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Walkthrough "Unless anyone has a better plan..."

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C2m4 barns
Chapter 4
The Barns
Campaign Dark Carnival
Dark Carnival Chapter Chronology
Chapter 3
The Coaster
Chapter 4
The Barns
Chapter 5
The Concert
"Final evacuation is in the stadium."
Nick
"Through the farm exhibits."
Coach

The Barns is the fourth chapter in the Dark Carnival campaign of Left 4 Dead 2. After getting through the roller coaster, the Survivors must now make their way through some more of the park's grounds and across the rooftops of the barns before finding a way to get into The Peach Pit stadium.

Strategy[]

Walkthrough[]

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Outside the barns

Thanks to its Gauntlet Crescendo event, this chapter is widely regarded as one of the most difficult levels in the game. The importance of keeping at least one Pipe Bomb or Bile Jar in reserve for this event cannot be over-emphasized: refer the following walk through narrative.

Stronger than Moustachio

Prove you are stronger than Moustachio.

Start off by making your way with the generated path given to the team. Occasionally the fence near the two stalls will be omitted, allowing players a shortcut through a small section of the map. Teams should still search the picnic area as it contains various supplies. The area also contains the level's only two Rescue Closets.

The high striker game Stronger than Moustachio can be found here. Hitting the pad with a melee weapon causes the game to activate. Should a player hit the pad while under the effects of adrenaline, the game will be broken and send out an alarm to cause a Horde to descend down on the team.

Make your way to the bumper car area and leave through a door at the corner, leading to an employee-only area and the second appearance of the rescue vehicle seen from before. The Director is often fond of spawning Tanks and Witches here, so players should eliminate them if they appear. Burn the Witch if necessary and avoid fighting the Tank in the bumper car area, as he can punch them and will instantly incapacitate if they make contact with a Survivor.

In the next area, the park stadium can be seen. It is very common for a Tank or Witch to spawn in this area, with Witches in particular spawning in the Crescendo Event area. If any do spawn inside, it is highly recommended they be taken out now, as leaving them for the Crescendo will result in significant havoc. Having a Molotov is highly advised before startling them.

Stache Wacker

Stache Whacker.

The Whac-A-Mole game Stache Whacker can be found in this area. Players obtain points by hitting the small Moustachio figures that pop up from the holes. A game lasts for 30 seconds and players can retain score by continuing within 10 seconds of the game ending. Once the amount of figures hit reaches 42, the game will break and release a horde on the team, though playing the game to full will likely result in at least one horde descending down anyways. Check the nearby enclosure as a few supplies can be found inside.

L4d2 0580

Waiting for the gates to open

Check the small building near the barn, as it often contains a few supplies. At the end of the barn is a large room containing more supplies, and two tier 2 weapons; these are one spawn only and are meant for players who are low on ammo on their primary weapon. Thus, they should only be taken for such a purpose (though if the weapon is coincidentally the same as the user's, they can restore ammo instead). Head out and up through the rooftops. It is vital to be cautious of Smokers and Chargers. At the end of the rooftops, players will head into the Crescendo area. This is a one-way drop.

Clear the surrounding area; the Director is often fond of placing a few gas cans, healing kits or both here, along with an ammo pile on the scaffolding regardless of difficulty. Head to the lever and push it to start the Gauntlet Crescendo.

L4d2 0583

Running down the alley

This Gauntlet Crescendo Event is one of the most difficult Crescendo Events in Left 4 Dead 2, namely for the following reasons:

  • Unlike the other Gauntlet Crescendos, the alarm for this particular event rings for the remainder of this level, meaning that hordes will continually spawn and there is no way to stop it.
  • The Director places hordes based on the lead player's location; it is often notorious for spawning large hordes right outside the saferoom.
    • The Director often sends them almost immediately as soon as the previous horde is killed.
  • Special Infected can still harass the players as they move to the safe room.
    • This event is notorious for spawning two Smokers / Hunters at the same time.

During the first stage of the gauntlet crescendo, teams can glitch jump onto the normally inaccessible second tier of scaffolding by standing on the metal bars and waiting for a Common Infected to strike. Jump on top of it and quickly jump onto the scaffolding. This is particularly useful for solo runs as the Common Infected are unable to climb up to the second level, making the Special Infected the only threat during this stage.

Once the gates open, quickly move your way down the alleyway. Resistance here is typically mild since the horde is funneled into a single entrance. However, it gradually increases as the team moves around the bend, with incessant hordes spawning, often with very little delay between them.

For this reason, a player should be prepared to have multiple throwables on hand to deal with the horde. They should only be used when the team reaches the stadium entrance, since resistance is the most fierce there. A Molotov should be thrown at the furthest entrance along with a pipe bomb if possible to burn the spawning Common Infected as soon as they appear. Once a Survivor is right in front of the safe room door, the Director replaces the horde spawn to the area surrounding the stadium, making it much more manageable for any straggling Survivors.

  • If the Survivors are lucky enough to have a Bile Bomb saved from the first chapter, the one with the bomb should throw it at the wide area that the Survivors have previously passed. This will lure all the spawned Common Infected away from the narrow path, leaving only Special Infected to deal with.
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Rooftop view

Versus[]

Survivors[]

Things get harder for you as the Special Infected are now controlled by players. However, they are unable to spawn until you exit the safe room. Here are some basic tips:

  • Look around and explore the area(s) off the main path while moving as there may be supplies such as grenades or healing items that will help you progress through the map easily.
  • Listen to the sounds; the Infected might be behind the obstructions.
  • Turn on subtitles if you have a problem with listening to some sounds. Captions such as [Incoming Attack] will help you anticipate the hazards.
  • After killing multiple Special Infected in a short time, take the advantage of the Infected spawn timer by rushing or healing yourself.

When exiting the safe room, look out for any Special Infected coming out of the tent area as it is infamous for being an ambush performed by Infected players. If possible, kill any Infected that are within the tent area. Through the bumper car area, if you hear a Tank music, do not pass through it as the Tank is able to bash the bumper cars, sending them flying and instantly incapacitating the Survivors. Moving to the next area, watch out for the roofs as the Smoker player tends to attack the last Survivor to slow down your team. If you hear a Smoker, kill it or let everyone in your team know to get out of Smoker's sightlines.

In the barns, be careful when moving as there may be a Boomer ready to vomit on you as soon as you enter the back area through the door. If your primary weapon is about to run out of ammo, there will be two weapons lying on a table for you to pick up, although only one Survivor can pick up each weapon. Then, on the roofs, be wary of a Charger attempting to charge you off of the roof as this forces you to run back on it. When jumping down to the Crescendo Event area, it is imperative for your team to do it altogether as it is a point of no return.

Finally, in the Crescendo Event area, the same tactics from Co-op modes should be applied in Versus (holding out on the scaffolding and waiting for the gate to open) for maximum safety. Then, run quickly to the safe room and kill any Infected coming from the front and ignore the ones behind you. If one of your teammates gets incapacitated, it is best to leave them behind as reviving them is a sure-fire way to get pinned by a Special Infected.

Infected[]

While the Survivors are impervious to infection, they are susceptible to death. Plan your attack against the Survivors before they exit the safe room as your job is to kill all the Survivors as quickly as possible. Here are some basic notes for the Infected:

  • A Survivor separated from the group is highly vulnerable to most Special Infected attacks.
  • The color of the Survivors' outlines indicate their current health. Green means they're healthy and can run at full speed. Yellow means they're hurt and limping (orange if the Survivor's health meter is below 25) . Red means they're bleeding and walking sluggishly or incapacitated. Purple means they are covered in bile.
  • The Common Infected prioritize Survivors covered in bile.
  • Some actions made by the Survivors may hide their outlines, so it is important to remember their current location when you are respawning.

The Hunter: It should be noted that in Versus, the Hunter initial pounce damage is based on height and distance. There are several roofs that allow you to deal 25 points of pounce damage instantly. On the barns' roof, if they are close to the edge, try to pounce at them; the Hunter's pounce will cause the nearby Survivors to stumble and fall from the roof.

The Boomer: Boomers play a role as a support, so you should not attack the Survivors by yourself. Instead, you need to do some extra damage to the victim of another Special Infected by vomiting on their victim. There are some spots in the beginning area that provide cover from the Survivors' gunshots. In the barns, try to vomit on any Survivor coming in and have other Special Infected attack the ones not covered in bile to delay them. If they survive through the barns, hide behind the gates. After the Crescendo Event gates are opened, puke on them as soon as you see them.

The Smoker: Your general strategy is to pull the Survivor away from the group while they are in a fight against other Infected. In the first part of the map or the area between the bumper cars and the barns, if there is an intense fight such as a Tank fight, try to pull the Survivor farthest away from the group. If they manage to survive after the barns, during the Crescendo Event, after the gates are opened, pull the last Survivor; this forces them to either save your victim and deal with the hordes at the same time or leave your victim dead.

The Charger: Chargers are the only Special Infected that is capable of taking down an entire Survivor team. The tent area gives you the opportunity to deal some damage to all Survivors before the other three can save your victim. On the barns' roof, it is possible to kill the Survivor instantly if at least two of them are lined up while you perform a charge attack. During the charge, you grab the Survivor closest to you and hurl the other Survivor(s) behind your victim, sending them flying and dying instantly from fall damage. If they still manage to survive after jumping down to the Crescendo Event area, the narrow path is a great ambush spot to slow down their progress of running towards the safe room or prevent them from entering the safe room.

The Jockey: Jockey's general strategy is to steer the victim away from the group and into the danger. If the Witch spawns the area after the bumper cars, leap on them from the roof and steer your victim behind the Witch to cause them to either hold their fire or risk shooting the Witch in order to save them. On the barns' roof, try to leap on the Survivor near the edge to cause the victim to fall from the roof, forcing the Survivors to wait, buying the Infected players time to spawn and plan an attack. If the last Survivor is still on the roof, leap on them and try to steer them to an area the other Survivors are unable to see to render the victim unsaveable.

The Spitter: Like the Boomer, Spitters play a role as a support and should not attack on ones' own. The general strategy for the Spitter is to slow down the Survivors using the acid pool attack. Ideally, at any point during the match, if one of the Survivors is being caught by a Special Infected, spit on the victim to deal extra damage when they get up, eventually incapacitating them. If the Witch happens to spawn after the bumper car area, spit on the back entrance and have a Jockey player leap on the Survivor and steer into her.

The Tank: Be cautious when attacking the Survivors as one of them may have a Molotov to light you on fire, giving you less time to kill them before you die. If you happen to spawn in the bumper car area, try to bash the bumper cars to send them flying. If any of them hits the Survivor, they will be immediately incapacitated. If they retreat back to the strength test area, hit the Moustachio strength test to trigger the horde. While the Survivors deal with the horde, find the dumpster and send it flying towards the Survivors to end their turn quickly. Other than that, if you spawn in the barns, there are a few dumpsters which you can use to instantly incapacitate the Survivors.

Survival[]

See also: Survival Mode

The Survivors reach the outside of the stadium, all they need is to open the gates. But to their unlucky state, the gates refuse to open for them. With their hopes fading and a large horde of Infected coming, how long can they hope to survive?

Overall Tips

  • Teamwork is essential to long-term survival.
  • In this mode, most of the popular choke points, closets and easily defensible corners are removed. Even if you find one that has not been removed, it is not recommended that you fight from there as The Tank will quickly defeat you when he arrives.
  • You have an infinite amount of time to prepare. Use this to your advantage. Take as much time as you need to set up gas cans, propane tanks, oxygen tanks, and to find a good place to fight from.
  • When searching for a place to fight from, remember that you need a location that not only limits where the horde attacks from, but also gives you a fair chance against the Tank. You either need to be able to fall back and deal with the Tank easily, or have a good enough vantage point to kill him before he can get too close.
  • Ammunition is a problem. Unless you are being overrun with Infected or fighting a Tank, try to use your pistols as much as possible. Conserving ammunition should be a priority, as trying to get more during a horde attack can often be fatal. When you do head out for ammunition, remember to take at least one teammate with you.


Notes[]

  • The dead cows found in the barn use the same model as the ones in Blood Harvest.
  • When playing a Single Player game, an A.I. Survivor may freeze on the ladder inside the barn. Shooting them gets them moving again.
  • The forest paintings on the walls of the bumper car attraction were original designs from the Film Festival posters found throughout the No Mercy campaign.
  • Like in The Concert, the textures in the safe room are misplaced in a way that a player's spray, (or tag) will appear at an angle or partially on the floor.
  • You can go to the concert stage in The Concert using noclip, however it is not fully detailed until the next mission.
  • Sometimes, a rare occurrence happens in which the Horde does not spawn right away after the Survivor hits the button. The gate will still open at the same pace and that means the Infected attack later than usual.
  • When entering the ending safe room, both doors will be ending safe room doors. When the next chapter loads, however, the one leading to the next level will be the correct one. This door may be unnoticed though because players are in a rush to get into the safe room without dying.
  • There is an unused room in the area where you start the Crescendo event. There is a spot where you can walk to the yellow stadium wall. Just beyond this part of the wall is a room with shelves of boxes and a couple of item spawns. The room can only be accessed with noclip as it has no doors or windows.[1]
  • If you look through the window with the switch to start the Crescendo event you can see a door. However, if you look at the other side you will not see a door, only a wall.
  • The Barns has only one respawn area and those are the Port-A-Potties next to the bumper cars. Both can be used to revive teammates multiple times during the campaign, though having to run all the way back to the beginning can be tedious and annoying. However, once the team passes the roofs of the barns, there is no way to get back, leaving your fallen teammates dead until their team reaches the safe room or dies.
  • Sometimes, a Witch will spawn right on your path as you head to the saferoom, or inside the saferoom itself. Make sure you can kill her, as she may cause a lot of trouble if left alone as you may shoot her unexpectedly. Turn on the subtitles to make it easier. Try jumping up and down near the fence where you can toss the Gnome over and shoot or throw a molotov and then run.
  • On expert mode, it is possible to get up to four (this is EXTREMELY rare) extra health kits at the area immediately before the Crescendo. When jumping off the roof to get to the gates, look to the left of the left trailer, usually a gas tank is there, and occasionally an extra health kit. Proceeding to the scaffold, keep your eyes peeled on the left for another one next to the corner of the building (this frequently is a molotov or adrenaline as well). Finally, on the scaffold itself, a health kit is commonly found, however, there are 2 separate health pack spawns up here. If a player is having a particularly rough time finishing this chapter (4+ hours in attempts), the director will uncharacteristically show mercy and spawn one for each Survivor.
  • If your captions are on, and you haven't broken the strength tester, the captions will show the Moustachio lines, but you can't hear it unless you're close to it, even if you're in the saferoom.
  • The foliage in this level is inherently disadvantageous to Survivors, whether played in campaign or competitive modes. Infected with low-contrast or neutral-colored clothing can effectively blend into the many hedges found throughout the level. This is very bad for Survivors crossing the barn roofs.
  • The Barns is one of three Survival maps that belong into the "Dark Carnival" section. It's also one of the few maps where you can start the Horde up in another way, and this is by getting the 42 points on the Stache Whacker.
  • If you get a running start and hit the strength test game with a melee weapon, you can actually make the hammer hit the bell and ring it. This will not, however, grant you the achievement. The strength score/quote depends on Survivor's current health. If the player's health is:
    • 100 - the bell will hit and Strongman game will say "So strong!"
    • 90 - it will say "Not Bad! Moustachio!"
    • 70~80 - it will say "Old Peanut--Ha ha ha!"
    • 50~60 - it will say "Baby Peanut--Weak!"
    • Below 40 - it will say "Li'l Peanut--So Weak!"
  • The Tank can trigger a horde if he hits the Moustachio's strength test pad and causes the bell to break. The achievement cannot, however, be unlocked this way.
  • There are numerous patio tables scattered around the level, up to the area before the Crescendo event. These physical props are unique in the way that after being released to physics (i.e. shot/melee attacked by a player or special infected, or otherwise caused to move) the collision model is still completely solid to the Survivors, enabling them to climb atop the tables. These can be overturned and strategically placed to stop incoming horde. These are especially useful for interrupting a bum rush from a Charger.
  • The 42 points required may be a reference to several things:
  • At the beginning of this chapter, A.I. controlled Survivors tend not to pick up the supplies inside the safe room. To fix this, you can either push the bots a little so they'll go for ammo or open the saferoom doors, go outside and get back inside and they will retrieve their supplies.

References[]

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Campaigns
Left 4 Dead Left 4 Dead 2
L4d no mercy
No Mercy
The Apartments / The Subway / The Sewer / The Hospital / Rooftop Finale Price chopper
Dead Center
The Hotel / The Streets / The Mall / The Atrium
L4d achievement survive garage
Crash Course
The Alleys / The Truck Depot Finale Torch-Bearer
The Passing
The Riverbank / The Underground / The Port
L4d death toll
Death Toll
The Turnpike / The Drains / The Church / The Town / Boathouse Finale Midnight rider
Dark Carnival
The Highway / The Fairgrounds / The Coaster / The Barns / The Concert
L4d dead air
Dead Air
The Greenhouse / The Crane / The Construction Site / The Terminal / Runway Finale Ragin cajun
Swamp Fever
Plank Country / The Swamp / Shanty Town / The Plantation
L4d blood harvest
Blood Harvest
The Woods / The Tunnel / The Bridge / The Train Station / Farmhouse Finale Weatherman
Hard Rain
The Milltown / The Sugar Mill / Mill Escape / Return To Town / Town Escape
Supreme sacrifice
The Sacrifice
The Docks / The Barge / Port Finale Bridge burner
The Parish
The Waterfront / The Park / The Cemetery / The Quarter / The Bridge
Non-Canon
L4D last stand
The Last Stand
The Lighthouse Streamcrosser
Cold Stream
Alpine Creek / South Pine Stream / Memorial Bridge / Cut-throat Creek
L4d outbreak
Dam It
(unfinished)
Orchard / Campground / Dam Achievement Still Standing
The Last Stand
The Junkyard / Lighthouse Finale
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