I got the full version of Left4Dead and gave it a spin last night and found myself lost on a few things.
Playing as the Zombies:
How do I get the Hunter to jump about? I know it is crouch+shoot but seems everyone else can jump a mile and I can jump about 2 feet. Needless to say I die a lot.
Does the Smoker suck? His tongue trick seems nifty till I realize I am stuck there slowly reeling someone in which inevitably results in getting hosed quickly. Anything else I can do? Run in the middle of them and die in that choking cloud maybe?
Bomber(?) dude has that cool attack…but dies whenever someone so much as looks at you funny. All well and fine maybe but seems to take inane twitch reflexes to beat the people shooting you (who are undoubtedly twitch monsters).
How do I become the Tank? Just luck? Most kills in your group or something?
Playing as the Survivors:
Seems near impossible to not get puked on by the Bomber dude. Of course when I see him down a hall he dies easily enough but all too often I KNOW he is around a corner and cannot turn/shoot before he pukes (often a simultaneous dealie).
Does smoker smoke hurt you or just obscure vision a bit?
Anyway to get loose from a Hunter or Smoker who has you or must your teammates rescue you?
Anyone found a use for the Sniper rifle yet? Seems terrible when it is a zillion mad zombies after you. Not to mention I have no problems nailing things long range with the M16 (heck…even the pistols work fine). Am I missing something?
Any special way to kill a Tank or is it just hose him with bullets? I try headshots anyway for fun and giggles but he seems like his name implies.
Any way to get away from a Tank? Seems if he decides to chase you there just is no getting away…he WILL whomp you! Or am I missing something (probably obvious)?
1.) You have to charge up your pounce for a few seconds before it’s fully effective. I don’t usually bother with jumping a lot, just try to hide in a good spot and pick off a survivor who’s strayed from the group.
2.) Pretty much, yes, the smoker sucks. Again, it’s mostly about hiding and waiting for a good opportunity.
3.) Yeah, the Boomer is definitely the most effective of the regular infected, but you have to be sort of sneaky and come up while they’re distracted. Or try death from above (find a good rooftop and drop on them out of nowhere).
4.) Haven’t really figured out how becoming the Tank works. I think its’ just who ever’s next in line to respawn when the game decides its time.
Teammates must rescue you. You have about a half second when the smoker starts reeling you in to shoot back though.
In some of the outdoor campaigns it is effective to snipe out of a tower. Also, the sniper rifle can shoot bullets through walls. If you know the boomer is hiding around a corner for example, you can usually peg him by shooting through the corner. Otherwise, no, the M16 is must more effective.
Shoot and pray. I’ve noticed no difference in take-down speed no matter where I shoot the tank.
His pathing seems to have trouble with corners and jumps. So if there is a ledge you can safely hop off of, this will slow him down for a few seconds while he figures out how to traverse the angle. Also, melee attacks can affect aggro. So if the tank has someone down on the ground, other survivors running up and punching him will turn his attention toward them and away from the fallen survivor.
Hope to see you on again soon, that was fun last night.
Try to take the corner wide, and have a friend give backup.
After he poofs? Justs obstructs your vision.
Try to melee the hunter right before he lands on you. Timing is crucial. Once a smoker grabs you, you have a split second to kill him before he reels you in. Once a hunter lands on you or a hunter starts reeling you in, you can’t escape by yourself.
The hunting rifle is very powerful with headshots (it is an excellent boss killer when used this way), and can shoot through zombies, so you can kill 4 or 5 of them with one shot if they’re all lined up.
Headshots (esp with hunting rifle). Molotov him, run away, and let him burn to death.
Try to keep as many obstacles and obstructions between the two of you as possible. Also, if he’s floored one of your teammates, you can melee the tank to get his focus on you instead (Otherwise your teammate is going to die to the tank’s fists). Be careful though, this can result in both of you going down.
The guys who wrote this preview liked the Smoker, when used smartly. Their strategy was to stand a bit back from the edge of a rooftop, where you couldn’t be clearly seen for a clean shot, and nail a survivor from an angle. There’s a little stick-figure drawing at the bottom of the page with their favorite scenario.
– Move swiftly through the game. Don’t spend too much time standing around talking or resting. Keep moving at a steady clip.
– Don’t do too much exploring. It goes against all my video game instincts, but checking out every room and every shadowy corner is just asking for trouble.
Welcome! I hope you enjoy yourself - hopefully by now you know that Valvae makes perfect games.
Point up into the air. The vector of your crosshair is important for the jump, aiming at the sky gives you considerably more airtime. You can also double-jump by staying crouched in the air. I hate the hunter, though.
The smoker’s actually one of the better Infected in that he’s the only one with a really viable long-range attack. Wait for stragglers to pick off, time your grabs with rushes, teamed-up hunters, and look for angles that let you drag your victim away from the group.
Well, yeah. He’s supposed to die. Boomers spawn closer to the Survivors than any other Infected - I usually can vomit the entire team before dying. It’s all about finding the proper spawn location. In general, too, if you’re going to play online shooters, there’s always going to be a certain “twitch” factor involved.
Seems to be based on luck and possibly a rotation. He sure is fun, even if the Tank feels extremely wimpy in versus mode.
In versus, yeah - you’ll get puked on a lot simply because boomers can spawn more or less within vomiting range of you. In campaign, listen for their telltale gurgles.
Answered, but to reiterate: aesthetics only.
Your teammate must do it unless you’re fast enough to shoot the Smoker before he starts to reel you in. Most people however don’t seem to be aware that if you melee your teammate while he’s grabbed it’ll release him instantly.
It’s hard to argue with the autoshotty as the hands-down best utilitarian weapon. Somebody with competent aim can be lethal with the hunting rifle, though. It’s a one-hit kill on any generic infected and as mentioned has unlimited penetrative power. Personally I find it quite useful. The M16 however is complete garbage.
All special infected will burn until dead. On normal and advanced it’s quite possible to ignite and shoot him down before he does considerable damage (the hunting rifle is critical here, and will often be the deciding factor.) If you’re playing on expert, ignite and run. Stay alive until he dies.
I believe you’re marginally faster than the tank at full health. Pop pills if you’ve got them to prevent the Limp-of-Death. Frequently however you’re just boned. Prey your team has a good sniper who’s taking advantage of the behemoth pulverizing your shattered body to sling some lead into the guy’s face.
ETA: davidw brings up an interesting point. Standing still certainly does spawn hoards towards you - but I find the vastly improved availability of pipe-bombs, pills and Molotov cocktails to be well worth the risk of exploring those dark, creepy rooms. I usually make it through a campaign with about twelve explosive devices used.
Oh! And I almost forgot! You should really think about playing through all the campaigns as a survivor, first. Valve suggests this to let players get familiar with the game mechanics before the unforgiving world of versus. Besides, the co-op campaign missions are really what the game was designed for.
I cannot tell you how many versus games I’ve been in where my team just sits around going “Where do I go?”
Also, in versus mode, the object of the game is not to shoot every single infected. It’s to get out of there alive and with the most health! If you’re playing campaign, by all means, kill as many zombies as you want. Hell, set off the car alarms if your team’s ready for it. If you’re playing versus, RUN. Kill anything that’s in your way, leave the rest behind.