
If the area ahead is engulfed in fire and it isn't safe to run through it, the Survivors will be forced to wait it out, giving the Infected and Special Infected time to spawn. Generally, the player should refrain from throwing Molotovs in front of themselves, unless there is a Tank, a Horde, or the game is on Easy or Normal difficulty (in which fire does insignificant damage if one does not dawdle in the area of effect).Molotovs can bounce off obstacles and walls slightly, giving the player a chance to run away from the flame or throw it around a corner.Only in Left 4 Dead 's Campaign and Survival modes, setting the Tank on fire will increase his running speed, since he doesn't have much time to attack the Survivors.A burning Tank will survive for 75 seconds on Easy, Normal, Versus and Survival, 80 seconds on Advanced, and 85 seconds on Expert.

Successfully igniting a Tank can be the difference between victory and defeat in these scenarios. While it isn't extraordinarily difficult to defeat Tanks on lower difficulties, high difficulty Tanks and Versus Tanks can be a credible threat to even the most skilled teams.The 15-17 second burn time is more than long enough to heal, revive an incapacitated player, deal with lingering Common or Special infected, or run back to a more easily defensible area. The player can also block the path in front of them with fire to temporarily stop the Tank from attacking them.If the player runs far enough fast enough, they may be able to make the Tank die of frustration, allowing them to avoid a confrontation entirely.The Survivors can take advantage of their hesitancy by blocking the path behind them with fire, giving them a chance to run ahead with only three Special Infected impeding them. In Versus mode, Tanks will often actively avoid fire for this reason.They also can't extinguish themselves (nor can any other ignited Special Infected) unless there is a body of water nearby, ensuring constant, significant damage.

Tanks have a lot of health, so they take a lot of damage from fire.


The Molotov Cocktail is dangerous in close combat because the splash damage and flames may cause the player and nearby teammates to lose health. Special Infected, however, are able to withstand the heat while they will burn to death unless they extinguish the fire, they can still attack Survivors. Common Infected who run into the flames will burn to cinders, flailing wildly in the process. The fire will burn all Infected that come into contact with it. The area of effect is quite large and spreads over time before self-extinguishing. The Molotov Cocktail is a throwable weapon that engulfs an area with flames for approximately 15 to 17 seconds. About 100 damage per second (Expert Difficulty) " Might wanna save this for later." ― Bill " Grabbin' fire in a bottle, baby." ― Ellis
