Combat Medic Archive
Thread: questions and misconceptions about CMs
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SolSpur
Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:35 pm
#1
I’ve been a long time CM and read the forums daily. Everyday I see another anti cm
post pop up regurgating the same information. I thought it was just the player base
ignoring us till a few recent posts (ex what is cho-nor-hoola) began popping up.
I’ve come to realize its not that they’re ignoring us, its that they don’t know the
workings of our profession beyond whats stated in the faq and that we use poisons.
I’ve composed a list of common questions and misconceptions about our profession.
I hope this will answer many of the repeated questions that pop up day after day.
What is a Combat Medic?
We ask ourselves the same question. According to the developers we can choose to be
We ask ourselves the same question. According to the developers we can choose to be
Healers with some combat skills or Combatants with a side of healing. Many combat
medics feel our healing capabilities are low for the amount of skill points
invested. Combat medics are required to master the medic profession as a pre
requisite, yet the strength of our healing does not increase. Medic requires 77
skill points while combat medic requires 169. That’s an additional 92 skill points
for the ability to toss ranged stims.
But most combat medics don’t heal, they poison. Whys that?
Many combat medics want to be healers but due to the current pvp conditions,
Many combat medics want to be healers but due to the current pvp conditions,
healing is relatively useless. According to the developers many smart crafters have
gone beyond what they thought could be made. Doctors are capable of crafting buff
packs that increase all non mind stats over 3 times that of a normal players.
Combining that with 40% stun 90% all else composite turns the average player into a
pvp god to most classes. Due to the high resists almost all damage is directed
towards the mind thus rendering the healing aspect of cm usless. As a support role
and a combat multiplyer, cms turn to their poisons and diseases to increase the
effectivness of their group.
How come the CM never misses when throwing poisons?
Combat medics do miss from time to time, even more when the opponent is prepared.
Combat medics do miss from time to time, even more when the opponent is prepared.
When a combat medic crafts his or her poisons or diseases there is a stat called
potency that effects the chance for the poison to effect you. Many CMs increase
potency to the point where the poison has a very high chance to stick but there are
ways around it which will be discussed farther down the article.
Why don’t CMs have a 75% damage reduction like everyone else?
The reason poisons don’t get a 75% reduction is because it’s a special kind of
The reason poisons don’t get a 75% reduction is because it’s a special kind of
damage. Poisons and diseases are on a healing platform instead of a damage
platform. Think of poisons and diseases as negative heals. By reducing our damage
by 75% we inadvertently reduce our heals by 75%. Another reason why CMs were exempt
from the 75% reduction is due to our dps (damage per second) being among the lowest
of all combat professions. A high end non venom area poison will do about 500
damage a tick once every 10 seconds. That comes out to 50 damage a second. A 75%
reduction would reduce our dps to 12.5 damage a second.
500 a tick poison is bull, I get hit for over 1000 a tick.
This is due to a looted sub component called spider venom. It is a rare drop and in
This is due to a looted sub component called spider venom. It is a rare drop and in
the hands of a good crafter can become very deadly. Spider venom is a replacement
for a sub component called a infection amplifier. A high end crafter can make 50 –
60 strength infection amps while the weakest spider venom is around 90 strength.
That 1000 a tick poison was from a pre nerf venom. I try to avoid personal opinions
in an article such as this but I have to say venom is overpowered. With any looted
sub there should be a cost. Rancor bile greatly increases the number of charges at
the cost of range. Dunkowa loot increases potency at the cost of effectiveness.
With venom there is no associated cost, its just overall better.
The cm hit me almost 100 meters away, why?
The developers capped the base range on poisons and diseases at 48 meters. A master
The developers capped the base range on poisons and diseases at 48 meters. A master
cm has a 2x range modifier essentially able to throw 96 meters. The devs stated
this was a bug and is being looked at. The typical cm won’t be able to reach the
48m base and is reserved for high end crafters. Putting experimentation points into
charges will increase the range but leaves little for effectiveness which controls
damage.
How come when the cm dies the poison keeps ticking?
Poisons and diseases are biological weapons. They are not sentient and continue to
Poisons and diseases are biological weapons. They are not sentient and continue to
do their job until they’re finished and die off or are cured by a doctor or
meditated away. If I were to poison you in real life and you in turn killed me the
poison wouldn’t stop, that’s the nature of a bio weapon.
A cm hit me with a poison and I died instantly.
The instant poison of death is just an urban legend. Poisons run on a 10 second
The instant poison of death is just an urban legend. Poisons run on a 10 second
timer and diseases on a 40 second timer. Poisons by themselves will never kill,
instead they will leave your stat at +1. By combining poison and any wound dealing
attacks such as fire or disease you will incap. This is due to the nature of wound
dealing attacks. Poisons do straight damage while fire and diseases do damage and
wounds. If you have a 800 of 1000 health and are hit with say a 200 wound dealing
disease, 40 seconds later your health would be 600/800. An idea was suggested that
wound dealing attacks only effect your max stat. That way instead of 600/800 health
you would still have 800/800 and never drop below 1/1.
A cm hit me with poison at lightning speed. I thought the cap was 4 seconds?
The cap is 4 seconds and a stop and throw animation. CMs and docs are able to
The cap is 4 seconds and a stop and throw animation. CMs and docs are able to
perform healing actions at 1 per second using a bugged food called havla. It has
been presented to the developers as a hot issue by both the chef and cm
corrospondant. Havla unbalances the cm vs doc and should be removed.
A cm hit me through a wall, how?
A cms target must be in line of sight. Poisoning through walls occurs when a cm
A cms target must be in line of sight. Poisoning through walls occurs when a cm
hits someone outside and the area of effect goes through the wall. It’s a known bug
but not much can be done about it atm.
How do I protect myself from a cm, better yet how do I kill him
CMs are relatively easy to kill having only 6 ranged defense in their skills. In
CMs are relatively easy to kill having only 6 ranged defense in their skills. In
the heat of battle healers are always targeted first. When you see an enemy stop
and throw a glowing ball in the air, that’s your target. Careful planning can
render a cm useless. Doctors are the counters to cms and necessary for any pvp
group. A good ratio is one doc for every three combat professions. Another way to
protect yourself from a cm is to aquire poison and disease resist tapes. With +25
poison and disease resist the cms potency will be reduced by 25%. Combine the chef
food cho-nor-hoola for an additional 20 – 25 % resists. With 50 poison resists that
130 potency poison will almost never stick. Doing a few tests with +50 poison
resists a 130 potency poison was resisted 7 out of 10 tosses. Another way to
further increase your resistances against cms is to use a rebreather which are
looted off high lvl npcs. And finaly its always good to have a fully buffed mind
with 2 420 brandy and canapé. Many players are run and gun, kill anything they see
kind of ppl. When fighting against cms teamwork is essential to you and your groups
survival.
How can I expect cms to change in the future?
Right now a good majority of changes have yet to be verified by the devs but we
Right now a good majority of changes have yet to be verified by the devs but we
know this.
Mind will be less of an impact on pvp
CMs will never get a 75% reduction
Mind mitigation spice is in the works
Some ideas have been mentioned on improving the healing capability of cms. Not all
of us are cms just for poisons : )
Allow cms to be the only class able to heal while engaged in combat, we are Combat
medics after all. All other classes will have to disengage from combat to heal.
This will give cms the place as ultimate frontline support healer and docs the
ultimate wound healer.
Give cms ranged/area cure stats. As it stands cms can cure only 3 status effects
while docs can cure 13. Being a front line support class, we would be more
effective at administering ranged cures.
Give cms a ranged healing dot, similar to poisons only positive heals instead of
negatives. This would allow cms to increase the life expectancy of their groups and
act as a counter to enemy poisons.
Give cms a passive group poison and disease resist. An idea but might be more
suited for a squad leader.
In conclusion I just want to say cms are not trying to ruin pvp. Cms are the scape
goats for a broken system. I hope this article has given you some insight on our
profession and cleared up some common misunderstandings. : )
*edit spacing*
Message Edited by SolSpur on 06-24-2004 09:38 PM
Pahdbacca
Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:50 pm
#2
SolSpur wrote:
Why don’t CMs have a 75% damage reduction like everyone else?
The reason poisons don’t get a 75% reduction is because it’s a special kind of
damage. Poisons and diseases are on a healing platform instead of a damage
platform. Think of poisons and diseases as negative heals. By reducing our damage
by 75% we inadvertently reduce our heals by 75%. Another reason why CMs were exempt
from the 75% reduction is due to our dps (damage per second) being among the lowest
of all combat professions. A high end non venom area poison will do about 500
damage a tick once every 10 seconds. That comes out to 50 damage a second. A 75%
reduction would reduce our dps to 12.5 damage a second.
Not too sure about the first reason. All they would have to do is change the schematic like when thy nerfed FWG5 and scatter pistols. Reducing should not be that much trouble if they wanted to do it.
Good write up otherwise.
SolSpur
Thu Jun 24, 2004 9:59 pm
#3
Thank you : )
I remember the devs mentioning the healing platform at fan fest. There was also a thread about it but I cant find it. :/
Mild-Breeze-Trooper
Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:40 am
#4
excellent post SolSpur,
You forgot to mention one common missconception though:
Doc cures don't work untill after three or four tries when trying to cure a poison, why?
This assumption is false. It has been tested and verified that well crafted poison cures are far supperior to the same level poison. ie there will not be any problems curing an A-poison with an A-cure.
It's when doctors try to cure C-poison with A-cures experimented for charges instead of power that several applications are necessary.
Spider Venom offsets this, but could be countered (should the doctor be inclined to do so) with Janta Blood.
Pahdbacca
Fri Jun 25, 2004 4:53 am
#5
/hugs his crate of 453 effectivness poison cures and gives it a big smooch!!!!
Edit:
THE CRAYON IS PURPLE.
I am off the Deep End
Message Edited by Pahdbacca on 06-25-2004 07:56 AM
jfang
Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:28 am
#6
I think somebody hasbeen spiking Pahdbacca's food or drink... Didn't your mother ever tell you not to drink brandy from strange chefs?
Pahdbacca wrote:
/hugs his crate of 453 effectivness poison cures and gives it a big smooch!!!!
Edit:
THE CRAYON IS PURPLE.
I am off the Deep End
Message Edited by Pahdbacca on 06-25-2004 07:56 AM
Kaejz
Fri Jun 25, 2004 6:45 am
#7
Another misconception: "CMs are relatively easy to kill having only 6 ranged defense in their skills."
As everyone knows, Rifleman is the most common weapon profession that people take with CM. Their ranged defense is rather respectable after this, not a measly 6.
Loonytic
Fri Jun 25, 2004 7:09 am
#8
Kaejz wrote:
Rifleman is the most common weapon profession that people take with CM.
another misconception
Message Edited by Loonytic on 06-25-2004 03:10 PM
SolSpur
Fri Jun 25, 2004 7:18 am
#9
As everyone knows, Rifleman is the most common weapon profession that people take with CM. Their ranged defense is rather respectable after this, not a measly 6.
Yes having rifleman gives a cm more defences, so do tka, fencer, ect. The point is this thread is just about the combat medic profession.
And about the power of cures, many docs dont know about janta blood which is much stronger then their advance bio effect controlers. Combined with the looted enhanced sub components it is possable for a doc to cure the very best venom poison and diseases in one application.
Blackmoore
Fri Jun 25, 2004 7:32 am
#10
SolSpur nice job dude. Now if you can get the whiners/nerf criers to actually read this thread then we might get somewhere. "You mean I have to think to play this game?" LOL
SolSpur
Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:36 am
#11
Theres many reasons why players dislike combat medics:
Most simply are not prepaired.
How many players have poison/disease food?
Resist attachments?
Enough docs to keep the group cured?
A smart player would have all of these and more. In the heat of battle typicaly the poisoned player will run around franticly shouting MEDIC!!!! I'm a doctor as well as cm and I hate chasing ppl. If they want a cure they come to me. If theres heavy fighting and I cant cure them at that moment any group should have a set waypoint with 2 - 3 docs and a dancer/musician on stand by.
Many find it appauling that a combat class would have to rely on a healer to survive. Full combat professions believe they're superior to the healing classes but in truth, we are the back bone of the group.
To some players the only class that can damage them are combat medics.
Imagin someone with 4k HAM, 40% stun 90% all else composite, 55% psg, 50% damage reduction synthsteak, double dose of brandy. 100+ kd resist thakilito, 750+ canape, 50% doge pikata pie, and room for an emergency muon. Combine this with multi stacked defences and your a walking tank. The only class that can hurt you are cms. Now theirs two ways to look at the situation. Either cm is overpowerd, no way should any class be able to hurt me, or every other class is underpowered. Its easier to point fingers and cry nerf, then admit your too powerful for your own good.
jfang
Fri Jun 25, 2004 8:54 am
#12
In defense of the "nerf CM" people, foods and skill attachments have been shown to be ineffective defenses. However, this is more a comment about the state of cho-nor-hola than combat medic effectiveness.
I think your comments about doctors are valid though. 
DoctorGriggs
Fri Jun 25, 2004 9:33 am
#13
Well, I am a CM and have been for a while. I use it primarily for healing though. Contrary to your post, healing is still VERY important. In the Death Watch Bunker or the Corellian Corvette my skills prove invaluable.
As for PvP I rarely if ever use poisons or diseases in PvP. I have been on the receiving end far too many times and I know how not fun it is.
Our solution on Gorath is the "Gorath Convention" - it is still being drafted. It is a kind of take off of the Geneva Convention where we lay the ground rules for war. One rule we are working with is limiting CM ticks to 250-300 and range to like 32 or so. Still working on it.
I just wish more people took CM for the healing because as healers we REALLY excel
As for PvP I rarely if ever use poisons or diseases in PvP. I have been on the receiving end far too many times and I know how not fun it is.
Our solution on Gorath is the "Gorath Convention" - it is still being drafted. It is a kind of take off of the Geneva Convention where we lay the ground rules for war. One rule we are working with is limiting CM ticks to 250-300 and range to like 32 or so. Still working on it.
I just wish more people took CM for the healing because as healers we REALLY excel
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