The Boomer

"They've been calling those Boomers. For obvious reasons."

- Rochelle

"Boomer, don't let it puke on you."

- Zoey

The Boomer is an extremely bloated Special Infected. Its mutation has caused it to produce vast quantities of bile, which it uses as a projectile attack by vomiting. If it hits the Survivors, the bile covers them, temporarily blinding them and attracting the Horde. A powerful but fragile Infected, the Boomer's role in Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2 is to slow down and sow confusion amongst the Survivors as a group, giving the rest of the Special Infected an opening to eliminate each individually.

Appearance
The Boomer has short, black hair and appears in stretched and stained sweat pants and a navy sweater, stretched to breaking point by its vast gut, which makes it instantly recognizable from a distance. It makes belching, gurgling noises whilst in neutral pose, and groans when it sights a Survivor.

Extent of Mutations
The Boomer has been heavily mutated by its strain of the Infection. It has become extremely bloated to the point that the slightest of ruptures to its flesh will cause it to explode, sending the bile, blood, and other contents of its body everywhere. This is due to the Infection creating large amounts of specialized bile to build up within its body under high pressure. Massive boil-like growths have appeared upon its skin, indicating that it may still be expanding.

Its bile has the unique characteristic of attracting hordes of Infected upon coming into contact with non-Infected human flesh, possibly through the use of pheromones. Similar to the other Special Infected, it is not distracted by such high frequency noises as pipe bombs or car alarms going off.

Left 4 Dead 2
As with all the original Special Infected, the Boomer reappears in Left 4 Dead 2 and has received a slight change of appearance. Its skin tone is more fleshy, it has slightly less hair, and a few more boils. Though when compared to his Left 4 Dead counterpart, he seems more wrinkly and "deflated". The Boomer also has many more details showing the difference in mutation. The greatest change in the Boomers appearance however is the addition of a female counterpart. CEDA has shown some interest in the Boomer. A wall chart detailing its appearance and abilities appears early on in Dead Center, and Infected Hazmat-clad CEDA operatives can be found carrying vials of treated boomer bile.

Female Boomer
The Female Boomer (or "Boomette") is seen wearing a dark blue or black tank top drenched in bile, and shorts. Unlike the male Boomer, she doesn't have boils or growths. Instead, her skin folds forming flaps and perhaps highly Infected forms of tinea on the backs of her legs. The skin on her hands and wrists is black, and looks as if it could be necrosis. Her teeth seem to be horribly malformed either meaning she lacked proper dental hygiene before she became Infected, or that the virus or bile can damage the enamel and form cavities. She makes higher gurgling noises as compared to the male Boomer, and sounds more pig-like. In terms of game play, she functions exactly the same to the male Boomer.

Abilities
The Boomer's primary attack is to launch a stream of vomit which can hit multiple Survivors that are close to it. If it is killed it will explode, causing Survivors (and Infected) close to it to stagger and again cover them with bile. Survivors hit by Boomer bile will be blinded (losing outlines of their team-mates as well) and will instantly attract a horde to attack them, as well as any individual Common Infected who happen to be in the area. They will glow yellow to team-mates, and purple to the Infected. Multiple Survivors hit by Boomer bile will not each attract a horde to them; the one horde will instead attack all of them. This is true also of Survivors who are covered in bile by the Boomers death after the Boomer has used its vomit attack; a second horde will not be attracted until the effect has worn off upon the Survivor first hit, and until the Boomer itself attacks again. The Boomer may vomit on incapacitated Survivors and on those who have been pinned by other Infected. Boomer bile, at least that issuing from the Boomer itself, has no effect upon other Infected. The Boomer may also claw the Survivors to do 2 points of damage in Versus.

Attacks
Left 4 Dead

Left 4 Dead 2

Note: Information still needed for some areas.

Survivors
General:
 * Listen for the heavy breathing, gagging and burping sounds.
 * Set your subtitles to on. That way you will be able to read the Boomer's noises if it is near. This is extremely useful in noisy situations such as the rainstorms during the latter half of Hard Rain or during finales.
 * Keep an eye out for defensive positions, that way you'll be ready if the Boomer blinds you.
 * Avoid being too bunched up with the other Survivors. There's no sense in all four of you getting puked on at once.
 * On Expert, finding and killing the Boomer before he can vomit or explode is incredibly crucial as the Boomer bile attracts the horde, which on Expert difficulty is much more dangerous than any other difficulty.
 * On Expert, Boomers will often claw Survivors they have vomited on, dealing even more damage.
 * The Boomer is probably one of the most difficult Infected to deal with. This is mainly due to the Boomer's ambushing capabilities. They will usually hide around corners or it will drop down from a high rooftop to "pop" on the Survivors.
 * Take advantage of the fact that Boomers will explode if any part of their body is attacked. Due to their bulk, their arms are often exposed around corners. Just a few rifle blasts could mean the difference between being drenched in puke and escaping unharmed.
 * Never use melee weapons against it if you are shoving it away to shoot it from a farther range (This of course applies only to Left 4 Dead 2, as there are no melee weapons in the original Left 4 Dead).
 * When a Boomer is near, stay away from ledges. The recoil from the explosion WILL push you off. On the up side - the recoil will also stun common infected who are located near the boomer for a few moments.

Before bile vomit or Boomer death explosion: After being vomited on:
 * If the Boomer is too close, it's a good idea to hit it with your melee attack (which will push it back to some degree) then back away to a safe distance before shooting or you'll get covered in bile, even though you weren't vomited on.Post-75275-1229068253.jpg
 * Caution: You can only safely push a Boomer back about three to four times (If the Boomer has full health.)
 * Only if the Boomer is sufficiently far away from both yourself AND all other Survivors should you shoot it.
 * Hiding behind something or running away when it's vomiting makes it harmless for some time and may even force it to rush at you clawing.
 * If the Boomer has vomited on someone and is still close to the bile-covered Survivor, shooting the Boomer and (again) covering the Survivor in bile will not attract an additional horde.
 * Know that a massive horde will immediately descend upon you (and any others who have been slimed).
 * Hold your fire! Since you can't see, friendly fire is the most likely result. You need to:
 * Run to a defensive position (corners and doorways are particularly good).
 * Crouch! Other Survivors will be able to shoot over you safely if you do so.
 * Use melee continuously to survive the incoming zombie horde.
 * Once your sight starts to clear, mop up with your weapon.

Helping a slimed Survivor:
 * Stay close to the stricken Survivor.
 * Help melee the horde back or shoot if the blinded Survivor stays safely crouched.
 * Help the stricken player to safely get to a corner or high ground to protect him from the Horde.
 * Throw a pipe bomb to distract the horde, however if you throw a bile bomb it will go to waste, as the Survivors covered in bile are primary targets for the common infected.

Infected
While it may be difficult to be completely stealthy as a Boomer, try to hide in shadows, around corners, or within hordes of Common Infected. But be careful: Survivor Bots can see you! To ensure that you slime the Survivors, vomit on them at close range, then run up to attack them so that they will be more likely to shoot you. You will explode and spread the bile within a certain radius around you. Once you cover a Survivor in slime by either of the two ways, the Survivor(s) will appear with a bright purple outline replacing the original one indicating health status.




 * To master the Boomer, as with any Special Infected, players must learn the role and spawn patterns for each infected. In Left 4 Dead, the Boomer will only spawn once per "wave" of infected. In Left 4 Dead 2, he will spawn even less. When playing as the Boomer, realize that he is a support class. Not designed to deal damage directly, but to assist other Infected.
 * Boomers have very large and bloated bodies. To survivors, they are easily distinguishable from other infected classes. And, given the variety of noises they make, Survivor teams will know when a Boomer is active. Therefore, Boomers should know that spawning and vomiting in rapid succession can lead to a painful experience for the Survivors.
 * Once a Boomer has vomited on The Survivors, whether or not he has actually slimed anyone, there is one of two options.
 * The kamikaze method is used when a Boomer, after vomiting, runs up as close as he can to the Survivors and begins clawing at them. This puts survivors at risk if the Boomer explodes. If he does, Boomers can cover any "missed" targets, cover and blind previous victims, and cause them to stumble for a brief period. The downside is that this leaves the Infected a man short and, in Left 4 Dead 2, there is no guarantee that a Boomer will reappear next wave. Do note that Survivors know that if they melee the Boomer, he will shuffle back a safe distance and can be shot without sliming any Survivors. If possible, try to weaken yourself so that you can explode quicker then the Survivors will think you will.
 * The alternate method to kamikazing yourself would be to simply flee and let your bile recharge. This allows the Boomer to gain its bile while the Survivors are currently dealing with the panic your previously caused. Some hordes even last longer then the time it takes the bile to recharge, allowing you to pull off the combos in quick succession and can be used to by your team mates more time. However, since you are still a part of the field, you will be making a lot a noise, which will keep survivors aware of your presence. To counter act this, hide in locations they wouldn't expect to see a Boomer, or in the Infected only areas. If you can get enough distance in between you and the Survivors, you can get the game to prompt you with the "Press E/X to move closer to The Survivors" message, which will bring you right back to them in Ghost Mode, allowing you to have the perks of respawning without having to die.
 * Vomiting on a Survivor and then exploding on the same Survivor will not generate additional Infected despite getting one person "twice". To generate additional Infected, you must either explode on a "non-purple" Survivor, or wait until all Survivors are no longer surrounded by a purple aura with bile and then strike again. Therefore; he who pukes and runs away, lives to puke another day.
 * The Boomer works great with ANY Special Infected partner. Doing so can turn the tide of the match.
 * The Hunter can pounce on the Survivor covered in bile to add terrible confusion to the mess; the bile will summon the Infected, who will create a meat shield for the Hunter. By the time the other Survivors are able to get to their pinned friend, it may be too late.
 * However, if the Hunter pounces the only clean Survivor, the others may be too distracted to realize their friend is dying.
 * The Charger, The Smoker, and The Jockey have a pretty nasty effect to bile covered Survivors. Their ability to carry someone away to and from a location can lead to panic when teams try desperately to regroup after being slimed. Also, the group of Common Infected will help damage their victim; perfect for the Smoker and Jockey, who do not deal a lot of damage quickly.
 * If a Boomer and The Spitter are on the field at the same time, infected teams can deal out a lot of damage to the Survivors who cluster close. The Boomer must first summon a wave of infected on one or more players. Once the Common infected surround a player, having the Spitter spit on them creates pretty nasty results. Since Survivors can't go through the infected, they have no choice but to try to clear the out, while taking the exponential damage from the Spitter's puddle.
 * If The Tank spawns, having a Boomer slime a Survivor is necessary. The Tank will cause a lot of confusion, but if he is assisted by a wave of regular Infected, the Survivors can get overwhelmed pretty quickly.
 * Unfortunately there is a delay between the time where a Bile attack leaves the Boomer's mouth and before it hits a Survivor in which if the Survivor kills the Boomer the Bile will disappear in mid-flight, leaving the Survivor unharmed.
 * During Tank attacks, take the opportunity to vomit on the Survivors. This is a particularly helpful and effective action, as the horde sticks Survivors in place, and forces them to deal not only with a Tank, but dozens of zombies. Often getting a well-placed vomit attack in during a Tank attack spells death for the Survivor team.
 * While a Survivor is covered in bile, they cannot see the outlines of the other Survivors (or that of the Hunter, Charger, or Jockey after being pinned). While another Infected is attacking a straggler, take the opportunity to cover the other Survivors with bile. While this may cause the Horde to spread out, it is important to impair the other Survivors' vision so that it becomes more difficult for them to work together and to aim.
 * Most Survivors tend to target The Boomer the instant one is heard or seen. One can hide next to cars with alarms and Witches to trick Survivors into shooting them, triggering the panic event or the Witch.
 * Waiting behind doorways and in small rooms will guarantee at least one successful slime.
 * If you are stuck outdoors, hide in a place where the Survivors cannot see you and wait for them to be distracted by something else, then run in and vomit.
 * The Boomer is the only Infected class that should almost always attack an incapacitated Survivor. If you can, try to vomit on downed Survivors so that the Horde comes for them. This makes them almost impossible to rescue as every Infected hit interrupts a rescue attempt.
 * You can also stand on rooftops and vomit down on the Survivors or jump down and hope they shoot you. If you explode in mid-air, your innards will rain down on Survivors as well. If you stand on the edge of a building the claw or punch of another special infected will push you off the edge, which allows for a vomit and then explosion combo.
 * Don't hide right next to thin walls. Not only can Survivors shoot through most of them, your ample mass may stick through (due to vector errors), giving them a free kill. The slime from the aftermath will, unfortunately, be unable to get through. Try to hide slightly off the wall to minimize cheap kills.
 * When the Boomer explodes, it you knocks everyone back, this includes both Survivors and all Special Infected, even when they are using their special attacks. The good news is that you can knock Survivors off of high ledges; the bad news is that you can do the same thing to Tanks or other Special Infected.
 * If you have used your boomer bile and missed a downed Survivor, you can put the Survivors into some extremely sadistic lose-lose situations. If you can, sneak up on a single incapacitated Survivor and simply stand right next to him or start clawing him. The incapacitated Survivor cannot do anything about your presence other than shoot you, which will cause him to be covered in bile, resulting in swift death. You can also so the same to a pinned Survivor, and if any of his friends try to shoot the Hunter or Smoker pinning him, they may hit you, causing a similar result.
 * Remember, that a Boomer has no pinning attacks, meaning that even with a full team of Infected, you can't all pin a full team of Survivors, leading to instant Survivor failure. You must, instead, try to have your horde incapacitate at least one Survivor, allowing your Infected allies to sneak in and get all the other Survivors while the single incapacitated Survivor is helplessly pounded by the horde you summoned.
 * One of the best ways to do lots of damage is to spawn as close as possible to the Survivors as you can. Then jump around a corner once you have a chance to explode on all of them, or vomit and run away.
 * While fires are hazardous to any players, it has a limited amount of usefulness to the Boomer. Depending on the situation, you can intentionally catch yourself on fire, static or not, and run straight for the Survivors. Since the fire chip away your health, you literally turn into a ticking time bomb. Even if they melee you away, you would probably explode before they are able to run a safe distance away. Situations where this tactic can be used is during a horde attack, when your teammates are attacking, when you are close to the Survivors, when you are recharging your vomit with no hope of escaping or if the Survivors decided to use their molotovs. An added bonus was the fact that the Boomer will be wailing softly in pain, which is noticeably more silent than his gurgling noises, hence a Boomer on fire is usually hard to detect via noise and often catch Survivors by surprise.

Boomer Tips and Tricks Gameplay
Here is a video with a lot of helpful information and tactics for the Boomer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqc6p5KU06E&feature=channel

Behind the Scenes


In the Developer Commentary, it's mentioned that originally the Boomers explosion simply caused damage to nearby players, and that the horde-attracting abilities were assigned to the Screamer, another Special Infected that was cut from the final game. When the Screamer was dropped, the screams that formerly attracted the Horde were changed to the Boomers bile. The Boomer's old explosion behavior can be seen in this video at 1:57: http://www.gametrailers.com/video/quakecon-2007-left-4-dead/23268

When the Boomer's bile was first added to the game, it was red. It was replaced by the green seen in the final version.

In the leaked Half Life 2 Beta files, this can be found "A bloated, disgusting, fluid-spurting zombie created by a poison headcrab." commenting on the poison zombie. This almost perfectly describes the boomer, bar the headcrab.