Back 4 Blood Heng guide – Abilities, weapons, tips and tactics

Heng is one of the two new Cleaners added to Back 4 Blood in the Tunnels of Terror expansion, the other being Sharice. Unlike Sharice who is fairly plug-and-play, Heng has a very quirky set of passive abilities that make him useful in some niche situations, and make him better for pre-made groups than solo queue players. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know about Heng in Back 4 Blood.

Abilities and weapons

Heng’s melee weapon is the Hatchet: a fast, flexible little blade that is decent against all enemies. He also comes with a nice custom skin for the basic Knife, echoing his previous life as a chef. His starting weapon is the RPK — the heavier and more cumbersome of the game’s two LMGs, but a good weapon nonetheless.

Heng has two passive abilities in Back 4 Blood, the first being the ability to spot weapon attachments, Tunnel entrances, and Prepper Stashes nearby. This isn’t very needed if you’ve played every map a few times already and know where points of interest normally are, but it helps you navigate nonetheless. His second passive is that whenever he gets hit by a Mutation, there is a small chance a random new item will fall out of his pockets. This is helpful for decks built around Accessory use, but more importantly, it’s absolutely hilarious, as it implies that Heng carries loads of useful items around and just refuses to use them or share them with anyone until a zombie literally forces the issue.

To go with this comical ability, Heng’s team passive gives all players a 5% item re-use chance. This means that each time anyone uses an item — whether it was found, bought, or whacked out of Heng’s stingy clutches by a Mutation — there is a tiny chance that the item will not be consumed and would be usable again.

Tips and best cards

Heng has a few areas of expertise when it comes to deckbuilding in Back 4 Blood. For starters, his ability to sniff out weapon attachments is good for people who like to build a really beefy gun. If that describes you, you might want to consider pairing Heng with the new Weaponsmith card; note, Weaponsmith costs a lot of Copper to use, and is only worth taking when playing with friends so everyone can take a copy. Each copy of Weaponsmith reduces its use cost by 100 Copper, down to a minimum of 0.

Heng is also good for builds that focus on item use, which naturally synergizes him with Back 4 Blood Cleaners like Hoffman, Karlee, and Doc, and with cards like Medical Expert and Fire in the Hole. Note, that Heng’s item creation passive only works if he expects to get hit by Mutations — so take damage resistance and self-healing items and cards, rather than ones that help you fully avoid damage, like movement speed cards. The True Grit and Ignore the Pain cards are must-have for your Heng decks, as they let you go toe to toe with Mutations like Smashers and Bruisers and tank a few hits without suffering too much.

Ultimately, Heng is built like an intro character, and is a good Cleaner to pick if you are just starting with Back 4 Blood. Playing Heng lets you quickly spot points of interest on the game’s maps so you know where to look for them in the future. He also allows you to get and use items more frequently, building up your understanding of all the Accessories in Back 4 Blood.