Warning Wall Of Text - but it is necessary for my point (skip to Green for tl:dr)
First I'd like to clarify this is not a rant, this is merely a concern after reading a number of forum posts for 2 perks that share a number of qualities. The Medic & The Zerker
I'll be first off the bat to say I'm a true blue Medic. I enjoy the whole, waiting patiently, keeping an eye out for distant threats that may cause damage for my teammates and basically doing the whole support thing. In my mind the Medic is perfectly fine.
My concern is there seems to be this fairly large portion of the forum that feels that the Zerker needs to keep getting buffed, and buffed and buffed. Indeed during the Beta he did need buffing, however I personally think it may have gone a tad overboard. Not game breakingly so, but noticable. But still I keep seeing these threads on various topics that support making the game harder for Medics but easier for Berserkers. Specimen suggestions, weapon suggestions, etc etc there just seems to be this mentality that Medics need to be punished in favour of the Berserker.
I agree whole heartedly that the Medic should be kept off the front line, but the fact is, he already is. His 2 major staple weapons in 1014 (the Katana and Xbow) are both very weak in a Medics hands, and the LAR has stepped in as his most reliable weapon. This is great, as the LAR gives the Medic a good weapon for basic support, but he stands little to no chance of beating a Scrake and is made into Medic Pate against the Fleshpound. He can't solo the game anymore. However compare him to the new Zerker -
Medic Armour Resistance vs. Zerker Damage Resistance.
Before the update the Medics armour gave him more protection than the Zerkers damage resistance boost did. However with armour I believe the gap now between them is actually very small. Survivability was always the Medics staple, but the Zerker had the damage to counter that, now the Berserker is pretty damned hard to kill. Plus the Medic is toast if his armour is gone whereas the Berserker is still formidable even with his armour gone.
Medic Healing vs. Melee Damage
This was a hands down win for the Medic before the update. His weapons were reliable regardless of damage, and so the healing buffs outshined the Berserkers damage. Now the Medic is in his place, and cannot survive on his own, however the Berserker can. His damage resistance coupled with his straight cut down power is very formidable indeed.
This I would be perfectly happy with except for this slight point...
Medic 25% speed vs. Berserker 30% speed + Clot grab.
The Berserker already outshines the Medic in survivability due to the points above, but the clot grab is really where his strength is. The clot grab is devastating for Medics, it really gives us alot of problems. The Berserker can keep going where other perks cannot. The bit that confuses me is why is the Berserker faster than the Medic? He already has nearly the same protection, a vastly superior ability to fend off foes, and immunity to being slowed down. Given his apparant survivability already does he really need to be made better at kiting as well?
I mean sure its a conditional speed boost, but as a Medic you move slower with a gun than you do a melee weapon anyway, so its more or less the same thing, just less pronounced.
My issue is that the Medic is completely out classed by the Berserker in every way for survivability and yet if I remember rightly the Medic when Level 6 was first launched the Medic also had a speed of 30%. This was later nerfed for being too powerful since it could keep ahead of fleshpounds and the Patriarch, which the Berserker can do now.
Couple that with the Medic like Damage Resitance and the damage output, it seems odd to me the Medic got so much hate back then and the Berserker gets so much love now.
I said it in the beta and I'll say it again. I personally believe the Berserker should at most be the same speed as the Medic, not faster. His clot grab already outshines the Medic's speed boost for escape, and the Medic is the class that will need to be able to escape from specimens and stay out of the way more than any other class in the game.
If you made it to the end well done, sorry it was so long
J*
First I'd like to clarify this is not a rant, this is merely a concern after reading a number of forum posts for 2 perks that share a number of qualities. The Medic & The Zerker
I'll be first off the bat to say I'm a true blue Medic. I enjoy the whole, waiting patiently, keeping an eye out for distant threats that may cause damage for my teammates and basically doing the whole support thing. In my mind the Medic is perfectly fine.
My concern is there seems to be this fairly large portion of the forum that feels that the Zerker needs to keep getting buffed, and buffed and buffed. Indeed during the Beta he did need buffing, however I personally think it may have gone a tad overboard. Not game breakingly so, but noticable. But still I keep seeing these threads on various topics that support making the game harder for Medics but easier for Berserkers. Specimen suggestions, weapon suggestions, etc etc there just seems to be this mentality that Medics need to be punished in favour of the Berserker.
I agree whole heartedly that the Medic should be kept off the front line, but the fact is, he already is. His 2 major staple weapons in 1014 (the Katana and Xbow) are both very weak in a Medics hands, and the LAR has stepped in as his most reliable weapon. This is great, as the LAR gives the Medic a good weapon for basic support, but he stands little to no chance of beating a Scrake and is made into Medic Pate against the Fleshpound. He can't solo the game anymore. However compare him to the new Zerker -
Medic Armour Resistance vs. Zerker Damage Resistance.
Before the update the Medics armour gave him more protection than the Zerkers damage resistance boost did. However with armour I believe the gap now between them is actually very small. Survivability was always the Medics staple, but the Zerker had the damage to counter that, now the Berserker is pretty damned hard to kill. Plus the Medic is toast if his armour is gone whereas the Berserker is still formidable even with his armour gone.
Medic Healing vs. Melee Damage
This was a hands down win for the Medic before the update. His weapons were reliable regardless of damage, and so the healing buffs outshined the Berserkers damage. Now the Medic is in his place, and cannot survive on his own, however the Berserker can. His damage resistance coupled with his straight cut down power is very formidable indeed.
This I would be perfectly happy with except for this slight point...
Medic 25% speed vs. Berserker 30% speed + Clot grab.
The Berserker already outshines the Medic in survivability due to the points above, but the clot grab is really where his strength is. The clot grab is devastating for Medics, it really gives us alot of problems. The Berserker can keep going where other perks cannot. The bit that confuses me is why is the Berserker faster than the Medic? He already has nearly the same protection, a vastly superior ability to fend off foes, and immunity to being slowed down. Given his apparant survivability already does he really need to be made better at kiting as well?
I mean sure its a conditional speed boost, but as a Medic you move slower with a gun than you do a melee weapon anyway, so its more or less the same thing, just less pronounced.
My issue is that the Medic is completely out classed by the Berserker in every way for survivability and yet if I remember rightly the Medic when Level 6 was first launched the Medic also had a speed of 30%. This was later nerfed for being too powerful since it could keep ahead of fleshpounds and the Patriarch, which the Berserker can do now.
Couple that with the Medic like Damage Resitance and the damage output, it seems odd to me the Medic got so much hate back then and the Berserker gets so much love now.
I said it in the beta and I'll say it again. I personally believe the Berserker should at most be the same speed as the Medic, not faster. His clot grab already outshines the Medic's speed boost for escape, and the Medic is the class that will need to be able to escape from specimens and stay out of the way more than any other class in the game.
If you made it to the end well done, sorry it was so long
J*
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