Is it just me or does versus mode suck horribly when playing as the infected? The infected seem to be hard to use with stupidly low HP when the human team have automatic weapons and the ability to heal. If anyone has any tips as to how to make this mode actually any fun it would be most appreciated.
It could probably do with a bit of balancing - people are getting much better at defending against special infected. I wouldn't say it's stupidly hard though - it's as much about teamwork as singleplayer is.
It's getting harder, but still just as fun. Hunter: get high *teehee* - a long pounce will take off 25hp in one hit before you even start shredding your target like a crispy duck. Pouncee whoever's furthest away from the rest of their team so noone will knock you off and you get some hits in. Pounce whoever isn't blinded by boomer bile/being constricted - yeah, I've seen hunters kill steal. If you can see the enemy keep crouched - don't run, pounce! jump off everything you can - a moving target's harder to hit. Smoker: spawn behind the team. Pull them backwards through the map - slow down their progress. Pull them upwards from above or into an obstacle (random junk, car etc.) so you start constricting without the tedious dragging. Boomer: spawn ahead of the team and surprise them by waiting round corners etc. Don't always vomit - you can't move and are an open target so bear in mind you take fall damage unlike other infected (you can jump off roofs as a suicide move to cover the team in bile) or just stay close enough to them that you explode on them. Tank: rush them. Rush them now. Stay as close as you can and swing like a madman. I'll post more tips as I think of them.
Always go for the guy at the back, or the one rushing infront. Team up with a hunter/boomer or smoker/hunter if possible. Try to take down 2 at a time As hunter, if outside, double jump massive distances, and they usually can't tell where your coming from Other than that, pray.
ROFL @ Biosniper earlier: *Bindi Joins* Bio: ..what? oh yea, shame we can't password protect it really. Bindi: Is that a kind way to say "**** off"? Bio: Ooh, no, not what I meant.. *Bindi watches Bio squirm*
Sorry man. It wasn't my game and we had just lost a player due to poor pings (some people really need better ISP's) We really should get a nice little bit game going some time though. On track though I do feel better that its not just me that finds it hard to play as infected
I just had my first go at vs mode tonight, and loved it. I agree that you have to be in a team that works well together though. Wait for a Boomer to distract them, then pick them off one by one, or just attack the person on their own. So much fun
Ahh... vs mode is iffy for me... as survivors we always end up having a tough time, and when i play as infected I have an even harder time... I just find the boomer useless, the smoker is decent, but sometimes it's hard to find good places to hide / up high to constrict... hunters my favourite just because its quick, and is really fun, but always have trouble getting anyone as they always soo close together and always get booted off... tank is fun as hell, usually start with the brick to get 1 / 2 people out of the way, and as one goes to save the other just charge in and swing hoping for the best... did win a round for my team like that, got 2 with a brick and the other 2 were shooting / running to save team mates, while my team mates attacked
Lots of people think Boomer is useless, but I find it to be the most useful in the later levels - there's nothing quite as distracting (and useful for the other infected) than 4 blind, swarmed survivors who start panicking.
I've found that when playing as infected I get most points as boomer, if you manage to get all four survivors in a pretty open space the points just rack up especially if a couple of hunter pounce at the same time.
It's not that unbalanced, playing as Infected just needs more practice than playing as Survivors, and thus it seems harder at first. I <3 No Mercy campaign on Versus. Playing as Infected when you're still out in the streets is properly good. Lots of roof leaping
Personally, at the moment, its not that well balanced... I think the times between spawning need to be cut a bit really.
I find it to be quite nicely balanced if you're playing with a bunch of good players. It loses balance when player skill is more diverse, and I figure that's exactly how it should be. I especially like how winning as the infected is just as team-reliant as escaping as the survivors - I think that's a bit of a masterstroke of balancing in itself. Playing as the hunter is definitely my favourite, but I find it easiest to rack up points as the Boomer. I hated the smoker at first because he dies so easily, without the instant gratification and 'coolness' of the hunter, but it warmed on me as I improved with the Smoker as a player, taking it at the right pace and with patience. Choosing the perfect moment to snare a survivor and end their run is very satisfying as a smoker. For instance, when 1 player is already dead and the other 2 have just been pounced by Hunters or otherwise incapacitated, and you snare the last person standing from the top of a building or from behind an obstacle.. I can see the sense in the times between spawning as an infected, it'd be far too frantic and unbalanced if the infected could spawn more often. I just wish they'd allow the infected players to spawn as one of the weakling horde zombies during those 20 seconds, to take the tedium out of it.
A few things that would greatly enhance the experience might be: Melee - Melee attacks to zombies should deal zero damage. This attack should only be used as a defensive measure to push back zombies. Being able to take down hunters with a few swipes from your rifle butt, is poor. AI Director - Human controlled. Tanks - Never spawn at beginning of round. Found the beast pretty much impossible to deal with right at the beginning of a level with basic weapons. A better option maybe a points based system whereby if one of the infected does enough damage to survivors in a round, the tank option becomes available.
The Special Infected are at a huge disadvantage vs human players with a shred of skill. A simple melee attack nullifies anything you can ever do. Melee owns hunters. Melee instantly frees survivors from the smoker, melee knocks the boomer and stuns it for an easy kill. Basically, with the hunter you HAVE to get a really good pounce in order to do any damage because there's simply no way you're going to damage an organized team just from jumping on someone and slashing them. Indoors, especially hallways, you're useless. With the smoker you have to try and wait for some kind of chaos to ensue before grabbing someone. If you try to grab someone when the team isn't distracted you're as good as dead. Not only are you immobile when choking (and a fine target), but a simple melee attack will free your target. Again, indoors, you're such an easy target it's laughable. With the Boomer you have to try and surprise your foes, ambush them in a tight spot, and try to puke on them to cause some chaos. 9 times out of 10 you're gonna die right after you vomit, but if you hit some of them you did your job. Of course, your efforts are gonna go to waste because any good player will just hold right-click and sip their tea until the puke wears off. Alone, any infected class is pointless and ineffective. It's when you combine all of their abilities in an organized way you can really screw the survivors over. I have no problem with that general concept but the simple truth of the matter is that it's about 10x harder to organize an attack as the infected because it's so much harder to play as them. The Survivors have automatic weapons, heals, the ability to be rescued twice before death (if they don't heal), and the almighty melee attack of God himself. The survivors can effortlessly counter anything the specials do, and the specials suffer MUCH greater from making a simple mistake like letting a survivor see you for 2 seconds and being instantly killed, putting you out of the match for 20 seconds. It's just not as FUN to play as the specials because you need to work 10x harder to accomplish anything. I think a great way to give the specials a bit of an edge is to make it so that when a survivor melee attacks a special they BOTH get pushed back and stunned momentarily. This'll give the special a chance to escape rather just just get beat down like a bitch. Up front damage from getting smoked would be a decent buff for the smoker class, also. For the boomer, how about making it so a melee attack against the boomer pushes the survivor back but doesn't effect the boomer? This would allow the boomer a much greater chance of getting the vomit off and helping the team. If none of that, how about not having to wait 20 damn seconds to respawn? That would be nice.
I wish the game had more content... it kinda lacks guns and as fun as it is, it's going to get boring fast
There's more supposedly on the way. Valve have mentioned converting the other 2 campaigns for use in Versus mode, and hinted at adding more weapons. I personally don't see the need for more weapons, though.. Shooters have relied on a standard practice of filling the player's top row of number keys with weapons as they progress through a singleplayer FPS since the days of Doom. Firing guns is generally the focal point of an FPS, so adding more weapons is usually the most convenient way to add variety and a consistent novelty-factor in a game design that doesn't vary much from start to finish. L4D, on the other hand, includes a set of weapons to fit with its Horror movie theme; ones which are balanced quite well for its style of gameplay and relatively short campaigns.
There is a little hack to get deathtoll and dead air maps to work in versus, everyone needs to do this to play. Its good though, though not perfect at all! http://left4deadforums.com/1669-deathtoll-deadair-maps-versus.html
It needs new campaigns first and foremost. Versus support is OK, but it's still the same levels. Weapons would be nice, but not really anything new.
