Sacking Order

**Mr_Blonde_OPS** · 09-12-12, 11:07 PM

For those who still play L4D2:

I'm sure many of you have heard the phrase "2-2", "sack spitter last", or "sack boomer last". Do you still not understand why the team caller wants you to do this or why the team doesn't want a "2-2"? I'll explain. Let's first look at all the variations of Special Infected hits a team can have.

Charger, Smoker, Jockey, Boomer
Charger, Smoker, Jockey, Spitter

Charger, Hunter, Jockey, Boomer
Charger, Hunter, Jockey, Spitter

Charger, Smoker Hunter, Boomer
Charger, Smoker, Hunter, Spitter

Smoker, Jockey, Hunter, Boomer
Smoker, Jockey, Hunter, Spitter

Charger, Smoker, Boomer, Spitter
Charger, Jockey, Boomer, Spitter
Charger, Hunter, Boomer, Spitter
Smoker, Jockey, Boomer, Spitter
Smoker, Hunter, Boomer, Spitter
Jockey, Hunter, Boomer, Spitter
(I might have missed some, but that's most of them)

The gold pairings are "2-2s". Two special infected that are meant for attacking and two special infected that are support classes. "2-2s" are typically not a very effective hit. This is because the support classes(Spitter & Boomer) are not able to actually stop the survivors from clearing another survivor. (Charger pins you, Hunter pins you, Jockey grabs you, Smoker pulls you) You are unable to shoot your weapon while hit by an attackable Special Infected. So common sense tells us that a 3-1 hit is better than a 2-2 because you have the possibility of 3 survivors unable to shoot, compared to 2. That may not seem like a big difference, but it is.

So now we come to the "sacking order". Why do teams get "2-2s"? Isn't it just random? Yes, it is random what class of SI the team gets, but the pairings can absolutely be controlled. The only thing you need to understand is that, during a hit, whichever SI is killed last will not be put into the next pairings.

Example: The SI teams has this pairing; Charger, Hunter, Jockey, Spitter. They set up to hit at a choke point and go in as a team. The last SI to die is the Jockey. Now the team has the 10-20 second spawn timers until their next hit is up. BUT, because the jockey died last, the SI team will not get a jockey for this upcoming hit. So in essence the team now has a higher probability of getting a "2-2" because they are not going to get a jockey pairing.

Smoker, Hunter, Boomer, Spitter
Charger, Hunter, Boomer, Spitter
Charger, Smoker, Boomer, Spitter
Charger, Smoker Hunter, Boomer
Charger, Smoker, Hunter, Spitter

3 out of 5 chance that you will get a "2-2".

If the Spitter or Boomer dies last...you essentially can't get a "2-2" the next hit.

This is why you always want your boomer or spitter to die last if possible and what is called "sacking order". Of course there are many times when we want the boomer to go in first, which usually means one of the 3 attackable SIs have to die last, but this is mainly for understanding. If you do have a "2-2" hit, make sure the boomer or spitter die last so you don't get another "2-2".

If anyone else has some more knowledge on the subject or can correct any mistakes I've made, please do so. I think that you are still able to get the SI that died last in the next SI rotation, but 99% of the time you don't. Maybe Dawkins or Blitz can't help me out.