Community Medic strategy
“ | I'm going to saw through your bones!
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— The Medic on "accidental" malpractice
|
” |
As a Medic, your primary role is to keep your teammates alive using the Medi Gun. Depending on the particular type of Medi Gun equipped, the Medic is able to provide his patient and himself with invulnerability, guaranteed critical hits, knockback immunity, boosted healing, or resistance from a selected damage type by deploying an ÜberCharge, which can often change the tide of a battle.
Quick tips
- Heal anyone who needs it, but focus on Soldiers, Pyros, Demomen, and Heavies. These classes are the least likely to die from one or two attacks, and deal high damage, enabling them to protect you from enemies more effectively.
- Regularly overhealing nearby teammates will ensure that your team has the upper hand against the enemy, and will additionally allow you to build ÜberCharge faster.
- ÜberCharge is still built when your healing target is fully overhealed, but it charges more slowly, and even slower if the heal target is also being healed by a Dispenser, Payload cart, or another friendly Medic.
- Try to stay with your team at all times. You are not suited to fight any class alone; even a single Spy can easily kill you with his Revolver before you can fight back.
- Move unpredictably and be aware of your surroundings. Medics are a high-priority target for enemies, especially Snipers and Spies.
- Don't be afraid to use an ÜberCharge to save yourself, even if no allies are nearby. It is better to use it too early than to lose it by being killed, and this will allow you to regroup with your team more quickly.
- Always remember that your Medi Gun's heal beam can stretch out a relatively long distance between you and your healing target. This allows you to stay behind cover while continuing to heal teammates.
- A team without any Medics is likely going to lose against againsat a team that does. If your team doesn't have any, switch to Medic to ensure your team has a reliable source of healing and access to ÜberCharges.
General strategy
- As Medic, you are both most useful and most safe when with a large group of your teammates. Stay to the rear of the group to reduce your chances of being hit, and heal any wounded teammates to keep them alive.
- Heal damaged players first. Healing a damaged player to full health usually takes only a few seconds, but a player dying, respawning, and then returning to the front lines can take up to half a minute. Even healing them a small amount is often better than Overhealing another teammate to 150%.
- Focus on all of your teammates — there's often a temptation to stick with stronger classes such as Heavies and neglect other teammates. If in a dire situation where you can't keep everyone alive at once, focus on keeping powerful classes such as Soldiers, Demomen, and Heavies alive, as they can hold the frontline pressure.
- Don't run away from the rest of your team to heal one teammate on the other side of the map. Ask for them to come to you.
- If you happen to have the Crusader's Crossbow equipped, you can instead fire a shot in their direction to give them a quick health boost.
- Keep other Medics on your team alive and Overhealed. Two Medics can not only provide healing twice as fast, but split up to provide strong offensive pushes from multiple angles.
- You are the only class that can passively regenerate health, but do not rely on this to keep you alive; any combat class can kill you in a few hits. Medics should be the first to pick up health kits — ask your teammates to leave them for you if you need them, and be sure to keep them alive in turn.
- There is an exception to this rule: A Heavy with the Sandvich equipped can drop it for you, then pick up a health pack to instantly recharge his Sandvich.
- Much more than any other class, being an effective Medic requires good communication with teammates. You should communicate with your team about any incoming enemies, Sentry Guns, Snipers, and Spies, as your teammates can use the information to deal with the threats. Voice chat can be immensely valuable to achieving this end, as it can be used to quickly and precisely transmit such information without needing to render yourself vulnerable with text chat — you cannot move while typing.
- The Medi Gun beam can heal targets from a considerable distance, allowing you to remain behind cover while healing your patient. If there is no cover readily available, stand behind your allies.
- Once the Medi Gun is focused on a teammate, you can face any direction without interrupting healing. This leaves you free to watch your rear for enemies, especially Spies.
- If you do see an enemy approaching, alert your heal target so they can defend you.
- Your Medi Gun will increase your speed while healing teammates that move faster than you. With stock weapon loadouts, this only applies when healing Scouts. However, unlockable weapons with speed-boosting effects, such as the Scout's Baby Face's Blaster, the Soldier's Escape Plan, the Pyro's Powerjack, and the Demoman's Eyelander, will all apply the speed boost effect. Take advantage of this to reach the front lines quickly, or make a hasty retreat from a dangerous situation.
- The Quick-Fix will additionally mirror your patient's explosive jumps, shield charges, and, in Mannpower, Grappling Hook grapples. This lets you keep pace with the extreme mobility of a rocket-jumping Soldier or a Demoknight.
- Keep an eye out for potential escape routes at all times. If suddenly attacked, it's better to escape than to die and lose any ÜberCharge you've built.
- Snipers and Spies are your biggest threats, as they can kill you in one hit without warning.
- If you are aware a Sniper is watching an area, minimize your chances of being headshot by moving from cover to cover, jumping repeatedly, or zig-zagging. You can also exploit the Sniper Rifle's slow rate of fire by waiting for the Sniper to fire a shot and then making your move while they are reloading.
- Spies tend to avoid large groups of players due to their low maximum health. Staying close to your teammates will make them more reluctant to attack you. Avoid engaging Spies in melee combat, as their Knife can potentially kill you in one hit if the Spy can manage to get behind you.
Combat strategy
- When in combat, your top priority is to keep as many teammates alive as possible while avoiding taking damage yourself. Always focus on healing teammates that are under attack, on fire, and/or bleeding.
- Your teammates might not see enemies coming from behind, especially if they're focused on other things. Keep an eye out behind them on their behalf, and alert them to enemies so they won't be caught off guard.
- Under certain circumstances, it may be advantageous to continuously heal a single player instead of spreading healing around to other teammates, a tactic called pocketing. This tactic is useful when dealing with Sentry Guns, an enemy pocket, or during ÜberCharges.
- You should only pocket a teammate when necessary to deal with a substantial threat, or to have them tank enemy fire. Multiple teammates at full health are more effective in a sustained fight than one pocketed teammate.
- If attacked by an enemy without a nearby teammate to defend you, retreat as soon as possible while using your Syringe Gun to defend yourself. The Bonesaw deals damage more reliably, but its short range makes it comparatively more risky to use.
- Your Syringe Gun's projectiles are slow and ineffective at mid-to-long range. It is more suited for self-defense than proper combat.
- If you are playing on a server with random critical hits enabled, remember that melee weapons are far more likely to crit than ranged weapons. This can make defending yourself easier, as a critical Bonesaw strike will instantly kill most classes. Keep in mind, however, that your enemies can get random crits too, which will kill you instantly.
- You will take more knockback in midair, especially from explosive weapons like the Rocket Launcher. You can use this to your advantage by intentionally "riding" the knockback to make a quick escape. This is referred to as "damage surfing".
- If you are low on health, make a retreat, even if this means abandoning wounded teammates. It is important for you to survive so that you can build your ÜberCharge for the next attack.
Healing strategy
ÜberCharges aside, the Medic's variety of healing abilities should also influence playstyle:
- The Stock Medi Gun's ÜberCharge is extremely effective in almost every situation, but also builds slower than those of the unlockable alternatives. Spread your healing around evenly and avoid sticking to one already-fully-overhealed player to minimize the time between ÜberCharges.
- Since the Kritzkrieg builds ÜberCharge 25% faster, and its ÜberCharge grants guaranteed Critical Hits for the duration instead of invulnerability, it's ideal for pocketing a high health, high damage class such as Soldier, Demoman, or Heavy.
- The Quick-Fix has an increased heal speed but a weaker Overheal. This makes it ideal for spreading heals between multiple players, especially if there are several heavily injured teammates nearby and healing from other Medi Guns would be slow.
- The Vaccinator is useful in smaller skirmishes, due to its extremely fast ÜberCharge build rate and ability to apply damage resistance. However, dealing with large groups of enemies will often result in numerous damage types, negating the benefits.
- The Crusader's Crossbow is an effective supplement to your Medi Gun, allowing you to provide instant burst healing from a distance. Keep in mind, however, that the Crusader's Crossbow provides less ÜberCharge than the Medi Gun does, cannot Overheal, requires you to properly aim and lead your shots, and has a long reload time, so you should not use it as your primary source of healing.
- The Amputator's Medicating Melody allows you to heal all nearby players at once, but cannot Overheal, provides less ÜberCharge, and prevents you from moving or attacking for the duration. As such, it is best saved for instances such as ambushes and pushes, which require mass healing of multiple players, and should only be used in cover, in order to avoid being attacked.
ÜberCharge strategy
- An ÜberCharge is one of the most powerful forces in the game when used correctly. Take extra caution to stay alive to avoid losing any ÜberCharge you've built.
- The ÜberCharge meter fills faster by healing wounded allies instead of fully Overhealed ones. As such, classes that can effectively damage themselves (Soldiers, Demomen, Scouts with the Boston Basher, and Pyros with the Detonator or the Scorch Shot) can help you build ÜberCharge faster.
- During the Setup phase, the meter always fills at 300% of the normal maximum speed, as long as no two Medics are healing the same patient.
- Although the default Medi Gun's ÜberCharge protects you from damage, you and your target are still affected by knockback. Most classes have weapons or abilities which can separate you from your patient, leaving them vulnerable; keep an eye out for enemy Pyros, who can Airblast you or your patient, or for explosive wapons such as the Stickybomb Launcher.
- The Quick-Fix's ÜberCharge, while not providing complete invincibility, is unaffected by knockback or other movement-impairing effects.
- Even an invincible player can have a hard time wiping out the entire enemy defensive line alone. To make the most out of each ÜberCharge, activate it when other teammates are nearby and strike as a team.
- While deploying an ÜberCharge, it is still possible to change Medi Gun targets. There is a delay between the healing ending and invulnerability cutting out, so switching targets quickly will make them both invulnerable for a short period of time.
- Note that this drains the ÜberCharge much faster than using an ÜberCharge on only one player.
- If attacking an Engineer nest with an invulnerability ÜberCharge, move in front of your patient to draw Sentry Gun fire away. This will allow them to get closer and therefore deal more damage. Do not jump when doing this; the knockback of the Sentry Gun will send you flying backwards, separating you and your patient.
- It isn't just important to know how your ÜberCharge works or when to deploy it; it is also very important to know on which classes your different ÜberCharges work best.
- The stock Medi Gun's ÜberCharge is best used on Soldiers, Pyros, Demomen, and Heavies, due to their already high damage output allowing them to make short work of the enemy team. Scouts are also a surprisingly effective ÜberCharge target, as the complete invincibility the stock ÜberCharge provides negates the Scout's main downside of low maximum health.
- The Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge works well on Soldiers and Demomen, as crit-boosted explosive weapons can potentially demolish an entire enemy position with only a few well-aimed shots. Pyros and Heavies also benefit greatly from the damage increase, and the Heavy's already-high maximum health helps with the Kritzkrieg's main downside of not providing full invincibility.
- The Quick-Fix's ÜberCharge should be treated as a less powerful stock ÜberCharge, with the additional benefit of full knockback immunity. Heavies work best with the Quick-Fix ÜberCharge due to their high maximum health increasing the amount of damage they can absorb and their slow movement speed making them vulnrable to knockback.
- The Vaccinator's ÜberCharges, due to their quick charge speed and the ability to store up to four, should be used on teammates in combat as needed to keep them alive. Alternatively, you can use all four charges on one teammate to make an offensive push, although this is less effective against large groups of enemies than a stock ÜberCharge due to the Vaccinator only providing partial resistance to one damage type.
Weapon Specific
Primary Weapons
Syringe Gun
Weapon | Kill Icon | Ammo | Damage | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loaded | Carried | Point Blank | Medium Range | Long Range | Critical | ||
Stock Syringe Gun |
40 | 150 | 10-12 | 5-10 | 5-6 | 30 |
- Despite each individual syringe dealing low damage, the Syringe Gun has a very fast rate of fire and quick reload speed, making it deceptively strong at close range.
- Lead your shots when fighting moving targets, as the Syringe Gun's syringes arc over distance and take time to travel.
- The slow projectile speed can be used to make a "wall" of syringes while retreating. Running around a corner or through a narrow hallway while firing syringes behind yourself can discourage enemies from pursuing.
- Pyros, Engineers, Snipers, and Spies are only slightly faster than you while you're running backwards, and every other class (except Scout) is much slower. Use your speed to keep a respectable distance from enemies.
- You can use the Syringe Gun to weaken enemies so that nearby teammates can defeat them easier. However, keep in mind that your main priority should be keeping your teammates alive. If a teammate is low on health, switch back to the Medi Gun to heal them.
Blutsauger
Weapon | Kill Icon | Ammo | Damage | Effect | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loaded | Carried | Point Blank | Medium Range | Long Range | Critical | Health On Hit | |||||
Unlock Blutsauger |
40 | 150 | 10-12 | 5-10 | 5-6 | 30 | 3 | ||||
Advanced+ Mann Up Reward Australium Blutsauger |
The Blutsauger is an unlockable primary weapon for the Medic. Whenever a needle hits an enemy, 3 HP is restored to the Medic, up to the normal maximum health of 150. However, passive health regeneration is reduced by 2 HP/sec, with a total of 1 HP/sec to 4 HP/sec regeneration, depending on how recently the Medic has been injured.
- If you are expecting to use your primary weapon to defend yourself regularly, the Blutsauger's extra healing on hit will significantly increase your survivability in a fight.
- With the Blutsauger, a Medic can be a little more aggressive than usual. Use it to engage enemies that sneak up on you, but only if you can afford to stop healing for a moment. Stay close to your teammates and resume healing as soon as possible.
- Make sure to communicate with your teammates so they can assist you in killing the enemy.
- The Blutsauger is useful when pocketing; if your patient dies, you will almost always be the enemy's next target. Retreat while firing syringes to both discourage enemies from pursuing and keep your health topped up.
- The penalty to health regeneration can impact your overall survivability. Take note of the locations of nearby health packs or Dispensers in case you suddenly run low on health.
- The Amputator's increase in health regeneration when held can assist in improving your survivability.
Crusader's Crossbow + reskins
Weapon | Kill Icon | Ammo | Damage/Healing | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loaded | Carried | Point Blank | Medium Range | Long Range | Critical | ||
Craft Crusader's Crossbow |
1 | 38 | 38/75 | 56/112 | 75/150 | 113-225 | |
Uncrate Festive Crusader's Crossbow |
The Crusader's Crossbow is a craftable primary weapon for the Medic. Unlike the other, rapid-fire syringe guns, it fires a single bolt that deals more damage to enemies the further it travels. Additionally, shooting teammates will heal them.
- The Crusader's Crossbow is completely different from your other primary weapons, which rely on numerous low-damage projectiles. Aim each individual shot carefully, as the slow reload time can make one shot the difference between life or death.
- The Crossbow is great for healing teammates who are dangerous to reach, or who you cannot reach in time, such as teammates who are on fire or about to die of fall damage.
- The Crusader's Crossbow can provide an instant burst of healing. When the teammate you are healing with your Medi Gun is under heavy fire and your healing rate is not able to keep up with the damage, switch to the Crusader's Crossbow, fire a shot at your teammate to heal them, and then quickly switch back to your Medi Gun and continue healing.
- You can also quickly fire shots at other teammates calling for a Medic, making it easier to keep multiple teammates alive in a fight.
- If you see a cluster of teammates and enemies fighting, shoot into the crowd. Your shot will either heal a teammate or damage an enemy, either way assisting your teammates in the fight.
- The high damage at longer distances can make this weapon a good tool for dealing with enemy Snipers, either forcing them to retreat or killing them outright. Take care not to stand out in the open when attempting this, as the enemy Sniper will likely try to headshot you.
- If need be, you can use this weapon for long-range fire support. The increase in damage over distance can be substantial from a good vantage point, and you can not only deal damage but heal teammates from far away. You may need to ask them to stop moving with voice chat to make it easier to hit your shots.
- Unlike the Huntsman, the Crusader's Crossbow can be fired underwater and in midair.
- Healing from the Crusader's Crossbow cannot Overheal teammates, and while the bolt can contribute to your ÜberCharge meter, it will not build nearly as efficiently as using the Medi Gun.
- Due to the Crusader's Crossbow's low rate of fire and reversed damage falloff, it is less efficient at close-quarters combat than your other primary weapons. If enemies manage to ambush you, it's usually better to take out your melee weapon or try to retreat behind a teammate.
- The Crusader's Crossbow should be used to supplement your Medi Gun, not to replace it. Primarily focus on healing with your Medi Gun in order to build ÜberCharge and provide Overheal.
Overdose
Weapon | Kill Icon | Ammo | Damage | Effect | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Loaded | Carried | Point Blank | Medium Range | Long Range | Critical | Speed at 100% ÜberCharge | ||
Craft Overdose |
40 | 150 | 9-11 | 5-9 | 5-6 | 27 | 117.33% |
The Overdose is a craftable primary for the Medic. It does 15% less damage than the standard Syringe Gun, but will increase the Medic's speed as his ÜberCharge meter increases. The speed boost caps at 20% faster than the Medic's standard movement speed. However, the speed boost only applies while you are actively wielding the Overdose, and not while using your Medi Gun or melee weapons.
- If your heal target gets killed and you need to retreat, you can use the Overdose's speed boost to escape and regroup with your team.
- The speed bonus at full ÜberCharge effectively eliminates the speed penalty for moving backwards (115% instead of the normal 96%), meaning that you can backpedal while firing and still outrun all classes except for the Scout.
- Considering that you should be rarely engaging in direct combat, the Overdose's damage reduction can be considered negligible. If you do not actively pursue combat, consider utilizing the Overdose's speed boost, and instead rely on your teammates for protection.
Secondary Weapons
Medi Gun + reskins
Weapon | Healing | ÜberCharge | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Normal Healing Rate | Maximum Healing Rate | ÜberCharge | ÜberCharge Time | Charge Speed | Maximum Charge Time | |
Stock Medi Gun |
24 health/sec | 72 health/sec | Invulnerability | 8 seconds | 2.5%/sec | 40 seconds (80) |
Uncrate Festive Medi Gun | ||||||
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Advanced+ Mann Up Reward Australium Medi Gun |
- The Medi Gun's base healing rate is 24 HP/sec. If healing a teammate that has not taken damage in the last 10 seconds, the healing rate increases linearly, up to 72 HP/sec on a teammate that has not taken damage in the last 15 seconds or more.
- When healing a heal target, the Medi Gun will stay "locked-on" to the heal target until the primary fire key is released, or your heal target moves out of range, regardless of the direction you are looking.
- If ambushed, remember that it's better to use an ÜberCharge to survive than to die with a full, unused ÜberCharge meter.
Kritzkrieg
Weapon | Healing | ÜberCharge | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Normal Healing Rate | Maximum Healing Rate | ÜberCharge | ÜberCharge Time | Charge Speed | Maximum Charge Time | |
Unlock Kritzkrieg |
24 health/sec | 72 health/sec | Critical hits | 8 seconds | 3.125%/sec | 32 seconds (64) |
Festivizer [[Festivized Kritzkrieg|Template:Dictionary/items/festivized kritzkrieg]] |
The Kritzkrieg is an unlockable Medi Gun for the Medic. Its ÜberCharge builds 25% faster than the stock Medi Gun's and provides guaranteed Critical hits to the Medic's heal target instead of invulnerability.
- Heavies, Soldiers, and Demomen are among the best classes to deploy a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge on. Though any class is extremely lethal while crit boosted, these three are far more lethal than the rest. The choice is situational:
- Soldiers and Demomen are very similar: their explosive weaponry can be used to instantly annihilate clusters of enemies, or make the enemy team unable to stand remotely near Control points or Payload carts.
- Heavies are great for large, spread-out groups of enemies, as their ability to fire a continuous stream of bullets and quickly switch between targets allows them to wipe enemies too spread out for explosions to be effective. Critical hits also don't suffer from damage falloff over distance, which significantly increases th eeffective range of the Minigun.
- Although not as effective as a Heavy, Soldier, or Demoman, a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharged Pyro is very deadly at close ranges, as critical point-blank damage from a Pyro's Flamethrower can kill most classes near-instantly. The Flame Thrower can also damage multiple enemies at once, giving it similar crowd control capabilities to explosives. Consider Kritzing a Pyro when the enemy team is tightly grouped up nearby.
- Scouts have an extremely high movement speed and a high-damage Scattergun, allowing them to quickly move from target to target and kill individual enemies in one or two shots. However, the Scout's low maximum health combined with the Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge providing no protection from damage at all can result in them dying quickly when dealing with large crowds.
- If there are no powerful offensive classes nearby to Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge, the Sniper can be an improvised Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge target — every body shot while ÜberCharged does the same damage as a headshot, which can kill a non-overhealed Scout, Engineer, Medic, Sniper, or Spy in one hit.
- The Kritzkrieg excels at ambushes. The sheer damage output from critical hits means that most enemies will be dead before they have time to react to a surprise attack.
- The Kritzkrieg's ÜberCharge is useless against a Medi Gun's ÜberCharge due to the stock Medi Gun ÜberCharge providing invulnerability. However, the faster charge rate allows it to be deployed before the enemy's Medi Gun charge, and it can be deployed more frequently.
- Since the Kritzkrieg is the only secondary weapon that does not protect the Medic during a ÜberCharge, it is encouraged to use the Vita-Saw to preserve some of your ÜberCharge meter in the event you die mid-charge.
- Critical hits deal no additional damage to buildings, making the Kritzkrieg the weakest secondary weapon to use against an enemy Engineer's nest. However, a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge on a Soldier or Demoman allows them to utilize the splash damage from their rockets and grenades to easily kill an Engineer hiding behind their Sentry Gun. Once the Engineer is dead, the Sentry Gun will not be receiving healing and can be easily destroyed with normal weapons.
Oktoberfest
Weapon | Healing | Duration | Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Oktoberfest |
Kritzkrieg | 11 health | 4 seconds | The Medic takes a brief whiff out of the barrel of his weapon. |
- Due to the long duration of the taunt, the low amount of health recovered, and the fact that you cannot move or defend yourself for its duration, you should only use this taunt when safely behind cover and while backed up against a wall. In such situations, however, it's usually far better to simply seek out a better source of healing.
- In dire situations, such as being on fire or bleeding, it's possible that using this taunt can prevent death.
Quick-Fix
Weapon | Healing | ÜberCharge | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Normal Healing Rate | Maximum Healing Rate | ÜberCharge | ÜberCharge Time | Charge Speed | Maximum Charge Time | |
Craft Quick-Fix |
33.6 health/sec | 100.8 health/sec | Megaheal | 8 seconds | 2.778%/sec (1.389%/sec) | 36 seconds (72) |
Festivizer [[Festivized Quick-Fix|Template:Dictionary/items/festivized quick-fix]] |
The Quick-Fix is a craftable secondary for the Medic. It has a 40% faster heal rate and a 10% faster charge rate than the Medi Gun. The Quick-Fix's ÜberCharge is the "Megaheal", which increases healing speed to 300% and negates movement-impairing effects, such as knockback, the Natascha's slowdown and compression blasts. In addition, it will mirror your patient's explosive jumps, shield charges, and, in Mannpower, Grappling Hook grapples. However, it can only Overheal teammates to 125% of their max health, as opposed to the other Medi Guns' 150%.
- The Quick-Fix and its Megaheal are meant for keeping many teammates alive at once. It's best to stay with a group of teammates to maximize the Quick-Fix's effectiveness.
- Try not to deploy your Megaheal if you and your heal target are alone and only fighting one or two enemies. The Megaheal is best used to support large pushes and keep teammates alive while under heavy fire. However, don't be afraid to use it to avoid death.
- Because this weapon cannot Overheal past 125%, this means you do not hit the threshold for slowing the rate at which you build ÜberCharge (142.5% Overheal). With no other factors in play, you will typically build ÜberCharge with this weapon faster than the Medi Gun or the Kritzkrieg, and you can be somewhat laxer in healing surrounding teammates; even sticking to just one patient (pocketing) will still build the ÜberCharge in a short span of time. Keep in mind that keeping all your teammates in good shape is still important, as multiple healthy players are more dangerous than one extremely healthy player.
- The ability to use your teammates' explosive jump can allow you to stay with them when they jump to the front lines or to areas that you could otherwise not access. Your patient will be able to make more jumps than normal due to being healed during flight, and in combat, your presence should keep them alive longer. Be aware that you can easily become separated from your patient, especially if you have little experience with explosive jumping. If you suspect your teammate is going to explosive jump, stand nearby and be ready to air-strafe to control your jump. Keep in mind that although you take no damage from the initial jump, you will still take fall damage.
- A Demoman using the Chargin' Targe, Splendid Screen, or Tide Turner can be a useful class to pocket with the Quick-Fix. The Quick-Fix will allow you to keep pace with the Demoman during his charges, and the extra healing combined with the shields' damage resistance will make him extremely difficult to kill.
Vaccinator
Weapon | Healing | ÜberCharge | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Normal Healing Rate | Maximum Healing Rate | ÜberCharge | ÜberCharge Duration | Charge Speed | Maximum Charge Time | |
Craft Vaccinator |
24 health/sec | 72 health/sec | 75% resistance to a selected damage type | 2.5 seconds/resistance | 4.175%/s | 24 s |
The Vaccinator is a craftable secondary for the Medic. It has a 67% faster ÜberCharge rate while healing non-overhealed players, and using the reload key allows the Medic to cycle through three damage resistance types: Bullet Damage, Explosive Damage, and Fire Damage. Both the Medic and his heal target are provided 10% resistance to the selected damage type passively while the Medic is healing, and the Vaccinator's ÜberCharge provides 75% resistance to the selected damage type for 2.5 seconds, even after the Medic stops healing the patient, as well as immunity to bonus critical damage from the selected damage type. ÜberCharge rate is boosted temporarily when you or your patient are damaged by the currently resisted damage type. As a drawback, it overheals at a 66% slower rate compared to the Medi Gun.
- The Vaccinator builds ÜberCharge at a very fast rate when healing injured players. If paired with the Overdose, you can easily build an ÜberCharge and then use the Overdose's ÜberCharge-based speed boost to your advantage.
- Use the Vaccinator to prevent incoming damage, similarly to a normal ÜberCharge. Judge what is the biggest threat to your patient and apply resistances accordingly.
- Knowing when to change resistances is crucial. A wrong choice can lead to death. Whenever you are not in active combat, use bullet resistance, because all classes except for the Demoman have a bullet weapon in their stock loadouts, and many bullet weapons strike instantly, meaning that it’s too late to switch once the enemy starts firing. If you feel there is a high chance of a Soldier, Pyro, or Demoman ambush, you can switch to explosive or fire resistance while not fighting. During combat, watch your enemies' weapons and switch resistances accordingly.
- Bullet resistance applies not only to literal bullets, but to similar projectiles such as syringes, arrows, or laser beams.
- Keep in mind that when healing a fully overhealed Heavy with bullet resistance, he can survive a fully-charged headshot from any Sniper not using the Machina. You as a Medic can also survive any fully-charged bodyshot or uncharged headshot.
- Note, however, that having the Vita-Saw equipped still leaves you vulnerable to a fully charged bodyshot and uncharged headshots.
- If an enemy Sniper is causing trouble, considering ÜberCharging a friendly Sniper to safely take care of the threat. As headshots are considered critical hits, the Vaccinator's ÜberCharge can aid your Sniper in killing the enemy. The enemy Sniper will be completely unable to kill yours in a single shot for the duration of the ÜberCharge.
- Activating ÜberCharge on yourself can also ensure a safer escape from enemy Snipers.
- The Vaccinator generates ÜberCharge at an extremely fast rate while blocking damage, and can continue to generate ÜberCharge even when using its own ÜberCharge. Furthermore, damage blocked by an ÜberCharged patient counts towards the boost, even if the Medic is healing another patient at the time. With clever use, these factors can be used to almost perpetually have an ÜberCharge at the ready for when it's needed.
- The Vaccinator provides absolutely no protection against melee weapons. While healing a patient, stay away from classes with strong melee weapons like Demoknights and Soldiers with the Market Gardener, who can kill you as normal. Communicate with your healing targets to prevent dying to a melee attack.
- In the rare possibility that you encounter someone who is cheating, the Vaccinator is potentially your greatest weapon against them. Typically, those who cheat use an aimbot on hitscan classes such as the Sniper, Heavy, or the Spy with an Ambassador. The bullet resistance the Vaccinator provides can give your patient the edge needed to outperform the cheater and secure victory for your team.
Melee Weapons
Bonesaw + reskins
Weapon | Kill Icon | Attack Interval | Damage | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Point Blank | Critical | |||
Stock Bonesaw |
0.8 seconds | 65 | 195 | |
Promotional Saxxy |
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Drop Conscientious Objector |
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Promotional Frying Pan |
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Promotional Freedom Staff |
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Drop Bat Outta Hell |
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Drop Ham Shank |
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Achievement Necro Smasher |
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Uncrate Crossing Guard |
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Uncrate Festive Bonesaw |
- The Bonesaw has more front-loaded damage than the Syringe Gun but suffers in terms of damage over time. This makes it good for getting in the first strike on a distracted opponent. Like other melee weapons, it also has a higher Crit rate than the Syringe Gun, which can further help in dealing with an opponent on the first strike.
- When Spy-checking teammates, using the Bonesaw is more reliable due to the difficulty in aiming with the Syringe Gun. Spies will often try to attack you whenever possible, so always be prepared to take out the Bonesaw in order to deal with them or other flankers.
- As it is with most other classes, your other melee weapons provide utility benefits that the straight damage and speed of the stock Bonesaw just cannot match. Use another weapon if you can.
- You are faster than most other classes; your greater agility in combat can put you at an advantage. That being said, it's a bad idea to engage in any real sort of combat, so avoid melee combat if possible.
Ubersaw + reskins
Weapon | Kill Icon | Attack Interval | Damage | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Point Blank | Critical | |||
Unlock Ubersaw |
0.96 seconds | 65 | 195 | |
Uncrate Festive Ubersaw |
0.96 seconds | 65 | 195 |
The Ubersaw is an unlockable melee weapon for the Medic. It has a 20% slower attack rate than the Bonesaw, but will add 25% to the ÜberCharge meter for each successful hit.
- The Ubersaw is especially useful for taking out Spies that may be attempting to backstab teammates, as it will not only kill the Spy in two hits, but also build the ÜberCharge meter more safely than if attempted on other enemies. However, be aware that experienced Spies may attempt to trickstab you if you try to engage in melee combat with them. If you know an enemy Spy is capable of trickstabbing, it is safer to attempt to use your primary weapon to kill him from a safe distance, or alert one of your teammates and ask them to take the Spy out.
- Your ÜberCharge meter does not increase upon killing a Spy that is using the Dead Ringer. Be sure to keep an eye out for this to see if the Spy is really dead.
- Hitting disguised Spies will not give you ÜberCharge; however, the melee damage will still hurt them.
- The Ubersaw will still add to the ÜberCharge meter if you hit a Scout under the effects of Bonk! Atomic Punch.
- Rather than using the Ubersaw for killing enemies, try to use it with the mindset of building up ÜberCharge. If possible, try to simply land a hit and retreat safely, rather than fighting an enemy to the death.
- If fighting an enemy and the ÜberCharge meter is almost full, try to use the Ubersaw to finish up the charge and quickly switch to the Medi Gun to activate the charge. In desperate situations, this can ensure survival provided that the stock Medi Gun is being used.
- Using the Ubersaw and the stock Medi Gun in conjunction with another Medic with the same loadout can be very effective. (See Chain Über.) The first Medic can Übercharge the second while the second approaches an enemy with the Ubersaw equipped. Over the course of the Übercharge, the second Medic should aim to get in enough hits to fill his ÜberCharge, allowing himself to grant the first Medic an Übercharge so he can do the same thing. While this strategy can be effective for the first time in a match, players will often quickly wisen up, and counter the synergy with airblasts.
Vita-Saw
Weapon | Kill Icon | Attack Interval | Damage | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Point Blank | Critical | |||
Craft Vita-Saw |
0.8 seconds | 65 | 195 |
- The Vita-Saw is a craftable melee weapon for the Medic. It allows the Medic to retain up to 60% of his ÜberCharge meter upon death. However, it also reduces the Medic's maximum HP by 10, to 140 HP.
- Due to being able to retain up to 60% of the ÜberCharge meter, it's possible to deploy ÜberCharges faster upon respawning. This will allow you and your team to put more pressure on the enemy team.
- This will also allow you to move 12% faster with the Overdose, allowing you to reach your team more quickly, compounding the above advantage.
- Remember that if you're killed during an ÜberCharge, up to 60% of what charge you had left will still be retained.
- Avoid using Vita-Saw in game modes that you can't respawn in, like Arena or Sudden Death mode.
- Try using it when teammates are having a big push to save time. Respawning with just 15% of your Übercharge saves about 5 seconds of gaining Über with the Kritzkrieg and 6 seconds with stock Medi Gun at the maximum rate. Remember not to be in direct fire after equipping this.
- It is best to pair the Vita-Saw with the Kritzkrieg, as the Kritzkrieg is the only Medi Gun that does not protect you during a Übercharge.
Amputator
Weapon | Kill Icon | Attack Interval | Damage | Healing | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Point Blank | Critical | On Taunt | ||||
Craft Amputator |
0.8 seconds | 52 | 156 | 75 | ||
Festivizer [[Festivized Amputator|Template:Dictionary/items/festivized amputator]] |
- The Amputator is a craftable melee weapon for the Medic. It allows Medics to perform the Medicating Melody taunt.
- When active, it adds 3 health to regeneration (for a total of 5 health regen) and comes with a 20% damage penalty.
- This weapon negates the Blutsauger's regeneration reduction, allowing for more offensive gameplay.
- Although there is a damage penalty, the regeneration bonus compensates for it, making the Amputator a complete upgrade to the Bonesaw, so use it if it is available to you.
Medicating Melody
Weapon | Healing | Duration | Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Medicating Melody |
Amputator | 25-75 health | 4.2 seconds | The Medic brings his weapon up to his shoulder, leans on his right foot, and plays a soothing melody, healing all allies within a certain radius while causing them to emit a team-colored glow around their feet. |
- Upon taunting, all teammates within 450 units of the Medic are each healed for 4 seconds at the same rate as healing by the Medi Gun or Kritzkrieg, including Crit Heal.
- The purpose of this taunt is to multiply your healing power when several teammates are injured and are in range.
- Since you cannot overheal with the taunt, do not use it when nearby teammates are not injured.
- An ideal situation for the taunt is when several teammates are close together, are receiving heavy fire or melee, and you have a safe place to taunt that can reach them all.
- Always use the taunt when behind cover rather than out in the open or in an easily ambushed place.
- Remember that it cannot heal "around corners."
- The deeper you hide, the less of an area you can cover with your healing.
- Only use the taunt when teammates are not moving out of range; if they are moving away, it's better to keep using the Medi Gun.
- Unlike the Crossbow and the Medi Gun, you cannot miss your teammates; connection is automatic to all teammates in range, including any that enter the range during the taunt.
- Since you do not need to be facing your teammates at the beginning of the taunt, you can be looking behind you for Spies and other flankers.
- During your taunt, you have 4 seconds to rotate your view and monitor the tactical situation and judge whether you should repeat the taunt, move, and/or switch weapons.
- The healing from this taunt does build ÜberCharge, but at a slow rate (approximately 1% per 50 health recovered). Do not rely on this for a source of Charge; a Scout on the brink of death only contributes 2-3% Charge over the duration of the taunt.
Solemn Vow
Weapon | Kill Icon | Attack Interval | Damage | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Point Blank | Critical | |||
Craft Solemn Vow |
0.88 seconds | 65 | 195 |
The Solemn Vow is a craftable melee weapon for the Medic. It allows you to see the opposing team's health and enemy Medics' ÜberCharge meters, at the cost of a 10% slower swing rate.
- The Solemn Vow offers the ability to see enemy health, as a Spy can. You can tell your teammates if a retreating enemy is easy pickings or might be trying to trick you around a corner.
- If an enemy Medic is spotted, it may be worth communicating what amount of Übercharge he has at the time. This ability can also help prioritize killing him first, or his patient.
- The Solemn Vow is, therefore, most useful when actively using a microphone to communicate with your team. Otherwise, it may be better to use an alternative melee weapon so you aren't losing potential bonuses.
- The Solemn Vow can also be useful for judging whether to flee or fight. It might be worth finishing off an enemy with a few quick needles or a melee strike, if their health appears low enough, rather than let them live.
- The 10% reduced attack interval makes the Solemn Vow slightly less ideal for melee attacks than the Bonesaw. Use the ability to see enemy health to determine if melee-fighting is worth this slight disadvantage or not.
- Otherwise, try using this weapon as a training tool to practice predicting enemy behavior based on their health. Most of the classes will retreat when they have low health; however, some of them may act differently. Doing this will improve your gamesense, and increase your overall survival capabilities.
- An alternative to using this weapon is having a friendly Spy relay enemy health.
- In Mann vs. Machine, all classes can see the health of giants through a health icon. It is therefore advised not to use the Solemn Vow over other choices such as an Ubersaw or Amputator.
Taunt attacks
Spinal Tap
Kill Icon | Weapon | Damage | Duration | Details | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Uberslice |
File:Killicon spinaltap.png | Ubersaw | 500 | 4 seconds | The Medic throws his coattails back and enters a combat pose before thrusting his Ubersaw forward and retracting it, killing any enemy player to be in the way. Gives 100% ÜberCharge. |
- Due to the length of the taunt, performing Spinal Tap is not recommended unless used against distracted foes.
- This taunt can be used to stun ÜberCharged enemies and waste their Über time. The taunt won't kill the ÜberCharged player, but it will still give 100% ÜberCharge.
- Remember that like the Skewer taunt, an enemy does not need to be stunned in order to kill them. They simply need to be in front of you during the retraction part of the animation.
- Similarly, stunning an enemy doesn't necessarily guarantee a kill, as explosion blasts, air blasts, or simple momentum gained by the enemy may move you or the target outside of the kill zone before the retraction animation.
- This is best used when teaming up with a Heavy with the Holiday Punch, as any hits from that weapon that hit an enemy in the back or are critical hits will force the enemy to perform the Schadenfreude taunt, giving you a chance to perform this without interruption. Try to do this on enemies separated from the rest of their team.
- If you find an unguarded, active Teleporter exit, then you can use this taunt in front of it to kill the next player to use the Teleporter and get full ÜberCharge. Be careful when positioning yourself, or you could be telefragged instead.
- Note that this taunt has a very long range.
- Using this taunt in a small entrance can almost guarantee a successful taunt kill.
- Remember that the Medic speaks during this taunt, which can alert foes to your presence.
Weapon combinations
[expand]Example Combinations |
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Class Cooperation Strategies
Scout
- When healing a Scout, your base speed is raised to whatever his speed is. A Scout can help a Medic get to the front lines or out of danger more quickly.
- With the Quick-Fix, a Medic can also mirror the Scout's double, Atomizer, Soda Popper, Force, and Basher jumps.
- With the increased speed, a Medic can help the Scout Back-cap in a manner that, while not as fast as a Scout pair or Scout/Pain Train pair, is perhaps more resilient.
- Scouts equipped with the Backscatter and/or Mad Milk are some of the more efficient spycheckers on their team and should be sure to make use of this to protect their team's Medic(s).
- The Boston Basher's self-inflicted damage is extremely useful for building ÜberCharge.
Soldier
Soldiers are one of the more common pockets for Medics, and with good reason.
- A Soldier's high health pool and firepower allow him to protect an allied Medic well.
- By using the Quick-Fix, a Medic can mirror the Soldier's rocket jumps.
- A Soldier will often be taking lots of self-damage from rocket jumps. While this will mean the Medic is crit-healing him less often, it'll also keep him wounded, allowing the Medic to build ÜberCharge faster.
- Using the Black Box or Concheror as a pocket is not exactly recommended, as they'll keep the Soldier at full health often and thus make the Medic build ÜberCharge more slowly.
- All mediguns raise the Medic's speed to that of the heal target's; this allows low-health Soldiers using the Escape Plan to get their Medics out of danger quickly.
- The Escape Plan does, however, reduce the amount of healing the user recieves (though only while it's active). On the other hand, that also means the target doesn't get overhealed for longer, allowing the Medic to build ÜberCharge quicker.
- It also means that heal targets using the Disciplinary Action don't have to worry about outrunning their Medics.
- The enormous damage dealt by critical rockets makes the Kritzkrieg a favored medigun for Medics following Soldiers.
- Kritzkrieg ÜberCharges are especially effective on Air Strike, Beggar's Bazooka, or Liberty Launcher Soldiers whose primaries don't need to reload often (or, in the case of the Bazooka, can keep up a reasonable rate of fire anyway). On the other hand, the Cow Mangler 5000 and the Rocket Jumper are 'very. subpar launchers for Kritz über targets, as the Kritzkrieg's criticals will be downgraded to mini-crits for the former and will deal no damage for the latter.
- Of the Soldier's secondaries, the Medic will benefit most from a shotgun or the Battallion's Backup. Shotguns allow the Soldier to defend his Medic even when rockets would be a poor option (e.g., against airblasting Pyros), while the Backup gives the Medic much-needed resiliency.
- Soldiers under the effects of the Vaccinator will take less damage from rocket jumping, though the Medic will probably not be able to follow the Soldier after the first jump.
- With a Vaccinator ÜberCharge, however, the Soldier may be able to get a second jump in before the resistances wear off.
Pyro
- As usual, the Pyro is pretty much the best bodyguard in the game, between reasonable health, efficient spychecking, and airblast.
- Sticking around the Pyro may, however, slow the Medic down. This can be alleviated if the Pyro uses the Powerjack to increase his speed, which will actually increase the Medic's speed as well.
- As airblasting is part of why the Pyro is a good bodyguard, the Dragon's Fury and Phlogistinator are subpar flamethrowers for bodyguarding Pyros. The Backburner also is, unless ammo packs are plentiful.
- Generally, Pyros are a decent über target, but not a high-priority one. That said, there are a couple special things to note:
- The Pyro's flamethrowers have the somewhat unique attribute of never needing to reload, allowing the Pyro to put out a constant stream of damage for the entirety of an über.
- A Pyro using the Phlogistonator with full Mmmph! can taunt to gain 8 seconds of guaranteed critical hits. While this is redundant with the Krtizkrieg, any other medigun turns such a Pyro into a crit-boosted and 'resilient' waking nightmare for your enemies.
- A Pyro with the Homewrecker can take out Sentry Guns fairly efficiently while übered. The sentry will inflict significant knockback, though, making it advisable to approach from around a corner. Alternatively, even a level 3 Sentry Gun's DPS won't outmatch a Quick-Fix über's heal rate, making that medigun viable for taking out lone Sentry Guns in this manner.
Demoman
The Demoman is another common pocket for Medics.
- The Demoman's damage output is high enough that he doesn't really 'need' damage boosts to become terrifying, he just needs resiliency.
- That said, a Demoman under the effects of a Kritzkrieg über is still probably the most terrifying sight in the game.
- With the Quick-Fix, a Medic can mirror a Demoman's explosive jumps or a Demoknight's charges.
- It's worth noting that, although a Demoman is great at dealing damage, he's less effective at protecting the Medic at close range, since he himself is weak there.
- Demoknights are less efficient pockets for Medics than normal Demomen, as they are less able to dish out outright carnage; however, a Demoknight can help a Quick-Fix Medic get to the front lines at blinding speed.
- An explosive jumping Demoman will take less self-damage from the explosions while being healed by the Vaccinator.
Heavy
The Heavy is the most iconic Medic patient, and for good reason.
- A Heavy can protect a Medic with nothing but his large hitbox and equally large health pool, simply by standing in front of the Medic.
- A Heavy's minigun is effective enough at mid-range to deter most opponents, and can take out any class (even another Heavy, if the other one doesn't have a Medic) at close range. A Medic next to a competent Heavy has little to fear from anybody other than a Sniper.
- The Heavy's miniguns don't need to reload, allowing him to put out a constant stream of damage for the entirety of an ÜberCharge.
- A Tomislav Heavy with good aim and the effects of a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge can pose a threat to Snipers from unreasonably far away.
- Other than that, though, a Heavy has trouble taking advantage of a Kritzkrieg ÜberCharge the way a Demoman or Soldier can.
- A Heavy with the Fists of Steel being pocketed by a Vaccinator Medic is nigh-impossible to take out with bullets.
- A Heavy with a Medic buddy will do well to bring along a Sandvich to keep him topped up on health. At 150 health, a Medic doesn't benefit significantly from the small health pack dropped by other lunchbox items - only gaining 30 health. The Sandvich, however, drops a medium health pack, which will restore a sizeable 75 health to the Medic. The Heavy doesn't really need the Sandvich for himself, as the medigun will generally keep him topped up.
Engineer
The Engineer is generally a subpar heal target, as he usually won't be on the front lines and will have a Dispenser with him.
- Teleporters are useful for allowing the Medic to get to the front lines quickly.
Medic
Other Medics typically work separately with their own patients, but they should heal each other if they're injured.
- A particularly bold strategy is to ÜberCharge a Medic with the Ubersaw, gain Über with four hits, and deploy that charge on the other Medic. (See ÜberCharge strategy)
Sniper
Overhealing your Sniper to at least above 150 health allows them to deal with the enemy Sniper much more comfortably, as they can resist a headshot. However, he is not the highest priority healing target.
- The Sniper can kill classes like the Heavy and Soldier to help protect a Medic should he be threatened by an enemy.
Spy
Spies typically should not be healed while disguised, as it can easily blow their cover.
- The Spy can be healed behind enemy sight to help him survive an enemy encounter should he be caught.
See also
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