A Safe Room (or Safe Door) is a term referring to rooms that offer some protection against the Infected, whether those "protection"(s) are in the form of glass or metal bars.
The only maps with Safe Rooms are Overdose, Oil Rig, Short Fuse, and Junk Flea 2. They can only be used in Quarantine Regen. All saferooms can only be opened when the timer in the HUD reaches 1:00, with the exception of the one in Junk Flea 2 (the Safe Rooms can be glitched open as well - see Media).
Overview[]
Though the Safe Rooms appear as a normal part of the map Overdose in most situations, they can only be used when playing Quarantine. Usually, the rooms are always open to anyone, but none of its controls can be accessed. In Quarantine, the rooms change completely; they will not open until the door's battery (part of the sealant protocol) runs out (you can watch the battery's energy deplete by looking at the indicator above the door).
In Oil Rig(Standard) there is no safe room but in Oil Rig(Quarantined) there is. Oil Rig's safe rooms are unique as there is technically two but they are connected by a tunnel blocked off by metal bars. These metal bars can be closed/opened by a lever to the left of the door.
Like Oil Rig, Short Fuse only has a saferoom when in Quarantine Regen, that opens when the timer in the HUD has reached 1:00. The Safe room there is empty except for two Biohazard waste boxes.
Function[]
Once opened, players can rush inside and "re-lock" the door to prevent the Infected from breaching in. There is a lock within close proximity of each door that can be activated (holding 'E' key on the door for a 1 second once the player is prompted) to close it. However, due to a malfunction in the airtight door (as well as the age and rusted condition of the elevator), the doors will not close properly and only the first set of barricades will activate (i.e the bulletproof-glass layer or the elevator bars). These are only applicable for the Safe Rooms in Overdose as the ones in Short Fuse and Oil Rig do not seem to have a secondary "defense" against the infected/other problems. On rare occasions, if the player is fast enough, it is possible to lock an infected, or multiple persuading infected within a safe room if the player being pursued is fast enough to enter, activate the locking mechanics and exit before the door closes on them, effectively trapping the infected within and halting their advance. Due to the usual enclosed space of each Safe Rooms, it will become relatively simple to destroy them all at once with explosive ordinances or of situation does not permit, allow the player to escape and win the round via survival.
Notes & Strategy[]
Though durable, the "Safe Room" doors can be far from safe. Because they have not been fully activated, or are weak, the doors are only temporary measures against the Infected, who can eventually breach them by repeatedly hitting them.
Another note is that the Safe Room doors are also very thin, flimsy, and easily penetrable in comparison to the rest of the surroundings. Because of this, an attack from an Infected (even a single bullet) can easily get through and hit a player inside of the room. When locked, it is highly recommended for players taking refuge to keep a significant distance away from the door. It is not uncommon for an unwary survivor to be infected through the Safe Room doors only to turn on the rest of the surviving group.
Even with their flaws, the Safe Rooms are a very popular location for refuge or defence due to the fact that Infected bottlenecked through the doors in order to enter, making defence easier. All Safe Rooms have a way to get inside or out for the Infected and or Human
In the case of the Elevator Safe Room present in Overdose, Infected players should note that they are able to jump up on the ledge of the doors for easier access to the bars. Crouching behind the ledge will prevent bullets from light arms from knocking them back, and if aligned correctly, Infected players will only need to break the one bar in order to reach the inside. However, Infected players taking advantage of this fact should exercise caution, as rushing in as soon as the bar is broken (which is not uncommon), surviving humans would be able to push them back off the door with saturated gunfire, creating a more difficult and complicated situation to enter through the small opening created, which could in turn cost the Infected team the round. To counter this, the Infected team may choose to divide their strength and focus on the dismantling of 2 bars instead of 1 to allow easier access.
The bars and glass have a set amount of HP before they are completely destroyed, and players can track this by the door's appearance (ex. bars being dented or bent/how many parts of the glass remain). However, the time it takes to breach the doors provides just the right edge for players to survive in a relatively safe environment and escape (i.e waiting for the round to end). As such, players tend defend the platforms in front of these rooms until the timer eventually reaches the 1-minute mark, just to get into the rooms.
Another note is that multiple survivors taking refuge into each individual safe rooms tend to attract attention from hordes of infected. This makes it ideal for surviving humans to rig both the area and entry/exit points leading into the Safe Rooms full of traps such as landmines, Remote Grenades, Claymores and suchlike in order to ambush any Infected attempting to enter. If not, any visible traps will render more experienced Infected players more paranoid, suspicious or cautious of the traps, and will either waste valuable time attempting to destroy it or avoid them in order to breach the door, allowing valuable time to pass until the timer hits '0:00' resulting in a victory for surviving humans. In rare cases, a sole surviving specialist taking refuge with multiple remote traps rigged in or around the safe room, may choose to wait patiently until the area outside the Safe Room is saturated with hordes of infected attempting to break through and once a significant number is reached, detonate each and every trap set in rapid succession. This commonly results in a Multi-Kill, Fantastic or better.
Pros/Cons[]
Overdose[]
In Overdose, the situation of the doors themselves also present a challenge to the players within. While the 'Office' is spacier and the window to the side offers a vantage point against the Infected, who can only aim for the door (the room's only entrance; another advantage), the Infected can hit unsuspecting players through the window and (with a very slim chance) through the walls adjacent to the window. While the 'Elevator' has even less room to navigate, the bars have plenty of space in-between them, which may pose an additional risk. Since survivors taking refuge must engage the Infected head-on, it is difficult to pin down, damage, or even track the Infected outside. However, the Elevator is less well-known and more less discreet than the Office doors, which create a loud noise every time they are opened and closed (due to the malfunction) whilst also being located in a commonly high-traffic area inhabited by both humans and infected. Discovery by infected attempting to take refuge in the 'Elevator' is not uncommon. It also provide an excellent alternative when the 'Office' Safe Room is compromised and overrun, or vice-versa. It should be noted that the Infected may lurk inside the Safe Rooms and lie in wait to ambush survivors. Caution is recommended when taking refuge in a Safe Room, especially ones uninhabited for a significant amount of time after the timer reaches '1:00'. The Office is slightly easier to keep track of as the Safe Room doors emit a loud noise when opened or closed whilst the Elevator remains silent and personnel can't be fully viewed within the inside of the room before entering.
Oil Rig[]
In Oil Rig there are technically two Safe Room with thin pathways leading up to them. These are very easy to defend but once within the Safe Room, it will be near impossible to prevent the Infected from arriving. The Safe Room are very spacious however, but there are two ways to gain access into them by the Infected/humans, which can be both a problem or lifesaver. The alternative entry and exit point into the Safe Room are through metallic doors made of horizontal steel bars which are closed by a lever on the wall inside. Infected can either get in by destroying metal bars on the ceiling of the Safe Room or manage to get into the other Safe Room and hit some bars inside the Safe Room.
Short Fuse[]
The Safe Room is easier to defend in Short Fuse because there are wooden boards lining the area, just to get into the area near the Safe Room, which can be destroyed with any weapon besides explosives (It takes two infected hits to break a board). The boards can also be fixed by pressing and holding "E'. It may require some valuable time to fix, so caution to the surrounding environment is encouraged when undertaking. The Safe Room itself has four iron bars that protect the entrance that need to be broken to get inside once locked. One of the cons of this Safe Room for the infected is that there is plenty of space to launch an RPG above or under the bars to prevent the infected from breaching the room. Due to the enclosed space and close proximity to outside surfaces, survivors must take care when using explosives, as many weapon's blast radius reach well within the confines of the Safe Room.
Junk Flea 2[]
After a few seconds when the infected host countdown is finished, the Safe Room opens. Any humans can enter and lock themselves in the saferoom before the timer hits 1:00. The Safe Room is moderately the right size to accommodate many people. Beware though, there is gas emitted inside the room, causing you to lose HP steadily, and the infected can breach the iron bars. After the timer strikes 1:00, the gas will defuse. Another con is there is less space to shoot explosive projectiles outside the room and you may kill yourself. Also, if grenades are thrown too close, you may have a chance of blowing yourself up as well.
Gallery[]
