Bossing Tips and Tactics

Once you've gathered the necessary gear and weapons to defend yourself, you may find the income from looting alone isn't enough to keep up with your expenses. Boss Hunting can be a main or supplementary source of cash, given you have the mettle.
==Bossing in Dead Frontier==
Boss hunting can be one of the most efficient ways to use your time, with cycles sometimes taking less than a minute in multiplayer due to the high number of players in the proximity of Secronom Bunker.
When bossing around Secronom, you will always have a persistent zombie horde to deal with. Advanced tactics aren't required beyond being able to hold back the zombies you attract. The louder your weapon, the larger a portion of aggro you will have to manage.
This guide will attempt to detail all aspects of Boss Hunting in Dead Frontier. For actually obtaining the starter gear, check out the Looting Tips and Tactics.
==Build and Gear Loadout==
To survive a boss hunt you'll want to have a mix of gear to protect you along with the right combination of stats. A crowd-control gun and decently MC'ed Armour is recommended above else for newcomers. Ideally, you want one High-Damage weapon, and one Crowd Control weapon in your build both at 120 Proficiency by level 50.
The earliest one could effectively start participating in multiplayer bossing on a new account would be around level 30 with a shotgun build. 100 Strength allowing for use of all armor, and 120 Shotguns boasting reliable knockback and damage with minimal stat investment.
* Note that if you're a non-GM player, it really only becomes worthwhile to regularly hunt bosses in multiplayer around level 45, when the loot restrictions are lifted and you finally have access to the best items that you can loot as a non-GM.
Nothing is preventing you from participating in boss hunts before that desired level, but your loots will always be of a lesser quality and thus not quite worth the hassle. Flaming Long Arms, Rumblers and Flesh Hound cycles have more value due to 4 lootable corpses.
If you happen to be a GM, the earlier you get to bossing around Secronom Bunker, the better, since the loot restrictions do not apply to Gold Members.
 As a general rule of thumb, Pick one High Damage weapon and one Crowd Control weapon to center your build around.
 Level up Strength to wear armor that will allow you to tank multiple boss hits.
===High Damage Weapons===
 Rifles Medium Cost, High Damage, Medium CC, Low Stat Requirement
King in damage output and accuracy. Medium upkeep in ammo expenses. Lower fire rates necessitate more frequent swapping to Crowd Control weapon to deal with aggro.
Highly Recommended - Most Rifles only need 79 Critical Hit to be fully functional, and between 44-79 total Accuracy. Requires a fair investment into Reloading.
*Suggested Weapons - Ironsight 33-F, Worg Carbine, X-Garand, Barnell RF31 Crossbow
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 Pistols Low Cost, Medium Damage, Low CC, High Stat Requirement
Less damage dealt than rifles overall, but ammo is cheap. Rifles surpass pistols in every measure besides fire rate. The one edge Pistols have is that with enough damage boost, some will become faster at clearing aggro than most Rifles.
Not Recommended - Needs 112 Critical Hit, a staggering 119 Accuracy, and hefty amount of Reloading to reach maximum effectiveness, which is markedly less than Rifles. Not a bossing weapon class.
*Suggested Weapons - DoubleShot AAX, X-Python, Chain Revolver, Rhea 55
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 Melee No Cost, High Damage, Minimal CC, Low Stat Requirement
Only for experts or those seeking a challenge, normal bossing scenarios put melee users at a severe disadvantage. Make sure you also have a Crowd Control weapon in your build. Not a bossing weapon class.
*Suggested Weapons - Dual Blade, Inquisitor
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===Crowd Control Weapons===
Shotguns Low Cost, Low Damage, High CC, Low Stat Requirement
Cheapest route. Ammo costs allow for continuous fire without worrying about your bank. Overall damage is lacking, and your experience rates will be lowered if you build these first, but they can take on bosses and horde aggro.
Highly Recommended - These guns are a solid choice. 100% starting damage, they can not crit and thus require no initial investment besides Strength. Reloading is your primary requirement. Accuracy will improve your effective range, but the width of your cone of fire is determined by the Shotgun.
*Suggested Weapons - AA-12, Ace Barrel GZ3, X-Mannberg, Chimney Sweeper
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Heavy Machine Guns High Cost, High Damage, High CC, Medium Stat Requirement
Expensive to maintain, but unparalleled crowd-control. New players would be wise to avoid using these as their Damage weapon. That being said, even a Vulcan will get you out of most scenarios without chewing through too much ammo - provided you're mindful of the trigger. These guns will cost you more than you make if you're using multiple stacks.
Recommended with Caution - As long as you can equip these guns, they work. 92% starting damage, full damage output at 114 Critical Hit. Reloads are extremely slow, but magazine sizes push 300. No Accuracy required for reliable knockback when using Miniguns.
*Suggested Weapons - Vulcan, SCAR 9000, Amethyst Raider, Tempest
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Sub-Machine Guns Medium Cost, Medium Damage, Medium CC, High Stat Requirement
The middle ground of damage and cost between Rifles and Heavy Machine Guns, these have little to no Strength requirement to wield and ammo is relatively cheap. They have decent damage and fire rate to handle hordes, and can reliably be used as a bossing weapon with high Critical Hit.
Not Recommended - Out of the box they aren't impressive. 55% starting damage, full damage output at 112 Critical Hit. Require investing in decent Accuracy and Reloading to be used for reliable Crowd Control. New survivors might be lacking in Endurance to boss without Strength Armour, but the effectiveness of Sub-Machine Guns start to show when you have a decent amount of stat points.
*Suggested Weapons - Uziel 14mm, Street Dog 99, Heat Pit 75
===Armour Choice===
Recommended
 Strength Armour 
*High armor absorption, but removes bonus speed
*Compliments Shotguns, Heavy Machine Guns, and Chainsaws
*Damage to body increased, may need to carry a backup set of armour
*Suggested Sets - Exterminator Reactive XT, Bio Reactive, Tatakau Reactive
Not Recommended for Bossing
 Light Armour
*Maintains the default 5% speed boost of your character
*Compliments Melee, Rifles, Pistols, Explosives, and Sub-Machine Guns
*Damage to player increased, need to carry more Healing items
*Suggested Sets - Exterminator Mesh GT, Nomad Mesh, Shinobu Mesh
===Example Bossing Builds===
 Shotgun / Rifle
A Bossing build with Shotguns and Rifles for 30% Exp Boost Classes. This build is designed to take on most of the bosses Secronom can throw at you right after your first 120.
Build Path for Shotgun / Rifle
Level	Strength	Endurance	Agility	Accuracy	Critical	Reload	Prof.
1	Prof.
2	Weapon
1 	Weapon
2	Weapon
3
6 	 	 	50 	 	 	 	25 	 	 	 	
21 	100 	 	50 	 	 	 	100	 	USAN-12 	 	
23 	100 	 	60 	 	 	 	110	 	AA-12 	 	
25 	100 	 	70 	 	 	 	120	 	Ace Barrel	AA-12	
31 	100 	 	100 	 	 	 	120	30 	Ace Barrel	AA-12	
37 	100 	 	100 	 	 	55 	120	60 	Ace Barrel	AA-12	
42 	100 	50 	100 	 	 	55 	120	85 	Ace Barrel	AA-12	
50 	100 	50 	100 	35 	55 	55 	120	120	Ace Barrel	AA-12	Worg Carbine
 Rifle / Machine Gun
A different example of a Bossing build with Rifles and Machine Guns for 30% Exp Boost Classes. This build focuses on Rifles first to level up faster and cheaper, but is a weaker build starting out.
Build Path for Rifle / Heavy Machine Gun
Level	Strength	Endurance	Agility	Accuracy	Critical	Reload	Prof.
1	Prof.
2	Weapon
1 	Weapon
2 	Weapon
3
11 	 	 	75 	 	 	 	50 	 	 	 	
17 	 	 	75 	 	55 	 	80 	 	 	 	
22 	 	 	100 	 	55 	 	105	 	 	 	
25 	40 	 	100 	 	55 	 	120	 	Ironsight 33-F	 	
37 	100 	 	100 	 	55 	 	120	60 	Worg Carbine 	Ironsight 33-F	
42 	100 	50 	100 	 	55 	 	120	60 	Worg Carbine 	Ironsight 33-F	
48 	100 	50 	100 	 	55 	55 	120	115	Worg Carbine 	Vulcan 	
50 	100 	50 	100 	35 	55 	55 	120	120	Worg Carbine 	Vulcan 	Hammerhead 47
===Mastercrafts===
Every weapon and set of armour can be Mastercrafted, enhancing it and granting the player increased stats. Weapons can go up to a max of 8/8/8, and armour up to 24/24 (this is known as Godcrafted). With a full set of Godcrafted gear, the player can have a max bonus of 24 Agility, Endurance, Accuracy, Critical Hit and Reloading.
The armour bonuses amount to players running about 7% faster at 124 vs 100 Agility, having 48 extra health factored into their HP, with the weapon bonuses granting noticeable improvements to damage and handling.
Almost all builds centered around Melee, Rifles, Pistols or Sub-Machine Guns assume that you will equip yourselves with gear that at least have 8 Critical Hit, as it is the most important stat for damage and stops being useful over 79, 112, and 114 total points for different weapon classes. Reloading is the second-most important, with Accuracy being the least sought after stat.
 Aim for at least 20 Agility, 20 Endurance on armour and 8 Critical on every weapon.
 No matter what, never increase your base Critical Hit above 90 points.
===Implants===
Early on, most won't have the funds to buy anything more than basic Tier-1 implants. In the future, the single most important stat is Speed. Speed allows you to dodge and outrun bosses easier and for less stamina. After you have weapons and gear worth over $10,000,000, aim for acquiring these implants at minimum:
	Devil's Implant 	Craft - $1,000,000 + 10 Devils Heart	5% Speed / 5% Damage Reduction
	Celerity Implant	Credit Shop - 800 Credits GM 	11% Speed
	Agility Implant 	Tradeable - $70,000 - $200,000 	0.75% Speed
 Fill any empty slots with Agility Implants if you can afford them.
 If you're looting but looking to boss, it might be better to stack Ingenuity Implants for +5% Ammo Find Amount.
==Finding Bosses==
===Using the Bossmap ===
The Bossmap (hosted on DFProfiler) lists the current and previous bosses spawned in the Inner City.
From this example of the boss map you can determine that:
*Previous Cycle: [3D1L] 3 Down, 1 Left of Secronom bunker there were 4 Flaming Flesh Hounds
*Previous Cycle: [5L] 5 Left of Secronom bunker there were 2 Wraiths
*Current Cycle: [1D2R] 1 Down, 2 Right of Secronom bunker there are 4 Bandits
*Current Cycle: [1U1R] 1 Up, 1 Right of Secronom bunker there are 2 Flaming Mothers
*Current Cycle: [2U5L] 2 Up, 5 Left of Secronom bunker there are 2 Wraiths
*Special Boss: [6U1R] 6 Up, 1 Right of Secronom bunker there is a Devil Hound
*Outpost Mission: [6D4R] 6 Down, 4 Right of Secronom bunker the Outpost Mission is currently available
*Secronom Bunker is under an Outpost Attack (Outpost square glows red)
For each Cycle Slot, you can only loot as many times as there are spawns in the Cycle Count.
* 4 Flaming Flesh Hounds will produce 4 loots, 2 Mothers will produce 2 loots.
===Using the Instance Map===
At 7 minutes past the hour bosses will begin spawning. For challenging bosses, or to have an overall easier kill, players (showing as green squares) may opt for a more favorable location within the block. The location of players on the Instance Map will give you an overview and general idea of where the fights are taking place.
* When facing Bandits, you must keep re-entering until you see 4 stationary red dots on the Instance Map, or you will not be able to fight them.
==Boss Hunting Strategies==
===1. Battle Royale===
The most common boss fight you'll come across is a free-for-all style brawl right near the street exits. Players group up in large numbers in the closest block to Secronom Bunker and take turns handling the bosses and the horde. Keep near to the edges to force most of the aggro to spawn from only 2 directions.
Survivors with heavy knockback should prioritize pinning the bosses they can into one corner. Attempt to fire in the same direction as the crowd.
* Be aware that because of survivors handling weapons with heavy knockback, sometimes this can cause you to be ejected out of the block due to enemies being pushed against you. To try and reduce the risk of this occurring, avoid standing in the line of sight of the yellow arrows where the block ends. Use cars or other obstacles to prevent being launched.
===2. Fence Trapping===
The simplest solution for single or multiplayer bossing - fences, boxes, hedges and low walls allow you to shoot through them and keep the aggro away. Not every block has a good fence, but when it does - use it.
The best blocks are ones containing a Store/Warehouse with a long fence, Junkyards, low-walled gardens, Basketball Courts and Tennis Courts.
===3. Soft Trapping===
In many blocks you can get the boss temporarily stuck between you and a car, pole, or bush, and keep it there as long as you're shooting it and remain closer than other players.
The most noticeable use of this method is getting Charred Titans stuck on the corner of picket fences near the exits, and will give a significant boost to everyone's damage as they're allowed to focus fire on a stationary target.
===4. Wall Trapping===
Even without semi-solid fences to shoot through, you can still make good use of a wall. Pick an area with a long wall or segregated space that will prevent newly spawned aggro from getting by, and kill all the zombies until just you and the bosses are on one side.
You can also lure one boss inside and keep the others outside to make this method even easier. This can be combined with trapping the boss behind a box, bench, car, or any other structure within that you can shoot through.
===5. Street Fighting ===
Do loops around the entire outer edge of the block. After about 2 complete laps, you will have gathered up almost all the aggro and it will be trailing behind you. Continue making laps and you should be able to fight the bosses with minimal hassle.
Suited for cycles with a bit more speed than regular zombies, such as Titans and Wraiths - in blocks with limited fences. Once you have enough speed, this method works well for most bosses. Giant Spiders pose a bit more trouble due to their high speed and ability to push each other while attacking, and will likely require you to run sideways to dodge every swing when they are chaining.
== How to Lure and Trap a Boss==
Some bosses, like the Charred Titans and Devil Hound are much too fast for the average survivor population to take head-on. When dealing with the Devil Hound in particular it's important to exercise extreme caution if you find yourself to be in the position of luring the boss.
=== Solo Method===
When entering a boss square, it will be spawned at a somewhat random spot within the block and then travel towards you, moving through walls and buildings until it reaches the edge of your playable area. Next, it will physically spawn and continue trying to reach you.
If you are pause-walking, most of the time the boss will not have time to relocate and reach you on screen. Reach the area you want to fight and wait until the boss appears on the other side. If it appears inside, fight from the outside or redo the lure.
You can pull a boss by unpausing and shooting it one time (bullet may cause Enraged speed if it's also a random loud shot). Get it outside, then fire your weapon once inside to get it stuck along the fence.
The boss will nearly always come from the direction you last saw it, so you can run across the block and stand behind multiple walls and force the boss to appear trapped inside.
===Duo-Plus Method===
With two or more players, luring becomes much simpler. The main player waits outside attracting the boss, and once grabbed pauses and hands off the aggro to the player waiting in the safe spot. After your partner has the boss attention, you can unpause mostly free from danger and walk around to them.
Be wary if the path inside takes you too far, you may despawn the boss and come back to find it untrapped.