Left 4 Dead 2: Jockey Guide

In this part of our Special Infected guide for Left 4 Dead 2 we explain the ability and uses of The Jockey. Probably one of the more humorous Special Infected, The Jockey, runs around, at about knee height, making strangely disturbing laughing noises all the while he’s trying to jump on your face and ride you off into the sunset, not exactly a pleasant experience…

The Jockey is one of the more user friendly Special Infected, its ability is clear with its uses and it’s not that hard to execute his mutation. The distance of his jump attack can fall a little short at times so practice as much as possible so you can learn the restrictions of his jump attack. A Jockey is rarely useful attacking by itself, the best way of using his ability is to exploit a lapse in Survivors concentration. If there is a Boomer attack or a Charger has caught a Survivor, basically anything that makes them all focus their attention on one particular area, you should attach yourself to the closest Survivor and take him away from that area, forcing the Survivors to make a choice. It is this choice that is the true power in The Jockey, many uncoordinated teams will find themselves all following The Jockey leaving the original incident unattended or vice-versa, either way you’ve achieved your goal.

A Jockey cannot take many hits so for this reason you need to spawn as late as possible in your attack plan, a skilled Jockey is able to lure a gun-ho Survivor but this tactic is unreliable at best so try sticking to aiding your Special Infected team mates. The trick in The Jockey is the controlling of the Survivor after you have connected with your jump, general rule for this is to always take the Survivor backwards or out of direct line of sight of his Survivor team. You very rarely want to take a Survivor further through the map as the majority of his team will be focusing on this direction however there are certain map situations that can be used to great effect if you come from behind.

Summary

• Spawn late, attack fast, the sound of a Jockey will give your location away in seconds
• Plan your route before  hijacking a Survivor, a confused Jockey attached to a confused Survivor never ends well.
• Pay attention to your surroundings, leading Survivors out of windows or off high ledges is the bread and butter of The Jockey