A single, searchable chart that maps every element to every enemy—weaknesses, resistances, crit zones, and control effects—so you can pick the right loadout in seconds.
How to read this
Killing Floor 3’s combat is built on two layers:
- Damage Types (what you shoot or swing with): Acid, Ballistic, Biological, Cold, Cut, Electrical, Force, Heat, Sound Wave. Each type is effective / neutral / ineffective against the four material categories on Zeds and their parts (Flesh, Armor, Mire, Zedtech) and tends to trigger specific afflictions that control or DoT enemies.
- Zed & Boss profiles (what you’re fighting): Every enemy has type vulnerabilities (what it’s weak to), resistances (what it shrugs off), and critical zones (where to aim for break/stagger/finish). The codex-style weak/strong mappings below are pulled from reliable, up-to-date guide data and cross-checked with boss pages. Use the chart’s Weak To and Resists columns to pick ammo/mods or callouts mid‑wave.
TL;DR brain rules:
• Force is a safe pick into armor and is never “ineffective” vs any material.
• Electrical melts Zedtech & Mire and is clutch vs Fleshpound/Impaler.
• Cold wrecks Mire and helps on Husk/Chimera (freeze/enfeeble).
• Heat farms Crawlers/Siren/Queen Crawler, but is poor into Mire.
• Biological is for flesh (Clot/Cyst/Gorefast), not for plates or Zedtech.
• Cut bleeds flesh—use on Bloat—but underperforms vs armor/Zedtech.
• Ballistic is your baseline with good CC potential, just weak vs armor/Mire.
• Sound Wave is a control tool (stumble/stun), not for Zedtech damage.
One‑Scrollable Chart
| Category | Name | Effective / Weak To | Resists / Ineffective | Neutral vs | Afflictions / Weak Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TYPE | Acid | Armor; Zedtech | Mire | Flesh | Corrosion (DoT); Panic | Breaks plates and chews machinery; weak into Mire enemies. |
| TYPE | Ballistic | — | Armor; Mire | Flesh; Zedtech | Knockdown; Stumble; Stun | Baseline damage with excellent CC potential; swap off vs armored/Mire targets. |
| TYPE | Biological | Flesh; Mire | Armor; Zedtech | — | Confuse; Enfeeble; Toxic (DoT) | Use on soft targets; don’t bring it to a plated or mech fight. |
| TYPE | Cold | Mire | Flesh | Armor; Zedtech | Enfeeble; Freeze | Great crowd control; key vs Husks & Chimera and any Mire variant. |
| TYPE | Cut | Flesh | Armor; Zedtech | Mire | Bleed (DoT); Stumble | Make fleshy targets hemorrhage; poor into anything plated. |
| TYPE | Electrical | Mire; Zedtech | Flesh | Armor | Shock (interrupt/paralyze) | Deletes electronics and stuns; cornerstone vs Fleshpound/Impaler. |
| TYPE | Force | Armor | — | Flesh; Mire; Zedtech | Knockdown; Stumble | Universal pick for armor with no hard counters; pairs well with precision aim. |
| TYPE | Heat | Flesh; Zedtech | Mire | Armor | Burn (DoT); Panic | Waveclear king; avoid vs Mire variants and bring it to Sirens/Queen Crawler. |
| TYPE | Sound Wave | Armor; Mire | Zedtech | Flesh | Knockdown; Stumble; Stun | Treat as CC first; great for creating breathing room on big pushes. |
| ZED (Small) | Clot | Biological | — | — | Head | Kill fast; they enrage nearby and execute downed teammates. |
| ZED (Small) | Crawler Larva | Heat | Acid | — | Head | Watch floors/ceilings/feet; napalm clears them instantly. |
| ZED (Small) | Crawler | Heat | Acid | — | Head | Same plan as Larva; don’t let them finish your downed allies. |
| ZED (Small) | Cyst | Biological | — | — | Head | Easiest kill in the game; chain headshots. |
| ZED (Medium) | Bloat | Cut | Acid; Biological | — | Head; Red pustules | Decap to avoid death burst; cut damage shreds him. |
| ZED (Medium) | Gorefast | Biological | Electrical | — | Head | Don’t get clipped by the charge; bio damage deletes him. |
| ZED (Medium) | Husk | Force; Cold | Heat | — | Head; Fuel tank; Cannon muzzle | Pop the tank for a lethal AoE; shoot muzzle to cancel shots. |
| ZED (Medium) | Siren | Heat; Biological | Cut; Electrical | — | Head; Neck | Neck shot cancels the scream; prioritize when grouped. |
| ZED (Large) | Fleshpound | Force; Electrical | Ballistic; Cut; Biological | — | Head; Chest core; Back core | Break cores first; expect rage on hits—dodge and finish with shocks. |
| ZED (Large) | Scrake | Ballistic; Cut; Biological | Force; Electrical | — | Head; Chainsaw engine; Mask/face | Break the chainsaw, then rip the mask and dump damage. |
| ZED (Mire) | Mire Clot | Cold; Electrical | Biological; Heat | — | Head; Stomach | Treat as an elite Clot with elemental flips; freeze/shock it. |
| ZED (Mire) | Mire Cyst | Cold; Electrical | Biological; Heat | — | Head | Same flips as Mire Clot; don’t waste Heat here. |
| BOSS | Queen Crawler | Heat; Biological | Force; Acid | — | Head; Inner mouth; Abdomen pustules | Burn the brood queen; avoid purple Mire portals & hatchlings. |
| BOSS | Impaler | Electrical; Acid | Cold; Biological | — | Head; Forearm cores; Back tube cores; Back core | Break armor to disable abilities; ping and kite—avoid melee lunges. |
| BOSS | Chimera | Force; Cold | Heat; Electrical | — | Head; Glowing arm; Chest; Head pustules | Stay mobile; shoot the glowing parts; watch for teleports and Mire spawns. |
Downloadable:
Fast tactics & synergy notes
- Shock vs Screamers & Shooters. Electrical shock interrupts attacks; it’s especially useful for stopping Siren screams and Husk volleys (even though Siren resists Electrical damage, the stun still helps). Shoot Siren’s neck during the radial wind‑up to cancel outright.
- Plate breakers. Force and Acid are your plate/armor answers. Versus Impaler, use Electrical/Acid to break forearm/back cores and turn off its tricks; pinging helps track the smoke‑vanish reposition.
- Zedtech vs Flesh. If you see cores, masks, engines, plates, expect Electrical/Force/Acid to outperform Biological/Cut. Standard Ballistic can carry when you need CC (stumble/stun/knockdown) but struggles vs armor/Mire.
- Mire flips your script. Heat which normally farms flesh performs poorly into Mire; Cold and Electrical are your best friends for Mire Clot/Cyst and any boss phase spawning Mire adds.
- Big boys: different keys.
• Fleshpound → Force/Electrical, break chest/back cores, expect rage windows.
• Scrake → Ballistic/Cut/Biological, break chainsaw engine then mask → face.
These match the individual Zed pages and general boss-strat overviews.
Afflictions at a glance (what each does)
- Bleed (Cut): stacking DoT on flesh; makes mediums/soft targets melt.
- Burn (Heat): DoT plus Panic for crowd peel; great waveclear.
- Corrosion (Acid): armor/plate DoT; pairs with Electric for mech targets.
- Toxic (Biological): DoT that shines on pure flesh (Clot/Cyst/Gorefast).
- Shock (Electrical): interrupt/paralyze; great for canceling telegraphed attacks.
- Stumble / Knockdown / Stun (Ballistic/Force/Sound Wave): force reactions and create DPS windows; think space‑making tools.
- Enfeeble (Cold/Biological): slows and softens enemy effectiveness.
- Freeze (Cold): stops enemies cold—use it to control Mire packs and set up crits.
- Panic (Heat/Acid): brief aggro drop; handy for untangling bad positions.
Last updated: August 25, 2025. Tripwire patches sometimes tweak elemental tables, armor values, and weak‑point multipliers. If a future update shifts values (e.g., a new Mire unit or altered boss phase), update the row entries in the chart above—structure stays the same, you’ll usually just be changing pills in Weak To/Resists.
Practical loadout advice from the chart
- Mixed teams: Pair Force (armor safety) with Electrical (Mire/Zedtech control). Add one Heat user to clean Crawlers/Sirens/Queen Crawler waves.
- Mire‑heavy weeklies: Prioritize Cold and Electrical mods (freeze + shock) and deprioritize Heat/Bio.
- Boss prep:
- Impaler: bring Electric/Acid, then a Force backup to pop plates.
- Chimera: Force/Cold users do the heavy lifting; stay mobile.
- Queen Crawler: Heat/Bio plus explosives for egg/web management.
