Nakor’s Rucksack

A few tips based on my experience with L4D for the beginning L4D(2) player.

• Keep moving (forward). The director hates it when you sit in one place. It will keep spawning more and more waves until you’re overwhelmed. That’s not to say you shouldn’t explore the environment – you definitely should do that. But, unless someone is healing, sitting still is generally bad. Moving backwards is generally bad, unless the need is great. Going a few feet back to grab a throwable or ammo if you’re low is OK, but going a long ways back to get something, unless it’s something essential like a health kit, is bad. If you do decide to go back, make sure the party knows and comes along.
• Stay together. Going off on your own is a good way to get everyone killed. If the party wants to split up, use the buddy system and make sure everyone is aware of who is going where. The director seems to be able to sense when the party splits up and will try extra hard to kill you.
• Don’t use a med kit unless it’s necessary. Having low health isn’t necessarily a sufficient reason to use one. You can be incapacitated and “helped up” two times before dying (you will die if you go down a third time). The game warns you when you are on your “third strike” by making the screen black and white. When you use a med kit, this counter resets. In essence, using a health kit when you haven’t been down at least once is kind of a waste. Using pills is preferable in that situation. Remember that other people can give you their pills, so don’t be afraid to ask (unless someone else needs them more at the moment).
  
  This is not a hard rule, though. If you are about to trigger a climax event and are really low on health with no pills, then going ahead with the med kit can be OK. But, it’s kind of a judgment call. If it’s the party’s last med kit, then maybe not. Obviously if there are more kits than the party can carry, then by all means use one. Med kit usage is a good thing to discuss with the group.
  
  One fairly hard rule – if you are black and white, let your companions know, and use a med kit ASAP. Not in the middle of a fight, of course, but if the group is handling it OK and you can disengage to find a quiet corner, do so. Make sure you let people know you are healing so they can cover you.
  
  This is one area where the bots are extremely annoying. They will try to use a med kit on you any chance they get. The only way to avoid it is to equip a med kit yourself. Obviously this is less than ideal, and it’s a big reason why the bots are worse than useless on the higher difficulties. The best solution is to never play with bots.
  
  L4D2 introduces a new item, the defibrillator. This is carried instead of a med kit, and can only be used on another (dead) party member. It will bring someone back from the dead if used on their body. No one really knows how useful this is just yet, since in co-op party members respawn when they die. I suspect it will be more useful in versus. It could also have a use in the finale when no respawn is allowed.

• Learn to use the throwables. If you don’t, you’re not much better than a bot. It is an art to be practiced, not a science. The trick with all of the throwables is realizing the situation exists to utilize one, making a quick decision and *executing*. Don’t try to scroll down to it with the mouse wheel, use the “3″ key. Since they are so situational, usually only a quick throw will yield the best results. Also, it is important to communicate when throwing and coordinate with your party. This avoids wasteful multiple throws. There are three throwables:
  • Molotovs (aka “Mollies”) – They make a nice fire where they land. They are generally most useful in confined spaces where you can block a doorway or choke point with them. Any common infected that is caught in the fire will die. They may stumble toward you on fire but rest assured they are already dead. They are also used for lighting the tank. The strategy there is to light the tank, and then run away and let the fire kill him. Try not to throw this in the direction of friendlies, or in a confined space.
  • Pipe bomb (aka “Pipes”) – They make a nice beeping sound for about 5 seconds which attracts common infected to them, then explode. Two general uses – one, to clear out an area before entering it. This is particularly effective in wide open areas where zombies can hide or attack from many directions. The second use is to ward off hordes, either in a climax event or a so called “natural” horde (when the director decides things aren’t lively enough and the music changes). Again, the pipe explosion can hurt friendlies, but pipes are a lot easier to avoid because of the countdown.
  • Boomer bile. New with L4D2. Basically acts as a boomer bile “grenade”. Whatever it hits will be covered in boomer bile, which will attract zombies and cause them to attack (including each other). Strategies are still forming on how to use this effectively. One strategy I’ve heard of but have not tried yet is throwing it at a tank. Apparently the common infected can do enough damage to seriously injure or kill the tank. At the very least, the tank will be slowed down somewhat. Do I need to say it? Don’t throw at party members.
• Be aware of incoming hordes. Learn the music cues, and when a horde is coming, try to find cover. Also it is nice if you call it out to the group, especially if you can see which direction they are coming from.
• When moving out in front of other party members, stay crouched. There is a much lower chance they will shoot you then. Also, it increases your accuracy. Make sure you’re not in a line of fire when you decide to stand back up.
• Get used to the idea that you don’t want to get hit by zombies. On Normal, it’s easy to fall into a bad habit of running into a mob of infected and whaling away. The individual infected don’t do that much damage on that level, so even being surrounded isn’t too bad (although, it does leave you exposed to attack by special infected). However, on Advanced and Expert, getting hit is a much bigger deal. On Expert, a few hits will incapacitate you. Learn to avoid getting hit, clearing areas out from a safe place, and even killing infected that are far away and seem harmless; they’ll come running if you get boomed or a horde event occurs. Better to kill them when they’re harmless.