A player’s guide for Hoffman
Back 4 Blood, the gory first-person shooter from Turtle Rock Studios, is a game full of guns, zombies, and guts. It’s a chaotic experience from start to finish through post-apocalyptic Pennsylvania. Its depth, story, and lore are driven entirely by the characters players take control of.
From punk rock misanthropes to traumatized veterans, the survivors of this new wasteland are called Cleaners. They’re immune to the predations of the devil worm–the purveyor of this zombie infection–and they’re proficient with weapons, even if those weapons are nothing more than baseball bats and machetes.
He is unintentionally the funniest Cleaner on the team. But don’t let his social anxiety or wild conspiracy theories get to you. He is a genuinely capable Cleaner; after all, he’s been preparing for this his whole life.
That’s right, today we’re talking about H.R. Hoffman.
Hoffman’s backstory
Hoffman is often the one most picked on by the group of Cleaners. He’s a little too enthusiastic about his role in the end times, which often turns the others away. But at the end of the day, Hoffman is the most prepared of anyone on the team.
Hoffman was raised in Pennsylvania by a loving mother and a strict father. Hoffman grew up with a desire to help others the way his mother does and to finally get the approval of his survival enthusiast father. That meant learning to clean and oil a gun–any gun. It meant having a stash of MREs in the closet, a bugout bag in the back of the truck, and a gas mask with a fresh filter ready at all times. Hoffman never got the approval he wanted from his father, but all the work trying turned him into someone more than prepared for the zombie apocalypse.
Hoffman has some of the best lines in Back 4 Blood. “Ah yes, ladders. My old nemesis.” And his interactions with others always left us smiling. At the beginning of the campaign, Hoffman mentions that he believes his father may still be alive. After all, he was a prepper, and he taught Hoffman everything he knew. Hoffman says he volunteered for the mission to find evidence of his father’s whereabouts, hopefully.
Hoffman gets along with just about everyone on the team. We found him having more interactions with the original gang, Elijah Walker, Mom, Holly, and Evangelo, than anyone else. But he and Sharice seem to hit it off well. They were both preppers to a certain degree and share the same sentiments.
“I’m a Cleaner now. And damn proud of it.”
Strategy & cards
Hoffman’s perks are as follows:
- Hoffman has a chance to find ammo or Offensive Accessories when killing Ridden.
- + 15% Max Team Ammo Capacity
- + 1 Offensive Inventory
- Start with an Ammo Pouch
The developers made Hoffman out to be a “mule” character, someone who can bring more supplies not just for themselves but for the whole team. His strengths are team-based and allow the team to carry more ammo and find more supplies throughout their runs. When we built decks for Hoffman, we built with this in mind. His damage output is no higher than other Cleaners, and his perks are geared around generating supplies.
We had three main builds for when we played as Hoffman. All three had some commonalities, but we’ll explain their differences first.
Thanks For The Chocolate Deck
This was our standard prepper build for Hoff. We leaned into his perks and lore and brought cards that buffed our team first, Hoff second. Well Fed, Well Rested, Surplus Pouches, Box ‘O Bags, Copper Scavenger, Tool Belts, Pumped Up, Ammo For All, and Mandatory PT buff the hell out of your team. Everyone now has two of every accessory, more stamina, health, ammo, and damage. It’s a good start. Adding Pumped Up mitigates some of the health loss for extra accessories. From here, you can choose to buff the team more–Weapon Scavenger, Inspiring Sacrifice–or you can buff yourself. Your team is only as strong as its weakest link, so make sure that isn’t you.
Mr. Bandaid Deck
We chose this build when our team refused to add Doc but kept dying because we didn’t have a healer. This build doesn’t necessarily heal so much as it provides a crap ton of healing accessories for the team to use constantly. Needs Of The Many, Support Scavenger, Fresh Bandage, Safe Room Recovery, Well Fed, Offensive Scavenger, Fanny Pack, Box ‘O Bags, and Life Insurance are all good cards to stack in your deck. Mr. Bandaid keeps his team alive. He might move slower and shoot crazier, but Mr. Bandaid keeps his team alive. Remember that.
Hoffmeister Deck
Beware the Hoffmeister. In the Back 4 Blood cutscenes, Hoff is depicted as a lover of LMGs. In the opening cinematic, Hoff is firing a mounted machine gun, laughing gleefully at the carnage he’s producing. We fully embrace that attitude for the Hoffmeister. Shooting Gloves, Energy Drink, Ammo Pouch, Front Sight Focus, Combat Training, Large Calibur Rounds, Silver Bullets, Meatgrinder, Tactical Vest, Hunker Down, Down In Front, and Cold Brew Coffee were always in our deck.
Hoffman’s perk is that he can generate ammo or accessories whenever he kills a Ridden. Not a mutation, not a boss. Therefore, Hoff should always be on crowd control. We found using an LMG and building a deck around being proficient with them was the best way to make H.R. Hoffman shine. This means building a decent team. You’ll need a healer, a DPS for bosses, and a flex character–Mom, Sharice, Holly. But this lets Hoff generate the most items and, in our opinion, be the most helpful to the team.
Regardless of your build, Hoff should always focus on the riff-raff Ridden more than the mutations. And he should be sharing the wealth; he doesn’t generate ammo and accessories to horde for himself. It’s a team effort.
Final thoughts on Hoffman
Hoffman is generally regarded as one of the best Cleaners to play as, period. Regardless of difficulty, team composition, or Act, having a perk that spawns the most necessary items in the game is wildly helpful. But Hoffman isn’t always used to his full potential by people we play with online, and sometimes the blessing he gives to his team is wasted on selfish individuals.
All we can say is don’t sleep on Hoffman. Don’t fall for the jokes the others play on him. He’s the most prepared and invested Cleaner in the game, even if he is a little awkward.
But wouldn’t you be a little awkward in the zombie apocalypse?
We thought so.
