Competitive TF2, Part Five: The Medic
What’s this? An article in the competitive TF2 series not done by himmelstoss or clubtheseals? Yep, since I was credited way back in the first installment I figured it was time to get off my lazy bottom (or rather, sit on it some more), and give you the low-down on a class near and dear to our hearts, the Medic!
Let’s face it, no one in their right mind wants to play Medic on the average public game. Your teammates are generally uncommunicative, dull, unskilled or simply don’t care about you. Buff up that Soldier? Guarantee he’ll jump away and leave you to die via buckshot as he gets shot by a Sniper. Stick with your pal the Heavy? The lumbering oaf will get stabbed before you can even mash X+2 (not like he’d pay attention anyway). All this assuming on the off-chance that your team isn’t entirely composed of scouts, snipers, pyros and spies.
Well, wipe your fears away and step into the boots of the competitive medic! As a medic, you’re still underappreciated to an extent, but you become the center-piece of the team-its quarterback, so to speak. You alone control the flow of the game, and getting sacked may just cost your team the game. American Football analogies aside, you become the player that drives the team, which I’ll get into later.
The Medic Mentality
Anyone can play medic, right? Just mash M1 and dodge incoming fire, right? Yes and no. As a friend put it to me once, “Playing medic is easy, but playing medic well, now that’s hard.” Just like any other class, you can pick it up and play, just not well. Unlike the other classes, however, who focus on super 1337 aim and movement skills, the medic instead focuses on thinking, planning, and having ironclad faith in your men. I don’t know about you, but the average player is usually severely lacking in the former two.
The proper mentality to take is that of a sissy puny baby. Your team cannot push without you, you have a measly 150 HP, an unreliably slow health regeneration, and, as an added bonus, you have a big 10-metre “Shoot Me, Please!” sign hanging over your head. Everyone’s gunning for you and you’ve gotta know when to move and to where.
Your Meatshield and You
The easy answer to the question of “Where” would be with your pocket. As covered in the Soldier article, there are (generally) two Soldiers on your team. One (the pocket) focuses on protecting you, and the other (roaming) focuses more on flanking but is still your number 2 man. You want to stick with the guy who offers you the best protection at any given moment, and the Soldier generally takes the cake being the most balanced in terms of mobility, firepower, and direct combat capabilities.
In the event that your Soldiers bite the dust, it goes to the Demoman and then the Scouts if the threat isn’t too large. On the occasion that you have a Heavy you’ll generally stick with him but it’ll vary depending on the team.
Learning to work with your team is something that will come with simply playing with them. A big mistake that a newbie team will make is not playing with each other outside of practice and matches. As the Medic you rely heavily on your team to keep you alive, and as such you must be able to predict their every move and vice versa. Get to know your team, their tendencies, and their relative skill so you know if they’re in way over their head or if it’s safe to press onward.
Properly abusing your meatshields is all about distance management. If he’s getting shelled from afar and you want to avoid the rockets and grenades, you abuse the heck out of the medibeam’s distance and bending ability. If a Scout or other class just made his way to your flank (usually due to your Scouts going down) you have about a split second to dash behind your pocket and alert him. Getting in close is refered to “hugging” and really the only semi-reliable counter to a Scout flank. Your teammate takes the heat while you dash in and out of him and heal so that (in theory) you never take damage. Knowing when to do either eventually comes with practice but in most cases (because rockets explode) distancing yourself is the name of the game. Especially if you’re in the open, keep moving to keep alive. Moving erratically can help if there are enemy snipers, but don’t count on it.
That means NO BATTLE MEDICING. If you need to whip out your blutsauger because you’re alone and being hunted, that’s fine – you won’t survive either way. But if there’s any other friendly nearby, heal him first. He may be able to save you.
Out Of The Gate
So you’ve made it into your first match. Whether you’re the designated Medic for your team or you just went it so that the PUG can start, there are a few basic things to know before you trudge off into combat. The first is that your team is much faster than you (as they’ll all be jumping) and that you need them to get to mid with as much of overheal as possible. The instant you spawn, you start healing. In this order you want to hit the Demoman, the roaming Soldier and then your pocket. The Demo needs the intial buff because not only does he have less health but his jumps are much faster and take him farther. The less health packs he has to pick up along the way to mid, the more you have to fall back on. Generally, after the first jump he’s way ahead of you with the Scouts, so you then switch your attention to the Soldiers. The Soldier’s jumps are generally slower and consume less health so you can almost keep pace with them. By the time you get to mid the Scouts and Demo will have undoubtedly taken some damage from the other team’s Scouts and Demo so don’t be afraid to pass on the love. At this point it’s about finding a safe spot and passing out the heals to whomever needs it. A general heal order for this point and the rest of the match is:
- Players lit (in red health) and taking damage
- Players lit
- Everyone else
During the brief lull in action while holding an area, it’s important to take stock of how much health each class has and how long it’s been since they’ve been injured. Scouts generally get hurt a large amount but get back to you a while after being injured. And so, thanks to heal rate ramp-ups based on how long they’ve been hurt, Scouts will only take a split second to heal and buff. And believe me when I say they really appreciate the buff to their extremely limited health. Soldiers, however, are on the opposite end of the spectrum. They have much more health and are taking damage almost constantly, so it takes forever to heal them up entirely. At this point I usually follow this:
- Get the Demo and Soldiers up to full health
- Buff/heal the Scouts
- Buff the Demo
- Buff your pocket
At this point I feel it’s a good time to mention situational awareness. Being the only person on your team without a gun to aim, it affords you a much clearer picture of things going on outside of the main focus. The Medic effectively becomes an extra pair of eyes to survey and analyze the situation. For example, while your pal the pocket Soldier may see that big ole’ Russian fellow raining down hell directly in front of him, he more than likely won’t catch that Scout dashing in from a side path right toward your soft squishy side. You must quickly become accustomed to swinging around and checking for enemies out of your team’s main field of vision. Communication is key for a Medic player and, as such, one needs to learn how to communicate effectively. While it is possible to play Medic without a microphone/headset it is incredibly difficult. I know from personal experience after breaking a mic that, while keybinds do work to an extent, a microphone is still faster and more precise. There is a lot of information to sort through and relay to your team, and keeping it short and sweet is the name of the game. I wont bore you with the details since you’ll more than likely learn it in your first match but here’s a short list of things you need to relay if someone else hasn’t.
- When you die
- When you are about to respawn/have respawned
- When you get close to a full charge (70%-ish)
- When you use your Ubercharge
- When the enemy uses their Ubercharge
- When you are alone
- Who you are with and where if your team is separated
- Enemy positions outside of the normal focus area (enemies flanking, snipers, demos up high, sticky trap locations)
Other things like when an enemy goes down or when an area is clear are also important but you have to take into account that your teammates will likely see that before you. Your focus should be on things that your allies cannot see easily and fight at the same time. In time you’ll learn better what to say and when but sticking to that list will get you by for quite some time.
Sock It To ‘Em
So you’ve worked up that hard earned Ubercharge/Kritz and you’re ready to lay the smackdown on the other team. Well hold yer horses and listen up, this may just save your neck. Remember way back at the start of the article how I said that you alone control the flow of the battle? Well, I was talking about this, Uber Timing. It’s a slippery subject on its own and it’s incredibly difficult to teach. All I can do is give you a general idea and you’ll have to learn it on your own.
Competitive gaming is all about strategy and advantages. If your team has Uber, you have an advantage. However, if the other team has Uber too, you’re dead even. In lower level games it doesn’t matter as much but when you get into really tough games, forcing you to pop your Uber early is what Scouts are notoriously good at. It’s a game of cat and mouse really, you want the other guy to use his Uber before you so that you have more of an opening to dish out damage with your own. Such a use of Uber is known as a counter-Uber since it blocks the use of their Uber to cause lasting damage and it causes lots of damage to them. While being forced to pop early so that you don’t die is annoying and may cost you the point, it’s better that you stay alive and continue healing rather than waiting to respawn. Time spent alive is time spent charging and you at the very least want to reach full charge at the same time as or just after the enemy Medic. Double and even triple Ubers (where you Uber multiple players at once) are the center-piece of an effective push against a team that doesn’t have Uber, and so waiting for the right moment to strike is of great importance. Just don’t hold on to it to your death.
Public server rules about selecting a Medigun apply in competitive play, too. If you want to Uber frequently, select the Kritzkrieg. However, if the enemy is running a regular Medigun, be aware that in Uber vs Uber battles (which happen surprisingly often), you will almost always lose, especially if the enemy Medic is good enough to Uber multiple players. For this reason, Kritzkrieg your pocket if the enemy Medic is vulnerable to a nice crocket. Removing their Uber eliminates a huge advantage they have over you. Exploit it.
To wrap up: Medic is a deceptively difficult but incredibly rewarding class. As a medic, you are the single most important player on your team. You call the shots. You turn the tide of a game. You…
You are the Ubermensch.
If you’re looking for the other installments of the guide, we have set up a Table of Contents page for you. If you need to link the guide to anyone, send ‘em over there as well. Enjoy, and keep your eyes peeled for the next article -himmelstoss
Stumble it!
Bazinga responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 6:41 am #
Great article, this’ll really help me play medic.
However, I have one question
When possible should you focus on one player when ubering, or should you multiuber.
I know that answer is very situational, but in general, which one would be better for your team?
What I got from the article was
If the other team doesn’t have uber, then multi, but if counter then single, correct?
himmelstoss responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 6:47 am #
@Bazinga:
Basically, you ubercharge whoever needs it. Multi-ubers are always better than ubering one person. To multi-uber, you just quickly switch your medigun beam between a few people – the uber remains for about a second after you remove the beam from them. So by rapidly swapping between a few people, you can keep multiple people ubercharged. That’s ALWAYS better than a single-person ubercharge, but it’s difficult to do on a public server because no one knows how to take advantage of an ubercharge, anyway.
If you’re countering an uber, spreading your uber to multiple players will help prevent them from dying at the hands of the enemy combo. If one of your team’s players is about to go down, quickly switch the beam over to him and save him from the rocket heading his way. He’ll appreciate it, for sure.
HelisPoe responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:08 am #
Out of all the classes, the one class the is the most loved and get’s almost no hate is the Medic.
Because we all love being healed.
Good article.
duckyinc responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:35 am #
Question: How often do you die to good demoman or soldiers coming from above? Often in frag videos you see demos or soldiers jumping above a group, juggling the medic and killing the group before they can fight back, is it just cherry picked stuff?
chipbuster responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:39 am #
Ah, finally. I’ve been waiting for this one ever since part 1 came out.
Poke responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:40 am #
@himmelstoss:
Not always true. While multi-ubering is way rarer that it should be, the ancient nerf to it still counts. Multi-ubers run out faster (on average games, twice as fast). If it’s an uber-vs-uber situation, multi-ubering wouldn’t help because you’ll find yourself uberless before the enemy (maybe even if you popped second). It’s very situational, though, and if you see a teammate with critical health getting targeted, do change the uber to him until he’s safe. The best medic advice is always adapting to the situation.
chipbuster responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:43 am #
Apologies for double post but…since multiple ubers drain your ubercharge now, shouldn’t that put you at a slight disadvantage when your uber wears off three seconds before the other team’s?
Or does the advantage of having two guys still up more than make up for it?
StrategicJank responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 7:48 am #
Medic is my favorite class, and I’ve only ever played on pubs. I imagine this would be immensely more fun. My question is: in earlier articles is was said that the Medic usually calls the strategic shots for the team, so is what separates a good medic from a great medic play calling ability? Or would you rather have a Medic that is more capable of keeping himself alive?
It just seems like being team captain would be a great reward for what is in Pubs a very tough job indeed…
It also makes more sense now why 2 scouts would be so helpful to a team, as they plague my (Medic playing) nightmares more than snipers/spies…
Competitive TF2, Part Five: The Medic Match Web responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 8:09 am #
[...] See the rest here: Competitive TF2, Part Five: The Medic [...]
French Toast responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 8:25 am #
@duckyinc: Often enough when playing a good team. Most players on a lower level aren’t as aggressive (jumping is generally considered extremely aggressive ) but when you get further up into mid level skilled matches it becomes a bother. You just have to be able to anticipate it and dodge the rockets, they still have a long-ish travel time even if they’re coming from above.
On the multi versus single uber thing, I was going to touch on that more along with the Uber versus Kritz thing but I simply ran out of space. The average blog reader’s attention span isn’t all that long. >_<
Speaking from personal experience, the other medic will most certainly be multi-ubering if you are. The health you save by doing so intelligently more than makes up for the second or two you lose from the drain. On that note, any more than two (a soldier and the demo) is generally a waste unless you’re absolutely certain it’s worth saving their neck as in the case of the enemy using a Kritz and you counter-Ubering. In that case, spreading around the Uber is a good idea to keep more people alive as the enemy will likely go down in a shot or two since the Kritz is nullified.
Oh and don’t start swapping off a Kritz rapidly, the second after effect that the Uber gets doesn’t apply to Kritz. It’s best to stick with one guy until his primary runs dry then swap to the next.
bertu responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 8:42 am #
Its better to multi-uber than to let your teammates die. If you feel your uber is going to wear away first, use the last seconds to get out of there fast.
Generally, if you have uber and the other team dont, push hard and move your uber around for a big attack.
However, in a situation that both teams have uber ready its best to just push with a single teammate and shoot around to force the other team to multiuber, while the rest of your team shoots from distance.
This way, you get the opportuniy to maybe have a few seconds of uber advantage.
Ubers are a big part of this game, but planning for AFTER the uber is the most important thing in uber x uber situation. This includes body blocks and juggling too.
Cupcake, Darn It~! responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 11:54 am #
I AM THE UBERMENSCH.
How empowering.
Snipers_get_the_head responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 12:26 pm #
you, sir, win.
Anony1200 responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 1:11 pm #
If you’re too much of a pussy to take out the ubersaw and get some free teamhelping uberjuice when the kill’s easy and certian,hang up your gloves and glasses.Right now.
Chalkster responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 3:44 pm #
@Anyny1200
Except that in competitive TF2 play the kills are neither easy nor certain when you are a medic. You simply don’t do enough damage fast enough to overcome the damage of a quick shot to the face by a demoman, soldier, or scout. Melee weapons are usually reserved for shenanigans and when your primary runs out anyway. The only melee that’s more useful than it’s respective primary I can think of is the butterfly knife.
Spankz responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 3:47 pm #
@Anony1200
Dont be a silly goose.
If the other team let a player get into a position where a medic can kill them with an Ubersaw, then you’re probobly not playing competition…..or they are retarded and you’re pocket should have already killed him….unless hes retarded.
nineteen responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 6:45 pm #
Thanks for the enlightening post – I’ve just recently gotten into competitive Medic play and this has confirmed much of what I’ve been taught and learnt from demos.
8bit responded on 31 Aug 2009 at 9:52 pm #
thanks for the post. i think, all the ps players should read this blog, because its very exhausting to play with them. they just dont understand if i´m change my healing target.
n00bie51 responded on 01 Sep 2009 at 2:11 am #
Good write-up.
Something I’d like to add about Kritzkrieg vs. Medigun ÜberCharges: On maps like cp_badlands where there is no setup time, or on cp_well where you can engage your enemy before the setup ends, a Kritzkrieg’s faster charge rate provides a significant advantage over the Medigun. Otherwise, any competent team with invulnerability would tear up a Kritzkrieg-based assault, but it won’t be of any use if they get Critted before they can charge it up, knamean?
melkor responded on 01 Sep 2009 at 8:45 am #
Yeah Medic isn’t much fun on public server, but as soon as there iss team communication, Medic becomes a whole lot of fun!!
UneducatedWeasel responded on 01 Sep 2009 at 9:23 pm #
Anyone else read the “because rockets explode” bit in Tom Hanks’ voice?
Mas responded on 04 Sep 2009 at 12:28 am #
This is possibly the one class I have a good chance of playing well in comp tf2, thanks for the guide Toast
Phoenix responded on 04 Sep 2009 at 7:49 am #
In the one PUG I was let into, I stopped a point being capped by killing an enemy scout with my blut.
Nobody else on my team was alive at the time. We’d have lost the point if I’d run.
That scout was the only enemy around, I killed him from medium range. Easily.
And yet Himmel shouts at me for “battle-medicing”
Was I right, or was I wrong?
gelugon2105 responded on 04 Sep 2009 at 6:58 pm #
You may want to expand this article a bit more in the future.
Including some examples of situations and what the Medic should in these situations would be good.
French Toast responded on 07 Sep 2009 at 4:28 am #
“I sell propane and propane accessories . . . .”
@Phoenix: From the sounds of it, you were in the right. On most maps the spawns are really far away from the points. Chances are, if the Scout had any brains, he’d have hunted you down with ease while you were retreating and the chances of you dying were about the same. That is, assuming no other enemies or teammates were around. Taking the skill of the enemy into account is important which is why I wanted to include a bit about possibly fighting on lower levels (like UC pugs since there aren’t many REALLY good players in the group) but himmelstoss got tired of waiting and added that bit in and upped the article. If anything, himmel should have congratulated you in making a bad Scout look even worse.
@gelugon2105: My initial intent was to include a whole lot more information like that but I was told it was getting too long and that it was only supposed to be enough information to get a Medic new to competitive play off the ground. I might expand on it with a future article and link the two but for now I’m leaving this one as is.
chipbuster responded on 07 Sep 2009 at 1:17 pm #
it is possible to battlemedic, but its usually only done when the alternative appears to be getting gunned down as you run.
Crack Clan’s medic (kyynel) released a 5 minute frag vid with clips from division 1 ETF2L games. I don’t have the link to it; it’s called “I am ze Ubermensch.” My take is that he’s attacking only when he obviously has the upper hand (ubersawing a sniper at point blank while he has full health), or when he has no other choice (pocket just ran around the corner and demo is stickyjumping onto him.)
Has anyone else seen it? What do you think?
French Toast responded on 08 Sep 2009 at 6:18 am #
I believe this is what you’re referring to: http://www.pldx.com/movie/578/I_am_ze_ubermensch/
And yes, that’s an excellent showcase of times when attacking is a good idea. Or rather, a better alternative than dying. More often than not you’ll end up dead, but sometimes it’s worth a shot.
Stix responded on 17 Sep 2009 at 7:07 pm #
http://www.pldx.com/movie/812/Homocide_A_Medic_Movie/
Counterspell responded on 18 Sep 2009 at 9:56 am #
Casey’s assault on Loaded’s demoman during their recent match was another example of when to attack. That moment pretty much singlehandedly won EG the game. And the needling of those Scouts in the Homocide video. Both perfect examples of playing it by ear, and surviving.
chipbuster responded on 18 Sep 2009 at 1:57 pm #
Medic buff is live! Blutsauger or needlegun?
French Toast responded on 19 Sep 2009 at 8:09 am #
@Counterspell: You mean this little bit of footage? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab0J0Uqhmcc&fmt=22 Was absolutely amazing to watch, especially when you watch the demo Jaeger uploaded and you see that he was at only 30 hp.
@chipbuster: That feels like such an odd question. For so long it was always Blutsauger and now there’s a decent alternative!
It all boils down to who you’re playing with and against. I’ve personally found, so far in the few pugs I’ve played since the update, that having the extra regen rate with the Syringe Gun is preferable in a competitive game. 6hp/sec after 6 seconds adds up rather quickly. If your team is good enough to keep you covered but you can’t risk a health pack run, then the extra regen helps out considerably. For pubs and when my team isn’t doing so hot covering me from Scouts, I’ll likely swap out for the Blut since I’ll be shooting far more often.
On a related note, with the Syringe Gun you only take about 30 damage from Pyro afterburn. You can even further lower it to a measly 10 if you taunt with the Kritzkrieg twice, at which point the afterburn wears off. Silly bits of math might just save your neck one day.
Competitive TF2, Part Five: The Medic « TF2 Archives responded on 31 Dec 2009 at 2:46 pm #
[...] —————————————————————————– References: ubercharged.net Competitive TF2, Part Five: The Medic [...]
cleverdan responded on 03 Jan 2010 at 4:05 pm #
Great post, thanks for the insight.
Medic FTW! ;]