Combat Medic Developments

[Ohaunlaim]

nanite/poison filled bullets that increase time to revive according to percent damage done to target. (ie. tr medic does 35% damage to nc grunt. nc medic trying to revive that grunt would need 35% more time to res him.)

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by BIGGByran

I was thinking along the same lines. A "painfield" granade. It would deal 600 over 12 seconds, so 50 damage a second, as an irritation (or maybe even 600 damage over 6 second and works more as an Area Denial due to the higher damage). Works the same way as a healing granade, in terms of visual, but red instead of green.

Good, but I do wonder about the possibility of Viral Grenades...

Basically it would "infect" any enemy or ally who isn't a MAX within the blast Radius with a Status effect that slowly grinds away at their health and ONLY their health.
It's also "contagious" spreading the effect to anyone who gets within a certain radius of an infected.

It would probably only do about a half a normal health-bar of Damage over thirty seconds, but it would be a great way to thin out AND weaken Infantry Blobs.

Originally Posted by Rbstr

Oh, make the healing nade sticky.

Yeah that would actually be pretty damn useful, since regular 'nades have a tendancy to bounce or fly through things...

[DeltaGun]

Id like to see medics get different type of "Packs" on their bck. they have an AoE healing one right now. How about one that recharges shields on a minute cooldown? One that AoE overcharges health to +200?

These seem alot more feasible than poison or DoTs. Medics already have good offense.

But as we saw in alpha footage, they considered adding poison gas weapons in the past (Liberator used to have a poison gas cannon).

[Whiteagle]

Originally Posted by DeltaGun

Id like to see medics get different type of "Packs" on their bck. they have an AoE healing one right now. How about one that recharges shields on a minute cooldown? One that AoE overcharges health to +200?

The only issue I have with this is Shield Recharging, just because that sounds like its a better fit for an Engineer Deployable.

Originally Posted by DeltaGun

But as we saw in alpha footage, they considered adding poison gas weapons in the past (Liberator used to have a poison gas cannon).

Well the fun of "Viral" grenades would be their "Contagious" status effect.

Yes, they primarily thin out and weaken Infantry Blobs, but its how the infected react to their condition that really spices things up.

For instance, say an infected defender runs back to a spawn room to get healed.
His stupidity has now weakened the entire bases defense, possibly exponentially if infected continue to stand in the spawn.

The opposite however is possible, with smart players suicidally charging the enemy when infected, turning this weapon of biological warfare back on those who originally used it.

[Nur]

The Medic is already extremely strong and a mobile AMS (!)

The only thing quite stupid is the healing grenades. These should be dropped on the floor not thrown

[Palerion]

Originally Posted by Whiteagle

The only issue I have with this is Shield Recharging, just because that sounds like its a better fit for an Engineer Deployable.


Well the fun of "Viral" grenades would be their "Contagious" status effect.

Yes, they primarily thin out and weaken Infantry Blobs, but its how the infected react to their condition that really spices things up.

For instance, say an infected defender runs back to a spawn room to get healed.
His stupidity has now weakened the entire bases defense, possibly exponentially if infected continue to stand in the spawn.

The opposite however is possible, with smart players suicidally charging the enemy when infected, turning this weapon of biological warfare back on those who originally used it.

See, that is how I could see the medic being of offensive value to the team. I know healing is already a great tactical advantage, but I'm talking about dealing damage. Poisoning enemies, firing things that slowly chip away at their health (and self confidence :P).

It has the frontline role that justifies more emphasis on its combat abilities. Think along the lines of the medic from Global Agenda; I know, a totally different beast. But that game managed to make every class just as scary as an individual damage dealing force. Robotics can tear everything to shreds with its turrets, Assault has heavy weaponry of all sorts, Recon is an expert at stealth and wields powerful rifles and explosive devices, and most importantly, Medic has the ability to release toxins into the air and poison enemies with his knife, both of which can nearly kill his enemy.

In a grand scale war like planetside, I think it would be cool to give a certain fear factor like this to combat medics, making enemies think twice before engaging them, and giving them unique damage-dealing power towards opponents.

[Sledgecrushr]

I think a medic should be able to apply temporary buffs. An example would be give a "shot" to a heavy assault and for the next five minutes or so he can run 10% faster.
This kind of temporary buff system could add a lot of value and imo some more depth to the cm playstyle.

[Palerion]

Originally Posted by Sledgecrushr

I think a medic should be able to apply temporary buffs. An example would be give a "shot" to a heavy assault and for the next five minutes or so he can run 10% faster.
This kind of temporary buff system could add a lot of value and imo some more depth to the cm playstyle.

Would you include with this the ability to self-inject? Left click = self-injection, right click = target-injection?

I think it would be a great option. It could allow the combat medic to choose between an array of unique effects to apply to themselves and their teammates, giving them a unique edge based on the buff they choose. It would make the class more versatile and, undoubtedly, more fun. Definitely a better option than giving them six different ways to do the same task: healing.

I could imagine quite a few buffs being implemented without necessarily overpowering the class, but certainly giving it more capability to, when necessary, provide itself and its squad with a temporary enhancement to their abilities. Some of these buffs could be, as mentioned, a speed buff, maybe a shield buff, health buff, accuracy buff, etc. It would make the class much more dynamic and emphasize its front-line orientation.

[Boildown]

Medics are already strong, or maybe its because I play more than the average bear. I can think of lots of cool things to give them but will quickly lead to the realm of OP.

I guess as each class is reviewed giving medics additional stuff is ok if everyone is going to get more stuff as well. I just don't want time to kill to decrease. It should increase if anything. That means more defensive buffs. Temporary health increases isn't a bad idea, especially if there's a "hangover" afterwards.

I wouldn't mind seeing "luxury" certs added to each class. 2000 points for a 3rd brick of C4 for example, or for even more shielding.

The only medic ability that's really lacking is the regen in vehicle thing. Its pretty lame. I'd rather have additional options to put in that "slot", if it can be considered a slot, of equally lame utility, but at least I get to pick and choose from. Again, giving an actual "good" additional ability could lead to overpoweredness for medics unless everyone is getting more stuff.

[Soothsayer]

Originally Posted by Boildown

Medics are already strong, or maybe its because I play more than the average bear. I can think of lots of cool things to give them but will quickly lead to the realm of OP.

I guess as each class is reviewed giving medics additional stuff is ok if everyone is going to get more stuff as well. I just don't want time to kill to decrease. It should increase if anything. That means more defensive buffs. Temporary health increases isn't a bad idea, especially if there's a "hangover" afterwards.

I wouldn't mind seeing "luxury" certs added to each class. 2000 points for a 3rd brick of C4 for example, or for even more shielding.

The only medic ability that's really lacking is the regen in vehicle thing. Its pretty lame. I'd rather have additional options to put in that "slot", if it can be considered a slot, of equally lame utility, but at least I get to pick and choose from. Again, giving an actual "good" additional ability could lead to overpoweredness for medics unless everyone is getting more stuff.

I generally agree with this, would like to see luxury and convenience stuff at the higher tier. I'd think that adding luxury stuff should come with a pre-requisite amount of other medic certs (or a hybrid multi-cert prereq) to unlock them.

Someone mentioned run speed stims, I think that would be cool. Biological effects are generally a good thing. I'd want the stims to be a purchasable consumable, though cheap with a xp payoff for kills by the person who's been boosted.

I'd really like to see a reworking of the basic heal mechanics to allow for greater adaptability based on squad composition. Different ways to heal that have different advantages and drawbacks.

[Palerion]

Medics are strong with respect to their ability to support their team, but as an individual unit, not so much. Yes they can heal themselves, which is useful to an extent, but the AOE heal is more-so intended to be used in groups. Any soldier can carry up to 4 medkits with them, more than enough to support their lifespan.

The only thing a medic has going for him otherwise is his assault rifle, which is an undoubtedly powerful weapon, but he can't fly, or put up an overshield, or set up turrets, or cloak. Giving him medkit-like stimulant injectors would allow him to overcome enemies and adapt to situations by temporarily increasing his abilities.

It seems like a cool idea to me. But really, there are numerous possibilities that would fit the medic's role. Aside from the buff-injectors, other things, such as maybe a colored force-field riot shield kind of deal, removing the ability to carry weapons but allowing the player to move safely across open ground, whether to navigate the battlefield or reach a downed soldier. Also as mentioned above, biological grenades.

It would all still force the class to sacrifice. A buff-injector could come at the cost of a utility slot. The riot shield-like tool could replace the ability slot. Either way, it's a trade off, and would not make the class overpowered. Biological grenades would, obviously, take up the grenade slot. It all comes at a tradeoff, which ensures that the class will not become overpowered. It just allows the player to spec the class out more to their liking. Using the shield removes AOE heal, using stimulant injectors removes any anti-vehicle capability (C4).

[Sledgecrushr]

The medics combat efficiency is already very high. I would like to see some more utility out of the class and having a mmorpg background it inly seems natural to go with a buff system with a timer and maybe a cooldown.

[Boildown]

Originally Posted by Palerion

Medics are strong with respect to their ability to support their team, but as an individual unit, not so much. Yes they can heal themselves, which is useful to an extent, but the AOE heal is more-so intended to be used in groups. Any soldier can carry up to 4 medkits with them, more than enough to support their lifespan.

The only thing a medic has going for him otherwise is his assault rifle, which is an undoubtedly powerful weapon, but he can't fly, or put up an overshield, or set up turrets, or cloak.

You forgot that the ability to self-heal without consumables allows the combat medic to put combat first, medic second, and be an infantry wrecking ball on the battle field, always being topped up to full health without having to consider "if I use this heal now, will it be wasted?". And they still have access to the medi-kit injectors for moments when the self-heal runs out. And you forgot to mention reviving fall teammates, which obviously scales incredibly well in team-oriented play. And medics get this team-oriented ability and the solo-oriented self-heal ability simultaneously.

That said,

Originally Posted by Palerion

It would all still force the class to sacrifice. A buff-injector could come at the cost of a utility slot. The riot shield-like tool could replace the ability slot. Either way, it's a trade off, and would not make the class overpowered. Biological grenades would, obviously, take up the grenade slot. It all comes at a tradeoff, which ensures that the class will not become overpowered. It just allows the player to spec the class out more to their liking. Using the shield removes AOE heal, using stimulant injectors removes any anti-vehicle capability (C4).

I agree this is a good idea as its a tradeoff of a good ability for another good ability.

[Rbstr]

An "infantry wrecking ball"...eh...I don't want to characterize it as bad but it's mostly not as good as LA/HA are at killing things.

Yes, the AR is better than the carbine. Better than the LMG? Sometimes, maybe. But, without the Jetpack and manuverability, they can't C4 things particularly well, and that's all the AV they get. Maneuverability has similar effects on shotgun usefulness.
The AOE/self heal is good when you're fighting a more fleeting hit-and-run sort of thing, but the personal shield outclasses for general survivability, given medikits.

It's a good class and certainly a big multiplier of the effectiveness of groups. But it's really not more effective at shooting stuff than anything else is.

Besides simply new and interesting ways to heal, Or troll, in the case of pain-fields, why not solidify their de facto "Medium Assault" role a bit and let them drop the AOE/self heal for light AV (so more of anti-max) tools - LAW equivalents.
I think that's key for enhancing the "combat" aspect: sacrificing the self heal for more power.

[BlaxicanX]

The medic doesn't need any buffs to its combat capability. It's already a member of the "holy trinity" of the classes that are required to win battles: Medic/Engineer/Heavy Assault.

If any classes need buffs to become more than just the niche/farm classes, it's the LA and Infiltrator.