Combat Medic Archive
Thread: What works for combat medics
2) All of our items work as expected. (Does anybody really know how Bio-engineer crafting works, and why some 10 CL crafted creatures are considered "too strong" by the systemand thus can't be called?)
3) All our items are useful, even our secondary diseases to a limited scope. (When is the last time a armorsmith sold a set of bone or padded armor?)
4) We have unique and valuable special abilities. (What can a masterpistoleer do that a masterrifleman can't do only better?)
5) All of our specials work properly. (How many commandos use a heavy acid rifle or grenades on a regular basis?)
6) We have a distinct and important role to play in battle and the GCW. It is arguable *which* role it is, but undisputably we have a place. (How does an image designer help the rebellion?)
7) We are valued members in general PvE parties, because of healmind if nothing else. (When was the last time aranger was asked to join a general, nota high-end,hunting party?)
8) We are valued members in PvP parties. (When was the last time a pikeman was actively sought out as being important to join a base raid?)
9) We are valued, and almost necessary, party members for high end content. (How many *successful* groups go to the Death Watch Bunker without a combat medic?)
10) We have solo content. (What can a dancer do by himself or herself at 2:00 am in the morning?)
11) There is a definite, even arguably too steep, increase in skills as you level. (If you buy packs, is there really a difference between a 4440 doctor and a master doctor?)
12) We have "high end content" to further improve ourselves, such as searching for spider venom and skill tapes. (After mastering squad leader, what can you do?)
13) We are not entirely dependent on buffs to be 100% effective. (Watching a carbineer spam specials in combat without buffs is scary and kind of sad.)
14) If you want our abilities, you need to pay for them. (How many vendors are really owned by people who have merchant skills?)
15) We have a place out of combat, such as diseasing for a grinding musician or medic, and fly-by healing of newbies. (How can a teras kasi really be of any use in Coronet without a PvP battle going on?)
16) CSRs are notrunning rampant in regards to exploits for combat medics. (Sorry for the fencers who are having glitched stun batons which cost millionsconfiscated.)
Edited: Fixed another grammer error on line 6. 
Message Edited by jfang on 06-03-2004 09:53 AM
jfang wrote:
With all the posts about bugs, imbalances, and monetary woes, people might forget all that the combat medic profession has which is good. With the forums appearing quiet recently, I thought this would be a good time to mention what our class has that is good and working (and highlighting some classes which are not so lucky):
1) All our schematics are working. (How long have tailors not been able to see the necklaces they craft?)
Now. After they fixed that Ranged StimE bug and gave us full experimentaiton on our subcomponents.
2) All of our items work as expected. (Does anybody really know how Bio-engineer crafting works, and why some 10 CL crafted creatures are considered "too strong" by the systemand thus can't be called?)
3) All our items are useful, even our secondary diseases to a limited scope. (When is the last time a armorsmith sold a set of bone or padded armor?)
Well...I don't know that our Constitution Disease A packs are really worthwhile.
4) We have unique and valuable special abilities. (What can a masterpistoleer do that a masterrifleman can't do only better?)
Specifically target someone's weapon and destroy it. Hit multiple targets that are surrounding him, not in a cone in front. Knock someone down.
5) All of our specials work properly. (How many commandos use a heavy acid rifle or grenades on a regular basis?)
6) We have a distinct and important role to play in battle and the GCW. It is arguable *which* role it is, but undisputably we have a place. (How does an image designer help the rebellion?)
Hey, IDs make the GCW look pretty!
7) We are valued members in general PvE parties, because of healmind if nothing else. (When was the last time aranger was asked to join a general, nota high-end,hunting party?)
True.
8) We are valued members in PvP parties. (When was the last time a pikeman was actively sought out as being important to join a base raid?)
9) We are valued, and almost necessary, party members for high end content. (How many *successful* groups go to the Death Watch Bunker without a combat medic?)
10) We have solo content. (What can a dancer do by himself or herself at 2:00 am in the morning?)
Eep. I don't see much solo content as "just" a CM. You need to complement it with your other skills to have solo abilities.
11) There is a definite, even arguably too steep, increase in skills as you level. (If you buy packs, is there really a difference between a 4440 doctor and a master doctor?)
12) We have "high end content" to further improve ourselves, such as searching for spider venom and skill tapes. (After mastering squad leader, what can you do?)
Master SL has tapes too! Of course, they are pretty worthless regardless. :/
13) We are not entirely dependent on buffs to be 100% effective. (Watching a carbineer spam specials in combat without buffs is scary and kind of sad.)
14) If you want our abilities, you need to pay for them. (How many vendors are really owned by people who have merchant skills?)
Not sure I understand this one completely, unless you're just making fun of the Merchants. Do remember however, that anyone can run a factory run of Health Poison Cs if they haev the resources, subcomponents, and a schematic premade for them. I ran a successful CM shop for several weeks without having any of the CM tree this way. So it's not "entirely" true...most people just overlook the fact that you can produce items without having the skillpoints.
15) We have a place out of combat, such as diseasing for a grinding musician or medic, and fly-by healing of newbies. (How can a teras kasi really be of any use in Coronet without a PvP battle going on?)
16) CSRs are notrunning rampant in regards to exploits for combat medics. (Sorry for the fencers who are having glitched stun batons which cost millionsconfiscated.)
Not anymore...although when you could disease corpses, there were exploit-screamers all around!
17) The high SP cost and limited market of items means that there is abasic amount of knowledge with the people you talk and trade with. (I'm sure every master weaponsmith has gotten a "I'm just starting pistols, what is the best pistol in the game" or the "give me a free weapon, I'm a noob" request at some point or another.)
Yeah..but I've gotten quite a few questions from starting CMs and other people. It's not as prevalent, but the same questions do exist. Lol. I even had them when I started out! That's what this forum is (supposed to be) for!
We might have money problems, balance problem, and trolls on our forums. And there might be a long road ahead of us for fixing and balancing issues. However, don't forget that for the most part things our class is working well, and things could be a *LOT* worse.
True true...good post. I was just making my own comments, and playing a happy Devil's Advocate.
jkray8472 wrote:
jfang wrote:
14) If you want our abilities, you need to pay for them. (How many vendors are really owned by people who have merchant skills?)
Not sure I understand this one completely, unless you're just making fun of the Merchants. Do remember however, that anyone can run a factory run of Health Poison Cs if they haev the resources, subcomponents, and a schematic premade for them. I ran a successful CM shop for several weeks without having any of the CM tree this way. So it's not "entirely" true...most people just overlook the fact that you can produce items without having the skillpoints.
Just to explain this bug, currently, merchants never vanish. So what people do is master merchant (or get as high as they care to), and set up their shops, dressing all the vendors of course. They even might pick up their house and factory and replant it so they get a lower maintenance. Then they drop all their merchant skills and bonuses "for free", because the system does not re-set their shops. This is a major problem for merchants because basically anybody can gain merchant skills who is so inclined at no cost and cut out the middle man, so a pure merchant has finds it difficult to find a place in the economy. (They are one of the few elite classes which have more money problems that combat medics do, I think.)
I believe there was a post in regards to this on the combat medic forum (among other things), petitioning to get them to abandon the planned bug fix, using the argument that many people would lose their vendors and the economy would grind to a halt (which may or may not be plausible). (To the best of my knowledge the devs currently consider this a priority issue to fix, but there is no expected timeline for it. It's been a long time since I've visited the merchant forum.)
Of note, it is this "free skills" problem which is why the devsmed use and combat med use tapes unusable.
jkray8472 wrote:
jfang wrote:
With all the posts about bugs, imbalances, and monetary woes, people might forget all that the combat medic profession has which is good. With the forums appearing quiet recently, I thought this would be a good time to mention what our class has that is good and working (and highlighting some classes which are not so lucky):
1) All our schematics are working. (How long have tailors not been able to see the necklaces they craft?)
Now. After they fixed that Ranged StimE bug and gave us full experimentaiton on our subcomponents.
2) All of our items work as expected. (Does anybody really know how Bio-engineer crafting works, and why some 10 CL crafted creatures are considered "too strong" by the systemand thus can't be called?)
3) All our items are useful, even our secondary diseases to a limited scope. (When is the last time a armorsmith sold a set of bone or padded armor?)
Well...I don't know that our Constitution Disease A packs are really worthwhile.
4) We have unique and valuable special abilities. (What can a masterpistoleer do that a masterrifleman can't do only better?)
Specifically target someone's weapon and destroy it. Hit multiple targets that are surrounding him, not in a cone in front. Knock someone down.
5) All of our specials work properly. (How many commandos use a heavy acid rifle or grenades on a regular basis?)
6) We have a distinct and important role to play in battle and the GCW. It is arguable *which* role it is, but undisputably we have a place. (How does an image designer help the rebellion?)
Hey, IDs make the GCW look pretty!
7) We are valued members in general PvE parties, because of healmind if nothing else. (When was the last time aranger was asked to join a general, nota high-end,hunting party?)
True.
8) We are valued members in PvP parties. (When was the last time a pikeman was actively sought out as being important to join a base raid?)
9) We are valued, and almost necessary, party members for high end content. (How many *successful* groups go to the Death Watch Bunker without a combat medic?)
10) We have solo content. (What can a dancer do by himself or herself at 2:00 am in the morning?)
Eep. I don't see much solo content as "just" a CM. You need to complement it with your other skills to have solo abilities.
11) There is a definite, even arguably too steep, increase in skills as you level. (If you buy packs, is there really a difference between a 4440 doctor and a master doctor?)
12) We have "high end content" to further improve ourselves, such as searching for spider venom and skill tapes. (After mastering squad leader, what can you do?)
Master SL has tapes too! Of course, they are pretty worthless regardless. :/
13) We are not entirely dependent on buffs to be 100% effective. (Watching a carbineer spam specials in combat without buffs is scary and kind of sad.)
14) If you want our abilities, you need to pay for them. (How many vendors are really owned by people who have merchant skills?)
Not sure I understand this one completely, unless you're just making fun of the Merchants. Do remember however, that anyone can run a factory run of Health Poison Cs if they haev the resources, subcomponents, and a schematic premade for them. I ran a successful CM shop for several weeks without having any of the CM tree this way. So it's not "entirely" true...most people just overlook the fact that you can produce items without having the skillpoints.
15) We have a place out of combat, such as diseasing for a grinding musician or medic, and fly-by healing of newbies. (How can a teras kasi really be of any use in Coronet without a PvP battle going on?)
16) CSRs are notrunning rampant in regards to exploits for combat medics. (Sorry for the fencers who are having glitched stun batons which cost millionsconfiscated.)
Not anymore...although when you could disease corpses, there were exploit-screamers all around!
17) The high SP cost and limited market of items means that there is abasic amount of knowledge with the people you talk and trade with. (I'm sure every master weaponsmith has gotten a "I'm just starting pistols, what is the best pistol in the game" or the "give me a free weapon, I'm a noob" request at some point or another.)
Yeah..but I've gotten quite a few questions from starting CMs and other people. It's not as prevalent, but the same questions do exist. Lol. I even had them when I started out! That's what this forum is (supposed to be) for!
We might have money problems, balance problem, and trolls on our forums. And there might be a long road ahead of us for fixing and balancing issues. However, don't forget that for the most part things our class is working well, and things could be a *LOT* worse.
True true...good post. I was just making my own comments, and playing a happy Devil's Advocate.
jfang wrote:
Just to explain this bug, currently, merchants never vanish. So what people do is master merchant (or get as high as they care to), and set up their shops, dressing all the vendors of course. They even might pick up their house and factory and replant it so they get a lower maintenance. Then they drop all their merchant skills and bonuses "for free", because the system does not re-set their shops. This is a major problem for merchants because basically anybody can gain merchant skills who is so inclined at no cost and cut out the middle man, so a pure merchant has finds it difficult to find a place in the economy. (They are one of the few elite classes which have more money problems that combat medics do, I think.)
I believe there was a post in regards to this on the combat medic forum (among other things), petitioning to get them to abandon the planned bug fix, using the argument that many people would lose their vendors and the economy would grind to a halt (which may or may not be plausible). (To the best of my knowledge the devs currently consider this a priority issue to fix, but there is no expected timeline for it. It's been a long time since I've visited the merchant forum.)
Of note, it is this "free skills" problem which is why the devsmed use and combat med use tapes unusable.
Yes, I know about the bug where you can keep your vendors. As I was pointing out, several other professions have very similar bugs, however. I dropped Master CH, but I still have 20 creatures in my datapad, for example.
Also, anyone can use factories to load schematics and run a fully functioning vendor. If I took the time to really organize, and get my guild AS to run off schematics for me once a week, I could stock a full armor vendor--without ever paying a single skill point. I was just pointing out that I think it's hypocritical if they fix the merchant bug, but not the others. You should only be able to load a schematic into a factory if you could make that schematic in the first place. Otherwise you are gaining the ability to make 1000 items that you could not make before, and at the cost of 0 skill points.
I think if Merchants could give people admin access to their vendors...it would be a nice compromise on the Merchant bug. They could rent out a vendor for say...20% of the profits...and then the other person can load it up as need be. But that's another discussion...and one more suited to the Merchant forums.
saladin123 wrote:
4) We have unique and valuable special abilities. (What can a masterpistoleer do that a masterrifleman can't do only better?)
Specifically target someone's weapon and destroy it. Hit multiple targets that are surrounding him, not in a cone in front. Knock someone down.
Disarming shot is broken. Strafe shot 2 with a t21 is million times better than fan shot!
jkray8472 wrote:
Yes, I know about the bug where you can keep your vendors. As I was pointing out, several other professions have very similar bugs, however. I dropped Master CH, but I still have 20 creatures in my datapad, for example.
Also, anyone can use factories to load schematics and run a fully functioning vendor. If I took the time to really organize, and get my guild AS to run off schematics for me once a week, I could stock a full armor vendor--without ever paying a single skill point. I was just pointing out that I think it's hypocritical if they fix the merchant bug, but not the others. You should only be able to load a schematic into a factory if you could make that schematic in the first place. Otherwise you are gaining the ability to make 1000 items that you could not make before, and at the cost of 0 skill points.
I think if Merchants could give people admin access to their vendors...it would be a nice compromise on the Merchant bug. They could rent out a vendor for say...20% of the profits...and then the other person can load it up as need be. But that's another discussion...and one more suited to the Merchant forums.
Aha, I see what you are saying.
Many professions share issues with what I mentioned, I just listed one for brevity of posting. That Merchants have issues with people getting free skills does not mean others don't. And if creature handles havesimilarissues, my condolences to them too. I hope they get that fixed soon too. (At least a non-CH can't call out a level45 rancor though. )
As for being able to use a factory to make 1000 items, in this case, you aren't getting a free skill. In theory, you still need to pay somebody for the schematic (I'm sure your guild AS can request some things from you too). If somebody asks me for a schematic for Mind Area Poison C's, I'll offer some discount as it is easier to make, but I'm still charginga unit cost for each use of the schematic, which is why you can limit the schematic's uses. I would draw the parallel between schematics and being able to rent a vendor from a merchant (you get something "for free", but it is dependent on another player and you likely need to pay something for it), rather than between schematics and getting free vendors through a game bug.
jkray8472 wrote:
saladin123 wrote:
4) We have unique and valuable special abilities. (What can a masterpistoleer do that a masterrifleman can't do only better?)
Specifically target someone's weapon and destroy it. Hit multiple targets that are surrounding him, not in a cone in front. Knock someone down.
Disarming shot is broken. Strafe shot 2 with a t21 is million times better than fan shot!
I don't know about Disarming shot. I keep meaning to do tests. StrafeShot2 is a million times more powerful than FanShot, yes. However, I was referring to Multi-Target Shot, which will strike enemies surrounding you, not ones merely in a cone in front of you. It's not more powerful, but it's something that Pistoleers can do that Riflemen can't.
jfang wrote:
Aha, I see what you are saying.
Many professions share issues with what I mentioned, I just listed one for brevity of posting. That Merchants have issues with people getting free skills does not mean others don't. And if creature handles havesimilarissues, my condolences to them too. I hope they get that fixed soon too. (At least a non-CH can't call out a level45 rancor though.
As for being able to use a factory to make 1000 items, in this case, you aren't getting a free skill. In theory, you still need to pay somebody for the schematic (I'm sure your guild AS can request some things from you too). If somebody asks me for a schematic for Mind Area Poison C's, I'll offer some discount as it is easier to make, but I'm still charginga unit cost for each use of the schematic, which is why you can limit the schematic's uses. I would draw the parallel between schematics and being able to rent a vendor from a merchant (you get something "for free", but it is dependent on another player and you likely need to pay something for it), rather than between schematics and getting free vendors through a game bug.
I see what you're saying. That is not the perfect analogy, I agree...but the reason I made the parallel in the first place had to do with my own personal situation a few months ago. I had Master CM, and I made several factory runs of subcomponents, and used those components to assemble schematics for all the types of poisons, diseases, and stims. I then dropped CM, but kept a fully stocked vendor, and made custom orders, for months...using these schematics and stuff. It took a lot of organization and advance planning, but I saw it as a parallel to the merchant thing.
I currently have a vendor that I wish I could re-dress, and change his name...but I can't b/c I dropped the profession. Just like I couldn't change any of the schematics, but was locked into them after I dropped CM. IT's not a perfect parallel, but the resemblance between those two situations was pretty uncanny for me!
It's nice to see someone very active on the CM boards like you...who's just screaming nerf, but is logically thinking through many of the pros and cons. Here's a toast to you!
jkray8472 wrote:
I see what you're saying. That is not the perfect analogy, I agree...but the reason I made the parallel in the first place had to do with my own personal situation a few months ago. I had Master CM, and I made several factory runs of subcomponents, and used those components to assemble schematics for all the types of poisons, diseases, and stims. I then dropped CM, but kept a fully stocked vendor, and made custom orders, for months...using these schematics and stuff. It took a lot of organization and advance planning, but I saw it as a parallel to the merchant thing.
I currently have a vendor that I wish I could re-dress, and change his name...but I can't b/c I dropped the profession. Just like I couldn't change any of the schematics, but was locked into them after I dropped CM. IT's not a perfect parallel, but the resemblance between those two situations was pretty uncanny for me!
It's nice to see someone very active on the CM boards like you...who's just screaming nerf, but is logically thinking through many of the pros and cons. Here's a toast to you!
Your right, that is a pretty uncanny resemblence. I didn't think about it that way. Hmm... I guess in some regards every crafting profession is drop-able (loot crafting not included). That's kind of disturbing...
Edited: added middle paragraph
Edited: added edited comments
Message Edited by jfang on 06-04-2004 02:06 PM
jfang wrote:
"who's just screaming nerf, but is logically thinking through many of the pros and cons"? Have I been screaming nerf? I've tried to advocate change to try to balance the profession on several occasions(sometimes empowering, sometime weakening combat medic), but I don't think I've really ever called for a full blown nerf (except for maybe the "poisons do less damage outside of combat" idea). Hmm (again)...
Oops, typo. I meant someone "who's NOT just screaming nerf, but is logically thinking through many of the pros and cons"!!!
Lol. I actually sent Taurin a Forum PM about the crafting parallel to the merchant situation and he actually responded, and said that nobody had pointed that up, and he'd show it to his superiors. I was all bubbly.