pain train nightmare, best strategy? (no exploits)

[D0nSa1nt]

I have managed to beat the stage multiple times with randoms on nightmare but I still have to find a reliable enough strategy that is not some kind of exploit. So far my idea is to avoid fighting in the swamp, always running back towards the previous open area when you get a horde or boss. Then after the gravel filler is started, group up on top of the wagon where the mobs can reach you only from one direction. This works fine. But as the waves seem to be infinite or at least too many to endure, at one point you all have to start running towards the exit room. It's like hoping that one of you will make it there alive. I only managed to reach the exit once like this.
So most of all my question is what to do when it's time to make your final push towards the exit?? Mobs keep spawning everywhere it seems(?) Any other tips are welcome as well.

One exploit I know is that someone speed runs it and bypasses most enemies this way. One time, when the breaker boss was triggered this way, everybody else got stuck in the swamp because of the swarm zone and we had to wait until the player at the exit was able to beat the boss solo ... And another trick a group tried is placing the minigun at the entrance of the safe room opposite the grave filler. This way mutations can't enter, but normal zombies still can. I am not sure if this can be considered as an exploit. We still died, partially I think because the placement of the gun made it quite difficult for ourselves to exit/enter. After trying it only once and failing I don't know how reliable it truly is. A glitch that saved us once also, is when the hordes kept focusing on the location of a dead player.

[Friendly Snitch]

use pipe bombs at the end

[Macrollium]

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

So far my idea is to avoid fighting in the swamp, always running back towards the previous open area when you get a horde or boss.

I practice and strongly recommend the same. If there is ever a horde or boss encounter in the swamp, you drop everything and immediately haul it back to the houses as fast as you can. I've found choosing to stand your ground in the swamp to be more often than not a sentence to death at worst or severe injury at best.

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

Then after the gravel filler is started, group up on top of the wagon where the mobs can reach you only from one direction.

From my experience, this spot is so good to hold up on that you don't even need the minigun for supporting fire. As long as you have one person keeping an eye out for the ranged mutations, you just camp until the gravel pile seems high enough.

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

This works fine. But as the waves seem to be infinite or at least too many to endure, at one point you all have to start running towards the exit room. It's like hoping that one of you will make it there alive. I only managed to reach the exit once like this.
So most of all my question is what to do when it's time to make your final push towards the exit?? Mobs keep spawning everywhere it seems(?) Any other tips are welcome as well.

I've seen the gravel run handled well enough two ways. The first is where everyone beelines it to the Safe Room preferably tossing out firecrackers or pipe bombs along the way although it's not necessary due to Ridden aggro being spread across multiple people. With this method, it's likely that the stage will be cleared although not with everyone making it.

The second way is by having one person, preferably running mobility cards, beeline it to the Safe Room themselves killing as little as possible. After securing themselves, the rest of the team can follow behind with little to no resistance as hopefully most if not all of the Ridden spawn cap will be fruitlessly bashing away at the Safe Room door.

I like the second method better as it's not only easier on the team's health and resources but also permits the last portions of the stage to be safely looted for resources that'll no doubt come in handy for The Crossing coming up next.

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

One time, when the breaker boss was triggered this way, everybody else got stuck in the swamp because of the swarm zone and we had to wait until the player at the exit was able to beat the boss solo ...

Unless you know with certainty that you're in a team with high DPS, you should always beeline it away from the Breaker the instant he goes in for his first leap. Even if you still aren't far enough, you have until he finishes his first summoning call to ensure so.


The locust swarm is the second worst aspect of the Breaker next to his ability to infinitely and frequently summon hordes until death. Luckily, this annoying aspect of his can be nullified entirely by being within the swarm before or soon enough after it appears. If this turns out to be unintentional and gets fixed later on, oof because this tactic has been the sole reason I've seen the majority of Breaker fights won.

Two important things of note are that if you are fighting the Breaker for an extended length of time (I think 30-45 minutes? Never timed it but it sure felt like a while.), he'll eventually disperse and recall his swarm around his current location which can royally screw up whatever kiting path you and/or your team have been handling him on. Additionally, once you've made it quick enough into the Breaker's swarm, you must not even so much as touch the clear circle otherwise you'll no longer be able to safely move within the swarm.

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

And another trick a group tried is placing the minigun at the entrance of the safe room opposite the grave filler. This way mutations can't enter, but normal zombies still can. I am not sure if this can be considered as an exploit. We still died, partially I think because the placement of the gun made it quite difficult for ourselves to exit/enter.

Yeah, I agree. I'm not a fan of this spot because the choke point cuts both ways given the infinite horde. You can however effectively buy an opening with a firecracker or pipe bomb as long as you've cleared out any nosy mutations at the door first.

Originally posted by D0nSa1nt:

when the hordes kept focusing on the location of a dead player.

I believe this happens when someone dies too soon after being Hocker pinned? They're technically dead but their last location before death will still draw Ridden aggro. I've also occasionally seen the bleed-out bar completely disappear with incapacitated players for unclear reasons seemingly rendering them immune to both Ridden and bleeding out short of manually triggering it themselves.

[Bloodwest]

i assume you have not much difficulty reaching the horde event. after hordes start to kick in, jump on wagons and to kite them infinitely. once there is enough gravel to jump over the obstacle, try to run for safe door, better use some throwables for distraction at that point. player with build heavily oriented on mobility can actually solo it with this strat, then lure most of zombies to safedoor so other teammates (even slower ones) can safely traverse remainder of level.

[D0nSa1nt]

Thank you for the replies. Not long after posting here, I played this level again. We got to the gravel filler and went up on the train wagon, but we died because of a lack of coordination. So then we discussed our strategy and someone suggested using firecrackers and making a run for it after about 30s. I took two firecrackers (as Hoffman), we kept fighting longer than 30s (I don't think it matters that much?) and when the minigun ran out of ammo, we made a run for it. I used a firecracker when I was getting swarmed and we made it with two people to the exit. This is the first time I felt somewhat in control of the situation. I had no speed/stamina cards.

[Khazlariko]

The other important thing to know is where to actually run at the end. I don't usually find any issue with getting from the defended train to the blocked train as long, as you've cleared that section of any nasty mutations. I usually save my crackers/pipe bomb for that moment when you jump down from the last train/need to go inside the building. But once you jump through the window into the building, and go to the right towards the stairs, what I suggest is to not go down the stairs into the water area, but jump off the ledge towards the pipes on the left, follow them along and climb up from there. Could be the difference that helps you make it to the saferoom on some attempts and maybe you're already doing it, I dunno, but I do see plenty of people not doing it.

[D0nSa1nt]

Originally posted by Khazlariko:

jump off the ledge towards the pipes on the left, follow them along and climb up from there.

Yes. I learned that from a video playthrough. I used one cracker before climbing up the last wagon and the other one before reaching the last stairs inside the house, because in both cases I was getting swarmed. I think I was also lucky to not get blocked by a mutation inside the house.