Barihawk's Left 4 Dead guide

I know there is a huge following at least in IRC for this game but some people are having difficulty in the game. The goal of the guide is to give you advice on the characters and enemies, an introduction to the AI Director, tips, and a run through of the demo. When the full game comes out I will likely update it with walkthroughs for those as well. Formatting and colors? Later.

First off:

What is Left 4 Dead?

Left 4 Dead is a four player co-op game in the Zombie Survival genre. The game relies heavily on teamwork. There is no "I" in Team, but there is one in "Stupidity." If you leave your team you will likely die. But things get better. The game has a very aggressive AI that directs the zombies in the most sadistic manner possible. Eventually there will be a VS game option which will pit survivors against player zombies.

Characters:

Bill: The Vietnam Veteran who seems to lead the team. He wears green fatigues and a beret, and is usually smoking a cigarette.

Francis: A Biker who likes to make one-liners. He wears a black leather vest and a lot of tattoos. Sometimes easy to confuse as a zombie so be careful.

Zoey: Teenage girl who finds herself in the Apocolypse. Wears a pink jacket. If you TK her you are just a moron.

Louis: Works for corporate at an electronics store. Black guy with a white shirt and tie.

Learn what your teammates look like and avoid shooting them. Even in the easy modes shooting teammates will eat through health. On higher difficulties it is deadly.

Knockdown: If you take enough damage you will be knocked down. You will have control of your pistols but the accuracy will be very diminished. A teammate will have to help you back up. During this time you will slowly bleed out. Taking damage will accelerate the process.

Temporary Health: A full health bar is permament health. A dashed one means temporary health. You will eventually bleed out until you get a medkit. Pills will always give temporary health which will diminish until it returns to the level it was at before using.

Death: Sometimes you may be killed. You will have to spectate until a new survivor is found. New players are seen with an orange outline. You must rescue them in order to revive fallen teammates.

The Difficulties:

Easy: Snore. If you are playing singleplayer to train, this is for you to cut your teeth. You will never play this online, ever.

Normal: The default setting. This is the best to learn on.

Advanced: A little tougher. Learn to rely on teammates and be careful of increased zombie rushes.

Expert: This is near suicide for most groups. You will need steady communication and excellent teamwork to survive. Be ready to fight for every inch of territory.

The Weapons:

Tier One (Available at all safehouses):

Pistol: Everyone gets one, infinite ammo. Magazine size is 15 rounds. You may find a second pistol around the map, bringing your magazine capacity to 30.

Shotgun: A standard pump shotgun with eight rounds. Very powerful against groups, but is only for close range.

SMG: Uzi with 50 rounds. Less damage. Be careful if you intend to "spray and pray" in order to avoid hitting a teammate.

Tier Two (Available at random spawn in map):

Rifle: M16 with 50 shots. High damage and rate of fire. For most effective results, burst your fire instead of spraying in full auto.

Automatic Shotgun: Incredibly powerful semi-automatic shotgun. Pace your shots or you will empty the tube all over the place.

Hunting Rifle: An M14 with 15 rounds and a scope. Near useless at close range, very deadly at long range. Make sure someone is covering your back as you are very succeptable to the Horde when scoped.

All the above weapons have a melee attack, by default is set to Mouse2.

Throwables (Available around the map):

Molotov Cocktail: Defensive weapon that can be used to shut down close corridors. The fire will spread, so make sure to put distance between it and yourself. Make sure to shoot flaming zombies as they can light you on fire. Not advisable to throw at the Tank as you will simply have a Flaming Tank after you.

Pipe Bomb: Offensive weapon. The flashing light and high pitched beep will attract all zombies who will cluster around it until it explodes. Communication is vital to avoid throwing two, which is a waste.

Useables:

Medkit: Four are found at every safehouse and sometimes are spawned around the map (incredibly rare). You have a choice to use it yourself or use it on a teammate (Mouse1 for yourself, Mouse2 for an ally). While using it you will be helpless for about ten seconds, so make sure to have someone cover you.

Pain Pills: Simply called "pills" ingame, these will give you temporary health which can be vital if you are low. You can use Mouse2 to give the bottle to someone else.

Helping Hand: Sometimes an ally will become knocked down, and their outline will be red. Use the use button (by default E) to help them up. This will take ten seconds and is easily interrupted.

Flashlight: Bound to the F key by default, this is a valuable tool in dark areas. However, it can attract the attention of nearby zombies so weigh the risks of using it.

The Enemies:

Note: Sound. Sound is one of your most valuable tools as you will be able to hear the approach of and identify boss zombies quickly. Learn what each boss sounds like and keep an ear out to warn your team.

Zombie: A simple zombie. They are capable of running so don't expect the atypical "slow and dumb" zombie. They are attracted to high frequency sounds and light. They can be dangerous if not prepared and deadly in groups.

The Horde: Usually accompanied by music, this is a group of thirty-fifty zombies that will rush you simultaneously. Assume defensive positions and cover your teammates.

Bosses:

The Boomer: A foul smelling and disgusting zombie. It is morbidly obese and covered with pustules. It is very slow and can be identified by the sound of regurgitation. Do not allow a Boomer to approach you, or it will vomit on you. It's bile will attract the horde to anyone caught in the spray. If someone has been puked on, make sure to cover them. The Boomer explodes on death, doing severe damage. If one is next to you, melee it off before destroying it.

The Smoker: A tall zombie with a forty-foot tongue. This zombie can be identified by a coughing and wheezing sound. It can use it's tongue to grab a player and drag them towards it. The player will either get pinned on an object and slowly crushed or drawn into a trap. To release a player you need to melee the teammate (does no damage) or kill the Smoker. When killed, the boss will explode into a cloud of dust, severely limiting and blurring your vision.

The Hunter: An agile zombie wearing a gray hoodie and jeans. The Hunter can leap around the map and climb walls. It sounds like a wolf. Be careful if you see it crouching as it is charging it's pounce attack which can pin a player on the ground while it rips them to shreds. The best way to remove it from a player is to tackle it by use of melee. Try to avoid shooting it as you may hit your teammate.

The Tank: This thing was going to be called the Hulk before the threat of Lawsuit. That's enough of a description. It sounds pissed off and your screen will shake when you approach. It is very deadly and can hurl chunks of concrete or cars at you. It can also follow you anywhere. Vents, doors? No defense against it. The strategy to kill it? Run and shoot. Retreat with your team while laying down fire on it. If you happen to find a wide open area split up and attack it from all sides. Eventually it will die or "run out of steam" and collapse. That's right, if it fails to hit anything for a period of time it will naturally die. Running should be your first option.

The Witch: Seen as a woman or little girl lying on the ground, moaning and crying. You might feel pity for her. Don't. Turn off your flashlights. Don't shoot her. Don't approach her. Don't talk around her. Don't flash her with your light. Don't hit her. More importantly, don't look directly at her. If she awakens, she will fly at you at impossible speeds and rip your still beating heart from your torso as if you were candy. If you can avoid her. If you can't, prepare.

And finally the most deadly enemy:

The AI Director: The Director is a sadistic AI program which manages nearly everything about the game. Doing too well? It will teach you modesty. Struggling? It might go easy on you. It picks where any items and enemies spawn. It's very random but sometimes predictable. Learn to be prepared at all times, because the Director will be ready for you even if you are not ready for it.

Gameplay Tips:

-Learn how to handle the different bosses. They are very deadly.

-Stick together! You are a team. Rushing ahead is an invitation for death in almost every circumstance. You cover your team and your team will cover you.

-Share. Don't hog all the items. If you have 80 health and your buddy has 10, give him your pills or medkit.

-Don't wake the witch

-Manage your ammunition and health. Play based on these factors. If you are low on ammo, use your pistol. If you are low on health, stick to the middle of the group.

-Prioritize: From greatest to least threat here it is. Boomer, Horde, Hunter, Smoker. Tank and Witch are special cases. The Boomer should always be the first target.

-The pistol. Use it. It has unlimited ammo and is accurate to medium distances. Save your ammo in the primary weapon for dangerous situations.

-There are safehouses at the end of each level. When all four people are in, close the door to change the level. You will be safe until you open up the next area. There will be four healthpacks, weapons, and ammunition here. Take the time to rest, heal, and discuss a strategy.

-When dealing with a Tank or Witch, do not stand around. Move. As the intro movie states, Run and Shoot.

-Listen. Music or aural clues will tip you off to the Horde or bosses.

I'll post the walkthrough of the demo tomorrow. I will also work to add some color to this instead of the wall of text. I hope it's useful to people who get it tomorrow and have difficulty with the game.

Get a microphone people!

I intend to download the demo tomorrow. Should be fun. Might get it around Christmas.

you might want to add

-that molotovs, health kits, pipebombs and pills also have melee attack

-that you should NOT spray the uzi because you WILL be out of ammo

-hunter is really the first priority, i have nearly died countless times because my teammates were too busy shooting the five-ish zombies charging at them..

all other things are good as far as i know

Sounds fun,but I'm probably going to be unable to get the demo.So when I get the real game...is there a way to get co-op with people that are not noobish?

Also is this Zoey pretty? :D

there is no way guarantee a team without noobs, unless you make a friends lobby..

-hunter is really the first priority, i have nearly died countless times because my teammates were too busy shooting the five-ish zombies charging at them..

I concur. Boomers also have very little health and often die just from the general barrage of bullets anyway. I have been ripped and torn by a hunter far more than boomers have caused me a problem.

Sounds fun,but I'm probably going to be unable to get the demo.So when I get the real game...is there a way to get co-op with people that are not noobish?

 

 

 

Also is this Zoey pretty? :D

I hope for a better lobby system. Just having "Ok, I play expert, throw me into a game" is kinda annoying since I cant check anything about it before hand.

And Zoey is meh.

there is no way guarantee a team without noobs, unless you make a friends lobby..

Which is irritating because no one I know is getting this game. So im stuck with "Hey guys im gonna shoot the car ok" and RAGE.

you can always get steam friends :thumbsup:

EDIT: for example, me (search for Headshotcatcher)

Tanks on advanced are [bleep]ing unstoppable.

We got one playing an easy run (teehee), and it was down in a few submachine gun rounds. It hit my friend twice, and he lost maybe four health points.

Wtf.

Tanks on advanced aren't too bad, hard as hell on expert.

And a tip for when you're down, hold crouch, it decreases the size of your crosshair so I assume it helps with your accuracy, won't be suprised if this is fixed soon though.

Tanks on advanced are [bleep] unstoppable.

 

 

 

We got one playing an easy run (teehee), and it was down in a few submachine gun rounds. It hit my friend twice, and he lost maybe four health points.

 

 

 

Wtf.

Easy is way too easy, you can survive 100 zombies mauling you at once, easily.

And also, they aren't that hard, when I played a tank myself, and fought against the survivors, they had me down in 10 seconds, even on expert!

Heh.

Tip:Don't use a pistol if you hear a boss monster,especially if you just TK'd the rest of your team.

Always melee if you get crowded. It pushes back a zombie and gives you a little bit more breathing room. If you are reloading, using a melee attack will not interrupt the reload. Nothing is more satisfying than running your Uzi dry, reloading, smacking an over-zealous zombie and having 50 rounds ready to fire when he decides to come back at you. Also, melee won't injure your teammates. Don't think you can get that Hunter off your buddy and not hit him in the process? Run over and give that Hunter a taste of your buttstock.

Learn what each type of music/sound means. Theres usually a horn sound when a horde wave comes, burping sound from boomer, coughing from smoker, screech from hunter, growl/groundshaking from tank, and crying from witch. The witch and tank also have a type of music when theyre around.

Witch. Only attack/kill her if she is in the way/next to something important (like medicine cabinet). Basically, she just kills whoever scared her, so its usually best for one person to be far away, and throw molotov/shoot her, then run as fast as you can while everyone else shoots her. Hopefully she dies before she can reach the one who scared her.

Don't Step in front of the Minigun: Self-explainatory.

If see a teammate incapacitated, don't go shooting your barrel at the cluster of zombies clawing at him. Those shells are hitting HIM, too. Zombies are more interested in the fallen player than you, so run up and blunt them. You're doing both of you a favor by getting the zerg off him, and stunning the zombies so you can blast them away from the incapped.

Last but not least a few tips on how to kill a Tank

[hide=Click]1. LISTEN!!!! You can hear his angry grunting way before you see him, so it's a great clue to prepare yourself for what's around the bend.

2. PREPARE!!! When you hear him, clear the area as much as you can, and know where you're backing up into.

3. SPACE!!! You should always keep a great distance from the tank, lure him to an open area. If you can't, running away is not unreasonable.

4. FOCUS!!! You should always be putting every bullet you can into him. Should your shotguns run dry, you can still always use the pistols.

5. MOLOTOVS!!! Well one anyway, he will stay on fire and its another great damage over time. Also isn't it cool to see a flaming Tank charging at you?[/hide]

So remember folks, when fighting a tank just remember to L.P.S.F.M

Tanks on advanced aren't too bad, hard as hell on expert.

 

 

 

And a tip for when you're down, hold crouch, it decreases the size of your crosshair so I assume it helps with your accuracy, won't be suprised if this is fixed soon though.

Yeah tanks on expert are scary as [bleep]. Same goes for witches. :lol:

If see a teammate incapacitated, don't go shooting your barrel at the cluster of zombies clawing at him. Those shells are hitting HIM, too. Zombies are more interested in the fallen player than you, so run up and blunt them. You're doing both of you a favor by getting the zerg off him, and stunning the zombies so you can blast them away from the incapped.

Yeah, there's nothing worse than reading:

"________________ protected Langzor"

then, a second later,

"_____________ killed Langzor"

D:

Yeah I had a friend help get a hunter off of me....

with a shotgun.

This game sounds pretty cool, would it be coming out for the 360? I heard that there's a demo on the 360, so I assume its also being released on the 360.

Just something I kind of want to point out: The only thing worse than a zombie is a flaming zombie. Setting a tank on fire doesn't sound like one of the best ideas, unless you really know what you're doing and can easily keep your distance. I really think I'm going to like this game.

Tip versus witch.Have your highest health player startle her,then run behind the other three.The witch will try to get him,see.I did that on Bill with 1 health left,she died real easy like.Well,I wasn't shooting,would've hit my mates.

Yeah I had a friend help get a hunter off of me....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

with a shotgun.

It's the thought that counts! :P

Yeah I had a friend help get a hunter off of me....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

with a shotgun.

 

 

 

It's the thought that counts! :P

Just remember, your friend could have died but... IT COULD HAVE BEEN YOU D:

After playing a few games the other night I would like to add in a single tip; Be courteous.

If you are leading the pack at the front and a horde/group of zombies comes at you, crouch. Let your partners shoot over your shoulder so they dont blast you in the back of the head. And vice versa, if you are at the back, cover it. If you hear the horde music, keep an eye behind you and - should they come - crouch so the person behind you can also fire over you.

Should you dash off into the sunset on your own, fine. But dont whine when were still half the map away from you and cant get a hunter off you.