Left 4 Dead: Expert Mode Solo Tips

If you’re like me and sometimes like just playing alone, then I hope this guide can be of some use to you during your Expert runs.
Despite how intimidating Expert mode might seem to take on by yourself, it’s actually not all that bad if you play your cards right. This will NOT go into detail for each campaign, but offer general advice that can be applied to pretty much all of them.
There will also be a link to a Youtube video at the bottom that can possibly serve as a visual guide for the tips listed here.

If you’re playing solo, I almost always recommend you play as either Louis or Bill. This is because each AI for the survivors is scripted to carry certain weapons based on the character. Francis will always take the auto-shotgun, Zoey the hunting rifle, and Bill and Louis the M16.
The problem with this is that the AI as no sense of trigger discipline and will generally fire as quickly as the weapon will allow. This leads to Bill and Louis burning ammo considerably faster than Francis or Zoey, given the M16’s rate of fire. This increases the chances you’ll be caught in the middle of a horde with two of your allies stuck using their pistols, which will greatly hinder their ability to fight.
Taking control of Bill or Louis ensures that risk is significantly reduced, whether by not using an M16 or by having the sense to not full-auto recklessly.
So if you’re a fan of the M16, you’ll be doing yourself a favor. If you prefer the shotgun or sniper, you’ll be reducing the number of bots you’ll have to babysit the ammo of from two to one.
On the other hand, if you control Francis, but don’t like the auto-shotgun, you’ll be hindering your team’s up-close damage potential, and when the tanks show up, that close-range damage matters. If you control Zoey but aren’t a fan of sniping, you’ll be limiting your teams effective range and ability to quickly secure an important kill in the distance.

Next up weapons. We previously glossed over it above, but I’ll explain the ends and outs of each here. There aren’t many to keep track of, so it will be easy.

Starting with the tier 1 weapons, the pump shotgun and SMG.

Pump Shotgun
If you’re tackling expert solo, the pump shotgun is your workhorse. With a generous ammo pool, you’d have to be an exceptionally bad shot or an ammo guzzler to run out. Up close, it will kill common infected with a single shot, and can kill multiple if you line your shot up correctly. If you aren’t shooting, you need to be reloading. Getting caught without ammo can cost you big time.

SMG
If you have a tendency to spray when under stress or can’t land headshots to save your life, the SMG is not a gun to take with you on Expert. Like the M16, you will burn ammo fast, even if you are conservative and pace your shots, and unless you land headshots, common infected can take a surprising number of bullets to put down. And unlike the shotgun, these bullets don’t pierce, further limiting your damage output.
So unless you’ve got John Wick level accuracy to hit those headshots, the SMG should be avoided.

Moving onto the tier 2 weapons, these will be your bread and butter problem solvers.

M16
As mentioned above, the M16 will burn through ammo faster than the other two weapons unless you have good trigger discipline and land frequent headshots to reduce ammo expenditure. Unlike the SMG, the M16 deals out respectable damage with above-average accuracy and its bullets can pierce enemies. And with its healthy fifty-round magazine, you’ve got plenty of lead to spit before needing to reload, allowing you to spray into an oncoming horde and tear through a decent chunk of them.
If you trust your ability to ration ammo, the M16 can be a very dependable primary. Jut be aware that you’re more likely to using your pistols more if you take it. You’ll benefit from switching often depending on the circumstances.

Auto-Shotgun
Arguably the best weapon for tackling Expert mode, the auto-shotgun will butcher hordes of infected with its enhanced rate of fire and piercing damage. The rules of the auto are similar to the ones for the pump, so reload at every opportunity you have so you aren’t caught lacking.
When the tank shows up, you want to be ready to dump shells into it without worrying about having to reload.
Speaking of dumping shells, trigger discipline is important with the auto-shotgun too. Ten shots might seem like a lot, but it can run out fast if you aren’t paying attention. As tempting as it might be to fire off six or seven shots into a crowd of infected, try not to get carried away when things get hectic. You’d be surprised by how few shots you need to wipe out a horde if you’re patient.
One last thing to note, unless you have a steady hand and are confident in your ability to crown witches, don’t even think about it. A moment’s hesitation and you’ll be rewarded with a swift and violent death.

Hunting Rifle
The hunting rifle is something of an oddball when compared to traditional sniper rifles, but it remains still a deadly weapon in the right hands. Obviously, it’s the long-range damage dealer, capable of picking off stray common infected with a single shot regardless of where it lands and securing kills on fleeing smokers.
However, it’s also remarkably decent up-close. Since it’s essentially a one-shot kill against common infected and can pierce several zombies at once, it can be surprisingly good at cutting down a horde if they are bunched together.
Boasting a fifteen round magazine and a very respectable ammo pool, you should almost never be running out of ammo with this gun unless you’re meticulously killing every zombie in the level. It has a pretty lengthy reload, however, so be careful not to get caught napping on your ammo counter or reloading at a bad time.

Pistols
There isn’t much to say about the pistols. Make sure you’ve always got two for the thirty round backup, make sure they’re always loaded, and don’t hesitate to pull them out if you run out of ammo in your primary weapon before all the enemies are dead.
We all know the phrase, “Switching to your pistol is always faster than reloading.” It’s true here too. So instead of desperately fumbling a new magazine into your gun while spamming your shove button, just switch to your pistols and keep shooting.

Next is equipment.

Pipebombs
If you’re playing expert solo and you aren’t carrying a pipe bomb, you’re just doing it wrong. Whatever you do, do NOT be stingy with your pipebombs. I promise, you will find more, so don’t wait until the horde is already gnawing on you before you decide to throw one. Use them freely, use them often.
If you find another pipebomb before you have used the one you have, and you see a group of infected nearby, take your happy ass over there and use it. Your ammo pool will thank you.

Molotovs
If you’re playing solo, the only reason you should ever be carrying a molotov over a pipebomb is because you’re waiting to find a pipebomb, you need to block off a chokepoint during a horde, or you anticipate having to burn a tank or a witch in the very near future. Otherwise, anything a molotov can do, a pipebomb can do better.
(FYI, don’t throw a pipebomb at a Witch unless you’ve got a death wish.)

Pain Pills
There isn’t much to say about the pills. Take them when you’re low health, give them to an ally if they’re injured and lagging behind, and don’t be stingy with them. You’ll find more, so use them.

Medkits
Now, you won’t be able to control when the bots use their medkits, and they will most likely be wasted. There’s no changing it. As such, it’s all the more important that you learn when you use yours. If you use a medkit while you’re orange, slap yourself. If you use a medkit while you’re red, slap yourself. If you use a medkit after going down, once again, slap yourself.
Unless you stumble across a spare and none of your allies need healing, the only time you should use a medkit on yourself is when you’re on your last legs and your screen is in black and white. If a bot decides to heal you, great, but the medkit on your back is reserved for when somebody is on death’s door, regardless of if that somebody is you or an ally.
When common infected can chunk out twenty points of health in a single swipe, health is as precious as it is fragile, so make your medkit last and don’t waste them on minor injuries that can be handled with pills.

Moving onto combat with the various infected.

Common Infected
Common infected on their own aren’t as lethal a threat as a horde, but don’t get cocky. If you’re slow, a single sneaky zombie can run up on you from behind and two-tap you for forty points of health before you can turn around.
Check every corner and keep your head on a swivel when entering new areas.
If a horde shows up, do NOT stand out in the open or in a position that can easily lead to you and your team being surrounded. Keeping your back to a wall and limiting the number of angles the zombies have to get at you will keep you alive more often than not.
Keeping the entire horde in your cone of vision is key, so figure out where its coming from and adjust accordingly.
Bear in mind I specifically said to keep your back to a wall, not corner yourself. Cornering yourself may occasionally help you but it leaves you nowhere to run if you get overwhelmed. Always try to give yourself a method of escape or means to shift position.
Unless you have your entire group with you, try to avoid cornering yourself.

Boomers
The fat bastards need to be your number one target the second you hear one in the area. Every Boomer you pop before it can vomit on you is another horde you just avoided. If you do happen to get splashed, taking the regular horde precautions can save your life. If you’re spared from a bile shower, but an ally gets caught in it, you’ll have free reign to pick off the zombies at your leisure as they won’t be focused on you, but don’t get lazy and let your ally get downed.
However, don’t rush in and spray bullets wildly. Friendly fire can often do more damage to survivors than the zombies do. When in doubt, just shove any attackers away from them.

Hunters
In my experience, Hunters are only a step above a sneaky common infected punching you in the back of the head. If you play close to your allies and don’t run too far ahead before they can catch up, Hunters will be reduced to momentary annoyances that will die almost immediately after pinning a survivor.
However, if you hear one lurking nearby and you find yourself separated, you better have a good reaction time to keep yourself from getting pinned and torn to shreds.
If given a chance to actually attack, Hunters will incapacitate and kill survivors very quickly, so stick close to the bots. If they don’t shoot them before they can pounce, they’ll still kill it before it can deal any meaningful damage, if any at all.
If you’re the one doing the rescuing, always shove the Hunters off allies before shooting them. You don’t want to accidentally put an end to your allies’ breathing when it’s the screaming prick on top of them that you were trying to shoot.

Smokers
Smokers can be a surprising threat if left unchecked. Unlike the Hunter, who will just kamikaze himself into your team on cooldown, Smokers are more likely to wait until you’re preoccupied before trying to snare a survivor.
Even if you kill the Smoker before he can actually deal damage, this can still result in the team being split up for a short period of time if managed to pull a survivor off of high ground, and if this happens as a horde attack in underway, the results can be fatal for multiple survivors if they can’t regroup in time.
Given their tall, lanky appearance, Smokers aren’t terribly difficult to shoot unless they’re hiding out of sight or are choosing to keep their distance. This makes the hunting rifle a great choice for picking them off of their perch before they can attack.

Witches
Witches are straightforward in how you deal with them. If a Witch can be avoided without trouble, avoid her. If she can’t be avoided, you have two choices left. A shotgun to the face or fire. Unless you’re confident in your ability to to crown a Witch, you’re almost always better off setting her on fire and taking off like hell on wheels and letting her burn out on her own.
If you suspect that a Witch may be positioned in a spot that you can get past, but may leave one of the bots prone to triggering her, try and take steps to eliminate her before she can grant an ally a Darwin award.

Tanks
When a Tank shows up, if you’ve got a molotov, use it. After that, you’re entire focus should be killing him as quickly as possible. On Expert, Tanks will down survivors in a single punch or rock throw, and will kill them completely after crushing them twice while they’re on the ground. If the Tanks manages to down an ally, if he decides he wants to finish them off right then and there, it’s purely a matter of luck if you can focus him down before he kills them.
If he instead chooses to redirect his attention, this gives you a solid chance to keep that survivor alive, if not revive them while your other allies draw the Tank’s attention.
Whenever possible, always avoid being around cars or anything else the Tank can throw at you. Otherwise, having a molotov handy, concentrating fire, and backpedaling will be your saving grace more often than not.

That pretty much concludes this guide. I hope it offered a bit of insight that might make your Expert runs a bit easier to endure. Feel free to watch the use the video as a visual reference for some of the tips shown here.

Peace.