Combat Medic Archive

(This thread is talking about nerf cries, and as such is automatically toeing the line of trolling. I *think* it is on the right side of the line, but if you disagree, or if the thread degenerates, please report it to a moderator and get it locked.)

Recently I was in a moderate PvP battle, and noticed that my poisons were not that effective. What I mean is, a person would clone and join the battle. I would poison them, but some party member would invariable kill the person before my poison ticked twice (or even once usually).

In PvP, there seems to be two types of death. There is the standard death, and the "first death". What makes the first one special is that after it, you lose all your buffs, effects of the foods you filled your stomach with (to prevent the death), lose your overt status, and are reset of a standard combat level, and effectively decrease your combat potential.

Currently, the framework of PvP seem to be to get buffed, declare overt status, go to the rebel outpost/imperial outpost/coronet/etc, and sit around looking for trouble. This continues for some time until a similarly buffed player shows up, or a group of 4 people get organized. After combat, you may or may not still be buffed, overt, and ready to fight, but regardless, you feel a sense accomplishment after the fight.

If you add a single unbuffed combat medic (our strength is offense, so while buffs help, not absolutely required for PvP), things change. The combat medic the has a very good chance of seriously injuring or killing all but Teras Kasi and Doctors (because poisons continue after combat ends). Even worse, if you are "looking for trouble" in a faction city, the combat medic can simply clone and try again. After two or three attempts, you are dead.

The death isn't the problem though. The problem is that you are now unbuffed, not overt, and really can't do that much by yourself anymore. So the combat medic, simply by engaging you in combat, has seriously set back your plan for fun. The combat medic spent 5 minutes and 100 or so faction points, where as you lost 10-20k in buffs, and 30 or so minutes of time.

The same problem occurs in a base raid. There you might have a doctor to re-buff you, but the process wastes a minute and a half (during live combat even), takes a doctor out of combat, and leaves you both as vulnerable targets to attack.

Even if an elite combat class had a 90% chance of killing a combat medic nerf cries would probably still continue, because even if they die combat medics are very effective in causing that all important first death. If buffs weren't so powerful (such that you "needed" them for PvP combat) or if you didn't lose them after cloning, and if you could redeclare overt status immediately, then I expect the number of nerf cries might go down considerably. The problem isn't combat medic strength, or even the penalities of death, it's the penalities of the first death.

Note that this is another example of combat medics being effective where other classes are weak (in killing a well prepared and buffed player), but ineffective compared to other classes where they are strong (killing an unbuffed player with 400 maximum health).

Good points, in some cases it takes up to an hour to track down doc buffs and get entertainer buffs, then when a single CM zerg kills you who took NO time or PLANNING, just poisons you with no effort or stratagy and takes you down. Not only do you have to find new buffs to even fire a gun (Because HAM costs for BHs and Carbineers are so high), but you also have to wait 45 minutes for your stomach to empty. That truely is why CM is no fun. If they made this game so that buffs and armor were not required to fight in this game, like back in the day before 90% compo, then CMs would not be such a problem, but currently as 90% armor, psgs, buffs, ect are, they will outdamage anything a profession can throw out (possibly rifleman, but they're overpowered so they can't make a good benchmark.)

Stomach empties in 30 minutes, not that it matters really.

I think that a Master Squad Leader should be able to 'declare' their group members, IF they are in a Master Ranger Camp.

---

JudasTyberius wrote:

Stomach empties in 30 minutes, not that it matters really.

I think that a Master Squad Leader should be able to 'declare' their group members, IF they are in a Master Ranger Camp.

---

45 mins, bug.

CM's have to put a disease on you if they are going to actually kill you with their poisons. Otherwise you just cant spam specials. Disease/poison deathloop is a bug and will be corrected.

You're describing some group TEF and has no place on these boards. Go post that on the dev forums. Not too many people like tef as is.

The BH fire/kd leaves a nasty DoT and serious wounds that can only be extinguished by a doctor or by jumping into water if you can find any. Your dizzy/ chargeshot combo renders peopleunable to fight, run, or wet their pants while you spam your specials on them.

Tough about carbineer. I'd like for them to actually fix that prof. someday but that belongs on their boards not here.

Compare what happens when an imp and reb group with a CM fights it out. In large scale pvp you'll always have to contend with those.

Stomach empties in 45min despite what thunderheart thinks he's smoking.

READ MY SIG and dont come back here ever again.

Sorry about the misunderstanding jfang, I was responding to some of the other posters comments. You are correct though in that buffs are mandatory for any serious PvP. Even with a 70% reduction and heavy armor a person unable to regenerate their HAM die very very quickly. And due to the buffs cost and hassle to obtain you are correct in that many people become frusterated when they lose those buffs.

You are also correct in the fact that Combat Medics aren't overpowered. If you were to take away our mind poisons only what would we really have that is effective? Doctor buffs and novice medic useable stimB's already negate our ranged heals to a "luxury" item. Our ability to attack a non-healable pool that cant be sufficiently buffed to challenge a poison as well as a doctor buff can challenge a health poison is the real reason people say we are "overpowered." Give entertainers that boost to their buffs and the griefers would go away.

Your squad leader idea has actually been buzzing around for a while now. The GCW is hurting badly since its hard enough to find a place to declare and within a reasonable distance. The camp idea is new but I really like it.

---

Brainplay wrote:

You are also correct in the fact that Combat Medics aren't overpowered.

---

you dont really believe that do you? Relative to other profs, CM sure as hell is not balanced and it sure as hell is not underpowered. i guess that just leaves overpowered. btw, i am a master combat medic and yes we are overpowered in the current system.

Not actually airing an opinion here, just pointing out an error of fact...call me Mr Picky.

Fire Knockdown does NOT inflict a DoT of any form. Its a chance of KD with a chance of a dizzy state effect.

Torso Shot in fact inflicts a fairly weak fire DoT to the targets health pool and causes some moderate wounding, even then, nothing in comparison to CM poisons and diseases. (I know a poison alone won't kill me but you NEVER see a poison thrown without a disease following it)

hey jfang

very good point! thats the problem plain and clear /agree

---

NoShields wrote:

Not actually airing an opinion here, just pointing out an error of fact...call me Mr Picky.

Fire Knockdown does NOT inflict a DoT of any form. Its a chance of KD with a chance of a dizzy state effect.

Torso Shot in fact inflicts a fairly weak fire DoT to the targets health pool and causes some moderate wounding, even then, nothing in comparison to CM poisons and diseases. (I know a poison alone won't kill me but you NEVER see a poison thrown without a disease following it)

---

Sorry but yeah if you take away the disease/poison incap death what do we have? Only reason people grief is because they cant heal the mind pool. Make it healable and guess what? We dont have crap again. I do more damage with headshot 3 than any of my poisons.

And yes fire/kd is a kd with a chance to set on fire. No dizzy effect in that one. Maybe you're thinking of something from carbineer.

"What I mean is, a person would clone and join the battle. I would poison them"

Camping the clone.../sigh