Basic Medic strategy
The Medic is arguably the most important class on a team. Although he only has average health and mediocre firepower, his ability to heal and overheal teammates using his Medi Gun makes him invaluable. Additionally, the Medic continually builds an ÜberCharge meter as he heals others. Once full, he can provide invulnerability with the Medi Gun or Critboost a teammate with the Kritzkrieg. Proper deployment of an ÜberCharge can easily make the difference between victory and defeat. In any firefight, it is incredibly important that the Medic survives. Teammates may die, pockets may die, ÜberCharges may be spent, but as long as the Medic is alive and building a new ÜberCharge, his team has the advantage. The Medic relies on having good teammates; as long as he is protected, he is free to heal and keep his team alive.
Primary Weapons
Your ability to heal others will often make you the number one target of many enemy players. Be hard to hit; jump, duck, and strafe to avoid damage. Rely on your teammates to protect you. Your natural health regeneration will often not be enough to keep you alive, so also ask allies to leave Health pickups for you. If they die and you are forced to fight, you should also be retreating.
Syringe Gun
Although the Syringe Gun fires rapidly and deals fair damage, you should still be relying on your teammates to protect you. The needles from the Syringe Gun travel slowly in a gentle parabolic arc. Over distances, aim upwards slightly and lead your targets accordingly.
Blutsauger
The Blutsauger is best when you often find yourself near the frontlines. If you constantly land your shots, you will heal yourself more than your standard regeneration can. If you're on fire or bleeding, you can stop healing and attack with the Blutsauger to restore some health. Don't actively seek out fights; you are still your team's main source of healing.
Crusader's Crossbow
The Crusader's Crossbow allows you to heal teammates from very far away. At close range, it can be used for a quick burst of healing to a critically wounded ally. For the most part, stick to your Medi Gun, as the Crossbow won't help build your ÜberCharge meter. The Crusader's Crossbow is not meant for combat; in addition to its slow reload time, the bolts arc over distances and travel relatively slowly, making them difficult to aim. Think of its ability to damage enemies as a bonus and let your teammates do the fighting.
Overdose
The Overdose is a 10% weaker version of the Syringe Gun and is used in combat with the same mindset as using a Syringe Gun. However, the upside having less 10% damage is that your speed will increase as you have a higher Übercharge percentage, up to a maximum of a 10% speed increase, giving you a huge advantage in mobility at full charge. This should be coupled with a fast charging secondary weapon such as Kritzkrieg or the Quick-Fix so that you can quickly get a speed increase that will give you an advantage on the battlefield.
Secondary Weapons
Your healing beam will stay locked onto a patient no matter what direction you face, so turn around frequently to watch for Spies and other ambushers. The beam can bend around corners, allowing you to heal teammates from behind cover. Don't make the common mistake of only healing one player. Your ÜberCharge meter will fill up more quickly if you are healing wounded allies, so spread your healing evenly during moments of downtime. Generally speaking, you first want to heal other Medics, then combat classes, then support classes. Whenever it comes time to unleash a charge, inform your team. You'll want as much support as possible following behind you and your patient.
Medi Gun
Most of the time, you will equip the Medi Gun for the standard ÜberCharge. While your Medic buddy will differ from time to time, an ÜberCharge will help your team make a push into almost any defensive encampment, particularly those with Sentry Guns. Invincibility is useful on defense, too; you can counter an enemy Medic's ÜberCharge by deploying your own, preferably just after his finishes. If you are in danger of being killed, activate your ÜberCharge in self-defense; it's better to survive than to die with a full meter. You can keep two targets ÜberCharged at once by quickly switching between them. Although your charge drains faster, you will generally make the team push stronger.
Kritzkrieg
The best candidates for the Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge are the Soldier, the Demoman, and the Heavy. These classes can deal damage over a wide area and use the critical hits to eliminate entire groups of enemies. Deploying the Kritzkrieg does not protect you, so you're relying completely on the skill level of your patient and will lose should an enemy Medic deploy a standard ÜberCharge. Because your meter charges faster, it is best to deploy the Kritzkrieg as soon as possible, before the enemy Medics are fully charged. Sentry Guns are not affected by critical hits, so do not use the Kritzkrieg when trying to destroy Engineer nests.
Quick-Fix
The Quick-Fix is an all-around healing beam that does not provide an invulnerability or critical hits when activated. The Übercharge increases the healing rate three-fold and the standard healing rate is higher than that of the other secondaries, allowing you to quickly heal targets when you have multiple teammates that are on the brink of death. The Quick-Fix allows you to tip the scales in an area where both teams stalemate. This means that in an area with a high level of weapons spam, your teammates around you will take lots of damage but will not die due to them very quickly regaining their health. Although the healing rate is high, there is no overheal, and the charge doesn't have as great as a pushing effect as invincibility or critical hits.
Melee Weapons
Bonesaw / Saxxy
The Bonesaw is useful for getting the first strike on a distracted opponent but still loses to the Syringe Gun in damage over time. There is no reason to use the Bonesaw; because Medics generally don't fight, all of your other melee weapons are usually seen as straight upgrades.
Übersaw
Use your Übersaw when cornered by the enemy to rapidly fill your ÜberCharge meter. Don't be zealous; once your meter is filled, escape back to your teammates, deploying the ÜberCharge if you need to.
Vita-Saw
The Vita-Saw grants minor ÜberCharge insurance. As a Medic, you are generally healing teammates while at the frontlines and will be targeted by any competent enemy. Death is almost inevitable, so equip the Vita-Saw if the 20% saved charge can significantly impact the flow of battle. If you equip the standard Syringe Gun, your natural health regeneration can make up for the small health penalty. It is obviously useless in situations where you cannot respawn, such as Arena or Sudden Death.
Amputator
The Amputator is a straight upgrade to the Bonesaw. Using its taunt to heal will not build your ÜberCharge meter, so you should still be using the Medi Gun for most of your healing. Only use its taunt-heal when your team is clustered up while staying behind cover, even if there are no enemies in sight. Taunting in the midst of combat will get you killed, no matter how much healing you provide.
Solemn Vow
The Solemn Vow is also a straight upgrade to the Bonesaw. Use its ability to see enemies' health by letting your team know who's just barely alive and can be picked off easily. It also gives the Medic an awareness advantage, as you can see weak enemies and have your Medic buddy target them using a Mic. The Solemn Vow can also be used for Combat Medic purposes, as you can prioritize targets easier with it.
- Some servers allow you to see enemies health anyway. If this is the case, consider taking another weapon into battle.
Item sets
The Medieval Medic
The increased health regeneration can significantly increase your survivability. You will need to rely further on your teammates for protection, as only using the Crusader's Crossbow to fight off enemies will be very difficult. As the name implies, this is your item set of choice in Medieval Mode.
The Clinical Trial
The Clinical Trial set allows you to quickly heal multiple teammates under enemy fire that are on the brink of dying, and the fast Übercharge rate simultaneously charges your meter and makes the Medic move faster. Along with that the Solemn Vow allows you to prioritize targets and relay strategic information to teammates, but more importantly lets the player know if it is okay to pick off certain enemies with the weaker syringes. The Overdose and the Quick-Fix are a complimenting combination but the Solemn Vow is interchangeable with other melee options.
See also
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