Orthros
Somewhat Threatening Sniper
(Originally posted in the normal TF2 Forum. I moved it to here once I noticed that we actually have a Suggestions page. My bad.)
Alright, so I've been playing Skial quite a lot lately, and I think it's time I made this. Medic here is... I'm not really sure how to word it... He's balanced, but in a "really stupidly overpowered in these things but weak as hell in these things" kinda way. Does that makes sense?
Before I go any farther, I'd like to point out that I've been playing TF2 since late 2010. I have over 6,700 total hours, I play steel level competitive Medic (and Roaming Soldier, but that doesn't matter) and have 230 hours on him (as my 5th most played class). I've played 2500+ hours on VSH at minimum. I average 3-5k damage (not including damage harvested from other players) and 4k+ healing per round. Pardon my lack of modesty, but I think it's fair to say that I'm one of the best Medics on Skial's VSH servers. That in mind, here are my thoughts on how the class should (and, frankly, needs) to be changed.
Medics are strong. Their Heal Rates are untouched, but they are able to Overheal their healing targets to a massive 100% max HP. This comes to a head with the Heavy, who gets 600 HP. He takes three hits to kill, and even then is only 7 health shy of surviving that third (Boss deals 202 damage per hit, not including variants). Soldiers are powerful too, not to mention demomen. And to top it all off, every class, even light classes, can survive a hit if buffed above 180% (barring BFB scouts or other variants.)
That is stupidly powerful. A Medic with half a brain can literally carry a team just by sitting in a corner and healing anyone that comes close (in theory). Don't even get me started on the crossbow.
But he has two drawbacks that completely cripple him if exploited: No specialized movement, and no way to defend himself barring uber.
Issue #1: No specialized movement. This is the single biggest problem, in my opinion. A decent Medic gets noticed very quickly, and unless he's got some seriously good dance moves, a boss that doesn't want to deal with him is going to target him almost, if not immediately. I'm not going to lie, this has really irritated me on more than one occasion.
Issue #2: The Medic has no way to defend himself without Uber. Now, don't get me wrong; it's not like the Medic can't fight back. He can poke the boss with arrows, maybe get a lucky saw in as a last resort. The issue is that if a boss wants to fight a Medic and only a Medic, he's going to do that. Sure you can build uber, but if he's on you the entire time, you tend to not have that chance.
TL;DR - The average Medic relies too heavily on his team. There. I said it.
"But Orthros! It's called Team Fortress 2!"
I've played 2500+ hours of VSH. Players very rarely play as a team. And that's okay. But it means that, against the boss, the average Medic tends to get beaten down pretty quickly. Luckily, I've got a couple solutions to consider.
Idea #1: Give the Medic the ability to Self Overheal during Uber. This is pretty self-explanatory. By letting the Medic heal and Overheal himself while he's ubered, he can buff himself above 202 health and by doing so give himself a better chance against the Boss. To keep this from becoming too powerful, I would suggest either lowering the overheal limit to 150% like normal or nerfing the Medic's Uber Build Rate from his weapons while his Uber is draining. (10% with Crossbow and 15% with Ubersaw vs the normal 15% and 25% respectively.) This would encourage the Medic to use an Uber as more of a supporting, escaping tool rather than a combat buff, at least if he's alone.
Idea #2: Add Quickfix Jumping or Rubber Band Medi-Beams. This relates to movement. It would give the Medic the ability to get around quickly via his teammates. Hitching a ride on a rocket jumping soldier via Quickfix Jumps are great for both attacking and escaping. Rubber Band Medi-Beams are self explanatory: If the Medic's healing target is a fair distance away, and the Medic jumps, he'll be pulled in the direction of his heal target. This is great for putting distance between himself and the boss. Again, this could be balanced by lowering the Overheal rates to the normal 150% (I don't think nerfing uber building while uber is draining would be needed, as this doesn't really effect a direct fight with the boss.)
I know that Idea 2 sort of contradicts my arguments above, but that idea makes relying on your teammates actually reliable. On top of that, it would be less of the Medic actually working with another player as much as it would be him sort of stealing a ride from a nearby player.
Skial is a popular server group, and their VSH servers are no exception. Every class has a gimmick that makes them powerful in some ways and weak in others, especially in movement. Hell, Engineer can jump with his goddamn sentry. The Medic needs something similar, and if he can't get it, then he needs something to give himself a fighting chance and bring him on par in all departments with the other classes.
Well, that's all I got. I'd love to see the Medic adjusted, even a minor change would seriously impact how he's played. Thanks for reading!
-Orthros
Alright, so I've been playing Skial quite a lot lately, and I think it's time I made this. Medic here is... I'm not really sure how to word it... He's balanced, but in a "really stupidly overpowered in these things but weak as hell in these things" kinda way. Does that makes sense?
Before I go any farther, I'd like to point out that I've been playing TF2 since late 2010. I have over 6,700 total hours, I play steel level competitive Medic (and Roaming Soldier, but that doesn't matter) and have 230 hours on him (as my 5th most played class). I've played 2500+ hours on VSH at minimum. I average 3-5k damage (not including damage harvested from other players) and 4k+ healing per round. Pardon my lack of modesty, but I think it's fair to say that I'm one of the best Medics on Skial's VSH servers. That in mind, here are my thoughts on how the class should (and, frankly, needs) to be changed.
Medics are strong. Their Heal Rates are untouched, but they are able to Overheal their healing targets to a massive 100% max HP. This comes to a head with the Heavy, who gets 600 HP. He takes three hits to kill, and even then is only 7 health shy of surviving that third (Boss deals 202 damage per hit, not including variants). Soldiers are powerful too, not to mention demomen. And to top it all off, every class, even light classes, can survive a hit if buffed above 180% (barring BFB scouts or other variants.)
That is stupidly powerful. A Medic with half a brain can literally carry a team just by sitting in a corner and healing anyone that comes close (in theory). Don't even get me started on the crossbow.
But he has two drawbacks that completely cripple him if exploited: No specialized movement, and no way to defend himself barring uber.
Issue #1: No specialized movement. This is the single biggest problem, in my opinion. A decent Medic gets noticed very quickly, and unless he's got some seriously good dance moves, a boss that doesn't want to deal with him is going to target him almost, if not immediately. I'm not going to lie, this has really irritated me on more than one occasion.
Issue #2: The Medic has no way to defend himself without Uber. Now, don't get me wrong; it's not like the Medic can't fight back. He can poke the boss with arrows, maybe get a lucky saw in as a last resort. The issue is that if a boss wants to fight a Medic and only a Medic, he's going to do that. Sure you can build uber, but if he's on you the entire time, you tend to not have that chance.
TL;DR - The average Medic relies too heavily on his team. There. I said it.
"But Orthros! It's called Team Fortress 2!"
I've played 2500+ hours of VSH. Players very rarely play as a team. And that's okay. But it means that, against the boss, the average Medic tends to get beaten down pretty quickly. Luckily, I've got a couple solutions to consider.
Idea #1: Give the Medic the ability to Self Overheal during Uber. This is pretty self-explanatory. By letting the Medic heal and Overheal himself while he's ubered, he can buff himself above 202 health and by doing so give himself a better chance against the Boss. To keep this from becoming too powerful, I would suggest either lowering the overheal limit to 150% like normal or nerfing the Medic's Uber Build Rate from his weapons while his Uber is draining. (10% with Crossbow and 15% with Ubersaw vs the normal 15% and 25% respectively.) This would encourage the Medic to use an Uber as more of a supporting, escaping tool rather than a combat buff, at least if he's alone.
Idea #2: Add Quickfix Jumping or Rubber Band Medi-Beams. This relates to movement. It would give the Medic the ability to get around quickly via his teammates. Hitching a ride on a rocket jumping soldier via Quickfix Jumps are great for both attacking and escaping. Rubber Band Medi-Beams are self explanatory: If the Medic's healing target is a fair distance away, and the Medic jumps, he'll be pulled in the direction of his heal target. This is great for putting distance between himself and the boss. Again, this could be balanced by lowering the Overheal rates to the normal 150% (I don't think nerfing uber building while uber is draining would be needed, as this doesn't really effect a direct fight with the boss.)
I know that Idea 2 sort of contradicts my arguments above, but that idea makes relying on your teammates actually reliable. On top of that, it would be less of the Medic actually working with another player as much as it would be him sort of stealing a ride from a nearby player.
Skial is a popular server group, and their VSH servers are no exception. Every class has a gimmick that makes them powerful in some ways and weak in others, especially in movement. Hell, Engineer can jump with his goddamn sentry. The Medic needs something similar, and if he can't get it, then he needs something to give himself a fighting chance and bring him on par in all departments with the other classes.
Well, that's all I got. I'd love to see the Medic adjusted, even a minor change would seriously impact how he's played. Thanks for reading!
-Orthros
