Doctor Archive

Okay...here's my problem...I can't decide how to balance my professions. I'll break it down so it's simple.

[u]Combat Medic[/u]

I'm wondering if I really want this at all. For one thing, you have to be a Master to use poisons/diseases that are worthwhile. The basic consenus is that if you're not gonna Master it, don't bother. Second, crafting the best poisons/diseases is gonna be a major pain, as the resources are quite rare and I'll need a LOT of them. Plus, I'm already running ragged looking for the resources for Advanced Doctor's components. Third, if things stay the way they are, I think poisons/diseases only are effective like one in every 4 or 5 attempts. Diseases are a major pain in the ass if you catch one, but you can just get rid of them by dying and cloning, and they're too slow to really do much during a single battle. So really, poisons are the only thing that end up being useful.

BUT, the Ranged Healing might really be worthwhile. Ranged stimpacks are at least as powerful as Small stims, and with Master CM I could use them up to 50 meters away. Plus, there's the Area Stims which will let me heal several people at once, IF they're close to each other.

[u]Doctor[/u]

No question that I love this profession, and I'm definitely going to stick with it. The only question is how great of a Doctor do I wanna be? No matter what, I plan on being high enough to use the best Enhances and stims, and Resuscitation packs, but in order to make room for CM and Carbineer I won't be able to craft my own stuff, and maybe not even learn to cure diseases.

[u]Carbineer[/u]

This is where I'm beginning to lean more towards. If I have Doctor and Master CM, I'll have enough skill points left to get Cripple Shot...but that's it. No other good skills, no Carbine Speed mods, or Accuracy While Moving mods. I'd be a so-so Carbineer.
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So basically I have three choices:

#1 - Master Combat Medic, good Doctor, and a so-so Carbineer

#2 - Decent Combat Medic (basically just for Ranged/Area stims), good Doctor, and a pretty good Carbineer.

or
#3 - Master Doctor (able to craft and use the absolute best Enhances, Cures, and Stims) and Master Carbineer (making me deadly one-on-one)

It's a real hard decision. The first two are basically full support roles, as I'm able to keep everyone healthy while doing a decent amount of damage. The third one is still support, as I'm able to heal as fast as possible and buff ourselves at amazing levels (Enhance Ds can add up to 2500 points to your Health and Action attributes, and probably around 1500 to Str/Con/Quik/Stam), and I'd be able to do some real Van-Dammage with the Carbine.

It might just be that I'm kinda tired of chasing Combat Medic when the poisons I can use so far totally suck, and I don't even use Ranged Stims that much. And only having to gather resources for Doctor would sure save me a lot of time. Plus as a powerful Carbineer I could actually make some decent money instead of having to beg for it.

What do you guys think? I posted this in the CM and Carbineer forums, too, to get more numerous and varied opinions, as well.

Yeah, I was in the same dilemma as well (except pistoleer for me). First, I wanted to be a CM, but then I looked at doctor and said, wait a minute, doctor has more options than CM, so I decided to get master doctor so I could enhance the bejesus out of my friends when we go big game hunting and also for major wound packs. So since I want doctor, while not get a little bit of combat medic for those ranged/area stims, and then I'd use the rest of my skill points for Trickshot pistoleer, which gives me some powerful attacks. Hope that helped.

Oh I also forget reviving... To me, it's the most important medic skill to have.

I went for Doctor/Pistoleer but I have decided to try out Doctor/Creature Handler. Reason is I struggled to really use my Pistoleer skills while trying to keep people alive in a group situation. They seemed redundant. Im trying to see if using a pet to do damage while I concentrate on healing will work any better.

I'm having the same problem so i'll test a few approches

to be a healer be a combat medic. can't beat range and area healing don't think of combat medic as a poisoner only.

to survive longer tka for defensive skills also let you solo and not be helpless. down side you probobly fight only as last resort most likely knockdown and run dragging a corpse.

CH gives you scout bonus and a powerful pet but you practicly relay on your pet only to do damage. let you solo too. using range support you can help with crowd control.

pistoleer - fighting doctor - aint a great idea to piss off the enemy when you are supposed to stay alive but let you get faction points and help in battle.

swordman let you solo well but in group you are unlikely to fight.

in most group situations i think either combat medic/ch would be preferable in group situations .or you can also be a pacifist and be a crafter.

but i have a limited prespective

I went Doc/CH, I love it. I dont even use my gun. I just send pet in. Usually my graul is the big guy. For nitchs. Then the rest of the group controls the battle. I run refillin ammo. ( Action Ham) I feel like a amo guy fillin this bar. Still cant revive, workin on wound treatment tree though just to get it first. Just my thoughts.

I'm going Master Doc/Carbineer. I generally go out either solo or with 1 or 2 friends. I don't tend to find myself in the thick of things, but close enough to have to heal folks so carbine seemed the best choice. I've become quite fond of action shots which bleed the enemy. Now I can hit them, run and have the others block for me while the baddies waste away.

As far as Doc vs CM, there's no doubt I think Doc is more versatile.

I'll reiterate that my choices are ONLY between CM, Doc, and Carbineer. Adding another novice skill to get TKA or CH is a big waste of skill points in my eyes.

A big factor in the decision will be whether or not I can use Poison Cs, not Area Poison Cs, with only 75 CM Use skill (the highest you can get w/out Master). If I can, I might go with it. If not, I don't really see all the skill points as being worth it for just ranged heals.

I think I've come up with a pretty good combo:

Carb 4 3 0 4
CM 4 2 0 4
Doc 2 4 3 0

I couldn't do any crafting, and I won't have Counterattack, Burst Shot, and Suppression 2, but it seems to get me the most bang for the buck as I get Carbine Speed, Accuracy, and Accuracy while Moving, can use the best ranged stims and Poison Cs, and can use the very best Enhance packs.