The Left 4 Dead Survivors Build

A small guide to building your characters like the Survivors from the Left 4 Dead series.

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to make a viable build that is centered around each Left 4 Dead survivor. Of course it wouldn't make sense based on the fact that all the survivors have identical stats and play the same, but for New Vegas, it's a different story.

The build will revolve around each survivor's personality, beliefs, weapon preferences, physical attributes, etc. I will try to stick to the L4D wiki with any sort of notes on what I could do to build them like any character from your average New Vegas run. Well, sort of...

And I will be making periodic adjustments to each characters to try and spice things up for a more unique Fallout character build, rather than just min-maxxing the usual way. Feedback greatly appreciated.

Bill

Bill is a retired Vietnam War NCR vet who serves as the main leader of the original survivors. He may be old, and he might have a slight knee injury that would make him easy prey to the hostile world, but he's tougher than he looks.

SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 4
His age starts to show his loss in strength but being a vet, he's not completely weak.

Perception: 6
Bill was in the war, so maybe he was able to sense threats nearby. But as he grows older, his senses are not as sharp as they were when he was in the field.

Endurance: 6
Bill is able to survive a zombie apocalypse in his sixties. Apart from that, he was also able to shake himself awake when undergoing anesthesia for an operation, just before the apocalypse begun. But stairs... damn stairs.

Charisma: 6
Bill is the sensible leader of the group. He can certainly keep his group in check, even to someone stubborn like Francis. While a leader may be charismatic, Bill is a bit too cautious of any outsiders, making him not as open or friendly with others but his group.

Intelligence: 8
Bill is no dummy when it comes to survival. His time as an Army Special Forces member will more than make him knowledgeable about survival, weapons, tactics, etc.

Agility: 3
He might be old, but Bill certainly can keep up with the pact. But that knee injury sure will creep up on him. You're lucky he's not completely down and about.

Luck: 7
Bill has survived the apocalypse for pretty long considering his age.


Tag Skills

Guns: a war vet knows how to shoot a gun... duh

Speech: he can talk Francis into cooperating with him. That has to count for something.

Medicine: the time spent in war would make him knowledgeable about first aid equipment like stimpacks.


Traits

Trigger Discipline: Bill is a trained soldier. He knows how to shoot and shoot with accuracy.

Early Bird: an old man like Bill would probably wake up at 4 in the morning. It's just something that happens to people's circadian rhythm when they get older. Or maybe Bill is too used to getting up that early to conduct night ops when he was in the 1st Group.


Weapons

Bill mostly uses grunt-based weapons, like the Service Rifle, Assault Carbine, or Marksman Carbine. He will also carry around a secondary weapon, like a 9mm Pistol or .45 Auto Pistol.


Apparel

Being an NCR-focused build, Bill would wear any kind of NCR faction armor, like the Trooper Armor or even the Veteran Ranger Armor. Perhaps treat yourself to a set of Riot Gear while you're at it.


Factions

Bill served his time in the Army, so it would make most sense for him to serve the NCR.

Francis

Francis is a greasy biker dude that once belonged to the Hell's Legion MC. He tends to do a lot of bickering with Bill and hate everything except his vest and a shotgun. Even if he doesn't trust anyone, he will need to form some sort of trust to whom can help him survive.

SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 9
Francis definitely looks like the type of guy to start a bar fight. He's ready for anything.

Perception: 3
Francis can't really tell between a ghoul and a vampire.

Endurance: 9
His muscles aren't all just show. Apart from his strength, he can hold himself upright without much of a fuss.

Charisma: 6
Francis does have the kind of tough guy attitude but is also somewhat a smooth talker towards Rochelle. Plus, his charisma is the reason Bill and (maybe) Louis can't really stand him.

Intelligence: 2
Francis is an idiot. I mean, the guy believes in vampires and doesn't have a slight clue as to where to lead the group.

Agility: 6
Francis is pretty average in agility.

Luck: 5
He is lucky that he is alive but probably not enough to win that jackpot dream island with the dozens of bikini girls at his disposal. Keep dreaming Francis...


Tag Skills

Guns : camp on a roof with a shotgun and a bunch of ammo. Who else would know about guns than him?

Unarmed: Francis does look like he can use his fists if it was the last resort, or because he's done a lot of bar fights.

Speech: Francis looks like he can bluff his way out of a confrontation if he had to.


Traits

Fast Shot: Francis is probably not one for trigger discipline.

Heavy Handed: hitting hard never felt so satisfying.


Weapons

Francis prefers to use something groovy, like shotguns. Best to use stuff like the Hunting Shotgun or the Sawed-Off Shotgun. But if ammo is running low, he wouldn't mind punching things with any sort of Power Fist.

Apparel

Francis is a biker with a biker-like outfit. The best attire for that would be the Great Khan Outfit.


Factions

Francis is the rebellious type. He hates authority like he hates the NCR. But because of his biker roots, he sympathies with Caesar's Legion (and also the Great Khans). But seeing how Caesar's brain tumor will get to him, he has no problem letting Caesar die if it means the downfall of the Legion. He sticks to the strongest of the strongest, which means siding with Legate Lanius.

Louis

Louis might not seem like the kind to survive an apocalypse, but don't underestimate him. He may be working as some system analyst but he did spend his free time at a gun range for whatever reason. He's more than prepared to use a firearm to defend himself and others around him.

SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 4
Louis is not particularly strong but he can wield some guns and melee weapons.

Perception: 7
Being a former systems analyst would definitely make him good at being able to point out things that would otherwise be left unnoticed.

Endurance: 9
Louis has no problems with any sort of physical activities such as cardio, as opposed to Bill.

Charisma: 4
Louis' positive outlook on the world around him would make him rather charismatic for the group. You can sort of look at him as the one to keep the group together, even if he wasn't leading the pact. But he can't get to charming everyone in the group, especially Francis.

Intelligence: 9
Louis is a smart guy. He worked in IT and knows random trivial things.

Agility: 5
Louis is ok when it comes to being agile. But having suffered a Witch slashing his leg, he's not as agile as he would've been.

Luck: 2
Luck is not really on Louis' side. Often enough he seems to be the big target to almost everything in the Wasteland. But he is only slightly lucky just being alive... or maybe he still thinks positive to not think about death.


Tag Skills

Energy Weapons: Louis does go to the gun range quite often, so he knows how to shoot. But being a gamer, why not shoot weapons out of a fictional world, like Fallout?

Science: he's a systems analyst. Cracking a password puzzle is nothing to him.

Medicine: Louis needs his pills stimpacks.


Traits

Good Natured: Louis is a positive man with nothing more than a positive outlook on life.

Trigger Discipline: being that he learned how to shoot at a gun range, his newfound skill of mastering the gun is not to be understated. Of course, that would make him extra cautious when firing.


Weapons

Louis, being an avid gamer, knows his way around a Laser Rifle, Laser RCW, and a 9mm Pistol, since his time at the range made him comfortable with small arms. But like a true gamer, when he's out of ammo, Louis can wield a Katana no problem.


Apparel

Louis usually wears a suit. A fitting example would be Pre-War Businesswear or Formal Wear (if you're feeling fancy).


Factions

Louis does think highly of the military helping out (or in this case the NCR). However, after certain issues arising from the NCR, like their treatment of Freeside, it would later cause him to leave. Instead, he finds Yes Man's positive attitude to be a match made in heaven. The other factions like Caesar's Legion or the Great Khans are quite "barbaric" for Louis' personality.

Zoey

Zoey is a young college student that spent most of her time watching horror movies rather than focusing on her academics. She might claim it's her research, but soon that research became a reality. Because of her never-ending binge on horror movies and some prior knowledge of how to shoot a gun from her father who was a police officer, she has some kind of survival instinct... sort of.

SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 3
Zoey is not that strong. What can you expect from someone who constantly binges horror movies in their dorm all day long? Just be glad she doesn't look like a Reddit mod.

Perception: 4
While Zoey can sense someone else may be around and hopefully alive, it hasn't been the case. Also, binging movies all day doesn't sound like it would be good for your eyesight.

Endurance: 8
Zoey seems pretty fit and healthy for her age. She doesn't have problems climbing up stairs.

Charisma: 5
While she isn't exactly a suave talker compared to foul-mouth Francis, but apparently she is the crush to sweet boy Ellis.

Intelligence: 5
Zombie movies and other works of fiction doesn't sound like something intelligent, but she did learn survival tactics from those movies.

Agility: 6
What Zoey would lack in strength makes up for it in agility. Getting Small Frame would boost her Agility to 8...

Luck: 9
Surviving with the knowledge of horror movies on your side really sounds like luck compared to other doomsday preppers who didn't survive the apocalypse.


Tag Skills

Guns: her father taught her how to shoot.

Lockpick: horror movies usually have some guy trying to break open a safe or door. Zoey probably picked up a good idea how to break open locks from those movies.

Survival: it's not clear whether Zoey can cook but movies would usually show scenes where the survivors have to make camp and prepare meals.


Traits

Small Frame: Zoey is a bit small but that would only make her more agile.

Wild Wasteland: all those horror movies probably became a reality, just like all the movie references lying around the Mojave Wasteland.


Weapons
Zoey usually uses pistols, either 9mm , .45 Auto, or the 10mm. But on some occasions, she will use something like a Hunting Rifle, preferably scoped.

If you want that true Zoey experience of dual-wielding pistols: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/74393


Apparel

Zoey wears a track jacket. Unless you want to find mods that includes the Survivors' outfits (or those other female outfits), your best bet is stuff like the Leather Armor, Sheriff Duster ('cus why not), or Vault Jumpsuits. Maybe you can also follow in the footsteps of Bill and wear any NCR faction armor.


Factions

It's a bit complicated on who to side with. Because she does have the strongest bond towards Bill, she might be more inclined to do what Bill would do, side with the NCR. But depending on what point in time we are talking about, Zoey would ultimately prefer to run things on her own with her remaining survivors. This would most likely be to side with Yes Man or even Mr. House. The thing with Mr. House is that Zoey wants to look for some sort of "father figure" in her life, assuming he's trustworthy enough.

Coach

The high school football coach native to Savannah, Georgia, he's a one man cheeseburger apocalypse that serves as the team leader for the second group of survivors. While he may be at the peak of cultivating mass, he's no quitter.


SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 9
Coach is a very strong man. All he needs is a large BBQ bacon cheeseburger, a large order of fries, an orange soda with no ice, and a sweet apple pie. If Coach can ever manifest such a meal, he'd be unstoppable.

Perception: 4
Coach has an average perception. Sorta hard to judge perception but oh well...

Endurance: 6
Coach has a pretty solid endurance, especially for his physique. Even if he's a football coach teaching high-schoolers, he can still make the 100 yards. But stairs, damn stairs...

Charisma: 8
Like what a high school coach should be. He can motivate his students like he can with his group.

Intelligence: 6
While being a football coach and team leader might make him intelligent, but it doesn't mean Coach is an absolute genius. But his teamwork and knowledge of his surroundings is more than plenty.

Agility: 4
Like with Bill, a slight knee injury ruined their careers. While Coach may have recovered, he's not as agile as he used to be.

Luck: 3
Coach is kinda lucky when it comes to good health and a good team. But wherever he goes, there's no restaurants open. Kinda balances out.


Tag Skills

Melee: Coach is good at swinging an axe or even shredding with a chainsaw.

Speech: a good coach is a motivational figure that can build morale, encourage teamwork, or keep the group together.

Survival: it's not mentioned that Coach is a good chef but he certainly does talk a lot about food.


Traits

Heavy Handed: Coach has a serious swing/punch.

Built to Destroy: if there's one thing Coach will destroy (besides cheeseburgers), it's just about any living thing in the Wasteland.


Weapons

Coach is a melee focused character, so using weapons like the Chainsaw, Fire Axe, and the Baseball Bat are definitely good choices to take. On the flip-side, Coach can also use shotguns like the Hunting Shotgun or Riot Shotgun. But personally, since Coach enjoys BBQs, the Shishkebab is the perfect blend of swing and roast.


Apparel

While Coach is a football coach, so wearing any of Caesar's Legion apparel sounds fitting. They rock sporting equipment like football shoulder braces and whatnot, so why would that not work out for Coach? Oh right, it's faction armor. If you were to side with the NCR, I suppose Coach could rock the NCR Ranger Armor; sort of like a drill instructor to the cadets.


Factions

It's kinda hard to judge Coach's political beliefs as he doesn't really have any affiliation with the military nor does he seem to be independently like-minded. Being that he is a team player, it might make sense to go with the Legion since they do have good fighting tactics, plus they wear sports equipment. But the Legion do have slaves and mistreat women, and slavery is bad news for Coach. So there's no other choice but to side with NCR and take up that role as a coach for the troopers.

Nick

Nick is a con man who's been drifting from city to city looking for shady back alley gambling. His streaks of luck might have ran out as soon as the infection hit. But luckily New Vegas screams "home" for a gambler like Nick. Let's hope he doesn't run out of caps or get torn to shreds by Deathclaws...


SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 7
Nick looks like he can hold up in a fight.

Perception: 4
Nick isn't blind but he sure can't see past his own problems as well as the other survivors can. That or he's just reckless. At least he can point out when something's off or about to go wrong.

Endurance: 5
Nick is healthy enough to survive the apocalypse, even if he's a germ-o-phobe.

Charisma: 1
Nick is probably the least charismatic of the survivors. While he does have some pretty tough insults, it makes him more or less unlikable by almost everyone.

Intelligence: 5
Being a con man certainly makes Nick know what he's doing to get away with it. Maybe not the smartest of the bunch but knowledgeable enough to get by on his own.

Agility: 8
Nick definitely would be able to pickpocket you without you noticing; like what all good thieves master.

Luck: 8
A good con artist would rig the odds to their favor as if Lady Luck was on their side. Nick probably did that back in his prime, and would still rig the odds at The Tops Casino.


Tag Skills


Barter: Nick can scam any merchant into thinking tin cans are worth more than a cap.

Sneak: Nick probably is a good pickpocket.

Lockpick: after all, he is a con artist and a thief. I'm sure he knows how to break into cash registers and safes.


Traits

Kamikaze: Nick's reckless behavior with the gambling and the aggressiveness would make him more vulnerable.

Logan's Loophole: all the drinking didn't seem to kill Nick yet but he's probably gonna die at 30 if the apocalypse didn't give him a reason to survive.


Weapons

Nick was a felon, so he did have some experience with guns, most noticeably with handguns like the 9mm Pistol or even the heavier hitting ones like the .44 Magnum, 12.7mm Pistol, and .45 Auto Pistol. Since Nick is also a thief, he wouldn't be a stranger to any suppressed firearms in order to do clandestine heists without alerting anyone.


Apparel

Nick is a fancy con artist. He wears a fancy suit like the Formal Wear or Pre-War Businesswear. Maybe grab the suits that the Gomorrah casino guards wear.


Factions

Nick is a drifter. He doesn't make any alliances with nobody but himself, unless the opportunity is too good to not miss out on. Nick has the appeal, the swag, and the looks of a Chairman, like Benny. Nick gets back at the backstabber Benny and then uses his elaborate plan in a grandiose twist - by working alongside Mr. House before turning the tables and cashing out to side with Yes Man.

And did I mention Nick doesn't like the NCR or Legion? His lonesome behavior panics the NCR and his unwillingness to see Caesar makes him a threat to both sides. He laughs at the NCR's "hit squad", and kills every Legion assassin that comes his way. I suppose he can look good in a suit and defend himself at the same time.

Ellis

Ellis is a young southern boy with a charming heart. He is naive but supportive to his friends. Of course, his boy-ish attitude would make him seen like the local idiot but don't let that charm fool you. Ellis is a mechanic with a love for guns. Typical southerner but charming.


SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 7
Ellis is a pretty tough kid.

Perception: 7
Ellis is a mechanic, so he should have a keen eye on detail for fixing things.

Endurance: 8
Ellis has high endurance but maybe not matching the cardio master himself, Louis.

Charisma: 5
Ellis' boyish charm is sweet and loving but he does struggle to confess his love to Zoey. Southern hospitality at its best.

Intelligence: 4
Ellis is kinda dumb thinking vampires exist in a zombie apocalypse. But Ellis isn't an idiot since he is a mechanic and knows his hometown well.

Agility: 8
Ellis has no problems jumping into sewer water from a height. He's young and capable with no reported leg injuries.

Luck: 1
Ellis' luck is iffy since he does seem to be the biggest target for the infected. They just really hate him...


Tag Skills

Guns: Ellis learned to shoot at a very young age.

Repair: he is a mechanic after all...

Explosives: Ellis looks like he can handle a grenade launcher and other pyrotechnics.


Traits

Wild Wasteland: Ellis' view of the world is positive yet strange at times. Monkey on a mule? Jimmy Gibbs Jr.? Keith's crazy stories?

Fast Shot: "Uh oh, my trigger finger's itching."


Weapons

Ellis usually uses rifles like the Marksman Carbine, Assault Carbine, or Sniper Rifle. However, the Grenade Rifle or Grenade Launcher are definitely weapons Ellis won't shy away from.


Apparel

Being a mechanic and whatnot, Ellis would probably wear something like a Utility Jumpsuit.


Factions

Ellis is a good hearted man who is rather ignorant to political ideologies. Most likely, Yes Man would be a good candidate for him since he boasts a positive mentality like Ellis.

Rochelle

Rochelle is a news producer that is in charge of setting up the cameras, wires, fetching coffee, etc. While she may not be the star anchor, she sure does have a couple of Anchorman references and a good sense of humor (if Valve never cutted her original dialogue). But as a survivor, she is pretty knowledgeable and a bit of a team player in keeping the group together. I hope she'll never let you down again...


SPECIAL Stats

Strength: 2
Rochelle is not exactly strong per se.

Perception: 8
Being somewhat familiar with the news would make Rochelle a lot more aware of her current situation than most survivors.

Endurance: 8
Rochelle is pretty fit and just can't get enough... of those stairs.

Charisma: 6
Rochelle is somewhat charismatic given that her original dialogue made her pretty funny at times. But sometimes she can be cringy.

Intelligence: 5
Rochelle is fairly intelligent, even if she wasn't working in a high paying role for her news station.

Agility: 6
Given her thin appearance, Rochelle would be decently agile.

Luck: 5
Some luck has contributed to her survival but mostly Rochelle likes to keep her optimism up.


Tag Skills

Speech: Rochelle does have her moments where she can be a good advocate for diffusing a situation with her words... her wagging tongue.

Science: Rochelle probably knows a bit about computers since she does do all the grunt work at her news station, even if it was lugging cables and making sure the cameras are up and running. Alternatively, you can go with Repair instead.

Barter: Rochelle is most likely the type to reason with outsiders, even if it means giving fair trade of things.


Traits

Early Bird: having worked for a news station most likely means that she'll be up and early for work. I mean, who else is gonna fetch coffee for the newscasters but Rochelle?

Small Frame: Rochelle is rather fragile... like a baby in your arms. But luckily she isn't a Broken Frame just yet...


Weapons

Rochelle is probably familiar with the Laser Rifle and Laser Pistol as she is with camera equipment when she was setting up news station live broadcasts.


Apparel

Since there isn't a Depeche Mode concert T-shirt in the game (nor is there any Dean Domino merch), your best bet would be any sort of Wastelander Outfit (like the ones that those Freeside Thugs usually wear). Alternatively, Rochelle can wear a Pre-War Parkstroller outfit because she's a classy lady.


Factions

Rochelle is likely to be independent from any other faction as she does see the two main ones as trouble. She certainly despises the Legion but doesn't have much of a problem with NCR. Mr. House would be out of the equation for his autocratic approach to how Vegas should be ran. That leaves Rochelle with either siding with NCR or Yes Man.

[Piss Fan]

Francis siding with Caesar? He's 100% independent/Yes Man.

[xJSerpent]

@Maverick thanks for the additional info. Some insights I never knew of.

[Maverick]

Bill may have partly served in 75th then went to SFAS to become a green beret after. Most do.

[Maverick]

Bill was in 1st Group not Ranger bat.

[xJSerpent]

@A-10 Thunderbolt II Why thank you kindly.

[xJSerpent]

@Wiste Thank you for the feedback. I'll definitely consider editing the survivor's stats and attributes.

[Wiste]

For my personal thoughts on this:

Francis - Good stats, but emphasize that he would join the Legion for similar reasons as Ulysses and Joshua Graham, for the "strong rules the weak" mentality and potentially the overall idea that the Legion is stronger than the NCR.

Coach - He's a solid Yes Man, if you consider his route being to help the people of Freeside gain independence.

Nick - I'd have him go full Benny: he joins House to start, but then betrays him.

Ellis - 100% replace Built to Destroy with Wild Wasteland.

Honestly, my biggest issue is that despite there being 7 SPECIAL stats, few of them are min-maxed, so they're all kinda the same. I know they're more or less the same in L4D for balancing purposes, but feel free to flesh them out more. Also, include some of the other kinds of weapons, like laser, plasma, and explosives. This is supposed to be them in another universe, after all.

[apostate of hate]

best guide on the steam community? yep i think so

[joe soap]

nick is my favorite character because im also a narcissistic asshole.

[doomboi504]

ellis should have had wild wasteland because of the stories