Rat Lab Support Gear: Pick the Right Medkit, Vest, Armour, Antidote or Hazmat Suit
Pick Rat Lab support gear that fits the threat: Medkit and Body Armour (~+50 HP) at about 10 minutes, Antidote at about 15, Armour, the R$249 Hazmat Suit — plus Forever prices and per-role picks.
Quick answer
Rat Lab's support gear is the survivability layer beside weapons and control tools: the Medkit (healing), Body Armour — the vest — for about +50 effective HP, Armour for contested fights, the Antidote as a remedy item, and the Hazmat Suit for hazard spaces.
- The tools tier list grades the vest S for any role — “Not flashy; decides trades” — with Armour at A for contested fights and Hazmat at B/A, spiking when hazards or fallout matter.
- Loadout rule under session resets: take the S-tier tool for your goal first, then “Add one survivability piece (vest / armour / hazmat),” and only then greed sniper or luxury guns.
- As the tier list puts it: “If your tier list ignores HP buffers, your baton trades will lie to you.”
Support items at a glance
Comparison
| Item | Problem / Threat It Answers | Session Unlock | Access & Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medkit | Healing and sustain in longer fights | ~10 min | Medkit Unlocked Forever — R$29 |
| Body Armour (vest, Rat Team) | ~+50 effective HP; changes peek and trade math vs sniper and rifle fire | ~10 min | Body Armour Forever — R$59 |
| Armour | Bite rushes, post-net melees, stray gunfire in contested fights | Not listed in the unlock tables | Ranked A-tier tool; Armored Guard (R$249) is a separate Security durability pass |
| Antidote | Remedy item — its in-game effect isn't documented | ~15 min (alongside Pistol) | Antidote Unlocked Forever — R$89 |
| Hazmat Suit | Mutation fallout, lab hazards, contested chemical spaces | Sold as a gamepass; no session slot documented | R$249 |
Prices reflect the mid-September 2026 gamepass listing snapshot; recheck them after game updates.
When support items unlock — and the session reset rule
Support items arrive on the session clock, and the marks are approximations, not exact timers: Medkit, Taser, and Body Armour unlock at about 10 minutes, and Antidote at about 15 minutes, paired with the Pistol. The unlock guide flags these as community-facing approximations: “Times are community-facing approximations used across this wiki—patches can nudge them, so verify after Updates.”
Unlocks are per session: “Leave or end the session → progress on those timers resets,” unless Forever gamepasses keep the listed tools available without the wait. Role guides read the same clock — Security treats the ~10-minute slot as “Sustain fights; Taser stops stage runners,” and the scientist plan lists “~10m: Medkit/Taser/Body Armour — mid control and sustain” before “~15m: Antidote/Pistol.”
Medkit
The Medkit is the healing item. It unlocks at about the 10-minute mark alongside Taser and Body Armour, and the Security guide reads that slot as sustain for extended fights. Its discipline matters most once fights stretch: “Keep Medkit discipline; revenge fights are longer against vested, armed rats.” If you want it from minute one, a permanent version is sold in-game: “Medkit Unlocked Forever,” R$29.
Body Armour: the vest, ~+50 HP, and sniper math
Body Armour is the vest. It effectively adds about +50 HP: “Vest rats effectively gain about +50 HP. That single fact changes peek math against Security.” It interacts directly with the sniper rule — snipers one-shot non-vest rats — but a vest is not invulnerability: “With a vest, you still die to focused fire—you only buy mistakes.” For Lab Rats the verdict is “boring, correct, often decisive. Take it before stage-two brawls,” and on the map, a vest pickup “often decides whether you can cross a monitored junction.”
It arrives about 10 minutes into a session. The Body Armour Forever pass (R$59) reads: “Unlock the Body armor [RAT TEAM] permanently. Skip the 10-minute wait in every session, forever,” and the gamepass guide calls it “the budget Forever headline of the Sep 7 wave — strong value if you die mid-map without armour often.”
Armour and the Armored Guard pass
The tier list keeps Armour as its own A-tier survivability row: “Quiet A-tier. Stacks with vest math knowledge even if you are not the rat who picked the vest.” By goal, Security values it because it “Lets you win post-net melees against vested rats,” and scientists get “A — Armour against bite rushes.” The scientist role guide states both the use case and the limit: “Armour buys time against bite rushes and stray gunfire,” but “armour does not fix standing in a sniper lane.” Its damage-reduction numbers aren't documented — only its tier placement and use cases.
Separately, the store sells Armored Guard for R$249, described as “Security durability.” How the session Armour tool, the rat-team Body Armour vest, and the Armored Guard pass relate mechanically isn't defined anywhere — treat them as three separate items rather than one item under different names.
Antidote: documented unlock and price, undocumented effect
The Antidote is a remedy-type support item whose unlock slot is documented: it appears at about 15 minutes in the session tables, paired with the Pistol as firearms tempo begins — compressed by the guides hub as “Medkit/Taser/Body Armour ~10m, Antidote/Pistol ~15m.” A permanent version is sold in-game: “Antidote Unlocked Forever,” R$89.
What the Antidote cures, and when to use it, isn't documented in this guide material. Treat its in-game effect as a known gap — don't assume it removes mutation effects or any specific status until you can confirm it in-game.
Hazmat Suit: hazard protection, when it's worth it
The Hazmat Suit is hazard protection sold as a gamepass — R$249, listed as “Science/hazard survivability” in the price sheet and framed as “survivability while living in hazard spaces.” It has no free session-unlock slot; the gamepass is its documented path.
When to take it: “Hazmat shines when mutation fallout, lab hazards, or contested chemical spaces are in play. Equip with intent — it is not a fashion piece for the lobby screenshot.” Its value is situational, not flat: “Situational S-tier when the lab is hostile; inventory clutter when it is not. Learn wing states after each patch,” and the scientist lens grades it “A — Hazmat when wings are unsafe; otherwise B.” It's comfort rather than required — “Hazmat Suit (R$249) and Mutation Gun (R$299) are comfort, not requirements” — and even owners should remember: “Hazmat helps; awareness helps more.”
Choosing protection by situation
Tips
Escape (Lab Rat)
“S — Vest, Bite — Survive the hit, create the peel, finish stages,” then “A — Armour (if contestable).” Time the vest pickup before contested mid-lab fights, and note that escape routes forcing long sightlines are non-vest traps: prefer broken LOS even if the path is longer. Lab gear is sometimes contestable — only greed it if it does not cost the escape timer.
PvP / lockdown (Security)
“A — Armour — Lets you win post-net melees against vested rats.”
Science (Scientist)
“A — Hazmat when wings are unsafe; otherwise B,” plus “A — Armour against bite rushes.”
Loadout order under session resets
Take the S-tier tool for your goal first, then “Add one survivability piece (vest / armour / hazmat),” and only then luxury guns.