Life Support versus Medipod

[76561198292631324]

At the moment I am away from the possibility to check ingame descriptions, but what are the reasons to choose Life Support over Medipod and vice versa? Typically one would build Life Support, which extends the bunkerlike healing effect upon Marines within all the range of the map. On the other hand, Medipod costs a bit less, have ranged area of influence, can be towed by a soldier or left in a remote location, from where the healing capabilities can yet be spread. Medipods can heal both the structures and the Marines, therefore the better versatility, which nonetheless becomes secondary as soon as Engineering comes into play. Is it true Life Support and Medipod healing capabilities fail to combine? Do Medipod and Engineering combine? Between Life Support and Medipod, which one can heal multiple units simultaneously? Which one heals faster?

[76561198292631324]

Medipod ingame description states it can work when both towed and detached, that it has area based effect and it shields a unit the health level of which is above 70%. Okay, now lets say there is a squad of units in range. Some of these units demand healing, some have full health. How does Medipod resolve that?

Life Support ingame description has it that Marines - presumably all of them - regain health slowly. I guess slower than with Medipod, correct? Other than that, it guarantees 27 seconds of survival for each units respawned, which makes it a good addon to Reinforcement. Third feature is that Marines will revive quicker if resting without action. Therefore, I guess, slow they regenerate in move, faster when steady.

[RocketBear]

You've noted most of the tradeoffs. Life support is more of a blanket thing, but it's worse at healing single marines. Medi-pods prioritise entities with low health, but there's a bit of delay in switching who to heal. In general, they shold offer better healing on single targets.

Healing doesn't stack from multiple sources, so Life Support + Medipod heals about at fast as a medipod on a single marine.

[76561198292631324]

Good to know. Medipod, as a minor structure, is of some importance for the enemy to detroy, therefore there seems to be one major profit having Life Support first. It works constantly and without the need to be dropped around the front line, where it will be destroyed if the Marines fall. If Medipod could be teleported, that would help much. In such case, this features should be mentioned in the ingame description.

[RocketBear]

Originally posted by Consumerism Temple:

Good to know. Medipod, as a minor structure, is of some importance for the enemy to detroy, therefore there seems to be one major profit having Life Support first. It works constantly and without the need to be dropped around the front line, where it will be destroyed if the Marines fall. Gf Medipod could be teleported, that would help much. In such case, this features should be mentioned in the ingame description.

The inability to teleport it is one of the downsides. :)

[LAG]

towers focus fire from what i know. A flamer with 1-2 medicpods healing him makes for a good tank.

[76561198292631324]

Originally posted by "LAG":

towers focus fire from what i know.

You mean the soldier who tows a pack?

[Rabob]

Originally posted by LAG:

towers focus fire from what i know. A flamer with 1-2 medicpods healing him makes for a good tank.

You might as well buy a minigunner at that point.

[76561198292631324]

Minigunner is good against structures but weak against close up with crowds. In that case a supported flamer is outstanding. Also flamer is very efficient against barricades.

[RocketBear]

Originally posted by LAG:

towers focus fire from what i know. A flamer with 1-2 medicpods healing him makes for a good tank.

Keep in mind that healing doesn't stack. Having 2 medipods heal the same person is no better than 1 medipod.

As for towers, they should be fairly smart about targeting your guys. I think that they try to poison everybody a little-bit. Focus-fire isn't super-lethal in the game because most alien damage is a poison dot.

[LAG]

Originally posted by RocketBear:

Originally posted by LAG:

towers focus fire from what i know. A flamer with 1-2 medicpods healing him makes for a good tank.

Keep in mind that healing doesn't stack. Having 2 medipods heal the same person is no better than 1 medipod.

As for towers, they should be fairly smart about targeting your guys. I think that they try to poison everybody a little-bit. Focus-fire isn't super-lethal in the game because most alien damage is a poison dot.

is the medipod aware of this and actively trying to spread the heal?

[RocketBear]

Originally posted by LAG:

is the medipod aware of this and actively trying to spread the heal?

Yes, but it's not perfect at it.

[76561198292631324]

From what I observed, the healing effect of Medipod is stronger than that of Life Support.