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Left 4 Dead 2 · Action

Left 4 Dead 2 rescue guide: break the pin before healing

A teammate held by a Special Infected needs the attacker stopped. Starting a heal or treating every pin as a normal incapacitation leaves the active threat in place. Identify what is holding the Survivor, free them, then find a safer moment to recover.

Reviewed 2026-10-15 · Core cooperative rescue decisions; mutations, mods and difficulty affect encounters

Read the situation before rushing the interaction

Locate both your teammate and the Special Infected controlling them. A player on the floor may still be pinned rather than waiting for an ordinary revive. Your immediate job is to interrupt the source of control.

Approach with a line of sight to the attacker where possible. If another teammate can cover common infected, let one player handle that pressure while the other performs the rescue. Avoid stacking every free Survivor in the same exposed spot.

Choose the response for the attacker

A shove can knock a Hunter off a pinned Survivor. That buys an opening; it does not kill the Hunter. Keep track of it after the interruption instead of turning your back immediately.

For a Jockey rescue, direct the shove at the Jockey rather than treating the Survivor as the target. A Charger is a different case: ordinary shoves do not interrupt it in the same way. Deal with the Charger using damage instead of repeatedly attempting the Hunter response.

Regroup before spending time on recovery

Suppose a Hunter pins the rear player while common infected pressure the group. One teammate interrupts and finishes the Hunter while another keeps the approach clear. Once the pinned player is free, move together to a position where a revive or heal is less likely to be interrupted.

The Director varies encounters, so a remembered map location is not a guarantee that the next rescue will be uncontested. Stay close enough to see a teammate's problem and respond, rather than relying on an exact spawn script.

When your plan breaks

What happensWhat to change
I cannot perform the expected reviveCheck whether the Survivor is still controlled by a Special Infected and stop that attacker first.
The Hunter attacked again after I freed someoneA shove interrupts it; follow through on the surviving attacker.
Shoving the Charger is not freeing my teammateDo not apply the Hunter rescue rule to a Charger. Use damage to stop it.
Everyone gets caught while helping one playerKeep coverage and space instead of sending the whole group into the same exposed rescue point.

Quick answers

Does a shove free a teammate from every Special Infected?

No. Hunter and Jockey rescues can use shoves, but a Charger does not follow that interruption rule.

Should I heal as soon as the pin ends?

First account for the attacker and nearby pressure. Regroup before committing to a long recovery action when the location is still exposed.

Sources & version notes

Enemy-specific shove behavior comes from the Left 4 Dead community wiki. Valve's store description supports the cooperative and variable-encounter context. The rescue sequence is original tactical advice, not a recorded difficulty-specific test.