The Coaster

"Thank God this doesn't do a loop."

- Nick

The Coaster is the third chapter in the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign, Dark Carnival. The Survivors must leave their strangely-relaxing safe-room, navigate the abnormally-long Tunnel of Love, and make their way towards Whispering Oaks' signature attraction. The all-wood roller coaster, appropriately-named 'The Screaming Oak', has a queue-booth which serves as a safe-house, and the Survivors' next checkpoint.

Campaign
When starting from this chapter, the AI Survivors will usually grab...


 * Nick will grab an Assault Rifle.
 * Ellis will grab a Sniper Rifle.
 * Rochelle will grab an Assault Rifle.
 * Coach will grab a Combat Shotgun.

Otherwise, they will keep the weapons they had in the last chapter (see The Fairgrounds for a list of weapons they will grab there).

You made it through the sadistic fairgrounds. Grab some ammo, heal, and be ready to enter the Tunnel of Love.

When you leave, head up the stairs, then down the next set of them. When you enter the main tunnel, make sure to clear the crowd of Common Infected that are no doubt hiding to your left. When passing the alcoves that have the cutout scenes in them, look behind the cutouts; they usually contain pills, ammo packs, etc. Keep going until you find some doors on the right of the tunnel. Enter them, and there should be a pile of ammo on a large spool.

When done in there, head into the maintenance room. Look on the table under the stairs for a chainsaw or grenade launcher. Look under the pipes near the stairs as well, because there will be a weapon of some kind. Go up the stairs, and head into the room at the end of the walkways. Inside is a weapon, and often pistols and laser sights. Head up the stairs, and into the next room. There is a large hole, but before jumping down, it may be a good idea to throw a molotov or propane tank down and shoot it. Large crowds of Common Infected tend to spawn down there, so a pre-emptive attack is a good idea. Jump down as a group so a Smoker can't grab the last one and strand them. If you're carrying Gnome Chompski, toss him down the hole ahead of you, so that you don't accidentally leave him upstairs if a Special Infected incapacitates you and sends you down the hole. If you drop him upstairs, you've lost the achievement, and will have to start the chapter over. Keep going through the tunnel until you get to the blasted hole in the wall. On a table inside, there are weapons.

After leaving the room, head into the building in front and to the left of you. There is a first aid station, and in the room attached to it are some supplies, often containing Laser Sights. Go outside, and look in the back of the truck. There should be some weapons in there. Go into the space with trees and fences. Go over the bent section, and into the fenced in coaster area. Head towards the Crescendo Event trigger, and hit it. Sometimes a Witch may spawn on the tracks, but don't worry, the coaster will run her over and instantly kill her. If you're trying for the GUARDIN' GNOME achievement, turn to face the chain-link fence and jump to throw Chompski over it. You will want both hands free to fight the Infected for this Crescendo, and you'll be able to get the Gnome back after you've turned off the alarm. When facing the control panel, turn left, and look down. There is usually some pills on the ground. You'll need them. This is the longest Gauntlet Crescendo Event in the game, and the whole team will often lose a large amount of health. Run along the tracks, but make sure your team is with you the whole time; Chargers and Smokers can take care of runners very quickly.

When you turn off the coaster in the small room at the end of the tracks, quickly pick off any Infected as Survivors go across the cue line. Right after heading onto the bridge, you should see the safe room, but be careful, the Director will sometimes spawn a Witch right in front of it. Hurry, but make sure not to leave any injured Survivors behind. When you are inside, rest for a minute, and get ready to traverse through The Barns.

The Survivors

 * When leaving the safe room, be wary of Chargers; a common tactic is for a Charger to charge the ramp leading out of the safe room, scattering everyone and bringing one back into the room.
 * If a Tank spawns in the first tunnel, try to stay in the docking area so you have room to move.
 * Remember: bullets penetrate the props in the side rooms of the tunnel. Open fire if you think you hear Infected hiding behind them.
 * When in the room after the maintenance tunnel with the hole in the ground, throw a Molotov at the wall behind you to repel attackers, then coordinate your descent so all Survivors fall in at about the same time.
 * If you fall off the tracks before the steep drop, there's a ladder you can use to climb back up.
 * Abuse melee weapons and shotguns to cut your way through the Infected during the Gauntlet Crescendo. However, keep at least two ranged weapons in case a teammate needs help from a distance.
 * Be wary of the first left turn you encounter when entering the first tunnel as it is common for Smokers to hide in the Swan at the back.
 * Try to run as close to the coaster as possible, as this will cause the coaster to clear your path from Infected.
 * There is a way to skip the Coaster Crescendo Event. If you are standing next to the alarm, face forward towards the direction you came from. All the way down, there are wooden rails you can carefully jump on in order to climb the coaster. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of tries as you have to carefully plan your next jump. If done right, you will be standing on the Coaster tracks but you will find the path blocked. Be careful not to start the event if you're on the tracks because the coaster car will run over and instantly kill you or incapacitate you if you're lucky. To avoid almost certain death, hop on to the railing near the invisible wall and wait for the car to pass you by.
 * There is also another shortcut during the coaster, as soon as you start the run, look to your left. You will see a fence, go higher on the ramp and turn around to walk onto it, walk over the small roof in front of you, go back down to the ground, and climb the ladder ahead. BE CAREFUL THOUGH, using this tactic puts you IN FRONT of the roller coaster, which can run you over and kill you. Stop on the ladder and wait for the coaster to pass, but use extreme caution, the Infected love to attack you when you're on the ladder. This shortcut lets you skip roughly 20% of the coaster.

The Infected
In the second tunnel, if you go the wrong way, there's a climbable pipe leading back up to the room with the hole in the ground if you go into the small room. There will be a smashable wall there; use this to surprise stragglers who only expect an attack from the doorway!
 * Tank spawn locations include the first tunnel and the roller coaster, prior to the Gauntlet Crescendo.
 * If spawned in the first tunnel, try to keep Survivors in the tunnel as to limit their movement space, but be wary of Molotovs.
 * Survivors cannot climb back up the steep drop on the coaster. Try to incapacitate, pounce, constrict, or ride a straggler backwards so their teammates can't come back to save them.
 * When the Survivors go into the hole to go in the lower level try to constrict the last person who goes down the hole, the other Survivors will not be able to help there fellow Survivor by being constricted.
 * The coaster car can kill any Infected in its path. This includes Tanks! So keep an eye out if you try to ambush Survivors on the tracks.
 * It is possible to kill the entire team as a Charger in one charge. Simply wait at the top of the coaster, out of the way of the coaster cart itself. After the Survivors have activated the coaster and the carts go by, get ready to charge them as soon as they reach the top of the very first incline. If done right you will grab one of them, and send the other flying backwards to be killed or incapacitated.

Behind the Scenes

 * Originally the Coaster was supposed to be a survival level, but it was cut it in the final version because players would be able to stand on the wood that holds the track up and the Infected could not attack you.
 * The survival level can be accessed by the use of glitches.
 * Originally the Coaster was supposed to crash causing the alarm to go off, which would have explained the fire in the Zombie Survival Guide, but it was cut.