Medical Guide
Star Citizen’s persistent universe bolsters a comprehensive medical system, complete with hospitals, tiered injuries, and a plethora of medical drugs and tools. Join us as we dive deep into each of these new features in hope you’ll be properly equipped to face this update, which significantly ups the stakes of surviving in the ‘verse.
And if you’re looking for additional help to get started in medicine, check out the Guide System to get paired with an experienced player who can help show you the ropes.
Tools of the Trade
A good medic keeps an array of tools on hand. From single-use items to trusty healing tools, there’s plenty gear and goodies to keep you and your team upright. Before we jump into the details of how and where to heal, here are looks at the three tools currently available to a budding medical professional, all able to be purchased at any hospital or clinic:
Drugs and BDL
Hemozal is but one of several pharmaceuticals available to a medic’s arsenal. These drugs all have unique attributes and effects, however all of them increase your Blood Drug Level (BDL).
Your BDL is tracked next to your health status on your helmet HUD. Once this level reaches 50% of maximum, your character will enter an Overdosed state. This will affect your traversal speed, blur your vision, add a weapon sway effect, and cause your character to pilot vehicle erratically. Additionally, your character will begin to take damage slowly unless the effects are countered.
Below are the types of drugs available, both separately in single-use pens as well as collectively included in Curelife’s Medical Tool:
Injuries
Injuries are inflicted when a player received sustained, repeated damage. Injuries can be received on any limb, your chest, or your head. Injuries are shown to you either via your helmet HUD in the bottom left corner, or via scan using the Curelife Medical Tool.
Below are the different types of injuries, how they affect you, and how and where they can be healed.
Tier 3
Minor Injury
Minor injuries can be healed by any Tier 3 medical bed, such as the ones in the Cutlass Red. This first level of injury decreases your maximum health pool as well as introduces a few gameplay effects, depending on where you were injured. If your arms are injured, your weapons will be harder to aim and the damage done by melee attacks is reduced. If it’s your legs, your move speed is reduced. Chest, your stamina is reduced and your character will begin to wheeze. And finally, if it’s your head, your vision will begin to blur, the audio you hear will be muffled, and it will take longer to recover from a stun. No minor injury requires stabilization.
Tier 2
Moderate Injury
A moderate injury requires a Tier 2 medical bed to heal, such as a clinic or the medical bays of larger ships such as the Carrack or 890 Jump. Moderate injuries greatly pronounces the effects seen in minor injuries, with a few additions. Moderate injuries will cause your character to start limping and audibly grunt in pain. If the moderate injury is sustained to the head or chest, stabilization is required in a medical bed of any tier.
Tier 1
Severe Injury
A severe injury requires a Tier 1 medical bed to heal, such as ones found in a hospital. Severe injuries escalate the effects of moderate injuries even further, with even more detriments added. A severe injury to your legs will force your character into a prone state, with no ability to stand or crouch. If it’s to your arms, your character will not be able to hold objects. Severe injuries to the head or torso will also require stabilization in any medical bed.
Medical Facilities
Now that we’re familiar with injuries, we need places to heal them. Medical facilities can be found all over the ‘verse, from massive cities to small space stations. There are even a select few ships that offer medical care within them.
If it’s a public facility and not a ship, feel free to admit yourself using the Patient Check-In console, which functions similarly to an ASOP terminal. Below are the three types of medical facility, as well as what services they provide.
Medical Beds and Treatment
Now that we’re familiar with injuries and the facilities that can heal them, let’s go to one and find a medical bed. These can be found in any number of locations, from a ship to a space station to a city’s hospital. If it’s a public facility and not a ship, feel free to admit yourself using the Patient Check-In console, which functions similarly to an ASOP terminal.
However, if you have sustained a severe injury and it is difficult for you to walk, an expedited option is available in any public hangar bay, shown below. A medic can bring a patient to these emergency drop off locations (use a gurney to speed things up!) and then send this elevator directly to the medical facility. In either case, get over to a medical bed as soon as possible!
Get Your Diagnosis
Once you’re on the medical bed, you’re presented with a menu with up to three options (the third appearing for ship owners, giving them the option to clear out players that registered to their ship’s ICU). The first option will give you an overview of your character, shown below. Here you can see the injuries you’ve sustained in detail, along with recommended treatment options.
All’s Well that Heals Well
To apply a treatment, click the tab “Treatment” and select the injuries you wish to heal. After a few seconds, your injury will be removed and your health restored to full. Simple as that! Keep in mind, these options are presented to you only if you are conscious. If unconscious and delivered to a hospital or clinic, the facility will take care of your injuries for you and you will wake up fully healed.
Incapacitation
You’ve sustained significant damage, your health has hit 0%, and you fall to the ground. Congratulations, you’ve been incapacitated!
Your character is now immobile, and the clock has started. You must receive a dose of Hemozal before the timer runs out, otherwise…you’re dead! Keep in mind, the items on your person are left behind on your corpse if you die.
The good news is that all hope is not lost, even if you’re alone! If there’s no one to aid you in the immediate vicinity, you can create a beacon by holding the M key. This creates a Beacon mission for nearby players, automatically set for a fifteen thousand aUEC reward and paid out upon delivery to a medical facility.
Players accepting this mission can bring you to the Emergency Medical drop-off area, located in all hangars attached to a medical facility. More info on these locations is above in the Medical Beds and Treatment section.
The medics and pilots taking on this career are the unsung heroes of the ‘verse, and we hope this gives those interested in joining their ranks a solid foundation to begin their journey as a healer. Medical gameplay will continue to expand in the future with additional ailments, cybernetics, and far greater consequences for dying, making your role even more significant in the persistent universe.
Be sure to check out the Guide System to get paired with a fellow medic, and head over to Spectrum to provide any and all feedback on medical gameplay in Star Citizen.