Machete

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

Like all other melee weapons, the machete uses the slot of the pistol. It can slice and decapitate Common Infected

It's about the same as a frying pan power-wise, but has a wider spread of damage, having the ability to level a horde of Common Infected. As a bladed weapon, the more kills you get with it, the more blood you get splashed on your screen and on your weapon. This can cause major tunnel vision and cover up your flanks from view. It can also do heavy damage to Special Infected if not killing them outright, although this isn't recommended unless they have ensnared or pinned another Survivor

Since some Special Infected can attack you before you can kill them or are too far way to do anything with a melee weapon, and the other Special Infected have abilities and effects that make them too dangerous to consider killing with a melee attack.

When you locate the machete on your trek to the nearest safe room, you want to make sure you utilize it for the good of the Survivors. When traveling on open ground, keep the machete in its sheath, there is no need to cause friendly fire damage. When in a long passage, it is a smart idea to draw the machete, as you can level horde after horde of Common Infected as they run down the passage at you. When your in the finale level, covering doorways with the machete is a good use. This secures that door and keeps any Survivor to your back safer.

Trivia

 * The machete is a popular means of weapon in slasher-horror films and this could possibly be a reference to 28 Days Later, as it can be found in the corner of a bloody kitchen in The Parish in a similar way as a scene from the movie.
 * This weapon, the baseball bat, and the cricket bat all have 3 different animations compared to only 2 animations that all the other weapons have.
 * The machete is only found in Swamp Fever and The Parish. It is not very common in Swamp Fever, but does appear. There are hardly any machetes in other campaigns.
 * The machete's shove attack shares movement with the Nightstick, although its shove is faster.
 * The way characters hold the machete in first-person view is very similar to the way the Sniper from Team Fortress 2 holds his Kukri (machete kept upright with the user's left hand in view with a rather defiant pose).

Exernal Links

 * Machete gameplay