Strategies for Left 4 Dead

Since I got the Left 4 Dead demo, I have been playing the game on expert for most of my play time (I was originally playing expert and only expert). Check out the strategies that I have collected below.

Update: I have a new Left 4 Dead strategy guide.

Note: These are strategies for survivors.

Some general strategies:

• Plan. Make sure everyone knows the plan.
• Minimize the number of directions from which the infected can attack. Mounting your defense from a closet is very beneficial.
• While in a closed space where the infected only approach from one direction, have one or two players melee. It’s highly effective in pushing away the zombies and, if done right, no one will take damage.
• If you hear a hunter or smoker and you’re free, shove the next guy next to you. I’ve saved many teammates (most often on versus mode) the instant the hunter or smoker attacked because I happened to shove the right guy.
• Save a pipe bomb for the tank. It’s not for harming the tank, but rather for saving your team should a horde appear (usually due to a boomer) during a tank’s appearance.
• Pipe bombs, in general, should be saved so that you can save your team in case of an unexpected horde.
• You can save a teammate from being pounded to death by a tank by shoving the tank a few times.
• If you don’t have anyone on your team that can kill a witch with one or two shots, then one teammate should shoot her from afar if you have to kill her. The other teammates can fire on the witch.
• If you are in a hallway and you hear a boomer, have only one guy walk forward to investigate. If it goes wrong, it’s better to have only one person be covered in boomer bile.
• If you do see a boomer in front of you, shove it away so that killing it won’t get its bile onto you or your teammates.
• The infected will only go after the players with boomer bile on them, so don’t run away. Protect your teammates.
• Use gas cans to your advantage. Take them with you. They are exceptionally useful, but don’t burn your teammates.
• The blocks of concrete (that he can grab from wooden houses!) that the tank throws are very accurate (he knows which way you are going). Make sure you can get behind some static cover (a dumpster is not static, for your information) so that you are not knocked over. It’s also possible to dodge the blocks of concrete, but you will need some practice.
• On expert mode, I recommend healing only once you have been knocked down three times. Health packs will never spawn on expert, so you must conserve them. Hopefully your team is good so that you aren’t killed before you get to use your health pack. This does not apply during the finale. You need to keep your health as high as possible during the finale.
• To save someone from a smoker, you can knock the person or shoot the smoker’s tongue.
• Auto-shotguns are very dangerous and powerful at close range. If all four teammates unload a clip each from an auto-shotgun onto a tank at close-range, it will die within one or two seconds.

Basic strategy for the finales:

• The primary strategy is to stay in a closet or otherwise confined space (as echoed by the second general strategy I posted above).
• When the tank comes (two on each finale, and a third one when the rescue vehicle arrives), the team can either stay where they are and unload a full clip each from an auto-shotgun at the tank, or everyone can run around to avoid the tank. The first tank option may sound crazy, but it’s very doable if you are on a good team. The tank dies very quickly if four clips of an auto-shotgun is unloaded onto it (as previously mentioned). Someone might be taken down by the tank, but you will have enough time to rescue him or her. Running around is probably a very bad idea, as it doesn’t usually go well. The tank takes down each teammate one by one because everyone is too far away from the tank to kill it quickly.
• Just to let you know, the approach of the two tanks is accompanied each by a response on the radio.

Specific information for each finale:

• The finale for the No Mercy campaign has three closets that you can use. One of them is in the building where you radio the helicopter and the other two are near the helipad (you need to break down the door of these two). You can also hide under the ramp to the helipad (in that case, all four should have auto-shotguns and unload a clip each onto the tank, for sure). I do not recommend going on the roofs though. The horde comes from every direction, and smokers are a risk.
• For the second campaign, Death Toll, take either the bathroom or the closet under the stairs. The docks are good too, as the infected come from the left (water), right (water), and front (pier), but you won’t find them swimming in from the sea. With the docks, the biggest fear is that a smoker can pull a teammate all the way out into the open area, so your team must be quick in saving your teammates. On another note, before you start the finale, visit the cabin in the woods because it has a few extra supplies (molotovs, pipe bombs, and health packs).
• The finale for Dead Air is my least favorite, but it’s defensible too. The closet with double doors in the side of the terminal building is the way to go, once again. The tanks approach from very far away.
• For Blood Harvest, when you go through the field (that triggers the horde), make your way to the tractor in the middle of the field as quickly as possible. If all of you make it on top of the tractor, all of you can melee. Once you have taken care of that, I recommend defending yourself from the room on the 2nd floor of the house where there is only one window and one door. Only one person needs to melee the window (and he or she needs to stay to the side so that a smoker can’t pull that person out). The other three can defend the door. Besides that room, you can also try the two-level barn, but your team has to be good. The infected only approach from the hole in the roof and from the area with the ladder, but the horde entering through the hole can be a bit overwhelming and special infected can ruin your day in the ladder area.