KF2 Field Medic Handbook: Weapons, Skills, Loadouts, Economy

This is a translated and condensed version of a very long Chinese handbook for the Field Medic, written for Hell on Earth and Controlled Difficulty play. It moves from the basics through weapons and skills to loadouts, economy and leadership. The author states that some weapon data may be outdated after patches, and the stat lines reflect the version after the spring update, so check current numbers in game. This page is complementary to the shorter Medic pages on this site.

Basics: what a Medic is

• Starting kit: HMTech-101 pistol, 9mm pistol, scalpel (knife), 2 medical grenades.
• Max health: 125 (with the left level 5 skill).
• Syringe recharge efficiency: up to +200% (+8% per level). Syringe healing efficiency: up to +50% (+2% per level).
• Bile resistance: up to +50% (+2% per level). Movement: up to +10% from perk level (+0.4% per level), plus skills.
• Armor: up to +75% (+3% per level), giving the Medic the largest armor pool.
• Class role: support. A Medic stabilises the line, keeps teammates healthy, cleans up leftover small ZEDs, and in a crisis helps cover escape routes. It is second in importance only to the Commando, jokes the author, since CD runs are often done without Medics but never without a Commando.

Medic builds split into the pure healer and the combat or poison Medic. The author argues combat and poison Medic are weak: Medic weapons have poor stats, there is no damage bonus (just 20% from the level 20 right skill), so you do worse at both damage and healing. They only seem strong on low difficulty or in disorganised pub games. The handbook covers only the pure healer.

Position: stand roughly at the centre of the team where you can see everyone, except for forward-pressing Berserkers and Firebugs, who should retreat to the Medic when low.

Principles.

1. Save yourself first. The Medic is the team's only healer. If the Medic dies the team collapses.
2. Do not disturb teammates' damage. Shoot only to protect yourself, to help back-line perks clear small ZEDs, or when running solo. A good exception is helping with medium threats such as Fleshpounds' small escorts; and shooting a stray Crawler near a Sharpshooter can help.
3. Ignore lone wanderers. If a teammate gets knocked out of the line within your sight, throw a few darts. Once out of sight, do not jump down after them.

Healing weapons

Medic weapons fire darts with the alt-fire (default middle mouse). Darts use energy: each weapon has 100 energy that recharges automatically, and you can fire again whenever you have enough. Darts have a bit of homing: aim at an injured teammate for a moment and the weapon beeps, meaning the dart will track. With iron sights the crosshair visibly changes on lock. Darts are blocked by obstacles, including teammates and ZEDs: hop over small obstacles, go around large ones. Pillars and barbed wire are special: darts can pass over barbed wire, but you get no lock beep through it (use iron sights to see the crosshair change).

Weapon	Weight	Price	Dart heal	Energy per dart	Full recharge	Notes
HMTech-101 pistol (T1)	1	200	15	50	15 s	Upgrades add weight and cut recharge; going to T2 adds no weight
HMTech-201 SMG (T2)	3	650	15	40	13 s	Good when upgraded: T5 201 is second only to the 401 in efficiency and weighs only 6
HMTech-301 shotgun (T3)	6	1100	20	40	12 s	After the update, 301 plus T2 101 is enough for normal fights
Hemogoblin (T3)	7	1100	20	30	10 s	Slows, weakens and debuffs ZEDs; very high efficiency
HRG Medic spray (T3)	7	1000	20	40	12 s	AOE-type, cheap; good in small maps
Blood Striker (T3)	-	-	-	-	-	Instant heal but melee-only; the author finds it poor for Medic
HMTech-401 rifle (T4)	7	1500	15	30	10 s	Solid but no longer the top weapon
HMTech-501 grenade rifle (T5)	8	2000	grenade heal 10/s			Fires medical grenades with alt-fire; up to 10 carried

The HMTech-501 is called a game-changer: the rifle part is weak, but you are buying a medical grenade launcher. The grenade costs less than a hand grenade (27), starts working on landing (so it cannot be eaten by a Siren scream as easily, though do not shoot into the sonic wave), and Support or Demolitionist supply extra ones. The author's key warning: always remember to reload the 501 grenade, because without a loaded grenade it is deadly in the crucial moment.

Off-perk weapons for Medic. Crossbow (T2, good stun for big ZEDs), Freeze Thrower (T3, AOE slow control that fits with a 401 plus 101), dual or single .500 Magnum (high damage but no headshot bonuses), Katana (used only for its stronger block: 50% perfect-block reduction versus 20% for the knife), Double-barrel Boomstick (cheap self-defence, and the recoil jump gets you out of encirclement).

The healing efficiency formula

The author defines Q = A * t * H / (C * E), in healing per minute: A is max energy (100), t is 60 s, H is heal per dart, C is full recharge time, and E is energy per dart. Examples: T1 101 = 120, T5 101 = 200, T3 201 = 203.6, T5 201 = 288.5, T3 301 = 250, T5 301 = 416.7, T3 Hemogoblin = 400, T5 Hemogoblin = 500, T4 401 = 300, T5 401 = 333.3. It helps decide which weapon to upgrade: with a base 401, 301 and T2 101, upgrading the 301 raises efficiency the most (about +112.5) and costs 700, versus 1500 for a 401. A target for Hell on Earth: the 501 setup needs pure dart efficiency of at least 350, and a pure-dart loadout at least 720.

Skills

Level	Left	Right	Verdict
5	Symbiotic Health: +25% health, heal 10% yourself when healing	Resilience: +1% resistance per HP lost, up to 50%	Beginners: Symbiotic. Experienced: Resilience for more margin on Hell on Earth
10	Adrenaline Shot: +10% move for 5 s, stacks to 30%	Combatant Doctor: +50% magazine, +10% move	Left, especially on large maps
15	Focus Injection: +5% damage for 5 s, stacks to 20%	Acidic Rounds: poison	Left. Acidic rounds make ZEDs stagger and hard to headshot; never use them
20	Coagulant Booster: +10% resistance for 5 s, stacks to 30%	Battle Surgeon: +20% damage	Left
25	ZED Time Airborne Agent: a healing gas cloud	ZED Time Zedative: slows ZEDs 30%, poison	Left, a walking heal grenade that cannot heal you

You only get your own buff when you actually heal someone (not a full-health target). A classic setup is all left; five-right plus four-left is the other main choice. Combat builds would use 5R, 10R, 20R, and taking 15R can get you kicked.

Loadouts

1. 401 + 301 + T2 101. Beginner-friendly all-rounder. Cycle: 401 four darts, 301 three darts, back, with the 101 for emergency double-shots. Weakness: no AOE, so darts can be wasted on one target.
2. T5 401 + T5 201 + T2 101. Frightening dart count, but very expensive and hard to manage; practise on loadout 1 first.
3. Hemogoblin variants. Swap the 401 for Hemogoblin; its numbers now beat the 401, and it debuffs ZEDs.
4. 401 + T2 101 + Boomstick. Trades some healing for self-defence; use the Boomstick jump to escape.
5. 401 + 101 + Freeze Thrower or Crossbow. Directly helps vs big ZEDs, but you edge toward combat.
6. 401 + 101 + dual Magnum or other damage. The last resort for running the map solo.
7. T5 201 + T2 101 + 501. Highest healing efficiency, but needs 5950 dosh for guns alone; weak self-defence. Trick: dropping and re-picking the 201 changes weapon order so it sits above the 501.
8. T4 201 + T3 101 + 501. Cheaper balanced 501 loadout.
9. 301 + T2 101 + 501. Economical and flexible; use the 301 for badly hurt teammates.
10. Medic spray + 501. All AOE, cheap; strong on small maps, weaker on big ones.
11. Hemogoblin + 501. Now the Goblin weighs as much as the 401 and heals more; poor self-defence.
12. 401 + 501. The classic, most overrated king loadout; the 401 is short on darts when several teammates are hurt.

Healing well

• Who to watch. The author's priority order: Firebug = 175-HP Berserker > 100-HP Berserker > 100-HP Support = Gunslinger > Commando = unarmored SWAT = 150-HP Support > Sharpshooter = Demolitionist > armored SWAT / Survivalist. Firebugs have no self-heal or resistance, and Support is fragile. Armored SWAT and Survivalist only take sonic damage.
• Berserker health bands. 80-100 fine; 60-80 watch (one dart restores 24 HP); under 60 dangerous, give a double shot (40-60) or triple (under 40).
• Dangers. Large ZEDs and their escorts; Fireballs (Husks, 37.5 direct damage plus burning, and an explosive self-destruct); Sirens (15 per 0.5 s for two seconds, up to 60, and sonic screams destroy thrown grenades, so use the 501 which lands instantly); Bloats (12 per second of bile).
• Tricks. Switch weapons when a gun is empty of darts. Use a melee bash (V) to cancel a reload, then the alt-fire to heal. Do not stand too close to teammates (the dart angle becomes impossible). Use the syringe on nearby allies (30 HP). Always wait for the lock beep. Do not stack seven or eight darts on one player. Shoot full-health players to give them buffs: up to 30% speed and resistance before a big ZED hit, damage buffs to back-line damage dealers.
• Communication. Watch the TAB health panel but remember it lags. Bind a quick key for the "request healing" voice command and use "go to trader" and "follow me" to keep the team together.

AOE healing

The medical grenade deals 50 damage per second poison, heals 5 per second, lasts 8 s with 1 s fuse, and its buffs stack once per second (full speed and resistance buffs in 3 s, damage in 4 s). Radius has no falloff. Clouds do not stack in healing, so more grenades only widen the cloud.

When to throw: several hurt teammates grouped; when you are short of darts and one side is struck; before a big ZED arrives; when the line is about to break; to seal a narrow entrance; and on a mandatory route when running.

Where: in front of teammates (to push the line forward), at their feet (to hold the line, or for wall-like Berserkers, and during boss fights), or behind them (against big ZED knockback, about 2 to 3 metres behind).

Hand grenades are quicker (G key, no weapon switch) and good between darts, while the 501 is for building a healing cloud network. Hand grenades bounce, 501 grenades drop straight, which matters on rails or on The Tragic Kingdom's rollercoaster. Collect a grenade from each Demolitionist (one) and each Support (two). A maxed Medic also gets a free healing cloud in ZED Time that follows you but cannot heal you.

Economy

• Wave 1: grab grenades from a Demolitionist, then dart. For the fastest 401 some players use right-right-right-right-left skills and stab small ZEDs with the knife (Acidic Rounds help), reaching a 401 after wave 1 in the best case (the author managed about 1300 dosh), but normally you will have 600-800 dosh and should fill grenades first.
• After wave 1: consider a cheap 201. If a Support offers ammo, accept it after wave 1 rather than at the start, so your armor stays full.
• Wave 2: Sirens, Crawlers, Stalkers, Husks and bosses' escorts appear, so stop using the knife.
• Wave 3 end: about 1500 dosh: 401 first, then grenades, then ammo.
• Wave 4: the Medic turns into a donor.
• Mid game: about wave 5 a 301, wave 6 a 501, wave 8 upgrade the 401.
• Late game: the Medic serves as a bank for others, since the Medic is least likely to die.

For loadouts with 201 and 501, take a 201 first, upgrade it once to roughly match a 301 efficiency, then save for the 501.

Crisis handling

When the line collapses: observe (how many Large ZEDs, whether small ZEDs follow, whether the other side holds), use AOE, take hits with the knife block (the Medic has the highest armor, up to 175, but armor is a consumable), organise a retreat with grenades at the exit, then lead the push back. When it becomes everyone for themselves, join the biggest group or the strongest player (a Berserker survives best alone), and if you are the last survivor, run: avoid enraging a Scrake (an enraged one chases you forever), wear down a Fleshpound or Quarter Pound by parrying, healing and hitting, then run again.

Leadership and mindset

The author compares the Medic to a goalkeeper: the last line of defence with the best view of the field. Find your real central position (anywhere you can work, not literally the middle), talk to teammates to build trust, and guide positions: 501 is not for new players because it is about steering the team, not just dropping clouds. The author also stresses a calm mind, doing your best without guilt, and being content without recognition. Healing amount is not a measure of skill, because good play reduces damage taken. The Medic has a low floor and a very high ceiling.