Left 4 Dead 2

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Is it worth it to save incendiary or explosive ammo for tanks?
always thought tanks were a pain, and always had a tenancy to pick up incendiary or explosive ammo and lay them down when i hear a tank coming
usually pretty late through a map or sometimes not used, but how much difference does those special ammo have compared to normal ammo? is it worth carrying them around?
Originally posted by Paladyne:
Both have their benefits and drawbacks, which IMO are small but occasionally useful:
  • Incendiary Benefits:
  • Insta-kills any commons you hit, which can be useful for some of the more obnoxious uncommon zombies (clowns, armored, mudmen).
  • Adds a DOT to any SI you shoot, which can be enough to kill that smoker or jockey you got to half health before it disappeared behind the corner.
  • Increases visibility/audibility of any infected you've lit, making them easier to track.
  • Another available fire option for when you're fighting a tank but don't have a molotov or gas can.
  • Makes it easier to kill tanks by just kiting them and letting the DOT do its thing.
  • It can reaggro startled witches (or prevent another reaggro by lighting her in the first place), which can save your teammates if you're better prepared and more attentive than they are.

  • Incendiary Drawbacks:
  • Distracting and impedes visibility.
  • Fire will often go out before killing the SI/tank you've lit.
  • Listening to a burning SI you know is going to die soon can be mildly obnoxious.
  • You can potentially lose two survivors to a witch if she downs/kills one and then you shoot her, forgetting that you have fire ammo loaded.

  • Explosive Benefits:
  • Can stumble SI, which is great for that charger lining up a charge on you.
  • Increases chances of a hit by giving all rounds an AOE around wherever they hit.
  • Good for fragging groups of commons, turning one magazine of ammo into a "mini grenade launcher."
  • Can stumble the witch, which opens up another great avenue for dealing with her if she's in a really bad spot.

  • Explosive Drawbacks:
  • Can also easily stumble yourself by shooting something point blank.
  • Can easily cause a lot of FF damage if not used carefully.
  • Does not affect tanks.
  • Effective radius is somewhat small.
  • Except when shooting near teammates, in which case it's always just a little bigger than you thought it was. Sorry Rochelle. :lonypokerface:

I generally always load up whenever I see the specialty ammo boxes, then save that magazine for 0.5-1.5 chapters, but I tend to rely on my pistols primarily anyway. The specialized ammunition can be handy, but they do have drawbacks you need to be aware of. I consider their benefits to slightly outweigh their drawbacks, but I'm fine if others choose to pass them up; they're extras after all.
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Showing 1-15 of 57 comments
I'd say save them for Tanks and Witches, yeah.
ViridianDenial Jan 17, 2018 @ 7:48pm 
I'd say so when youre on harder difficulty. It's also dependant on the map.
supersand Jan 17, 2018 @ 9:01pm 
No, incendary ammo on a tank can be a very bad. If you toss a molotov and light a tank, and then shoot it with fire ammo, it will go out. Generally it is never worth carrying ammo unless you don't have anything in that slot, just lay it out where you found it or leave it because it isn't too important.
grogcito Jan 17, 2018 @ 10:42pm 
explosive ammo just deals area damage, it doesn't add any extra damage
Originally posted by Grogcito:
explosive ammo just deals area damage, it doesn't add any extra damage

pretty sure an assault rifle would one hit kill normal infected, on normal mode, instead of taking two shots.
Cursed Hawkins Jan 17, 2018 @ 10:48pm 
Originally posted by ▙▘▚ ▜ ▞ ▟ ▚▝ ▛:
Originally posted by Grogcito:
explosive ammo just deals area damage, it doesn't add any extra damage

pretty sure an assault rifle would one hit kill normal infected, on normal mode, instead of taking two shots.
Yeah that's a common infected, Not a hulking mass of muscle!
Originally posted by Cursed Hawkins:
Originally posted by ▙▘▚ ▜ ▞ ▟ ▚▝ ▛:

pretty sure an assault rifle would one hit kill normal infected, on normal mode, instead of taking two shots.
Yeah that's a common infected, Not a hulking mass of muscle!
it would help a lot of it does do extra damage, i know it does extra damage i just want to know how much exactly, like if it's significantly more or just slightly more
supersand Jan 17, 2018 @ 11:52pm 
Originally posted by ▙▘▚ ▜ ▞ ▟ ▚▝ ▛:
Originally posted by Cursed Hawkins:
Yeah that's a common infected, Not a hulking mass of muscle!
it would help a lot of it does do extra damage, i know it does extra damage i just want to know how much exactly, like if it's significantly more or just slightly more
This, I know it does extra damage and against commons just gibs. Explosive ammo is worth against a tank because then even missed shots will hit due to the area of effect
grogcito Jan 18, 2018 @ 1:00am 
Explosive ammo doesn't do extra damage, you can test it against special infected.
It only does splash damage and insta kills common infected
StuV Jan 18, 2018 @ 1:20am 
Explosive/Fire ammo can save ammo and really good for tier1 'cause tier1 weapon doesn't deal massive dmg like tier2 weapons...

Originally posted by Grogcito:
Explosive ammo doesn't do extra damage, you can test it against special infected.
It only does splash damage and insta kills common infected

And this... Splash dmg also stun special infected except tank
While fire ammo deal dmg over time, I just dunno how long it will burn SI if got hit once
Blaquicat Jan 18, 2018 @ 3:19am 
Originally posted by poppy:
No, incendary ammo on a tank can be a very bad. If you toss a molotov and light a tank, and then shoot it with fire ammo, it will go out. Generally it is never worth carrying ammo unless you don't have anything in that slot, just lay it out where you found it or leave it because it isn't too important.
They fixed it like ten thousands years ago..
It don't run out anymore.
Lokei Jan 18, 2018 @ 3:48am 
Why do you even ask bs like this? The tank is so easy to kite and you can brake his rocks. Unless its a tank and horde dont save incendiary or explosive ammo
Karmaterrorᵁᴷ Jan 18, 2018 @ 6:45am 
Incendry good for tank because of the burning

Explosive better for witch to stumble :)
Maur0 Jan 18, 2018 @ 6:54am 
Originally posted by Karmaterrorᵁᴷ:
Incendry good for tank because of the burning

Explosive better for witch to stumble :)
"Explosive better for witch to stumble" = or vaporize it on local server :V
Monke Jan 18, 2018 @ 12:31pm 
Neither of them are really good for the tank, Explosive doesn't add any damage and only slightly helps you get some hits in if you are in a closed area and miss, and Incendiary just lights the tank on fire for a couple of seconds, but most of the time he is already on fire because of a gas can or molotov.

Both ammo upgrades should be used against Hordes (because they can 1 hit kill) and SI (stumble/fire damage), and explosive can be used if there is a witch blocking your way.
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Date Posted: Jan 17, 2018 @ 7:36pm
Posts: 57