Hello!

I'm one of the Alien Swarm veterans who plays this game with breaks since 2010. As I'm getting close to 6k hours in Alien Swarm (vanilla and Reactive Drop) and people keep asking me about this stuff, I decided to make a basic guide about the current meta for 4 and 8 player coop. The purpose of this guide is to keep your whole team alive from beginning to the end of the mission and minimizing the risk of someone being in danger.

This meta is based on my experience, my friends and many great players before me. It's not made for speedruns.

There are 4 classes in Allien Swarm:

- Officer
- Special Weapons (SW)
- Medic
- Tech

but to make it easier, I'll classify them into 3 main categories:

- Tank
- Damage Dealer (DPS)
- Support

Placement in each category depends on marine's skills and weapon access.

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Marines in this category are really good in close to mid range combat. They're responsible for protecting the core of the team and making space. If your squad is attacked by a horde or bigger wave of aliens, they are first in line to stop them. Tanks require a low ping to be fully effective in close range.


Alejandro "Vegas" Guerra



Because of his Chainsaw skill (Melee Damage Bonus) Vegas is the best tank in the game. Nobody can compete with him in close range combat. As Chainsaw is also the best weapon for holding spawners and killing big aliens like Shieldbugs or Mortars, it's his job to get rid of them.

Chainsaw is at its most effective while pushing forward. That's why Vegas is always first in formation.

Tasks: pushing forward, making space for the team,holding spawners, killing big aliens, hacking


Thomas Wolfe



Wolfe is the best Minigun user. This weapon works great on close to mid range while moving. It's also pretty effective on long range, when you stand still. Because of the huge magazine size (250 bullets each) you are able to kill an entire horde by yourself without reloading.

Minigun is especially effective when running and shooting back. This way aliens usually stay one behind another so you can make use of your "Piercing Bullets" skill. That's the reason why Wolfe is the best for covering back.

Tasks: covering back

Adele "Wildcat" Lyon



Slightly worse with Minigun than Wolfe but still effective. Small health pool and high movement speed make her more of a support character, than main tank. Fighting in close range without Electric Charged Armor (ECA) or Freeze Grenades is not recommended as she can die after 2 hits from a regular drone on Brutal. She's used mostly as a second tank right behind Wolfe and to hold flanks.

Tasks: watching flanks, supporting Wolfe on back

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The reason why marines are in this category is actually only one:
"Explosives Bonus"

Grenade Launcher is the best weapon if we're talking about dealing damage and killing hordes. Works amazing on mid to long range. GL users need to be in the core of the team, protected by tanks, to use this weapon effectively without risking suicide. As long as you're not gonna go for a solo play and your team isn't rushing, you can play with higher ping without bigger problems.


Karl Jaeger



Jaeger is the best damage dealer and killer in the game. If you have a good Jaeger in your team, he'll have the biggest amount of kills 90% of the time even without counting kills from Incendiary Mines (Fire Mines, FM). But this comes with a price. He's also the most dangerous marine. One wrong nade is enough to kill or heavily damage half of your team. That's probably the reason why newer players are so afraid of playing him.

As he's the best Grenade Launcher user and there are always more aliens on front line, he works with Vegas to make space for the team.

Tasks: killing hordes, parasites, harvesters and xenomites, placing fire mines


Joseph "Sarge" Conrad



The most healthy character in the game and the one with the highest "Leadership" bonus. He works with Wolfe on the backside, helping him with hordes and bigger spawns. He also helps to cover by placing fire mines.

Tasks: killing hordes on back, dealing with drones in the middle of the team, placing fire mines


David "Crash" Murphy



Crash has the same Explosives Bonus as Sarge but a much smaller health pool. The best place for him is in the middle of the team, right behind Vegas and Jaeger as a second Grenade Launcher user.

Tasks: helping Vegas and Jaeger at the frontline, dealing with drones in the middle of the team

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Each marine is some way a supporter to the other, but this category is reserved for medics, since it fits them perfectly. Meds are best using a Tesla Cannon which is underestimated by many new players because of its low damage, despite it being one of best support weapons in the game. Good Medics with Tesla can make the game 10x times easier. As a support character, your job is to cover everyone in your team, especially Grenade Launcher users. Medics are the most forgivable if we're talking about ping, although using Tesla with a high ping can be problematic.

Eva "Faith" Jensen



The best medic in the game. Faith's job is to cover her team and help Vegas deal with Shieldbugs. Since she's a better medic than Bastille and moves faster, the frontline is the best place for her as people there usually take more damage and need better support, especially Jaeger.

Tasks: helping Jaeger, slowing down shieldbugs, stunning aliens in the middle of the team, healing


Leon Bastille



Better in combat. His job is exactly the same as Faith, but more on the back of the team.

Tasks: helping Sarge, slowing down shieldbugs, stunning aliens in the middle of the team, healing

This team composition is at least 8 years old. We experimented with many other gears and tactics, but found this one to be the best in most situations. Marines are listed in formation, from the first to the last.





Chainsaw

As said before, it's the best weapon for pushing forward and making space (on Vegas).


Grenade Launcher

Sometimes one GL isn't enough. As Vegas, you're first in the formation, so you'll see Parasites and Xenomites faster than Jaeger and you can react to them earlier. But don't forget that your main weapon is still a Chainsaw! If you're in a bad position to nade, switch to your Chainsaw instead and let Jaeger do the nade-work.

Flame Thrower

On maps that require it. Feel free to use it! You're first, so there should be no teammates to burn! :3


Electric Charged Armor (ECA)

A "must have" for a main tank. You'll be able to:
- stun and slow down enemies nearby
- stun and slow down every alien that hits you
- survive way more hits
- kill parasites (including those already on you)





Vindicator

Great for killing single drones. Alt fire allows you to shoot a fire grenade that can burn and slow down drones and parasites. They're also pretty good at slowing down hordes on your back. Some people prefer to use the Deagle, but it's eating ammo way faster.

Grenade Launcher

The ultimate horde and parasites killer. Every explosion stuns drones nearby for a moment. But do not shoot too close to your teammates! Remember that its explosion radius is 2x bigger for aliens than for marines so you have a pretty good chance to stun them with long range nades as well. Better shoot too far than too close.

Incendiary Mines (Fire Mines)

Amazing for cutting out side spawners, holding out and covering back. When you're placing them, try to leave a small amount of space for your teammates to pass through.





Tesla Cannon

"Why is the Medic using a Tesla Cannon?"

Medics are the worst damage dealers in the game looking on their bonuses and weapon access. Tesla is very useful, yet giving it to any character other than med would be a waste of some kind. Almost all "battle" medics I've played with were risking a lot to kill aliens, which is not very smart due to their low health and weak gunplay. Medics are very important and should be as far from the fight as possible.

Tesla is the best support weapon. It can stun and slow down aliens. It doesn't deal any friendly fire damage so you can easily use it in the middle of your team.

Medical Gun

There are two big advantages over a Heal Beacon. One is the fact that medigun heals 2x more damage and second (probably the most important), you can heal people while moving without forcing your team to stay in one place. The disadvantage is that you can't heal and fight at the same time.

Many medics have problems to decide when to cover and when to heal. If your teammate has half HP and is in the middle of a fight, use your Tesla to cover him and heal later when it's safe. I can't count how many marines would've survived, if the medic would have used Tesla instead of healing.

Freeze Grenades

Really good for freezing Harvesters, hordes and helping teammates who get surrounded. You can also use them to extinguish multiple people at the same time.






Minigun

A lot of ammo and a lot of power. Devastator is also great but only on small maps since it eats ammo even faster and you can't use Minigun ammo for it.

Ammo

Although the minigun has 250 bullets per mag, it eats ammo really fast. Due to this you'll need to bring spare ammo with you to ensure Wolfe remains effective in battle. Having spare ammo for Jaeger and Vegas is great too!!

Electric Charged Armor (ECA)

You'll be able to take way more damage and survive hordes.

Freeze Grenades

Some people prefer to use this instead. As well as freezing hordes, you can extinguish yourself from fire without bothering medic.

This meta is still pretty young (around 2 years) but works great so far. Once again, Marines are in formation from the first to the last.





We already have 3 Grenade Launchers so Vegas doesn't need to risk taking it anymore and can focus on Chainsaw.





Same as 4 player coop except he doesn't need to place mines on the back anymore.





Desert Eagle

It can shoot pretty quick and one-shot rangers. Great for killing aliens in the middle of team.

Grenade Launcher

One extra GL to help Vegas and Jaeger on front line.

Freeze Grenades

Very useful when things get tough.





Same as 4 players coop except Wolfe and the back is not your problem anymore. You should stick with Jaeger and help Crash and Vegas when needed.





Same job as Faith, but on the back. You should stick with Sarge and help Wildcat and Wolfe when needed.





Vindicator

For killing drones in the middle of the team and slowing down hordes with fire nades.

Grenade Launcher

For killing hordes on the back.

Fire mines

Place them at the back to help Wolfe and Wildcat.





Helping Wolfe on the back and holding flanks when needed. Since she's not a main tank, Freeze Grenades are great for support.





Main tank on the back, so he uses ECA.

Sometimes we don't have all 8 players to play. Sometimes we don't even have 4. So who should we pick to increase the chance of surviving? Here's a list of marines from the most useful to the least.




First character that should be picked, especially on maps that require tech. He's the best tank. Now you can push properly.





Would be cool to have some damage dealer. Jaeger is the best one. As well as helping Vegas, you also need to cover the back now. Fire Mines are gonna be great for it.

Those two marines are enough to win half of the missions on Brutal without repeating them too much. Here's an old video of me and my friend Xero going through a Landing Bay mission on ASBI challenge:

https://youtu.be/T6_GK2krJTM





If you saw the video above, you've probably noticed that our health isn't in a good state. Would be nice to have a support. And here's Faith. Now Jaeger can chill a bit since he has Tesla cover:

https://youtu.be/c3KgB4iPaQM





We want medic to be safe so would be nice to have someone covering the back. Wolfe will be great for it:

https://youtu.be/Po5l5hfzd4U





We have everything we need already, so now it's time to upgrade our core a bit. Here comes Sarge. His Leadership Bonus and Grenade Launcher is gonna help Wolfe to deal with hordes. Jaeger can also forget about placing mines on the back since Sarge is gonna do it.





There's 5 players already so Faith may have problems with healing and covering everyone. Let's make her job easier by adding the second medic. Now every med is taking care of 2 marines:

Faith taking care of Jaeger and Vegas
Bastille taking care of Sarge and Wolfe





Our team is really strong already, but Vegas is still risking a lot while using Grenade Launcher. We don't want him to suicide, so it's time for Crash. Now Vegas can take Ammo and fully focus on Chainsaw and pushing.





Let's see. Front line is really strong. Back is strong as well. So I guess we'll just leave you to die place you behind Wolfe for some extra support. Would be nice if you watch flanks as well. Wolfe can also switch from Freeze Grenades to ECA to maximize his tanking possibilities.


I don't have any 8 player video with the full current meta but this one is pretty close, showing some good teamwork:

https://youtu.be/6sGipA-gQPA

I hope this "short" guide is gonna help you survive on Brutal and crazy challenges. If you want to learn more about this game, check out the Alien Swarm wiki:

https://alienswarm.fandom.com/wiki/Alien_Swarm_Wiki

You can also check my other guides:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1494454472
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1482659583
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1208854269


If you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to write them in the comment section!