The Tank



The Tank is a huge, muscular Infected capable of throwing large items such as cars or blocks of concrete. The tank keeps a high profile, able to be heard by the Survivors from a great distance due to its loud thrashing while running. The immense strength and toughness of the tank makes it a terrible foe in combat. Special walls on some maps will be outlined with yellow cracks (similar to the paws on climbable objects) to indicate that the player can break through the wall as a special infected. To prevent the tank from camping away from the survivors for too long, a frustration timer is set when the survivors are not in sight. When the timer runs out, the tank becomes uncontrollable and begins stomping and thrashing giving away its position and becoming vulnerable to the survivors. If this happens to the human while he is playing as the tank, the computer will give control of the tank to another player. The tank is the toughest of the infected, and is able to withstand 6000 points of damage on Advanced, or 8000 points of damage on Expert before dying. He is the alpha male of the infected whose only competition is The Witch but even she is more easily killed or avoided than this monster, in fact bored Tank players are often seen venting their frustration on Witches, one-shot killing them without a fight.

The tank is chosen randomly from amongst the infected players.

W6H6gC0QZc8 The Tank Trailer

Tactics

 * Punch survivors in different directions to separate them.
 * If the survivors are indoors, keep attacking one survivor (choose the one with the lowest health first) till they are knocked down and need assistance to get up
 * If playing on the rooftop of Mercy Hospital, try and knock players off the roof

Survivors

 * 1) Listen carefully for the tank, make sure you can distinguish him from a hunter/smoker/boomer. By the time the music changes, or worse the tank is in your line of sight, it is often too late to plan an effective defense. In fact, upon hearing the tank, some players may want to simply try to hide until the meter builds and then while the computer is thrashing, run from the noises. During the final stand, if you're very lucky, and neither you nor the tank sees each other, it will go away after a period of time.
 * 2) Throw a Molotov cocktail in its path to set it on fire and slowly eat away at its life. Fire damage is independent of the Tank's hitpoints, and will assuredly take down a Tank after a duration dependent on the difficulty level. Easy and normal Tanks last 30 secons, Advanced Tanks last 35 seconds, and Expert Tanks last 40 seconds. This method ensures a Tank death if you are unsure of your ability to down the beast with firepower.
 * 3) Run and shoot, the intro movie was correct on this point
 * 4) * If the tank is very close, focus entirely on running backwards, so that you can continue to shoot.
 * 5) * Otherwise, go ahead an open up on it. Be aware that the nearest survivor that shoots the tank is the target
 * 6) * If you are lucky enough to be near a thick tree, you can lead the Tank a merry dance by keeping the trunk in between yourself and him. He can't go over a tree and he can't rip it up either.
 * 7) * In the Subway chapter of the No Mercy campaign, the escalators near the safe room can be an easy way to defeat the Tank. If you can lead the Tank to the escalator, get him to follow you half way up the escalator, and then jump to the next aisle. With any luck, the Tank will continue to run up the first escalator while you run down the second, creating a never-ending loop. You can use this opportunity to keep shooting and take him down.

Other things to consider:
 * Provided you have sufficient health, it is fairly easy to "kite" a tank. In other words, you can get the tank to follow you without him ever catching up, and yet still have time to put lead/grenades into him. Using this tactic, tanks can reliably be beaten with no casualties (given sufficient running room)
 * The corollary to the previous point is that if you have low heath you should refrain from shooting and just stay out of the way
 * The tank climbs obstacles much more slowly that he can run; abusing this fact will provide you with more uninterrupted firing time
 * If you are incapacitated and the tank is not on you, do not shy from using pistols on the tank since every bit counts. If you are incapacitated and the tank is on you, stop firing immediately because it prevents your friends from distracting him. If you are still alive when the tank is distracted, a friend can help you back up and you can resume the shooting. Dead, you will be of no help.
 * Not only do pipe-bombs not hurt tanks, you are unlikely to find a tank willing to sit on your pipe-bomb long enough for it to blow
 * If you're in an area where falling is possible, such as the Rooftop Finale, make absolutely sure that you are between something solid and the Tank, so that the massive knock back from its attacks doesn't launch you on an incredible 30 story journey to your death.
 * There is another bonus to using the Molotov on a Tank. In addition to eating away at its health, it will slow the tank's movement speed down. Be sure to use this to your advantage to (hopefully) come out with a dead tank and no Survivor casualties (no injuries being a bonus).

How much health is "sufficient" to out-run a tank?
 * Generally, you need 51% health (green health bar) according to the Left 4 Dead Xbox manual
 * On variable terrain where you can climb up on obstacles, you may get by with less than that though

If the tank is throwing concrete at you:
 * Good news:
 * The tank can't move and throw
 * You'll know when he's doing a throw by the absence of the ground pounding noise
 * Anyone can shoot the concrete out of the air, rendering it harmless with any weapon.
 * Bad news:
 * The tank can predict where a survivor will run, if it's an AI. Zigzagging will avoid the rock
 * One shot will incapacitate you (on expert difficulty only)
 * Non-static geometry such as crates will not block his shots
 * You may be unable to dodge a rock if you are limping too badly (i.e.: when your health bar is red or yellow)

If a teammate goes down
 * 1) Melee the tank to get its attention (it will re-target on you)
 * 2) Run backwards, and then continue to shoot him.

Infected
Even though the tank was made to charge through seas of lead, a strong survivor team can chew him up and spit him back out with no damage taken. To avoid this unhappy outcome:
 * Avoid attacking in the open if at all possible (or you will end up on the wrong side of a Molotov and much concentrated fire)
 * Use alternative routes where possible to "sneak up" on the survivors
 * Use the awesome power of concrete projectiles to knock down pesky marathon survivors
 * Co-ordinate with the other infected, nothing is more effective than a tank herding survivors to their doom (i.e.: hunter/smoker/boomer ambush)
 * If you incapacitate a survivor, immediately re-target on another. Wait a few seconds, and then go back to the first incapacitated survivor to knock-down the foolish medic helping the first survivor back up
 * If playing on a rooftop level, do everything you can to knock survivors off the building, as this will kill them instantly
 * If a hunter or smoker is nailing a survivor, be a good monster and share the carnage. Killing your fellow infected will mean one more gun is trained on you
 * If you are on fire, water will put it out (where available)
 * Tanks can punch cars and dumpsters large distances by simply using a melee attack on them
 * A hit by car or dumpster instantly incapacitates a survivor even if they have full health
 * Hitting cars is faster than throwing concrete, eliminating time spent in a vulnerable stationary position
 * It is possible to block or at least seriously hamper the mobility of the survivors by throwing cars into the mouths of alleys and entrance ways

Survivors
Towering Inferno


 * Light a Tank with a Molotov.

Man vs. Tank


 * Single-handedly kill a Tank.

Tankbusters


 * Kill a Tank without it dealing any damage to a Survivor.

Infected
All 4 Dead


 * Kill all four Survivors in one life while playing as a Tank.