Medic Might: Don't Call Me Heal-bot

Tags: medic, pax, preview

        The second class I played at PAX was the Medic, the primary healer of the game. It didn't take long to confirm that any TF2 medic would be jealous of this class. The GA Medic has a wide variety of poisons, buffs, protection abilities, and various damage types to go along with their many different forms of healing. My character's build mostly consisted of healing and buffing abilities but I was still able to dish out a good deal of damage. There was also never a moment where I felt bored when healing, only relief that combat had ceased long enough to finish the job. The map I played was Seaside, so most of the screenshots are of that level and they all come from the official website. Each picture shows a medic wearing their trademark armor with glowing tubes, except for the second to last, which shows (down behind the battle) the capture point and enclosure that I refer to in the story.
 
    I stared into the stormy sky for a moment, losing myself in the beautiful landscape as I absorbed the scene around me. We had just landed at the mission site and my teammates were already scattering around the arena. I hurried to catch a small group of them traveling towards the building ahead, they would make perfect patients for testing my new medical devices. I shot one with a beam from my Multi-Surger, transmitting healing energy through the glowing stream of light. The gun made it quite easy to string heals between three targets at once, and though each one had to be selected separately, it seemed more efficient than an automatic chain. The secondary fire added an extra healing boost which burned through my energy supply in seconds, but as I soon found out, it got the job done.
 

    It wasn't long before I got to try my new weapons in combat. The building before us housed a capture point on the ground floor and there were already two enemies inside, a Robotic and a Recon. The Robotic had placed his rocket turret behind the proximity mines of the Recon, who immediately vanished once we came into view. My Assault ally blew the turret apart with his mini-gun while I patched his wounds and saved him from the same fate. It took some practice to manage the delicate balance between healing and recovering energy. But the extra challenge helped solidify the idea that GA Medics are far more than mindless heal-bots.
 
    After we toasted the enemy Robotic, I switched to my Euthanizer Rifle to help blast his leftover equipment. Unfortunately, that gave the enemy Recon a chance to pop up and lay waste to my team. A few back-stabs made surprisingly quick work of the Assault's health bar, leaving my Robotic buddy and I to finish the job by ourselves. My ally braced himself for the Recon's charge as I slid out my Poison Injector Dagger, giving our opponent a lethal dose of his own back-stabbing medicine. Feeling the sting of my blade, the Recon turned his attention towards me, but I kept my guard up while the poison ran it's course. My Robotic friend landed the finishing blow with his crackling lightning mace, and together, we captured the point.
 
    Our fallen allies began re-spawning behind us and joined in our struggle to keep the point. After a few more encounters, we were confident that it would remain safe for the time being. Our small group went searching for the rest of our team and the skirmishes along the way, made it clear that my current build wasn't good for self healing. I silently cursed my companions for taking healing orbs that they didn't need and made a mental note to be aware of my healer's health in the future. We found a group of allies attacking a capture point which was placed precariously close to the arena's edge. There was a little enclosure to the right of the point that was surely designed for crafty Robotics to use. Our enemies had closed off the entrance with force fields, keeping us out in the storm while they were left free to hide in their little village of turrets and healing stations.
 
    As we pushed forward, I buffed my nearby allies with a Protection Wave, giving us a higher resistance to damage. However, in spite of the extra protection, the bullet wounds were piling up faster than my energy reserves. Our only hope was to steer clear of the Robotics' bunker and draw out the other attackers. I hit my Frenzy Wave for support, which shot out a burst of healing around me and gave my allies a damage boost for a short while. Without backup from their battlement, we made short work of our foes as they chased us. I was clearly a popular target though, and by the end of the first wave, I was standing on my last leg.
 
    It was time for a final push, but I wasn't about to let my teammates have all the fun. My morale ability had been building up throughout the mission and it was finally ready. With the press of a button, my group was automatically healed over the next critical moments, leaving me free to wield my rifle in the ensuing battle. We moved just into view of the far turret and let our arsenal negotiate the enemy's surrender. They franticly rushed to rebuild their stronghold but as we inched our way forward, we blasted the turrets one by one, scoring a victory for our side and proving once again that strategy is superior to fire power.
 
For more info on the Assault class check out the Ten Ton Hammer Medic Q&A here
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