the duration of Heal-Over-Time effects.

If you've made it this far, thanks for taking the time to read my guide. I've appreciated all the support! If you have any requests for features or additions to the guide, drop it in the comments below. Shout out to the PhaseShifter Community!

Special thanks to Tantrum9, creator of the killer KF3 companion site with an interactive skill builder, ZED-Kit[zed-kit.com]for the skill tree templates.

Be sure to join the Official Killing Floor Discord[discord.gg]