It can be hard to find enemies in the dark, especially on Amerish and Hossin. Hell, depending on your display and brightness settings, you may face trouble navigating terrain.

Clearly, some form of Night Vision is warranted. Most primary weapons have access to 1x HS/NV scope, but it has a relatively short range.

You also have to be cautious about playing a class with intensive visuals, such as Heavy Assault with bright overshields, Light Assault with their Jet Pack flames or a Combat Medic with green glowing Nano-Regen Device. Bright cosmetics, certain implant effects, muzzle flashes and tracers will also give away your position.

You could just slap a Flash Suppressor and 1x HS/NV scope on your usual gun during night-time and play like you normally do. However, you may find scope’s short range annoying, and bright visuals of your class giving away your position too much, especially to enemies outside scope’s range. 

If you have a flanking playstyle, you may also find yourself being flanked yourself by enemies that you couldn’t see through short range of 1x scope.

The idea behind the Nightshade Loadout is to get you something better than 1x HS/NV scope, as well as minimize any visual cues to your position.

6x Night Vision Scope

This scope has longer range than 1x HS/NV scope. Currently, only two weapons in the game have access to it: NSX Tomoe and NSX Daimyo. 

Both of these weapons will work for our purposes, though Daimyo is more optimal, because it fires fewer shots, and will make it harder for enemies to find you by sounds and tracers. It also kinda sounds like an NC gun when suppressed, which can be useful when playing other factions. Also, 6x scope is a bit too strong for Tomoe because it has a shorter effective range.

Other Scout Rifles have access to 1x HS/NV Scope, but the Daimyo is the only Sniper Rifle to have night vision. 

Rest of the Loadout

() Equip Suppressor or at least Flash Suppressor. 

() Adjust your character’s cosmetics to make you less visible in darkness.

This will make you considerably harder to see in darkness, letting you sit still and pick off enemies one by one, almost without worrying about being spotted or countersniped. It is the ultimate “unseen killer” loadout. 

() Ammo Belt or Ammo Printer are recommended. So far my biggest issue was running out of ammo with Daimyo.

Other implant options:

• Target Focus 1+ will work well, because all night vision scopes have sway, and Daimyo lets you take multiple follow up shots, so it’s nice to be able to fire all of them in one breath. 
• Sensor Shield 4+ is always a great slot filler for stealthy playstyles.
• Catlike 5 is always a great implant for infiltrators.

The rest of the loadout is up to preference. Anything that goes into your usual sniping loadout will work fine.

Gameplay Tips

Use your cloak to safely move to a flanking position not too far off from enemies and plink away. Cover approaches to your position with your Motion Detection Tools, and mines, if you use them.

Normally, you have to be very tight about your cloaking routine while sniping, staying out of cloak as little as possible, just long enough to fire a shot. With Nightshade loadout during the night, you can be much more relaxed. You still should cloak and switch positions every once in a while, though. Remember to cloak while moving.

Note that Daimyo has more drop than other sniper rifles, and Suppressor only makes it worse. You will have to compensate for drop at nearly every distance. However, even suppressed, Daimyo will kill an enemy in one headshot within ~210m.

The more I use the Commissioner, the more I think it’s damn overpowered.  Amazing hip fire accuracy and alpha damage. Headshots aren’t absolutely necessary, but really open the true potential of the weapon.

0.35 second TTK against shielded Heavy Assaults of any kind is nothing to scoff at for a mere secondary. Or even “zero” TTK on a headshot + quick melee versus non-HA targets.

Not even mentioning the headshot OHK on most infiltrators.

It’s gotten to the point where I equip the Commissioner in every CQC situation where I expect an enemy to be within 10m, almost regardless of what my primary weapon and class is.

So I’ve been pondering at the viability of the Gunslinger Loadout.

Gunslinger Loadout

Core of the loadout is NS-44 Commissioner + Nanoweave + Assimilate + Vampire. Heavy Assaults should also throw in Adrenaline Shield.

Normally, you would be benefiting from either Assimilate (headshot kills) OR Vampire (wielded melee kills), but using a sidearm allows you to benefit from both implants.

Technically, any sidearm can work, but Commissioner is obviously the best for this task.

So with each kill you get +325 health, and also +200 shields with each headshot kill. +200 energy for Adrenaline Shield, if you use that.

So we get up to +725 effective HP per kill.

Now imagine all of that being amplified by 25% by Nanowave (20% damage reduction translates into 25% increase in effective HP).

725 * 1.25 = ~906

Of course, that’s the best case scenario, but I’ll be damned if that isn’t impressive.

Alternative Loadout

An alternative version would be Carapace + Vampire. You’d be restoring less HP overall, but you are much more likely to fully benefit from the Vampire. 

Since Carapace works with healing so well, you could potentially amplify it even more with Restoration Kits, Healing Grenades and Medic’s Nano-Regen Device.

The playstyle

Commissioner can potentially kill 3 enemies per reload, assuming you don’t use a knife, being nearly reborn with every kill.

Upon running out of ammo, you can always switch to a power knife. I haven’t tested this, but I suspect headshot kills with a wielded knife will also benefit from Assimilate.

Due to limited amount of ammo, you’d always want to make plays around cover, so you can catch a break to reload or switch weapons, which normally takes ~0.8 – 1.0 seconds, more for HA.

The point of the build is to be able to go on short sprees of 2-3 kills in close quarters. Especially great against a trickle of advancing enemies.

Classes

The best synergy is with Stalker Infiltrators and Adrenaline Heavy Assaults, though other infiltrators can take advantage of this build as well.

Testimonies

When I earned my President, I did it as a Carapace Medic with Vampire, and went pistol primary a lot of the time. Carapace and all its associated synergies make you tanky enough to kill most players without too much trouble, and it always leaves the option of pulling a power knife out in the event that you find a crowd to go to town on.

There were even moments when I felt it was the right call to have my pistol out, rather than my primary. The Comissioner is functionally a primary weapon in CQC anyway, and the heal on kill allowed me to get away with shit I never would have otherwise.

Statistically, I managed around a 3KD with pistol primary, compared to 3.5 – 4.0 with a primary. So all things considered it wasn’t so bad, and it would actually be a lot better if you can do it with two separate Commissioners (referring to Primary Secondary ASP perk).

– /u/Burns_Cacti

The heal provided by Vampire is a very good advantage. You can hold a corridor as long as the magazine last, by peaking out of cover and firing at enemies. The heal you get from Adrenaline Shield / Vampire and Assimilate (on a headshot) will neglect the received damage.

The limited magazine of 6 rounds is a problem, but the fact that quick knife attacks counts toward Vampire (because holding a sidearm) can help.

All in all, this loadout is still situational: sometimes an LMG will do the job better, but being a gunslinger is extremely fun.

One of my more memorable experience with this loadout:

I equipped the gunslinger loadout with a Lasher as primary in a biolab. Enemies were pushed to the landing pad, we were inside. I was using the Lasher to supress them. I was behind a plant to the side. At a certain moment, I went like “fuck this” and rushed outside, Commie equipped. I managed to sneak out on the side, behind the launching pad. A bunch of enemies were camping there. I opened fire, quick knifing enemies, shooting the Commie. My health was going up and down like hell. I managed to clean that side and retreat behind cover on the outside edge of the biolab.

– /u/Yaluzar

Closing

The Gunslinger build is cool and unorthodox. Unfortunately, it requires ~7k ISO-4 and an undefined amount of certs to fully flesh out.

To someone who has upgraded both implants to the max, and is good with headshots, I’d love to hear you try and use it.

I would honestly very much enjoy recording some amazing footage with this build, and making a montage, but I’d rather save my ISO-4 for something more useful for me, like Catlike, Sensor Shield or Nightmare.

• Dark orange links to other guides
• Purple links to videos in pop-up viewboxes
• Blue links to images in pop-up viewboxes

Introduction

Combat Medics are a staple of PlanetSide 2 organized gameplay. They are always universally useful and welcome into any squad composition. PlanetSide 2 is a constant battle, and in every battle there are killed and wounded. The more medics there are, the easier it is to keep the push alive. Everyone knows that. 

Combat Medics – along with Engineer – are the most often recommended class for newbies to play. Everyone always talks about how easy it is for medics to make copious amounts of certs simply by healing and reviving their more competent comrades.

However, no one ever talks about medic’s versatility and firepower, and new players often mistakenly assume that healing and reviving is the only thing they can do, and the only thing that’s expected of them.

The two-dimensional “revivebot”, “med tool primary” playstyle is easy to enter, but doesn’t leave much room for improvement, and does not force the player to improve by learning situational awareness, weapon handling, picking proper engagements and working with the team to accomplish objectives. 

By explaining the idea behind this loadout, I hope to illustrate that even a single medic can be much more than just a revive bot – a competitive and powerful fighting unit. 

The Loadout

The overall idea behind this loadout is to provide you with maximum versatility, so you can be a “one man army inside a bigger army”. You’re very capable by yourself, but in the end PlanetSide 2 is a team game, and you get vastly more powerful by fighting alongside your allies, and accomplishing objectives together.

The best part is – most of this loadout is either provided for free, cheap to get, or something that you’re gonna enjoy using on other classes as well.

Primary Weapon

The default Assault Rifle

 T1 Cycler

NC1 Gauss Rifle

Pulsar VS1

This shouldn’t be surprising. These rifles are well known for their versatility, for never being the worst choice for any situation. They offer a perfect balance between accuracy and firepower. They can win headshot duels with HAs at any range, and they can hip fire spray enemies in close quarters. These are the weapons that bring Assault Rifles the fame of being the best weapon class. 

These weapons are faction specific, so they will play a bit differently. Cycler with its high DPS and large mag favors aggressive pushing and can sometimes kill several enemies before needing to reload. In contrast, Gauss Rifle favors a more cautious ranged approach, though in close quarters it can ensure very quick kills with headshots. Pulsar VS1 plays as something between these two, favoring quick reloads between engagements. 

Recommended attachments: 1x or 2x scope, Forward Grip, Flash Suppressor (low priority). 

These weapons are generally not effective at ranges that would warrant higher magnification. In other words, if the target is too small to be comfortably shot with a 1x scope, it’s probably out of your range anyway. Forward Grip serves to improve weapon’s ranged accuracy. Even the Gauss Rifle, that has great horizontal recoil in stock form, benefits from it greatly.

It will also help your headshot accuracy, and you definitely want to go for headshots when you can easily get them at close range duels, and when going against tough targets such as Heavy Assaults. It’s the only way to beat good players. 

Sidearm

A thoughtful sidearm choice is important for a Combat Medic, as this will be your go-to weapon when you get engaged while reviving or reloading. Re-equipping your Assault Rifle with a Forward Grip will take a full second, whereas a sidearm can be equipped twice as fast. 

NS-44 Commissioner – this weapon doesn’t need much introduction. Commissioner is universally known as the best sidearm in PlanetSide 2 and there’s a good reason for it: overwhelming damage. Commissioner can kill a shielded Heavy Assault with double tap headshots in 0.35 seconds. 

It is effective to the point that when running with a low DPS primary, I’ve started bringing out Commissioner when going into close quarters. It is that good. However, Commissioner requires good accuracy, and especially rewards headshots. If you find yourself completely incapable of hitting headshots, or if you don’t want to challenge yourself, you can always fall back on your faction-specific burst pistol:

TX1 Repeater

LA3 Desperado

Spiker

These can get relatively easy kills by simply spamming them in general direction of the enemy. Within certain range, they can even go for headshots. 

Med Tool

Eventually, you want to upgrade this to maximum rank. It does take a fair amount of certs, but you’re expected to do this anyway, as long as you have any intention of playing Combat Medic somewhat seriously. Upgrading increases healing and reviving speed, as well as the amount of health that MAXes have after reviving.

I recommend you check out the Med Tool’s ground rules in Czern’s Combat Medic Guide. 

Even if you’re being completely selfish, reviving fallen allies gives you an extra meat shield, more targets for enemies to shoot at. This is the Medic’s way of gaining a combat advantage when compared to HA. 

Ability

Nano Regen Device. Having an on-demand AOE heal is a big part of what makes you a swiss army knife. It leaves your utility slot open for C4, and both your implant slots for something more useful than Regeneration. You can also heal nearby allies better, as Med Tool takes a long time even when fully upgraded.

Upgrading the NRD is cheap, but not necessary, as you only get a minor boost to energy regeneration. 

Shield Recharging Field can potentially provide powerful combat advantages, but they kinda tether you to a specific area, and in this way limit your mobility. With NRD you’re free to always been on your feet, and mobility is a big part of versatility.

Suit Slot

Nanoweave Armor. It gives you more breathing room in infantry combat, and a necessary advantage against Heavy Assaults. It is perfectly fine to sit on Rank 4, which only takes 211 certs. 

Grenade

Frag Grenade. It’s not very effective, but it’s free, straightforward to use and versatile: it can be used to damage infantry behind cover, force enemies to relocate, and even snipe deployables.

If you wish, you can choose to use Revive Grenades. They can potentially be very powerful, and certainly bring more certs than Frags, but they’re also more situational. 

Utility

C-4. Again, a bit part of being a Swiss Army Knife. With this you can deal serious damage to Sunderers, and help destroy them as part of a team effort, and you can also oneshot tanks,  Harassers, MAXes and infantry. Very powerful stuff.

It does require close range, and as a Medic you won’t have a lot of success in chasing vehicles on your two feet, but the important part is that you will be able to do something when an opportunity presents itself.

Melee

Power Knife (low priority) or standard knife. The reason I recommend a power knife is that it’s almost as good at quick-knifing, but also provides a very powerful wielded option. It is hard to use, especially without habit, and situational at the same time. However, you can’t ignore the power of killing infantry by touching their toe. 

Implants

Battle Hardened. This is the only “mandatory” implant. Medics are often fighting face to face, and they’re often right in the thick of things, including in positions being bombarded by screen-shaking explosives. 

You’re free to use anything else in your second slot. There are almost no wrong choices there. 

The Playstyle

Combat Medic is a very interesting class to play. It’s probably the only class that delves into every aspect of skilled gameplay to such a high extent. You have to master everything:

Weapon Mechanics and Gunplay in order to succeed in firefights, especially against superior enemies, such as Heavy Assaults. This includes Situational Awareness, so you can avoid getting ambushed by more mobile or stealthy enemies, such as Light Assaults and Infiltrators.

Teamwork and Battle Flow, so you can work with your allies and keep each other alive and accomplish the objective.

Combat Medics don’t have the best firepower nor mobility, so you have to compensate with wits and skill. However, you’re not entirely at a disadvantage. You get a reliable and braindeadly effective Assault Rifle, and a meat wall of allies to absorb enemy fire. 

The gist of the playstyle is the cycle of:

1. Spawn at a location. 
2. Find a group of allies to follow.
3. Stay behind someone’s back or be ready to retreat if you take point.
4. When you see enemies – engage if you can, retreat when you have to. Always keep C4 in mind, it’s an effective tool when you can sneak up on tanks or MAXes. Against Sunderers – it’s better to push up together with the team. 
5. When your allies go down or need healing, revive or heal if it’s safe to do so. Don’t be a resbot, and take responsibility. Refresh on the Czern’s Med Tool Rules, if you have to.
6. If you get entrenched for too long, don’t be afraid to lurk around for a flank, you can do a lot of damage on your own, and worst case – you die and have to walk from the Sunderer. 
7. Keep fighting and pushing together until you accomplish whatever you came for, or get hopelessly wiped, or just decide to go elsewhere. In any case, return to point 1.

Have no bad feelings about abandoning a hopeless fight. It is not rare for an ally to place a Sunderer so poorly that you will just get repeatedly farmed without ever having a chance of success. This usually happens when the enemy spawn room is between your Sunderer and the objective.