Finite Improbability

This is a repost of something I wrote for the forums. Now that it’s lost to that refuse heap I thought it could also wait out its days in solitude here. If you haven’t played the video game “Left 4 Dead”, this will probably be just about unintelligible.

It’s understandable that a lot of people don’t really understand the Tank. He’s a rare spawn in general, and splitting the chance to play as him with three other people means little chance to practice. This affects the survivors too, as his scarcity makes getting experience dealing with him more difficult. That said, here’s a bunch of things about the Tank that people either don’t know, don’t think about, or are just flat out wrong on:

1. We should run like headless chickens:

This is just about never the solution, especially on VS. In most Tank encounters the real problem isn’t the Tank, it’s the other infected. Don’t panic and run like nuts, carefully stay out of his range and concentrate on keeping the area clear of other infected. They move faster than you do, the Tank (usually) doesn’t. A single normal infected can mean the difference between escaping unscathed and as that big wall of muscle turns you into a pothole.

The other problem here is that, while everyone is busy running away, they aren’t shooting him. The real approach to handling a Tank is to work as a group to keep your distance from him, and whoever isn’t being chased by him is shooting him in the ass. There’s two reasons for this: A) it does damage, which will eventually kill him (that’s the point, remember), and B) being shot temporarily slows him down, so being shot continuously will give his pursuee breathing room. This is key for saving someone who is < 50 health, or who runs into an unexpected obstruction. Try it, it works.

1. Set him on fire, then run like headless chickens:

In addition to all of the problems above, (in co-op only) setting the Tank on fire makes him run faster, which also means he runs faster than you. If your teammates are busy running in three separate directions he can now easily catch up to you and turn you into a pothole. Fire is great insurance against the Tank, but it won’t kill him fast enough to make a difference on all but the easiest difficulties. Fire+scatter is just as lethal in VS as scattering is.

1. As Tank, the rock throw is useless:

This just isn’t true. In some situations where the survivors are grouped together somewhere that puts you in easy range of a molotov and/or spray of bullets, it’s better to hang back and go for some rock throws from a safe distance. Picking up a rock tends to make anyone you aren’t pointed at brave, and makes them forget that the direction of the throw isn’t determined until just before it happens. Learn to grab a rock and do a last second turn and throw at someone pelting you in the back. It’s pretty much the only option to handle survivors that are kiting you well if your buddies let you down.

1. As a Tank, I should just charge in and do some DAMAGE!!!:

No, you shouldn’t. Well, maybe, but it isn’t that simple. You start out with a lot of rage time (I think 40 seconds). Take advantage of it. If the survivors keep advancing, look for the best spot to hit them (tight hallways) and bide your time. At the least, give your teammates time to spawn in and help you. If need be, try to get a distance rock throw in and retreat with your freshly regenerated rage timer. Like any other class in the game, the Tank depends on teamwork to get the job done. The only reason this doesn’t seem true is also the point of this post: statistically, no one knows how to deal with a Tank.

The other problem with charging in is that it’s predictable, and can be costly. On the NM5 roof the absolute worst thing to do is charge right through minigun fire at the survivors. Congrats on losing half of your health before you even get close to anyone. You’ll probably get set on fire too. If you hang back, especially if you run around the roof for an alternate route, you can hit them from a better position and give your teammates time to distract them. A survivor ready to throw a molly looks pretty distinctive, and there’s nothing funnier than owning up as a Tank because you waited long enough for a hunter to pounce the guy trying to set you on fire.

Parking a tank is pretty much sitting somewhere and letting your rage run out, so the tank remains stationary until triggered by the survivors, like in Campaign. The most notable place to do this is in NM4, in the final safe room. Not very honorable, but if the survivors are vent camping (behind the elevator) with a full stock of mollies and auto shotties, it’s just the way to stick it to them.

(Portion in *’s is courtesy of OmNomNomNom, thanks)

1. As a Tank, I should hit anything I can reach:

Usually, this is true, but if one of your teamates has pounced or grabbed a survivor your new priority is to protect that situation at all costs. In practice, a Hunter pounce does more DPS than Tank punches unless you consistently land every single punch as fast as you can swing (hint: no). If one of your teammates has a survivor, do your best to keep the rest busy and away from him. At the very least, don’t knock him free. Given that you have the ability to hit anyone else, you’re cutting into the team’s DPS by doing so.

1. As a Tank, I should hurry up or else I’ll lose control:

This can be a good thing. IMO they shouldn’t have put individual scores for infected in L4D, it just encourages people to play for their score instead of for the team’s benefit. Sometimes you need to wait for the right moment to strike, and sometimes that moment is after your rage timer expires. In my opinion it’s usually better to run in rather than let the AI take over, so if you’re the second one with it take your best chance within the rage timer. The only time this doesn’t work is if you’re trying to park him somewhere, but that’s obvious.

Other important facts:

1. The Tank’s swing takes a little time to connect. Try to lead your swing a bit if you’re running up to a survivor. Otherwise you give them a little time to get out from in front of you before they get hit.

2. The rock throw doesn’t auto fire if it’s held down after it charges. You have to spam the button if you’re trying to bombard the survivors.

3. In co-op, fire makes the Tank run faster. Be sure you have plenty of space to run around him, and are able to kite him around something while everyone else shoots him. In VS, it’s just about a win-win, just make sure you don’t have to run through the fire too much.

4. Vents and windows seriously slow down the Tank. Abuse/avoid this as appropriate. In co-op NM5, jumping through the window gives you a good 10-20s of shooting gallery time while he squeezes his fat ass through (portion in *’s courtesy of thomasng1989)

5. The AI Tank likes to climb stuff. If you’re kiting him around something watch for him to try and shortcut over it.

6. Meleeing an AI Tank in the back will cause him to focus on you. Use this to get his attention away from a downed survivor. Melee him and run away shooting to keep his attention. Only do this if the other two survivors are there to fire on him as well, otherwise it’s probably suicide. This is just about the only way to save someone on Expert.

7. You can shoot the rock. If you’re out in the open, do this. If you’ve got any kind of cover, that’s probably the better alternative. It takes a few hits to break, so don’t be surprised if this fact doesn’t always give you rock immunity.

8. Explosions (propane tanks, pipe bombs) stagger the Tank. They also do a decent bit of damage. Hitting him with a pipe bomb probably won’t happen, but if you can get him to run over a propane tank or three when you shoot them it can do a lot to help.

9. Unless you’re in green (correction: above 40 health), he runs faster than you. So if you’re in anything less than green the Tank music is your cue to heal up, get your pills ready, or put some distance between you and him and make peace with your maker. As a Tank, be aware that there’s a ten point range where someone having a yellow outline does not mean you can catch them.

Sections in *’s courtesy of madcap, among others.

1. Hitting survivors with an object (car, tree trunk, generator, anything outlined in red) is the fastest way to take them from green to incap. Go for it when possible, but watch out for situations (like the NM2 room below the generator room) where survivors can easily duck behind obstructions.

2. If you aren’t the Tank, he needs you to help slow the survivors down. They run faster than he does, but not if they’re Boomered and surrounded by commons. Likewise it’s pretty easy to meet the survivors at their target when they’re running to help a buddy who’s been pinned or tongued … or hit them with a rock while they’re doing so.

3. Avoid fire at all costs. Many survivors will throw their molotov ahead of you a bit early to give themselves more room to run. Watch their outlines; if they have the molly out look for the opportunity to stop short of running into flames. If you are on fire, you’ve only got a limited amount of time to go do some damage, make everything you do count.

4. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t do well. Sometimes you get outplayed, or your teammates don’t help, or you just get unlucky. If you tried to do what I outlined in this guide and still didn’t do much damage, examine how you (or your teammates) deviated from the suggestions or maybe how the survivors really did outplay you. I very probably do not know everything about the Tank, maybe you can learn something from your defeat and have something to share. Above all, anyone balling you out for not doing well is a punk or just a poor sport, don’t bother listening. Take constructive criticism and spend some time thinking about what (if anything) went wrong.

5. Memorize the finale sequence, and be prepared to help the Tank after the second infected wave. If you get the Tank, make sure to spawn your current infected in before he gets control, a bot infected is better than none at all.

6. If the survivors are doing a great job staying out of your reach, look for a good way to quickly get behind cover. Give your teammates a chance to distract them or give them a chance to slip up and give you an opening.

7. As survivors, be sure to have at least one person with an automatic weapon (Uzi/M16). Since every bullet slows the tank down on impact, these guns do a great job of keeping him away from everyone else. Also, take advantage of the minigun any time you can. It does great damage and also works to slow him down.

8. In stages where it is applicable (namely, NM4/NM5), look for opportunities to knock survivors off the edge of the building. This is a one-hit death for them, and can often be achieved by strafing as you move to position yourself opposite the edge of the building from the survivor. As a survivor, prefer taking a hit from the Tank to putting yourself between him and the ledge. Get off the top of the building (with the mini-gun nest) in NM5 as soon as you can to avoid being punted off. Any of the elevated areas in this level are dangerous, but it is usually difficult for a Tank to position himself to knock you from the lower levels.

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