Left 4 Dead Versus Mode Guide
*********************
* == LEFT 4 DEAD == *
* VERSUS MODE GUIDE *
*********************
Author: Luminar
Version: 1.1
================================
CONTENTS:
1) Introduction (LX-INT)
2) Legalese (LX-LEG)
3) FAQ Update History (LX-HIS)
4) Versus Mode (LX-VSM)
5) Survivor Strategy (LX-SUR)
a) Items (LX-S-ITM)
i) Guns (LX-S-IT1)
ii) Grenades (LX-S-IT2)
iii) Medical (LX-S-IT3)
iv) Objects (LX-S-IT4)
b) Vs Hunters (LX-S-HUN)
c) Vs Smokers (LX-S-SMO)
d) Vs Boomers (LX-S-BOO)
e) Vs Tanks (LX-S-TAN)
f) Vs Witches (LX-S-WIT)
g) Other Hazards (LX-S-HAZ)
6) Infected Strategy (LX-INF)
a) The Hunter (LX-I-HUN)
b) The Smoker (LX-I-SMO)
c) The Boomer (LX-I-BOO)
d) The Tank (LX-I-TAN)
7) Conclusion (LX-CON)
================================
1) INTRODUCTION (LX-INT)
Welcome to my second FAQ! I enjoyed writing my first (the Spore Archetypes
Guide) so much I decided to have a second shot at helping people out. This
time it's for Left 4 Dead's Versus Mode. Obviously.
This guide is intended as a collection of hints and strategies aimed at
helping you play effectively in Versus Mode, the mode where two teams of
players compete to see who can get furthest. This guide covers strategy for
both the Survivors and Infected teams.
This FAQ assumes you're familiar with at least the basics of playing L4D.
If not, go ahead and play a few campaign games with friends or on singleplayer
mode. This FAQ isn't going anywhere, it can wait. No point reading on if it's
all going to be as clear as gibberish, right?
Incase you're wondering what those odd codes in the Contents table are in the
brackets, they're intended as a quick way of finding what you want. Just hit
Ctrl+F, type in the code, press enter twice and you'll be taken straight
to it. Convenience is the road to happiness, sometimes.
***
2) LEGALESE (LX-LEG)
Left 4 Dead and all associated properties are copyright Valve Software.
GameFAQs is owned by CNET Networks, a CBS company.
This FAQ, written under the alias of "Luminar", is copyrighted to me, but
as far as i'm concerned it may be distributed, copied, printed, rehosted,
kicked, eaten, or whatever you want to do with it freely. It'd be cool if
you gave credit, but i'm not exactly going to come after you for it.
Yeah i'm basically an e-communist. Go figure.
***
3) FAQ UPDATE HISTORY (LX-HIS)
Version 1.0 (30th Dec 2008)
Initial version for publishing.
Version 1.1 (11th Jan 2009)
Credit/Thanks for various help added to Conclusion section
Added to both sides of Tank strategy
Added to both sides of Smoker strategy
Added to Anti-Witch strategy
Added to General Infected tips
Added to Hunter strategy
Added to Boomer strategy
***
4) VERSUS MODE (LX-VSM)
So what's Versus Mode all about then?
The premise is basically the same as Campaign Mode - Survivors are trying to
do what their namesake implies, and the masses of Infected are trying to do
them in before they can escape. There are five maps per campaign, four point
to point maps and one finale where the Survivors must hold off against an
Infected onslaught until rescue can arrive.
The difference is that there are now up to eight players instead of four.
While four control the survivors and try to reach their goal as usual, four
players control the Special Infected (the Hunter, Smoker, Boomer and Tank)
and try to kill or otherwise stop the survivors from.. well, surviving.
Once the survivors either reach their goal or are overwhelmed, the two teams
switch places. The idea is to see which team can get the furthest and survive
the best. Another main difference is that once a survivor dies, they're out
for the rest of the round - no getting locked in a cupboard to rescue. Some of
the map layouts are also ever so slightly tweaked to tip the balance a little.
The difficulty in Versus Mode is locked to normal and cannot be changed. There
was an exploit of sorts at one point where teams would vote the difficulty to
easy when they were Survivors, and to expert when they were Infected in order
to make the game very easy for themselves, which was an incredibly cheap and
unfair tactic. Thankfully, Valve patched it out in the first game update.
At the end of each bout, scores are tallied up for the survivors. The score
is multiplied several times if the survivors managed to get to the end. Good
scores are usually around 2000 or more, poor scores are usually in the low
hundreds since no multipliers are added if your team perishes.
The Distance Score is the base score - it's basically just how far into the
map you got, or in the cace of the finale maps how long you lasted.
The Health Bonus adds to your score for having higher health - note that
Medkits in your possession actually count as part of the health bonus,
whether they've been used or not. Just having one adds to the bonus. If you
got killed off, you obviously have no health at all, so no bonus is added.
The Survivor Bonus multiplies by the amount of survivors who made it to the
end of the map - x4 for a full team, no bonus if only one survived or if your
team was wiped out altogether.
The Difficulty Bonus is decided by whoever designed the map - it's a static
multiplier which is supposed to be based on how hard the map creator thinks
that paticular map is to complete.
The Infected score points every round too, but it's largely just for show
since it isn't added to the team's score. You can see your score as an
infected by holding tab (default key) anytime during gameplay. It's worth
checking when you're respawning to see who's doing well and who needs help.
***
5) SURVIVOR STRATEGY (LX-SUR)
The Survivors play more or less as they normally do, having access to guns,
explosives and medical equipment with the goal of reaching the safe room or
rescue waiting for them at the end of each round. They must fight their way
through the hordes of Infected zombies and avoid various hazards and of course
the other team playing as the Special Infected.
The main thing to worry about in Versus Mode is that the special zombies are
now much, much smarter and free-thinking, and are able to plan strategies with
each other rather than just dumbly rushing in like the AI likes to. A good
Infected team will plan their attacks and exploit various situations and
terrain to gain an advantage over you - a good Survivor team has to be one
step ahead and know when the other team is most likely to strike and in what
way - you must always be ready to counter any attack if you can't prevent it
from happening altogether, which is rarely an option.
Always remember above all things:
"United we stand, divided we fall."
It's in the very basics of Left 4 Dead but it can't be stated enough - do not
EVER go off on your own or fail to support your teammates as much as you can!
You simply cannot take on the infected by your lonesome; Hunters and Smokers
are specifically designed to screw over loners or teams that don't support
each other. Get caught by one and you will NEED someone else to free you,
there's no getting out of it by yourself. If you try to go it alone and your
teammates aren't able to rescue you in time (or at all), it's you to blame.
And a team with one survivor dead can be taken down by a very well coordinated
attack by the infected - they have access to two hunters and one smoker at any
given time - if all three strike at once, that's three team members unable to
escape. Without that one fourth member, you become a lot more vulnerable.
Also, keep an eye on your teammates health and items; if another team member
is struggling, then share the health - use your medkit on them or give them
pills. As Survivors become more injured, they start to limp and struggle,
slowing them down. A slowed down team member is essentially a liability;
a good infected team will strike at the injured first and try to kill them
off for good. If a Tank attacks, healthy survivors can stay out of its reach
by running, but limping survivors have essentially no form of defence other
than shooting it, which doesn't do you a lot of good when it gives you a face
full of fist and sends you reeling.
There's also the issue that if a team member is knocked down three times
without recieving health from a medkit, they die. Pills are no good, they
MUST be healed by a medkit to prevent them from dying. I've seen situations
where the infected have used this to their advantage and repeatedly knocked
down a survivor through harassment tactics, killing them even though the
full team had medkits. So don't let any injury accumulate - as soon as anyone
gets into yellow health, heal them up. Medkits are best, but if you're in the
middle of a fight and have no time, just give them some pills to chug.
Always remember pills are a temporary measure, though.
Some general tips for Survivor teams:
* Close doors behind you as you go. Infected cannot open them and must batter
them down, giving you advance warning of their presence.
* Always be aware of your surroundings. If there are hazards present, the
infected team will likely try to exploit them, so act accordingly.
* The infected team is waiting for you to make mistakes - doing so will
give them a large advantage. Sticking together mitigates this risk.
* Always have the sound on and the music enabled. The special infected are
noisy and have musical cues which give away their presence. Large hordes
of zombies are also preceded by an ominous motif in the music.
* If you are able to, use voice chat. It is much more convenient than typing.
Just make sure you speak clearly and can be heard easily. However, be
aware of whether or not your server has alltalk enabled - using voice chat
on an alltalk server will allow the infected team listen in to you.
* If you walk (shift), crouch-walk (ctrl) or stand still for a while without
shooting or doing any voice commands, the infected will not be able to see
your silhouette until you shoot, run, speak or use an item. You can use this
to hide from the infected team members - regular zombies won't be fooled by
this, however. Large hordes will still home in on you. There's also always
the chance they'll just find you the old fashioned way.
* Keep your pace even. Going too quickly may result in confusion or the team
getting split up. Going too slowly will result in the AI director sending
zombie hordes as a punishment, as well as allowing the infected team members
to wear you down through attrition.
* Crouching improves the accuracy of automatic weapons, namely the Uzi and the
Assault Rifle. Firing in short bursts also saves ammo and keeps your shots
accurate. Also, if you are infront of your teammates then crouching allows
them to shoot over you, minimising friendly fire incidents.
* Most of the guns can fire through one wall. If you think a special infected
is lurking behind a wall fire a few shots into it - this is an especially
good tactic against fragile Boomers. Some bullets also penetrate through
regular zombies, allowing you to save ammo if you line up shots well.
* Always remember to melee. You can reload weapons while using melee to push
zombies away - special infected are also temporarily stunned by melee hits.
This excludes the tank and witch. NEVER melee a Witch!
-----------------------------
a) ITEMS (LX-S-ITM)
The Survivors rely on their items to fend off the infected and keep
themselves alive. There are three kinds you keep in your inventory; guns,
grenades and medical supplies. There are also loose items that you must
carry with both arms and cannot put in your inventory.
i) GUNS (LX-S-IT1)
PISTOL
Clip: 15 (30 with double pistols)
Total Ammo: Unlimited
Advantages: Never runs out of ammo, rapid fire, fairly accurate, upgradeable
Disadvantages: Poor damage
The Pistol is a weak weapon in terms of hitting power, but its main advantage
is that it will never run out of ammo. You still have to reload it when your
clip of 15 bullets runs out, so make your shots count and don't forget to
melee if you're being beaten on.
You can obtain a second pistol by picking up a pistol lying around any of the
maps - this increases your clip size to 30 and allows you to fire faster. It
does take you slightly longer to reload, however.
TIER ONE
The two Tier One weapons are the Uzi and Shotgun. Tier One weapons are found
at the start of a campaign, and in early safe rooms. You'll generally always
have access to them, along with the pistol. You had best hope a Tank doesn't
show up while you're using these guns and have no molotovs.
It's best for the team to have at least one member using each weapon, so you
can adapt to more situations. Ideally, have two using the Uzi and two with
Shotguns. It's up to you, though.
UZI
Clip: 50
Total Ammo: 480
Advantages: Long Range, Clears crowds well
Disadvantages: Not as much raw damage as shotgun
Of the two tier one weapons, Uzis are good for long-range shooting and for
dealing with normal zombies - you can either take aim and headshot singular
ones or open up on full auto and mow a mob of them down.
They're not so good at putting down Special Infected, however - Smokers
sighted a long distance away can be taken out much more easily but aside
from that Shotguns are better for taking down other Specials.
The accuracy on this weapon can be improved by crouching and firing in
short bursts. Being struck by anything also lowers your accuracy momentarily.
SHOTGUN
Clip: 8
Total Ammo: 128
Advantages: Good damage, Good accuracy at close range, interruptable reload
Disadvantages: Poor long-range accuracy, long time between shots, long reload
Shotguns fire a spray of bullets with each shot which spread out over a
distance - this means they have a very powerful kick to them at close range,
but as the target gets further away it's more like a glancing blow. Shotguns
are the best tier one weapon against special infected, who generally want to
get in your face which is where can do the most damage. For long range
threats while you're using the shotgun, there's always the pistol.
TIER TWO
These weapons are much more powerful, but you have to find them first.
They'll often be on the second map somewhere, most often on the path you'd
normally follow, but not always. Try to find them as soon as you can.
ASSAULT RIFLE
Clip: 50
Total Ammo: 360
Advantages: Rapid fire, crowd clearing, can headshot regular zombies
Disadvantages: Not as much raw power as the others, limited ammo
The Assault Rifle is pretty much a straight upgrade of the Uzi. It is given
more hitting power and can one-hit regular zombies if you aim for the head.
Compared against the other two tier two weapons, this is essentially the
weapon that does everything but excels at nothing. Keep an eye on your ammo
when using these, it's easy to go overboard and run out.
AUTOMATIC SHOTGUN
Clip: 10
Total Ammo: 128
Advantages: Rapid fire, high damage per shot, crowd clearing
Disadvantages: Poor at long range, awkward reload
When compared to the tier one shotgun this weapon is derived from, this
weapon has a far higher rate of fire and actually has slightly more power
behind each shot also. It retains the poor long-range capabilities of the
regular shotgun, but this is somewhat alleviated by the fact you can more or
less just spam bullets at anything off in the distance now.
This is easily the weapon of choice against tanks if fire isn't available.
I have seen tanks killed in less than ten seconds by all four survivors
pelting it with auto shotguns at close range while dodging his fists and
thrown rocks - i'm beginning to wonder if it'll be nerfed soon considering
it's power in this regard, and seeming lack of drawbacks.
HUNTING RIFLE
Clip: 15
Total Ammo: 180
Advantages: High shot power, long range, penetrates unlimited zombies
Disadvantages: Low rate of fire, requires high skill
This weapon seems to be very situational. It doesn't have the power to mow
down crowds or blow away special infected like the assault rifle or auto
shotgun, but the hunting rifle IS superbly accurate and also has a scope for
long-range sniping. The thing is, smart special infected will generally never
expose themselves to long range fire (excluding smokers), so it's a matter
of taking opportunities when you see them.
One paticular use of this weapon is to pick off Smokers who are trying to
abuse car alarms or witches to their advantage, or to anger an unavoidable
witch from a huge distance away so you have time to pick her off.
It should be noticed that shots from this weapon pierce through an unlimited
amount of regular zombies, so it can be good for mowing down crowds if you
place your shots well.
MOUNTED MINIGUN
The Mounted Minigun isn't a gun you can take with you in your inventory, but
it's a gun nontheless. These are generally placed on finale maps and on some
horde events. Press E (default) to use them - they have a limited cone of
vision and take a while to spin up, but the rate of fire and power is great.
They're mainly used for mowing down crowds of regular zombies, but they're
quite effective against special infected too. Tanks will be slowed down if
they try to run against the stream of fire, other special infected will
likely just be killed instantly. It also has unlimited ammo.
The drawback is that the gun heats up as it is fired continuously, and will
begin to turn red and emit smoke. The smoke can obscure your vision somewhat;
but if you continue to fire beyond this point, the minigun will jam and stop
firing until it has fully spun down, which takes around 5 seconds or so.
It is best to fire in bursts - you also need teammates to cover you, since
you cannot defend yourself while using the minigun.
ii) GRENADES (LX-S-IT2)
PIPE BOMB
The Pipe Bomb attracts regular zombies to it and then explodes, vapourising
them all into a red mist. It is more or less useless against special infected
since they will just avoid them like the plague, though if you can get one to
explode near a tank he will stagger for a few moments from the blast.
This one's mostly good as a "get out of horde free card" of sorts - for
periodic zombie hordes, event hordes, or puke-attracted hordes. It can be a
good idea to chuck one of these if a boomer pukes on everyone and there's
risk of death or incapacitation.
They're alright for pulling Witches too, since you get a head start to run.
MOLOTOV COCKTAIL
Molotov Cocktails set a large area of ground on fire for around 20 or so
seconds. Regular zombies are apparently incapable of understanding how
fire works and will happily run right into it and die, but generally
player-controlled special infected are smarter than that and will avoid
the flames. This one is good for blocking off a route and dealing with mobs.
It should be noted that if a Hunter catches on fire, he gets incredibly angry
and does TONS of extra damage when he pounces someone. He'll die pretty soon
one way or another, but if he pounces someone get him off ASAP, since fire
makes him capable of causing incapacitation extremely quickly.
If Tanks were vampires, Molotov Cocktails would be their holy water. When a
Tank gets set on fire, it starts a 30-40 second timer. When the time is up,
the Tank simply drops dead on the spot regardless of how much health he has.
It's almost a cheap strategy to just burn the tank then run like hell - you
don't even need to shoot at him since he'll die anyway.
iii) MEDICAL (LX-S-IT3)
FIRST AID KIT
These are vital pieces of equipment you should try to never be without. That
said, don't be stingy with them - if someone drops into yellow, get them to
heal themselves, or if they don't have a kit then heal them yourself.
Two survivors with no medkits is better than one survivor with a medkit.
They bring you back up to 80% health, or if you're already above that they
top you off, but you shouldn't use one unless it's neccecary.
If you come across an extra medkit and everyone has one, it's probably worth
topping off someone's health and taking the spare if you have time to - it's
only going to get left behind otherwise.
Keep in mind that a medkit takes a few seconds to use, so you should cover
whoever's using one and do it in a safe spot so you can't easily get caught
out by a special infected team member. Smart special infected will try to
interrupt heals wherever they can.
Three incapacitations normally means death - the medkit resets the knockdown
count, meaning a survivor can go on for longer. Generally you shouldn't be
getting incapacitated anyway, but if someone gets knocked down then heal
them as soon as you possibly can with a medkit, not pills.
PAINKILLER PILLS
They're not as hardline vital as medkits are, but they're a nice boost to
have. Painkillers will give you 50 temporary health (which shows up in your
health bar as stripes rather than a solid bar) which will slowly go away
with time. The best use of these is if you are limping and need to be able
to run quickly (if a tank attacks for instance) and you don't have time or
proper cover to use a medkit. AI Bots tend to just chug them as soon as they
get low on health, so bear that in mind.
iv) OBJECTS (LX-S-IT4)
These are loose objects that can be moved around but not taken into your
inventory. Press E to pick them up, left click to throw them.
PROPANE TANK
These are round white tanks. They explode immediatley when struck by gunfire
or another explosion, and kill zombies and special infected instantly in the
same manner as a pipebomb. The Tank and Witch are exceptions; the Tank will
stumble for a few moments if hit by a blast, but the Witch won't care. She'll
also be rather angry about it too, obviously.
GAS CANISTER
These are flat red bottles with an X-shaped indentation in the side. When
shot they engulf the area in flame with the same effect as a molotov. These
are good to use if there are no real molotovs around or if you have one and
don't want to use it.
OXYGEN CYLINDER
These are thin green cylinders that aren't seen as commonly as the other two.
When shot, they will emit a hissing noise for a moment and then explode in
the same manner as the Propane Tank.
+++
b) VS HUNTERS (LX-S-HUN)
Don't be fooled by the seeming ineffectiveness of most pounces - Hunters are
a very deadly and legitemate threat when used properly. They are highly
mobile and can come at you fron nearly any angle, are capable of causing
nasty amounts of damage, and have a pounce attack which renders a survivor
helpless until rescued by another. They are the most common kind of Special
Infected you will encounter, and the Infected team can have up to two active
at one time. Along with one Smoker, this can cause three renderings of
helplessness onto survivors, though this requires great coordination.
Hunters give away their presence quite often, though not as badly as Boomers.
While crouching they constantly emit low growls, which means they're ready to
use their pounce attack. When they use a pounce attack, they emit a sharp
echoing scream. Sometimes Hunters will use their pounce to move around rather
than make an attack - it is still an indication of their presence, however.
When a Hunter sees a survivor he will automatically make a shrill and angry
screaming noise - it is distinct from the pounce scream in that it does not
echo, and sounds more like "WRAAAAIII!". When Hunters are just running around
on foot, they don't make any noise other than quiet footsteps.
Good hunters are most likely to strike when there is a distraction. Their
attack can come in one of two ways - the Hunter can run in on foot and start
ripping you up with his claws, or he can pounce you and pin you. The pounce
is incredibly obvious and is highlighted to survivors no matter where they
are, unless they're in a smoke cloud or blinded by vomit. Always listen out
for the echoing scream signalling a hunter pounce - if you can knock or shoot
a Hunter off your teammate quickly, they will more than likely take no damage
at all and you can dispose of the Hunter. Claw attacks on the other hand are
not as attention-drawing, but are very nasty as they do ten damage per swipe
and attack in an arc infront of the Hunter, meaning they can hit multiple
targets with one swipe. Hunter claw attacks are distinct from normal zombie
attacks in that you will hear a loud tearing sound rather than the usual dull
thud of a zombie smacking you. The Hunter will also gibber and snarl madly.
The best defence against hunters is to stick together and be vigilant.
Hunters absolutely love to pounce stragglers, since they will take off huge
amounts of health if not outright kill them, since no-one can help them quick
enough to mitigate the damage. Melee attacks from hunters can be avoided if
teammates watch each other's backs carefully enough. Since Hunters can get to
and come from just about anywhere, the main defence against them is to be
vigilant and cautious, plain and simple.
Always be cautious when healing or helping up incapacitated survivors. Low
health team members are like a giant magnet for hunters - if they can knock
them down three times it's death, and it's not hard to do on a teammate who
goes down with two claw attacks.
+++
c) VS SMOKERS (LX-S-SMO)
Smokers are rather easy to counter in most instances. Snared survivors can be
freed with a single melee strike, or if quick action is taken the Smoker can
be shot to release the tongue or kill it. Do not underestimate it however, as
it is capable of killing or causing significant disruption by pulling the
team apart, causing split-ups or distractions. It can even sometimes cause
instant death or severe damage by pulling team members over certain edges.
Smokers constantly cough and hack, which gives away their presence. They make
strange angry noises when they have line of sight to a survivor, from making
a strange "SHAAPTH" spitting noise or just screaming "GAAAAHGH!". When a
Smoker fires his tongue to snare a survivor, a loud spitting noise can be
heard whether the tongue connects or not.
Smokers are largely situational. Depending on which map you're on, Smokers
can be either a non-issue or lethal. Beware of drops and parts where you
cannot backtrack - Smokers can do immense damage by making survivors fall
off high ledges, and they can pull a survivor in places where no-one can
rescue them, meaning a guaranteed kill for the Smoker. This usually requires
excellent timing however, and can be negated by good teamwork and planning.
Smokers will also abuse hazards such as car alarms and Witches by pulling a
Survivor to them hoping to be shot at, more often than not striking the
hazard in the process and setting it off. In the case of witches it's more
dangerous due to the fact that if the survivor is dragged all the way to the
Witch it will more than likely anger her and incapacitate the victim. The
Hunting Rifle comes in very handy in these situations. Sharpshooters are the
bane of the Smoker's existance, so have someone on the Assault Rifle or
Hunting Rifle ready to pick off the Smoker accurately and cleanly.
Things that break a Smoker's grasp on one of your teammates are:
* Meleeing either the victim or Smoker
* Shooting the Smoker
* Shooting the extended tongue
* An explosion hitting either the victim or Smoker
* The Smoker dying for any reason
+++
d) VS BOOMERS (LX-S-BOO)
Ah yes, good old Mr. Spew. In the Developer Commentary, Valve states that
they designed the Boomer because L4D is a game where you shoot everything;
thus, to add to the challenge they put in the zombie you DON'T want to shoot.
Boomers are pretty much impossible to miss - they constantly gurgle and groan
disgustingly, and their obese appearance makes them stand right out in any
crowd of zombies, or at a distance.
Avoid being puked on them by all costs - it holds your team up for a short
while, in addition to temporarily blinding you. The blindness can vary in
severity depending on how dark the area you're in is, but the main thing is
that it doesn't show your team member's silhouettes while you're puked.
That means if someone gets pounced or snagged, you can't see it and it's
likely that you may not hear it over the noise of the zombie mob. This is
why using voice chat or even just typing a message is such a boon to the
survivors; communication can go a long way to saving you.
If you get puked on, go into the nearest corner and melee repeatedly to knock
away the attracted mob, while shooting them whenever you can. Try to keep an
ear out for anything bad happening to your teammates. If your teammates get
puked on, try to cover them somewhat. If the rest of the team excluding you
gets puked, the other special infected in the area may try to come after you.
Be on your guard, and hope your teammates are astute enough if anything goes
wrong with fending off smokers and hunters. Puke coatings when a tank is
present are VERY BAD. You should take extra care of boomers in the vincinity
whenever there is a Tank active.
If you see a Boomer at long range, shoot him immediatley if you can. If you
encounter one at close range (which is far more likely), then it depends on
how you've encountered him. Most of the time Boomers will be waiting around
corners or in side rooms waiting for you to either blunder right into them
or become distracted enough for them to sneak up on you. Tight groups are
a big Boomer magnet, so while still staying together, try to keep an even
distance from your comrades if a Boomer is around, so that he doesn't manage
to cause a giant vomit party by coating the lot of you in puke. Also beware
of tall places, since Boomers love to jump off and land in the middle of your
team suddenly, which is ideal positioning for them to cover everyone in puke.
Falling Boomers will emit a loud burping noise, so keep an ear out.
If you think you know where a Boomer is lurking, fire a few shots in the
general direction, remembering you can shoot through walls. Boomers are
pretty fragile compared to the other specials, and will explode after taking
moderatley light damage. If this doesn't kill the Boomer, try quickly peeking
into the suspected area and then back out, or fake them out by moving to peek
without actually going all the way. It depends on the Boomer user's reactions
but they may fire off their puke; if no-one is caught in it, it basically
renders them an ineffective kamikaze zombie for a few moments.
Note that if a Boomer acquires line of sight with a survivor, he will
automatically make a loud "URRGH!" groan. It is distinct from his usual
groaning but only somewhat, so learn it with experience.
If you encounter a boomer who cannot puke, remember to always knock him away
with melee and then shoot him once he is a good distance away. Don't try to
play hackey sack with Boomers or otherwise repeatedly melee them for whatever
reason, enough melee strikes will cause them to explode, with you at point
blank range. Boomers on fire are pretty rare by all accounts, but if you come
across one in close quarters just run away. He'll likely explode any moment.
+++
e) VS TANKS (LX-S-TAN)
The supposed big bad of the infected masses, the Tank is actually fairly easy
to deal with if you know what you're doing, and have the right situation on
hand to help you deal with him. Even very skilful and comptetent tanks are no
match for a team of Survivors working together to bring him down.
For presence, the Tank could not possibly be more obvious if he had a giant
50 foot neon sign strapped to him blaring "I AM A TANK" over loudspeakers.
Aside from the music changing to a very ominous and threatening tune, the
ground shakes with the Tank's footfalls and he constantly snarls, grunts and
roars loudly. Every single thing he does pretty much loudly announces him.
The Tank can punch you and send you flying, dealing a huge amount of damage.
He can also rip chunks of concrete out of the ground and lob them at you,
these also do an absolute ton of damage. Needless to say, don't EVER get hit
by him or he'll likely follow up with several more attacks and incap you.
As long as you're in green health, you run at the same speed as the Tank so
if you can keep ahead of him you can dodge his attacks. If anyone is yellow
or below however, they will limp and this will cause problems, because the
Tank will likely go straight for them. If you have pain pills on hand, give
them to yellowed or redded survivors as soon as the tank music starts up.
Also on certain maps with deadly falls, the Tank can punch you straight off
cliffs or edges, which can result in instant death. It is also able to punch
large objects at you which will instantly incapacitate you if you are struck
by them, so beware in areas with any large, loose objects, paticularly cars.
The absolute best situation to deal with a tank is a wide open area, with all
survivors in green health and wielding auto shotguns, with no other specials
interfering with the fight. In these instances you can utterly destroy the
Tank in less than ten seconds. This situation obviously won't always be on
hand however. The other best option for dealing with the Tank is to set him
on fire. As detailed in the Molotov section, the Tank will simply drop dead
after cooking for around 40 seconds no matter how much health he has.
Auto Shotguns deal 288 damage per full hit, and the Tank has 6000 health.
This means it takes 21 full hits with an Auto Shotgun to bring down a Tank
from full health - from one Survivor, this would a little over a minute.
With four Survivors, it would take less than three seconds. Getting up in
the Tank's face to do maximal damage if all four survivors are healthy is
pretty much the best way to dispose of a Tank quickly - though Tanks who
are in the know will obviously avoid this like the plague.
Another weakness the Tank has is to explosions - whether from a Pipebomb,
Propane/Oxygen tanks or from a Boomer. If the Tank is caught in an explosion,
he will momentarily stagger and be unable to act - this is your cue to get in
his face and blow it off as fast as possible while he is unable to defend
himself. Just make sure not to linger too long, else the Tank will snap out
of it and treat you to several knuckle sandwiches. Laying down gas cylinders
as a trap for the Tank is a good strategy, though a good Tank may realise
what you are up to and try to circumvent it. Don't count on hitting a Tank
with a pipebomb however, unless he's REALLY stupid.
Beware of other special infected while the tank is around. Though the Tank
pretty much commands all attention in the area, don't forget to rescue any
other survivors who are pinned or ensnared. If they're incapped on the ground
it is likely the tank will ignore them, but Hunters will possibly try to
finish them off. Generally, you should judge how far away the Tank is while
considering whether or not to revive teammates. The second the Tank notices
you doing it he is likely to stop at nothing to prevent you from reviving
them, so only do it if he is a large distance away, and not likely to pay
attention anytime soon. Give the revived survivor pills if you have any
on hand, otherwise they're likely to just get punched down again.
Especially beware of zombies and boomers - fighting a tank while blind can be
nasty, but being slowed down by zombies whacking you as a tank approaches
amounts to a death sentence. Both at the same time? Worse than a big bag
of worse things. Oddly, I don't tend to notice Boomers around when a Tank
is present very often. It doesn't discount the possibility, though.
However, if the Boomer is near the Tank for any reason, then shoot it if it
presents no risk to your teammates - it acts like any other explosion for the
Tank, causing him to stagger and allowing you a moment to blow him away.
+++
f) VS WITCHES (LX-S-WIT)
If you can get a clear and quiet period away from the specials to deal with
her, the Witch is easy to bring down. Aggroing a witch is pretty much one
of the best times for special infected to attack, since they can either slow
you down to let the Witch catch up to whoever angered her and incap them, or
distract team members who should otherwise be shooting at the witch as she
charges. This is all assuming you can't avoid her altogether.
You will hear the Witch well ahead of actually encountering her, since her
mournful sobbing and crying seems to travel quite a long distance. When you
get closer to her, the music will change to an eerie choir, and when you're
very close you will also hear sharp piano chords. She will keep crying while
undisturbed, but if anything begins to anger her she will rise to her feet
and start shouting and growling. When she starts doing this, stop doing
whatever it is you're doing to anger her and back away. If she's calming down
then her growling will turn into snarled breathing.
Things that anger the Witch are:
* Shining a flashlight on her
* Standing too close to her
* Looking at her from too close range
* Firing guns or making other loud noises near her
* Punching her (instantly enrages her)
* Shooting her (instantly enrages her)
* Hitting her with an explosion or fire (instantly enrages her)
If you startle the Witch, she will emit a loud scream and the music will
change to a very loud and frantic tune with a similar choir motif to it.
She'll come barrelling at whoever startled her, ploughing through anything
in the way to get to them. It is impossible to outrun her or prevent her from
reaching you - if you startled her, the only way to stop her is to kill her.
She doesn't take too much firepower to put down, but it must be done quickly
before she reaches her target, since she causes incapacitation instantly and
then begins to violently shred the downed Survivor, killing them within a few
seconds. If she manages to kill them, she will then simply run away and
despawn, but hopefully it shouldn't come to that.
Sometimes, the Witch can glitch and will abruptly switch targets for no
apparent reason. This may have something to do with her being unable to
reach her current target for some reason, so she instead lurches at whoever
is closest to her at the time. Beware of this by keeping your distance.
It is possible to kill a witch in one hit using a shotgun blast to the head,
and there is an achievement for this (Cr0wned), but I don't recommend doing
this unless you're very well-practiced in it and know how to do it. I myself
don't know how to do this and wouldn't risk it in a multiplayer game. The
shotgun blast needs to be delivered at point blank before she is startled, or
while she is running towards another Survivor without having been shot.
If you screw up the former she'll promptly hand you your own head on a
platter, so you must use a great amount of care in attempting to cr0wn her.
The best way to cr0wn the witch is to walk up behind her with your flashlight
off, get very close but do not come into contact with her. She'll go "Huh?"
and stand up before she starts her angry growling - shoot her while she is
in the process of standing up. The reason for most cr0wning failiures is that
all pellets from the shotgun blast need to strike her head - if you graze her
arm or body with any of the pellets it will not work, and instead you will
have an angry witch coming at you from point blank.
While she is crying on the ground, her head is much less exposed since she is
bowed down and partially covering her head with her arms, meaning you are
much more likely to hit her in the arm than when she is standing up and has
her head uncovered.
Remember this piece of advice: Don't be a Witch toucher.
Coming into physical contact with the witch when she is still inert will
immediatley anger her, as well using a melee attack on her. However, once
she has been angered, using melee on her is still a pretty bad idea - it will
not have any effect on her efforts to get to her target, and if you directly
obstruct her with a melee attack she will knock you away and deal around 25
or so damage. I've also seen her glitch up and cause multiple knockdowns
before - this appears to be related to meleeing her.
Witches are simple enough to deal with overall, the main problem in versus
comes from the fact that the infected team members will likely try to use her
in some way, either waiting until you anger her to strike, or forcing you to
anger her if she can be sneaked past. The Witch absolutely MUST be put down
as your first priority if she is angered, if this becomes impossible then be
ready to peel her off the downed Survivor and then deal with any other
threats that have appeared.
Player-controlled Hunters are able to move Witches. If you hear the Witch
screaming off in the distance for no reason, and the startle music hasn't
started up, expect trickery to be ahead.
+++
g) OTHER HAZARDS (LX-S-HAZ)
Certain cars (usually orange/red ones for some reason) are alarmed. If these
cars are shot then the car alarm will go off and attract a paticularly large
mob of regular zombies. You can tell these cars from normal inert cars due to
the fact that the windows will flash orange every so often, and if bullets
hit near the car (but don't actually hit the car) then the car's indicators
will flash briefly and it will beep. This also happens if an infected punches
the car for whatever reason. Smokers and sometimes Boomers will often try to
wait behind or near these cars in plain sight, hoping you will shoot at them
and strike the car. NEVER shoot at them unless you have the hunting rifle or
assault rifle, and can eliminate them without hitting the car.
If a Smoker hiding near one of these cars grabs someone, don't shoot at him
unless you have a hunting rifle. If you can't free the survivor before they
reach the car, simply run around and melee the Smoker until he dies. I've
seen Boomer players try to hang around cars before with the hope of being
shot, though this is much less successful than Smokers for several reasons.
There are usually a few horde events during every campaign. They generally
involve manipulating some noisy object such as turning on a generator or
triggering the alarm on a door, the noise from which attracts a large
horde of regular zombies to the area. The horde's size and consistency
tends to vary some of the time, though there will be at least one period
of intense fighting. Obviously, the special infected will try to abuse the
hell out of this opportunity. Especially beware of Boomers, who can summon
even more zombies and bolster the horde's already considerable numbers.
Smokers can pull survivors out into the horde requiring another survivor
to risk their neck saving them, and Hunters can use the distraction to make
several nasty claw attacks or pounces. Generally, tanks will never show up
during these events, though there are some situations where one of these can
be triggered while a tank is present, though it requires incredibly stupid
team members for it to happen.
***
6) INFECTED STRATEGY (LX-INF)
The Infected still serve the same purpose, to disrupt and ultimatley kill or
otherwise overwhelm the Survivors. The difference is that now players are
controlling up to four of them at a time, and can plan strategies together
via team messages or voice chat. When the Infected work together well, it's
an absolute nightmare for the Survivors to deal with provided they aren't one
step ahead of you in thinking.
Since you can only control the special Infected in Versus Mode, that's the
only place you can really practice with them. Have patience for seemingly
ineffective team members - they may just be inexperienced and will benefit
from various hints and tips. You could even link them to this FAQ to help
them improve, if needed.
Your game as Infected more or less relies on the Survivors making mistakes or
creating opportunities for you to attack. Much like the Survivors, if you try
to wade in on your own you're just going to end up accomplishing nothing.
Always bear in mind that you're going to get killed one way or another - it's
what you do with each life you're given that counts. Since your effectiveness
relies on the ineffectiveness of the Survivor team, use the observation time
between respawns to watch the Survivors and see what flaws the team has.
Do they have someone who likes to go off on their own? Do they have someone
who lags behind? Is one of them trigger happy? Do they fail to work with each
other and support their team? All of these things can and must be exploited as
much as possible in order for you to win.
Always try to take out the weakest in terms of health - if there are weak team
members in terms of skill, try to finish them off last since leaving the
effective Survivors alive for last will result in them being harder to pin
down when pushed to desperation. Forcing the Survivors to use up their Medkits
early is good - it's down to chance whether or not they will recieve more.
If you strike fast and effectively enough, you can kill survivors before they
even have a chance to use their medkits. Don't bank on it happening, but if
the opportunity presents itself then take it.
General tips for Infected:
* Use Climb and Break indicators to their best effect. You can get to many
places the Survivors cannot, and come at them from angles that inexperienced
players may not expect. Bear in mind that only the Tank can break certain
walls down, such as concrete or metal walls.
* Don't assume the Survivors will panic or be significantly disrupted in a bad
situation. It's entirely dependant on the skill of the players in the team -
a bad team will panic and do reckless things, opening themselves up for
attacks and pins/ensnares. Never assume a team is poorly skilled, however;
arrogance and recklessness on YOUR part can make you much less effective.
* Whenever you think of a strategy, consider how likely it is that the
Survivors will figure out what you're doing, and how they will try to
counteract it. If you hide behind a wall for example, you know they may
hear you and try to shoot through it, so try to be careful about your
positioning. They may also check around the corner to verify if you are
there, so be ready to strike.
* Pay attention to the Survivor silhouettes, as well as the silhouettes of
your teammates. Healthy survivors glow green, wounded ones glow yellow and
red and they degenerate. Ones coated in Boomer vomit turn bright purple.
If Survivors are moving slowly, not shooting and remaining quiet for
whatever reason, their silhouette will disappear and you must find them
manually. Pay attention to where your teammates are, highlighted in blue.
Striking together as a team is a very effective strategy.
* You're going to die repeatedly anyway, so do whatever you can with each
life. If you bungle up what you intend to do and get discovered, try to
wade in with melee attacks. It won't do much, but it's better than nothing.
Hanging back for too long is generally wasting time, unless you're a Smoker.
* Don't get seen or otherwise alert the Survivors to your presence if you can
help it. As long as they're kept in the dark about where and when attacks
will come, you can operate much more effectively. Don't expect them to let
their guard down completley though.
* If you stray too far from the Survivors, the game will prompt you to press
E to "catch up" and choose where to spawn again. This can be used to your
advantage if you have no way to get at the Survivors without being noticed.
Simply run far enough away from them, hit E, and choose your new spawn
location so that you can ambush them from an unexpected direction.
It also allows you to pick a new spawn location without having to die and
wait out your respawn time. In certain areas, using this will teleport you
a large distance ahead of the survivors if they are currently inaccessible;
the most notable for this is the No Mercy 4 elevator.
* You cannot select your spawn location during finale events. Be aware that
you may get several bad spawns during this time that you can't really do
a great deal about. Just try your best.
-----------------------------
a) THE HUNTER (LX-I-HUN)
Health: 250
Melee Damage: 10 per swipe
Pounce Damage: 0-25 from pounce (dependant on airtime)
9 damage per second from slashing (19 if on fire)
Most of the people I see playing seem to think the Hunter is a one-trick pony
with his pounce, and never use his melee attacks. Never get caught in this
mindset, the melee swipes are very strong. If you can get off three hits,
you've taken off over a quarter of their max health, as opposed to pouncing,
doing no damage then immediatley being shot off. Of the three regular special
infected you will control, the Hunter is essentially the bread and butter
damage-dealing guy.
Hunters are extremely mobile and can get just about anywhere. This must be
used to your advantage, since if you are seen at long ranges there's a good
chance you'll just be shot down before you can do anything. If you are caught
before you mean to be then use your pounce to escape. The Pounce, aside from
being an attack, is a very fast and effective method of travel. You can also
jump from wall to wall using it - pounce at a wall, quickly point at where
you want to go and pounce again as soon as you hit the wall. You can do this
as many times as you like and it is helpful for reaching taller buildings a
single pounce is unable to reach. Hunters also run quite quickly on foot.
The Pounce is your primary attack, but it is situational and shouldn't be
used as standard. You need to crouch for a second to be able to use it, and
while crouched you emit growls that give away your presence to survivors.
The pounce should only be used on a Survivor who cannot be rescued quickly
for whatever reason - if they've gone off too far from the rest of the team
is the best instance, but with good Survivor teams this never happens.
Another instance is if the Survivors are dropping down to a point where they
cannot climb back up - if you quickly pounce the last one to go down, the
Survivors will not be able to come back and rescue them, meaning a guaranteed
kill for you and a team member down for them. Though the main damage from the
Pounce comes from the shredding you do to the pinned survivor, the Pounce can
also cause damage on impact if you did a paticularly long pounce. This caps
out at 25 damage, which is two and a half melee swipes worth - it's worth
doing if you can manage it, but getting the full 25 damage is very tricky and
not always possible to accomplish.
If you see another Hunter has pounced a Survivor who cannot be rescued by
his teammembers quickly, it is good if you join in and attack the Survivor
with melee swipes. This causes their incapacitation and death MUCH faster
than just the shredding from the pouncer, which will kill off a Survivor at
best and hold the survivors back at worst, so it's always a good thing to do.
This also applies to Smokers who have captured a survivor with their tongue.
Bear in mind that it is usually bad to pounce a survivor off the end of a
Smoker's tongue, but there are a few instances where it is actually good
to do so. If the Smoker has pulled someone in a location where the victim
cannot be rescued at all, it is worth pouncing - the Survivor will die faster
and the Smoker can go back to disrupting the team and even possibly getting
more unsavable kills. It is best to inform the Smoker of what you are doing
if you aren't buddies though, else it may make people who aren't in the know
of this tactic somewhat angry.
The claw swipes are your secondary attack, and are generally overlooked by
most players i've played with. Ten swipes will put down a survivor, five will
put them into yellow health. The damage output from your claws is much higher
than most seem to think - sometimes even Survivor players will underestimate
the damage being done to them. You have to run up to them at point blank in
order to claw them however - so only do this to survivors who are distracted
and aren't being covered by teammates. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell the
Hunter's swipes from normal zombie strikes, buying you extra time to do more
damage to your victim. You are most likely to get off one or two before you
are struck with a melee attack and eliminated, unless you do hit and run
attacks; generally after the first few hits however, Survivors will catch
on to what you're doing and try to put a stop to it.
The claw swipes really come into their own when dealing with downed survivors
and specifically their revival. An incapacitated survivor is revived with
roughly 15 or so health - this means two swipes will put them back down.
Three knockdowns with no medical aid means death, so if the opportunity to
do this presents itself then it should be taken. A good team will cover the
victim as they are healed, but sometimes this can't be done, and this is when
you should strike. Go straight for the injured survivor and put him down,
then either retreat or attack anyone else in the area. It is not likely you
will be able to pull off a hit and run attack twice on a good Survivor team,
as they will guard survivors who are about to die very well.
As with all other infected, watch the silhouettes and try to predict their
next move, especially if you think that next move will be one to counter
your plan. Work with your teammates, especially Boomers who can cause
enough of a distraction for you to get in and do more damage than usual.
If you get set on fire as a Hunter, you will soon die; however, your pounce
shredding damage is increased massively. You can incapacitate a survivor from
full health in roughly five seconds of shredding if you are on fire. It's a
risk to take on your part, but it's a risk that might be worth taking if you
feel you can pounce someone who will take longer than five seconds to be
rescued by his team mates.
Ladders are your friend; if you can pounce a Survivor at the right time when
he is climbing up a ladder, you will knock him all the way back down and also
knock down anyone else who was climbing the ladder. On paticularly tall
ladders such as the No Mercy 3 sewer exit, you can also cause fall damage on
top of your pounce and shred damage, forcing the Survivors to use up more
medical supplies or stalling them for longer. This is even better if a Boomer
pukes down the ladder first so none of the Survivors know what the hell.
The pounce requires good timing, though - too early and you'll simply smack
into the edge of the hole and possibly fall in, too late and you'll simply
pin the survivor on top of the hole, becoming an easy target.
As a Hunter you are also able to move Witches you encounter. This is very
erratic however, which leads me to believe it is a bug that may be patched
out, but i'm not 100% certain on that so take it with a grain of salt.
To move a Witch, keep pouncing at her. Nothing will appear to be happening,
the Witch will give no indication of being angered nor will anything happen
upon impact other than you falling to the ground. There is a slight chance
with every pounce that the Witch will suddenly become angry and take off most
of your health in a single swipe - if you react quick enough, you can run or
pounce away from her, causing her to chase after you. Allow her to kill you
in the spot you want her to sit, and she'll eventually calm down and go back
to crying, ready to be startled by the Survivors.
Bear in mind three things with this tactic - one, it is loud and the Witch's
startled screaming is distinct, so Survivors who are within earshot may
figure out what you are trying to do. Two, if the Survivors come across the
Witch in this state and shoot her, she will act as if she has killed someone
and will simply flee and despawn; but bear in mind this is also very erratic
and she may or may not startle. Three, some people may view this tactic as
an exploit and will try to votekick you. It's down to personal preference.
+++
b) THE SMOKER (LX-I-SMO)
Health: 250
Melee Damage: 2 per swipe
Snare Damage: 4 damage per second from hitting/hanging
Variable damage from pulling Survivors over edges
Tongue Recharge: 15 seconds after a hit, 3 seconds if you missed
The Smoker is often dismissed as useless by quite a few people. He has a
snaring attack but it's not as good as the hunter's for damage potential, so
what is the Smoker good for? The truth is that the Smoker is extremely
situational - if he's not in the right kind of situation, he sucks. If he IS,
he becomes very very dangerous to the Survivors. It's all about timing and
positioning in order to be effective.
Smokers don't move paticularly fast and aren't anywhere near as agile as
Hunters, but they can still use climb points to get to all sorts of areas.
Their melee attack is also awful and should only be used for beating on
survivors who are pinned by hunters, survivors who are on their last few
points of health, or as a desperation move if you are discovered.
The Smoker's primary attack is to launch his tongue at a Survivor, which
then wraps around them, making them unable to act or free themselves. They
will be dragged towards you - if they reach you, you will start smacking them
around the head repeatedly. If they get caught on something or otherwise
cannot be pulled all the way to you, they simply begin choking or hanging.
The damage from this is lower than the hunter's shredding, but it has the
unique ability to forcibly seperate the Survivor team members and pull them
into various hazards, such as over edges so they take fall damage, or pulling
them into Witches which will cause her to enrage and attack whoever you
brought to her. There are even a few places on certain maps where a Smoker
can pull a survivor over edges which result in instant death. The only way
they can stop this from happening is to react quickly to you.
Since the Smoker is so situational, it is difficult to give general advice
other than knowing when and from where to strike. Points where Smokers are
effective will be covered in the Campaign Strategy section. Be aware that
your constant coughing cannot be prevented and will continually betray your
presence for as long as you are alive.
Though Smokers are poor at close range, if you grab a survivor with your
tongue at point blank range it will immediatley ensnare them, meaning
they will require a rescue from their teammates.
Good points for Smokers in the official campaigns are:
* NO MERCY 1
Just before the subway station there is an alarm car you can drag
survivors to, in hope that their teammates will shoot.
* NO MERCY 2
During the horde event in the generator room, if the Survivors do not throw
a molotov down the hole in the floor you can drag one of them down it by
grabbing them from below, causing seperation and delays.
There is an alarm car on the street approaching the safe room.
* NO MERCY 3
There is a gas station you can drag Survivors to if they don't blow it up
intentionally ahead of reaching it. If Survivors fire at you to free their
teammate they stand a good chance of blowing up both you and your victim.
During the lift horde event, as the survivors are running across the blue
awning you can pull one off, causing seperation and a fair chunk of fall
damage, as well as causing regular zombies on the ground to have a target.
If they hang around too close to the windows in the building they get to
via the awning, you can pull them out to the same effect.
When the Survivors descend into the sewers from the pipe room, if you can
quickly snag the last one to go down before he can, then the Survivors will
not be able to rescue him from you.
There may be an alarm car for you to use after they exit the sewers.
* NO MERCY 4
If you can pull a Survivor out of the elevator as it leaves, their team
mates are powerless to rescue them.
It is possible in certain places to pull a Survivor over the edge in the
area after the elevator, which will require a teammate to rescue them.
* NO MERCY 5
At the end of the first long corridor, you can pull a Survivor into the
elevator shaft, which causes them to require rescuing. Apparently, if
this is done from certain angles it causes an instant kill.
When the Survivors climb the last ladder and emerge onto the roof, you can
quickly snag the last one to jump down before he can, making the Survivors
unable to rescue him without risking using a grenade.
Alternately, you can pull a Survivor off the first rooftop area and inflict
a huge amount of fall damage.
Standing on the building with the satellite dish and pulling Survivors as
they emerge from the ladder can result in instant death for them.
* BLOOD HARVEST 1
There are sections behind the chainlink fence where you can pull a Survivor
down and inflict grevious fall damage.
* BLOOD HARVEST 2
In the warehouse near the beginning before the alarm door, you can pull a
Survivor down from the gantries and inflict some fall damage to them.
* BLOOD HARVEST 3 is poor for Smokers.
* BLOOD HARVEST 4
When the Survivors jump down the small cliff onto the train track, you can
snag the last one to jump down for a guaranteed kill if the other Survivors
don't land on the white awning.
There is an alarm car after they leave the building mentioned above.
You can pull them out of the windows of the small house.
* BLOOD HARVEST 5
Immediatley left of the Safe Room right at the beginning of the map is a
very thin ledge with several rocks on it. If you carefully walk as far as
you can go on this ledge and then pull a survivor to it once you spawn,
when they are freed they will fall off the cliff and instantly die.
When the Survivors are defending the house during the finale, you can pull
them out of the windows if they get too close to them.
+++
c) THE BOOMER (LX-I-BOO)
Health: 50
Melee Damage: 2 per swipe
Vomit Recharge: 30 seconds
Operating quite differently from the other two, the Boomer is less about
attacking and more about causing distractions and opportunities for your
teammates to attack. Against a good Survivor team, the vomit and blindness
on their own mean nothing - you must operate with your team members to get
the most use out of your pukey goodness.
The golden rule of Boomers is don't get seen before you mean to be. This can
be tricker than it sounds since the Boomer is probably the most noisy
infected next to the Tank, constantly groaning and gurgling. Good survivors
will usually try to predict where you are coming from and how you will strike
so be ready to react before they do, or use terrain to sneak up on them.
Your vomit arcs downwards somewhat, so it actually goes further if aimed
downwards off something. Be aware though that the range is not very long,
perhaps only roughly four or five times normal melee range. There's nothing
worse than puking from too far away and getting safely detonated. You should
always try to get as many as you can with the puke - hitting all four of them
in one go is optimal performance and will create a fairly nasty situation.
Once you've puked on them (or perhaps used your puke and missed), it may be
best to fall back and wait for your vomit to recharge. This takes thirty
seconds, which is a fairly long time - generally if you've held them back
with the puke at all it will cover just over half of that duration. If you
can keep them locked in the same area with repeated puke attacks time and
time again (very unlikely to happen), you will slowly grind them down through
attrition and probably force them to use up whatever medical supplies they
have on hand. It will also give your teammates a lot of opportunities to
strike and do a lot of damage or disruption.
If you can vomit on enough survivors during a horde event of any kind, it
actually creates MORE regular zombies for them to fight, which is bad for
them in several ways but also creates a massive opportunity for Hunters
and Smokers to get damage done. If you can puke on Survivors while a Tank
is present, the blindness and any possible slowdown from the summoned mob
will make them very easy Tank fodder.
If you miss with puke, the choice is yours of whether to retreat or kamikaze.
Rushing into them hoping to be shot or for mistakes to be made is making an
assumption of the Survivors's skill and reactions, which is something you
generally should try not to do. A good team will just bounce you away, and
then keep their distance and shoot you. If possible, try to run out infront
of them while they are already firing at something and walk into their
stream of fire - this is tricky to do however, as usually the Survivors will
be covering each other and at least one of them will probably see you.
If you happen across an incapacitated survivor or one snared by a Smoker's
tongue it might be worth puking on them if you don't think you'll be able
to bag multiple team members. Attracting a mob to a Smoker victim will
cause incapacitation and death far faster than the Smoker can on his own,
and an incapacitated Survivor can only fight off zombies beating him to
death mildly well. It might be the difference between rescue and death.
If you come across an incapacitated survivor and your puke isn't available,
you can stand there and beat on them. They can't melee you away and you do
pitiful damage to them, but it's damage nontheless and forces the victim to
choose between tolerating you beating on him or blowing you up and attracting
a mob to swiftly tear him apart. There's also the chance that another
survivor might shoot you, coating their unfortunate team member in puke.
Be aware when a Tank is present you can aid him greatly by attracting a mob
with your puke, which will slow the Survivors down or generally harass them
enough for the Tank to catch up and deliver a beating. However, you should
keep your distance from the Tank since if you explode near him, it will
cause him to stagger for a few moments, making him very vulnerable.
The Boomer's spawning mechanics appear to be slightly more lenient than those
of the Hunter and Smoker with regards to the distance you can spawn from.
If you can, it may be worth spawning behind a desk in the same room as the
Survivors and quickly coating them all in puke - this overcomes one of the
Boomer's greatest weaknesses, that of how much attention he gives of his
presence in advance. Just make sure your vomit doesn't get blocked off by
any debris on the obstacle you choose to hide behind.
A paticularly amusing strategy is to find a Hunter and ask him to melee you
three times - this will hurt you just enough so that a single melee strike
will cause you to die and explode. Then if you can jump out on the Survivors
at close enough range they will either melee you and get covered in puke,
shoot you and get covered in puke, or leave you alone and get puked on.
+++
d) THE TANK (LX-I-TAN)
Health: 6000
Melee Damage: 25 per punch
Stone Damage: 25 per thrown rock
A rare treat for players, the AI Director usually loans your team a Tank once
per map, though they usually don't appear on the first map of a campaign.
During finales, you will get three - two during pauses in the mob attacks,
and one as a "last ditch" tank when the rescue vehicle arrives. Bear in mind
that the Tank spawns controlled by the AI and then begins running towards the
Survivors from wherever it is placed - a random player is granted control
shortly after. This means you can gain control of the Tank in some pretty
odd situations - I once gained control of him while he was standing in a fire
and i've seen the Tank die seconds after the player gained control of it due
to the AI running it right up to the Survivors.
As is implied by its name, the Tank can survive immense amounts of punishment
and dish out enormous amounts of damage. As is to be expected, there are
drawbacks - Tanks can be taken down very quickly by Auto Shotguns, they are
very weak to fire, and they have a Control Meter which must be kept topped up
by attacking the Survivors constantly. For as long as you can't see any
Survivors, the Control Meter drains slowly. When it empties out, the Tank
gets very mad and begins to stomp and thrash, which essentially amounts to
a short stun the Survivors can exploit. Control will then be given to another
player on the team - if their control meter runs out, the AI takes the Tank
back and tries to kill the Survivors itself. A human player is always better
than an AI player when it comes to special Infected, so this is bad.
Apparently, the control meter can be replenished by punching movable objects
such as cars or dumpsters. If you are too far from the Survivors and want to
fight them in an area where you can possibly hit objects onto them for an
instant incapacitation, it may be worth simply smacking objects around until
they arrive, though they will hear you a mile off and probably try to burn
you from a distance before retreating or engaging.
If you get set on fire (by any source of fire, not just molotovs), it starts
a 40 second timer. Once time is up, the Tank simply drops dead on the spot,
regardless of how much health it had left. It is a VERY common Survivor
strategy to simply immolate the Tank and then run away, conserving ammo.
Avoid fire at all costs, but it is sometimes unavoidable as generally
Survivors will try to aim the molotov bottle directly at you. If you are
blocked off from the Survivors by fire, it may be worth simply waiting it
out and forfeiting your turn with the Tank to another team member to ensure
maximum damage can be done, and that the Survivors are fighting on the Tank's
terms, not their own.
Avoid explosives like the plague also. Pipebombs aren't much of a threat, but
it is a viable survivor strategy to hide a propane tank just around a corner
then lead you into it, detonating it to stagger you, and filling your face
full of lead. If you are in an area that is known to provide these items to
the survivors, use extra caution to avoid being led into a trap. Even if you
aren't in one of these areas, Survivors can bring these items with them, so
always be wary if you think the Survivors are trying to "herd" you.
The best situation for the Tank to appear in is when the Survivors are
already struggling, since when they are all healthy they are capable of
staying out of the Tank's reach and dodging thrown concrete chunks. When they
are in yellow or red and limping however, the Tank can easily catch up to
them and give them a good hiding, and it also makes them far less likely to
avoid rock throws. Think of the Tank more as a "finishing move" than anything
else; though this is not to say he is ineffective against a healthy team.
Against a team of fully healthy Survivors, you will have to rely on quick
reactions, help from your teammates, and maybe a little luck too. Healthy
Survivors run at the same pace you do, so chasing after one pretty much
results in a Benny Hill situation where no-one really gets caught. If faced
with healthy Survivors in an open area, lobbing rocks is probably your best
bet. From full health, it takes four punches or rocks to incapacitate.
Once you hit with one, the victim will go flying, giving you enough time to
run up to them and deliver another punch, and so on until they go down.
Never attack an incapacitated Survivor - you do negligable damage standing
there pounding on them so it really isn't worth it, especially when other
Survivors are likely to be shooting you full of lead.
When working with teammates, try not to punch Survivors that are pinned by
a Hunter - doing so instantly kills the Hunter, and if the Survivor is not
incapacitated they have a chance of escaping. Since no bullets penetrate
through a tank, it might be worth standing infront of the Hunter while he
tears apart his victim, blocking any attempts to save their teammate.
Throw rocks while doing this for added damage. If they attempt to set you
on fire, dodge it - not only will you avoid immolation, but the Hunter will
be set on fire and recieve a huge damage boost on his victim before he dies.
Survivors that have been snared by a Smoker take a lot longer to die than
Hunter victims unless they are surrounded by zombies - who normally aren't
around when a Tank is present unless a Boomer summoned them. It might be
worth just smacking them out of the tongue snare if you can follow it up
with enough attacks to incapacitate the victim - as long as the Smoker
isn't killed by your attack, he can snare another victim for you to
incapacitate. The beauty of this is that not many will pay too much attention
to a Smoker while the Tank is present.
You don't really need to interact with Boomers as such. If they can get their
vomit off on Survivors it will summon a small mob which hopefully will slow
them down enough for you to catch them, but there's nothing you can really do
to help the Boomer pull this off other than provide a distraction, which you
do with your mere presence.
One thing to keep in mind however is that the Boomer is most well-known for
his namesake, going boom. You'll stagger from an exploding Boomer like you
will from any other explosion, so you will need to keep your distance from
them, and them from you. Make sure to notify each other of this.
In certain areas on certain maps, there are large loose objects that can
be punched around. Striking a survivor with a sufficiently large object will
instantly incapacitate them. It is possible to even incapacitate all four
in a single strike if you are lucky (or if the Survivor team is terrible),
leading to an immediate loss for them. Note that the angle which you punch
the object has quite a lot of bearing on how far the object will fly.
Crouching down and angling upwards before you punch will send the object
hurtling through the air - useful for moving an object you want to another
area, but it gives the Survivors more time to react and dodge it.
These objects include:
* Cars (including alarm cars)
* Dumpsters
* Forklift Trucks
* Mobile Generators
* Logs (Blood Harvest)
* Hay Bales (Blood Harvest)
If you punch an Alarm Car, bizarrely enough it won't trigger the alarm.
However, the Survivors can still end up shooting the thing and triggering it
for you instead. If you can, punch an alarm car into their firing line.
It is possible to block certain areas with these objects. However, it is
likely that Valve did not intend for this to happen, as certain objects will
despawn if you attempt to do this with them. Having the Survivors immediatley
prevented from winning through no control of their own likely doesn't fit
into what they intended, so expect it to be patched out.
One more thing to note is that on certain maps, the massive knockback from
your attacks can send Survivors flying off edges to an instant death.
Do this whenever possible - bear in mind Survivors will be trying to avoid it
however, so just take whatever opportunities you can get.
***
7) CONCLUSION (LX-CON)
I'd like to thank a few people for helping me improve the guide:
Thanks to Ian Hertel, for strategy in general, regarding tanks, and regarding
how hunters and smokers should cooperate.
Thanks to Matt Baurac, for general strategy, infected strategy, and tips for
certain map locations.
Thanks to Carl Celizic, for words on tanks with explosions, hunters with
ladders, and moving witches with hunters.
Thanks to klip_twings, for advice on witch cr0wning, and smoker strategies.
Thanks to Dan Quick for map strategies.
Thanks to Matthew Halpin, for advice on witch cr0wning.
Thanks to Colin Gormley and Kyle Harris for general feedback.
+++
My Steam ID is "LuminarNightblade". I'm not terribly sociable though, so
unless you're contacting me to ask me for advice i'm not likely to accept
friend requests - I save my friendlist for people I know well. Feel free to
compare stats/achievements/games or such though.
You may contact me at "teh_man_tat_maeks_teh_ppl_go_onoz@hotmail.com" if you
have any questions, queries, corrections, glowing praise, insults,
death threats, or the like. In my defense regarding my e-mail address, I made
it back in 2003 or something when I was too stupid to realise how passé that
was. I can't guarantee i'll answer quickly or at all. If it's something dumb
like asking me to clean your car i'll just delete it, if it's relevant i'll
get around to replying. It's not my main email account, I just use it for less
important things. Seriously though, clean your car. It's filthy.
End of file.
================================
Amazing Games. Many Cheats. Such Wow.
