I have noticed our L4D community has been growing a lot the past few weeks and I would like it to stick around. That being said I want to help some of the newer crowd so they can get a good background before they start playing so they don't get yelled at by the QQing "pros" like sharpy, gibs, and I.


INTRODUCTION: This game seems to be very generic when you first look at it i.e. 5 main weapons, 1 or 2 pistols, Molotov cocktails or pipe bombs, and health kits and pills. The range of abilities you have seems very limited but the strategy that is used is nearly endless. Valve has a way of creating generic games that are playable over and over again, and I believe they made a true masterpiece on this one. The strategy and cooperation have me crawling back to it whenever I am not playing cod 4.

BASICS: I am not going to write out a guide to help anyone but I will provide a link to an article already written by someone else.

Hello, Zombie-Killers! Here's a small tutorial about the various enemy-types in the fast-paced zombie-FPS Left 4 Dead. You'll learn about important aspects, as well as ways and strategies how to dispose of the enemies most efficiently.

So let's start off...



Regular Infected - The Horde

See Screenshot A

Those poor souls were Average Joes and Janes like you and me - until the virus broke out. Well, the boss zombies were too, actually. But back to the Horde: Unlike our four survivors, they didn't turn out to be immune, and therefore have been turned into raging, blood-thirsty zombies - though the definition 'Zombie' does not really fit since they're not slowly shuffling, moaning undead who like to eat their victims. These enemies are far from being just cannon-fodder: They run, they scream and shriek, and they virtually always come in huge hordes. But don't fret - these are, relatively said, the easiest enemies in the game.


Signature: Grunting, screaming, sounding like the bloodthirsty maniacs they are
Primary Attack: Frantic hitting
Secondary Attack: None
Dangerous after Death: No
Best Weapon: Depends on the player's personal preferation. Molotovs / Pipe Bombs
Tips & Tricks:

- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: Quite some time, you'll see crowds of zombies that just linger around and don't attempt to attack you. LEAVE THEM BE! If you can manage to, move around them. You'll save ammo and health points.

- Push&Shove: Make frequent use of the melee attack. If you're surrounded (indicated by the injury signs in the middle of the screen), don't just blast away - whack them away from you. This buys you time, and if done correctly, you might be able to clear a flight path for just a second. Get out of there, turn around, and mow them down. Alternatively - even though this contradicts Let Sleeping Dogs Lie - if you cannot move around an infected that has his/her back turned to you, whack them in the back. Done properly, you'll immediately kill them (and you'll get the 'Spinal Tap' achievement. Bonus!)

- Headshot: It has been said and written over and over again: Zombies are best shot in the head. A proper headshot will ice those suckers on any difficulty level. If you don't use a shotgun, make sure to always aim on head level.

- Doors locked: Whenever you enter a room, or leave another one respectively, make sure you close the door behind you. This may sound pragmatic, but if a veritable horde of Infected storms your back, you'll be glad about having shut the door. Infected cannot get past it without tearing it to pieces, which usually takes around ten to fifteen seconds - enough time for you to react and take a run, or blast them down.

- Explosives: Molotovs and Pipe Bombs are your best friends against huge hordes, so conserve them. A well-thrown Molotov will set a rather large area on fire, killing every infected that blindly runs into it (they all do). A Pipe Bomb will emit a beep sound, which will make the infected attack the Pipe Bomb - thus, with a single blast, a huge lot of infected can be terminated. But pay attention! If you don't have a huge running horde of Infected attacking you, don't use explosives. Only use them when you're cornered. Also good for blocking entrances during the last stand (Molotov), or clearing areas/rescuing downed survivors. Think before you throw.




The Hunter

You'll never see his eyes. This is the shady character with his hood down, but he won't stay in the underground. Hunters can jump extremely far (and high, for that matter). They'll pounce you and smack the living s**t out of you. Never get too far from the team.
Hunters have a distinctively high, aggressive scream that'll make you shiver. If you hear that scream, get back to your teammates as fast as possible, because he's about to attack you or one of your allies.

Signature: High-pitched hunting scream
Primary Attack: Jumping/pouncing
Secondary Attack: Hitting
Dangerous after Death: No
Best Weapon: Any primary firearm
Tips & Tricks:

- Move: A general rule in L4D is never to stand still, because the AI Director will find a way to make you run. Especially, if you hear the Hunter's aforementioned scream, don't stand still. If you're away from your team, run to them. If you're already sticking together, just run in any direction. The Hunter's only dangerous if he can manage to pounce a survivor.

- Get Off My Buddy: I see many players starting to panic whenever they see a teammate getting pounced or already beaten up by a Hunter - they usually just point their firearm somewhere near the Hunter and pull the trigger. I admit that if you're far away from the victim and the Hunter, this is the only chance you have to help the guy/girl. If you're near enough to reach the action in a couple seconds, make your run there and melee the Hunter off his victim. He will stagger back immediately, leaving you and your friends enough time to blast him to Nirvana. Mind that by simply shooting him off his victim, you might as well hurt or even kill your friend!

- Doors locked: Same as with the infected, closed doors can improve your chances of killing a Hunter before he can pounce anyone. This will give you more time to react if you heard the Hunter's scream.





The Smoker

'The Licker' was already taken by Resident Evil, so they called him the Smoker. At first, this name might be a poor choice - but you'll learn that it's quite fitting after all. Smokers are thin and tall, and they always carry an easily spottable cloud of green smoke around them. Amongst a horde of regular infected, this smoke is what helps you see them. But if you see them, it's usually already too late - Smokers have a very, VERY long tongue which they use to catch survivors and then pull their prey closer to themselves. As soon as that's happened, they will being to smack their victims like regular infected do. The problem is that Smokers might stand on a high building, thus pulling their victims up and away from the rest of the team. They might be very hard to hit like that. Also, they strangle their victims with their tongue, draining additional HP from them. React quickly!

Signature: Cloud of Smoke
Primary Attack: Tongue
Secondary Attack: Strangling/Hitting
Dangerous after Death: Indirectly - the Smoker will go up in a cloud of green smoke, which will blur your view and slow you down a tad bit.
Best Weapon: Long-rage firearms (M16, Sniper Rifle)
Tips & Tricks:

- Help Yourself: If the Smoker's tongue has caught you, you'll need to react quickly. From the direction into which you get pulled away, find out where the Smoker is located, turn in that direction and fire along the tongue. You'll have around 2 or 3 seconds to kill the Smoker by yourself, before you will be rendered motionless, thus needing your friends to free you.

- Smokers Stink: Keep an eye out for the Smoker's signature green cloud of smoke. It is easy to spot even in foggy situations or on long distance. If you have a long-distance weapon, take the stinker out. If you don't, inform your teammates and run in the other direction.





The Boomer

The most disgusting character in the game. This guy is huge, large, extremely fat and riddled with ulcerous blisters. His nasty gurgling and retching sounds is what make you know he's coming. The Boomer is not too fast, but he can vomit his bile onto you. Now that bile, in itself, does not hurt you, it only blurs your view. But ... a survivor that has Boomer Bile on him/her will attract a huge horde almost immediately. If you're alone, you'll have a hard time not seeing anything and fighting a horde of infected. If you're in a team, you're lucky, but the infected will also attack them. Also, the Boomer will splurt his bile onto any survivor standing in his proximity.
Since the Boomer is filled up with bile, he won't stand many bullets.

Signature: Gurgling, burping ... yeah, stuff like that.
Primary Attack: Vomit Bile (I never thought I'd write that to be someone's primary attack)
Secondary Attack: none
Dangerous after Death: Yes - if you're too close, the Boomer will splurt his bile onto you if he's being killed.
Best Weapon: Any firearm
Tips & Tricks:

- Shove: Use your melee attack AT ANY COST. The Boomer will try to get close to you, so don't just shoot him! Keep cool, melee him away, and then shoot him. You'll spare yourself and your team a lot of hassle.





The Tank

Suddenly, dramatic music sets in in the background. You feel and hear the earth shake, and you perceive a low, aggressive, frightening grunting sound from somewhere around you. Congratulations, you're about to face the survivors' most powerful and most feared enemy: The Tank.
This coloss earns his name. He's huge, has arms bigger than your entire body, and he's - literally! - able to smack you half a mile away with one good hit. Mostly, players panic when a Tank comes up, but this is the situation where you must remain calm like nowhere else in the game. Keep your gun loaded, have a Molotov ready - because this enemy can take your team from a loaded-up, best-health-situation into a quick, brutal death.

Signature: Dramatic music, low-pitched grunt, earth shaking (sounds), your teammates shrieking "TANK!"
Primary Attack: Hitting, sending you flying a mile away, killing downed survivors in two seconds
Secondary Attack: Ripping out chunks of the floor and throwing it at you
Dangerous after Death: No
Best Weapon: Molotov / M16, Auto-Shotgun
Tips & Tricks:

- Raw Firepower: There is nothing else than just blasting all you have into this guy. I've heard the the sniper rifle is very effective against the Tank, but I doubt it. Also, shoot him in the upper back, it's his weak spot.

- Burn, MF, Burn: Always keep a Molotov ready - because when the Tank comes, it'll be your best friend. If you can manage to keep cool and hit him directly, you won't kill him right away - but the fire will constantly drain his health, greatly shortening the time it takes to make him hit the floor. Pipe Bombs are worth nothing, though - expect you have the power to know where the Tank will run and have the Pipe Bomb explode right in his face. Which you don't.
Times for the Tank to die if burning, depending on the difficulty level (Thanks to everyone who told me this!):
Easy: 30 sec | Intermediate: 30 sec | Advanced: 35 sec | Expert: 40 sec

- Back-Whack: Now, I have only tried this once or twice, but it always worked and earned me the status of player-saver amongst my L4D buddies. When a Tank is attempting to attack a heavily wounded teammate, or hitting an already downed survivor, take a deep breath, run up to him and melee him in the back once or twice. This will distract his attention from his almost-dead victim, he'll turn around and go after you. Assuming you have enough health and ammo, you can lead him in large circles, pumping lead into him, or just have him get away from the team. The others will be able to help the wounded teammate up and heal him/her. Then, they can help you kill the Tank. Now don't wait for this situation to happen so you can become a hero - only the player standing closest to the Tank should do this, and as long as no teammate is close to dying or at least downed, there's no use in doing the Back-Whack.

- Strafe: Last but not least, strafe a lot. The tank is quick, but can be tricked by quickly sidestepping out of his way, which enables you to shoot him in the back. Risky move, though. Running away is probably safer.






The Witch

See Screenshot B
The game's crybaby. You'll know she's here even if you never see her, since her eerie choir music will tune in when you're not even THAT close to her, and you'll hear her cry and sob. Now, the witch is a true bitch. She's very sensitive to sounds, light, proximity of survivors or gunshots. The survivor that startles her out of her apathy will be the direct target of her anger. She is very quick, and very aggressive. Depending on the difficulty level, she'll either knock you down and then proceed to kill you quickly, or she'll kill you right away with one hit (on Expert).
She can be avoided though...

Signature: Eerie music, crying, sobbing
Primary Attack: Beating you the f**k up, and doing it quickly.
Secondary Attack: None
Dangerous after Death: No
Best Weapon: Molotov / Any firearm, the stronger the better (Shotgun: good for headshot-kills)
Tips & Tricks:

- Let Sleeping Dogs Lie: Especially true for the Witch. As stated before, sometimes when you hear her presence, you won't even see her if you move quickly (i.e. in narrow areas such as office buildings). Try not to startle her. If someone in your team is reckless/inattentive enough to light his/her flashlight in her face, look at her for too long, get too close to her, or even shoot at her, she'll be startled. The next two tips will apply to that situation.

- Raw Firepower: Like with the tank, just blow her apart with all you have. Period. Back-Whack never really worked for me. Or you can try...

- In Yo' Face!: I still prefer just sneaking around her. But if someone startles her, she has to go. So if you can, try to blast her point blank into the head with the (auto-)shotgun. This should kill her in one or two hits, as many players suggested.




Some general hints and tips

-STAY WITH THE TEAM!: If you've never played L4D before, this is your new creed. If you've played it before and this tip makes you go "Oh, really? I should consider that" - stop playing L4D. This is completely team-based game. If you're not able to play without helping others (and letting them help you!), you waste your money with L4D. The Hunter and the Smoker will try to catch you when you're away from your buddies, so they can feast on you without being shot. Don't let that happen!

-COMMUNICATE!: As a group of humans have to communicate to coordinate their every move, communication is the foundation of successful teamplay. If possible, try to use a headset (headphones/microphone), because voice chat is a lot quicker than typing. Also, your teammates will always hear your voicechat messages, while they might miss a written sentence when the action's hot. Try to keep the chit chat down to a minimum (except you're with people you know and you all like to play like that), but make sure you keep your teammates posted. If you've got trusty fingers, leave the mic on push-to-talk. Record-all might be easier though. Short infos like "Tank!", "Witch! Lights out!", "Help! Smoker's got me" let the team know when to pay extra attention. If you find Molotov's and Pipe Bombs, or Ammo and Weaponry, shout out a quick "Molly", "Bomb", "Ammo", "Medkit here" or something. This will greatly improve your play, and it'll enhance the feeling of being a team.

-HEAL UP!: If you're on Advanced or Expert, Tanks and such always come at times when you're like "Please, god, let there not be a Tank just now." So even if you're on the last stand, and the Infected are storming your fort, if you realize your health is very poor, find an at least momentarily silent spot and heal up or heal a teammate! Don't consider these few seconds wasted - if the Tank comes and knocks you our with one hit, or a Hunter slaps you to death because your teammates were just two seconds too late to help you, a Medkit or Pills are wasted (of course, your teammates can get them, but you're dead, and that makes it a lot harder for them).







Epilogue

So, that's the tutorial! It covers some rather basic stuff, as well as some a little more intermediate things. I hope that some of the Tips & Tricks will help you on your way to the rescue. So, I wish you lots of hours of fun with the great game Left 4 Dead!

Strike

http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/7766

INTERMEDIATE/ADVANCED: I ask some of you to help me create a good solid list of hints and tips that people can use when they are playing the game

When playing as an infected in versus mode always try and set something up with your team instead of free lancing it.

Don't spawn behind your enemies as a boomer you move a lot slower and are an easy target.

As a smoker try and get the last guy going through a hole or going into a destination

Smokers can rope one of them, when their teammate comes to save them a friendly hunter should pounce on the one attempting to save him.

Whack your teammate with a right click if your teammate is pounced on by a hunter or roped by a smoker. It gives your teammate damage if you shoot the hunter on top of him or the smoker roping him. \

When playing as a tank just incapacitate the survivor and move on to the next one because they are pretty useless when they are incap.

When you hear the tank coming try and find a Molotov and heal up so you are not limping. The survivors run faster than the tank can. Also survivors be unpredictable so the tank cant hit you with the rock.

When you are a survivor and there is a hunter around you bunny hop left and right of the hunter, it makes it really hard for it to pounce on you.

When you are a smoker try and hide behind the cars that will be set off by the survivors and rope one towards the car to make him set it off.

When you are a survivor and you are in front of the other survivors limit your movement from left to right and try to move forwards and backwards.

CAMPAIGN: I will kindly ask sharpy to post some strategies for expert campaign and just the general game as well since I don't play it too often

I will post more to this as I remember all the little strategies that I learn from other people.

Instead of applauding you should add to the list :/ I want some value out of this as well.

make sure you turn off your light when you hear her and approach her as fast as possible, when she stands up to hit you you shoot her in the torso area. Make sure you wait till after she stands up to put one in her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuAgFwARTzE

you dont have to crouch like this guy, either way works though.

cool thanks yea keg told me i had to let her stand up...i ran up and blitzed the bitch...lol autoshotty it works ok, i wouldnt try it with anything else lol...i gots 2 in one map! haha