Left 4 Dead Lighthouse guide
GamesRadar's guide to lasting longer in Left 4 Dead's new Survival Mode
The generator room (where you pull the switch to start the game) is a much more effective starting point than the rooftop. A few gas cans should be spread outside the entrance to protect your team from the first wave. Place them close enough so that you can easily ignite them from the inside, but far enough so that the flames won’t enter the room. Also, place gas cans on top of the shelf and one on the floor in the middle of the room. Three players should set up on the shelf. The fourth player should hop up onto the two large tanks in the corner of the room across from the window. Everyone should have molotovs equipped.
Above: Jump from the green garbage container to get here and cover your teammates on the shelf across from you
Since everyone is perched above the ground, gas cans and molotovs can be used to keep the floor on fire, which means that most zombies will often have to run through a thick wall of flames before trying to climb up to reach you. Since everyone is so close together, Hunters, Smokers, and Boomers pose less of a threat. When Tanks arrive, your team can quickly move outside to surround the Tank and quickly take it down.
Above: The infected will eventually break through the brick wall by the shelf and the one to the right of the garbage container
The brick wall next to the shelf and the one next to the two large tanks in the corner will eventually break. Once they do, Hunters and Smokers will begin harassing your group, making it more difficult to hold the high ground. Leaving the room to deal with the Tank is complicated by the tall trees and thick bushes outside, which make it hard to see other incoming zombies and special infected. It’s also easy to fall off your perch, resulting in lots of fire damage from all the molotovs and gas cans being thrown about.
The room with the stairwell in the back of the lighthouse seems to work slightly better than the generator room strategy. Create a stockpile of gas cans at the top of the staircase and switch out the pipe bombs on the shelf near the entrance with molotovs. Two players should set up on top of the staircase - and because it’s a long walk back from the generator room - two players should head down to start the event together so they can watch each other’s back while they return.
Above: You’ll find the stairwell room in the back of the lighthouse, just past the area where your team spawns
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Once the event has been started, all four players should be on the stair case, using molotovs and gas cans to start fires on the floor and outside the doors and windows as necessary. Tanks will either try to climb up the stairs or chase you up them. This will buy the other three members on your team enough time to reposition themselves in the room to take the Tank down quickly.
Above: Keep an eye on this window. Smokers love camping just outside it
The wall across from the room’s entrance will eventually break, and infected will also start pouring through the window that’s connected to the rooftop. Once this happens, it becomes more difficult to hold the stairwell, and the likelihood of an accident happening with the gas cans and molotovs increases. Smokers can easily target your team from outside the window, and if they manage to wrap their tongue around a teammate, it’s difficult to free them when they’re dangling above the bookcase.