The Complete Guide to Medic. [WIP]

Overview

The mentality, loadout, and knowledge required to effectively support your team. Covers some basics, then jumps into the serious details.

Medic Basics

First off, before you go off tanking Fleshpounds, you need to learn about the key factors of the Medic. Note that there are more benefits to the Medic perk than what is listed, so be sure to look at them before you play.

Armor
The #1 most important thing to a Medic is armor. At Level 0, it of course is only slightly more worth your time than usual, but the higher your level, the more useful it becomes. Here are the statistics:
At Level 0, you will automatically get a 10% discount on your armor. This increases by 10% for every level you gain. At Level 0, the discount is the only benefit related to armor.
At Level 1, you begin to earn additional resistance for your armor, starting at 10%. Like the discount bonus, this increases by 10% each level, with exception of Level 6, where you will get a 25% increased resistance from Level 5.
So, to recap:
Level 0: 10% discount
Level 1: 20% discount + 10% resistance
Level 2: 30% discount + 20% resistance
Level 3: 40% discount + 30% resistance
Level 4: 50% discount + 40% resistance
Level 5: 60% discount + 50% resistance
Level 6: 70% discount + 75% resistance

Due to your incredible resistance from armor, you will be the second person to tank a strong enemy, behind a Berserker of the same or greater level. The reason for this is because you have the ability to replenish the Berserker’s health, whereas nobody can manually spawn armor for you.

Grenades
Your grenades do not explode, they instead release a cloud of gas over a moderate area on the ground. This gas heals team-mates inside, and poisons and damages Zeds.
An additional benefit to this is that Zeds will actively try to walk around the grenade, meaning that a well-placed ‘nade can block off a passage, preventing the Zeds from attacking from that angle. Note that sometimes, if a Zed is moving fast enough, they’ll still run through the grenade.
The grenade is also useful when thrown at your feet; if you are swarmed suddenly and need some space, toss a grenade at your feet and you will be healed, as well as killing everything attacking you AND preventing more Zeds from attacking you. Same can be applied to a team-mates.

Medic Weapons
The medic only has a choice of four weapons, and to begin with they are rather expensive. At lower levels, you should only grab the MP7M or maybe the MP5M, then stick to cheaper guns such as the LAR or Pistols.
Later on, when you are required to heal more, the M7A3 and the Schneidzekk become more viable.

Movement speed
Whilst not as big as the Berserker’s, this will allow you to dart around and get to team-mates who need support fast. In addition to this, all medic guns have a very low weight, so you will move even faster.

Remember, there are more perks than listed above, so check the Wiki[www.kf-wiki.com] for a more detailed explanation.

Medic Advanced Tactics

Positioning your Medic Grenades is very important and entirely dependant on what you are using it for. There are two main uses. One is to block off a choke point and the other is to heal multiple targets or yourself.

Blocking Choke Points
Specimen will avoid walking through your grenade smoke, which means that if thrown into the right position it will stop them from approaching you at all. This is useful for, say, keeping a group of bloats, stalkers and gorefasts away from your flank as you focus a Fleshpound with your team, or to stop your Sharpshooter being rushed by a gang of Crawlers as you reload.

Healing Multiple Targets
Medic Grenades have an “Area of Effect” (AoE) which will constantly heal anyone within its radius. This means that if you have a cluster of teammates in close proximity you can use one grenade to heal all of them at the same time.
Alternatively, if you must split your attention between two groups of players, you can simply throw a grenade towards one group (be sure to try and aim for a choke point to ensure they don’t go down whilst you’re not looking), then use your medic weapons to heal the other players.

Your grenades do no damage to you (In fact they heal you), and they deter specimen from attacking you whilst damaging them, therefore if you find youself surrounded or you forsee yourself taking a lot of damage (Such as an angry Fleshpound running for you), simply throw a grenade at your feet and start taking out targets. On the higher difficulties you’re less likely to heal enough to prevent health loss but it should minimize damage and hopefully help you kill your enemy before you have to reload.
However, use this only as a last resort. Your grenades are better used for the uses listed above and you have the speed to avoid situations where you’d need to do this.

Using the TAB key will bring up the scoreboard allowing you to see everyone on your team, their kills, money, ping, but most importantly, their health. Use this to help you micromanage what players you give your attention to, just be sure to remember where they are on the map.

Loadout

There are two playstyles covered in this guide; one for focusing on assisting with healing (Healer), one for assisting with money (Scavenger). Neither loadout is geared for DPS; you’ll be there to help others, not kill things. The loadouts are very similar, so you can easily switch from one to the other on the fly.

Healer is a loadout designed purely to keep your team alive. You’ll be right there with them, making sure they’ll be dealing damage, not receiving it.
Your final loadout will be the following:

• MP5M
  This is your peeling weapon, at any range. Use this only when someone is in need of support to kill off any Zeds attacking him/her and then heal them, or as a last-ditch weapon when your other two aren’t available.

• M7A3
  This is your long-range weapon. Use this to provide cover-fire and healing from a distance.

• Schneidzekk
  This is your close-range weapon. Use this for personal defense, and to quickly heal passing team-mates to ensure they stay in top-shape.

• Mk23
  A more reliable sidearm than the 9mm for any range. Useful for ammo conservation or when your ideal weapon is out of ammo.

• Combat Armor
  The only thing that will keep you alive. As long as you have it, you’re free to roam around the group to assist in whatever they happen to be fighting. Once this runs out, however, focus entirely on avoiding damage and healing your team-mates.

Your first priority will always be Body armor. You can then find ammo boxes around the map for grenades, meaning you are incredibly hard to kill in the beginning waves.
Depending on how much money you recieve, you can go with one of three choices (make sure you purchase Combat Armor first!):
1. Pick up an MP7M.
This will allow you to get to healing sooner, which will net you a bit more money, and your team will probably be able to earn more, and will likely give some to the guy saving their lives. However, you will be wasting money because you will eventually sell it, and due to it having the fastest firing rate in the game, you will rinse through ammo. Go with this if you are playing with people whom you cannot guarantee are good enough to survive without a dedicated healing source.
2. Pick up an Mk23
Alternatively, going with this will ensure personal safety, allowing for you to scavenge easier and conserve ammo, and thus money, in addition to the fact that this is part of your loadout so you will not be selling this for a net-loss. Take this if you are sure your team is competent enough to stay alive until you can get a Medic weapon.
3. Skip straight to the MP5M
It’s not common to have enough for an MP5M by the first or even second round (especially if you’re not level 5 or higher), however if your team is generous or you were just lucky scavenging, you will be able to get the MP5M, which has the fastest Medical-dart charge (tied with the Schneidzekk) meaning you can make sure everyone on your team is at 100% health. Always go with this if you can afford it.

Once you have your MP5M, you should focus on getting these in order:
1. Mk23 (skip this if you went with option 2 earlier)
2. M7A3
3. Schneidzekk

Again, make sure you get Combat Armor first. It is of the utmost importance. However, if the round is almost over and you find Armor, give it to a team-mate. They are more likely to have lost their Armor since it doesn’t last as long, and Armor for them costs about £300, whereas for you it could cost as little as £90, which your team-mates could easily give you considering they won’t need to buy Armor anymore.

If you’re tight on money, opt out of getting ammo in favor of grenades, as they could save your team. Ammo boxes always give you a clip of ammo per weapon, but not always a grenade.

This loadout will consist of you roaming the map. Completely opposite to the general medic protocol, you will be far away from your team for most of the round. You will provide healing to them whenever you happen to pass them, but make sure they know you’re not sticking around.
Your loadout is simple:

• MP5M

This is the only weapon you need. It’s light (just 3 kilograms), so you will have plenty of speed and plenty of room. It has the fastest syringe charge, and It’s also rather cheap. The low ammo reserve is offset by the fact that you will be fighting very few Zeds, leaving them to your teammates, as that will be their primary income.

• Combat Armor
  Same as before. Your greatest asset. Make sure you get it if you can’t loot it.

So, how do you play like this?
First, you need to know the map. Learn the item spawn locations. Then, plan a route around the map that covers the most spots. If you know where your team is holding out, incorporate that as a priority spot.
Once you’ve got some weapons, go to where your team is set up, heal them and see if they need anything. Your Sharpshooter would appreciate that Handcannon you found, your Berserker the Fire Axe, so on and so forth. After that, run to the trader (even if it is closed), and drop your collected loot nearby. Then, start over. Keep in mind that it’s not as important to purchase ammo as you will be using less of it and will be finding plenty across the map.
So, why is this viable?
1. You are not taking the kills.
If you play League of Legends, you can consider yourself the Jungler; you are letting your team-mates get kills on their own whilst you utilise the other parts of the map. I played on a Hard server and had enough money to switch to the Healer loadout, give enough money to a Demo to get his grenade launcher and Armor, and STILL had almost £5k to spare. The rest of my team had enough money to sustain themselves.
2. You are fast as Hell.
In addition to your speed boost, you’re also going to be carrying one gun for the most part, and it’s only 3KG. you will be able to avoid most Zeds chasing you.
3. Most of the aggro goes towards the group.
Your team-mates will be clustered together, meaning the majority of Zeds will be away from you, giving you an easier time.

Specimen Priority

Having the firepower to take out your opponents isn’t enough; you need to know when, and how.

• 1. Sirens
  
  Sirens are your arch nemesis. They ignore Armor (your greatest asset) and defuse grenades (your second greatest asset). Eliminate them with the intensity of a thousand suns. There’s not much method to this; you have a gun. Shoot it. In the face.

• 2. Fleshpounds
  
  Only because a Fleshpound can wreck your entire team, and their Armor is very weak. You need to make sure you are the Fleshpound’s target, alert the entire team to target the Fleshpound, then throw a medical grenade at your feet, and just fire away. Make sure to aim at the head, and don’t take on more than one at a time.

• 3. Scrakes
  
  Same as above, although you can take one on with just two or three other people in a full server, and if you are in a small team, you could probably take it on yourself.

• 4. Husks
  
  The only long-ranged specimen, excluding the Patriarch. Your M7A3 is ideal for taking these guys out.

• 5. Bloats
  
  You will have insane resistance to Bloat bile. Others will not. Take them out with a headshot, and let them bleed out, or they’ll explode and cover your team.

• 6. Crawlers
  
  These should only really be targeted if they’re after your Berserker, as it’s hard for him to reach down and kill them. Your MP5M should be the ideal weapon, unless they’re at a distance, in which case pull out the M7A3.

• 7. Stalkers
  
  Again, situational. Only target them if they are behind a team-mate. It’s best to leave these to the Commando, so they can level-up. Stick with the Mk23 for them. One headshot will kill them on Normal or lower, and will stun them on Hard.

• 8. Gorefasts
  
  Simply because they do more damage than Clots. Consider using your Mk23 to conserve ammo.

• 9. Clots
  
  Yeah.

Loot Map Examples (Scavenger)

These are examples of the general routes you will want to take to ensure you cover the widest area at the fastest pace. The RED path is your main path; it covers most of the traders and loot spawns. Use the GREEN path to move from your looting trips to the trader. You can also follow the BLUE paths as a faster lap around the map, at the cost of a few loot spawns. Only really take these paths if you cannot follow the RED path for any reason (I.E. If there is too much spawned on it).

WestLondon

BioticsLab

Manor

Complete Body Shot Tables

Below you will find the exact number of bullets to the body you will need to inflict on a specimen to kill it from full health. Includes ALL medic guns, ALL difficulties and ALL Squad sizes. These numbers were crunched by hand, so I’m fairly certain they are correct.

CLOT

GOREFAST

STALKER

CRAWLER

Outro

Please remember, this guide is not finished. I am working on both images and videos, as well as completely new sections. So if something you want isn’t in here, feel free to check back, and it might be at some point.