The Apartments

"We can take the subway tunnels to the hospital, there's a Red Line station not far from here."

- Bill

The Apartments is the first chapter of the No Mercy campaign. It takes place immediately after the opening sequence.

The Survivors start off on the roof of an apartment block on Holly Street, under a tarp with a table of Tier 1 weapons, ammo and first aid kits. News Chopper 5 flies past and the pilot uses a loudhailer to announce that anyone who can hear him should make their way to Mercy Hospital where they will be rescued. The Survivors take up this opportunity and Bill says that they can get there through The Subway.

The Survivors must initially work their way down through the apartments using stairs and a hole in the floor. Once down at street level, they exit into an alleyway and from there make it out onto the main street, Holly Street. Several abandoned cars litter the area, one of which has an alarm that will be set off if it is shot, hit by melee, or jumped on.

Holly Street runs perpendicular to the main street entered from the apartment alley and contains the chapter quest: the subway station entrance. The Survivors descend down the subway stairs and find the safe room just around the corner.

Campaign
At the beginning, the AI Survivors will usually grab:
 * Bill will grab a Pump Shotgun.
 * Francis will grab a Pump Shotgun.
 * Louis will grab a Submachine Gun.
 * Zoey will grab a Submachine Gun.

Make sure everybody has a first aid kit before you leave the roof. They are vital to your survival. Since the vast majority of this chapter features close quarters combat, it is recommended that you take the Pump Shotgun, but the Submachine Gun is more effective once you get outside. This is probably the easiest chapter in No Mercy, so if needed, take your time to learn the controls.


 * 1) Go through the door to the apartments. Make sure you close it behind you. If any Infected try to reach you from this direction, the door will slow them down.
 * 2) Break the glass over the skylight and jump inside. Shoot any Infected you see before taking this route as they might attack as soon as you land. If the other Survivors take the first route through the door, they might be delayed in reaching your location.
 * 3) Although more dangerous (as you are guaranteed to take damage, or you may even miss altogether and die), there is a way to skip the apartments entirely. Look over the side of the roof that is directly behind you when you first start the level, and you'll see two air-conditioning units. Try to jump on these, but be careful. If you look down, you should be able to see your own feet (on the PC version only). As you approach the ledge, jump just as your feet are about to go over the side. If you jump too late, you will fall over the side and grab onto the ledge. If you are the last one to jump, you will slip and fall before the other Survivors can pull you back up. If you jump too soon, you will miss the air-conditioning units and fall to your death. If you jumped correctly, heal up. If you jump to the street before you do, the Infected waiting for you might be able to finish you off before you get a chance. Another way is just to stand on the ledge, looking either to the left or the right of the generator and then strafe left or right without jumping. Doing so usually results in having either 81 or 63 HP left. Taking this route, you can skip part of this guide and go down to where you would normally exit the apartments, cutting level time to less than five minutes depending on the difficulty.
 * 4) Another dangerous way to skip navigating the interior portion of the building is a small electrical box sticking out of the wall near the corner of the building. There is a glitch unknown to few and it isn't removed from versus mode, either; however, all players must execute this glitch in rapid succession, or you will leave your teammates to their doom! If you look down from the corner opposite to the aforementioned skylight, you can see the electrical box halfway between you and the car at the bottom. If you walk off, you will simply grab the ledge. The only way to perform this shortcut is to jump on the ledge and approach the corner. Crouch and look down at the small box and jump straight up and down in the same spot, but you must hold down the jump button. Holding the button will allow you to walk off the edge slowly without grabbing the ledge to save yourself. Creep forward slowly, and as soon you start to drop, walk backwards. This should land you on the box with only 18 damage or so. Be careful and practice on single player as missing the box will incapacitate you or kill you instantly. In versus mode, the opposing players can spawn leaving you exposed by yourself, or unable to aid your team if they are attacked above you

Assuming you took the apartment route, be sure to check every corner and room that you can. Being ambushed is not fun. There also might be useful supplies (i.e. grenades or pills) hiding around. If you already have everything you can carry, it's still useful to find them. Even though the AI won't grab grenades, they will grab pills, and might even give them to you later if they think you need them! There are a lot of rooms with only one entrance, and these rooms are effective in use against fighting a horde. Just don't be caught in one if a Tank should arrive.

Aside from this, the apartments are pretty straightforward. You'll eventually come to a hole in the floor. Don't jump down as soon as you see it. Look on the other side, as there tend to be supplies over there. Check the hole, as well. There might be Infected down there. When you're satisfied that it's all clear, go down. Much of the time, there is another hole in the wall (such destructive Infected!). You can either go through there, or you can take the slightly longer way, which is always available, even if the hole isn't. Though it takes longer, the latter choice may have something nice laying around, like pipe bombs. They both lead to the same place: outside.
 *  Outside the hole is the first likely place for a Tank to appear (only in versus mode). If you hear one coming, the best thing to do is wait at the top of the hole, as a player-controlled Tank will have quite a hard time reaching you. 



Once you're in the alley, watch out. Special Infected like to hang out around here, especially on the rooftops. However, if your teammates are still doing fine, you should be fine, too. Always be sure to watch each others' backs and keep moving. A second pistol usually spawns in this area, either on one of the cars in the alley on the hood of the police car, or on a bench next to the Give Blood sign. If you find it, take it. If you are ever incapacitated, you go out on a last resort of sorts with your pistols. Dual-wielding them can save your life if you have a horde on top of you.

Now that you're out in the open, there are three different paths to take.
 * 1) The road. It's open, and things are generally easy to deal with, unless you're out there with a horde rushing at you.
 * 2) Next to the Give Blood sign, there's a door. Inside there is a small hallway with another door and a desk. There's a first aid box in there, and it will contain either a first aid kit or pain pills, depending on how well you're doing. The hallway itself is fairly easy to defend, especially if you get in or near the closet at the end.
 * 3) Behind a crashed truck, there's a storage place. Though it's dark, sometimes useful things spawn back there.

Again, all three lead you to the same place: a back entrance to the subways, and a few cars strewn about the road. One of said cars has an alarm that will go off if you shoot it, touch it, etc, but not if you are far enough away. Unless you are deliberately looking for trouble, avoid it at all costs. It triggers a Panic Event.
 *  This is another possible place for a Tank to appear (only in versus mode). If you hear one coming, be sure to run into the building you probably came from, where the Tank can't hit you with the car. 

If you must, though, the best way you could deal with the car and Infected would be to get inside an enclosed area. For instance, everyone can be inside the dark building to the right of the street if you entered from that area, and have one person set it off. Things are decidedly easier to manage here than out in the open.

However, if you've accidentally set it off and you don't want to face the resulting horde, run. There's a safe house down the stairs, and they can't get you once you are inside with the door closed. Just make sure nobody was left behind! Keep an eye out for an extra pair of Pistols on a table outside of the safe room, too, if you haven't found one already. Once everyone's in, take a quick breath, and get ready for The Subway.

Video Walkthrough
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The Survivors
Due to the fact that humans are now playing as the Special Infected, things are going to be less predictable, and tougher. They can't spawn until you leave the rooftop, however, so make sure that everybody is ready before opening the door into the apartments or dropping down through the skylight. The AC units that were there during the campaign have been removed, so that path isn't available anymore. Jumping off now will just kill you, no matter where you land.

You and your teammates should enter the apartments together, taking the same entrance. Try not to lag behind or wander off, as this will get unwanted Special Infected attention quickly. The Infected players are going to be continuously coming at you, so stay together and keep moving. You cannot afford to stand still for too long.

Watch out for ambushes as you descend through the apartments. Boomers like to lurk around the corner in the second room past the first stairway; be wary of their bile! When you reach the hole in the floor, make sure everybody jumps down at the same time. If somebody lags behind when everybody else has jumped down, they can easily be taken out by a Hunter or Smoker since the other Survivors won't be able to reach them anymore. You can try shooting through the ceiling at whatever is holding the Survivor, but the Tier 1 weapons don't have much penetration. It's still better than leaving the Survivor to die, so give it a chance.

Once you get out into the open, be extra careful. Smokers and Hunters hang out around the rooftops, ready to snatch or pin the very first Survivor they can. They usually target anybody who is alone, so don't give them that chance.

Be careful in the alleys. If a Witch were to spawn, she will do so there.

If a Tank spawns around the entrance to the subway, split up (going in pairs around the Tank works well to ensure that no one gets caught on a Special Infected) and try to make a run for it! It's very likely that they will try to incapacitate everybody by hurling a car in your direction. As long as somebody can make it to the safe house alive, there's still a chance that you can win the round. However, try not to simply abandon your teammates. If you can safely help a teammate and both reach the safe house, it will be worth it in the end. The more Survivors that make it inside, the more points you can get.

The Infected

 * L4d-smoker.jpg is a hole in the floor of the apartment buildings second floor which the Survivors need to drop through to progress. A good strategy is for the Smoker to pull the last Survivor before he drops down but after the rest of his team has. This will not really achieve much, however, unless you have the rest of your team distract the three remaining Survivors down below as they can shoot through the ceiling. However, if you manage to incapacitate a Survivor on the upper floor there is no way for those on the ground floor to save them.
 * This level contains one area where there are two ways to go. After leaving the alley way, Survivors can choose to stay on the open area of the street or take shelter inside the office building. Both areas have their pros and cons for each team, but most Survivors take inside path because of the Health items. The inside is great for Boomers to surprise Survivors with bile bath, but another perk is that it allows your team to take up an offensive outside. If the Survivors stick to the streets, Hunters can take advantage of the distance for damage pounces. Remember to plan your attack depending on the path, and be ready to change your plan on a moment’s notice should the Survivors try anything unusual.

Boomers: This chapter is designed to make the Boomer effective and can mean a win or a loss for your team. Since the first half of this level takes place indoors, hide behind corners or particularly break open doors and shower the Survivors in bile, then get out there and try to get in their faces as much as possible. Odds are, they will shove you too much and you will pop. When in the alley, remember that your vomit is affected by gravity, and you can still shower them from atop a building. Did you miss some? No problem. For you are also affected by gravity, and dropping down on Survivors, especially when they are spraying bullets or spamming melee, may lead them to kill you for a surprise bile attack. Do note that when you are falling, you make a distinct noise, and aware Survivors may notice the falling fatty. When it comes to the car alarm, be aware that the noise you make will alert Survivors at what you are attempting to do. Instead of hiding near the car, hide near the subway entrance. They may think that you are around the car, but when you surprise them, they may cause a panic and accidentally hit the car, summoning more Infected.

(Note: Some walls in the campaign are breakable, and are around a crucial choke point, and all the player needs to do when spawned next to this wall is to break it down when the orange aura is close, and vomit on them summoning a horde, and all the other non-trapped (In a closet or room) zombies, meaning the game could quickly turn in the favor of the infected team.)

Hunters: Ferocious and stealthy, you are a force to be reckoned with. While you may not be so hot in the apartment complex, note that you can still take advantage of stragglers or people rushing through the level. Also note that once Survivors go through the hole in the floor, they can't get back up. Try pouncing Survivors close together around the hole. Your pounce will stun them and may push them down, thus allowing you do significant damage while the Survivors spray bullets at you or just leave their fallen comrade behind. When you are outside, you can really give those Survivors hell. Remember that more horizontal distance usually ends up with higher pounce damage. Taking advantage of Survivors that huddle in corners can help with your accuracy with long distance jumps. If your Smoker is constricting a straggling Survivor, someone from their team my run back to save him; wait for the would-be hero to show up and then pounce him. You may die when the other Survivors come to their aid, but "securing" will delay the Survivors from moving forward. If pouncing is too hard, or they are indoors, running up and clawing them will help you gets some damage in. Targeting weak Survivors with your claw can incapacitate them, buying your team time for a well coordinated assault. For skilled players who have learned to wall jump, use this advantage when you want to attack the Survivors with a bit of a surprise, and also use this to prevent yourself from being spotted. Hunters are hard to kill when moving, so keep on doing this until you are safe and sound, or unless you pounced a victim. Wall jumping is a skill that helps Hunters maneuver around the map faster. It's best to do if far away because if you have successfully wall-jumped to the Survivor, rather than running to him/her, you will already be in the air rather than having to crouch before pouncing, giving them a surprise.

Smokers: Staying outside is optimal, but if you can get inside the apartments behind the Survivors, you can try and snag the last person to jump down the hole in the floor and their teammates won't be able to help them. One Survivor down! Wait for Survivors outside, preferably from the rooftops. You're harder to spot up there than you are standing right on the street. Try to grab as many Survivors as you can, usually if they're alone or low on health. If you're in a good spot, it doesn't matter if somebody breaks your tongue and frees the helpless Survivor: just get back, let your gauge refill, and grab somebody again. Second chances are wonderful, and third and fourth and fifth chances are incredible. If a Witch spawns and the Survivors can't ignore her (e.g. in the alley way), try to pull a Survivor that will attempt to cr0wn her in her face. If she spawns somewhere that the Survivors can find an alternate route around (e.g. inside the office building or on the street corner), you can attempt to pull any Survivors foolish enough to get within your range. The car alarm is your chance to end it for the Survivors. Hiding by the car can give you an edge, but it is a Common Infected tactic, and many Survivor teams will get in your face to free their snared friend and melee you to death. Try to take advantage of the other two cars in the street, and pick your moment wisely.

Tanks: Tanks are especially rare here, but they can do quite a lot of damage... if they're careful. Yes, you may think it's easy to slaughter the Survivors, since they only have Tier 1 weapons, but on the off chance you get hit by a Molotov or any other fiery substance, the flames of which will kill you very quickly. If the Survivors are still in the Apartment complex and have not yet fallen down the hole, it may be tricky to get to them (as human controlled Tanks cannot climb up the ledge.) If they stay above the hole, instead climb up to their spawn point and flank them from behind. If they run down the hole and for the safe house, remember that the alleyways are deathtraps for them, especially with all the cars lying around. If they are out on the street, you can still try to throw rocks at them or punch cars.

Witches: Witches are uncommon in The Apartments. When she does spawn, it's usually in the alley outside of the apartments, or near the alarmed car.

Behind the Scenes
The spawn area originally had Molotovs on the weapon table.

Originally, the safe house at the end of this map was supposed to be in a clothing store in a building that was to the right of the current entrance to the subway. However, this was removed in favor of the current safe house location, possibly because the current location is much easier to locate.

The apartment was supposed to be a hotel at one time, judging by the HOTEL sign on the apartment building in early versions of the game.

A large sign was supposed to be in front of the building that is to the left of the apartment complex, which indicated that the building was a convenience store.

Easter Eggs

 * When going down the first set of stairs down into the apartment, on the table to your right when going through the kitchen, you will find a box of cereal called "Choco-bites" advertising Team Fortress 2 (another Valve title) on the back. It states that you get a free figurine in your cereal and to "collect all 10," even though there are only 9 classes in the game (the tenth often theorized by fans to be the Sentry building, but is actually the removed Civilian). Another box can be found in the starting safe room of the Runway Finale in the Dead Air Campaign.
 * On one of the newspapers, there is an image of what appears to be Dr. Breen, who is from another of Valve's popular game, Half-Life 2, the game from which the newspaper model was recycled from.