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Left 4 Dead 2 > Guides > ShadowLeggy's Guides
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The Bot Guide
By ShadowLeggy
A guide on bot behavior to help you prepare for their crazy antics.
Mainly created for beginners, single-players or incomplete co-op teams.
   
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Created by
ShadowLeggy
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Category: Characters, Co-op, Game Modes, Gameplay Basics, Walkthroughs
Languages: English
Game Modes: Campaigns
Posted
Updated
24 May, 2013 @ 4:27am
18 Sep, 2013 @ 1:55pm
9,703 Unique Visitors
196 Current Favorites
Guide Index
Overview
General Behavior 
Weapons & Items 
Fighting Infected 
Additional Notes 
Comments
General Behavior
Communication

  • If a Bot is dying (in the black & white) they will occasionally vocalize this.

  • If an enemy attacks you from behind, the Bots will sometimes yell: "Look out!"

  • If you put your crosshairs over a Bot, they will always turn to stare at you.

  • Just for fun- Some of the voice commands prompt a response from the Bots.

Normal Actions

  • Bots will generally stay behind you as you lead the way through a level.

  • Move backwards to get the Bots out in front of you, if you want to protect yourself from horde.

  • Bots will rush ahead to get health items, weapons, or when the Saferoom is near.

  • Bots will immediately head in the direction of a pinned or incapacitated survivor to help out.

  • Bots are very polite and will usually close doors behind them if they are the last one through.

  • Bots never crouch of their own accord- Only when needed, such as the tubes in The Passing.

  • Bots cannot shoot gas cans or propane tanks, unless they have explosive/fire ammo.

  • In certain areas, Bots can grab items/weapons through walls that human players can't access.

  • When fighting a horde, Bots take a moment to get situated for their attack position. Be wary of these movements since they tend to easily get into your line of fire during such moments.

  • Once situated, Bots will usually hold their ground. Only if they start to get overwhelmed by the horde will they start to back up or other such maneuvers to avoid the danger.

  • Bots will usually rush ahead to rescue a dead survivor from a Hero Closet.

  • Bots will prioritize rescuing a pinned survivor over helping up an incapacitated survivor.

  • Bots are able to save incapped survivors regardless if the downed survivor is taking damage.

  • If there are 2 or more human players, the Bots will generally follow whoever they are closest to. Sometimes the Bots do split up into pairs, but this is an uncontrollable and random occurrence.

Annoying Actions

  • If a Bot tries to climb a ladder and is attacked by horde before they can get high enough, they'll be stuck there and take the hits until they are either incapacitated, or the horde is killed.

  • If fire surrounds a desired item/weapon or incapped survivor, sometimes the Bots will run in & out of the fire until it burns out, or right up until they incapacitate themself.

  • If fire or Spitter Goo blocks the entrance of the Saferoom, the Bots will run in and out of it until they find a non-hazardous spot to stand inside the Saferoom, or get themselves incapacitated.

  • If a Bot ever gets stuck anywhere, your best bet is to continue onward as far as possible. The Bot should eventually be teleported to you automatically.

  • Sometimes the Bots will not attack for a few moments after the player throws a pipebomb.

  • When confronted by an alarm-car, Bots absolutely refuse to use any weapons near it. At best, sometimes they will try to bump the horde away. It's recommended to get away from the alarm car ASAP, especially if there is an incoming horde- They tend to tear the Bots apart otherwise. If the alarm-car is set off, only then will the Bots finally take action to defend themselves.

  • Ironically enough, Bots aren't actually capable of setting off car alarms themselves.

  • While Bots are unable to inflict friendly-fire damage, their bullets can still hit you. This causes the players screen to shake a lot which can make aiming difficult. So despite being immune to their gunfire, it's best to stay crouched down or move out of the line of Bots fire.

  • Bots will go to assist a pinned or incapped survivor no matter how far away they are, even if another Bot/player is already helping them. This becomes annoying namely in games with 2 human players who manage to get into pairs with Bots- Leaving a human player abandoned.

  • If multiple survivors are incapped, Bots will prioritize to rescue whoever went down first. This can mean that even if a Bot is right next to an incapped human player, they will run off to go help a Bot that's on the other side of a map. Literally Left 4 Dead. However if there are 2 able-body Bots, one will come to help the human player once the first Bot reaches the incapped Bot.
Weapons & Items
Basic Weapon

Coach & Ellis: Double Pistols
Nick & Rochelle: Magnum

Louis & Francis: Double Pistols
Bill & Zoey: Magnum
  • Bots will take these weapons as a priority once they find them.
  • Bots will never take melee weapons unless in certain Mutations such a 4 Swordsmen.

Main Weapon

Coach: Combat Shotgun
Ellis: Military Sniper Rifle
Nick & Rochelle: Desert Rifle

Louis: Tactical Shotgun
Francis: Military Sniper Rifle
Bill & Zoey: Desert Rifle
  • Bots will take these [top tier] weapons as a priority once they find them.
  • If low on ammo, they will swap out their preferred weapon for a full one, regardless of the type.
  • Bots will never pick up a grenade launcher or the M60 in regular campaign gameplay.
  • Bots will always go to grab deployed explosive/fire ammunition, as well as laser sights.

Throwable Items

  • Bots do not pick up any of the throwable items, nor can they use them.
  • If a human player carrying a throwable leaves the game, the Bot still can't use or give the item.

Pills & Adrenaline

  • Bots don't have any particular preference, they will take whatever is closest to them.

  • However, they will not pick up pills/adrenaline if no human players have any. The only exception to this is when there are multiple temporary health items in the area. In this case, they'll make a mad dash for the extra items, but always leave at least one left for the human player.

  • Bots will hand you pills/adrenaline if your health/temporary health falls below <60.

  • Bots will hand another Bot pills/adrenaline if their health/temporary health falls below <60.

  • Bots below <60 health will always use pills/adrenaline if they have any on hand.

  • Bots below <40 health will sometimes use pills/adrenaline, followed up immediately by using a health kit. This will just make you want to scream, especially on higher difficulties.

  • If you hand a Bot pills/adrenaline while they are in the middle of shooting, they are most likely to use the item immediately regardless of their health situation (similar to a human player clicking)

  • Sometimes Bots will hand pills/adrenaline to the wrong person/Bot and will juggle it for a bit.

Health Kits

  • Bots can only carry health kits. They cannot pick up or use defibs/special ammo.

  • If a player with a defib/special ammo leaves the game, the Bot will swap for a kit when possible.

  • A Bot who is in the middle of healing will stop when struck by common infected.

  • Bots will always try to heal any player/Bot with <40 health, regardless of difficulty.

  • Even with full temporary health, Bots will often try to heal players/Bots with <20 health.

  • Bots will stop healing you if you hold onto a health kit, pills, adrenaline, or defibrillator.

  • Bots will always leave 1 health kit in the Saferoom if the human player doesn't have one.

  • Bots will leave the 1 health kit even if the human player is already carrying a defibrillator.

  • On Easy, Normal & Advanced, Bots will heal at the beginning of chapters if they are missing only about 20 health. On Expert they will not heal unless they only have <40 health left.

  • Bots don't generally use health kits when a Tank is present and attacking.
Fighting Infected
The Horde

  • Bots deal with the horde fairly well in normal circumstances. They will generally have your back, almost always having a very high "Protect Teammate" score in the final markup.

Boomers

  • Bots will try not to shoot a Boomer if it is close to other Survivors. Instead, they will bump it.

  • If a Bot is puked on, they will be "blind" for a moment, mindlessly bumping for a few seconds.

Smokers

  • Bots seem to be 50/50 when it comes to killing a Smoker that grabs them, or assisting a fellow survivor that has been pulled away. They tend to have better aim in wide-open areas.

  • If you as a single player are grabbed by a Smoker while climbing a ladder, Bots won't know what to do if the Smoker is out of their line of sight. They will stand around until you eventually die.

Hunters

  • Bots will try to bump or shoot Hunters that pin a player. Sometimes they take their sweet time.

Jockeys

  • From personal experience, Bots take about 8 million years to help anyone who's been jumped by a Jockey. Seriously. One time on Advanced, went from 100hp to incapped while they all hovered around the entire time. Similar situations have happened on occasion. What even.

  • Bots will sometimes bump Jockeys that are riding a survivor, if close enough. But it seems that if they are just barely in range, they will try to shoot it instead, taking quite a long time to do so.

Spitters

  • Bots won't really understand that Spitter Goo is actually "there" unless they step in it once. This means that if it's in the way of items or an incapped survivor, Bots will run straight into it.

  • Once Bots back up from stepping in the Goo, they will not move at all until the Goo has completely disappeared- even if another survivor is in trouble somewhere, so beware of this.

  • In some instances, the Bots will be stuck at an odd corner and just stay in the Goo forever.

Chargers

  • Bots do not have the programming or sense to side-step a charge. To get them out of the way, you the player must move far enough aside so the Bots will follow you out of dangers way.

  • Bots need a moment to stand up before they can attack a Charger that's pinned someone.

Witches

  • Bots will always turn off their flashlights when a Witch is near.

  • Bots will not purposefully attack a Witch first, though sometimes may hit her by accident.

  • If you try to sneak by a Witch in a tight area, chances are one of the Bots will disturb her.

  • If a Witch is startled by accident in close quarters and a Bot has a shotgun, you might get very lucky where the Bot can actually Cr0wn her. This rarely seems to happen, though.

Tanks

  • Bots don't generally use health kits when a Tank is being battled.

  • When a Tank is closing in, Bots will run backwards & shoot, regardless if you are or not.

  • If a Bot is the last one standing, they still take priority of helping fallen Survivors rather than killing the Tank. This usually makes the chances of surviving the fight very slim, unfortunately.

  • One way to ensure your survival (especially on single player) is to sacrifice a Bot. To do this, stand on top of an incapped Bot. If you are lucky, the Tank's attacks should hit the incapped Bot instead of you. Use the time to heal or whatever you need to do- But once they're killed, run!
Additional Notes
Please Note:

  • Some or even all of these tips may not apply to certain custom campaigns.

  • Some or even all of these tips may not apply to certain modded servers.

  • If there are any other Bot behaviors I've missed, please let me know so I can update the list. Please make sure that the behavior is something that always or often happens during gameplay.

Thanks for reading and hope it's helpful!


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120 Comments
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Pachurii 16 Oct, 2022 @ 2:33am 
Forgot to add that Louis will prefer the magnum & Zoey will prefer the Akimbo pistols now

But that was probably already obvious.
DreadedGhoul575 13 Oct, 2022 @ 1:26pm 
It's alright, only one lol.

You make a fair point of course. :steamthumbsup:
Pachurii 13 Oct, 2022 @ 12:59pm 
Oh right forgot that
Thanks
DreadedGhoul575 13 Oct, 2022 @ 12:54pm 
- Louis now uses/prefers Rifles over Autoshotguns like in L4D1 (Before TLS update).
Pachurii 10 Oct, 2022 @ 1:59pm 
Some of this info is outdated or incorrect:
- Survivor will vocalize if they’re b/w regardless if bot or not
- Survivors will vocalize if a infected is behind someone regardless if bot or not
- Bots don’t choose a specific weapon, only a specific type of weapon (Coach uses auto-shotguns, Ellis uses sniper rifles, etc.)
- Francis now uses a Auto-shotgun like in L4D1
- Zoey now uses Sniper Rifles like in L4D1
- Bots do not have preferred weapons when it comes to tier 1 weapons, and will ususally pick up whatever they get their hands on
- Bots will only use pills below 50 health
- Bots take less damage from Spitter goo (about 50% less I believe)
O5Rei 28 Jun, 2022 @ 9:50am 
the boy use there own gun but when i watch them they all are hold the same gun even the pistol it is funni a bit now
Cereal 9 May, 2021 @ 1:29am 
can you turn bots off or no?
Phantom 20 Jan, 2021 @ 5:59pm 
TLS changed many things, this guide has a few outdated info
RedWithTheObviouslyLongUsername 28 Sep, 2020 @ 6:16pm 
is this going to be fixed now that louis francis and zoey use their L4D1 item preferences?
DreadedGhoul575 14 Jul, 2020 @ 7:24pm 
@atomicneutrino Yeah, pretty cool detail.