Choosing the right weapon can mean the difference between survival and becoming a zombie chow in Left 4 Dead 2. Understanding your weapon’s strengths and weaknesses is vital with hordes of infected swarming from every corner.
Left 4 Dead 2 divides weapons into standard issues and more powerful variants. While standard weapons are readily available, the more potent options require exploration and strategic gameplay.
This guide will spotlight five standout weapons that can significantly boost your chances of survival. From shotguns to assault rifles, we’ll break down their stats, strengths, and best uses, helping you make informed choices as you battle the zombie apocalypse.
5. Chrome Shotgun
| Mag Size | Ammo | Damage per shot | Rate of fire | Damage per second | Damage per magazine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 8 + 72 (PC) 8 + 56 (Xbox 360) | 248 | 60/minute | 248 | 1984 |
The Chrome Shotgun is a default Shotgun you can easily find in the game, but it’s slightly improved and better than the classic Pump Shotgun. This will be the first gun you can add to your inventory.
Compared to other shotguns in the game, this weapon is highly effective against distant targets, and it has high damage per shot and high penetration against common infected, making it perfect for handling hordes.
This weapon is ideal for hunting witches with a one-hit kill or taking down common infected within close range. Owing to the Chrome Shotgun’s tight spread, an ideal strategy to take down the common infected would be to gather them in a narrow passageway and kill them with one shot.
4. M16 Assault Rifle
| Mag Size | Ammo | Damage per shot | Rate of fire | Damage per second | Damage per magazine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 + 360 | 33 | 686/minute | 377.1 | 1650 |
The M16 Assault Rifle is an automatic rifle with 50 ammo mag and a significantly higher damage rate in Left 4 Dead 2. This weapon is known for its balance accuracy, fast reload, and general adaptability compared to other rifles.
It has a high fire rate and a long-range and is mostly effective against Tanks. Moreover, the weapon can shoot in full auto and with short bursts.
3. Submachine Gun (SMG)
| Mag Size | Ammo | Damage per shot | Rate of fire | Damage per second | Damage per magazine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 + 480 | 20 | 960/minute | 320 | 1000 |
SMG is a tier 1 weapon in the game that you can easily find at the beginning of each chapter. Though this weapon has the lowest damage per shot stat, it has the highest fire rate. Now, moving on to its range, this is a highly precise and accurate weapon for medium-range.
Fire in small bursts to prevent ammo wastage and maintain accuracy when equipping the weapon. While talking about maintaining accuracy, remember to stand still or crouch while shooting. As this will be your main weapon, you need to switch to secondary to save your SMG for difficult times.
2. SG 552
| Mag Size | Ammo | Damage per shot | Rate of fire | Damage per second | Damage per magazine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 50 + 360 | 33 | No Scope: 727.2760/minute Scope: 444/minute | No Scope: 400 Scope: 244 | 1650 |
Moving on to another main weapon for our list, the SG 552 is a fully automatic assault rifle with the same non-scope aim accuracy as the M16 Assault Rifle. However, it does have a higher rate of fire. Being a hybrid between sniper and assault rifle, the weapon has tight crosshairs if shot from a standing-still posture.
This weapon is ideal for all types of range, but if you’re looking to reduce the fire rate, you need to equip its 2x scope, giving you long-range accuracy in picking off distant targets easily.
1. AK-47
| Mag Size | Ammo | Damage per shot | Rate of fire | Damage per second | Damage per magazine |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 40 + 360 | 446.154 | 461.5/minute | 446.156 | 2320 |
The AK-47 is an automatic Assault Rifle with a large magazine size, high accuracy, and high damage rate. This weapon should be your ideal choice against hordes and Tanks. It can one-shot kill common infected in both easy and normal difficulty and two shots in advanced and realism modes, making it one of the best damage-dealing weapons in Left 4 Dead 2.
While aiming for accuracy, you must crouch to increase medium to long-range accuracy, and you’ll get poor accuracy while moving. The weapon has a high close-range DPS and damage per hit, requiring one shot to kill infected commons.
