(or how not to waste Chargers the tutorial)
I'm disappointed when playing L4D2 with some people and seeing chargers utterly wasted. Spawning really far off, charging into nothing with some sort of deluded hope that something will happen.
So therefore I am writing this down, showing you how to roughly use him so that its not forty seconds in-between any sort of damage output, rather than twenty.
So therefore I am writing this down, showing you how to roughly use him so that its not forty seconds in-between any sort of damage output, rather than twenty.
The Mentality:
If S.I. were chess pieces, Charger would be the fucking Rook or Castle, your mouse 1, the actual charge, goes in a straight line.
As a Charger you need to treat yourself like you're made of Velcro. You will stick to the stupidest shit, and not grab hold of anything that's actually needed. You will stop mid charge because you apparently collided with a wall, or a very small object might have been at your side and stop you.
This is why you need to really carefully consider where you are going to charge and what might get in the way.
As a Charger you need to treat yourself like you're made of Velcro. You will stick to the stupidest shit, and not grab hold of anything that's actually needed. You will stop mid charge because you apparently collided with a wall, or a very small object might have been at your side and stop you.
This is why you need to really carefully consider where you are going to charge and what might get in the way.
Spawning:
Stop spawning in open areas, it does not work, the exception to this is obviously the literal second a Boomer blinds everyone, even then by the time you reach them they'll probably know where you are, they will see you and shoot you dead. I'm talking shit like Parish map 2, spawning behind the survivors as they're coming up to the toilets and benches. Cut that out.
The best way to spawn as a Charger is as late as possible within reason. Why? Because Charger is fucking LOUD and survivors will know you are there if you spawn too early.
All S.I. Need to utilize the element of surprise, but charger is the best class to benefit from it. You want to be looking to catch someone in your charge before anyone starts shooting at you and idealistically nobody will be shooting you because you would have bashed them all.
The best way to spawn as a Charger is as late as possible within reason. Why? Because Charger is fucking LOUD and survivors will know you are there if you spawn too early.
All S.I. Need to utilize the element of surprise, but charger is the best class to benefit from it. You want to be looking to catch someone in your charge before anyone starts shooting at you and idealistically nobody will be shooting you because you would have bashed them all.
The Bash/Bowling/CactuCharge:
Once you grab someone in your fat Charger arm, if you run into any other survivors you will bash into them sending into the air doing 10 damage, on top of that if the fall is big enough to do fall damage they'll take that as well and it takes about 2 seconds for them to stand back up to shoot you off the survivor you have pinned, which by the way you'll be doing 15 damage to per floor slam.
You should be aiming to bowl into all of the survivors or picking off one trailing/rushing survivor because: just catching a survivor in your arm doesn't do any damage until you stop.
Another reason is that sending everyone flying grants your fellow S.I. More time both to either spawn, or get in position. Additionally, if you bowl someone or even stumble them into spit, they will take spit damage while they are in their animation because stumbling and bashing don't have any invincibility frames.
You should be aiming to bowl into all of the survivors or picking off one trailing/rushing survivor because: just catching a survivor in your arm doesn't do any damage until you stop.
Another reason is that sending everyone flying grants your fellow S.I. More time both to either spawn, or get in position. Additionally, if you bowl someone or even stumble them into spit, they will take spit damage while they are in their animation because stumbling and bashing don't have any invincibility frames.
Boxers Gonna Box:
As a Charger your melee does a beefy 10 damage a hit, if you do fuck up your charge and there is honestly no immediate escape from getting killed, getting in one hit is indeed worth running into the face of bullet death for. However if you can get away even for a couple of seconds, the recharge time on your charge is pretty small and its worth trying for another charge imho.
There have been several times when I have dealt more damage running behind a piller after a miss and then charged whoever came to kill me. Yet what you should be more concerned with is when survivors are low HP. Running in a bit more daring than usual, incapping a survivor with your melee attack and then charging another is a great way to cause disruption.
There have been several times when I have dealt more damage running behind a piller after a miss and then charged whoever came to kill me. Yet what you should be more concerned with is when survivors are low HP. Running in a bit more daring than usual, incapping a survivor with your melee attack and then charging another is a great way to cause disruption.
you can also be a cheeky peice of shit if the whole team has just been boomered and get some melee hits in before you charge providing they have a gun, since your body can take it and shoves do nothing to you
Example Situations:
A.1
Here's an example of a stupid place to spawn, too early, too far off, not going to catch anyone etc.
I know it doesn't really need showing, but I've seen people do it. Shame on you.
B.1
Moving further up, still not a great place to spawn but this along with the 2 below are highlighting things you need to consider when getting ready.
Red is the line you're taking to then charge with mouse 1, you wont know until you actually do it, but the yellow lines are showing the most probable movement from the survivors, which is completely out the way of you. also there's one trailing behind, IF that survivor got snared, and the other three all turned around, then this would actually maybe be viable
B.2
Just a moment after B.1, this shows that you'd probably get the survivor circled in yellow while everyone else would move out the way. if the whole team was bunched together with the circled survivor, you'd have a pretty ideal charge coming out.
B.3
2 possible lines to take, both take to ignoring the first survivor and charging into the rest. 1 would require you to actually walk past survivor 1 where as two is a more direct bash into the group as they come further up.
both are pretty stupid.
C.1
Next spot down, everyone loves escalators, any smart players wont go down the actual steps themselves because of charge risk, Red is that line, where as white left is the line you can charge down if several walk down that side, bashing on that would cause decent fall damage.
white right, also works, however, you need to be aware that its pretty fucking close to the wall, and if you don't line it up properly you will get caught on it and stopped. generally you attempt the side with the most survivors on it
D.1
Ideal time to spawn, this is exactly the space you need to get off a minimum range charge, Ellis here is stationary, if he was walking straight up towards our position he'd need to be one step behind his current point to allow for time to us to get out and charge. this is pretty much a guaranteed charge and bowling the other circled 2.
ignore the too close to survivors, one was directly behind me when taking this.
E.1
Here's another really dumb time to spawn, considering they're not boomered or anything, instead use this time to line up properly as seen in E.2
E.2
Lining up properly, then sidestepping back into a position available to spawn, when charging from around corners, you should always just use sidestep to keep your position and the execute it in one smooth motion becuase you will get caught on the sides of a wall if you're not lined up.
E.3
Red is the line we're taking in, its still too soon to spawn and go, the yellow circle is where we want the furthest survivor
E.4
They're still not at the ideal spot, so why have i spawned? because Rochelle has turned around to take care of something, and several commons have just gone in, meaning they're going to be there long enough for me to catch them.
E.5.
A thoroughly bashed team, note here Nick (/x/) is green, and the time is 1:11
E.6
Down in 10 seconds and right at the back of the tunnel for other S.I. to do their thing. 4 of those seconds where bought because of the other survivors being bowled away, and also maybe some more becuase of boomered Ellis, along with the additional distance. the rest was not being fully reloaded enough to kill me.
Things to consider:
1:Predictability
A lot of charges are spent charging survivors from further into the map, backward, so to stall them from getting more points, but don't think that charging them from behind up into the map is that bad an idea, its more about surprise and getting lucky. use your head to decide the best way to deal damage, mix it up so its not obvious where you're coming from
C.1. was a great example of this, due to most of the time chargers will be coming up the escalators rather than down them.
C.1. was a great example of this, due to most of the time chargers will be coming up the escalators rather than down them.
2: Ping
Bullshit happens, its server based and more importantly, its in source, be prepared for complete retardation. I'm talking rubbing your charging shoulders along survivors and them seeming like someone got Hakan from Super Street Fighter 4 to oil them up to be the most slippery bitches in history. I see alot of people complaining about this when it really is them not compensating for lag. however there really are some seriously real phasing right through your target sometimes. the trick to negating this is to put yourself in situations where there literally is no escape from getting caught in your charge regardless of ping, much like E.5. to E.6.
Finally, don't be afraid to wait, there's nothing wrong with setting up a little further down than other S.I. Because you know they wont incap the survivors and you're going to try and grab them when they're bunched together. There is however a thing called waiting too long, and I myself have fallen into trying to find a good line and utterly beefing it therefore wasting time.
Also the L4D2 wikia has several 'good' charger spots, most are more significant lines rather than straight damage deal clusterfucks, I might update this with a couple of uncommon lines you can take should you spawn in good time for them
