Editing Support specialist (section)

==Tactics==

*The Support specialist is more effective in a defensive capacity, where he can funnel enemies through a choke point and take advantage of his shotguns' penetration bonus. In addition, he is up to 2.5 times faster in [[welder|welding]] than other perks. A lone Support specialist can lock down an area with multiple weldable doors very quickly, and is much more capable of maintaining a weld against powerful groups of specimens. When a door is about to be breached, the Support specialist's bonuses also makes it easier for him to unweld the door without having it destroyed by the specimens, eliminate the enemies on the other side of the door with a [[combat shotgun]] or [[AA12]], and re-weld the door.

*The biggest problems a Support specialist will face are reload time and ammo capacity. The amount of time required to fully reload a shotgun is at least 2.75 seconds, so it is generally better for the Support specialist to keep his distance from specimens during the reloading process. Despite his increased capacity for shotgun ammo and grenades, poor shot selection will deplete his reserves quickly. The Support specialist should try to hit as many specimens as possible with each shell.

*The Support Specialist should take full advantage of his increased weight capacity, and purchase, or have purchased for him, a side-arm to use whenever powerful weapons are not needed, and avoid wasting shells on small individual targets like [[Clot]]s and [[Crawler]]s.

*When using the pump-action shotgun or combat shotgun, the Support specialist should reload immediately after a shot is fired whenever the next shot does not immediately need to be fired, as the reloading process can be quickly interrupted.

*To save as much ammo as possible, remember that the AA-12 has a semi-automatic firing mode if fully-automatic firepower isn't needed. 

*Bear in mind that a partially empty magazine on the HSG-1 and AA-12 is counted as a full magazine on the [[head-up display]].

*The [[Crawler]], when found in a group, can be eradicated in addition to the rest of the mobs by a crouching Support Specialist so that his shotgun penetration bonus is used. However if they ever were to snap close, the slow shooting frequency of shotguns generally spell death for a Support Specialist without a reliable side-arm.

*The Hunting Shotgun's secondary fire is one of the most powerful single-hits of all weapons in the game; and it is often effective at quickly finishing a wounded/raging [[Scrake]] or [[Fleshpound]]. Beware that this will direct a raging specimen. At very short range, headshots, perhaps using the shotgun's iron-sights, can be useful for decapitating medium or large specimens.

*A Siren or Husk, as well as any lower specimens, can be killed quickly and easily with a Hunting Shotgun alt-fire.

*Remember that, as a Support Specialist, welding doors is one of your tasks. You may have games where welding is key to keeping the whole team alive. Do not leave welding to less-suited classes just because you are bored with it or do not find it beneficial. 

*Practice welding doors, and unwelding them when zeds build up behind them to clear. Being able to do this without letting the door break can prove quite hard, especially on suicidal and hell on earth difficulties. Listen carefully to what's behind the door--being able to identify what is waiting for you will give you a better idea of whether you should ask for back up when clearing, or if you should ask another teammate to help weld instead of attempting to unweld and clear it.

*At level 6, Support Specialists will start with a [[Hunting shotgun]], which is not the weapon of choice against the smaller enemies of the earlier waves. Consider selling it, which, can buy a loaded Hunting again at no additional cost also when combined with your starting cash, is enough to buy the [[HSG-1 shotgun|HSG-1]] or [[shotgun|Shotgun]].

*You can be at the front lines with the [[Berserker]], picking crawlers off of him, or standing near the Sharpshooter and ensuring he gets clean shots without being harassed. Whatever you do if a [[Field Medic]] is tanking you should help against big targets, starting by prioritizing [[Siren]]s first.

*In the starting waves, check weapon spawns. Your increased carry weight allows you to carry many additional weapons to sell, which will get you your [[AA12]] faster. Level 5 and 6 Support Specialists have the advantage of starting with a shotgun which is more than enough to handle anything in the early waves while solo.

*If your level is too low to carry a second shotgun, it may be a wise idea to get an [[M79|M79 Grenade Launcher]] along with your main shotgun, as a Support will get damage bonuses to the grenades (not from launchers), and setting stacked grenades in the right place (and detonating them with M79) at the right time would save you from tight situations.

*If forced to defend a more open area where shotguns are ineffective, being too crafty, Support Specialist can carry a heavier emergency weapon such as [[Buzzsaw Bow]], [[Husk fireball launcher]] and even [[M32]] but this means they can not carry a heavy shotgun in their equipment. Buzzsaw pierce through the crowd for stunning Scrakes by a headshot, Husk stuns a Scrake on a well charged headshot also can set off stacked hand grenades and finally M32 can deal huge damage spikes to Fleshpounds also set off stacked grenades.

*A Support Specialist can wield the [[trenchgun]] -which can be purchased in previous waves as a [[firebug]] for a discount- and still receive penetration bonuses from the perk. While initial damage will be way weaker than using an onperk shotgun and burn damage will be fairly low. It can be ideal for sweeping mainly and harassing [[Siren]] instead of dealing damage to anything bigger and reloads slower than the standard [[Shotgun]].

*Keep your [[combat shotgun]] and [[shotgun]] loaded at all times if possible. Throw a hand grenade to keep the horde busy if you're about to go through a lengthy process of reloading your shotguns or delay it and swap to your side-arm of choice such as [[MK23]] to bridge the reloads interrupted reloads.

*Combine your hand grenades with your shotguns to deal damage to big specimen such as Fleshpounds. At high difficulties all specimen gain enough speed to get away from any hand grenade's explosion radius when their fuse finally spent. As game doesn't offer any option to cook grenades, Support Specialist have to only use grenades when specimen are pinned, busy or going through a narrow choke.

*With the [[AA12]], switch to semi-automatic for smaller targets lined up to stack kills and go full automatic for bigger targets. Conserve ammo by also keeping a regular [[Shotgun|shotgun]], or a pistol like [[MK23]], weight permitting.

*Use the [[hunting shotgun]] to finish off big, wounded targets like the [[Scrake]] and [[Fleshpound]]. Remember that you can't reload the [[Hunting shotgun|hunting shotgun]] until you have fired off both shells. However: use alternate fire against big targets to finish them or in narrow corridors packed with smaller targets.  

*The [[Zed Gun MKII]]'s static effect allows you to safely unload your close range damage on dangerous enemies, so consider carrying one if your team is having trouble with big targets. 

*To cut weld times at doors that get heavy zed traffic: either purchase [[pipe bomb]]s or ask a [[demolition]]s expert with pipe bombs to set one or two (if more than 1, space them out) behind the door you want to keep [[Welder|welded]]. If you only have one to put out, put it as close to the edge of the door as possible. When there are enough zeds behind the door, the pipe will explode, giving the support time away from the door without having to clear it.

*If you change your weapon with specific timing after you shoot both barrels of hunting shotgun, you will see that your weapon will be changed before you reload it. However, if you change back to the hunting shotgun again, you cannot shoot for a second until the ammo counter updates itself.

*A common skill to develop as a good support specialist is the right-click aim. Certain shotguns, such as the [[HSG-1]] and the [[shotgun]], drop back to the users side during the pump action, unlike the [[AA12]] or [[hunting shotgun]]. As such, the support specialist needs to develop the skill to quickly toggle between right-click aim and the pump action.

*It is worth noting that at extreme point blank ranges, the pellets may not even go through the first target. This is a bug that can be remedied by engaging enemies at at least 5 feet away.

*At level 6, a single secondary fire from the hunting shotgun can kill a scrake on solo at any difficulty.

*Support specialists are best for soloing the patriarch, as the damage output can kill him very quickly.