Crash Course on Playing Infected

The basics of how to play as the infected team in versus mode.

Introduction

This is a guide for new players interested in versus mode. Versus mode has no tutorial and playing on random servers is very punishing.

I don't claim to be the best at Left 4 Dead. I just wanted to lay out some things that I would want a teammate to know.

Controls

Smoker
When you've got a survivor in your sight, left click to wrap him with your tongue. This can potentially cause survivors to fall off of high positions, setting them back and potentially killing them. Note that there is a delay before they are disabled. If the survivor sees you attacking him or if you attack from nearby, the survivor can potentially kill you before you start dragging him.

Hunter
Hold crouch (default ctrl) to charge your jump. Once charged, left click to leap forwards. If you hit a survivor, you pin him down and do lots of damage. On a long jump, you do some damage when you first hit them. If you hit a wall, you can left click again to continue leaping around. Don't count on that to escape though, as competent survivors will open fire on you on sight. Note that your right click attack deals good damage in a pinch.

Spitter
Left click to hurl a ball of acid. The acid deals lots of damage to survivors standing in for a long time, but no damage if they just run through. SAVE IT FOR WHEN ONE OF YOUR TEAMMATES HAVE ALREADY STARTED THE FIGHT OR ELSE YOU WILL DEAL NO DAMAGE. Note that if the acid hits a wall, it can bounce off to the ground below. This allows you to fire indirect shots. If you die you leave an acid puddle, but the spitter has a relatively low cooldown on her spit so don't just run in and die.

Jockey
Fall on a survivor's head to ride them. Left click gives you a super jump. Be sure to land ON your target and not just jump over them. Once on top of them you can move them around. If you pull them over a cliff, they will grab on to it and you will fall off the cliff. It is rarely a good idea to pull them over a cliff unless you are about to be killed. Also, if you incapacitate them, they will be free to shoot you with their pistol (so don't hang around after you incap em').

Boomer
Left click to vomit boomer bile. Survivors hit by boomer bile will be blinded, and a small horde will appear. The vomit arcs, so you can hit survivors who are behind low cover, like cars. Note that you can't vomit in midair, so be careful about dropping down on your targets. When you die you explode and cover those nearby with boomer bile. That can be useful for blinding the one survivor you missed.

Charger
Left click to charge forward. You will grab the first survivor you hit. Any other survivors you hit will be sent flying. When you hit a wall (or a car, or a sign post) you will start smashing the survivor you grabbed into the ground. This skill can get instant kills on some maps, but please don't save it for the entire map. Note that your right click does a massive 10 damage, so if you fail a charge you can get good damage by running around and punching.

Tank
Left click to punch them, sending them flying and dealing massive damage. Right click to throw a boulder after a long animation. Note that the direction the boulder flies depends on where you look at the end of the animation. You run rather fast, but will get slowed down to a crawl if they shoot at you (so try to avoid running through open areas). You have a lot of health, but you can die quick if you are lit on fire or if all four of them shoot at you. Don't panic if the bar shows up that makes you lose control of the tank. It isn't worth killing yourself just to prevent a teammate from taking over.

How to Start an Attack

Step 1: Find a good place/time to attack
Wait for all four of you (or three if the opportunity is really good) to be ready. Wait for the right time. The first strike is the most important. Get ready to attack if the survivors:

• Split up for any reason.
  
• Go near an edge.
  
• Are lined up for a 4 man charge.
  
• Move in a group by a good boomer spot.
  
• Go near a witch.
  
• Go near an alarmed car.
  
• Go through a one way path.
  
• Are surrounded by a horde.
  
• Are fighting a tank.

Step 2: Initiation
Normally, boomers, smokers, and charges are the best initiators, but a well positioned jockey can do wonders too.

If you are a boomer, you are trying to get three or four of them with one strike. Getting only two of them isn't that good, and getting only one of them is a complete failure. Try to spawn at the last possible second so that your gurgles don't give you away.

If you are a smoker or charger (or a lucky jockey), you are trying to separate the group. You aim to either knock one of them off a ledge, to start some event (like startling a witch), or potentially instantly kill one of them.

If a survivor is being stupid and wandering off alone, a hunter can rip him to pieces before his team shows up. Also, a hunter may try to go for a long distance pounce to go for some instant damage. Generally hunters can't start fights very well.

The spitter should almost never initiate. Don't waste the spitter's massive damage potential.

Fighting as the tank is a separate kind of fight altogether. I'm not gonna cover that here.

Step 3: Follow up
If your initiation succeeded, everyone jumps in at once. Smokers, charges, and jockeys try to grab someone and pull them from the main group. Spitters spit on disabled targets to deal more damage and to prevent their team from coming to the rescue. Boomers try to blind not-disabled survivors. Hunters aim to pick off a lone target and deal lots of damage. Your hope is that at least one survivor will be separated in the chaos and get incapacitated.

If your initiation failed DO NOT RUN IN ONE BY ONE. You will all die, and the survivors will take no damage.

Step 4: Clean up
If your attack was successful, at least one survivor will be downed. Surviving infected may want to run in for extra scratch damage (right clicks) if they want a new zombie for next time. Feel free to harass survivors trying to revive teammates.

Then plan for another attack. They have to run out of health packs eventually...

Common Mistakes

Spawning too early
Don't just spawn the first time you can. The survivors will hear you, and if they change paths it will be hard to move to a better position without being spotted.

Wasting the spitter
Don't do this. For the love of god, save the spitter as a follow up to one of your teammate's attacks.

Using the boomer on a single target
If you only hit a single target, the target will just hide in a corner while his team takes care of the horde. The boomer is the best hero to initiate. Hitting only one target is a complete waste.

Spawning right in front of them
If a zombie pops up right in front of a survivor, their reflex will be to shoot. You will die. No, getting boomer bile over one of them is not worth it.

Jumping down in front of them as a boomer
No, you can't puke in mid air. You will just end up as fireworks. Just puke on them from your high position.

Jumping into a group as a hunter
The hunter deals a lot of damage but only if he isn't killed. Jumping in may be OK if you are going for a really long pounce. Generally you are just committing suicide.

Boomer exploding near a teammate
You can stun your own teammates by exploding near them. You can potentially free a survivor who is trapped by a smoker or hunter. Don't be that guy.

Conclusion

A guide is no replacement for experience. Good luck.

Also, try playing the map Drop Dead Gorges[www.l4dmaps.com] , versus mode. So much fun.

[M4A1Raifu]

@ZeTo maybe he means crash course like a sudden relize or something not the campaign...

[Liro Raériyo]

josh are you fucking kidding me?

[Frosty]

what does a left 4 dead 1 campaign have to do with a L4D2 guide?

[-ZeTo-]

Strange title for your guide... But well written and interesting guide for begginer.

[Duderman]

Well said!

[Ćoffi -45-]

Nice guide