Development Cycle Archive
Thread: IC 1-4: Combat Roles; Combat Medic
vortexala wrote:
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?
The Combat Medics role in combat is two-fold.
On the one hand, they are the ultimate damage healing profession. They surpass the Medic Profession as well as the Doctor Profession in their ability to heal massive ammounts of damage a player receives and doing so at long range and on a large scale. Ranged and Area Stims are bar none the best in-combat support abilities in the game.
On the second hand they also have the ability to apply damage via poisons as well as wounds via diseases, both singularly as well as too a large opposing force.
Their role in combat is not only as the major healing support, keeping an entire group alive better and faster then any doctor could, but also in providing crowd control in the guise of extremely hard-to-craft poisons and by having the ability to 'sideline' an opposing force through the use of equally hard-to-craft diseases.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
There really aren't any 'basic' combat elements that a CM should possess other then what is granted in Novice Marksman or along the Ranged Support Branch. Perhaps a weapon cert could be inserted into that branch at some point, but even without the CMs are fine.
What offensive abilities?
They should retain their current offensive abilities of both poison as well as diseases. They should also, perhaps, be given the ability to inflict states upon opponents as a way of fulfilling counterpart to the doctor ability to heal said states.
What defensive abilities?
There should, perhaps, be some form of poison/disease resistance skill mods inherent within the profession who has a title of 'Chemical Warfare Expert'. If they can make the poisons/diseases then they should be at least a bit immune.
What unique abilities?
The Area and Ranged healing/poisons/disease abilities are the only unique abilities that CMs require.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
The area and ranged stims should allow any group the ability to take on larger and tougher PvE opponents as well as outlast in PvP engagements. The ability to use 'crowd control' measures on enemies, both PvE and PvP, is also an added advantage.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
The really, as do most if not all Medical Professions, require a bit less interdepency upon others and more self sufficiency. As it stands, each Medical Profession can only advance through the healing of others and their consumables are only usable by others with similar skills.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
Combat Medic should NOT be the end-all, be-all Combat professions as some would wish. Nor should it be solely a 'Support Profession' as others claim. A 'Pure' Combat Medic should never be able to outdamage a Bounty Hunter or a Commando, but they should have the tools available to outwit other professions in terms ofusingtheir abilities to toss poisons and diseases as well as self-healing.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
The 'Unique' Role of Combat Medic in the Galactic Civil War is exactly what their abilities allow them to be... Crowd Control. If there is a bottleneck at the opening to a base which other Combat Professions are unable to penetrate alone, the Combat Medic in the group could let loose a volley of poisons and diseases to wreak havoc upon their enemies and weaken them to a point where the invading group can 'storm the castle' as it were.
General Comments
I implore the developers to seek the facts before making any further changes to this profession. Yes, there are indeed a lot of cries for the 'nerfing' of Combat Medics but you must understand where those cries are originating from and around the one particular type of poisons/diseases that have created the uproar.
They cry nerf stating that Combat Medics should be hit hard with the 75% reduction in PvP or the removal of poison or any other number of other inane ideas born of ignorance.
In PvE, poisons and diseases perform so poorly as to be useless. The ONLY place they are viable is within the realm of PvP. Some have even suggested that the 75% reduction had already been placed on the Combat Medics, only it landed squarely on their PvE abilities. Removing our poisons would only serve to weaken the profession to the point of non-existance. The argument of 'I don't pay 169 Skill Points just to throw stims' has surfaced time and again, and does have a valid point.
And yet, it isn't ALL of a CMs Poisons or Diseases that rally this sincere hatred. It is, in fact, just one. Namely, the Combat Medics ability to assault the mind with impunity.
Combat Medics are not alone in their ability to target the Mind pool, yet they are most often the focus of rage and nerf cries because of their ability to target this Unhealable(CM Mindheal ability notwithstanding) pool.
Leave it be until the HAM portion of the Combat Revamp is concluded. At that time, with the abilty for Medical Professions to exploit the heal system for xp removed, perhaps you can reintroduce our ability to heal mind in the same fashion that we do with Health and Action. Believe me when I say that, once Mind is made as readily healable as Health or Action, the nerf cries will cease.
I agree 100% with the above.
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?
Combat medics are force multipliers. They should not be as powerful one-on-one as other traditional combat professions, but within a group they elevate the ability of a group to accomplish a goal more than any other profession (except squad leader who has even fewer solo abilities).
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Healing, poisons, diseases
What offensive abilities?
Strong single target poisons and diseases. These are used to tactically take out a single opponent (for example, the opposition squad leader or combat medic). The strength of current single target posions and diseases seems correct. These already are weaker than /bodyshot2, /actionshot2, and /mindshot2 done with a decent weapon.
Weaker area posions and diseases. These are used to harass the enemy and make them worry a bit more about survival than about offense. These should not single handedly be able to take out an opposition group, but at the same time, they should be strong enough that they cannot be ignored. Current area poisons seem to be too strong (at about 80% of the strength of single target poisons). I would suggest that area posions be 40% to 50% of the strength of single target poisons. This makes it less critical that a poison gets healed within the first tick. This value can be tweaked as desired until a proper balance is found. My gut feeling is that reducing poison damage to 25% of current strength would mean that the attacks will become useless and therefore unused.
The throw ranges of poisons and diseases should not exceed the maximum range of weapons (though I would like to seethe ability to experiment weapon ranges up at a cost of damage, HAM costs, and condition).
If combat medic is to be considered a pure support role, I would suggest area state changes as an alternative to poisons. Given the current game mechanics, area intimidates, stuns, blinds, and dizzies would probably be more unbalancing than the current poisons. Perhaps within the context of a larger combat fix, offensive capabilities that do no actual damage (but reduce the opponent's capability to wage war) could be added. In this context, the combat medic becomes the anti-squad leader.
One more comment on offense - some have suggested that poisons be removed completely or that the 75% damage reduction be made. Either of these changes effectively makes combat medics into ranged healers only. This is unacceptable. The profession would no longer be worth the 169 skill point cost. Tweaking the way mind damage is handled (the core of most PvP problems) and scaling area poison damage down a bit (not 75%) would help accomplish balance without killing the profession.
What defensive abilities?
Ranged mitigation 1 (the weakest form)
Ranged and area heals. The current power of these heals seems appropriate.
They should not be able to cure their own poisons. This are currently (and should remain) the job of doctors.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
The heals provide the most efficient means to heal a group.
The area poisons and diseases act as a nuisance to the enemy, intended to disrupt their attack plans.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Combat medic crafting is currently very difficult due to a dependancy on multiple rare resources and reasonably complex schematics. This difficulty currently forces a reliance on artisan for resource gathering. This is an acceptable way to limit the availability of the great poisons.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
Doctors should remain the primary counter to a combat medic. They have the ability to cause a poison to do 0 damage.
Other combatants should have mechanisms to increase their own poison resistance. They should never be completely immune to poison (there is no way to become immune to fire or a T-21, though there are ways to mitigate both), but more thought should be given to resists. Introducing poison resistance foods is a good start. Introducing a poison resistant layer for armor might make sense. Both have trade-offs (you are full and can't eat other useful food or you your armor uses a layer slot that now can't be used for another stun layer or something else). But they give a well-prepared player a better opportunity to handle an opposing combat medic. Resists will force combat medics to experiment more on potency rather than power, leading to powerful poisons being used against unprepared opponents and less powerful being used on prepared opponents.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Combat medics are the artillery of the GCW. In real life, artillery is rarely enough to clear the battlefield, but it can help to demoralize and disorganize an enemy before the infantry appears. Given their high skill point cost (2nd highest in the game after bounty hunter) and limited solo abilities (2nd lowest for combat professions after squad leader), they should be the 2nd most useful profession in a medium to large strike team (after squad leader). They should not dominate, but they should also not be reduced to ranged healers.
In pvp base raids people holed up underground despise CMs for reasons exactly like what this guy is posting:
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=combat_medic&message.id=20726
I feel if we had a few people look into the bugs and the ways that our poisons work we could easily come to a decisive conclusion that both CMs and non-CMs agree with.. but first we have to fix the game to avoid tactics like this.
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Poison and Disease are the primary weapons of the MCM. Without them we are merely stim dispensers. We cant cure poison, disease or rez people. we need a Bio weapon of some sort.
What offensive abilities?
A bio ranged weapon or ability to craft add ons for master WS to add to weapons.
What defensive abilities?
We desperately need some defensive skills. We as Combat medics should also get high resists to poison and disease. After all we are throwing the stuff, we should know how to counter it personally.
What unique abilities?
the ablitiy to create and apply innoculations for disease and poison. The ablitity for Master CMs to createPoison or disease modifiers for weapons for Master WS only
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
When grouped with a Master CM, the group should get a bonus to resist poison and disease.Our ability to heal others mind is a great tool on the battlefield.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
CMs depend on doctors for the advanced medical componets. Any poison/ disease innoculations should require the same componets to be applied by CMs, not doctors. We depend on Artisan/surveyors/scouts to find the multitude of resources needed to craft both poisons/disease and ranged stims.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
While combat Medics are not an "Uber" profession, neither are they a support class. When grouped with the correct profession it complements the group by giving the unit the ability to heal multiple people at once while at the same time dealing damage to a group of individuals. Many other professions have AOE attacks that deal more damage then combat medics.rifleman, commandoand pistoleer have themfor example. Having a combat medic can and should turn the tide in any fight. for both the healing and offensive nature of the profession. If our area attacks get reduced, give us the ability to apply states such as KD, dizzy, intimidate or blind. they could be added to the poison/disease target pools. health/kd, mind/dizzy/intimidate.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Our role is simple: deal damage to the enemyand heal our comrades. We need the ability to craft innoculations or resists for our teammates.
some say our poisons/diseases are overpowered, they target pools that are hard to heal and they cry for a nerf. They dont understand how hard and expensive it is to be a Master Combat medic. One poison pack with 34 uses may cost us 50k. It may do 600+ damage per 8 seconds. that is 75 points of damage per second. I think the 8 second timer needs to go away. let the poison run every second. then the nerf cryers would see what is really going on. give us a hard hitting bio weapon. and take away the +1 cap on our poisons/diseases. let it incap a total of 2 times with no death per application. give us back the ability to kill a target.
And Xy, perhaps it's not the fact that people are looking at what profession a particular poster is. Rather, they are looking at the actual posts themselves and rating it from that perspective. Either way, what does it matter? Your points and mine have been expressed and are easily read by all. Or is it that you would rather have my opinion silenced because it doesn't fit with your own, and are using the 'He's a BH' as a simple red herring? Either way, it doesn't matter.
I've said my part and will always defend this and any medical profession from any nerf cries I see. Always have, always will, regardless of my current profession.
What defines the Combat Medic role in combat?
CM is currently defined by their PvP breaking Mind Poison/Disease combo. The best of their abilities by far, and an extremely hard one to stop or counter. Also included in the class is a ranged stim that is next to useless, area stims that are so/so, and a mind heal that is near unusable.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
The CM area disease & poisons are an appropriate ability for the class, and are in character. The problem is that due to game design, the mind poison/disease are FAR too overpowered. I have a master CM char that I play exclusively for PvP. Why? Because GCW combat comes down to who has more CM's on their team. A large portion of my PA has CM characters that they play only in PvP for that reason.
The CM should get a large increase to their defensive abilities. A CM is a medic with specialized healing abilities that has had combat training to increase his survivability on the battlefield. CM should have significant ranged defense abilities.
CM is a support class, but as it stand, it's a very poor support class, and a near unstoppable offensive force. This is WAY out of balance, and needs to be readdressed. CM should be an oustanding support class, with a minor offensive threat, given smart play.
What offensive abilities?
CM's offensive abilities should be limited. Area health & action disease/poison is appropriate as it is. Damage can be healed, and wounds easily cured. The targeted mind damage is the problem. Area mind poison/disease is a automatic, "I win". Throwable from 80m, mind poison takes people to 1 mind in 2-3 ticks. Diseases add the incap, and will black bar people.
The CM's role should be as the ultimate support class for PvP, and high end PvE.
Keep the Area Health & Action bombs. Those are balanced for PvP. Useful, but not a game breaker. Mind is a serious problem. If you get hit by mind poison, you have about 16 seconds to get it off, or you're dead. Considering that it can be applied to everyone in a 35m radius, is rarely resisted, can be thrown for 80m, and players can't hide behind anything to avoid it, you can see the problem. While it can be cured by a 4-0-3-0 doctor, a doc can only cure 1 person at a time, from close range, with a healing delay, costing the doctor mind. I on the other hand can hit an unlimited number of people, typically 5-20 in GCW PvP. See the following Screen shots:
One AE Mind poison hitting 56 players & 2 mobs. NOBODY resisted the poison. 80% of them will be at 1 mind in 16 seconds.
One AE Mind disease hitting 41 players & 2 mobs A lesser plains bol resisted the disease, no players did. Anyone that's a non doc will be incapped in 30 seconds.
I single handedly took a group of about 60+ players from 100% battle readiness to about 15%, all from outside of weapon range. It took me less than 10 seconds to do it, and then I simply ran away. Those that chased me were taken out by our snipers. Those that didn't retreat died.
Mind bombs need one of the following:
-75% reduction in PvP
-Entire removal
-viable mind heals, faster mind buffs, and area cures to counter them
-A revamp of how mind damage works
What defensive abilities?
As stated above, CM's should have good ranged defenses. They're not a Doctor with no combat training. They're specifically trained to be able to survive in battlefields. Perhaps they could even be given some unique defensive ability, like how Smuggler has FD, & TK has Force of Will.
What unique abilities?
The area disease and poison are excellent unique abilities, provided they are in balance. I would prefer to see CM unique abilities be more defensive in nature though. Mind healing is a good unique ability, but due to the way it's implemented, it's near useless.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
CM's group ability are weak, and essentially a useless part of their class. My CM has Doc as well, and i rarely, if ever use the CM stims. Instead, I'm using regular Stim E's. Ranged stims are a waste of time. Area stims are decent.
Throw range on AE Bombs can be up to 80m. Throw range on the CM heals is WAY less. This needs to be reversed. 45m max range on the offensive packs, but take the ranged heal throw range up to 80m max experimentation, with a typical 60m range on high healing power packs. Max the area heal throw range out at 60m.
**Give ranged stims a mind heal component** Ranged stims are next to useless now. Their range is way too low, and their healing power is inferior. Add a small mind healing component to it. Say if it heals 500 health/action that it heals 250 mind.
Change mind heal to have a 5 second delay timer, and halve, or even quarter, or eliminate the wound component of it.
Give CM's a good Player drag, and consider adding ranged state cure& bleed packs.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Postured as a defensive support class with some small offensive abilities with Area Mind/Action poison/disease, and viable mind healing, CM becomes a desired, and very powerful support class. They will interact positively with other combat classes in PvE & PvP.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
As they stand, CM's supply all the offensive power that is needed to eliminate armies. This is way out of whack. CM's should be a superb support class, but should rely on other classes to deal damage. They shouldn't be paper thin either, they have battlefield training, and should be able to surivive a firefight well
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Their unique role should be that of true battlfield support. Comprehensive healing, good defensive skills, with small Area attacks. To fix the CM, you need to completely rethink their support abilities, and make them GOOD, and viable. Currently, CM is a bad doctor, with insane offensive ability. CM should be THE ultimate healer for PvP, and high end PvE. Their powerful healing should make them a target to the enemy, but not an easy one. This adds a level of strategy to PvP that doesn't exist now.
For example, a highly defensive player, like Master Brawler, Master TK, Master Fencer being backed up by a CM should be EXTREMELY difficult to kill. This neccesitates players targeting weaker, but powerful support classes in order to bring down the tank.
I see the CM offensive line as an assisting role, not as a primary damage dealer. We should make the enemy puke and kneel with chemicals, make enemy players be able to target players on their own side with a confusion chemical, reduce enemy efficiency with AOE bombs of sorts, etc etc. CM get ranged out of marksman but it isnt worth 28 points just to use those points as a healer, I would go doctor if it were. We need a ranged offensive capability and CM's are designed to be large battle healers, not 1 on 1 gods. A TKA should kick my butt, so should a BH. But in a raid, I should be able to reduce the efficiency of the enemy on a larger scale through ranged AOE chemicals.
I also dont see why a CM shouldnt be able to rezz. Not as effectively as a doctor but still can. For example a CM should be able to rezz but maybe leave wounds on the patient.
IN the end, a CM is a primary healer, secondary offensive or secondary defensive profession. As we stand now we are a raid destroying profession.
Poison and Ranged/Area Healing
What basic combat elements should they possess?
Ranged Damage and Healing
What offensive abilities?
Poison and Disease, and there should be armor or clothing that has resists against either or both of these, that would reduce the damage by a percentage
What defensive abilities?
Ranged/Area Healing, Area Enhance (though much weaker then doctor enhance, and short duration)
What unique abilities?
Some resistance to poison and disease
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
Area Poison and Area Healing
How could/should they interact with other professions?
Minimal due to extreme skill point cost, I would like to see the requirement of ranged support removed to allow combat medics to be both master in combat medic and hybrid brawler, having combat medics require ranged support forces us to take one of the three ranged hybrids
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
For effective combat you still need help from other combatants for damage output, other then that its a supporting role itself
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
no idea
Ok, going to take these one at a time..
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?
Good question, I thing right now their definition is - The single most powerful weapon in the GCW, thanks to overpowered poisons/diseases, being able to hit through walls with a single valid target,etc.
I believe their role should be more of a healing role. Their offensive capabilities are too powered, and considering they're a Medic base, they need more of a healing capacity as opposed to being so offensive.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
They should possess the ability to heal across the battlefield. They should be THE masters of combat healing, able to save a comrad from certain doom without having to run to them.
What offensive abilities?
Their offensive role should be tuned down, way down. Poisons are extremely powerful, and in fact hit as hard as any bleeds in the game, yet can only be cured by ONE class, from a skillbox only most masters will ever have, while bleeds can be cured from anyone with 2 boxes in Medic. I believe they still need SOME sort of offensive role though. Poisons/diseases are a great idea, but need to be majorly reworked. Specifically regarding the mind pool.
What defensive abilities?
They should get a few of the standard defense bonuses as they progress through the trees in my opinion. Some ranged and melee defense, def vs dizzy/stun/etc, although all in small amounts. They ARE trained for the combat field and shouldn't be totally unable to defend against incoming attacks. Things like Supression Fire from the Marksman line which they already get can serve them well too if utilized properly.
What unique abilities?
Combat Medics have3 of the most powerful unique abilities in the game. The ability to heal from extreme ranges, the ability to apply damage over time to any pool from that same range (and be nearly unresistable and hard to cure), and the ability to slowly cause grievous wounds to every primary and secondary stat (from ranger, and again nearly unresistable, and hard to cure).
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
The advantages of having a Combat Medic in a group are numerous. Its nearly impossible to kill anyone in armor who is within 60m or more of his group's combat medic, unless you can do mind damage. The ability to cause MASSIVE amounts of attrition to the opposing forces is also a huge asset, and is what needs looked into most.
How could/should they interact with other professions?
They are a combat class.. and thus I believe this is best answered by the next question.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
They are currently a very valuable support class, but also happen to be potentially THE most damaging offensive class as well. I think their interactions with the other combat professions should be of a more defensive nature.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?
Biological warfare. The ability to heal or harm large groups in battle.
What basic combat elements should they possess?
A bit of defensive ability, healing,and a large biological arsenal.
What offensive abilities?
Poisons and diseases, area effect attacks. (We must assume that the Combat Medic has innoculated his allies prior to the fight, otherwise they would be infected too.)
What defensive abilities?
A small amount of ranged defense, and area-affecting heals and antidotes. (We must again assume that the area-effect healing reacts to some medicine that has "already" been placed in allies, otherwise this would heal enemies as well.)
What unique abilities?
Large area attacks and heals. Inflicting poison and disease.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?
Steady healing for everyone is a huge asset. It should not be as potent as a Doctor's individual heals, but should provide the whole group with decent regeneration during a fight. In addition, the ability to inflictpoisons and diseases that affect large enemy groups is quite valuable. (These attacks should probably not be as powerful as they are now -- a lone combat medic should not be able to nearly-incapacitate an entire battlefield, but should help to wear them down steadily over time.)
How could/should they interact with other professions?
In any one-on-one fight, the Combat Medic should lose. Their opponent might keep growing weaker for several minutes after the fight, but the CM should have verylittle capability of winning a duel.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?
The CM''s job is to slowly but steadily weaken the enemy while steadily strengthening their friends. They require aid from other fighters to actually defeat and incapacitate the enemy quickly, and probably need a bodyguard to help them survive the fight.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War?
Area effect DOTs, and area effect heals. They should be the class that turns the tides in a long battle. They should also be most effective at helping a group recover after the fight is over.
Added Question: What is their weakness or shortcoming in combat?
Personal vulnerability. The CM alone has very little ability to win against a combat character. Smart enemies will locate and kill the CM as a high priority target.
Given the basic considerations listed above, please answer the following questions:
What defines theCombat Medicrole in combat?A combat Medic in SWG imho is more than just your basic drag/heal/firstaid class. He is the tactical advantage to a raid. He is the blanket healer. He is the zerg-stopper. He is thebio-weapons expert. And YES he should be feared. Not for the damage they do but for the advantage they give to the opposing raid force.
What basic combat elements should they possess?Offensive and Defensive capabilities to affect targets of a biological nature
What offensive abilities?Poisons and Diseases are working fine. There are some LOS issues that need to be addressed but overallif someone is poisoned they should die unless they seek medical attention. The CM support tree should be based on Combat XP instead of Medical XP. Give us the ability to slow down an opponents running speed. Some type of Chemical Web comes to mind.
We pay alot for the range we can achieve. There aren't many CMs that can reach upwards of 70+m for the simple fact that the resources aren't available on most galaxies. You all have to keep in mind also, CMs are I believe the only class that has to pause for4 sec (an eternity in PVP) to fire off their primary weapon. All other classes can fire on the move, albeit some accuracy penalties.
What defensive abilities?RDM1 at Master. Poison and Disease Damage Resistance or Mitigation based on the Support tree. It stands to reason a CM working with poisons and diseases should have some form of inner defense against them. After all a TKA has MDM and ranged professions have RDM since that is the type of damage they do respectively.
What unique abilities?Mind Heal needs to take less wounds. As it stands it is only marginally useful. I personally only use it in the worst situations.
Should add what advantage or asset in group combat?Suppression, breaking down the enemy
How could/should they interact with other professions?CMs should be able to craft weak powerups that can be sold to non-CMs. These power ups can add different effects to weapons, ranging from weak poison damage to short term state effects.
What interaction / dependencies should exist with other combatants?CMs should have no business in direct combat unless they have the secondary skills to do so. CMs should stay at range. CMs should be able to tactically support their raid force to suppress the enemies, weaken them, and ultimately with their poisons and diseases, multiply the damage done to enemies of a biological nature. Hopefully this means battle droids could become more important in the future.
What should be their unique role in the Galactic Civil War? We should keep an enemy on their toes. If a player is incapped at the mouth of a base, I will throw an AE on him. He will auto resist but the rest of his buddies that have neglected to drag him out of the way will suffer the consequences. At the same time the enemy will learn to manage their groups efficiently. Uber stacked defense "GOD" templates should have no chance of surviving unless they seek medical atention or they take us out quick.
You all asking for CM nerfs are saying it isn't realisticfor a CM to be this powerful. First off a CM is very weak in ranged skills unless they have spent the points. Likewise they are helpless in melee. The reality is that Poison kills and over time so can disease. Yet our primary weapon as it stands now can't incap. How exactly is that realistic? It isn't. But the fact of the matter is, is that the Devs coded that in to maintain game balance, even though it is completely unrealistic.
The fact is is that no one not even the Devs have a true vision on what a Combat Medic in SWG should be. This is a fantasy game. A game period. Only the Combat Medics out there on the front lines that actually play combat medics can tell you what their true role is since the Devs don't seem to have a clue.
Some players play CMs as pure healers and abstain from using poison. Some are nasty vile mofos that use their deadly concoctions to kill and wound like mad. Which is right? Neither is right or wrong. The player decides what type of role he wants to play in SWG since he is the one spending the points for those abilities.
I really like these kind of threads. It just shows that many wonderful and exciting people just love complaining and whine that a profession is to over powered. Yet they say the same thing. That the combat medic is the only class that has the power to attack the mind pool. Well i guess you are probably in a small server that has little to no advanced classes. Because Riflemen, Bounty Hunters, Tera Kais Masters, And even Pistoleers can target the mind pool. Not just the Combat medic. So before you go running around crying nerf. Get your facts straight. Otherwise you sound like an idiot.
Now onto the combat medics
As a Dungeon Master and player of RPGs for the last 18 years. If i was the GM in charge of SWG. I would label the combat medic as a combative support class. Much like the cleric in AD&D. The class itself can stand against some of the more powerful monsters and live if the player knows his class like the back of his hand. Also uses his class to combine its talents with the abilities and weapons of another profession. So during PvE the combat medic can live as long as he does not try to take down that Krayt Dragon all by himself.
The one thing that combat medics lack is a weapon of their own outside the crafting process of creating poisons and diseases. The BH gets the Scatter Pistol and the Light Lightening Cannon at Novice. The Commando gets the Launcher Pistol and a Flamethrower. Yet the third most expensive class gets vials and beakers. This should get changed in the revamp in the professions. The other thing that needs to get changed is the ability to increase the speed of someone's tossing of poison in PvE and increase the strength of the poison when it relates to mobs. The combat medic needs to have the strength to stay in the battle and the defenses that other elite classes.
Any Elite Profession has certain defenses and bonuses. For some reason, They were left out of the combat medic profession. MCMs have 0 bonuses to dodge and lack any skill in Defense against ??. This is something that needs to get changed.
In the long scheme of things and in looking over the entire game system. Combat Medics role needs to stay combat supportive. They need to be combative in their profession and the support line is fully covered. Though making a Area StimD for masters would be great in a huge battle. Now as a player. I see Combat Medics as the first thing to take out in a fight. Not because they can poison/disease. But because they can do Area of Effect heals. That right there is the one thing that got me to play the combat medic. I have yet to see a player die when going after nightsisters, krayts, and anything else that has attacked the group. Just from that one schematic.
So in the revamp of the professions a combat medic needs to have the following added to his class to make him a Combative Support Class.
1. The ability to dodge attacks
2. Defense vs status attacks and posture changes
3. A new weapon that only the Combat Medics can use.
4. Increase melee and ranged defense modifiers.
5. The ability to go after Droids when the Droid Handler class is unleashed onto the live servers.
6. In the GCW, The ability to get faction by poisoning/diseasing the target.
7. Removing the cap of 1hp for all Combat medic poisons and diseases. Which should not have been placed in the first place. That right there limits the combat medic and removes the combat out of the character in PvE and PvP.
8. Increasing the Damage of all the poisons and diseases in PvE. Right now a MCM could not solo a nuna. But that is because of the 1hp thing.
I think that sums it up. Yall have a good day.