Crowbar

Crowbar
Weapon type	Close Combat Weapon
Weapon tier	Melee Weapon
Technical specifications
Rate of fire	.83s per hit. 18s to kill an Expert Tank.

"I cannot WAIT to find a crate!"

―Nick

"Crowbars give you that personal touch you don't get with gun killin'."

―Ellis

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

It is found in all campaigns - even ported original campaigns from Left 4 Dead 1 - save for Swamp Fever and The Parish.

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 Crowbar is classified as a Shredding weapon. It will spew blood on a player's screen and is the only weapon that can partially decapitate Infected.

Achievements

See 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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	CLUB DEAD	(15G)
	Use every melee weapon to kill Common Infected.

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

Notes

• The Crowbar seen in-game is based on a generic crowbar, a hardened steel hand tool normally used as a prying lever to force apart two objects held together by fasteners or to remove fasteners from wood or similar materials. Crowbars are a stereotypical burglary tool and often appear in popular culture as improvised weapons.
• The Crowbar used in Left 4 Dead 2 is a direct reference to Valve's Half-Life series in which the game's protagonist, Gordon Freeman, wields a crowbar with an identical red color scheme as a weapon. Nick's quote at the top of this page is also a probable reference to Half-Life and its sequel, wherein a large number of items could be found by using a crowbar to break open supply crates.
• In-game, the Crowbar shares the same range as all the other melee weapons but it has fewer hit-detection rays (than the Axe).
• The swinging rate of the Crowbar is slightly slower relative to the other melee weapons in Left 4 Dead 2.
• The Crowbar is unique in the sense that it can peel off a Common Infected's face completely while leaving the rest of the head intact.
• All crowbars found in the game show signs of prior use. They are abraded and several sections of paint have been chipped off.
• With the exception of the Chainsaw, the crowbar is the only Shredding melee weapon in the game, the rest being Bludgeoning, and Slashing weapons.
• In The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead by Max Brooks, the crowbar is said to be the best melee weapon to use against zombies, due to both its killing power and its practical uses (such as prying open doors). However in-game the Crowbar is not as effective as many other melee weapons because of its slightly longer cooldown time and lower inherent accuracy. In mitigation however, The Zombie Survival Guide is geared for use against zombies created by the Solanum virus, not Green Flu. Solanum zombies are the polar opposite of the Green Flu "zombies" in Left 4 Dead: slow, shambling undead that can only be killed by destroying the brain. The crowbar's slow cooldown would be less of an issue against these slower zombies and the crowbar's weight is necessary to smash through the skull.
• Before the game's release, some players linked Nick's quote (above) to Valve's Half Life game design trope to deduce that there would be supplies in crates in Left 4 Dead 2.
• Contrary to popular belief, the crowbar actually gets stained with blood although the red colour sheme of the weapon hides this fact. This effect can be shown by using a crowbar skin with different colour to the default red.
• Sometimes, when Louis picks up a crowbar, he may say, "Man, I feel like Gordon Freeman!".

External Links

• Crowbar Gameplay