Not to be confused with Special Infected

The Uncommon Common Infected, Uncommon Infected, or simply the Uncommon are new forms of the Common Infected introduced in Left 4 Dead 2. They have the same general weaknesses as their common brethren, but are slightly more resistant to damage than them. Each one has unique properties that can impede the Survivors' progress.

The L4D2 Survivors often comment on the Uncommon Infected, with the exception of the Worker Infected, noting their unusual attire and abilities.

Reflective Appearance

Each Uncommon Infected have reflective clothing, helping differentiate them from the regular Common Infected:

• The CEDA Worker Infected have reflective areas on their suits.
• The Clown Infected wear reflective makeup, which is arguably the least noticeable.
• The Mudmen's mud is reflective.
• The Worker Infected have reflective vests, which are most noticeable during the storms.
• The bands on the Riot Infected's arm, along with the word "Security" on his chest are reflective (In the German port, the word "Security" has been removed due to Germany's laws against violence against law enforcement in media).
• Some Fallen Survivors have reflective bright red first aid kits on their backs.

These reflective areas can be easily seen by turning your flashlight on.

Tactics

See Common Infected's Tactics and Tips

Much of the same tactics for Common Infected will apply to most of the Uncommon Infected, as the Director will control them in the same way as normal Common Infected. However, Uncommon Infected benefit off increased health (the exception to this is the Riot Infected, due to their damage immunity from the front). Their attire and appearance also give them extra advantages over their common brethren. On Easy difficulty, Uncommon Infected (with the exception of Fallen Survivors) have the same amount of health as Common Infected.

Additionally, certain Uncommon Infected carry valuable supplies that the Survivors could make use of. Strategically choosing when to shoot at them may be necessary to ensure the supplies are not dropped out of reach.

Types of Uncommon Infected

There are several different types of Uncommon Infected, which are generally restricted to certain chapters of campaigns.

CEDA Worker Infected

"Guess those suits don't stop bites."

―Nick

"Fireproof zombies. Hooray!"

―Rochelle

The CEDA Worker Infected or CEDA Agent^[1] was the first Uncommon Infected to be announced and appear in the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign, Dead Center in The Hotel and The Streets. In this game they also appear on the lower floors of the Hospital in No Mercy, and the industrial area of Rayford in the Sacrifice. Players will occasionally come across Common Infected wearing a hazmat suit (which appears to be of Level A (U.S.)/Type 1 (EU) rating), which was worn prior to the person being Infected. When killed, there is a chance of them dropping a Bile Bomb (in which case it will be seen strapped to their side). When shot in the face, blood will splatter across the visor, and the sound of air hissing out of their now-punctured hazmat suit can sometimes be heard.

Their limbs are detachable but players cannot cut them in half, even with a chainsaw. This fact means the hazmat suit was intact after its occupant had become Infected. The most logical explanation is that hazmat suit wearers were Infected prior to donning their suits, thus rendering this ostensibly protective gear redundant. An alternative theory based on the "escaping air" sound heard when these enemies are shot assumes that different parts of the suit have independent air supplies. Through the development of Left 4 Dead 2, the campaign the CEDA Worker Infected appeared in changed from The Parish,^[2] to extend to Dead Center, to being removed from The Parish completely, having been replaced by the Riot Infected.

Due to their hazmat suits, they are resistant to fire, as they do not burst into flames when in the middle of a Molotov's fire, and incendiary ammunition do not set them on fire. If idle within fire for extended periods of time, they will die due to the heat. They come in two different varieties: yellow suits and green suits. There were also white suits, but these were only seen in the "Survival" trailer or spotted as ragdolls scattered about certain areas of The Parish.

With The Last Stand Update, CEDA Infected were given a new appearance in the The Hospital map of No Mercy to better fit in with the aesthetic of this campaign. These are the only sources of Bile in the campaign (besides 3 unreliable spawns in the warehouse and one spawn right outside the sewer exit), however they carry Bile quite rarely, possibly due to the early placement of this campaign in the continuity. These CEDA Workers are dressed in dark blue and white hazmat suits, instead of yellow and green ones. Interestingly, white variant of the CEDA Infected was originally going to appear in Left 4 Dead 2 and can be seen in the opening cutscene, but ended up being scrapped.

Description

A government agent clad in a once protective (but bulky) hazmat suit, this shambling entity arrives in a variety of suit colors, all of which are flame resistant. This means that the Molotov projectile is useless against these foes. Use any other attack to defeat them: Shooting them in the head or damaging them with Melee Weapons is encouraged. The CEDA Agents also carry Boomer bile. If you have an empty inventory slot, look for the Bile vial on the Agent’s corpse, pick up the Bile, and use it later.^[1]

Tactics

• Collecting ten jars of Bile bombs from CEDA Worker Infected will earn the Achievement ROBBED ZOMBIE.
• As they are immune to fire, do not bother using Molotovs on them. Either use firearms or a melee weapon.
  • If your primary weapon is loaded with incendiary ammo, it will not light them on fire, but they will still be hit from the bullet.

Notes

• If one looks closely at the CEDA Worker Infected, one will notice that the gloves are on the inside of the suit and the boots aren't part of the suit. Therefore, the suit is not sealed, proved by the fact that they are able to smell Bile bombs. This is against standard hazmat protocol as this allows unwanted agents into the suit, although that might be the reason they were Infected. It is also possible that they were already Infected without knowing it, and when they were putting the suit on they started to turn into an Infected.
• Sometimes, CEDA Infected members can be seen throwing up through their suits due to the reused animations. This is impossible when realism is considered.
• The CEDA Infected in No Mercy lack the CEDA logo on their suits, but since the Bile they hold is still CEDA labelled, so they are likely still associated with CEDA.

Jimmy Gibbs Junior

"If the laws of nature allowed it, I would bear that man's children."

―Ellis

"Dibs on Gibbs"

―Rochelle

Jimmy Gibbs Junior was a famous race car driver from the Southern United States who won the Supercup in 1977, 1981, 1984 and 1986. He is also the writer of at least one autobiography called "SPEED" and considered an idol in the eyes of Ellis and Coach. The Survivors steal his race car to escape the mall. He is dressed in his racing suit and can only spawn while playing Campaign on The Atrium every 15 days,^[3] making him extremely rare to see in most games.^[4] He is mentioned by the Survivors briefly, saying things such as "If we see him, someone else is going to have to kill him". Nick makes a point of cursing his name regularly though, normally when something goes wrong with his car. This may be another play on the remake of the movie Dawn of the Dead, where the Survivors could see Infected versions of famous people that they knew from the mall.

He shares the strongest attributes of the other Uncommon Infected. He has 3000 HP, does not gore, and is fireproof (thanks to his racing suit). He can also blind players with motor oil (similar to the Mudmen's splatter effect) and is not drawn to Pipe bombs or Bile bombs (if it doesn't hit anything, similar to the Worker Infected). He also takes no extra damage from headshots, and in fact will take normal damage to the head from normally instant kill weapons (except the M60). Like any other Infected, he can be spawned using a console command. On his shoulder, he has the word "GOODBYE," a parody to the tire company Goodyear, a well-known supplier and participant in many forms of motorsports.

Tactics

• Despite the fact that Jimmy Gibbs Junior has 3000 HP, he can be instantly killed by a melee attack, a Magnum/Sniper bodyshot, Grenade Launcher, weapons equipped with Explosive Ammunition, or an explosion.
  • On Realism mode, only melee attacks and explosions will kill him instantly.
• As Jimmy Gibbs Junior is immune to fire, do not bother using Molotovs on him. Either use firearms or a melee weapon.
  • If your primary weapon is loaded with incendiary ammo, he will not be lit on fire but he will still take the normal damage from the bullets.
• Similar to the mudmen's case described below, disabling the gore in the settings will stop the blinding effect from his attacks.
• Like the other Common and Uncommon Infected, he can be stood on if you jump over his head and it will kill him. However, while the Common and Uncommon infected die instantly this way, due to his enormous health it will take about 2 seconds for his HP to be fully depleted.

Notes

• A possible explanation for his oil-blinding effect is that he was doing repairs on his cars when he was Infected.
• If you go to the far right side of The Streets map in Dead Center near the first safe room, there is a billboard featuring Jimmy Gibbs Jr. in his uninfected form.
• His autobiography, Speed, is never mentioned in-game, but can be found in a commercial on the Midnight Riders website, where it claims that it is the fastest written autobiography of all time.
• His race car resembles the 1969 Dodge Charger.
• Apparently, in his Infected form, Jimmy Gibbs Junior instinctively reunited at the location of his car.^[1]
• In the Left 4 Dead 2 Prima Official Guide, the Infected Jimmy Gibbs Junior is only alluded to existing, and there has been no official sightings.

Fallen Survivor

"That zombie's got something!"

―Coach

"Hey, stop that zombie!"

―Ellis

The Fallen Survivor was evidently a fairly well-equipped Survivor from the initial outbreak, but unfortunately became Infected later on. He appears in the DLC campaign The Passing wearing militia attire including a boonie cover and three ammo belts with a strap carrying visible Molotov, Pipe bomb, Pills, and a First Aid Kit.

While classified as an Uncommon Infected, the Fallen Survivor is actually a "rare" Uncommon Infected, as he only appears at the start of The Riverbank and The Underground and does not appear as a pre-placed Uncommon Infected elsewhere. He can appear in both panic and crescendo events, though even then it is rare to see one in such circumstances.

Unlike the average Common Infected, he has an extremely high amount of health, to the point of being able to withstand multiple point-blank shotgun blasts (like a Witch). He cannot be ignited by flames. The only ways to kill him in one hit are explosive ammunition, melee weapons, the M60, the Heavy Machine Gun, and headshots with any gun while he is idle. When startled, headshots deal no extra damage, while a Magnum or Sniper shot to the head will do normal damage instead. This does not apply to the M60. He is not immune to the lure of Bile Bombs or Pipe Bombs though; if a Survivor uses one, the Fallen Survivor will run to the location it is used. The Fallen Survivor can be wearing a blue, white, or green shirt.

He was going to be in Left 4 Dead 2 from the start, but was cut from the final version due to people having trouble in the beta version with him. He can be seen here, with mods. However, it was extremely glitchy and could cause crashes. If he were to be shot at his chest, his Molotov would ignite, burning himself and spreading fire. He dropped invisible items on death with collision. When they were picked up they would remove one's primary weapon, and show the HUD icon for a Pipe Bomb/Molotov/Pills/First Aid Kit, but they couldn't be used. His model is used as a placeholder for Whitaker and is rendered (not visible by normal means) after he is given the Cola. He can also be seen briefly in the "Zombie Survival Guide", running towards the Survivors in The Plantation, even though in most cases he just runs away.

A Fallen Survivor can carry any/all of the following items, which may be randomly dropped upon his death:

• Molotov
• Pipe bomb
• Pain pills
• First aid kit

Tactics

• Taking ten of the Fallen Survivor's equipment will earn you the GRAVE ROBBER Achievement.
• The best case scenario is he carrying a medkit, pills, a pipe bomb and a Molotov cocktail. However, the Fallen Survivor can spawn carrying as little as only one Molotov cocktail.
• Since the Last Stand Update, Fallen Survivors were added into Left 4 Dead campaigns No Mercy, Death Toll, Crash Course and The Last Stand, sporting unique textures and bodygroups, which includes parts of the outfit of the News Chopper 5 Pilot. Also, a deceased military parachutist found in Swamp Fever now can sometimes spawn as a unique Fallen Survivor.
  • It seems that The Director always generate a Fallen Survivor at the beginning of every level he is featured. The notorious exception is the Lighthouse Finale, where he is an even rarer occurrence than his usual spawn rate.
  • The Fallen Survivor can spawn during a finale or a Crescendo Event, but it's a rare occurrence. If the Fallen Survivor appears during a Crescendo Event in The Passing he tends to carry less items, while the possible Crescendo Event spawns added in the other campaigns are more common and he tends to carry more items in such circumstances.
• As The Fallen Survivor will run away when shot, use a melee weapon to kill him in a single hit. Shotguns that fire quickly can quickly kill him also.
  • Alternatively, if one of the team is carrying a Magnum or an M60, let them attack the Fallen Survivor first, as both weapons can kill the Fallen Survivor in one or two hits. The M60 instantly kills the Fallen Survivor while the Magnum does 500 damage on bodyshot on any mode.
  • A Sniper Rifle, Hunting Rifle, Scout or AWP bodyshot also does 500 damage to the Fallen Survivor on any mode other than Realism Mode.
  • Using explosive ammo with a firearm can kill the Fallen Survivor much faster.
• Other tactics to stop his running away:
  • Melee shoving the Fallen Survivor will temporarily stop his attempts at running away.
    • Do NOT attempt to kill him by only using shove attacks, as shove fatigue will eventually force you to wait three seconds before being able to shove again, giving him an opportunity to escape. Grab a melee weapon, that's one thing able to one-shot him.
• Attempting to use a Bile Bomb or a Pipe Bomb on a Fallen Survivor is not recommended if you want to get his items.
  • The Fallen Survivor will not be attracted by a Pipe Bomb, and while he will take damage from one exploding near him, it is an inneficient strategy to bring him down since the splash damage will not make him stumble.
  • The Bile Bomb will only attract a Fallen Survivor if it hits a Common Infected, but the horde infight makes it hard to reach him. However, a Fallen Survivor hit with a Bile Bomb can serve as a major distraction due to his high health and the fact that bile does not wear off on Common or Uncommon Infected.
• It seems that if the Fallen Survivor successfully gets away and despawn, The Director tends to generate another one sooner in the map than it would.
  • While the Fallen Survivor may run and get away, he takes a long time to disappear. Even if the Survivors don't chase after him, he will traverse a long distance of the map before despawning.
  • With luck, even a same Fallen Survivor who escaped may eventually be found at the end of the map or a choke point. A Fallen Survivor getting stuck at a choke point is especially common on Custom Maps.
• On larger maps such as the The Underground or the The Truck Depot Finale, the Fallen Survivor also tends to spawn at least once more in the middle of the map and even a third time at the end of the map.
• An idle Fallen Survivor can infight with a Common Infected, just like two idle Common Infected can infight randomly. When this happens, the Fallen Survivor will run away from the Common Infected as he would run normally when damaged. This can happen even before the Survivors leave the Safe Room, giving the little chance to catch him.
• Similar to Jimmy Gibbs, a Fallen Survivor can be stood on if you jump over his head and it will kill him, but he takes a longer moment to die due to his higher health.

Notes

• The Fallen Survivor can be seen briefly in the plantation part of the Left 4 Dead 2 Survival Guide intro.
• He is currently the only Uncommon Infected to have a behavioral modification, behaving like a Survivor Bot with Infected abilities and the command to stay away from Survivors.
• Whitaker's appearance is extremely similar to the Fallen Survivor, only uninfected and no blood stains. This model is likely only an in-game placeholder used merely because there was no design for the character. Artwork used for promotions when Valve debuted the ability to purchase hats in Team Fortress 2 featured a completely different version of Whitaker.
  • The Fallen Survivor has a pistol holster strapped to his leg, but does not have a gun in it. This may be due to the Infection overwhelming him as he used his gun, causing him to drop it since Infected can't carry objects, or the Infection overtaking him while he was unarmed.
• When the Fallen Survivor attacks, he makes a clawing sound, much like a Special Infected, unlike the pounding sounds other Common Infected makes.

Clown Infected

"Clowns? Clowns. Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

―Ellis

"That squeaking is driving the zombies crazy!"

―Nick

Once lovable (or slightly disturbing) fun park entertainers, the Clown Infected, or simply Clown,^[1] are now victims of the Infection. They wander around the Dark Carnival campaign and when they spot Survivors, they will charge, calling in other Infected with their noisy, squeaky shoes for a mass attack. This is accompanied with a unique horde theme, "Not a Laughing Matter".

No new Common Infected are spawned during these events, but an agitated Clown in attack mode attracts Common Infected and other Clown Infected loitering nearby. If a Clown is killed at a distance, all Infected following him will stop, mill around swatting at the air around his corpse, then attack the Survivors shortly afterwards.

Clown pants come in a variety of colors, including pink and blue, red and yellow, blue and white, pink and green and white and red as seen in the accompanying illustration. The flower on the Clown's torso occasionally squirts water.^[5]

While agitated, common infected chasing after a Clown Infected will "attack" him relentlessly, but they will be completely unable to either harm or kill him.

Description

With squeaky shoes that summon Common Infected behind them, these ravenous fairground workers offer a horrific and humorous takedown opportunities. Although susceptible to all attacks that damage Common Infected, Clowns usually bring a “posse” with them, thanks to their choice in oversized footwear. This means you’re likely to encounter more Infected when Clowns are about, and you can watch them “gather” Common Infected behind them. They also have a nose that honks, but only if you Melee Shove them.^[1]

Tactics

• A shove will honk the Clown Infected's nose. If done ten times, the shover will be awarded the CL0WND Achievement, a reference to Left 4 Dead's CR0WND Achievement. A single Clown Infected's nose can be honked up to four times in succession, as any more shoves will kill the Infected.
  • The French descriptions for this achievement erroneously state that you must kill 10 Clowns, even though it will not trigger the achievement.
  • In the Mutation Headshot!, all Infected are immune to any attack except a shot to the head. This allows players to shove the Clown Infected endlessly and score the achievement CL0WND off a single Clown Infected.
• A common misconception about the Clown, suggested by Survivor dialogue, is that the presence of a Clown Infected walking makes the Director spawn more common infected (much like a Boomer attack does). Actually the Clown Infected is just an agitator of the common infected the Director would already spawn normally.
  • Another misconception is that the the effects of the Clown Infected somehow apply during hordes since the Survivors will keep using the same dialogue instruction to "Kill the Clown" when one is seen among the common infected. In reality, the effects of the Clown Infected are completely nullified during horde attacks as the horde is programmed to attack the Survivors immediately.
• If the player ignites a Clown Infected who is leading ten or more Infected, they will be given the FRIED PIPER Achievement, a reference to the Pied Piper of Hamelin legend.
• Clowns may sometimes actually help the Survivors; when they are leading a Horde of Common Infected, the Horde following them will be in a tight group, and heading straight to where the Clown is going. Shooting a tight group of Common Infected running from one direction, following a Clown, is in most cases much easier than sniping them out while they stand around or run at Survivors from different directions. In this sense, despite the fact that they are bringing Common Infected to attack the players, the Clown acts as a sort of a Pipe Bomb, and may be quite useful in clearing out large areas with lots of Common Infected around.
  • On a similar note, sometimes after a horde attack, a Clown Infected may wander about, unaware of the presence of the rest of the survivors, and most (if not all) common infected in the vicinity will chase after him, leaving that area free for the survivors to move through.
• If a Clown is killed while leading Common Infected, they will stop for a brief while after the Clown dies. Use this moment to kill them quickly before they realize that you are there.

Mud Men

"Holy shit, there really are mud people!"

―Rochelle

"Tell you what, mud people take all the fun out of the mud."

―Ellis

The Mud Men appear in the campaign Swamp Fever. They are similar to the Common Infected, except that they are covered in mud and use this as camouflage. Mud Men sprint on all fours low to the ground, although they stumble back on two feet when shoved. (Moreover, they stand on two legs when idle).

A hit from a Mud Man obscures a player's screen with mud, like Jimmy Gibbs Junior's motor oil effect. The mud on their screen increases with successive hits, blurring the screen in a way similar to Boomer Bile. The Mud Man's movement can actually be observed in Left 4 Dead. If a player enters an area that requires them to crouch, the Infected will follow them in, but instead of crouching, they will crawl on all fours to get to them.

With The Last Stand Community Update, the Mud Men now appear in the sewers of No Mercy and Death Toll and The Junkyard map of The Last Stand, on which many of them can be encountered at the streams running through the village. Their appearance was also altered for those maps into common civilian infected covered in mud.

Description

At home in the murky marshland and ready to impede your progress as well as your vision, this muddy maniac uses flung mud (at least, you hope it’s mud and not a dirty protest) and rotting claws to make a point. Mudmen are faster than Common Infected as they move on all fours, so fire on them instead of attempting to outrun them. Their attack coats your vision with mud, but this is more of an inconvenience that a real threat. Dispatch Mudmen as you would a normal zombie, using Melee Weapons if your vision is too blurred to see your team.^[1]

Tactics

• Killing ten Mud Men who are in the swamp water will earn the Achievement DEAD IN THE WATER.
  • Shoving the Mud Man into the swamp then killing him also counts for the achievement.
  • Throwing a pipe bomb into the swamp will drag any of them nearby to the bomb, and it will easily kill them. Several of them can be blown up at once.
  • Throwing a bile bomb into the swamp can help gather Mud Men in one spot to kill.
• Disabling the gore in the settings of the game will also disable the blinding effects from their attacks.
  • In the German and Australian editions of the game, the Mud Men are incapable of blinding survivors with their mud attack due to the blood graphics being censored by default.

Notes

• It is worth mentioning that the Infected running towards Coach in the GameStop Pre-Order trailer is a Mud Man, and therefore, it should have sprinted on all fours rather than just running, besides the fact that there are no Mud Men in Dark Carnival.

Worker Infected

When this unfortunate demolition crew received orders to tear down an old sugar mill, they became Infected. Dubbed Worker Infected or Road Crew,^[1] these Infected populate the Hard Rain campaign. Workers are equipped with ear protection, hardhats, and reflective vests which makes them easier to spot in the downpour.

Their unique ear protectors make them unable to hear pipe bombs. Like other plain Infected, Worker Infected can be attracted by bile. However, due to their programming (either being intentional or an oversight), the Worker Infected will immediately go for the Survivors if the bile bomb does not hit any Infected.

The Last Stand Update introduced new variants for the Worker Infected, one variant that used the Left 4 Dead heads and more suitable coloring, another variant of the infected have baggage handlers with ear protection (which appear alongside handlers without ear protection) to replace the infected worker that used to appear in the airport.

Description

Construction workers driven rabid by viral infections or worse litter the landscape in the milltown and sugar mill locales. They may be extremely visible with reflective jackets (and eyes), but their helmet gear covers their ears. This means they pretty much only react to movement they see. You can sneak past them if they’re looking the other way, even if you’re engaged in light combat. Road Crew Infected do not swarm a Pipe Bomb when it is thrown. This projectile is useless unless you aim it so it lands within the vicinity of this zombie type. They can still hear car alarms though.^[1]

Tactics

• The Worker Infected is the only infected that do not trigger unique responses when a Survivor spots them, thus, there's no in-game hints about how to deal with them.
• They are the only Uncommon Infected to appear throughout a whole campaign: Hard Rain.
  • They also appear on the Left 4 Dead 2 versions of No Mercy, Dead Air, The Sacrifice and The Last Stand.
• Due to their ear protection, they are immune to the lure of pipe bomb beeps. They are also immune to the lure of bile bombs, if the item in question is hurled on the ground without hitting any Infected.
  • If the bile bomb is thrown without hitting any Infected, they will spawn, but will instead attack the Survivors. Use the bile bomb carefully and try to hit multiple targets with it.
• Although their ear protectors enable them to be immune to the lure of pipe bombs, they still react to the sounds of the chainsaw by going after the Survivor with it.

Notes

• Though they are reported to be a demolition crew, they are referred to as "common_male_roadcrew" in the game files.
• There's no explanation as to why they are not attracted to a bile bomb that doesn't hit any infected. It may be considered an oversight, since the bile uses the same attention-drawing programming as the pipe bomb.
  • Another oversight is the chainsaw luring them normally, since the hear protection should have made them immune to its noise as well.

Riot Infected

"Aw, hell, now they're bulletproof?"

―Ellis

"That zombie's got armor, I want armor!"

―Coach

The Riot Infected or Riot Guard^[1] appears in The Parish campaign. While human, they were members of a private security firm hired by CEDA to protect civilians. They turned into the Infected while still wearing their armor. Riot Infected are immune to bullets, sharp and blunt weaponry such as frying pans if struck from the front. They can only be killed from the back this way, although incendiary and explosive attacks can still kill them as like any other Infected.

They don't have any Achievements linked to them, not even "CRASS MENAGERIE", as they were formerly unavailable in the German and Australian versions of Left 4 Dead 2. They briefly appear in the Zombie Survival Guide Trailer, in the censored versions despite this. Riot Infected were first featured in the demo and were part of the censorship controversy in Germany due to rules regarding violence against authority figures. As Valve just used the same German version for the Australian release, they, unfortunately, suffered the unneeded cut; however, they were recently restored in both versions, with some minor differences, having the word "SECURITY" removed from the front of their armor. However, on January 28, 2021, an update was released, which added back the word "SECURITY" on their armor (as well as other things such as gore, wounds, etc). Ironically, they were not a form of official authority at all, as they are employees of a private security company rather than a government organization.

Description

Rent-a-riot-cops aren’t officialy part of CEDA, but this government agency hired them to provide crowd control and gave them bulletproof uniforms to make them feel like real police. Of course, the extra protection this offers the rabid form of the Riot Guard means their fronts are able to withstand even close-range blasts and slashes. The best method of killing them is to inflict damage when they’re turned around, either after you’ve inflicted Melee Shove, or when they attack another teammate and you can target their backs.^[1]

Tactics

• Upon sighting the Riot Infected, the Survivors will sometimes comment on shooting it in the back. This is precisely how to kill them; they must be attacked in the back. Use a melee shove to stun them before moving around them. Sometimes, the melee shove will spin them around, in which case movement isn't required.
  • Survivor Bots are unable to differentiate between Riot Infected and other Infected; they will shoot him even from the front, wasting their ammo.
  • The spin shove for exposing a Riot Infected's weak side may be done by not directly shoving them from the center, but from the off-center. It is worth remembering that Left 4 Dead uses a sophisticated physics engine and that most laws of physics apply.
• When attacking a Riot Infected with a melee weapon, if you keep attacking from the front, he will constantly stumble (when you melee against Common/Uncommon Infected); this effect will also happen when shooting them with a shotgun or semi-automatic rifle. Blood will also splatter on your screen (provided that your gore setting is on full) even if you hit him in the front. Where the blood comes out from is unknown, as the Riot Infected doesn't have any exposed skin (this is believed to be an oversight by the developers).
• The Chainsaw is unaffected by his armor.
• Headshots do not affect them, even though real-life visors like that are not resistant to bullets.
• He is vulnerable to flames and explosions. There are still many things able to affect him normally.
• Riot Infected are particularly dangerous to Incapacitated players, as it is often impossible to land a shot on their backs from the floor.
• The Riot Infected is significantly harder to defeat in the Mutation Headshot!, as the only vulnerable point of the Riot Infected is at the back of the head.
• A Riot Infected appears in the intro trailer of Left 4 Dead 2, when Ellis shoved him in the finale of Dead Center. However, Riot Infected can be found only in The Parish & Cold Stream and in the Left 4 Dead 2 ports of No Mercy and Dead Air.
• Riot Infected are not seen in The Cemetery or The Bridge because of the former military presence.
• A Riot Infected will die if you jump on top of their head, this way you can easily kill them if they are running up stairs towards you.
• If you spot a Riot Infected make sure to not get in a position where they'll be able to crawl, while crawling they're unable to be shoved back, making them much harder to kill.

Notes

• If one were to view the helmets of Riot Infected there will be a number, but it is always "5743".
• The visor of the Riot Infected is actually a separate model from the infected model itself. This can be made apparent when using a mod that replaces their model, which may cause the visor to "float" in front of their face.
• Just like the other Uncommon Infected, except for the Clown Infected and Jimmy Gibbs Junior, Riot Infected got their own Left 4 Dead variant in The Last Stand update, however, this variant wasn't added in any of the campaigns and is available only as a material for custom content, due to community sporting a big dislike towards this type of Uncommon Infected, because of the difficulties when it comes to dealing with them on higher difficulties and Realism mode. For unknown reason, this variant also reuses textures of the censored version from German and Australian releases, and Left 4 Dead: Survivors.

Achievements

See Main Article: Achievements

	GRAVE ROBBER	(25G)
	Collect 10 items dropped by a Fallen Survivor.

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	ROBBED ZOMBIE	(15G)
	Collect 10 vials of Boomer vomit from infected CEDA agents you have killed

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	FRIED PIPER	(15G)
	Using a Molotov, burn a Clown leading at least 10 Common Infected.

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	CL0WND	(15G)
	Honk the noses of 10 Clowns.

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	DEAD IN THE WATER	(20G)
	Kill 10 swampy Mudmen while they are in the water.

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	CRASS MENAGERIE	(20G)
	Kill one of each Uncommon Infected.

Notes

• Most Uncommon Infected have significant parts of their outfits that come in different colors. They are as follows:
  • Riot Infected: The uniform is either light blue or gray with a sheathed nightstick. (mostly light blue).
  • CEDA Worker Infected: The suit is either yellow or green (mostly green).
  • Fallen Survivor: The shirt is either white, blue or green.
  • Clown Infected: The pants have many different colored stripes (ex. red/white, blue/yellow, green/blue, etc.)
  • Worker Infected: The hard hat is either yellow or white.
• Despite the name, the Uncommon Infected appear quite frequently throughout their respective campaigns.
  • Though, it might be referring to how they only appear in certain campaigns and they are much rarer than the Common Infected.
• Due to a programming oversight, the Worker Infected is not attracted to Bile Bombs that don't make contact with another Infected, as shown in this video.
• The Worker Infected are the only Uncommon Infected that the survivors have no unique dialogue for.

References

The Infected
Playable
Introduced in Left 4 Dead				Introduced in Left 4 Dead 2
The Boomer	The Hunter	The Smoker	The Tank	The Charger	The Jockey	The Spitter
Non-Playable
Introduced in Left 4 Dead				Introduced in Left 4 Dead 2		Cut Infected
The Witch		Common Infected		Uncommon Infected		The Screamer