Tactics How to be the best Field Medic there is.

[Infectious Frostbite]

Well, best in MY opinion, anyway.

This includes being able to take down ZEDs in a 6-man Hell on Earth game by yourself, incase the rest of your team was bad enough to die on their own, no matter HOW MUCH you healed them.

What you need to do is have the characteristics of a divergent. Don't stick with JUST the Medic guns. Have at least 1, preferably the Schneidzekk for its high damage and fast healing dart recharge rate, so that you can maintain distant healing, while also using off-perk weaponry.

I messed around in a solo game of testmap and so far discovered three different loadouts that the Field Medic can use for self-defense. One of which, however, doesn't have a medic gun, so I wouldn't recommend using that in an online game.

(List is being updated in a Google Drive document. I'm definitely removing the Machete from setup 1 since that really is a waste of 500 dosh, and I'll look into the MK23 more. I also have a bunch more edits I need to do, so...the list will be back shortly.)

 

[mmnicolas]

This includes being able to take down ZEDs in a 6-man Hell on Earth game by yourself, incase the rest of your team was bad enough to die on their own, no matter HOW MUCH you healed them.

What you need to do is have the characteristics of a divergent.

I have to disagree with the whole thing as it assumes your teammates are dumbasses. It's basically treating your teammates as faked players.

I don't think the game is about making it all easy for yourself, it's about being a useful component of the team. I wonder how you manage to afford these weapons other than selling weapons of dead players or convincing them to fund your eccentricities, in both cases, endangering the team IMO.

 

[Raisins_Tasty]

Speaking of which, how do people feel in general about medics with crossbow?

Sure you can provide husk and siren support, but a sharpshooter does that anyway and does more damage with the crossbow in the first place.

 

[Althamus]

Speaking of which, how do people feel in general about medics with crossbow?

Sure you can provide husk and siren support, but a sharpshooter does that anyway and does more damage with the crossbow in the first place.

Medic with a LAR is better, unless he started out sharp to get the Xbow.

It's far cheaper so you can replace it easily, you can kill smaller stuff with it fine (I feel bad about using an Xbow on gorefasts or something) and you can still kill husks/sirens with 2 headshots.

Also, @OP
Rather than carrying a machete and pipes (which are expensive, and not that good... a knife alt fire decaps zeds as well and has about the same range, and either way if you're killing things with these kinds of weapons something has gone seriously wrong), instead get a Mk23 which can headshot zeds with a single bullet rather than 2, and will be a lot more beneficial against smaller zeds (where you should be killing).
Pipes will let you kill one or two of the big guys, but normally it's better to trust your team and let the sharpshooter kill them without having crawlers snapping at his feet.

 

[vealck]

Everyone is entitled to his own opinion and I haven't played with you...

...however using offperk shotgun on HoE, wasting money on and using offperk pipes, and not having a medgun as a medic are usually signs of being a bad addition to the team.

Mk23, medgun and xbow is probably the most versatile loadout as it consists of sufficient trash control, normal healing ability and husk/siren removal tool even when aim is obstructed by other zeds. You can even kill scrakes on your own if you don't mind using slowrage bug and have a bit of space.

Full battle medic loadout, advisable only when playing on lower difficulties or with a bunch of low levels that keep getting surrounded and you will be most likely finishing the wave by yourself consists of medgun, katana, dual hcs and M79.

 

[Hoffi]

My favourite setup is

44 Magnum / Deagle
Schneidzekk / MP5
xbow

Its great for dealing with Siren, Husk and Scrake

After Wave 7 i switch to:

Schneidzekk / MP5
Hunting Shotgun

HS is great for helping with FP and mostly getting their attention and :IS2:ing them

 

[naksiloth]

I'm not a regular medic player, but I always advocated the dual medic rifle. Lightweight, easy and does the job, be a dart dispenser and if you need trash clearing just grab a Lever-action already. Stand behind, and just heal people; stop shooting at the trash with medic rifles unless needed, use your sidearms to clear trash to avoid long reload times.
That's it, you're a good medic who helps a Hell on Earth team.
Unless you go front to spam dual flare revolvers blinding teammates and reload often, never heal or feed yourself to a Siren bomb while shooting crawlers with MP7M, you're fine.

As for @OP; in none of your "setups" you can utilize the pipebombs. It's a waste of good money at higher difficulties when you can share it among recently dead players.
A blowerthrower would abuse the prematurely setting the pipe off for a greater good; killing 6p HoE FP with a single pipe blast when set by BT. Same thing can be done with any medic rifle, but for ensuring maximum damage and practice of darting pipe in FP's path then backing away in time to set it off before it arms; I suggest getting a Blowerthrower. Sirens can be brought down with BT without too much aiming involved either.

setup1

Offperk MK23 for pre-damage with xbow combinated, can induce slow-rage bug on Scrakes, also can get rid of Husks with ease. Get rid of pipes and machete, you don't need a machete unless you're in for cool Scrake flinch instakill tricks, alter-swing of knife would chop the lesser specimen heads with ease afterall.

setup2

No medic rifle with Hunting and Katana is just a TERRIBLE idea, as other players in a pub would definitely kickvote you out. And I don't think none of your friends would like to suffer the consequences of it. If same setup would get you a good kickvote out from a pub game, why they should bother carrying you around?

There are way more harsh words for what are you trying to do, but the least insulting one would be tagging you as a "griefer" or a "newbie". Telling players that this setup works would be pretty misleading. Yea, that would work at Normal and Hard servers but I don't think that'd be the case with Suicidal or Hell. I don't think it's possible to beat a 6p HoE game with this setup either.

Katana in a high difficulty server would get your armor chipped away by Crawlers or Gorefasts. While your teammates would expect you to tank that enraged Fleshpound (considering you're holing up somewhere) when you hold a Hunting Shotgun. Sooner or later you'll run outta shells on it or your armor will wore off from melee engages, whichever is first; you'll fail.
Add salt to the injury as being unable of healing from long range when Fleshpound goes close to one of your teammates. Trying to aggro them would be pointless as they always pick their target on proximity, which ends you up with a dead teammate if you can't heal them from distance. If you want Hunting, ditch the Katana or vice versa, you're not a Support Specialist. However, if you grab chete instead of Katana you can flinch-uppercut kill Scrakes after a bit of predamage to them when needed.

setup3

I don't think it would be possible to beat 6p HoE with this setup too. HSG-1 offperk just tickles if you fail to aim in a panic situation and when offperk'd, Shotgun is much better than HSG-1. Please don't blabber bullcr*p about its magazine size and shiz; "weakest pellet damage" is all you need to know. It's not an upgrade to normal Shotgun, using it offperk without any damage boost would be silly. Your medic rifles have long magazine reloads already, you would do better with an interruptable reload weapon next to it.

A Lever-action, Blowerthrower or offperk M32 (when you go demo at late waves to refill your pipes perhaps? learn when to shoot it thou, k?) would work way better than HSG-1 if you really want something reliable, yet get to keep the Katana and medic rifle next to it.

Sure you can provide husk and siren support, but a sharpshooter does that anyway and does more damage with the crossbow in the first place.

Sharp don't deal higher damage with crossbow on a bodyshot, a xbow medic saves Sharp's ammunition for him to deal with bigger targets instead of wasting it on smaller head health targets like Husk and Siren. A medic never suppose to take attention of Scrakes or slow pace Fleshpounds with crossbow.

Sending a 2880 damage onperk bolt headshot to a 438 head health husk/siren would be the same with sending it a 1200 damage offperk bolt headshot afterall. One shot, one kill; so Sharp aims down on Scrake first instead of losing time with Siren or Husk.

 

[Gladius]

The suitable loadout is a question of the purpose. Are you the

 

[Raisins_Tasty]

Sending a 2880 damage onperk bolt headshot to a 438 head health husk/siren would be the same with sending it a 1200 damage offperk bolt headshot afterall. One shot, one kill; so Sharp aims down on Scrake first instead of losing time with Siren or Husk.

Sharp can just do a quick double tap with MK23 or Handcannon to the head on Sirens and Husks if Crossbow ammo is an issue.

 

[larkstongues42]

I always roll with two med guns and a m32 or EBR.

 

[naksiloth]

Sharp can just do a quick double tap with MK23 or Handcannon to the head on Sirens and Husks if Crossbow ammo is an issue.

That's the case, but a Sharp always could use a hand against a meatshielded Husk that take potshots at him from far far away while trash is closing upon him. Same thing goes with the Siren who just turned the corner right after a couple of trash zeds.
Double tap thing is only possible if ranged threat is an open target and alone, which is not an often thing when they have a habit of hiding behind clots and gorefasts. Also it requires 3 clear headshots from MK23 to rip off a head of Husk or Siren in a 6 player HoE game, requires much more if it were to pierce other trash (loses 50% efficiency on pierce). Handcannon or .44 magnum is more qualified for this job.

Let's not digress now.

 

[Grail]

To be the best medic means medic'ing. To this extent, Medic guns should be the first option and first thought. Secondary to healing is elimination of small threats and then thirdly is what to do if the group is forced to flee/kite or you are last man standing.

To this extent, my common loadout is:

MP5 + Schneidzekk = both offer fast recharge of healing darts, allowing me to provide an almost constant stream of healing to my team, coupled with med grenades and the syringe, I should be able to keep up with all but the most devastating trauma that my team will be dealt.

MK23 = offers a good, reliable weapon that i can use to decapitate small zeds, and even larger ones like husks and sirens if need be with a few extra shots. It also allows me to have an additional weapon on hand to throw to someone if they run out of ammo, and especially late joining players.

Katana = a fall back weapon i hope never to need to use, but it allows me to be more use when or if we need to kite because our position has been overrun. Allows me to deal with fleshpounds with relative saftey or at least, lead them away from the group in an emergency if the group needs time to deal with the threat.

Switching between weapons is generally quicker than reloading a medic gun that have a rather slow reload time, so MK23 and Katana are used for most killing that I will do. If I have to shoot a medic gun, I never reload them until there is a clear pause in the wave. I'd hate to need an emergency heal on a team member, but be caught in the midst of a reload animation and not be able to do my job.

This entire loadout comes to 12kg (including starting gear). It's not very expensive, I can get a sharpie to buy me an MK23 for $150, a zerk to buy me a katana for $600 and my 2 med guns cost a combined total of $1238. Meaning that I can be setup completely by about wave 3, and then all my money for the rest of the game is used for cheap ammo reloads, cheap armour and for giving to late joined players, or players with expensive weapon/ammo requirements. Medics support their team, and shouldn't be trying to solo hog the limelight. I've gone entire games of 6p HoE before where my kill + assist count was < 20. In these games, I feel that I have done my job admirably.

 

[Infectious Frostbite]

I have to disagree with the whole thing as it assumes your teammates are dumbasses. It's basically treating your teammates as faked players.

That's one way to look at it, not the correct way though.

I don't think the game is about making it all easy for yourself

You're right! You are absolutely correct on that. It wasn't my intention to try to make a long HoE game easy at the expense of my teammates. Actually, your teammates don't get affected by any of these loadouts, unless they ask for dosh, but that doesn't happen too frequently.

I wonder how you manage to afford these weapons other than selling weapons of dead players or convincing them to fund your eccentricities, in both cases, endangering the team IMO.

Oh, that's easy! Start the first wave as a Demolitions (two free pipebombs right there), switch to Berserker for the second wave (to get the katana cheap), then be a Field Medic for the rest of the game.

Rather than carrying a machete and pipes (which are expensive, and not that good... a knife alt fire decaps zeds as well and has about the same range, and either way if you're killing things with these kinds of weapons something has gone seriously wrong), instead get a Mk23 which can headshot zeds with a single bullet rather than 2, and will be a lot more beneficial against smaller zeds (where you should be killing).
Pipes will let you kill one or two of the big guys, but normally it's better to trust your team and let the sharpshooter kill them without having crawlers snapping at his feet.

You get two free pipebombs when you start out as a level 6 Demolitions.

But for the Machete part, yeah...now I actually see how that weapon won't be very helpful when the standard knife is pretty much a copy of it, except a little weaker.

The suitable loadout is a question of the purpose. Are you the

 

[Grail]

MK23 = offers a good, reliable weapon that i can use to decapitate small zeds, and even larger ones like husks and sirens if need be with a few extra shots. It also allows me to have an additional weapon on hand to throw to someone if they run out of ammo, and especially late joining players.

Quoting myself here.
I sometimes swap out the MK23 for a Flare Revolver. The Flare is much better for kiting Fleshpounds, and is a one shot kill on sirens and crawlers, but the splash damage sometimes isn't good - don't want to be setting a scrake on fire or a fleshpound that is being kited by a zerk for eg.

I also feel that to be the best Medic that you can be, you need to be able to provide good Triage. That is, it's important to be able to not just heal, but understand where the heal is important, sometimes you have to let one team member die (or be healed by others) for the sake of the team. For example, if I have a choice between a Commando and a Demolitions Expert, the Demo will generally be getting my attention til 100%. If I can get both I will, but the Demo is my priority. They are more important for taking out FP, and the group has generally invested far more money into equipping the demo, so I don't want to lose that amount of valuable gear.

Also, a medic needs to know when the team is lost. This doesn't mean just abandoning the team at the first sign of trouble, but preparing in case you do have to be last man standing. Sometimes it isn't possible to keep players alive. Zed damage for pretty much everything Gorefast+ is inflicted faster than you can heal. So sometimes regardless of your best efforts, players die. Positions also get overrun. A couple raging scrakes or a massive Siren Bomb can seriously impact on a team's longevity. To make sure that the game doesn't die for everyone, you do as a Medic need to be prepared and alert to when the team as a whole is untenable. Dying with the team accomplishes nothing. Getting away, and surviving the wave gives everyone another shot at redemption.

And further to that point, I find that as Medic, I have more visibility of the big picture in a game. I'm not concentrating on one area of the map, so as Medic it's generally my responsibility to call out imminent threats. So, mic and bound messages to keystrokes are important, and use both. Some players don't read messages (especially in the heat of battle), and some don't hear the mic very well. So cover all bases and let people know that "Multiple FLESHPOUNDS!!!" are coming.

 

[Johnnymode]

Sneiczec, MP5, m14.

Nuf said'

 

[naksiloth]

Guys, maybe I should've mentioned this at first, but that was my fault for leaving it out. Pipebombs/other weapons are too expensive, yes, I totally completely agree with you all.

Start the 1st wave as a level 6 Demolitions to get 2 free pipebombs.
Continue the 2nd wave as a level 6 Berserker to get the Katana cheap.
Continue the rest of the game as a Field Medic to provide healing support WHILE also playing an offensive role.

Trust me, I would be disgusted with a Field Medic too if all I saw was him roaming around by himself, not healing anybody, and ONLY using off-perk weapons. But I'm still healing my teammates using the Schneidzekk Medic SMG, the Med-Syringe, and healing grenades, while ALSO using certain weapons (in-expensive, if you play your cards right), to provide offensive backup.

And we questioned how far can you go with just 2 offperk'd pipes in a full Hell on Earth game without renewing them for 1,5k or at least going Demolition for a wave or two. Carrying a 1-block of dead weight whereever you go.

Laying them around randomly will get them wasted by trash or pull raged Scrakes and Fleshpounds onto your team.
Darting the pipe on Fleshpound's path is a tedious job and unless prematurely set off, a single pipe blast won't kill Fleshpound.

As for the second setup without medic rifle, you need a broom closet hold point and a doorzerker for that loadout to work properly. But remember if doorzerk steps out alil bit, that will trigger incoming Sirens earlier and a crowded Siren pack will kill you along with the zerk, cuz you have to block him from behind for heals.

 

[Reallifeh8er]

Wave 1 - 4:
Flamethrower
Schneidzekk

Wave 5 - 10:
ZEDgun
Schneidzekk
MP5m

or when in a team of Berserkers

Dwarfs Axe
M7A3
Flare Revo

 

[Trizzo]

Oops double...

 

[Trizzo]

I like medic but instead of loadouts i'll try contribute something different. Situational awareness is the best weapon for a medic.

*Using TAB is a secondary way to get a complete picture of the groups HP. I found it very useful, especially on camps like office where somebody will hold the upper stairwell, or the back door on the ground floor. Remember their name, check TAB is they are out of earshot/sight.

*Listening to the sounds of people being hit is what you need to listen for above all else.

*Medneds are vital. Keeping an eye on where you are in a given wave is critical. Don't be afraid to throw them across the map or in front a kiting groups path. It all depends on where you are in the wave and how many you have. They also bounce forward after hitting the ground, often shooting the target.

Loadouts. As grail said being a medic is about medicing. Take two med guns. I don't use the M7. I like to go light.

*2 smg
*1 melee weapon
*1 Flare, because i'm boring but it really helps if you're the last person left

You're not a hard counter to anything, and i don't think a medic should try to be and with this loadout you can kill everything by kiting.

For the Patty, if i play medic I used to medbow. It works but i don't recommend because it does not do enough burst damage to help the team. It gets better the worse your team is as they are more likely to die leaving you to close the game. The Zed Eradicaction as a Medic work wonders though.

 

[infntnub]

Too much to quote so quick sum:
- completely agreed about just using alt fire knife instead of bothering with a katana
- always loved spawning as ss with bow prior to going medic (prefer this greatly over lar unless I swap mid game in which case I typically try to have a musket with any of the med guns)

In regards to not necessarily needing another bow in the team if you already have a sharpie - another great weapon to support while safely observing/healing teammates is the m79. You never know when a teammate will find themself swarmed by crawlers and one quick shell saves the day.

Off perk pipes don't seem very useful in my opinion on higher difficulties - if it's just trash we're talking about I would hope your teammates are competent enough to handle them. If it's something like a FP you're just going to rage it on your team (even if you stack them both).