As the world relishes in the open beta for Turtle Rock Studios' team-based zombie shoot-em-up Back 4 Blood, one thing becomes apparent whilst playing. Although there is the thrill of gunning down hordes of the Ridden, and taking on much bigger foes, it's important that players look after their own health. Although the developer has no plans to include a Versus Campaign mode like in Left 4 Dead, the current campaign still brings its own challenges, so here are some ways that players can ensure they top up their health bar when needed.
Perhaps the most obvious way to heal in Back 4 Blood is with a med kit or bandage. These are obtained at the start of each game. Before exiting the safe room, it's a good idea to use the in-game shop to stock up on supplies. Here, it's also possible to get a healing item, either a bandage, or a full medkit. While the bandage only costs 150 copper, it will only heal a small bit of health. The medkit will heal a lot more health, but costs 500 copper instead. It's also possible to heal other players as well.
RELATED: New Back 4 Blood Trailer Reveals it Has Uncapped Framerates, NVIDIA DLSS, and More on PC
While these two are good for boosting either minor or major injuries, depending on what's used, it's also possible to boost health temporarily. Instead of buying a medkit or a bandage, players can purchase pain pills for 100 copper. These work in a similar way to the pills in Left 4 Dead, in that they give the player some health back, but it will degrade over time. Generally, it's worth it to get a medkit or bandages, but pills can be spotted more frequently in maps, so are a good solution in a tight bind.
Throughout the levels, it's possible to happen upon rooms which contain a cache supply of weapons, ammo, and other goodies. These can be random and are decided upon by Back 4 Blood's AI director, so they won't always appear in the same place. These rooms can only be accessed if a player has a tool kit on them. Again, this can be purchased at the start of each map.
First aid stations will not only heal health, but trauma as well. Trauma is when a player loses their maximum health. It's also important to know that while first aid points are extremely useful, they do have limited use, but it's always best to top up before leaving the room.
Back 4 Blood has an interesting card system which can alter the game somewhat. Corruption cards are drawn at the start and can add a new challenge to each map. Players can also select a series of cards that will give them an advantage, such as more stamina, or more health overall.
There are a couple of cards that can be dealt at the start, which do go towards healing. The "Living on a prayer" card will make it so that when the player is at critically low health, they can recover one point of health per kill. A good combination is the "Triumph" card and the "Combat knife" card. The former will make it so that every melee kill will give two health points back, while the latter will turn the bash attack into a knife thrust, which guarantees a one-hit kill against standard enemies. These two combined will make it easier to gain a tiny bit of health if the need rises.
Back 4 Blood releases on October 12, 2021, for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
MORE: Back 4 Blood: How to Remove Attachments
