Make medic not useless

[Nenjin]

I say no to heal stacking. That WILL make the berzerker into a true tank, because with damage reduction + heal stacking....they could absorb a lot of punishment while still gaining HP. This isn't an MMO, and the idea of the three medics cramming needles into a berzerker holding a doorway smacks of that, to me.

 

[w00tm0ng3r]

I say no to heal stacking. That WILL make the berzerker into a true tank, because with damage reduction + heal stacking....they could absorb a lot of punishment while still gaining HP. This isn't an MMO, and the idea of the three medics cramming needles into a berzerker holding a doorway smacks of that, to me.

I was thinking less of 3 heals going on at the same time and more of 3 heals queuing up. This way the medic sees a guy in need of a heal, runs to him, hits him with the needle, and moves on knowing that after the idiot's self heal wears off the medic heal will kick in. Same effect as now without the BS micromanagement and frustration because the medic doesn't have to stand around waiting for one heal to expire before applying his.

 

[Private_Joker]

It'd also be really nice if the medic had increased visibility range of teammates' health bars--that way they could be more focused on where their teammates are and who needs health.

-Joker

 

[thrash242]

I did read the post, and most of the other posts about the medic. That is why I said "People seem to be mostly describing / complaining how they can't kite as a Medic anymore and complaining about their low weapon damage." I didn't say they were complaining in this particular thread. Am I not allowed to say what observations I have made reading other threads?

Please quote me something in this thread, especially in the original post, that is complaining about lack of kiting or the low damage.

There is no reason to bring up complaints in other threads when they don't pertain to this thread. This thread is mainly about the medic's healing abilities and how they're not as vital to team survival as they should be due to the effectiveness and prevalence of self-healing. If you want to address that issue, feel free, but don't engage in straw-man fallacies by criticizing arguments not being made in this thread.

 

[thrash242]

I was thinking less of 3 heals going on at the same time and more of 3 heals queuing up. This way the medic sees a guy in need of a heal, runs to him, hits him with the needle, and moves on knowing that after the idiot's self heal wears off the medic heal will kick in. Same effect as now without the BS micromanagement and frustration because the medic doesn't have to stand around waiting for one heal to expire before applying his.

I still think overriding weaker heals is the better solution, but either way would be better than we have now, which is superior heals just not working because inferior heals are already in effect.

There's something wrong with the way the game is generally played if I try to stay on top my team's health situation and try to heal anyone taking damage ASAP, yet they have usually self-healed before I get to them. I even switch to a melee weapon to get there quicker, yet it's usually in vain, since there health is very, very slowly increasing already because of their self-heal.

 

[shaqism]

I like how in l4d you can revive someone, maby something like that could happen for medics.

 

[Ben Carmine]

My only level 5's a medic, and frankly I think it's completely fine. Armour bonuses are a godsend, you can keep yourself alive through hell and high water, and you can churn out an insane amount of healing in the event of OH GOD WHERE DID ALL THESE SKRAKES COME FROM. Sure, you can't blast out as much damage as everyone else, but if we don't have a berserker I'll deliberately attract a fleshpound's attention to keep it away from the soft commando/sharpshooter/firebug lot, and even a medic can blast anything back with a hunting shotty. The medic's the support class, and I think a team of canny combat classes can perform considerably better in later waves with medic backup. Non-medic healing is horribly slow if the patient has less than 50% health and is under attack.

And as for incessantly self healing, bear in mind that a medic who prioritises his handsome self in disaster moments can live to inject a helluva lot more combat drugs than a medic whos arms are lying ten feet from the rest of him.

 

[Soanos]

Please quote me something in this thread, especially in the original post, that is complaining about lack of kiting or the low damage.

SO, when a medic joins a team, it's actually a disadvantage, since they're lacking in firepower necessary to deal with the zeds spawned on account of their presence.

How about that?

This thread is mainly about the medic's healing abilities and how they're not as vital to team survival as they should be due to the effectiveness and prevalence of self-healing.

Just like any class is not absolutely vital to survival. On anything below suicidal that is. Medic is probably a bit non-essential on normal if you are a decent player, that is true. But on Hard and Suicidal those extra HPs and faster heals will come in VERY handy.

If you want to address that issue, feel free, but don't engage in straw-man fallacies by criticizing arguments not being made in this thread.

Actually, I was trying to contribute to the thread by bringing in some observations I have made in general. You seem to be all too interested in attacking the way I post all the time. Is this something personal?

I think the medic is about right at the moment. However, I would like to see medic heal override any heal currently on.

 

[Private_Joker]

And as for incessantly self healing, bear in mind that a medic who prioritises his handsome self in disaster moments can live to inject a helluva lot more combat drugs than a medic whos arms are lying ten feet from the rest of him.

It seems like there's some consensus in that medics are useful in these "disaster moments" e.g. OMG SCRAKES. That's true, I do often find myself saving lives in those instances, so the medic is useful. But, still not enough for me.

-Joker

 

[Soanos]

It seems like there's some consensus in that medics are useful in these "disaster moments" e.g. OMG SCRAKES. That's true, I do often find myself saving lives in those instances, so the medic is useful. But, still not enough for me.

Isn't being able to keep the team alive at the critical moment and being responsible for avoiding a wipe not enough for you?

If not, then you probably should not play a medic...

 

[chicxulub]

A modification of the "buy the heals" thing is that the medic can load up players with n (say 1...4?) 1-shot healing cartridges like the Patriarch uses. He can carry 4. One use and toss, again like Pat. The 1-shots are dispensed when the medic is near, like plain healing. The medic should get points (AND MONEY) for healing done with the 1-shots as if she had done it directly. Medics can still use their syringe from EverFull, Inc. pretty much as is. We can have the 1-shots heal much more damage than a self heal.
More healing, limited amount, a good medic can dispense more.
The 1-shots can be bought at the trader for use when no medics are around. But only up to the max the medic can give.


What I don't like too much is making the medic (or any perk) a necessity for a team to be successful. If a team is so dependent on any perk that it can't function w/o it then something's wrong.
I do like the idea of making the medic heals significantly better, but not by lowering a non-medic's ability to heal too much. People do get cut off from the group and need to heal themselves. And it's nice to top off when you see a FP in the distance.

Now, to go off the deep end.
These are some wild ideas to try to get us thinking out of the bandaid box.

I think this would be fun, but will never get in:
Medics can shoot healing darts into teammates (this requires a skill other than poking when near someone.) It allows a medic to dispense healing to a team much faster, IF the healer is good. The fired syringes level up like the EverFull. Maybe there can be location dependent healing: buttock + 20%, head -10%, jugular + 77.3%

And he can perhaps shoot poison into zeds. This may be as powerful as, say, a shotgun blast, but the damage accrues over time, kinda like a burning zed. Again, skill is needed and decent damage is available.
It would also be cool (but will never happen) to be able to fire different poisons: one makes it turn on its fellows. One just kills. One can paralyze. Burst into flames. Stop killing and start knitting or doing needle point. What ever makes sense.

Just goofy ideas. I'm not trying to change the nature of the game at all, just trying to think about things differently.

Way crazy, but since stuff is beginning to come out of Horzine (welders and what not), perhaps some tech will too. Just how do the stalkers cloak? Perhaps a medic can buy ampoules for the EverFull for cloaks. Maybe 1,2 or 3 are ok per wave, but more can kill (random).
More injectable oddities, based on Specimen abilities: speed like a gorefast, strength (boost berserker dmg), jump like a crawler. Scream, etc.
These could all have the "few ok, many dangerous" mechanic. Maybe an OD turns you into the zed who's powers you are using.
Just a joke: grow blades, chainsaws or meat grinders.
Maybe the medic can surgically remove the gorefast blade (katana damage?) or chainsaws.

I do like the 1-shot cartridge idea, tho.

Destructive critisim is useless since these are all just products of my meds kicking in. Primarily the Namenda.
Constructive criticism is more than welcome.
Flames > /dev/hell

cx

 

[erreip199]

I think Medic should have the support's welding abilities, the Medic is the Real support Class, actual suport is a close quaters fighter

I like that post about being able to see friends health bar from a distance, that should be inplemented also, its easier to keep an eye on ur team mates

Perhaps the medics health should heal itself slowly with time, so hes busier healing others instead of himself

Also medic could have another type of syringe in which its drug boosts the character he shoots with an increased chance of ZED time (adredaline boost) steadier aim, faster reloading etc, of course only by a small percentage, other players might purchase it themselves but the medics one would be drastically more powerful, motivating players to get shot by medics

I think thats all i have to say about Mr Medic that i <3 so much

 

[thrash242]

How about that?

con

 

[chicxulub]

con

 

[Meismenotyou]

In my opinion, they would only have to fix the syringe bug and make it override lesser heals to make the medic perfect.

 

[Private_Joker]

In my opinion, they would only have to fix the syringe bug and make it override lesser heals to make the medic perfect.

Yeah, TBH that would be enough for me too.

-Joker

 

[thrash242]

"medics often don't get enough"
So what you're saying is that medics are sexually frustrated players?
<hyperbolic example>
C'mon, they're medics... they know `you know what' leads to blindness.

Gotta agree with the context comment.

*starts to reply that you should read the rest of...*
Oh, I see what you did there.

 

[thrash242]

In my opinion, they would only have to fix the syringe bug and make it override lesser heals to make the medic perfect.

I think this would solve the majority of medic issues.

 

[chicxulub]

I think this would solve the majority of medic issues.

I want healing darts!!!

 

[Ruling Bullet]

In my opinion, they would only have to fix the syringe bug and make it override lesser heals to make the medic perfect.

I completely agree with this. Getting rid of the syringe bug so you can actually heal someone when you inject them and allowing your heal(s) to override in case someone slammed a self heal seconds before you got there would not only make the medic perk more important to the team, but it would also save the person playing as the medic a lot of frustration and head aches.

I play the Medic perk the majority of the time I am playing this game and I really feel like the perk needs attention more than the other perks. At it's current state the syringe is very inconsistent and frustrating to use (it is the most important thing a medic has). When a perks main tool is not polished and balanced then it effects the entire perks effectiveness a lot.

I'm level 4 and play on normal most of the time (I'll have the occasional hard game every once in a while). My friend and I both hop on and join servers together so besides us, the other 1-4 team mates are randoms to us. For my particular setup and situation I really do believe that the medic perk is needed. If all six players don't know each other and/or have a mic then having a medic around saves the team from wiping a lot. I can see the medic perk not being needed as much if you have six people who know each other and communicate well, although I do not doubt for a second that in a group like that without a medic you will be at risk more than once just due to the fact that the medic can change the situation from "omg were going to wipe" to "that was a little tough".

I think one thing that people are also over looking a lot is that in just about every cooperative game that has a healer, the healer always goes unnoticed. They do their job and barley get recognized.

This post went on way longer than I wanted it to, but after reading this thread a lot of thoughts conjured in my head. If I said something wrong or incorrect in this post then please don't be afraid to correct me.