Extended Perk Analysis

[Ehjookayted]

Guys, thanks for reading as always. I thought it was a great time to release this, since all the maps now have more perk variety with the addition of Mule Kick across the board. I'm going to post this to the Moon thread as well, including various set-up strategies.

Extended Perk Analysis

*Juggernog* (2500 points)

This perks doubles the hits it takes a normal Zombie and Ascension Monkeys to kill, from 2 to 4. It increases the hits it takes from a special zombie (Nova6 Crawlers, Hellhounds). Note: If you are directly adjacent to the Napalm Zombie on Shangri-La when he implodes, you will down, even with Juggernog.

-Usefulness 6/5-

What else is there to say? This is the most important perk in the game. It allows you to rape train, run laps, revive teammates, and just survive longer in general. It also serves as a warning sign for death. Your screen will turn red before you are about to down. When you see this, run! One hit, even from just kicking a zombie that has been shrunk, will down you.

What surprises me the most, is how randoms assert their need, or lack thereof, of Juggernog. Instead of dumping your 2850 into three box hits, why not spend it on Juggernog? This will result in longer survival and more opportunities to hit the box!

Prioritize this perk before all others. In Solo, you can afford this by round 5/6. In multiplayer, you should get this by round 6/7, 8 at the latest.

*Speed Cola* (3000)

Speed Cola speeds up your life! Well, mainly your reload time, which it decreases by 50%, meaning that you can reload all your favorite weapons faster! It can save your life in many situations, especially in camping, 3 and 4 player strategies where the zombies are constantly coming at you, leaving little time to reload. If you specialize in running large trains you might disregard this perk due to its high cost (2nd most among all perks), but as mentioned earlier, it increases your sprint time by about 2 seconds (unconfirmed).

While that might seem like nothing, 1 second not sprinting can let one or two zombies trap you and boom, you're down. If you rape train in small, tight areas, you'll know that this perk is vital for both the perks it offers. Note: Reportedly, when combined with Stamin-Up, which about doubles your sprint time, you can sprint continuously for nearly 16 seconds!

-Usefulness 4.5/5-

This is a convenience perk for larger circles (Stage on Kino, outside lighthouse on COTD) or for extremely circular ones with large spaces (outside pack-a-punch on Ascension, inside lighthouse, first floor COTD). However, it can save your ass many times when you fail to reload. I would suggest everyone to get it on Kino, Five, and Ascension, but the maps with 7 (in this case, 8) perks have different class set-up possibilites that can reduce the desire for this perk. I especially recommend this for Ray Gun users, and for any weapons that can save your life. You might find yourself in a situation where your bullets can't clear the way (Thundergun, 2 ammo).

People consider this second priority after Jugg on Kino, and I would agree. Get this 75% of the time on 4+ perk maps.

*Quick Revive* (1500 multiplayer, 500 solo)

You need a little revive! This fish tasting drink, according to the characters, gives you the ability, on multiplayer, to revive downed teammates nearly four times as fast. On solo, it acts as a sort of teammate for you. When you go down, it pulls out the pack-a-punched M1911's (Mustang & Sally)and lets you spam the zombies with them. However, if you have something better than Mustang & Sally, such as a Ray Gun, it will pull that out instead. On Multiplayer, you can buy this perk as needed; however, on solo you only get 3, effectively giving you 4 lives. Note: if a monkey takes your quick revive, it still counts as one of the purchases.

-Usefulness 3.5/5 (Multiplayer); 6/5 (Solo)-

In multiplayer, this makes you a bonafide team player, capable of reviving teammates almost in an instant, sometimes even while being chased by a giant horde of zombies. Coupled with stamin-up and a zombies clearing weapon i.e. Thundergun, you can revive any teammate anywhere on the map.

However, most players will ignore this perk on multiplayer in favor of others. Now, on solo, this perk is vital, as or if not more than Juggernog. Some players have different strategies on when to buy Quick Revive. Considering you start with 500 (QR's cost), I usually buy it first things first, or at the end of round 1.

Some players choose to buy it after they have Juggernog, which is also smart, as they believe that if they down before Juggernog, they'd just restart the game. As a solo player, it really is your preference.

If you are newer to the solo scene, I strongly recommend buying it right off the bat, as you'll want to feel more comfortable while trying to get used to solo, and extra lives will certainly do that for you. One of the most obvious tips for solo is to never play without quick revive!

Sometimes, one down can mean the end anyway on a small map like Five and Shangri-La, so that's another reason why people avoid buying this perk, and if you are one of those people, fine. But let me say this, if you end up with a great path-clearing weapon, or even better, Monkeys or Gersch Devices, quick revive becomes a priority! With zombies out of your way and going towards the Monkeys or Gersches, you can get back all your perks. So if you're a revive-avoiding player, buy it as soon as you get either Monkeys or Gersches! It will help you in the end or in the case of an unfortunate down.

*Double Tap* (2000)

Your tap will now be doubled with this rapid-fire-on-steroids perk. It increases your fire rate 33%, meaning that automatic weapons fire with 33% of their normal RPM. Semi-auto's, pump-action and three burst guns get a quicker trigger. What does this mean? It definitely constitutes two things: 1) you will kill zombies faster and 2) your HK21 and RPK will be elevated to overpowered status.

However, Double Tap can also lead to another thing: waste of ammo. This can be prevented by firing into a horde/line of zombies (via a rape train or effective route) or by only using Double Tap for your HK21, the latter of which a lot of people do.

-Usefulness 3.5/5, 5/5 (HK21 & RPK)-

Simply put, your HK21 and RPK, regular and PaP'd (pack-a-punched) won't be at their full potential without this perk. The upgraded HK21 is a monster of a gun with a faster fire rate. Picture this: you have a giant zombie horde, a PaP'd gun with 900 bullets, PLUS the added fire rate of, oh, say, an Enfield. Your RPK, with 750 bullets, now will fire as fast as a FAMAS and AUG! Incredible.

While people can be correct about advising against Double Tap, the disclaimer is there, "Except for the HK21 and RPK".

Now for the rest of the guns, it all depends on playstyle. If you are using a wall gun, with an excellent rape training strategy, the extra fire rate, will undoubtedly aid you in slaying zombitches. If you are camping with guns like a PaP'd Galil and Commando, you'll certainly burn through ammo faster than you can say Edward Richtofen. That being said, camping is effective only in multiplayer, and only in 4 player games will rape training net you around 10 zombies. Not really worth it then for the non-exceptions.

What does this all mean? It is a fact that bullets go through as many zombies as possible. Therefore, the more zombies you have to eat your bullets coming in at an alarmingly fast rate, the more useful Double Tap becomes. That's the long story.

Short version: get DT with a Light Machine Gun (LMG) no matter what, get Double Tap on Kino and Five (for 1-2 player games), and always take into account your strategy (if you kill zombies all once, then DT will help you, if you kill them one by one as they spawn, avoid DT).

*PhD Flopper* (2000)

Flak Jacket on steroids. Basically, you never take any explosive damage. None whatsoever. You can cook a grenade, it'll blow up in your hand, and you won't any damage at all. Plus, you take no fall damage, although your character will make a slight grunting noise when dropping off a large building or something. And the last bonus of Flopper is that when you dolphin dive off an elevated surface, such as a staircase or hill, you create a small explosion that kills until around round 15 and creates crawlers easily until 20 or so. Flopper is only found on Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, and Moon.

-Usefulness 4.5/5-

This perk boosts the effectiveness of grenades, clearly, but it makes using weapons like the Anarchy and Mustang & Sally all the more attractive. The great thing about the Mustang & Sally is that you can use them as not only a path clearer, horde eliminator, and teammate saver, but as a savior for yourself. Simply upgrade your starting pistol into M&S and then buy Flopper, allowing you to save yourself from downing with a few shots! Just shoot your feet if you ever get stuck and you're saved! This perk also magnifies the Ray Gun's usefulness tenfold. Before, it was possible to shoot yourself down with the Ray Gun easily, and even the Porter's X2 Ray Gun, despite the reduced splash damage. Now, you can use the Ray Gun in similar fashion to the M&S, which I just explained above.

However, the Ray Gun's rate of fire (ROF), is rather slow. Now for a pro tip: Double Tap + Flopper + Porter's X2 Ray Gun= Mustang & Sally with 240 bullets.

That set-up has saved my life many times, but it has failed me a couple. You probably want to stick with Mustang & Sally if you're new to the game and if you pull the Ray Gun from the box, use both just to keep yourself safe. Depending on your confidence, you can trade in your starting pistol, trade M&S for Ray Gun, or whatever.

A veteran insight and tip: if you go down in multiplayer and/or solo (must have quick revive in solo for this to work), you pull out your strongest pistol. Now, if you have two pistols, such as the CZ75s and the Mustang & Sally, you will pull out the M&S and when you get back up, you will have double the ammo for your CZ75s! See, this works because whenever you go down with two pistols and are revived, you get double ammo for the weakest pistol. Mustang & Sally are stronger than every pistol in the game, except the Ray Gun, which is a pistol (yes I know, hard to believe). So even an un-pack-a-punched Ray Gun will be pulled out over M&S, thus doubling your ammo when revived.

I don't recommend this for solo since you have a limited number of QR's. But in Multiplayer, this a way to get unlimited ammo M&S's if you have a lot of points and good/cooperative teammates.

*Stamin-Up* (2000)

Lightning has struck! Well, not quite, but this perk gives you nearly double sprint time as well as increased movement speed. This perk appears on Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, and Moon. It seems like a simple perk and can give off the wrong impression, as waste of a perk slot or useless. But this perk can actually save your life. With that being said:

-Usefulness 4/5, 5/5 to team players-

Well, sorry for another mini-essay on a perk but here I am with support and backing for Stamin-Up. The most obvious reason to get Stamin-Up is to be able to run around a large map faster; however, there are other reasons to purchase this sour drink. I say 5/5 for team players; if you are on a large map, say COTD, Stamin-Up allows you to get to your downed teammate even faster.

Plus, since you are sprinting even faster, you are able to dodge more zombies as you run past them since, at your boosted speed, you pass most zombies before they can even enter their swinging animation or before their trapping animation.

Furthermore, if you are running a tight (or even larger) circular rape train and you spot three or four zombies coming in as you make your loop, you can sprint past them with no worry at all!

However, the usefulness decreases as you acquire more skill in this game. Instead of trying to outrun oncoming zombies, you will learn dodging tactics, such as the Sway, the Drag and Swerve, and the Sidestep, that will eliminate your want to be faster than the zombies. Once again, these ratings are just my opinion and, in the end, it is all preference.

Overall, I would recommend Stamin-Up for Shangri-La the most, since there are numerous tight spaces which eliminate the use of many dodging tactics. Stamin-Up is a great solo perk as well as a team player's perk. It is a vital part of my ultimate team player set-up.

*Deadshot Daquiri* (1500)

This perk. Oh, this perk. A lot of zombies players, who are new, or are struggling with rape trains, find the need to constantly aim down sight, slowing down movement and thus backing them into a corner, which inevitably leads to their death. Hip firing is recommended in tight, circular rape trains, wherein, you cannot train them together into a nice, straight line. ADS is great for when the zombies are say 15-20 feet away.

Deadshot Daquiri improves both. It gives you the effects of Steady Aim Pro, which decreases your crosshair spread, effectively increasing your hip fire accuracy. What does this mean? You will RARELY, if ever, miss bullets hip-firing. In addition, it enhances the feature called auto aim, which already lets you lock-on to the chest area with ease. It auto aims for the zombies heads! This means that you can pull of headshots and save many bullets with absolute ease.

This perk does wonders for your accuracy and can even ensure survival as it encourages hip-firing because even with the auto aim to head, you will still miss with high recoil guns or if your aim just isn't that good.

-Usefulness 3.5/5-

A lot of people don't like buying this perk on solo and that is a good choice, it's almost pointless, since you'll probably want Flopper or Speed Cola, but this is kind of where class specializations come in. If you play the points role on your team and wield an SMG and an assault rifle or LMG, you would do well with Daquiri.

Daquiri on Shangri-La is vastly underrated considering how small it is. But that's where the perk comes in handy. ADS allows the zombies to close in faster, but hip fire works great, call it overpowered, even! I personally love getting it on COTD near the 74u area, and if you couple the PaP'd 74u with Deadshot and Double Tap, you will rip through zombies.

Don't look at it for the auto-lock on it gives you, the increased hip fire spread is where the beauty of this perk lies. Is it less useful that the other perks? Yes. But in terms of cost effectiveness, it's right up there with Juggernog.

*Mule Kick* (4000)

Feeling heavy, like you can take on the world? Well, you can with 3 guns! The most expensive perk to date gives you, that's right, one more gun! However, the 4000 does not cover your gun purchase, so without a QED (which could spawn a random weapon), you're looking at putting down at least 4500 on being able to maximize this perk's usage. Otherwise, it's just a useless perk.

-Usefulness 4/5-

This perk is a mixed bag of things to a lot of people. It can be vital for a high round, point efficient strategy or can be detrimental to the new players who only know of this perk as the epic three gun perk and will dump 4000 points into it, die before they realize they needed to buy a gun, and complain when you don't revive them because you were hacking the excavator the long away around since they didn't go to the teleporter. Anyway, strategy aside, this perk is wonderful.

Three guns gives you endless combos of fantastic guns, generally I'd go for Wave Gun, Mustang and Sally, and an AK74u or MP5K. However, where the real treat lies with this perk is in the ability to use support weapons, which is just the Ballistic Knife on Moon since the Crossbow was taken out. Also, weapons like the M72 Anarchy and Calamity and Jane are now viable options when you get their unupgraded versions from the box.

The downside to this perk is obviously the fact that it detracts from the ability to use another, more helpful perk, such as Sleight of Hand or PhD Flopper. To each his own with this perk. It is undoubtedly helpful yet can prove dangerous if not used correctly. Your guns need to complement each other, rather than serve only one purpose. If you're shooting for high rounds in co-op, at least one person should have this perk with a PaP'd Ballistic Knife AKA The Krauss Refibrillator.

Well now that we have it on all the other maps, it's safe to say that they've been made much easier with Mule Kick. Although I am disappointed that they added it to Nacht der Untoten. It was much more enjoyable when there were no perks. Otherwise, smart move. It keeps the game balanced. If Flopper was on every map (with Pack-a-Punch, no doubt the challenge would be removed. Good move by Treyarch, but my review and opinion still stands.

Just a couple new notes: Mule Kick can now replace a perk you don't need; I won't tell you how to play, but often times Mule Kick's true usefulness lies in it's proximity to a great wall weapon and area in which to kite zombies.

Moon gets a yes, as well as Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-La, Der Riese, Verruckt, Shi no Numa, and possibly Kino. Five is perhaps the best map for this since you can now use the Awful Lawton in combination with the Ray Gun and a great points wall weapon. However, like I've said, take my advice or not, but I hope you've enjoyed the guide.

Conclusion

Every perk is different, but overall, you always want Juggernog. Quick Revive, in solo, too. I hope this helps newer players and even veterans an insight into how fellow veteran slayers think when buying perks. Glad to help as always, and your feedback keeps me writing these guides!

Thanks, and enjoy! :D

[Ehjookayted]

I'm kind of getting the feeling that this is too long a read for some people. I tried to space it out as best I could.

[MegaAfroMan]

It is long but sometimes people are looking for that. Not a bad review, you should list some of your "classes"

Ex.

In kino, five,and Der Riese I used to use all four perks 99% of the time but with Mule Kick added my goal class includes, MK, Jug, DT, SC, and the Upgraded ballistic knifes. Otherwise if I cannot get the knives I replace DT with quick revive unless I have the HK21 AND a pump action shot gun (trench preferably) or ray gun or thundergun with it. Otherwise I just live with the sluggish RoF that the HK21 has because I personally believe Quick Revive is quite important. Losing a teamate is not helpful to the team 90% of the time. Plus in the later rounds reviving actually makes a lot of money.

[gabbehhh]

I actually don't mind the length. I think you did an amazing job in describing all perks, and it has given me a new view on Double Tap ;)

[Chopper]

Good post man, brains for you. I pretty much agree with everything you said, but then I'm sure you would have expected that the way we play.

Only minor thing I disagree with is Ray Gun + DT + Flopper + Speedy equalling M&S with 240 bullets. Up to 30 or so this is true, but past 30 I find that the only way to definitely clear a gap is using M&S.

[Ehjookayted]

Good post man, brains for you. I pretty much agree with everything you said, but then I'm sure you would have expected that the way we play.

Only minor thing I disagree with is Ray Gun + DT + Flopper + Speedy equalling M&S with 240 bullets. Up to 30 or so this is true, but past 30 I find that the only way to definitely clear a gap is using M&S.

Yeah, definitely agree with that. Mustang & Sally do take up a lot of ammo to clear out gaps past 40 though. But if you combine M&S, good teammates who can communicate well, and the self-down with Ray Gun & Sally, you're in good shape.

Past 50, the only guarantee (even though it can occasionally fail), after all the maps, is the Thundergun.

[perfectlemonade]

Good post man, brains for you. I pretty much agree with everything you said, but then I'm sure you would have expected that the way we play.

Only minor thing I disagree with is Ray Gun + DT + Flopper + Speedy equalling M&S with 240 bullets. Up to 30 or so this is true, but past 30 I find that the only way to definitely clear a gap is using M&S.

Yeah, definitely agree with that. Mustang & Sally do take up a lot of ammo to clear out gaps past 40 though. But if you combine M&S, good teammates who can communicate well, and the self-down with Ray Gun & Sally, you're in good shape.

Past 50, the only guarantee (even though it can occasionally fail), after all the maps, is the Thundergun.

Upgraded crossbow? Or are you talking about actually clearing gaps, or just getting out of tight spaces?

[Ehjookayted]

Clearing gaps. However, I trust the crossbow fully in solo, but Multiplayer has the slight Gersche, Monkey, Awful Lawton lag that can down you if your situation is just terrible.

[Tom852]

Nice job. However, I think its a really sensitive topic, and its difficult to generalize a perks power.

I think it always depends on the situation and the team and how everything goes. But you managed it really well, to bring pretty much every point in.

[mrverse]

I enjoyed your post and read it all, great work. Unfortunately I have to disagree with this.

However, if you have something better than Mustang & Sally, such as a Ray Gun, it will pull that out instead

That said... [brains] [brains] [brains]

[Ehjookayted]

Totally agree with that statement. The Ray Gun isn't as good as M&S but lucky for us, the game thinks it is! So unlimited M&S for us :D

[Superhands]

Good post man, brains for you. I pretty much agree with everything you said, but then I'm sure you would have expected that the way we play.

Only minor thing I disagree with is Ray Gun + DT + Flopper + Speedy equalling M&S with 240 bullets. Up to 30 or so this is true, but past 30 I find that the only way to definitely clear a gap is using M&S.

Yeah, definitely agree with that. Mustang & Sally do take up a lot of ammo to clear out gaps past 40 though. But if you combine M&S, good teammates who can communicate well, and the self-down with Ray Gun & Sally, you're in good shape.

Past 50, the only guarantee (even though it can occasionally fail), after all the maps, is the Thundergun.

And the Wave Gun of course! Which I prefer to the Thundergun, as you said it will occasionally fail and I've yet to experience a fail from the Wave Gun. The Thundergun is still a close second for best weapon for saving myself though.

Anyways great post, in depth and discriptive as usual, sure it's long but if people want to learn everything about how tp play this game then you're gonna wanna read long posts like this.

[Ehjookayted]

Thanks for the input Superhands. I enjoy writing these and I'm currently working on my biggest and best guide yet. Stay tuned!

I wonder what people will say about Mule Kick though. I think I rated it pretty accurately. It all depends on the kind of player you are though. Adding on to what I said, Mule Kick is ideal for camping strategies on Five, Kino and other maps.

[Reylink]

You can't get pistol ammo when your down they patched it already

[xFaTaLx RaMpAgE]

Whenever I have juggernog it takes 5 hits to go down, not 4. 4 hits from zombies will get me blinking red and the 5th will down me. On dogs with jug it takes 6 hits to go down, with 5 hits making you blinking red.

[JakeDuck]

Speed Cola also makes the rebuilding animation faster, but it doesn't make the points go faster. It decreaces hacking times too. Great job on this guide! Besides that, nothing was missing. [brains]

[Edwantsyourhead!]

Very wellthought post and it seemed it had alot of effort. [brains]

[perfectlemonade]

I'm using some of this in the thread I'm working on. Okay? Okay. [brains]