The Smoker

The Smoker is an Infected with a long, whip-like tongue that is hundreds of feet long. The Smoker's tongue can be launched out of its mouth at high speeds. When the Smoker's tongue reaches one of the Survivors, it automatically wraps up their body and drags it off toward the Smoker. When constricted, Survivors have a brief moment (1-2 seconds) to shoot the offending smoker before their arms are ensnared by the tongue; if they fail, the Survivor is helplessly dragged off, and will take damage until either the Smoker or he/she dies. The Smoker claws at an ensnared Survivor when they are dragged all the way back to him, while at the same time the survivor takes damage from the tongue constricting them if an obstacle obstructs them from being dragged to the Smoker. If a Survivor isn't dragged all the way back to a Smoker due to an obstruction (for example, a horde surrounding the Survivor) the Survivor will only take damage from the tongue's squeeze (this damage seems to be the same as when the smoker is clawing at them, however). When killed, a Smoker leaves a haze of black smoke, blinding the Survivors if they stand in it. Like most other boss infected, a melee hit from the Smoker does about twice as much damage as the Horde. Only one Smoker is allowed on the Infected team while playing Versus.

Extent of Mutations
The Smoker has been heavily mutated by this strain of the Infection, though it resembles most typical infected, it is taller, and its skin has become covered in growths, that causes a large black cloud to form when ruptured during death. Its face is bloated. It has also developed an extremely long, powerful tongue capable of extending great distances (>100 feet) and can easily drag and strangle its unlucky target. Though its mentality is similar to that of the typical infected, it not distracted by such things as the flashing lights of pipe bombs nor is it apparently attracted by such things as car alarms going off. Some have suggested that the mutated "tongue" could actually be the creature's intestines.

Survivors
General strategy:
 * Always have at least one buddy close at hand.
 * Listen for the distinctive hacking cough sound the Smoker makes.
 * When snared, immediately start shooting towards the Smoker as there is a brief window while you are still able to fire.

Upon seeing a Smoker:
 * If it is far away: open fire
 * If it is close: quickly do a melee attack. This is important because if you get tongued at very close range, you may not get any window of opportunity for shooting at all.

Just after being ensnared:
 * There is approximately a one second window of opportunity after getting captured by the Smoker's tongue to shoot the smoker
 * If you can't see the smoker, shoot the tongue instead. Don't neglect to kill the Smoker afterward. It does take a while for the Smoker to "rewind" that tongue for another attack, but it will happen. At the very minimum, warn fellow Survivors that the Smoker is still an active threat.
 * Don't bother trying to melee the tongue if you have been captured, this used to work but the patch from valve means that now the only way to get free is lead rain.

Helping a captured Survivor:
 * Use a melee attack. You can melee two things to instantly free them and avoid nasty friendly-fire incidents:
 * The Survivor themselves
 * The Smoker
 * Shoot
 * Target the Smoker (the tongue should lead you right to it)
 * If you can't see the Smoker then target the tongue instead
 * If you can't see the Smoker nor the tongue then shoot the smoker through the wall or ceiling (i.e.: judge the position of the Smoker relative to the Survivor getting clawed).

Infected
If you're playing as a Smoker, a common yet useful tactic is to always have the advantage of higher ground. Choking a Survivor from above is far more effective than dragging a Survivor straight to you. Being higher makes it harder to see and kill you, giving you the advantage.

The key point to the Smoker is to be patient and wait until the survivors are distracted by the Horde or other distractions.


 * The Smoker also works well with the Hunter. Between them, they can immediately silence two separated Survivors without a fight.


 * The Smoker is the Tank's best friend. The last thing a group of Survivors needs is to have one of their number dragged a long distance off during a Tank battle.


 * When a Survivor is facing a Smoker after it grabs them, their first instinct is to send a hail of gunfire their way in an attempt to escape. This can be used as a deadly advantage when it comes to car alarms. Stand in front of the car, and pull a survivor toward you. It is likely that instinct will overcome common sense, and the survivor will trigger the car alarm while attempting to escape. If you are even more lucky, then you will entangle the survivor before they can shoot their way free, and the oncoming horde will help you deal triple the damage you normally would.
 * A better tactic to use as the smoker is to hide behind an alarmed car and drag your victim from there. This buys you extra time against the more experienced players as they shuffle around to attack you, and it provides you with a shield and sword for not-so-experienced players who shoot blindly in a panic.


 * Cocky survivors will usually chase after a fleeing smoker whose tongue is recharging in order to kill them off. If you notice this behavior, take advantage of it. Have a hunter wait around a corner, then get one of the survivors to chase you, and have the hunter pounce the survivor chasing you.


 * If survivors are chasing you and it is likely you will die, go ahead and try to melee them and do as much damage as you can before death. Every bit of damage counts.


 * Common Infected don't stop attacking a Survivor just because you have him entangled, in fact it's the bane of a Survivor covered in Boomer bile. Try to prey on Survivors so marked, especially when they're weak.


 * Alternatively, if a Boomer has vomited on the three other survivors, you can take the opportunity to grab the fourth. While the other three are covered in bile, they cannot see aura signals of their allies.  In the mess of the Horde battle, the lack of an aura means they may not even notice.




 * If the Survivors are near a large vertical drop (such as an overhang or rooftop), take advantage of this by pulling them over the edge. This will either cause a great deal of falling damage or incapacitate them (i.e.: they will be hanging off the edge with both hands). But also be careful when doing this as the Smoker's tongue can remain tied around the survivor leaving the Smoker defenseless.


 * There are also certain points on each map where if you drag a survivor off a certain rooftop or out of a certain window, it will kill them instantly. This is a game changing tactic and can mean the difference between winning and losing a versus match, so learn those points! Generally this manifests in the form of the survivor dangling over an area that a drop from freeing them would result in instant death (see: the bridge in Blood Harvest).


 * Upper ground is a great advantage but sometimes the low ground plays into your advantage. If the Survivors are on a high structure that takes precious time to get back on top of and you pull them off being in a position where you are not easily hit someone else will have to come down to rescue the entangled survivor.  This can split the Survivors and will cost the Survivor (and the Survivor who attempts to save him) who was pulled off (if he escapes) precious time to scale back up the building and get back with the team.


 * Try to think like a Survivor. Consider the worst possible time you've been "Smokered." In particular, being dragged into the arms of a Witch or Boomer, off ledges/rooftops, and into a raging inferno are devastating.




 * Unlike the Hunter, a Survivor can still attack you for a second or so before they are knocked over and dragged if they spot you. If they do you'll most likely die a quick death.  In light of this always attack from above or behind and NEVER in front.


 * Your main job is to halt the Survivors, force them to backtrack, and give your teammates more time to re-spawn. Any damage you cause is just icing on the cake.  Again, prioritize your targets - red outlined people first.  During finales, your main job is to pull people away from the group.


 * Survival sometimes leaves you well behind the Survivor team with no way to move quickly ahead of them and set up another ambush. Keep this in mind - it's sometimes better to run away from them until you get that "Press E/X to respawn" message, rather than try to run behind them and grab someone while in broad daylight. Note: Due to a recent patch this will no longer reset your health to 100%.


 * If there is ever an area where Survivors need to drop down and there is no way back up (for example, The Apartments in No Mercy chapter 1) a Smoker can wait behind the Survivors until 3 of the 4 Survivors drop down and then quickly grab the 4th. As long as the 4th Survivor doesn't kill you before he's knocked over, you are almost always guaranteed a kill.  Just be careful to be definitely out of the line of sight of anyone down the hole.


 * It is possible to drag a Survivor out of the elevator as the doors close (in the No Mercy Campaign), where they can't be saved.


 * One of the Smokers best strategy is to grab survivors at the back of the group. That way the other Survivors probably wont notice a missing Survivor.


 * You can grab a Survivor through thin objects such as doors, or windows, though normally, as you drag the Survivor away, he will be stopped by the object, they will sometimes just slide though allowing you to pull them even farther away.


 * When a Survivor is on a higher area (ie: On the second floor of a building) look for a dividing between you and your target, such as a car, or a shipper container for example. Then walk closely towards your chosen obstacle, and find an optimal distance where you are hidden behind it but still can see the target if you jump up.  Jump up and drag the survivor.  Most commonly the survivor will be hung at the other end while you are safely behind the divider.


 * If you are above the survivors, aiming straight down and grabbing one with your tongue generally moves them immediately into a fully constricted state, as there is nowhere for them to be pulled to, precluding the use of their weapons to react. This is handy for removing one of the four guns from a fight.

Smoker Tips And Tricks Gameplay
Here's a video with a lot of helpful information and tactics for the Smoker. Special thanks to Criken2 for the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHXF0EQiWuc&feature=channel

Here's another video of an interesting location on No Mercy 4 which can act in a funny way given the proper circumstances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpOzv5UQeXs

Trivia

 * The original design of the smoker was to 'pop in' to the survivor group in a cloud of smoke, seize any survivor, and 'pop out' again to leave the unlucky survivor stranded. Valve changed the design, however, saying it was "too challenging for the players."
 * The Smoker is the tallest infected. Even taller than the Tank, which is odd, as smoking stunts growth in real life. But hey, it's a video game.
 * According to an online video game blog site, the Smoker has unfortunately the most easily acquirable Game Achievement with the "Drag and Drop" achievement being awarded to 92.3% of all players. Link here: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/26/left-4-dead-stats-show-strong-anti-smoker-bias/
 * But then, Chain Smoker can be very difficult for newer players to acquire, as can Big Drag.
 * Using mods, one can place the skin for Francis and Louis onto the body of a smoker. This will result in a hilarious, and some what creepy, creature.

Survivors
Tongue Twister

Kill a Smoker who has grabbed you with his tongue.

- The easiest way to get this achievement is when you see the Smoker before it constricts you. While you're being dragged, you'll be facing him, and can easily shoot him down.

Drag and Drop

Rescue a Survivor from a Smoker's tongue before he takes damage.

- This is really easy. Instead of shooting the Smoker, just shoot his tongue. It won't kill him, but it will free the Survivor. This is a bit harder on Vs. as the act of the drag will deal a token amount of damage (approximately 3 per second, whereas normal gameplay modes, the smoker only deals damage once someone has been brought to a stop), though this may not count against the achievement.

No Smoking Section

Kill 10 Smokers as they are pulling helpless Survivors.

- Rinse and repeat the method for "Drag and Drop".

Infected
Chain Smoker

Constrict two Survivors on one life as a Smoker.

- This achievement is pretty much the same as the "Double Jump" Hunter achievement, in which you have to pounce two Survivors in one life. However, this achievement is much easier, because when a Survivor is being constricted, their team mates will most likely just panic and shoot for your tongue, leaving you alive and able to constrict again. Hunters, on the other hand, have to get close, and will usually be killed and not just pushed.

Big Drag

Drag a Survivor 100 feet with your tongue.

- The easiest way to do this is when the Survivor is on one building or platform, and you're on another, making No Mercy the ideal place to earn it. When you grab the Survivor and pull them off the building/platform, the distance they fall counts towards the 100 feet, as well as the distance you pull them up to your building/platform.