More Info here
Where? Augusta Expoland - Fishersville, Virginia
When? 9am June 27th - 5pm June 28th 2009
How Much? Prepay cost-$15, Pay at the door-$20, General admission-$5(included in participation cost)
What to bring: Computer, Monitor, Keyboard and Mouse, Headset, 25-50ft Network Cable, money for food and drinks
this event is not hosted by Shevalan, and it sounds like they really have a stronger plan than we ever did, I expect a much bigger turn out.
Hope to see you all there.
the PCGN has a website here, forums and such for more information on games played and who is attending.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Newbies Guide to Left4Dead Versus - Part 1
I'm still to this day very addicted to Left4Dead, there is no other game as unique or challenging that L4D's versus mode, but I notice it's very tough to get a good team and people still really don't use or even seem to know basic tactical advantages, so I thought it would be a good time to write up another guide to some of the basics.
Survivors
There are a few simple rules that if your team follows them, there is very little you can not handle.
1. Stay close, very close.. If you are always within 3-4 feet of a team mate it becomes very unlikely you will take much damage from a hunter or such. Noone should run off ahead, or lag behind.
2. Keep your eyes on your team mates constantly, always be aware exactly where they are at all times, worry more about their lives than your own.
3. Melee often, if you are close to a team member who was pounced or smoked, melee them free(keep meleeing hunter until he is dead).
*edit April 2009* as of a recent patch they have added a melee fatigue, you get about 5-6 swipes before you wear down, so now you want to use your gun more, but still try to melee mixed with shooting*
4. When boomed seek each other out, get to a wall/corner and just everyone melee.. save ammo for when you need it, meleeing will keep you from taking damage and it will kill all zombies who come at you.
5. When someone is pulled by a smoker do not let one person go alone to save him, stay as a team, it's a common trick to smoke someone and let a hunter take down his savior.
6. Tanks- it's important to remember that separated you stand little chance against a tank, but together you can kick it's ass easily. With Second level weapons(auto shotty, M16) concentrated fire as a team will bring him down in seconds, don't scatter, make a stand. If you have tier 1 weapons (Shotgun/Uzi) you will need to move, but still shoot together. Obviously you want to catch him on fire but do not separate, run together while shooting, else hunters/smokers will tear you up. If boomered, make a stand together, concentrated fire can still bring him down before anyone is killed if you do it together.
*edit April 2009* the patch also changed the tank up making him a bit scarier, you still want to stay very close but far enough apart he can not get you all in one hit(he can not hit multiple people in one swing), if you can into an open area you can outrun him, try to get him on fire and run around while shooting, stay clear of objects he can hit (cars, forklifts, dumpsters, hailbails, large logs), if you get an early tank and have crappy weapons, go to safe room or a large room get one person per corner and just all shoot him as much as you can, 2 people will go down but you will take down the tank if you do this right.*
7. Get to know the maps, there are so many commonly used tactics, if you know these tactics you will almost always know what to expect, there are just some places boomers ALWAYS spawn, you know that in the finale of No Mercy the entire infected team will be waiting atop the ladder to jump you all. Again if you work together, its no big deal.
8. Don't shoot the witch unless you know what you are doing, to crown a witch you need a shotgun, autopreffered, run up to her, get up against her close and when she stands up wail on her head. If someone shoots her from a distance everyone needs to join in shooting her or else that person will be down.
Infected
1. Don't keep randomly jumping in, to be effective you need to work as a team, use the tips below for each class but try to do these attacks together, it will allow at least one of you to do more damage than usual.
The Hunter
1. Use Distance and Height to your advantage, if you land on someone by jumping from a very high rooftop chances are you will do 15-25 initial damage, the further you jump the more velocity you build up, the more velocity you build up the more damage you do on impact. don't just jump someone from 20 feet away, aim upwards to make longer jumps. If you miss a big pounce don't just repounce, jump away and either reposition for a big pounce, or if you don't have time for that find a nearby tall wall and do a wall jump from it to pounce them, this will make the difference between an 8-15 HP pounce and a 0hp pounce.
2.(Edit this is no longer true since recent patch, only molitav fire is still effective) Fire is your friend- I get extremely frustrated when I'm playing and my team mates spawn near fire yet do not jump in and catch themselves on fire before pouncing, when on fire you do +10 to every strike, if you land on someone while on fire they will go from green to red in under 4 seconds. Use fire as hunter every chance you have, you will wear them down so fast this way and it's the most effective thing you can do PERIOD. Get to know where every fire pit/barrel is, look for them to use molotavs, always take the time to catch yourself on fire before striking.
3. Aim High- there will be moments that survivors know you are after them, they get in a corner and melee and there is little you can do to jump them, if you aim over them you will then hit the wall and drop straight down to them, this is the only way to easily pounce someone who is meleeing.
Boomer
1. Use any height advantage you can, if you stick to rooftops and cliffsides you can puke on survivors without them ever seeing you.
2. Use cover, spawn behind trains and puke between them, do anything you can to not be in plain site of the survivors else they will kill you and you will have little chance.
3. Do NOT spawn behind survivors unless you are very close and they are not moving, always get ahead of them.
4. Preemptive attack- there is a delay to your puke, the best thing you can practice is aiming for where the survivors are going and begin the puke milliseconds before they are in plain sight. This way the walk into your puke instead of walking around the corner and shooting you before you can get it out.
5. Once you have wasted your puke and you miss, don't be afraid to run in and start slashing/blocking, if you do this right one of them will shoot you and get covered in puke doing so.
6. *added april 2009* also, if you have moments where you find a narrow ledge, try to come out of a closet or area where the survivor is between you and that ledge (No Mercy 4 is a prime example), if they kill you anyone between you and that ledge will fly off.
Smoker-
I'll be honest, I hate being the smoker.. it serves a great purpose but I find the tongue to be so finicky. But what I do know about him.
1. Use High Ground/cover and wait for the right moments, don't every jump a team in tunnels, always look for bushs/trees to hide in, a rooftop, something that keeps you from being exposed to direct gunfire when you smoke someone.
2. be patient, there are so many places where a team will need to drop down in which once there they can not get back up, the sewers is a prime example, watch those areas, wait for the moment to grab that last person as they are trying to drop.. if you nab them, they are all yours.
3. Look for ledges with no guardrails, there are many places like NM3 where survivors take the lift and walk across the rooftop, be down below ready to smoke one, they will take massive fall damage and be separated from their team. On Blood Harvest 2 or 3(can't recall which one it is) there is an area right at the start where they walk out of a window and have to follow catwalks to a plank they can walk down.. if you smoker them from the middle (the side with no rails) you can again do fall damage and anyone rushing to save them will also take such damage).
4. *added April 2009* We have recently seen an easy way to play Death Toll and Dead Air, if not too much changes in dead air it's going to remain a smokers paradise, there are a lot of planks the survivors need to cross, hitting them from an angle as smoker instantly leaves them hanging on for their life.
5. *added April 2009* always study the maps, look for any place you can pull them down a long distance, fall damage is a bonus, there are many places you can pull survivors where they have to completely redo an area alone.. it's vital to learn these (example, blood harvest 4, there is a house survivors come to where they exit a window before heading right to the saferoom, if you get by the house at it's entrance between house and train, you can pull them all the way back over making them have to go through the entire house again, buys you some time.
Tank
People really make the mistake of thinking the tank is all powerful and unstoppable and they use next to no strategy with him. Everyone wants to play as tank, it's rare and it's fun but do NOT sacrifice a win just because you don't wish to sacrifice your turn.
1. Use as much stealth as possible, stay in trees and as out of site as possible when moving towards the survivors, keep your eyes on their outlines to see what they are doing, are they all under the stairs waiting for you? maybe in a vent? do you see one with their arm cocked back? that one has a molotav and is ready to light you up.
2. *edit April 2009* this is no longer true, vents will no longer slow you down but still try to wait a bit so your team can set you up with slowing them down* Don't fall for pussy tactics, if they rush into a vent don't follow them into it, you will be stuck and they will kill you in seconds.. see Rule #3
3.*since a recent patch this is no longer true, tank will now attack once he becomes AI* There is no shame in parking the tank if they are using such a tactic as in #2, look if they are not willing to come out and fight then they are using pussy tactics, why should you owe them any less? if they are it's time to park the tank. Tank parking consists of taking the tank to a good spot that you will want them to have to face him. Put him in the vents above the elevator trigger in NM4, put him in a closet by the ledge on the upstairs of NM4.. anywhere he will catch them by surprise. The way the tank works is if the person controlling him goes a certain amount of time without doing damage to a survivor another player gets a turn (make sure the team is aware of the plan to park the tank), the second player will stay in the spot you put him in or finish getting him there if you did not have time, once control is lost the tank will be inactive until they get close to him again, this time the tank will be controlled by the computer, so you want your team to be ready to strike at this time, being he is computer controlled that means there is 4 human controlled infected+ tank t0 pull this off. Keep in mind the computer tank never misses his throws, but when he gets someone down he will focus on them until they are dead, so you will need to keep the rest of the survivors busy so he does not die too fast.
4. Tank parking is not acceptable on finales, they can not finish the level until the second tank is dead, to park the final tank would be cheap and lame, don't sink to that level.
5. Use any ledges to your advantage, any place a person can fall to their death, you want to punch them into that death, the ledges on No Mercy 4, or just off the building in No Mercy Finale (can be done easily from the higher points of the map)
The Witch
You don't get to play as the witch, you can still use her, have the team ready to jump at the witch, smoke someone into her, and jump the team once she is riled up so they can't kill her, do not let them crown her.. jump them and she will assist you.
That is all for now, I think this should be a good starting point, follow the practices and you should do fairly well, just remember that unlike most competitive games this one is NOT about you, it's about the team, look after them always and they will do the same for you. If someone is not doing a good job don't get angry and don't be a dick, you were new once too, give them advice and you will be surprise how much it can pull together by doing so.
Additional Comments from Readers
Survivors
There are a few simple rules that if your team follows them, there is very little you can not handle.
1. Stay close, very close.. If you are always within 3-4 feet of a team mate it becomes very unlikely you will take much damage from a hunter or such. Noone should run off ahead, or lag behind.
2. Keep your eyes on your team mates constantly, always be aware exactly where they are at all times, worry more about their lives than your own.
3. Melee often, if you are close to a team member who was pounced or smoked, melee them free(keep meleeing hunter until he is dead).
*edit April 2009* as of a recent patch they have added a melee fatigue, you get about 5-6 swipes before you wear down, so now you want to use your gun more, but still try to melee mixed with shooting*
4. When boomed seek each other out, get to a wall/corner and just everyone melee.. save ammo for when you need it, meleeing will keep you from taking damage and it will kill all zombies who come at you.
5. When someone is pulled by a smoker do not let one person go alone to save him, stay as a team, it's a common trick to smoke someone and let a hunter take down his savior.
6. Tanks- it's important to remember that separated you stand little chance against a tank, but together you can kick it's ass easily. With Second level weapons(auto shotty, M16) concentrated fire as a team will bring him down in seconds, don't scatter, make a stand. If you have tier 1 weapons (Shotgun/Uzi) you will need to move, but still shoot together. Obviously you want to catch him on fire but do not separate, run together while shooting, else hunters/smokers will tear you up. If boomered, make a stand together, concentrated fire can still bring him down before anyone is killed if you do it together.
*edit April 2009* the patch also changed the tank up making him a bit scarier, you still want to stay very close but far enough apart he can not get you all in one hit(he can not hit multiple people in one swing), if you can into an open area you can outrun him, try to get him on fire and run around while shooting, stay clear of objects he can hit (cars, forklifts, dumpsters, hailbails, large logs), if you get an early tank and have crappy weapons, go to safe room or a large room get one person per corner and just all shoot him as much as you can, 2 people will go down but you will take down the tank if you do this right.*
7. Get to know the maps, there are so many commonly used tactics, if you know these tactics you will almost always know what to expect, there are just some places boomers ALWAYS spawn, you know that in the finale of No Mercy the entire infected team will be waiting atop the ladder to jump you all. Again if you work together, its no big deal.
8. Don't shoot the witch unless you know what you are doing, to crown a witch you need a shotgun, autopreffered, run up to her, get up against her close and when she stands up wail on her head. If someone shoots her from a distance everyone needs to join in shooting her or else that person will be down.
Infected
1. Don't keep randomly jumping in, to be effective you need to work as a team, use the tips below for each class but try to do these attacks together, it will allow at least one of you to do more damage than usual.
The Hunter
1. Use Distance and Height to your advantage, if you land on someone by jumping from a very high rooftop chances are you will do 15-25 initial damage, the further you jump the more velocity you build up, the more velocity you build up the more damage you do on impact. don't just jump someone from 20 feet away, aim upwards to make longer jumps. If you miss a big pounce don't just repounce, jump away and either reposition for a big pounce, or if you don't have time for that find a nearby tall wall and do a wall jump from it to pounce them, this will make the difference between an 8-15 HP pounce and a 0hp pounce.
2.(Edit this is no longer true since recent patch, only molitav fire is still effective) Fire is your friend- I get extremely frustrated when I'm playing and my team mates spawn near fire yet do not jump in and catch themselves on fire before pouncing, when on fire you do +10 to every strike, if you land on someone while on fire they will go from green to red in under 4 seconds. Use fire as hunter every chance you have, you will wear them down so fast this way and it's the most effective thing you can do PERIOD. Get to know where every fire pit/barrel is, look for them to use molotavs, always take the time to catch yourself on fire before striking.
3. Aim High- there will be moments that survivors know you are after them, they get in a corner and melee and there is little you can do to jump them, if you aim over them you will then hit the wall and drop straight down to them, this is the only way to easily pounce someone who is meleeing.
Boomer
1. Use any height advantage you can, if you stick to rooftops and cliffsides you can puke on survivors without them ever seeing you.
2. Use cover, spawn behind trains and puke between them, do anything you can to not be in plain site of the survivors else they will kill you and you will have little chance.
3. Do NOT spawn behind survivors unless you are very close and they are not moving, always get ahead of them.
4. Preemptive attack- there is a delay to your puke, the best thing you can practice is aiming for where the survivors are going and begin the puke milliseconds before they are in plain sight. This way the walk into your puke instead of walking around the corner and shooting you before you can get it out.
5. Once you have wasted your puke and you miss, don't be afraid to run in and start slashing/blocking, if you do this right one of them will shoot you and get covered in puke doing so.
6. *added april 2009* also, if you have moments where you find a narrow ledge, try to come out of a closet or area where the survivor is between you and that ledge (No Mercy 4 is a prime example), if they kill you anyone between you and that ledge will fly off.
Smoker-
I'll be honest, I hate being the smoker.. it serves a great purpose but I find the tongue to be so finicky. But what I do know about him.
1. Use High Ground/cover and wait for the right moments, don't every jump a team in tunnels, always look for bushs/trees to hide in, a rooftop, something that keeps you from being exposed to direct gunfire when you smoke someone.
2. be patient, there are so many places where a team will need to drop down in which once there they can not get back up, the sewers is a prime example, watch those areas, wait for the moment to grab that last person as they are trying to drop.. if you nab them, they are all yours.
3. Look for ledges with no guardrails, there are many places like NM3 where survivors take the lift and walk across the rooftop, be down below ready to smoke one, they will take massive fall damage and be separated from their team. On Blood Harvest 2 or 3(can't recall which one it is) there is an area right at the start where they walk out of a window and have to follow catwalks to a plank they can walk down.. if you smoker them from the middle (the side with no rails) you can again do fall damage and anyone rushing to save them will also take such damage).
4. *added April 2009* We have recently seen an easy way to play Death Toll and Dead Air, if not too much changes in dead air it's going to remain a smokers paradise, there are a lot of planks the survivors need to cross, hitting them from an angle as smoker instantly leaves them hanging on for their life.
5. *added April 2009* always study the maps, look for any place you can pull them down a long distance, fall damage is a bonus, there are many places you can pull survivors where they have to completely redo an area alone.. it's vital to learn these (example, blood harvest 4, there is a house survivors come to where they exit a window before heading right to the saferoom, if you get by the house at it's entrance between house and train, you can pull them all the way back over making them have to go through the entire house again, buys you some time.
Tank
People really make the mistake of thinking the tank is all powerful and unstoppable and they use next to no strategy with him. Everyone wants to play as tank, it's rare and it's fun but do NOT sacrifice a win just because you don't wish to sacrifice your turn.
1. Use as much stealth as possible, stay in trees and as out of site as possible when moving towards the survivors, keep your eyes on their outlines to see what they are doing, are they all under the stairs waiting for you? maybe in a vent? do you see one with their arm cocked back? that one has a molotav and is ready to light you up.
2. *edit April 2009* this is no longer true, vents will no longer slow you down but still try to wait a bit so your team can set you up with slowing them down* Don't fall for pussy tactics, if they rush into a vent don't follow them into it, you will be stuck and they will kill you in seconds.. see Rule #3
3.*since a recent patch this is no longer true, tank will now attack once he becomes AI* There is no shame in parking the tank if they are using such a tactic as in #2, look if they are not willing to come out and fight then they are using pussy tactics, why should you owe them any less? if they are it's time to park the tank. Tank parking consists of taking the tank to a good spot that you will want them to have to face him. Put him in the vents above the elevator trigger in NM4, put him in a closet by the ledge on the upstairs of NM4.. anywhere he will catch them by surprise. The way the tank works is if the person controlling him goes a certain amount of time without doing damage to a survivor another player gets a turn (make sure the team is aware of the plan to park the tank), the second player will stay in the spot you put him in or finish getting him there if you did not have time, once control is lost the tank will be inactive until they get close to him again, this time the tank will be controlled by the computer, so you want your team to be ready to strike at this time, being he is computer controlled that means there is 4 human controlled infected+ tank t0 pull this off. Keep in mind the computer tank never misses his throws, but when he gets someone down he will focus on them until they are dead, so you will need to keep the rest of the survivors busy so he does not die too fast.
4. Tank parking is not acceptable on finales, they can not finish the level until the second tank is dead, to park the final tank would be cheap and lame, don't sink to that level.
5. Use any ledges to your advantage, any place a person can fall to their death, you want to punch them into that death, the ledges on No Mercy 4, or just off the building in No Mercy Finale (can be done easily from the higher points of the map)
The Witch
You don't get to play as the witch, you can still use her, have the team ready to jump at the witch, smoke someone into her, and jump the team once she is riled up so they can't kill her, do not let them crown her.. jump them and she will assist you.
That is all for now, I think this should be a good starting point, follow the practices and you should do fairly well, just remember that unlike most competitive games this one is NOT about you, it's about the team, look after them always and they will do the same for you. If someone is not doing a good job don't get angry and don't be a dick, you were new once too, give them advice and you will be surprise how much it can pull together by doing so.
Additional Comments from Readers
"I've found the best thing you can do with n00bs is a lot of positive reinforcement mixed in with advice here and there, "nice boom, great pounce" etc... And if they make a mistake, tell them (politely) what to do next time so they don't make the same mistake again" - RRC589
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