For some time know I've wanted to create a guide to help new players blend into the tough environment that is versus. With your help we can make the ultimate guide that will help all newbs that sometimes end up on your team. Over time I will look at your posts and put it all together into one big post that will hopefully get a sticky. Quote on points that need improvement. Here is the outline of the way the guide will be.
There are 3 things you need in a team to be successful in versus.
Communication/teamwork- the ability to formulate a plan and execute it
Situational Awareness- the ability to be familiar and aware of your surroundings
Effective Prioritization- the ability to distinguish which task is more important
Chapter Communication
This is the most known trait that a team must have. Everyone knows about it and the game was pretty much built around teamwork. This comes to play in basic planning. To be able to identify the situation and communicate a plan is paramount. For example, a witch is up ahead. Things can go two ways. 1) A member runs up unknowingly and gets incapped or 2) you say that there is a witch and you chose who will go up and crown her. When it comes to communication there is a key rule, DONT ASSUME. If you are in need of assistance like being huntered or smoke, don't sit there and say nothing or even worse complain. Sometimes other players don't know of your situation (boomed on, or preoccupied) and will not know until it flashes "player in incapped" on their screen. I understand it says there’s a hunter on so and so, but it doesn’t mean the person realized it. Complaining doesn't help because it’s just unwanted chatter that won't be taken seriously. If you are on the other side of the situation where you are not being huntered but a teammate is, then you must act or make the rest of the team aware. This is the classic case of "someone else will save him" and no one does. This is terrible and would make me rage quit. If you can’t get to him, send someone else and cover them.
When things are calm and your team is on the search for health kits, it’s important to have communication. The other day a no mic'er joined our team and it took us forever to get him to pick up a health kit. Jumping up and down is not acceptable, its good for no mic'ers but it shouldn't be needed. Distributing health kits appropriately can make or break a team. For example, my team (infected) was destroying the survivors and they used up almost all of their health kits. One member was sure to be in grey screen and was about to die any minute. A teammate with about 50 solid health and pills in his inventory found a med kit in a room. He used his team's last health kit and picked the other one up while his teammates were sitting in red temporary health. They eventually got destroyed. Giving out health kits to the right people will help your health bonus. (It would be great if we could add a strategy guide that would explain what helps and hurts a health bonus).
Chapter Situational Awareness
This is where people with closed captions [on] rule. I am one of them and it helps a great deal. This is step one to improving your game. I understand that the music helps you too but there are times where you just don't hear certain things. For example, when a tank or witch is coming up it will say [Tank growls, or witch crying], before the music starts or the infected appears. This will give you an advantage even if you are survivors first.
Now, when it comes to combat, situational awareness is key. You should know the familiar growl from a hunter and the coughing of a smoker. This will put your team on alert and help them react faster if someone is attacked. You should also know where your teammates are, that way if they are pounced or attacked you already know where they are instead of playing the dreaded game Marco Polo
L4D (see terminology), "I’m over here: where? I can’t see you: Over here just melee me, no turn around right there straight ahead, no in the room on the left, your other left, face palm*".
Knowing the map may be thought as a duh moment but it's still important. If a tank appears and all you see are cars around you, then you better get the hell out of there. When the tank starts chasing you, make sure you don’t get hung up on a mailbox or worse, THE ONE ZOMBIE (see terminology). Finding health, ammo, and equipment also fall into this category. Knowing about the places that give out health kits is important to a good health bonus. I've seen people walk past health kits when they really need it. It’s sad. Health kits aren't the only thing you want to look for. Ammunition after a tank and Molotov’s for his appearance are important. You have to know when you are running low to be able to save up for a tank or a crescendo.
Knowing when to use your weapons is important as well. People who throw pipe bombs at tanks, witches, and alarm cars make me face palm I. Sure in rare occurrences it the pipe blows at the right time it will stager the tank or witch, but it rarely works. The car is ridiculous though. The explosion will activate it; ONLY if you passed the Point Of Alarm (see terminology). Molotov’s are great against tanks ON VERSUS. Yes, in campaign they move faster, but in versus they move slower. It’s great to save one for those occasions, and to be on the lookout for more.
ADDITIONS: You and your team should also be familiar with popular special infected spawns. High areas, long halways, and open areas are popular points of attack. Watch out for vents and windows as they are popular for smokers to pull you through. Becareful with doors as hunters can pounce you through them or boomers can make a hole and vomit. Closing doors is key to slowing infected down. Don't stand still in a wide and open area because a hunter may try to get a huge pounce on you aka Pounce Damage (see terminology). So always watch out for roof tops. Don't forget to watch yourselves when you're on roof tops or high places. Thats Smoker Country (see terminology). Smokers will definately have a field day on you when you're on a high place. Pulling you down for quick Fall Damage (see terminology) is what they do best. Either wait until the smoker trys to make its move and kill it, or move slowly, preparing to melee eachother if one gets pulled.
Be on the lookout for Instant Kill Spots. These are areas where a smoker (boomer or hunter can also instant kill by stagering people off the edge) can pull a survivor off a ledge onto the floor. The survivor either can't grab onto the ledge or will die as soon as they hit the floor or is released by the smoker. Later on in the guide I will include an Instant Kill Location guide. This will not say how to do it but where to look out for them.
When you are healing, be sure to look around while that bar is filling up. If you see a hunter or smoker, STOP HEALING. Deal with the threat instead of sitting there like a deer in front of headlights. If someone else is in trouble, stop healing and go help him. Don't worry, your precious little red pack will be there when you get back, just deal with the treat first.
This is where people fail most, Zombie Hunting (see terminology). Your job is to make it to the safe room, not look for special infected to kill. Here's a situation in the eyes of one. "Theres a smoker over there, don't worry guys I'll get him" even though he's BEHIND US. "Heh heh I have you now smoker" he goes into a far away dark room away from all of us. 5 seconds later, "help me guys I'm being smoked!". facepalm*. Please don't do that, let the infected have to chase us.
Watch out for Points of No Return (see terminology). These are areas where the survivors jump down, but can't get back up. This is where they may attack the last member or your group any you may be unable to return to them. Here are some of those locations. No Mercy level 1, the giant hole in the apartment floor. No Mercy level 3, after the scissor lift you go up to the room above the med kit box, the hole that leads down. No Mercy 3 in the room with all of the tanks that has the manholes that go into the sewer. No Mercy Level 5 when you first reach the roof, you must jump down from the highest roof. Blood Harvest 4 after entering the multistory building you have to jump down to the bridge. Blood Harest 5 jumping down into the cornfield. Dead Air 1 after the ladder you must jump down from that rooftop. Dead Air 2 jumping over the fence in the very beginning. Dead Air 5 jumping down from the gate. Death Toll 2 in the pipes out of the safe room, the right path drops down. Death Toll 3 crossing over the trains that take you over the wall where you eventually drop down the other side. Death Toll 4 after the crescendo with the forklift, you go up the roof and have to drop down. Those are the ones I can remember.
Instant Kill locations after the patch. Dead Air 1 on the roof that has a ladder leading up to another roof. Watch for smokers there. Then as you keep moving and you drop down the other side of the ladder roof you will come up to the room with two windows. STAY AWAY from those windows.
Chapter Prioritization
This is very important when it comes to decision making, especially in panic situations. This is where people can either become the hero or the idiot that got us all killed. This is where you see Split Saviors, Total Savior, Blind Luck, Corner Campers, Rambo’s, and Health Hogs (See terminology). In these situations you have to be able to choose which task is most important. Saving a pounced teammate is more important than healing up in yellow. Killing a tank is more important than getting up a teammate if the tank is too close. Getting to the safe room is more important than saving a doomed teammate that is incapped, surrounded by a horde, and already below 50 health. People have to choose the right thing, even in a moment of panic. I’ve been killed 1 foot away from a teammate, here’s what happened. Dead Air 2, we are at the ammunition in the apartments. 3 of us get huntered and the last guy is boomed on. All 3 of us die about 1 foot away from the guy because he can’t even handle a horde. He couldn’t even move 1 foot to melee us free, fail. Instead of saving yourself, save others so that they can help you, that is the moral of the story. This is key in tank fighting. If someone is being huntered, then help him up so you can continue fighting the tank.
Healing the right teammates fall in this category. This can either help or hurt your health bonus. Healing a member in grey screen is more important than anything else. Being stingy with health kits is not cool. You have to know who needs to be healed and who needs the pills.
Overall getting to the safe room is the goal; health bonus and survivor multiplier is just extra. Don’t get hung up on saving a downed player when you know it is too late/ hopeless. Don’t waste your time using a health kit with 98 health just to pick up another. That is the idea behind Effective Prioritization.
Terminology
Marco Polo
L4D- when a member is in trouble in an unknown place and has to scream directions to his whereabouts
The One Zombie- that one zombie that hits you in the back and completely stops you
Point Of No Return- an area where your team has to drop down but will be unable to go back
Point of Alarm- the area around a car alarm that until walked acrossed, you are free to shoot the car without alerting the horde
Pounce Damage- the initial damage a hunter causes when he pounces you from a high or far location
Fall Damage- the damage recieved when you either jump from a high place or get pulled off a ledge by a smoker
Smoker Country- areas where smokers can get fall damage off their victums (ex roof tops)
Split Savior- the survivor that has to choose between two or more troubled survivors on which to save first
Total Savior- the only survivor standing manages to get all 3 survivors back up
Blind Luck- some melee spamming when they are boomed on saves pounced teammates or dead stops a hunter
Corner campers- when all 4 survivors get into a tight location and begin meleeing.
Rambo- when one player runs ahead to get points for his team since the rest are down “Just run for the safe room, just finish”
Health hogs- people who take all of the pills and kits when the other teammates are in dire need
Hunter Smackers- people who just melee hunters off, but do not kill them. inexcusable unless you are in a panic situation
Infected Boxers- people who just melee infected until they die, without shooting them
This is what I have so far, tell me what else we should add. (Remember this is for survivor strategies)
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