Left 4 Dead; Weapons guide
RyanFodder
Detroit, MI Icrontian
Left 4 Dead
Advanced Literature for the Hand Cannoneer
V 1.0
Dec 2, 2008
==Quick Copyright BS==
This guide may be reproduced only in full, unabridged, unedited textual format
on public or private free media (websites, papers, etc). Reproduction of the
guide does not require permission of the author, but does require that the
author be notified via the contact information below.
Any attempt to reproduce this guide in a medium requiring direct monetary
compensation for access by the general public will require the express,
permission of the author, including signature (digital or otherwise).
Just play nice, okay? I'm not requiring permission to post unless you're
going to charge some poor sap for the info. And if you're going to do that, I
probably am not going to give you permission anyway.
==Contents==
I. Log/Intro..................[100]
II. Philosophies of Buckshot...[101]
III. Philosophy 1: Positioning..[102]
IV. Philosophy 2: Efficiency...[103]
V. Contact info...............[104]
==Log/Intro== [100]
Oh, the shotgun. What would a zombie game be without a shotgun?
It’s not a difficult weapon to learn. I’m sure you’ve got ‘point,
shoot, and reload’ down by now, so I’ll skip the easy stuff. The point of
this guide is to simply illuminate you to a few subtle points, not hold your
hand from the beginning.
To get it out in the open, I’m writing this because no matter what
server I’m in, everyone takes the bloody hunting rifle or assault rifle.
And I’m certain they know exactly what they’re doing with it - really, I
believe them. But now and then I’ll see one of them decide to ‘branch out’ a
bit and dust off the ol’ street sweeper. And before you can say "this phrase
is a cliché!", they’ve spat their whole clip and someone’s chewing on their
head while they reload. No finesse. And without this barking piece of metal,
things can get real ugly, real fast.
So scoff if you must at a ‘guide to using the shotgun,’ but our good
friend the hand cannon deserves a little attention.
A quick aside - and in caps, for all the ‘skimmers’ - THE REALLY
IMPORTANT PART OF THIS GUIDE IS PHILOSOPHY 2. If you already know THAT stuff,
this guide is probably not so useful to you.
Dec 3, 2008: v1.0 finished and revised. Submitted to GameFAQs. Current as
of this date.
==Philosophies of Buckshot== [101]
There are two major (and simple) philosophies I would like to discuss
in this guide. The first is positioning, and can be used well with either
shotgun. The second is reload efficiency and, while not completely exclusive
to the automatic shotgun, is most useful when pumping is unnecessary.
Before I get to the philosophies, though, there are two simple points
of setup to deal with so that we're all on the same page. These concern
targeting and range.
Targeting: Clearly the shotgun is meant to be a CENTER OF BODY MASS
weapon, so don't aim for the noggin. Sure, all your friends will scoff at
your low headshot count while they smugly sit back and snipe, but they’ll
never quite figure out how YOU always have the ‘most infected killed’ award at
the end.
Range: The shotgun is moderate-to-short range, not just point-blank.
It IS possible - and quite feasible - to do a little moderate range firing.
Don’t expect miracles, but don’t pull out that pistol just yet. That group of
three out there by the cop car at the end of the alley? Move a TINY bit
closer and that’s one shot, three kills. Practice your range. It’ll make a
difference when you NEED to pop that smoker off your friend out there!
Now on to the good stuff!
==Philosophy 1: Positioning (All Good Shots go to Zombie)== [102]
Keep in mind, as you read this section that this ONLY deals with the
positioning of the fight. Much of this is well known by experts to the FPS
genre, but without it, philosophy 2 becomes next to useless.
The shotgun (like the other weapons) has excessive piercing damage -
through flesh, especially (though walls are no exception, buckshot into
drywall is a rather mean affair when compared to a rifle bullet). In
addition, the pump-action shotgun you generally begin with has 8 shots before
the reload. So you need to bloody make them count! Positioning properly will
make the difference.
There are, excluding special zombies (for which each scenario is
different), three typical situations a hand cannoneer may find themselves in.
The first is a general skirmish, the second is a swarm (we call them
s***storms in my circle), and the last is a regroup. Each of these will be
covered with respect to positioning.
First is the general skirmish. In this situation, the group may
either be in tight formation moving up an alley (NEVER bloody happens in pub
servers!) or loose formation, running around like chickens in the yard. There
aren’t a LOT of zombies, but there are a fair few, and they know you’re
around. In this situation, I hate to say it, but the shotgunner finds
themselves quickly outclassed by the other gun-toters. It is in these
situations that the range of the shotgun should be tested, while the other
guys do the grunt work. This is, however, that time for you to be a hero -
your position should be the center of the group (if formation is tight)
protecting teammates (with melee if you can’t get a clear shot), or simply
running about trying to lure zombies into lines (if the formation is loose).
I suggest luring zombies into lines, of course, because the piercing damage
frequently guarantees you a shot/kill ratio greater than 1.
Second is the s***storm. This is where the shotgunner shines. Your
best position is just in front of a bottleneck - either a doorway or a
hallway. ONE SHOTGUNNER, WITH ANY SHOTGUN, CAN HOLD ANY ONE BOTTLENECK WITH
NO HELP. This can be done using the efficiency philosophy in addition to the
positioning philosophy. If a storm cometh, yell, cajole, coerce, or otherwise
force your teammates back until this highly defensible spot is available.
From this position, the s***storm is reduced down to simple efficiency. It
is, of course, assumed that the other teammates are standing farther back and
watching other routes. Obviously you can’t shoot behind yourself. I think
this is a fair assumption, seeing how this is a team-based game.
"But what," you ask, "Do I do if caught in the open? In a lobby,
maybe?" Eliminate as many possible vectors as you can. Get against a wall,
or near a teammate (although in pub servers nobody seems to trust one another,
if you successfully communicate to the teammate "I’ll watch the right" and
they BELIEVE you and keep their attention to the left, things will be a titch
easier). If none are available, your positioning is reduced to simply ‘line
up zombies and shoot,’ which is more difficult than it sounds. Aim
specifically to shave off one ‘edge’ of a square of zombies attacking a
teammate. Melee often. I know this is a little useless, but the efficiency
philosophy will make s***storms a breeze. I’m not there, though, so bear
with me.
The final situation that is common is the regroup situation. More
often than not, if you’ve been efficient in dealing with a s***storm or boomer
attack, you’re the first one who is no longer surrounded by zombies. If your
teammates have rifles, though, they are in some serious trouble and are most
likely encircled. If they’re DOWN, this becomes real simple - point at the
crowd and shoot. Three well placed shots (along the right angles) often
removes this crowd. Aim for chest level or above, so as not to hit the
teammate.
If the teammate is NOT down, you must be more careful. Position
yourself to take down the edge of the circle that the teammate is not looking
at, aim at chest level and slightly AWAY from the interior of the circle
(where your friend is), and pull off a quick shot. From here, you can either
run in close and melee from directly behind your friend (to actively help them
see and hit more stuff), or you can get another angle and pick off another six
zombies with one shot. Both are acceptable moves - although the teammate’s
health (and server difficulty) should be taken into consideration. Friendly
fire can really piss someone off, and this operation is practically surgery!
Finally, quick advice for all situations - be sure to turn around and
melee now and then to keep the stragglers off of you!
==Philosophy 2: Efficiency (All That Stuff You Didn’t Already Know)== [103]
This is the part of the guide you should REALLY be reading.
Positioning is nice if you’re a pure sniper trying to figure out how to use a
shotgun, but most people are pretty skillful with ‘good to stand here - bad
to stand here’ stuff. However, NOBODY SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO RELOAD THE
SHOTGUN PROPER.
So here’s the deal. You have 10 shots and a pretty quick reload -
per - shot. It takes a LONG time to reload an empty clip. But there’s one
end-all secret to shotgun efficiency. Read it three times, now:
You can fire your weapon at ANY TIME during a reload on a HALF EMPTY
CLIP!
That’s right - if you hadn’t noticed, any time your clip reaches
‘empty,’ your character has to re-cock the weapon before firing. This isn’t
so bad on the pump-action shotgun, but it is HORRIFYINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THE
AUTO-SHOTGUN.
So never, ever, ever, EVER let your ammo counter reach zero! Tap that
R button EVERY TIME between shots, and slow down your firing rate! Remember -
YOU HAVE PIERCING AMMO. When the swarm cometh, take down a line of zombies -
four or five, maybe six - and hit that reload button. By the time that extra
shot is in the chamber, there’s another group ready for you to shoot, and
you’re still high and dry. If they’re coming FASTER than that (like if you’re
running into them), you can stop the reload and fire INSTANTLY as long as your
ammo counter never touched zero. Thus, there is NO PENALTY for reloading!
The other very important trick to note is the ability to reload during
melee. Poke the reload button FIRST and start hitting that right mouse button
like a madman. While you're whacking zombies, you can watch your ammo counter
go up. If the counter never hit zero, feel free to switch from melee to
gunfire without ever having a lull in the action.
The real take-home message is reload like you’re a soldier in Team
Fortress 2. Now then: to the three situations a street sweeper typically
faces.
The first situation is, as I’ve detailed, the skirmish. As I’ve
already stated, your friends have this part DOWN. Let them do your job. Your
ammo chamber should seldom get below 7 in this situation. Consistently
reload. This is a good time to practice hitting the R key.
The second situation is the s***storm. I have one rule of thumb, and
one time when you should break it. This rule of thumb is NEVER GO FULL AUTO.
You simply don’t NEED to. One shotgun blast is enough to remove almost all
infected within range of the blast. That second shot? Might damage some
infected further out that aren't a threat yet anyway. The third and fourth?
Practically pointless. By the time you STOP your full-auto panic reflex, you
have to reload - and THEN you’re in some trouble. If that ammo counter made
it to zero, you have to cock the weapon before you fire again - so your panic
reflex has effectively cost you an extra half-second of vulnerability, in
addition to the vulnerability time inherent in putting one shell in the
weapon. That's enough time for a zombie (or horde) to get within range and
hit you ONCE. On expert, that's near-fatal.
So position yourself as directed in Philosophy 1. Nice narrow door?
Simply fire and reload. Repeat. If they get REALLY close, give ‘em another
quick shot to give yourself more room. BUT RELOAD. If, for some reason, you
get down to 1 or 2 shots, start the reload and melee for a minute. Fire when
you feel you have enough in the chamber to warrant firing, and get back in the
saddle. S***storms are cake like this - even on expert.
But, as dealt with above, you’re seldom in such BEAUTIFUL positions.
Should you end up outside, or with little cover, there is one maneuver you
should be familiar with - the sweep. This is the one time you should break
the rule of thumb. Essentially, identify an arc of about 120 degrees from your
standing position where no teammates stand (or on "easy", identify an arc that
you’d simply like to be able to see through, teammates be damned). Start at
one end of the arc, and break the rule of thumb. Go full auto, and spin
through the arc. It takes a little practice not to spin too fast OR too slow,
but it’s a very easy maneuver to learn. As long as you’re careful with
friendly fire, this will break you out of circles very quickly. Be careful to
watch your ammo counter - if it gets down to 1, stop firing and start the
reload-melee cycle on the rest of the circle. From here, you’ve broken out
and can probably make it to a better position or free up teammates for the
regroup.
If the sweep is not a feasible maneuver, you’ve simply got to make do
with firing into the ranks. As always, do not fire QUICKLY, and never let
your ammo get to zero. This may seem counter intuitive - if you’re in a poor
position, you’ll be swarmed and tempted to fire too fast. Instead, let melee
be your friend. Fire, start the reload, melee into the horde two or three
times, fire a few times, and repeat the whole process. With the combination
of this and the sweep, s***storms - even when in a poor position - can become
very, very simple affairs in which you do not suffer damage. Your teammates
with their inferior weapons, though...
The regroup can be dealt with using the same tricks as given in
Philosophy 1, and the reload/melee/fire cycle as given above.
Although little information resides in this diatribe that cannot be figured
out otherwise, hopefully it was easier for you - and if I see you in game with
a shotgun, hopefully you won’t let me down by pulling the full-auto at every
opportunity!
Happy hunting!
==Contact info==
I can be reached at icarus777@hotmail.com. I often go by the pseudonym
"Myrmidon" in game.
Advanced Literature for the Hand Cannoneer
V 1.0
Dec 2, 2008
==Quick Copyright BS==
This guide may be reproduced only in full, unabridged, unedited textual format
on public or private free media (websites, papers, etc). Reproduction of the
guide does not require permission of the author, but does require that the
author be notified via the contact information below.
Any attempt to reproduce this guide in a medium requiring direct monetary
compensation for access by the general public will require the express,
permission of the author, including signature (digital or otherwise).
Just play nice, okay? I'm not requiring permission to post unless you're
going to charge some poor sap for the info. And if you're going to do that, I
probably am not going to give you permission anyway.
==Contents==
I. Log/Intro..................[100]
II. Philosophies of Buckshot...[101]
III. Philosophy 1: Positioning..[102]
IV. Philosophy 2: Efficiency...[103]
V. Contact info...............[104]
==Log/Intro== [100]
Oh, the shotgun. What would a zombie game be without a shotgun?
It’s not a difficult weapon to learn. I’m sure you’ve got ‘point,
shoot, and reload’ down by now, so I’ll skip the easy stuff. The point of
this guide is to simply illuminate you to a few subtle points, not hold your
hand from the beginning.
To get it out in the open, I’m writing this because no matter what
server I’m in, everyone takes the bloody hunting rifle or assault rifle.
And I’m certain they know exactly what they’re doing with it - really, I
believe them. But now and then I’ll see one of them decide to ‘branch out’ a
bit and dust off the ol’ street sweeper. And before you can say "this phrase
is a cliché!", they’ve spat their whole clip and someone’s chewing on their
head while they reload. No finesse. And without this barking piece of metal,
things can get real ugly, real fast.
So scoff if you must at a ‘guide to using the shotgun,’ but our good
friend the hand cannon deserves a little attention.
A quick aside - and in caps, for all the ‘skimmers’ - THE REALLY
IMPORTANT PART OF THIS GUIDE IS PHILOSOPHY 2. If you already know THAT stuff,
this guide is probably not so useful to you.
Dec 3, 2008: v1.0 finished and revised. Submitted to GameFAQs. Current as
of this date.
==Philosophies of Buckshot== [101]
There are two major (and simple) philosophies I would like to discuss
in this guide. The first is positioning, and can be used well with either
shotgun. The second is reload efficiency and, while not completely exclusive
to the automatic shotgun, is most useful when pumping is unnecessary.
Before I get to the philosophies, though, there are two simple points
of setup to deal with so that we're all on the same page. These concern
targeting and range.
Targeting: Clearly the shotgun is meant to be a CENTER OF BODY MASS
weapon, so don't aim for the noggin. Sure, all your friends will scoff at
your low headshot count while they smugly sit back and snipe, but they’ll
never quite figure out how YOU always have the ‘most infected killed’ award at
the end.
Range: The shotgun is moderate-to-short range, not just point-blank.
It IS possible - and quite feasible - to do a little moderate range firing.
Don’t expect miracles, but don’t pull out that pistol just yet. That group of
three out there by the cop car at the end of the alley? Move a TINY bit
closer and that’s one shot, three kills. Practice your range. It’ll make a
difference when you NEED to pop that smoker off your friend out there!
Now on to the good stuff!
==Philosophy 1: Positioning (All Good Shots go to Zombie)== [102]
Keep in mind, as you read this section that this ONLY deals with the
positioning of the fight. Much of this is well known by experts to the FPS
genre, but without it, philosophy 2 becomes next to useless.
The shotgun (like the other weapons) has excessive piercing damage -
through flesh, especially (though walls are no exception, buckshot into
drywall is a rather mean affair when compared to a rifle bullet). In
addition, the pump-action shotgun you generally begin with has 8 shots before
the reload. So you need to bloody make them count! Positioning properly will
make the difference.
There are, excluding special zombies (for which each scenario is
different), three typical situations a hand cannoneer may find themselves in.
The first is a general skirmish, the second is a swarm (we call them
s***storms in my circle), and the last is a regroup. Each of these will be
covered with respect to positioning.
First is the general skirmish. In this situation, the group may
either be in tight formation moving up an alley (NEVER bloody happens in pub
servers!) or loose formation, running around like chickens in the yard. There
aren’t a LOT of zombies, but there are a fair few, and they know you’re
around. In this situation, I hate to say it, but the shotgunner finds
themselves quickly outclassed by the other gun-toters. It is in these
situations that the range of the shotgun should be tested, while the other
guys do the grunt work. This is, however, that time for you to be a hero -
your position should be the center of the group (if formation is tight)
protecting teammates (with melee if you can’t get a clear shot), or simply
running about trying to lure zombies into lines (if the formation is loose).
I suggest luring zombies into lines, of course, because the piercing damage
frequently guarantees you a shot/kill ratio greater than 1.
Second is the s***storm. This is where the shotgunner shines. Your
best position is just in front of a bottleneck - either a doorway or a
hallway. ONE SHOTGUNNER, WITH ANY SHOTGUN, CAN HOLD ANY ONE BOTTLENECK WITH
NO HELP. This can be done using the efficiency philosophy in addition to the
positioning philosophy. If a storm cometh, yell, cajole, coerce, or otherwise
force your teammates back until this highly defensible spot is available.
From this position, the s***storm is reduced down to simple efficiency. It
is, of course, assumed that the other teammates are standing farther back and
watching other routes. Obviously you can’t shoot behind yourself. I think
this is a fair assumption, seeing how this is a team-based game.
"But what," you ask, "Do I do if caught in the open? In a lobby,
maybe?" Eliminate as many possible vectors as you can. Get against a wall,
or near a teammate (although in pub servers nobody seems to trust one another,
if you successfully communicate to the teammate "I’ll watch the right" and
they BELIEVE you and keep their attention to the left, things will be a titch
easier). If none are available, your positioning is reduced to simply ‘line
up zombies and shoot,’ which is more difficult than it sounds. Aim
specifically to shave off one ‘edge’ of a square of zombies attacking a
teammate. Melee often. I know this is a little useless, but the efficiency
philosophy will make s***storms a breeze. I’m not there, though, so bear
with me.
The final situation that is common is the regroup situation. More
often than not, if you’ve been efficient in dealing with a s***storm or boomer
attack, you’re the first one who is no longer surrounded by zombies. If your
teammates have rifles, though, they are in some serious trouble and are most
likely encircled. If they’re DOWN, this becomes real simple - point at the
crowd and shoot. Three well placed shots (along the right angles) often
removes this crowd. Aim for chest level or above, so as not to hit the
teammate.
If the teammate is NOT down, you must be more careful. Position
yourself to take down the edge of the circle that the teammate is not looking
at, aim at chest level and slightly AWAY from the interior of the circle
(where your friend is), and pull off a quick shot. From here, you can either
run in close and melee from directly behind your friend (to actively help them
see and hit more stuff), or you can get another angle and pick off another six
zombies with one shot. Both are acceptable moves - although the teammate’s
health (and server difficulty) should be taken into consideration. Friendly
fire can really piss someone off, and this operation is practically surgery!
Finally, quick advice for all situations - be sure to turn around and
melee now and then to keep the stragglers off of you!
==Philosophy 2: Efficiency (All That Stuff You Didn’t Already Know)== [103]
This is the part of the guide you should REALLY be reading.
Positioning is nice if you’re a pure sniper trying to figure out how to use a
shotgun, but most people are pretty skillful with ‘good to stand here - bad
to stand here’ stuff. However, NOBODY SEEMS TO UNDERSTAND HOW TO RELOAD THE
SHOTGUN PROPER.
So here’s the deal. You have 10 shots and a pretty quick reload -
per - shot. It takes a LONG time to reload an empty clip. But there’s one
end-all secret to shotgun efficiency. Read it three times, now:
You can fire your weapon at ANY TIME during a reload on a HALF EMPTY
CLIP!
That’s right - if you hadn’t noticed, any time your clip reaches
‘empty,’ your character has to re-cock the weapon before firing. This isn’t
so bad on the pump-action shotgun, but it is HORRIFYINGLY IMPORTANT FOR THE
AUTO-SHOTGUN.
So never, ever, ever, EVER let your ammo counter reach zero! Tap that
R button EVERY TIME between shots, and slow down your firing rate! Remember -
YOU HAVE PIERCING AMMO. When the swarm cometh, take down a line of zombies -
four or five, maybe six - and hit that reload button. By the time that extra
shot is in the chamber, there’s another group ready for you to shoot, and
you’re still high and dry. If they’re coming FASTER than that (like if you’re
running into them), you can stop the reload and fire INSTANTLY as long as your
ammo counter never touched zero. Thus, there is NO PENALTY for reloading!
The other very important trick to note is the ability to reload during
melee. Poke the reload button FIRST and start hitting that right mouse button
like a madman. While you're whacking zombies, you can watch your ammo counter
go up. If the counter never hit zero, feel free to switch from melee to
gunfire without ever having a lull in the action.
The real take-home message is reload like you’re a soldier in Team
Fortress 2. Now then: to the three situations a street sweeper typically
faces.
The first situation is, as I’ve detailed, the skirmish. As I’ve
already stated, your friends have this part DOWN. Let them do your job. Your
ammo chamber should seldom get below 7 in this situation. Consistently
reload. This is a good time to practice hitting the R key.
The second situation is the s***storm. I have one rule of thumb, and
one time when you should break it. This rule of thumb is NEVER GO FULL AUTO.
You simply don’t NEED to. One shotgun blast is enough to remove almost all
infected within range of the blast. That second shot? Might damage some
infected further out that aren't a threat yet anyway. The third and fourth?
Practically pointless. By the time you STOP your full-auto panic reflex, you
have to reload - and THEN you’re in some trouble. If that ammo counter made
it to zero, you have to cock the weapon before you fire again - so your panic
reflex has effectively cost you an extra half-second of vulnerability, in
addition to the vulnerability time inherent in putting one shell in the
weapon. That's enough time for a zombie (or horde) to get within range and
hit you ONCE. On expert, that's near-fatal.
So position yourself as directed in Philosophy 1. Nice narrow door?
Simply fire and reload. Repeat. If they get REALLY close, give ‘em another
quick shot to give yourself more room. BUT RELOAD. If, for some reason, you
get down to 1 or 2 shots, start the reload and melee for a minute. Fire when
you feel you have enough in the chamber to warrant firing, and get back in the
saddle. S***storms are cake like this - even on expert.
But, as dealt with above, you’re seldom in such BEAUTIFUL positions.
Should you end up outside, or with little cover, there is one maneuver you
should be familiar with - the sweep. This is the one time you should break
the rule of thumb. Essentially, identify an arc of about 120 degrees from your
standing position where no teammates stand (or on "easy", identify an arc that
you’d simply like to be able to see through, teammates be damned). Start at
one end of the arc, and break the rule of thumb. Go full auto, and spin
through the arc. It takes a little practice not to spin too fast OR too slow,
but it’s a very easy maneuver to learn. As long as you’re careful with
friendly fire, this will break you out of circles very quickly. Be careful to
watch your ammo counter - if it gets down to 1, stop firing and start the
reload-melee cycle on the rest of the circle. From here, you’ve broken out
and can probably make it to a better position or free up teammates for the
regroup.
If the sweep is not a feasible maneuver, you’ve simply got to make do
with firing into the ranks. As always, do not fire QUICKLY, and never let
your ammo get to zero. This may seem counter intuitive - if you’re in a poor
position, you’ll be swarmed and tempted to fire too fast. Instead, let melee
be your friend. Fire, start the reload, melee into the horde two or three
times, fire a few times, and repeat the whole process. With the combination
of this and the sweep, s***storms - even when in a poor position - can become
very, very simple affairs in which you do not suffer damage. Your teammates
with their inferior weapons, though...
The regroup can be dealt with using the same tricks as given in
Philosophy 1, and the reload/melee/fire cycle as given above.
Although little information resides in this diatribe that cannot be figured
out otherwise, hopefully it was easier for you - and if I see you in game with
a shotgun, hopefully you won’t let me down by pulling the full-auto at every
opportunity!
Happy hunting!
==Contact info==
I can be reached at icarus777@hotmail.com. I often go by the pseudonym
"Myrmidon" in game.
0
Comments
Hunting Rifle Field Guide
V 1.0
==Copyright==
This document may be reproduced on any site not requiring users to pay for it,
provided you first contact me and ask my permission and no wording is changed.
==Contents==
I. Log/Intro.............................[200]
II. Nothing like a well placed bullet.....[201]
III. Positioning...........................[202]
IV. Conservation..........................[203]
V. Teammates and specials................[204]
VI. Conclusion/Contact info...............[205]
==Log/Intro== [200]
There’s nothing like an automatic weapon to mow down those zombies.
Who wouldn’t want a gun that can shoot continuously for what… 3 seconds? The
assault rifle seems to be the gun that everyone grabs in Left 4 Dead, but
halfway through they just might be using their pistols. In terms of sheer
damage, nothing can beat the shotgun. But what if you want to do a little slice
and dice work? Or shoot that annoying smoker that managed the perfect 100 ft
smoke? Got a teammate surrounded by infected? What about that annoying effect
of infected just absorbing all your ammo? If you’ve ever been frustrated by
any of these situations, you might want to take a bit of time to get familiar
with the hunting rifle.
There are a few simple ideas that you need to keep in mind when using
the hunting rifle. You don’t just start being amazing at it. This guide is
intended to help you get on your feet, and keep you ahead of the game.
== Nothing like a well placed bullet == [201]
The hunting rifle is simply a semi-automatic sniping rifle. It carries
15 rounds that you can shoot of in next to no time at all if you keep
clicking. The beauty of this gun is what you can do with one or two well
placed shots. There are two distinct advantages to using the hunting rifle;
piercing (walls and especially zombies) and one shot infected kills. First,
the hunting rifle can pierce walls up to 1.5 ft thick, so long as its only one
wall. This means you should always put a careful shot through the walls near
doors and surprise that annoying boomer with an empty catch. It also means you
can kill about 20 zombies in one shot (more on this later.) Second, this
means that if you can see any part of a zombie, you can kill it! No need to
take the time to make sure you hit a head or torso, just shoot, relax, move on.
I’ll talk about relaxing more in the positioning section.
The other basic key to using the hunting rifle is the ability to do
tons of damage to special zombies. In fact, you can do one shot kills to
hunters and smokers with a headshot. Two torso shots will kill a hunter, and
three torso shots kill a smoker. The best part is you can do it from wherever
you can see them from. Just calmly take the time to make a headshot, and your
buddies will thank you! Remember that friendly fire doesn’t count when your
teammates are smoked or hunted.
== Positioning == [202]
In order to be more than just effective with the hunting rifle, you
have to know how to use it in those situations known as sh**storms. Find a
long clear path that will line up the zombies for you so you can take advantage
of your piercing ability. Aim at the farthest zombie you can see – the closest
ones will fall down! The trick then is simple; keep the angle that the zombies
are attacking you from to a minimum. Hallways are nice, too. You can usually
take two shots and clear 5-10 zombies just by shooting first the left side,
then the right side. Zombies sometimes take a lot of time to die, you'll have
to assume they die unless they keep moving toward you because you miss.
The second part of positioning is keeping your line of fire clear.
There is nothing worse than playing expert with a hunting rifle and shooting a
teammate. The hunting rifle instantly does 90 damage of friendly fire on
expert. To avoid this, I like to stay up on top of things like cars,
dumpsters, rocks, window ledges, picnic tables, and even the occasional tree
works perfectly for this. Another situation that can be difficult is the
“lets hide in the closet/small room†trick that seems to be the shotgunners
preferable spot. I find the best way to handle these situations is to
politely ask the people in front to stay down. If they don’t tell them that
the hunting rifle hurts! If they do stay down, aim just over their heads, and
calmly shoot first once, then move over a zombie width, shoot again, and
repeat. Trust that the people in front won’t let the zombies through. When
you do this, you maximize your ability to shoot through the zombies. The
shutgunners won’t understand how you get the most kills at the end of the
round.
== Conservation == [203]
The main problem with the hunting rifle is going through your whole
clip and suddenly realizing that you are surrounded by zombies. When I first
started playing with the hunting rifle, this was almost enough to make me
switch to one of the other guns. Soon, however, I learned that the trick to
dealing with this is to not shoot so fast in the first place! You can shoot
twice and effectively eliminate infected coming at you from a hallway. You
can shoot 8-10 times and clear a 360 degree area providing you follow a
careful pattern. First you shoot, then you aim, then you shoot, and keep doing
this. The trick is you have to find a zombie each time you shoot. Hopefully
there will be zombies behind the one you shoot at! Then, if you do run out of
ammo, melee while you are reloading just like the shotgun. You can melee twice
before the reload is complete. When clearing large open spaces, remember where
your teammates are. Zombies don’t stop bullets, so you’ll still hit your
friends if you start shooting like a madman.
When clearing a large open space try to line up zombies. Make those
bullets count! Look and listen for special zombies. You also need to make
sure not to get too distracted by just plinking away at errant zombies. If
your teammates leave you while you’re distracted, smokers and hunters might
come to keep you company instead. Also, remember that regular infected are more
dead than they look.
If you use these techniques, you won’t even have to think about
running out of ammo between refills. You’ll even have enough left over to put
a few clips in tanks and witches. Just remember that you are very vulnerable
while reloading. Stick next to your teammates!
== Teammates and specials == [204]
Playing with the hunting rifle can be distracting. It’s easy to get
focused on sniping zombies only to find out that the rest of the team decided
they were bored and moved on. Keep an eye out for your team at all times!
You need to know when they move, when they may be moving into your line of
fire, and when they need some help with special zombies. Teammates with
shotguns are much better at keeping open areas clear around a team. In cases
where you have alerted the hoard, there are usually groups of infected that
end up spilling out of a door and running at you in a line. Watch for this,
and try to thin the zombies out before they even get to your team. Fighting
a ton of zombies up close is stressful to the whole team, and people may
start to aim a little erratically! Keeping your calm while thinning things
out a bit might be the difference between moving on and a bullet in the back.
One of the worst things in the game is to have the infected
coordinate their attack. You’ve seen it happen: first you walk around the
corner and suddenly everyone on the team is vomited on by a stray boomer.
Then, just as the infected start rushing in, a hunter pounces on the guy on
your left! As you stumble away, a smoker grabs Zoey right in front of you!
Just as you think to help out, Francis is pounced on by yet another hunter.
You realize you’re the only one left, what do you do? The trick is headshots.
If the hunters are right next to you, you can melee them and let the victim
kill them while you move on. A single headshot will kill either a hunter
or a smoker. Take the extra half second it takes to aim and you won’t have
to shoot again. A good hunting rifle player can be the difference between a
successful ambush and a finished round.
Tanks and witches pose other problems for the whole team. Witches are
quick and hard to hit while moving, but the hunting rifle can stun her
for 4-6 seconds, while you and the rest of the team deal damage. Headshots do
more damage than torso shots, so aim carefully, and the witch shouldn’t be a
problem. Hunting rifles do the least amount of damage to the tank, so you have
to be careful to be far enough away that you can safely zoom -- and therefore
shoot accurately very quickly. Another thing that a player using hunting
rifles should be on the watch out for is the errant propane tank. Propane
tanks are extremely useful on Tanks. They do a ton of damage, and they
disorient the tank for 2-3 seconds. The hunting rifle is perfect for sniping
the propane tank as the tank approaches, keeping everyone safely out of the
way.
== Conclusion/Contact info == [205]
Key things to remember using the hunting rifle:
1. DO NOT shoot your teammates
2. Shoot slowly and carefully
3. Watch for specials
4. Guard hallways and narrow places
5. Take advantage of the zombie piercing (infinite)
6. One shot kills; no headshot required (they are more dead than they
look!)
7. Watch for special zombies! - headshot required
8. Call for help when you are surrounded
9. Stay with the group
10. DO NOT shoot your teammates – really!
Thanks!
Please feel free to contact me with questions about tactics!
~CannonFodder
cannonfodder1313@googlemail.com
Seriously, though, that's awesome.
Notice at the end of the article. AKA - Myrmidon. Sound familiar?????
Good guides Cannonfodder and Myrmidon. I probably learned more from the shotgun guide, due to my own experimentation with the hunting rifle.
Basic overall principle is to not panic! Once you start crapping yourself you're going to have to change underwear, and it's just not good for your team. Seriously it's important.
This is also the reason I usually sport a molotov over a pipe bomb. It's all fine and dandy until the tank comes and your team collapses.
This may be due to the fact that Myrmidon is a much better writer