Fireaxe

"Axe me a question, I dare ya!"

- Rochelle

"Alright, I've always wanted to be an axe murderer!"

- Ellis

The Axe is a new close combat weapon introduced in Left 4 Dead 2.

The axe, along with all other new melee weapons introduced in Left 4 Dead 2, is carried in the same slot that the pistols are, adding yet another tactical choice to make in the game.

The axe can be used indefinitely like other melee weapons (excluding the Chainsaw) and as any melee weapon is capable of killing Tanks in 10 hits, Witches in 4 hits, Common in 1 hit, and Special Infected in 1-2 hits. The axe should not be used against Boomers or Spitters, despite the one-hit-kill. The axe is a slashing weapon, and has the ability to sever limbs. As with all Close Combat weapons, it can cause friendly fire damage to The Survivors.

Every time it is used on a common infected, a large splatter of blood will appear on-screen. Great for clearing out crowds of infected, this handy lumberjack-approved melee weapon will have you stacking up the zombies like cordwood.

Trivia

 * The axe, like all other melee weapons, seems to gather blood as it is used more. It starts as a normal looking red fire axe, but after a fair amount of usage, it shines with splattered blood.
 * There seems to be a minor glitch with the coding on the axe. If you accidentally hit the reload key while wielding the axe, it will switch to your primary weapon and reload.
 * The axe is a very common weapon to find, the only campaign where there aren't any axes is The Parish. Axes are especially common in Dead Center and Swamp Fever.
 * Axes are the only melee weapons found in Whitaker's shop.
 * Despite early interviews saying so, the Axe, along with the Katana, cannot kill a Witch in a single strike, even to the back of the head. These weapons apply the same damage as any other melee weapon would.