The Apartments

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 under a tarp with a table of Tier 1 weapons, ammo and first aid kits. As a helicopter flies past, the pilot shouts through a loudspeaker, telling any Survivors to make their way to Mercy Hospital where they will be evacuated. One of the Survivors then says that they can get there through The Subway.

They must initially work their way down through the apartments using stairs and a hole in the floor. Once at the bottom, they exit into an alleyway, and from there make it to the main street. There are several cars that litter the street, one of which has an alarm that will be set off if it is shot, hit by melee, or jumped on, which will attract the horde.

The Survivors will eventually find their way to the safe room which is the entrance to the ruined subway.

Campaign
At the beginning, the AI Survivors will 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 shotgun, whether or not you are skilled in its use. Be aware at all times of where your teammates are to prevent friendly fire. After everybody is ready, there are a few different ways to begin:


 * 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 sky light 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). 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.

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 straight forward. 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. They both lead to the same place: outside.
 *  Outside the hole is the first likely place for a Tank to appear (especially in versus mode). If you hear one coming, the best thing to do is wait at the top of the hole, as a dumb player-controlled Tank will have quite a hard time reaching you. However, needless to say, an AI-controlled Tank should be able to get up fairly easily. 



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 the car, or all the way out on a bench on the right of the street. If you find it, take it. If you are ever incapacitated, you go out on a last stand of sorts with your pistols. Dual-wielding them can save your life if you have a mob 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. 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 (especially 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 breathe, 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 roof top, however, so make sure that everybody is ready before opening the door into the apartments or dropping down through the sky light. The generators that were there during the campaign have been removed, so that path isn't available any more. 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. 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. 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.

If a Tank spawns around the entrance to the subway, split up 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

 * Smokers and Hunters can pull off an instant kill together, but require perfect timing. When Survivors go down the hole of the Apartment Complex, there is no way for them to get back up. If a Smoker pulls a Survivor before they can jump down the hole, his/her death is assured. Hunters can pounce Survivors as they attempt to go down, but since they will be close to the hole, the Survivors can jump and shoot, killing you quickly. However, if you manage to incapacitate your victim, the remaining team members may not be able to revive him, thus, leaving a team of 3 Survivors to go to the safe room.
 * 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.

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.

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 (take care not to punch the Alarmed Car, as it will break and will not attract the horde).

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.

Trivia

 * There are some idle Common Infected ambling around the alleyways, and they can be seen and shot at from the roof you start on.
 * On one of the newspapers, there is an image of what appears to be Dr. Breen, who is from another of Valve's popular series, Half-Life.
 * Although The Apartments supposedly picks up right after the introduction cut scene, everybody starts with only a pistol, and pick up Tier 1 weapons from the table. It's possible that they dropped their weapons as they scrambled up the emergency exit stairs, like how Zoey dropped her second sidearm when she nearly fell.
 * Also, the metal stairs at the top of the fire escape (where Bill and Louis sit during the intro) aren't found in the location as in the intro. There's also no Tank corpse to be found anywhere in the debris of the collapsed fire escape that killed him.
 * When playing as the Infected, do not walk up against the hummer that has crashed into the apartment complex. For some reason, doing so will instantly kill the player.
 * 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 cereal box advertising Team Fortress 2, also stating that you get a free figurine and to "collect all 10", even though there are only 9 classes in the game. Another box can be found in the starting safe room of the Runway Finale in the Dead Air Campaign.
 * Whilst on the roof there are glass windows leading into rooms in the apartments, one has been boarded up yet the other one has not, jumping through it is a quicker way to safely get inside, there is normally one or two Common Infected standing by a bed and the door tends to be shut.
 * There is a glitch at the very beginning on the roof. Jump onto the ledge you are facing after the opening sequence, and turn 90 degrees to the right. From there, look down and you will see a very small white ledge. Make sure you have pills or a med-kit because Common Infected can spawn here. Jump onto the small white ledge and if done correctly, you should land on the ledge and lose about 95% of your health, so heal, and jump down. From here you can see a small area that the developers did not want you to see. CAUTION: Like the Infected, you will randomly die if you get near the hummer.
 * The starting menu screen for the Xbox 360 version takes place of the lower levels of The Apartments. However, the barricade fence beside the police car is missing.
 * The Apartments is one of the few levels in the game that has short cuts; the glass window and the generator exploit.
 * At the end of the intro cinematic, if you look over the building, there are a ton of infected. However, when you play the level, there aren't any there. This may be because the Survivors killed them all from the roof before the level starts, but it is more likely that Valve just forgot to add them.