Zombie Survival

This article is about the custom game mode. For other uses, please see Zombie (Disambiguation).

The official logo of Zombie Survival used in most ZS maps made from 2017 onwards.

Zombie Survival is an unofficial game mode for Team Fortress 2 (not to be confused with Zombie Fortress, Super Zombie Fortress or ZombieMod) that is also sometimes called "Medic VS Engineer". The game mode has no officially recognized SourceMod plugin, requiring server owners to create and balance the game mode to their own liking. There are two opposing teams: the Survivors (RED Engineers) and the Zombies (BLU Medics). BLU's goal is to kill all the RED Survivors. RED's objective is for at least one Survivor to still be alive after (usually) 7 minutes of gameplay. If all Survivors die before the end of the round, the Zombies win; otherwise, the Survivors win. When a Survivor is killed, they are switched to the Zombie team, while killed Zombies simply respawn. Zombie Survival was popularised by Muselk, a previous TF2 YouTuber, but remained a basic and unchanged game mode until early 2017.

In Zombie Survival, Survivors lack the ability to build Sentry Guns, and Zombies are restricted to melee only; however, both teams have access to global perks to help balance the classes. Zombies gain the most perks, including increased speed towards the end of the round and a double jump (of which the second jump's height also increases near the end of the round). Survivors remain mostly vanilla, unless there are two or less of them alive, upon which these Engineers will gain a permanent Buff Banner effect. Random critical hits are almost always turned off.

During a 30 second setup time, the Survivors are given the opportunity to safely build Dispensers and Teleporters as barricades, methods of escape or tools for killing (in the case of Teleporters) in an area they wish to fortify, without the presence of the Zombies. The Zombies are frozen within their spawn until setup time is over. Survivors can build outside of setup time, though the horde of Zombies can make building difficult and dangerous.

Special additions

Bonus rounds

Bonus rounds are defined by the server running the game mode and commonly happen on the last round of a map. Each bonus can have varying effects on Survivors, Zombies or both. Server statistics are usually disabled for the duration of a bonus round, preventing biased data from being saved. Bonuses fall into one of three categories: Silly, Gameplay (makes a significant change to the base game) or Hardcore (makes the game more difficult for one team or both).

Silly Bonuses

• An Internet meme related bonus round where the destruction of buildings and player deaths emit sound clips gathered from various popular sources.
• Curious Feeling: All players are given tiny heads. The name of this bonus round is a reference to the Medic voice line when experiencing Whammy fate.
• The Classic: A bonus round where the waists of the Zombies' models are stretched, in order to mimic the visual style of Muselk's later Zombie Survival videos.

Gameplay Bonuses

• A bonus round where Zombies can jump more than 2 times in a row.
• A low gravity bonus round.
• Melee Battle: Survivors are stripped down to their melee weapons as well, but are given guaranteed critical hits so long as they are not being healed by a Dispenser.
• Rancho Reign: One Engineer is designated to be the King (tinted yellow), and is given health and metal regeneration, as well as permanent mini-crits. If the King dies, the Survivors automatically lose.
• Sentries Allowed: Survivors are now able to build Sentry Guns, but they cannot fire, and usually cannot be upgraded. Essentially, the Sentry Guns become extra barricades or distractions, and should not be regarded as having a higher priority over Dispensers.
• Tick Tock: Round time is reduced from 7 minutes to 4.

Hardcore Bonuses

• A high gravity bonus round. The gravity is high enough so that Medics can only reach the top of a Dispenser and be able to stand on it after performing a double jump.
• Early Outbreak: Zombies are unfrozen immediately, and given a speed boost for the first 10 seconds after they have been released.
• Hot Potato: If a player on either team stands still during this bonus round, they will rapidly begin to lose health.
• No Dispensers: Survivors can now only build Teleporters, but they get passive health and metal regeneration to compensate.
• Terrorist Town: An Engineer is selected to be the Terrorist (suicide bomber), and must blend in with other Survivors before they explode shortly after the end of setup time. The name of this bonus round is a homage to the Garry's Mod game mode "Trouble in Terrorist Town".

Juggernauts

Juggernauts are Zombies that are tinted green, and usually, only two Medics are selected at the start of the round to have this power. Juggernauts can't do much on their own, merely having a small speed and health regeneration increase. However, while these green Zombies are close to other Medics, non-Juggernauts can inherit the health regeneration increase so long as they are within the Juggernaut's range. This makes Juggernauts the perfect tool for leading Zombie rushes.

ZS maps

A picture of the "spawn lockout" feature exclusive to Zombie Survival Steel.

Maps with the prefix "zs_" are built specifically for use on Zombie Survival servers (not to be confused with "zf_" or "zm_"). These maps usually need the help of a server's game mode logic in order for them to run, and certain ZS maps completely prevent play unless they are on a certified server. ZS maps range from optimisations of existing Valve or community maps (buffing or nerfing of defensible spots, moving of health and ammo packs, etc.) to completely new experiences, often wacky in their own right, but they are always subject to heavy rebalancing to ensure the maps are suitable for the game mode. Usually, a secret area or function is contained within these maps in order to peak player interest.

Strategies

Telefragging and stair-trapping

Telefragging is a method of quickly eliminating Zombies utilised by Survivors, and is most effective in narrow areas where Medics must step on the Teleporter exit in order to reach a Dispenser blockage. In order for a proper telefrag to be set up, a Teleporter exit is placed directly in front of a Dispenser, facing away from it, and the associated Teleporter entrance is placed within a safe and close-by area (but not directly behind the Dispenser, this prevents Engineers from using it as cover). In less narrow areas, Medics can easily destroy telefrags by crouching some distance away from the Teleporter exit and attacking it directly. Engineers using the telefrag also open themselves to being killed by the Spinal Tap taunt or suffering a regular death (most prominently for the Engineer that built the Dispenser, since they cannot walk through it).

Stair-trapping is a usage of Teleporters prominently used in Zombie Survival and can be performed on most sloped surfaces. By placing a teleporter at the bottom or top of a slope, as close to the middle of the slope as possible within Team Fortress 2, the increment from the floor (or slope) up to the teleporter may be so great that a jump is required. This is known as stair-trapping and is useful for denying Zombies access to a defence at the top of a slope. A stair-trap can also be part of a telefrag.

Rushing

"Rushing" is a term used to describe the grouping up and simultaneous attacking of Zombies, in order to completely overthrow an otherwise impenetrable Survivor defence. The leader of a rush is usually the person that requests one unless Engineers get too close to the group and participating Medics are forced to intervene on their own. It is important to have a microphone or know how to effectively use team chat in order to command a rush since players of Zombie Survival often do not listen to a Medic call.

Engineer weapon choice

Primary

The Widowmaker is the penultimate primary weapon, since it is the only weapon that graciously rewards Survivors for staying in a group and remaining close to their Dispensers. This is due to its upside of not needing to reload. The downsides of the Widowmaker only become a problem when not near a Dispenser and missing shots, in which case an Engineer's secondary and melee weapons can be just as effective.

A good alternative to the Widowmaker is the Panic Attack thanks to its heavily increased firing speed. However, the Panic Attack suffers during gameplay from its downsides of needing to hold shots before firing, and its weapon spread which increases based on player health. The Panic Attack, therefore, should be used sparingly.

Apart from the stock Shotgun, which is merely an average contender in comparison to the main two primaries, all other primary-slot weapons are useless. This is especially the case for the Frontier Justice, a straight downgrade from stock because of the lack of Sentry Guns within the game mode, which is picked so often by Survivors transitioning from Casual Mode to Zombie Survival.

Secondary

The stock Pistol and all of its reskins are the best secondary weapons in this game mode, because they are a valid backup to a Survivor's primary weapon, as demonstrated by their longer range and consistent damage. The Short Circuit is the only other secondary that would have a chance of matching the Pistol's usability, but in mid-2017 Zombie Survival servers added a patch that disabled the secondary fire of the Short Circuit, and since the primary fire of this weapon deals less damage than the Pistol, this secondary is rendered useless.

Melee

The Gunslinger is the most used melee in the Survivor's arsenal, and overshadows every other melee with its impressive +25 health bonus and the third-hit-guaranteed-crit, making it a game mode veteran's personal choice. The Gunslinger can even partially bypass the loss of critical hits during the Melee Battle bonus round. The no random critical hits downside are negated, since random crits are commonly disabled, and the Mini-Sentry, when available for use, is just as effective as a normal Sentry Gun.

The Southern Hospitality does not provide an Engineer with a health or crit boost, but it does deny any Medic it hits from healing back lost health. Similarly to the Gunslinger, its downsides of +20% fire damage vulnerability and no random critical hits are nullified. Even so, this weapon should be used sparingly.

All other melees are useless due to the Gunslinger's double benefit and lack of downsides. Previously, the Eureka Effect used to be a valid alternative because of its escape mechanism, however during mid-2017, Zombie Survival servers added a patch that made the teleport mechanism take 2.5 seconds to activate, resetting the clock if another activation attempt is made before the teleportation.

Medic weapon choice

The Medic's Bonesaw is the most used Zombie weapon by both amateurs and experts due to its accessibility and consistent swing speed. It deals the most damage per second of all of the Medic's melee weapons and therefore has the highest chance of killing Survivors. This also applies to all the reskins of the Bonesaw. The Ubersaw, on the other hand, does not deal as much damage per second but is useful because of the Spinal Tap, which can stun and kill Survivors instantly if positioned correctly.

Unlike all the other melee weapons Zombies have at their disposal, the Amputator is a special case in that it is able to heal fellow Zombies within a radius. This saw is extremely useful when accompanied with a horde of Zombies, as the horde can shelter Zombies using the Amputator whilst attacking Survivors and thus continually regenerate their health, making for a partially damage-resistant rush. Weapons that are discouraged from use in Zombie Survival is the Vita-Saw, which has no positives since Zombies cannot use any weapon other than melee, and the Solemn Vow, which is unnecessary because Engineers always take two to three hits to kill when prone.

External links

References

• Muselk's first Zombie Survival video
• Zombie Survival guide by awesomedog7 (contains some differing information)

Notable Zombie Survival server groups

• Rushy Servers
• Lazyneer's Server Group