Thread: Differences between L4D1 and L4D2

Damn that Charger is fucking powerful. Its like a mini tank.

The relative power of the old SIs seems to be weaker than the new ones, Boomer being the exception (a swarm of CIs, particuarly the new, smarter, tougher ones is always useful.)

The spitter can cause an obscene amount of damage if you time it right - if the survivors are in that low yellow/red range and one's already down, spit on them while they're picking up the guy that's down, and there's an extremely good chance you'll knock down the would-be rescuer, too. If not, you're guaranteed to prevent them from helping their buddy for at least another four or five seconds.

The jockey is harder to kill than the smoker, doesn't have to sit in place while doing his thing, and is much more versatile when it comes to positioning the survivors in a bad location. Rooftops, the rollercoaster in DC3, even corridors with lots of cover... the jockey is amazingly versatile. There are still situations where the smoker is better, but not many.

The charger is almost downright superior to the hunter in almost every way. If you spawn close enough that they don't have time to react (should be just outside of melee range), you're guaranteed to do at least 20 damage or so to your target, and possibly more than that if you're able to bowl over their teammates on your way to the nearest wall. A hunter could conceivably do more damage with a 25-damage pounce, but at 15 damage per slam, a charger can quickly do more damage and he's harder to get rid of, too (much more HP, and immunity to melee.) Hunters still serve a handy niche role as ninja swipers, since they're utterly silent when they aren't crouching. Hunters are also reasonably handy as disruptors thanks to the increased stun time on a successful pounce.

As mentioned, the Boomer is still essentially the glue that holds the rest of the SI team together, because nothing initiates or finishes like a good boom. Moreover, since spit is a green color, and the puke is also a greenish tint, it can be extremely difficult to notice spit while boomed. A good boom+spit combo mixed in with an occasional pounce, pull, or charge can either completely wipe out an enemy team or at least cause a massive amount of damage.

In general, it seems like VS has finally shifted away from "let's see who can get the highest health bonus at the end!" to "let's see who can actually make it to the safe room!"

Hell, even the tanks feel unnecessary a lot of the time, though they're as handy as ever. Adrenaline shots make them significantly less of a threat, however.

Not to mention that teams, when fucked up, still are in the mindset of finding a nice little hidey hole and huddling up there to heal. At least for now it's easy to wait for them to get into that position and spit, and rush them making another puddle of goo when you die. I took out an entire team yesterday with one spit and die double puddle.

Spitter. Period.

Maybe its the fact that theyre new maps or maybe its the fact that the Director changes the maps, but I have foudn myself get boomed or comboed by SI, only to completely forget which direction we were heading. At least in the campgrounds/swamp thats what I experienced.

No more Name Plates above your team when boomed.

BL

i noticed in a single player game a couple nights ago, that after a NPC tank incaps a survivor it will chase after the survivors still standing (instead of just pounding on the incap guy)

Homing chunks of concrete aside, tanks are actually pretty easy, even in L4D2. Honestly, the real danger in L4D2 are the damned CIs - the new AI really is that good.