We have all been there; lying on the ground in our dying moments as our team tickets slowly bleed away. When suddenly a friendly medic passes by, defibs at the ready and with one miraculous shock you're back alive and ready for action. You clamber to your feet and - you're dead again. Shot by the same guy who killed you in the first place. The medic lay next to you dying, 100 points richer and unaware of his mistake.

Playing assault can make the game for your team - if you do it right. Ok, so it's not quite as easy as it was in BF3; medic trains don't really happen anymore like they used to on Operation Metro, but that doesn't mean equiping a defib as your gadget is a waste of time.

The defibs can be where it's at, there's nothing quite like saving your teammates and your tickets with your magical bullet-hole-healing shock powers. You can be the key to winning the game. However, just running around looking for the nearest flatline and zapping them with your paddles isn't always the best method, especially with the changes from BF3 to BF4. Afterall, the poor guy didn't just drop dead of his own accord...unless he grenaded himself. So first check around and see if there are any enemies in the vicinity. If there are kill them first before charging your paddles. Yes, you have to charge them now and you can't sprint whilst charging so unless you've cleared the area - don't bother. Also if you charge the full amount you get the max amount of points and your teammate gets max health. If you don't fully charge you only receive 20 points and likewise your teammate only gets 20HP.

Unfortunately though, it's not always that easy. Sometimes your poor dead teammate will be surrounded by enemies and you might find yourself in a bit of a tricky situation. Now, just a warning, your teammate might not thank you for this one; but what you can do is revive them with minimum charge and use them as a decoy while you either kill everyone else in the room or escape to shouts of "Don't revive me bro!" It doesn't always work but a lot of the time your enemies will focus the once dead guy instead of you, especially if you manage to get under cover. Like I said though, they might not thank you for it but you survived, got some revive points and maybe some kills.

So, the new rules for defibs in BF4: firstly, you don't get unlimited shocks like in the last game. You get 3 and then you have to 'reload' which takes time. Secondly you can't just instantly revive someone over and over again, the dead guy must be up and walking around for at least 3 seconds, approximately, before he can be revived again. Thirdly is the charging, you can't just sprint and shock people like you could in BF3 :( Sad times. Instead you can only walk up to someone with your defibs out and charge them. They take about 3 seconds to charge fully, and a full charge grants 100 points to you and 100HP to your resurrected teammate. Charging for any less than that can grant between 20-100 points and HP. Then for some reason you still get the same problems with reviving that were present in BF3. This includes bodies sinking into the ground, falling through random objects, sliding down hills etc. all of which result in the poor soldier not being suitable for reviving. Anyone who is dead for more than 15 seconds, has committed suicide via the menu, has been knifed, disconnected or rage quit, is considered to be properly dead and can't be revived. Yep, that's right, you can revive someone who has been shot in the face by a shotgun but not someone who has been knifed in the chest.

If you are the receiver of a revive then you should know that you don't instantly spring back to life, you begin in prone position, even if you died bent over backwards like something from The Exorcist. Also you might not have full health so it isn't always the best decision to just jump up and run, stay down make sure your ressurector isn't using you for bait and then carry on. If you're not at full health, find cover and wait for your HP to recharge. You should also know that carrying defibs isn't compulsory, so don't start flaming an assault class for passing your dead body by because they might not have defibs equiped, or there might still be enemies around, or they maybe they just don't care.

The last thing to add is that the defibs can be used as a weapon. You've just got to find the sweet spot. Basically, shock them in the head. That'll be one raging enemy and one achievment for you unlocked.

So, if you are ready to equip the defibs and put your teammates lives in your hands then remember: use your god powers wisely!