Zombicidal

So, let’s say you just bought the game, and all you know about it is that it involves guns, zombies, and some hot chick that sounds like Cortana. Come take our Beginner’s Guide, and you’ll be the next Chicago Ted in no time! Note: this was formerly called our “Crash Course”.

10 Ways to Avoid N00B Mistakes!

For the TL;DR crowd:

1. Stay with the group at all times. You will die if you’re alone.
2. If zombies are close, bash first, then fire. This is especially true of the big, fat ones!
3. Friendly fire is always on. Don’t shoot your teammates.
4. When you’re in front, crouch so others can shoot over you. Wait until they stop before getting up.
5. Don’t throw Molotov cocktails during chaos. Just don’t do it.
6. Don’t shoot, touch, or throw pipe bombs near any red cars with blinking lights. Huh? ▼

   These cars have alarms in them. When triggered, they attract a metric ass-ton of zombies. Don’t shoot, throw any explosives near, or touch the car, unless you have a death wish.
7. Be careful what you press/shoot. If it’s not a weapon/item, ask before touching it. Huh? ▼

   Some objects are triggers for dangerous events. If you press the wrong thing, you may cause your team to have to take on hordes of Infected before they are properly prepared. It’s always safe to pick up guns, explosives, supplies, and ammunition. Beyond that, ask before you touch anything!
8. If you hear crying, there’s a Witch around. Move carefully. Huh? ▼

   A Witch is a dangerous Special Infected. She looks like a scantily-clad woman hunched over on the ground, bathed in a sanguine red glow. If you see her, don’t go anywhere near her and don’t shine your flashlight on her. Remember the intro cinematic!
9. Don’t heal with a first aid kit until you are sure you are safe and don’t need to move.
10. If you have a mic, leave it on push-to-talk mode. Don’t scream every bloody time you see a zombie.

These tips will keep you from pissing off experienced teammates. Once you’re more proficient, some of these tips will be outmoded.

Interface and Controls

The heads-up display (HUD) will allow you to track important information about you and your team. See below.

Tell me more! ▼

The HUD gives you much of the information you need to survive. The crosshairs in the middle of the screen aim your gun. The hairs expand and contract based on your accuracy, which mostly depends on your weapon. You can improve accuracy by not moving, by crouching, and by avoiding being hit by Infected.

Notice above that the bottom 3 slots in the inventory column are grayed-out. This means that you don’t have any of the items that can fit in these slots. As you pick up items, these slots will light up with an image of the item. Also notice that you only have one weapon: a pistol. Pistols are your reserve weapon, and will never run out of ammunition. As you pick up more powerful weapons, they will be displayed above it. To the right, you have an assault rifle, whose slot includes two numbers: the number of rounds in your current clip and your total remaining ammunition (excluding your clip).

You can carry one of each item except pistols, of which you can carry two akimbo. Notice the double pistols shown in the inventory column.

In the screenshot to the left, the crosshair is wider. This is because the weapon being used, a shotgun, is less accurate than the pistol used above. However, note that the wider reticule is not necessarily worse. In close-quarters combat, the wide spread of the shotgun levels many enemies.

When you are out of line of sight with your teammates, their outlines will be shown in blue to indicate where they are. This is called the “Survivor Halo”. The halo can also tell you other things. For instance, a yellow halo indicates that a teammate needs assistance. A red halo means that a teammate needs urgent assistance because they are being attacked by a “Special Infected” (see below).

Another important element of the HUD is the damage indicator. When you are hit, either by an Infected or by other damage (e.g. an explosion), red triangles will appear around your crosshair. These indicate the direction to the source of the damage. In this case, the damage is coming from behind you, to the right. If you are hit from the front, the arrow will be above the crosshairs. When you are hit, your screen will also flash red.

The bars at the bottom show the health of you and your teammates. It also shows what items your friends possess. This can be important for tactical reasons, such as diversifying your explosives. When you have human teammates, their Steam IDs will be shown in place of the character names.

When you start playing, white in-game tooltips will pop up to describe suggested actions and to highlight items lying around for you to pick up. In the HUD above, you see that it suggests picking up a gun. To pick up any highlighted object, move your crosshairs over it and press USE. Here are the most important keys:

• MOVE (W/A/S/D): The classic FPS movement buttons. “A” and “D” strafe (sidestep).
• FIRE (L-click): This fires guns, throws bombs, uses medicine on yourself, and revives downed teammates.
• PUSH (R-click): Also called “bash”, this pushes nearby objects (like zombies) away from you. It can also give medicine to teammates. You can bash while reloading!
• DUCK (CTRL): Crouches, allowing you to aim better or move through squat spaces.
• USE (E): This interacts with and picks up items, opens/closes doors, activates in-game events, and drops large bombs.
• JUMP (Space): Standard jump.
• RELOAD (R): Reloads your gun. Also note that emptying your clip will also automatically reload your gun (if you have ammo).
• QUICK-SWAP (Q): This switches between your main guns (usually).
• FLASHLIGHT (F): This toggles your flashlight off and on.
• SCOPE (M-click): When using the hunting rifle, this toggles your scope.
• TALK (U/Y): This allows you to type messages to your team (”U”) or all players (”Y”).
• VOICE (C): If your microphone is working and in push-to-talk mode, this starts streaming your voice over the Internets.
• VOCALIZE MENU (Z): Brings up a wheel menu of possible voice commands.

What about the Xbox 360 controls? ▼

In addition to these, you may cycle through weapons and items by either pressing the number keys or by scrolling your mouse wheel (if you have one) up and down. Numbers 1 and 2 cover your guns; 3 is your explosive; 4 is your first aid kit; and 5 is your pills. Note that if you’re trying to switch between guns, using QUICK-SWAP is the quickest and most reliable method.

One game mechanic we should mention here is bashing (PUSH). Since your primary enemies will be snarling misanthropes bent on eating your brains, bashing is useful to keep these barbarians out of your personal space. Just tap the PUSH button to send them sprawling. Note that in L4D2 and in Versus of L4D1, there’s a limit to how much you can bash, called “melee fatigue”, so don’t go too wild with it. You can PUSH while reloading, which is very useful. Press RELOAD first.

More than one key can be held down, allowing you to do multiple things simultaneously. For instance, if you hold down the forward key, DUCK, and FIRE, you will move forward, crouched, while firing. Some actions are mutually exclusive. For instance, you cannot FIRE and RELOAD at the same time.

Hit Points

Your hit points (HP) determine how healthy you are. As you are hit by Infected or friendly fire, you lose HP. Once you get below 40 HP, you start slowing down. If you reach 0 HP, you will become incapacitated and fall to the ground, where you can only use pistols. Your HP bar will change in appearance, and if this new HP bar goes to 0 before you’re revived, you will die. Once revived, you will have some “temporary” HP that will slowly “bleed out” until you only have 1 HP. If you’re incapacitated three times before being healed by a first aid kit, you will die.

To restore your HP, you can be healed with a first aid kit or pain pills. First aid kits heal you for 80% of your lost “primary” HP (the solid HP bar). Pain pills give you 50 temporary HP (the hatched HP bar). You must take pain pills yourself, but other teammates can heal you by right-clicking you with the first aid kit active.

If you die, you will respawn at a closet or room somewhere ahead (unless you have started a finale). You can also respawn at the beginning of the next chapter. All Survivors respawn with 50 HP and Level 1 weapons.

Weapons and Items

There are two sets of weapons, “Level 1″ and “Level 2″, plus melee weapons, bombs, and medical supplies. Friendly fire is always on. Also, weapons can penetrate walls and Infected to varying degrees. For instance, a pistol round can barely penetrate a few Infected, but a hunting rifle shot will kill all Common Infected in a line.

All portable guns except the pistols have finite ammunition that can be replenished by picking up ammo from a stockpile or by picking up a new weapon. Stockpiles either look like metal cans filled with ammo or piles of ammo boxes. Please see our Firearms section for more information.

Level 1

Pistol/Dual Pistols: Infinite ammunition. Semi-auto. The most accurate of the Level 1 weapons. 15/30-round magazine.
Submachine Guns: Enormous rate of fire, but low damage. 50-round magazine.
Pump-action Shotguns: High damage and penetration. Slow rate of fire and low accuracy. 8-shell reserve.

Level 2

Magnum Pistol: (L4D2-only) Infinite ammo, semi-auto. Extremely powerful. 8-round mag.
Assault Rifles: Accurate and powerful. High damage, rate of fire, and penetration. Limited ammo!
Automatic Shotgun: Enormous damage, high penetration, low accuracy. Semi-auto. Vicious at close range. 10-shell reserve.
Hunting Rifle: Scoped semi-auto rifle. Extremely accurate, high penetration, 15-round mag.
Sniper Rifle: (L4D2-only) Basically a hunting rifle with double the magazine size.

Stationary Guns

To use fixed placements, get behind the gun and press the USE button. To exit, press use again or step backwards. You cannot bash while using stationary guns.
Gatling Gun: Astronomical rate of fire and unlimited ammo, but has low damage per shot and inflexible firing angles.
Heavy Machine Gun: (L4D2-only) Lower rate of fire, but high damage per shot. Limited ammunition.

Melee Weapons

Left 4 Dead 2 players may pick up melee weapons if they are available. Melee weapons replace pistols and (obviously) only work at short range. However, they are not subject to melee fatigue. You can bash while using them. Available melee weapons include fire axes, frying pans, machetes, katanas, baseball bats, cricket bats, police batons, electric guitars, crowbars, and chainsaws.

Bombs

Molotov Cocktail: Spreads AOE fire when it hits the ground. Excellent against Common Infected, Tanks, and Witches.
Pipe Bomb: Attracts Common Infected and kills them. Stuns other Infected.
Boomer Bomb: (L4D2-only) Covers an Infected in bile, causing Commons to attack it. Dropped by hazmat zombies.
Gas Can: Larger version of the Molotov. Ignited by gunfire or other fire.
Propane Tank/Oxygen Tank: Explosive like the pipe bomb. Ignited by gunfire or other fire. Oxygen tank has a delay before explosion.
Fireworks Crate: (L4D2-only) You’d YouTube this if you found it IRL.

Medical

First Aid Kit: Heals for a lot of HP. The “fire” button must be held down, and you cannot move or shoot while using it.
Defibrillator: (L4D2-only) Resurrects a dead Survivor. Gives 50 stable HP.
Pain Pills: Instantly gives 50 temporary HP.
Adrenaline: (L4D2-only) Gives 25 temporary HP and turns you into Speedy Gonzales.

Basic Movement

• In general, try to remain stationary when firing. You are more accurate when stationary and crouched.
• Crouching will also allow teammates to shoot over your head.
• To climb ladders, move towards them. Climb by aiming upwards or downwards and holding “W”. Jump off the ladder with “Space”.
• Crouching whilst jumping will allow you to get on top of taller objects. Don’t jump when descending from high points, since the increased fall distance can hurt.
• When zombies hit you, they will slow you and impair your aim. You must bash or kill them to continue moving normally.
• Terrain can be used to your advantage. For instance, if you encounter a large horde of zombies, getting into a corner can channel the zombies into a narrow space, making them easier to kill.

Zombie Folk

Common Infected (CI) litter the map, and are generally idle. They will attack you when you get close to them or disturb them in any other way. Occasionally, several large groups of them will rush you simultaneously. This is called a “horde”. These can occur when you trigger certain events (like crescendos) or pseudo-randomly while you’re moseying through the level, based on the decisions of the “AI Director”.

Uncommon Infected (UCI) (L4D2-only) are sparsely mixed with the CI and have one or two special properties that make them harder to deal with than normal Infected. For instance, they may be immune to fire, pipe bombs, attacks from the front, etc.

Special Infected

The Special Infected (SI or “Boss Infected”) below are more powerful zombies with special abilities, but they only spawn occasionally. Each kind of Special Infected has associated sounds and music themes that announce when it is approaching you. Pay attention to these sounds and learn what they mean. I suggest turning on “Full Captions” under Audio Settings to aid your learning. All Special Infected but the Witch are playable in certain modes.

Hunters are very dangerous at close range. They crouch and leap huge distances to try to land on Survivors. Once a Hunter lands on a Survivor, that Survivor becomes disabled and takes damage over time until the Hunter is disrupted by a bash or killed. Disabled Survivors are (usually) outlined in red. Hunters growl when crouched and shriek when they jump.

Jockeys (L4D2-only) are stocky hunchbacks that jump onto Survivors’ backs, actually controlling their movements (and doing a bit of damage over time). If left alone, they can steer Survivors into very dangerous places. The most effective defense is anticipating the Jockey and then shooting him off right as he makes contact. When disabled by the Jockey, a player can resist slightly. Try forcing him to bump into corners and walls instead of trying to directly oppose his movements. Jockeys make a demented apelike sound.

Smokers are long-range disablers that attempt to grab Survivors with a long tongue. Soon after being tongued, the victim will be disabled and will start being dragged towards the Smoker. When the Survivor gets stuck (on ledges, on horde, or against the Smoker), the Survivor starts taking damage over time. The Smoker’s tongue can be bashed or shot off. The Smoker gives off a green trail of smoke and coughs.

Boomers are slow and have low HP, but are very dangerous. They are filled with bile that attracts the horde and blinds anyone hit by it. Boomers can either puke on Survivors or splash on them when killed. The most effective way to deal with them is to bash them away to a safe distance before popping them. If you are hit by slime, be sure to get close to your teammates, crouch, and bash away the swarming Infected. Communication is essential during Boomer attacks because you will not receive warnings about disabled Survivors. The Boomer burps and gurgles loudly.

Spitters (L4D2-only) are dangerous but fragile. They can spit a projectile that creates a pool of acid on the ground, dealing huge amounts of damage to anyone inside it. Spitters should be killed on sight, and anyone near the impact point of her acid glob should get out of the way quickly. Her squealing vocalizations are somewhat hard to hear.

Chargers (L4D2-only) are “one-armed rams on Crystal Meth” that rush Survivors, potentially knocking them down like bowling pins. He can also grab Survivors and slam them against the ground. Chargers are immune to bashing and are very hardy from the front, so the best way to deal with them is to sidestep them and shoot them from behind. Chargers make a distinctive bellowing sound.

Tanks = the undead Hulk. They throw rocks and smash you. The nerve! At 3000-8000 HP, they are the hardest Infected to kill. You will have to focus fire and avoid the Tank’s punches, rocks, and especially objects he smashes at you. Tossable objects like cars, forklifts, and Dumpsters will incapacitate you instantly. If the Tank is set on fire, he will die after 30-40 seconds, but may move faster. Shooting the Tank slows him down. The Tank knocks you back when he punches you, so don’t get thrown off any roofs! Tanks are the only Infected that can bash through safe room doors and through walls. You can identify the Tank by loud rumbling, roaring, and very distinct theme music.

Witches are stationary, but very dangerous. When disturbed, she will rise and run at breakneck speed at whoever disturbed her. If she reaches her target, he becomes instantly incapacitated (or killed). Witches can be disturbed by flashlights, proximity, gunfire, and loud noises/explosions nearby. The most effective ways of dealing with her are avoiding her, lighting her on fire at a safe distance, blasting her from very far away, or “crowning” her (which should not be attempted by novices). Once the Witch is disturbed, she will focus on her target, meaning that other Survivors can blast her nonstop. Be careful, because getting in her way can cause her to switch targets. Witches cry loudly and have very distinct theme music.

The AI Director

Every Infected and item is dynamically (”procedurally”) placed by something called the “AI Director” (AID). The main effect of this is that the level will be completely different every time you play. Sometimes, you’ll find weapons in a certain spot, and other times, you won’t. The AID can spawn Hunters, Boomers, Smokers, and hordes almost anywhere and at any time (even within your line of sight), but Tanks and Witches are placed in the level randomly at the start. It’s like an undead Easter egg hunt! If Easter eggs could toss cars, that is.

The AID has certain restrictions placed upon it—for instance, it can only spawn one Hunter/Boomer/Smoker at a time, and there is a minimum time between these spawns. There is also a minimum time between random hordes. In Left 4 Dead 2, the AI Director’s powers expanded to include controlling weather and pathing in certain locations. Interesting! ▼

Campaign Mode

In Left 4 Dead, there are four official campaigns; in Left 4 Dead 2, there are five. They all have a similar structure.

• All campaigns have four to five “chapters”.
• Most chapters begin and end with a “safe room” of some sort. The chapter ends when all living Survivors are inside the safe room and the door is closed (without any Infected inside).
• In Left 4 Dead 1, all safe rooms include ammunition, weapons, and first aid kits. In general, Level 2 weapons can be found in safe rooms starting in the fourth chapter. In Left 4 Dead 2, not all safe rooms include supplies or weapons.
• Within each chapter, there are weapons, ammunition, and supplies that can be collected. They are sometimes off the main path.

Finales and Crescendos

All campaigns include “crescendos” at various points. These are difficult fights that you must survive to proceed. Crescendos are triggered by some event—for instance, pressing a button or opening a door. Most first chapters do not have a crescendo. In Left 4 Dead 1, most crescendos allowed Survivors to hold out in one place. In L4D2, there are “rolling crescendos” that require Survivors to run from one point to another.

The last chapter of each campaign is called the “finale” and includes a very difficult fight that precedes rescue. In Left 4 Dead 1, all finales have the same pattern. What pattern? ▼

In Left 4 Dead 2, the finale designs are more variegated. Some are similar to L4D1, while others are more magnificent versions of the “rolling crescendos”. One finale is similar to Scavenge Mode (see below).

Versus Mode

This is the ultimate griefstravaganza. Two teams of four take turns playing through each chapter, with one team acting as the Survivors and one as Special Infected. Each (official) Versus map is a modified version of one of the Campaign maps. Thus, we highly recommend that you become familiar with Campaign before playing Versus. You should note that the game mechanics for Versus are slightly different from Campaign—for instance, ignited Tanks move faster in Campaign Mode, but slower in Versus Mode.You may see our Versus section for more info.

Survival Mode

This game mode, introduced in April 2009, captures the traditional zombie horror scenario: a small group of survivors beset on all sides by endless hordes of undead. Instead of moving between objectives like in Campaign, the goal of Survival Mode is to survive for as long as possible as endless hordes and Special Infected spawn. There will be multiple Hunters and Smokers, and sometimes there will be two or more Tanks simultaneously. Prepare. To. Die.

Scavenge ModeL4D2 Only

In this competitive mode, the Survivors must collect sixteen gas cans scattered around the level while the Infected team tries to stop them. Essentially, the team that collects the most gas cans wins. Each official Scavenge map is based on some part of the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign.

Realism ModeL4D2 Only

This cooperative mode is designed for those who yawn in the face of the reckoning. Realism Mode is similar to Campaign Mode, but a lot of gameplay crutches have been removed. For instance, there are no respawn closets or halos around Survivors, SI, or items. We only suggest this mode for those who can complete campaigns on Expert difficulty.