[BF4] Medic/Ammo pouch vs Medic/Ammo box, thoughts?

So playing around I find it a little intriguing the way these two things work. Medic and ammo pouch only applies to a single player and can be spammed pretty easily before it's on cool down. This can be useful in pinch situations where you need health or ammo right then and there (If I'm not mistaken the medic pouch gives you a small amount of HP instantly, with a small amount also over time as well)

The medic/ammo boxes however function the same as they did in previous BF titles with an area of effect mechanic that heals everyone within x radius or replenishes ammo (with the added bonus of replenishing explosives as well as consumable gadgets)

So this begs the question, what's the point of the former? I find the ammo and medic pouches to be somewhat of a niche gadget, useful only in some situations, but the latter gadgets are overwhelmingly more useful in the grand scheme of things. The ammo pouch seems a bit redundant when the most important things that tend to run out fast in a squad are motion balls and explosives.

What do you all think?

Ammo pouches are kind of worthless.


Health pouches on the other hand are fucking awesome for people like me. I HATE sitting on a medic bag, the pouches let me continue running and gunning while I'm healing.

I think they need to be adjusted.

Leave the Medic/Ammo boxes just as they are (area of effect, replensih over time, Ammo box resupplies explosives)

Change the Pouches:
Ammo pouch: Does not resupply secondary explosives, but instantly refills all bullet ammo and hand grenades for a single soldier, can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers ammo was low.

Medic Pouch: If not under fire it replenishes a single soldiers health completely. Removes suppression effects. Can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers health was low.


There, completely fixed.

Ammo pouch is literally useless if you have access to box. I don't even know why they bothered to split this in the first place. It only seems to be there to PENALIZE people for not playing the game enough.

Is there a box version for health in beta? I did not see in the loadout menu.

Metalzoic wrote:I think they need to be adjusted.

Leave the Medic/Ammo boxes just as they are (area of effect, replensih over time, Ammo box resupplies explosives)

Change the Pouches:
Ammo pouch: Does not resupply secondary explosives, but instantly refills all bullet ammo and hand grenades for a single soldier, can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers ammo was low.

Medic Pouch: If not under fire it replenishes a single soldiers health completely. Removes suppression effects. Can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers health was low.


There, completely fixed.

This worries me right there, because that's pretty much how BF2's medic pouches worked and it made it very difficult for players to kill the medics in general. I would have to see how the game would distinguish you not being in combat and when you are indeed in combat before I could pass judgement on that. Perhaps not 100% but a bit more than what it does now instantly would suffice, not sure.

yeah the first ones seem stupid to me

StormEye wrote:Ammo pouch is literally useless if you have access to box. I don't even know why they bothered to split this in the first place. It only seems to be there to PENALIZE people for not playing the game enough.

Is there a box version for health in beta? I did not see in the loadout menu.

No, there is no medic box in beta

Artimise Flare wrote:

Metalzoic wrote:I think they need to be adjusted.

Leave the Medic/Ammo boxes just as they are (area of effect, replensih over time, Ammo box resupplies explosives)

Change the Pouches:
Ammo pouch: Does not resupply secondary explosives, but instantly refills all bullet ammo and hand grenades for a single soldier, can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers ammo was low.

Medic Pouch: If not under fire it replenishes a single soldiers health completely. Removes suppression effects. Can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers health was low.


There, completely fixed.

This worries me right there, because that's pretty much how BF2's medic pouches worked and it made it very difficult for players to kill the medics in general. I would have to see how the game would distinguish you not being in combat and when you are indeed in combat before I could pass judgement on that. Perhaps not 100% but a bit more than what it does now instantly would suffice, not sure.

My point was to make the boxes work in combat, the pouches only work if you're safe.

How about no bullets have been fired in your general direction for 10 seconds and adjust from there?

Metalzoic wrote:

Artimise Flare wrote:

Metalzoic wrote:I think they need to be adjusted.

Leave the Medic/Ammo boxes just as they are (area of effect, replensih over time, Ammo box resupplies explosives)

Change the Pouches:
Ammo pouch: Does not resupply secondary explosives, but instantly refills all bullet ammo and hand grenades for a single soldier, can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers ammo was low.

Medic Pouch: If not under fire it replenishes a single soldiers health completely. Removes suppression effects. Can be thrown further. Gives points equal to how many "steps" that soldiers health was low.


There, completely fixed.

This worries me right there, because that's pretty much how BF2's medic pouches worked and it made it very difficult for players to kill the medics in general. I would have to see how the game would distinguish you not being in combat and when you are indeed in combat before I could pass judgement on that. Perhaps not 100% but a bit more than what it does now instantly would suffice, not sure.

My point was to make the boxes work in combat, the pouches only work if you're safe.

How about no bullets have been fired in your general direction for 10 seconds and adjust from there?

hmm, that may work. The Medic boxes only heal over time if memory serves, and slowly at that.

I don't remember, did you heal faster if there were multiple medic boxes in one spot back in BC2 and BF3? I think having multiple ammo boxes replenished your ammo and such faster back then, though I'm not 100% sure.

BF2 medic strategy was to put out two pouches in a straight line while in a cover, pop out and shoot at enemy while running over one and the other. Unless insta killed by sniper headshot, you are good to go.

Anyway, I actually would not mind insta heal for certain portion (preferably high, but not 100%) as long as you cannot get that insta heal effect for yourself. Making it a team play tool more than rambo tool. Also add in cooldown on how often you can benefit from this effect, and I think it should work fine.

Hank Ketchum wrote:Well the ammo/medic pouches could be extremely useful on a blitz attack. Like when you are attacking an MCOM, trying to be fast and you run low on ammo and/or health and need that quick snap back to throw you back into the thick of it.

Imagine, let's say, Metro Rush in BF3. The second and third set of MCOMs that need a constant flow of attackers pounding the defenders to stop them from being able to regroup. Now. Imagine the old, slow health regen from the boxes while you are leading the charge. Needing just a bit more health to survive some more gunfire... You run out of time. You are struck by that one kill shot that would not have been if you would have just got 2 more health... Now imagine if you had the pouch. A quick burst of health. Enough to not get hit by that kill shot and able to counter against that foe. That type of scenario will happen a lot more than you think.

HP I can see that working out, ammo, not so much since the majority of the time I see Rush play, you're dieing so damn fast it doesn't really even matter since you never seem to get the chance to use all of your ammo in the first place (explosives again are the first to run out from my experience)

StormEye wrote:BF2 medic strategy was to put out two pouches in a straight line while in a cover, pop out and shoot at enemy while running over one and the other. Unless insta killed by sniper headshot, you are good to go.

In my version the box would work for that, but not the pouch.

If someone just shot at you the healing effect of the pouch wouldn't work because you're "under fire". Once it does work it instantly heals you and is gone so another would need to be placed.

I think the bro boxes are way better than the pouches.

Now that the game is fully released, I want to jab at this again.

NOW, I actually think the pouches are VERY useful.

In beta, ammo pouch not being able to resupply gadget basically ruled it out as being any useful. But now, I actually think it is very useful in situation where either the team is constantly moving (hence no time to sit and take ammo) or they are spread apart to benefit from a single box.

I have played as an ammo person in a game or two where I had to resupply my team that was holding long stretched line, so pouch was VERY useful. I only had 4 total kills in that round, but ended up near top scorer.

Box probably will be used in a similar fashion as I have used it in the beta (don't have it yet in full release), as in sit tight and spam XM25. Or, it will be better than a pouch in situation where corridor fighting in rampant (ie Operation Locker, I think thats the name right?).

Health pouch kind of would follow similar logic displayed above, but its rarer to heal mass amounts of people since its usually live to self recover or die. The window to heal is much smaller than an ammo replenish that does not happen automatically.

Yeah. Now that they resupply everything (gadgets and explosives: I was wring about it just being weapons) they are quite useful.

So wait the little bags refill all ammo types now?

Yes, from what I know of, just not at a continuous rate like the box, and it's only for one player at a time.

Artimise Flare wrote:Yes, from what I know of, just not at a continuous rate like the box, and it's only for one player at a time.

Ah so the box is pretty much still better?

HydrasBreath wrote:

Artimise Flare wrote:Yes, from what I know of, just not at a continuous rate like the box, and it's only for one player at a time.

Ah so the box is pretty much still better?

Yes and no, it's situational. If you need ammo or whatever right NOW the pouches are great, they're also good for when you need to toss ammo to a friend who's pinned down across the street or needs rockets, you can literally throw them like a football.

The ammo boxes drop right at your feet, and are a little slower to regenerate ammo or HP, as opposed to the instantaneous small burst that you get from the med pouches or ammo pouches.

It's all situational and preference I think.

Simply put, run and gun = Pouch

Hold ground = Box

Ammo pouch and health pouch act a little different compared to one another, though.

Ammo pouch instantly gives single mag upon contact, but to actually receive gadget ammo, you have to stand on it for a little while. Actual pouch only disappears after one supply of gadget.

Health pouch gives instant start to health regeneration as long as you are not getting fired upon. This effect continues on even while running, until you reach full health (or get fired upon). So, as long as you have used/received health pouch, there is no reason to stick next to the medic anymore. Its very good for run and gun play.

Artimise Flare wrote:Yes, from what I know of, just not at a continuous rate like the box, and it's only for one player at a time.

Sort of at a continuous rate.
3 re-supply "steps" from a single pouch for 1 soldier if I remember right.

Metalzoic wrote:

Artimise Flare wrote:Yes, from what I know of, just not at a continuous rate like the box, and it's only for one player at a time.

Sort of at a continuous rate.
3 re-supply "steps" from a single pouch for 1 soldier if I remember right.

It is that way.

You get one mag worth ammo instantly, and there are 2 additional "steps" if you stick around on it. Gadget usually gets supplied on the last step, since primary weapon ammo is prioritized. But you can hold out your gadget in your hand to switch priority.

But, from my observation, no matter what you hold out first, you will still get one primary mag on the first "step"

I just unlocked the ammo box and I find it's way better for getting points. I can just drop one down in a group of allies and watch the points roll in instead of endlessly spamming pouches and only getting 15 or 30 points at a time if I'm lucky.