The Coaster

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

- Nick


 * For the actual in-game roller coaster, see The Screaming Oak.

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 an abnormally-long Tunnel of Love and make their way towards Whispering Oaks' signature attraction: an all-wood roller coaster, appropriately-named 'The Screaming Oak'. To Ellis' delight the Survivors must "run The Screaming Oak" and survive a prototype gauntlet crescendo event to reach a chapter-ending safe house in a fairground queue-booth.

This is a very long chapter and one of the most challenging in the game.

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).

Having survived the sadistic fairgrounds players need to get ready for the next fiendish attractions: The Tunnel of Love and The Screaming Oak. As usual it is time to select weaponry, heal and grab some ammo.

The safe room door opens onto a short flight of stairs leading up and then down to the start of The Tunnel of Love. This entire feature is packed with Common Infected intermingled with Special Infected (especially Spitters).

Important: Ammo resupply is sparse in The Tunnel of Love (and even then only granted if The Director is so generously inclined), so Tier 2 weapons should be used sparingly in the early stages when clearing out Common Infected. A Pipe Bomb or Molotov should be kept in reserve for the "hole in the floor" phase - see below.

After looking into the ticket booth next to the "closed" sign, going left, players can clean out a short branch of the tunnel before proceeding right and along its main axis. Dense clusters of Common Infected will be encountered along the way. Alcove rooms on each side should be checked for minor supplies like pills and grenades. The Common Infected are mostly benign and passive and can be taken down easily with Dual Pistols and Magnum Pistols from suitable safe distances. Spitters will spawn regularly as the team will be bunched and cannot hurry. Boomers and Chargers will also make their presence felt from time to time, but Jockeys are something of a challenge because they are intermingled with Common Inflected and only really their heads poke up above the water making them difficult targets. Mini-hordes will erupt, but since they are also closely bunched they can be handled relatively easily (players should target their Clown leaders).

Players keep going until they find some doors on the right of the tunnel. On entering them an ammo pile may be found on a large cable spool.

The next area of interest is the maintenance room. A Witch will often spawn in its entrance preventing any attempt to sneak past her. A co-op team can either flatten her with a volley, a volunteer can go for a Cr0wn or (if playing solo) she can be startled and left to the AI Bots as the player hares off back down the tunnel.

The Director is either generous or miserly with supplies in the maintenance room. Usual places to look include: the table under the stairs for a chainsaw or grenade launcher and under the pipes in the left rear of the room beneath the overhead walkway. Weaponry or ammo may spawn on walkway itself.

Players leave the walkway and enter the room at its head. Here will be found a weapon and often pistols and laser sights. On proceeding out the room, players will be faced with the "hole in the floor". This is leads down to a lower level of The Tunnel of Love, it is invariably packed with Infected and a swan boat and pile of rubble below actually separates two clusters of Infected. Simply jumping down (improbably but invariably to land on the swan's head!) immediately exposes players to simultaneous attack from both front and rear. The most effective way to deal with this problem is a pre-emptive attack using a Pipe Bomb, failing which any throwable will do at a pinch (i.e. Propane Tank, Bile Jar or Molotov).

Immediately after the clean out down below, players should jump down together (thus preventing a Smoker from snagging a tardy player in the level above) and engage any remaining Infected to the left and right. If a team is carrying Gnome Chompski, toss him down the hole first so that he does not get left behind should a Special Infected intervene and incapp his carrier upstairs.

At this point, players may wish to back up quickly to the shorter, closed end of the tunnel to clean up any Infected and to look into a large service alcove on the left next to the gate across the tunnel.

Players keep going through the lower level of the Tunnel of Love until a hole blasted in the wall is reached (one character may say "Fresh air at last" at this point) leading to a room and the outside. Players need to be on guard as a Charger may storm in from this direction at this point. On a table inside the room will be found fresh weapons.

Important: The Screaming Oak gauntlet crescendo event is coming up and it is crucial that players be fully equipped with suitable Tier 2 weapons and reserve ammo. Players should avoid wasting ammo between this room and the start of The Screaming Oak run.

After leaving the room, players find themselves in a relatively open service area. A lighted building to the left attracts attention and houses a first aid station and supplies (often Laser Sights) in an adjoining room. On leaving the lighted building, a truck to the right should contain weaponry.

Immediately obvious to the left is The Screaming Oak roller coaster looming up behind a chain link fence. This is where ammo conservation must be paramount as the area underneath the roller coaster has a fair number of loitering Common Infected. Access is gained by a section of bent fencing (which forms a "non return" phase of the chapter) so co-op teams must obviously ensure that no one gets incapped on the wrong side of the fence.

Bearing in mind the need to conserve ammo, players should mop up under the roller coaster but be alert because a Tank may occasionally spawn and throw this good intention into disarray.

Once everyone is ready and clustered around the starting gate, the event is triggered by operating the roller coaster switch on the wall to the right. (In a co-op game, if everyone has an adrenaline shot this should be administered the moment the switch is thrown.) The gate will fly open once the roller coaster goes past, whereupon players must sprint as hard as they can after it. Any Infected on the trackway will be flattened by the roller coaster; and this is why tagging along as closely as possible behind it is a good thing to do during the initial phase of the run.

If a player is trying for the GUARDIN' GNOME achievement, it is necessary to turn to face the chain-link fence and jump to throw Chompski over it because both hands must be free to fight the Infected during this Crescendo Event. The Gnome can be retrieved once the alarm has been switched off.

This is a prototype Gauntlet Crescendo Event in the sense that Infected rapidly spawn to block players as they sprint along the roller-coaster trackway and it foreshadows even more challenging set-ups in later campaigns. The most important principle is to stop for nothing and to shoot or melee one's way to the control station to switch off the alarm. If a Spitter materializes, she must be killed instantly and the player must take the health damage involved in running through the acid goo. The worst case scenario is a Jockey or Charger, they can easily take a player right off the trackway down into the Common Infected at ground level and thus beyond any hope rescue by hard-pressed team mates. In any event, all players should expect to take heavy health damage in this, the longest such feature in the game.

Whilst an ammo pile will be passed by on the left of the trackway at ground level, players should divert to it only in dire necessity as time is of the very essence in this Event.

On reaching the switch to turn off the alarm, the first player to arrive must operate it and take a quick look for some pills nearby: they will probably be needed. Common Inflected will still be swarming at this stage and it is likely that one or two team members will have fallen behind. First arrivals should either go to their immediate assistance or sprint up onto the gantry (or bridge) spanning the roller coaster trackway: up here will be found an ammo pile and an excellent position from which to provide covering fire.

Depending on the team's health status, a healthy team can calmly mop up from the gantry and then proceed in an orderly fashion down to the safe room but if everyone is in a bad way, the team should hustle to get to the safe room without delay.

In a final twist of horror The Director will sometimes spawn a Witch right in front of the safe room door!

Once inside the safe room and at the end of one the longest and most challenging chapters in the game, a successful player can bask in a sense of accomplishment before steeling oneself up to tackle The Barns.

Weapon Choices: Since much of the action involves massed Infected at short and medium ranges and in confined spaces, Tier 2 rifles are a good idea (e.g. AK-47). Tier 1 weaponry should obviously be nothing less than Dual Pistols, but the Magnum Pistol is well worth a try as single shots rip through clusters of Common Inflected in The Tunnel of Love. Melee weapons like the Katana or Chainsaw are excellent on the Screaming Oak run. Game play experience suggests that Solo Players or co-op teams equipped with a preponderance of Hunting or Sniper Rifles will struggle - these weapons are slow to reload and simply do not put out the volume and dispersion of fire needed to complete this event without the risk of multiple incapps or severe (even fatal) health damage. Overall however definitive prescriptions are probably unhelpful and players must feel free to experiment with different weaponry to suit their individual and team playing styles.

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.