Primary Attack: Tongue Snare (long range)
Secondary Attack: Claw (short range)
Strengths: An attack that can hoist foes away from help; emits disorienting smoke upon death
Weaknesses: Relatively weak, with an attack that can easily miss
Audible Clues: A rough, rasping cough
Description: Smokers earn their name from the thick, noxious cloud they emit when they are killed; the smoke impairs the vision of any Survivors nearby.
Prior to a takedown, Smokers hide in the shadows, on rooftops, and in other out-of-sight areas, looking for Survivors to ambush with their long tongues.
If the Smoker lassos a Survivor from above, the Survivor will hang in place until a teammate frees them or they are attacked by Infected.
If lassoed from ground level, a Survivor will be dragged across the ground to the Smoker, where it will claw its human victim to death unless a teammate intervenes.
Tactics For Survivors
- The Smoker is a troublesome foe, but one that doesn’t have the speed to flee far if you spot it. And that giant tongue is an easy giveaway to the beast’s location. It falls as easily as a Common Infected if you hit it without a victim wrapped around its tongue. Shoot at where the tongue is coming from (even through a wall) if you can’t see the Smoker.
- Depending on your range, it’s usually best to blast a Smoker with your Primary Weapon as soon as a Smoker is spotted. If the tongue is snaking toward you and you see it, judge whether you can fire enough bullets into the creature before you’re tied up. If there isn’t time, try a Melee Strike at the flapping tendril,, then fire at the foe’s head.
- If you’re going to be wrapped up by a Smoker, try to see the Smoker just as the attack occurs, as you have a second to shoot it in the head before you’re completely constricted. If the Smoker’s attack misses, be certain to engage the foe and kill it. You don’t want it to strike again, or strike another teammate.
- The green cloud of smoke that this entity leaves behind after it is killed is thick but not particularly harmful. It is only troublesome because you’re blinded for the second it takes you to run through it, so watch for attacks from other foes that might take advantage of your possible bewilderment.
- Rescuing a victim of a Smoker attack is straightforward. From range, simply aim at the Smoker’s head, or for closer help, blast away at the Smoker and Survivor (friendly fire isn’t damaging until after the tongue releases), or hack at the tongue with a Melee Weapon.
Tactics For Infected
- Thanks to the length of their tongues, Smokers can position themselves in a variety of high, covered, difficult-to-spot, or dark places and lash out with their main attack. It’s difficult for humans to hit you if you’re on a girder above the bridge, or an adjacent building, and you’ve stepped back to further hide from retaliatory gunfire. If you can, pull a foe back into a previously explored area, so the rescuers must backtrack significantly, which will delay and demoralize them.
- The Smoker is primarily an annoyance, with an attack designed to fluster rather than kill. If you can separate Survivors, your brethren have a better chance to finish the job. Much like the Boomer, your job is to back up the more powerful Special Infected, such as Hunters, Chargers, or Tanks.