Baseball Bat

Baseball Bat
Weapon type	Close Combat Weapon
Technical specifications
Rate of fire	0.85s per hit. 17s to kill a Tank

"This brings back some good memories."

―Nick

"That's a home run!"

―Ellis

The Baseball Bat is a close combat weapon, introduced in Left 4 Dead 2.

Originally, the Baseball Bat was a pre-order related item: if at least one player on a team pre-ordered the game, the Baseball Bat would appear in every safe room and the Baseball Bat would not disappear when picked up, allowing every member to pick it up. This was then changed to players that had bought The Passing DLC, and was later made free to all players as long as they had online connectivity.

It can be found in all campaigns, and usually shares spawns with the Cricket Bat in campaigns they both appear.

Melee Mechanics

Francis holding the Baseball Bat in the campaign "Dead Air"

Melee weapons replace Pistols in the secondary weapon slot. Unlike Pistols, close combat weapons never need to be reloaded and cannot run out of ammo (excluding the Chainsaw). They have two main drawbacks: a limited reach and (with a few exceptions) relatively long cooldown periods. Close combat weapons cause minimal friendly fire damage to the Survivors, even on Advanced and Expert difficulty levels (the Chainsaw is an exception).

These weapons are extremely effective. All melee weapons, on all difficulties, kill Common Infected and most Special Infected in one hit, aside from the Charger (which takes two—but see point below), the Witch (which takes four), and the Tank (which takes twenty, excluding the Chainsaw). Due to their death effects, it is generally advised to melee neither the Boomer (unless there is no choice) nor the Spitter (unless it is possible to move away immediately from the resulting acid splash).

The melee weapons appear to do more damage if an Infected's head or upper body is targeted. With the correct timing it is possible to kill a Charger with one hit while it is charging, allowing a Survivor to "level" a charge without first dealing damage to the Charger and to gain the achievement "Level a Charge".

The Baseball Bat is classified as a blunt weapon, and will splatter blood onto the screen. As a blunt weapon, it can knock an Infected's head off. Aside from causing this decapitation, it generally doesn't gib infected.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Good range and speed.
• Has more consistent hit detection.
• Extremely common as it is found on all campaigns.
• Attacks are less obstructive to the user's vision.

Cons

• Cannot be used to cut a Smoker's tongue.
• Second hit has a much smaller hitbox than first hit.
• Not recommended for killing Boomers due to bile showering the attacker and any nearby Survivors.

Achievements

Main article: Achievements

	CONFEDERACY OF CRUNCHES	(30G)
	Finish a campaign using only melee weapons.

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	HEAD HONCHO	(15G)
	Decapitate 200 Infected with a melee weapon.

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	TANK BURGER	(30G)
	Kill a Tank with melee weapons.

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	BEAT THE RUSH	(15G)
	In a Survival round, get a medal only using melee weapons.

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	LEVEL A CHARGE	(15G)
	Kill a Charger with a melee weapon while they are charging.

Behind the Scenes

Judging by soundscripts (Player.Hit_BeatManWithClub), it seems a Baseball Bat was meant to be in the original Left 4 Dead as a bonus. It was eventually removed in an update from September 2005.

Notes

Nick holding the Baseball Bat

• In the first Left 4 Dead 2 trailer, the attack sound for the Bat uses the same sound effect used for the Scout's aluminum Baseball Bat from Team Fortress 2: a metal ding sound. In-game, the sound files have since been changed to fit the wooden properties of the bat.
  • Early in development, the Baseball Bat was supposed to be made of metal, explaining its sound in the first trailer. Its old design can be seen in the Left 4 Dead 2 Strategy Guide and in the texture file "4meleeweapons".
• Prior to The Passing DLC, the Baseball Bat was only available to players who pre-ordered Left 4 Dead 2. To be fair to those who did not purchase the DLC, the Bat is not required to gain the "CLUB DEAD" achievement.
• The Baseball Bat was once not a one-use pickup like the other melee weapons; the entire team could grab one.
  • The Baseball Bat is no longer always found in the starting safe rooms for those who preorder Left 4 Dead 2 and downloaded The Passing DLC, but they can still be found randomly in the game and in safe rooms, including the starting one. They now follow standard melee weapons' rules; there is only one instance of the weapon per spawn.
• On the Xbox 360 version, as long as at least one player was signed in to a profile that downloaded The Passing DLC, and is playing on a system with it present, the Baseball Bat would be available to all players for the duration of that game.
• Being a reskin thereof, the Baseball Bat has the same animations as the Cricket Bat; both weapons share the same striking sounds and the same attack speed as well.

External Links

• PAX 09: Baseball Bat