The Milltown

"Look here, the gas station is right across the street, we could have been there and back by now. Come on."

- Coach

"Anybody wanna hear a prediction?"

- Nick


 * For the actual in-game milltown, see Ducatel.

The Milltown is the first map of the Hard Rain campaign.

The Survivors and Virgil realize that they do not have enough gas to make it to New Orleans. Virgil drops the Survivors off at a Burger Tank in the town of Ducatel, tasking them to retrieve some gas from the nearby gas station. However, once the Survivors get to the gas station, it has been depleted of all fuel and the only remaining gas is two miles away at another station. The Survivors must walk across yards and through homes, paying close attention to the landmarks while fighting the Infected. They walk past a playground, a garage sale and then eventually find a road that leads to a nearby safe room near the sugar mill.

Campaign
The Survivors start the campaign with Virgil dropping them off on a wooden pier by a Burger Tank. Before they enter the restaurant, they encounter a van with a second pistol and melee weapons nearby. When they enter the restaurant, there will be Tier 1 weapons and a Hunting Rifle on the tables, a first aid cabinet (containing two First-aid kits, always take them from the cabinet first as they will respawn at the finale unlike the ones on the counter), grenades, ammo, four more first aid kits on the counter, and a reminder to save some supplies for the return trip. It is recommended to take the molotovs since they are of little use on the finale, the ground being under water from the flash floods. They may also encounter some idle Common Infected. When they exit, they see the gas station, but it is all out of gas and the nearest gas station is 2 miles away. To move on, the Survivors must go over a fence with a fallen plank on it. At times, even at this early in point in the campaign, there can be a red car with an alarm on it so proceed with caution. On the other side is a backyard and some empty houses. Climb a ladder propped up against a trailer to move forward to the next street. Be warned that you might encounter a Tank or Witch at this very early point. (Note that the house nearby is a safe room on the way back and a glitch results in Bots reaching through the wall to snag Tier 2 weapons and first aid kits. Refer to Notes section below.) The Survivors are free to look inside the various houses in hopes of finding grenades, melee weapons, pistols, etc.

Across the street, the Survivors are prompted by one of the characters' dialogue to go through a playground featuring piles of Infected bodies. (Once clear of the playground, an idea at this point is to enter the double story house next to the unit that is merely an empty shell, mount the stairs and exit to the roof overlooking the next street. This makes a great sniping and defensive position. Move over to the roof of the next house along via the trailer to keep off the ground and get more sniping opportunities.) When out of the playground in the next street, a sign tacked up on a house front points in the direction of a garage sale. Be careful because this area is a common spot for a Witch or a Tank to spawn. A treehouse on the left has a Hunting Rifle in plain sight, but climb up and check the small room at the rear for quality supplies like special ammo and laser sights. (A second and higher floor to the tree house makes a great sniping position.) If you want, you can jump from the high floor onto the cover, and jump from there to the house across. If you miss, you'll end up surrounded by Infected and be dealt with damage. There are setbacks on the houses; one, if you are pinned by a Hunter, the Bots will be unable to save you, getting you killed. Also, you might accidentally set off a Tank, and because of the large amount of cars, if he throws one at you will be incapacitated, and your bots will be unable to save you.

At the garage sale, there will sometimes be Tier 2 Weapons and/or a Magnum and melee weapon, as well as a grenade if you are lucky. Beware that the garage sale is a prime location for a Tank or Witch to spawn if one has not yet done so. Go through the garage sale either by the passing through the house or down the garden next to it and turn right down the third street on the other side. Here is the other place where a Tank or Witch will spawn. After dispatching or avoiding them, proceed down to the end of the street to the safe room, which is on top of the staircase on the side of a building.

In a final twist of horror, the Director might spawn a Tank in front of the safe room. If a Witch spawns, though, there's a chance it will be somewhere near the safe room, or on the roof of the final house before the safe room.

Check the houses, as you do not want to check the ones that are in water on the way back. A Witch might spawn on the street and wander around.

The Survivors
With humans controlling the Special Infected, things can only get harder. However, they can't spawn until you leave the safe room. That doesn't mean that you should let them form up and make a plan though! Hurry up and get your supplies, and get running!

The Infected
Boomer: There's not a lot of hiding spots, and you'll need to find a good one. However, there's a lot of cars and always one alarmed one. If there's an alarmed car at the start, hide there and hope someone will shoot you, setting the alarm off. Worker Infected are your best ally in the campaign, as they are immune to bile (if no living thing is covered in it) and pipe bombs, and will head for the Survivors, allowing you to bile them at the right moment.

Smoker: This part is not your ally. The rooftops are not good enough to let you hide and ensnare the Survivors, but there are a few good places. You can constrict them at the Burger Tank's collapsed roof for a start, or use the adjacent buildings. Use the rooftops to hide yourself, and don't even think about going down onto the streets; you're an easy target for the Survivors there.

Charger: This part might help you. Charging Survivors can help get a Tank into the area, set off a Car Alarm, etc. It will be hard to find the spot to charge at, because this map is usually void of many crowded spots, and Survivors can easily kill you out in the open space. Charge Survivors in the houses, narrow passageways, or charge them backwards to make the human-controlled Survivors either save him or let him die.

Jockey: The Jockey is a versatile Special Infected, as they tend to control the Survivor. Players who find an idle or Survivor Bot can try to jump on them, and lead them into more dangers, such as more Infected, the Witch, a Tank, in and out of houses, etc. This, combined with the dangers above can quickly kill a Survivor.

Spitter: Players playing as the Spitter will have a hard time dealing damage and surviving than in the other maps. It is best to spit into houses the Survivors are currently in, as it blocks them off a while allowing your allies to respawn or to make a quick plan. Due to your low health and reduced speed after spitting, it is quickly recommended to hide in a spot where most player-controlled Survivors do not look or search at, such as the trailers, behind a house with almost no Common Infected, etc., as there are many spots in which the players do not look.

Hunter: Pouncing from the rooftops might seem like a good idea. There's a lack of excellent Hunter spots though there's a decent amount of cars to hide in. As players usually don't tend to look in some houses, rooms can be good ambush spots, where you can quickly do damage. Always be careful and plan your attack well; the Hunter can be quickly headshot without trying and Hunters tend to do well in crowded spaces.

Tank: This is your best part yet. There are many cars in this map, which will instantly incapacitate Survivors if crushed by them. Chase Survivors into houses for an easier time punching them. Luck will allow you to incapacitate them; if you spawn near the last safe room when it's raining, you'll be at a disadvantage, but if you spawn at the middle, you'll have more luck as there are some more cars on the way. If you spawn at the end right after the last street, you'll have many cars to punch at the Survivors.

Survival Mode
The Milltown's Burger Tank is the prime source. Take your time, and use the gas cans and propane tanks accordingly. On the top of the Burger Tank is a Sniper Rifle, Grenade Launcher, pipe bombs, Molotovs, bile bombs and ammo upgrades. The ground floor is similar to the campaign's version, though it has more grenades, a tactical shotgun, and some assault rifles. Health kits are also located in the top and bottom. The melee weapons include a fire axe, katana and frying pan.

Strategy for this map is fairly straightforward. There are two possible methods: either all four Survivors stay on the roof of the Burger Tank, or three stay on the roof and one stays in the middle of the restaurant. Survivors on the roof should simply kill any Infected they see, with special focus on Special Infected and the Tank. If there is a Survivor on the ground, they should focus on Special Infected and the Tank; ideally, this player should be very good at dodging the Tank, and should attempt to lead the Tank around the tables to delay it and give the other Survivors a chance to kill it by shooting through the broken skylight in the middle of the roof.

The success of this strategy is heavily dependent on the skill level of the players and the ability of the players to remain on the roof without being knocked or dragged off. Extremely skilled players may achieve times in excess of 20 minutes, while inexperienced players may not even get 5.