Thread: Countering smokers with an autoshotty/magnum loadout

I seem to have problems in realism expert fighting smokers with this weapon loadout. Both to protect myself or to save tongued teammates. When you're far away the only weapon that counts between the two is the magnum, and that weapon is bad at long range quick shooting due to its large recoil.

Usually if a smoker is far away I have to open up with the magnum and hope I get a kill before he tongues me or if my teammate is tongued I have to run next to them to melee them or shoot the tongue with the autoshotty.

IMO the best weapon against smokers is the SCAR or sniper rifles but I find it easier to get mobbed in realism with them than with an autoshotty.

Someone told me meleeing the tongue doesn't free you in L4D2. Is this true?

Does anyone have any tips on how to counter smokers with these weapons?

The shotguns were toned down in part 2. For the most part they just have less range now.

If your going to carry a shotgun you'll have to rely on your team to get those far off enemies a lot. Since you mentioned having problems with the magnums recoil perhaps you should try carrying dual pistols instead. You get an increased rate of fire with them and you can make up for the lack of kick if you put that to good use. You can fire them off really fast...to the point of people accusing you of using a "modded" controller.

A side from that the best advice I can give you is to keep your ears and eyes open. If you hear a smoker try to locate him before he locks on to one of the members of your team. Even with the magnum's recoil you should be able to take him out before he grabs someone provided you get enough shots off.

Someone told me meleeing the tongue doesn't free you in L4D2. Is this true?

False.

But due to lag and other issues your attempt to free the survivor may not register. Best advice I can give you is to melee them multiple times as they are begin smoked. This should free them quickly.

A side from that know when and when not to shoot the tounge. A lot of times it is very helpful if you can out-run the smoker. Sometimes it is better to kill him while he's exposed as he deals less damage than the other infected.

Originally Posted by Eylof

Someone told me meleeing the tongue doesn't free you in L4D2. Is this true?
False.

The L4D wiki seems to say that meleeing the tongue as the ensnared victim doesn't work. I don't mean meleeing an ensnared teammate.

The Smoker - The Left 4 Dead Wiki - Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Survivors, Infected, walkthroughs, news, and more

Don't bother trying to melee the tongue if you have been captured, this used to work but a patch from Valve means that now the only way to free yourself is to kill the Smoker.

Originally Posted by Prometheus

The L4D wiki seems to say that meleeing the tongue as the ensnared victim doesn't work. I don't mean meleeing an ensnared teammate.

The Smoker - The Left 4 Dead Wiki - Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, Survivors, Infected, walkthroughs, news, and more

Half the time you are able to free yourself, and half the time, you will slam the trigger and your guy will do nothing. Im with Eylof in saying that its lag, but it is possible to free yourself, if you get smoked close enough to melee the smoker before your body becomes "constricted"

All I know is I would like to be able to chop the smoker's tongue off me if it grabs me while I'm facing him and and have a katana or the like already out. It really annoys me when I'm holding it and IRL I could have chopped it.