Class Loadouts (Scout/Soldier/Pyro)

Scout

Trigger Scout

• Baby Face's Blaster (BFB)

• Winger/Bonk! Atomic Punch

• Stock

This sort of playstyle revolves around doorhugging and getting triggers as fast as possible. With the BFB, you can shoot the zombies at the start of the round to obtain maximum boost. Since the BFB lacks DPS, you can use pistols if you're forced to shoot NPCs or if you need to help stall the zombies. The Winger packs some of the best pistol DPS to make up for the BFB's lower output and defensive capabilities.

Bonk! Atomic Punch can also achieve the effect of quickly getting to the objectives while sacrificing all defense. It can also help your teammates fall back after triggering. Since you'll primarily be doorhugging, any scout melee is fine, aside from the Sandman and Atomizer actively counteracting this loadout.

Support Scout

• Shortstop/Scattergun

• Bonk! Atomic Punch/Mad Milk

• Stock/Atomizer

Typically, there only needs to be 1 or 2 people to get triggers, so you may be better off defending or at least stalling rather than doorhugging. Scout may not be the greatest defender compared to other classes like Heavy or Pyro, but he more than makes up for it with his utility of being able to boost his team with Bonk! Atomic Punch or effectively counter Pyro and Medic Mutations with Mad Milk.

One of the primary draws of using either the shortstop and scattergun are that they provide some of the easiest, consistent DPS as Scout. If you wish to defend at a much safer distance, the Shortstop might be preferable with its tighter spread - and you won't have to think about doing full reloads on it since it does it all at once.

Irritant Scout

• Soda Popper/Backscatter

• Crit-a-cola/Flying Guillotine

• Candy Cane/Stock

A couple more niches to get out of the remaining Scout primaries; the Soda Popper will be guaranteed critical hits via any source of mini-crits, giving the weapon a fun, punchy type of playstyle to the weapon - before dipping back out to rinse and repeat once cola is back; or wait on a Soldier to activate their buff banner.

As an alternative, the Backscatter is a little more pronounced in long stall defenses due to its spread - without going over the top in its niche like the Force-A-Nature. Since Crit-a-cola marks you for death, the Candy Cane (providing the same debuff) may as well be used as a means to gain any health back; whilst the Flying Guillotine can be used as a little pest weapon to throw at specific zombies that may be a threat.

Glass Cannon

• Force-A-Nature

• Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol

• Candy Cane/Atomizer

The reason this earns the namesake of Glass Cannon - The Force-A-Nature is the best Scout primary at defending and will primarily be using a secondary but it puts you at high risk of getting caught fleeing with its movement penalty. This loadout is is practically going to be placing you in the frontlines against zombie's faces if you want it at its prime; ramps, ledges, and shorter backpedals. Best that it be paired with a preferable cover pistol like the P.B.P.P to gain any (extra) health loss to your weapon's downside;

That being, the FAN is going to give you a 12% universal damage vulnerability when held out too, so zombies can one shot you even with the mad milk's HP bonus - not an ideal pairing really. A solid pick for those that want to do a little more than just pinch zombies defensively as a scout if you know how to effectively navigate any map backwards. Technically another niche of this weapon is that it has the highest Scout Primary DPS; but the absurd bullet spread means you won't be bringing it to its fullest potential against just any boss unless they're a wide, stationary target.

Soldier

Support Soldier

• Liberty Launcher/Cow Mangler

• Buff Banner/Battalion's Backup/Concheror

• Pain Train

You might be wondering why Concheror is bolded, italicized, and green. Frankly, this is the only reason why Soldier is considered good in ZE. The ability to boost your team with a speed buff and give your team lifesteal is tremendously powerful.

Alternatively, you could use the Buff Banner for minicrits to help hold positions or the Battalion's Backup to give a team-wide damage resistance that works on ALL sorts of damage, including NPCs and bosses. As for primaries, Soldier has two options for this playstyle. The Liberty Launcher has the special attribute of having the rocket specialist upgrade from MvM. Although damage from weapons already slows and knockbacks, it is extremely effective at countering Heavy Mutations AND Ubercharged Zombies as a direct hit prevents them from moving while using it.

You can also use the Cow Mangler to charge banners more easily via its special attack and instead play in a more banner-focused style with its longer banner durations buff. The Pain Train is really the only viable melee for Soldier for its speed buff when held out.

Boss Assist Soldier

• Direct Hit/Black Box

• Reserve Shooter/Battalion's Backup

• Pain Train

The Battalion's Backup was already laid out in the prior text-wall, but for a little more insight, pairing it with a Black Box can provide a semi-extended banner timer, self-healing on zombie hit, and extra bits of rage damage once topped up on your meter - basically a more selfish sidegrade to the Cow Mangler.

This mostly comes down to matter of preference, as going with the Direct Hit/Reserve Shooter route will pump out way more damage across the board; compensating in areas for rockets wherever splash damage or hitting directs on a boss won't be viable.

Pyro

Main Staller

• Flame Thrower/Degreaser/Dragon's Fury

• Shotgun/Mannmelter

• Powerjack

The generic way of playing Pyro is to be in the frontlines, slowing down zombies with your flames while airblasting every now and then for spacing. Just remember not to spam airblasts due to the airblast resistance zombies will build up.

The Degreaser is more useful for dealing with Heavy Mutations since you'll be up close and personal with them naturally. It'll allow you to swap to melee faster to hit them before they hit you.

The Flame Thrower is a better choice for longer stalls and defenses to conserve ammo from airblasts.

The Dragon's Fury can be very useful against less zombies as the slow from the zombies is greater than that of the other two flamethrowers.

The Shotgun is Pyro's most reliable secondary weapon, allowing him to defend beyond the range of his flamethrower while also damaging NPCs and bosses; while the Mannmelter's afterburn z-velocity can consistently spam and shut down zombies from jumping if you're low on airblast ammo. The Powerjack is the only Pyro melee that has some form of utility and, as such, is the only one worth using in most cases.

One Off Push

• Backburner

• Detonator

• Powerjack

A more reserved playstyle for Pyro, you can use the Backburner's increased airblast force to push a large group of zombies, typically off edges or into TPs. This tremendous push force is at the cost of making them take up over half of your maximum ammo reserves on use. As a result, you won't be able to use even more than one airblast consecutively unless several dispensers are stacked up for your leisure. Once again, it would be best to just have the Powerjack for speed.

While waiting for the Backburner to recharge, the Detonator can be used as a form of mini-airblast (with the right angling it can also fling zombies off edges) and delay certain zombies enough in instances where you wouldn't risk getting close enough with your flames; though does need a bit more timing to get used to.