Medic Archive
Thread: Mind Damage: A Serious Problem For Medics
Oh and I agree, health should be where you take damage
Action should be what you use to like do things
And mind should be what you use to like think, concentrate.
I don't mind being able to damage a HAM bar, such as mind, but it shouldn't incap or kill people.
I agree completely, there is nothing more frustrating then watching all your fighters die from mind wounds and you have an inventory full of stimpacks. The devs, I hope, already can see the future problem where riflemen will rule a battlefield, while medics sit back and watch.
Edmund O'Conner
Medic
As for PvP, what you're going to see is a shifting battlefield. At first, you will see people capitalizing on the Mind pool. Then, as people realize that everyone is buffing their mind pools to the point that they take 3 times as long to take down (you do realize that at the higher levels you can pump your mind and willpower both by several hundred points pretty easily... yes?) as if you had targetted their health. Thus people will start shifting to combined body attacks. This will keep going on... one type of pool attack trumping another until people finally realize that combined arms is ALWAYS effective. A team composed of a mix like a Medic, Brawler, a couple of ranged specialists... perhaps led by a Squad Leader and backed up by a Bounty Hunter... all with balanced stats... will simply destroy everyone the majority of the time if they play smart. PvP does not mean 1 on 1. That's called a duel folks, not a battle. Think outside the box here. There are numerous devastating strategies when you get a group together. Combined fire on a single pool is just the tip of the iceberg.
Buff their mind to the point where people won't attack it?
I have to disagree. Even if it takes 5x as long to take em out (which it won't headshots are doing way over 1k dmg, and I doubt anyone will be buffing to the 4k HPs range), the character can't be healed (which can make someone way way way past 5x as tough to kill) nor can he be put back into the fight after getting incapped (60-90 sec is a LONG time to take someone out of a fight, pure DPS alone).
I agree with the argument against letting doctors heal their mind, since it's what we use to heal ourselve, however the issue of mind being unhealable is still an issue and is popentialy more damaging to the charcter balance interaction in the game.
Hey all,
Absolutely agree with the original poster for both the problem and the solution.
That a rifle head shot can do "mind" damage (supposedly mental stress only healable by an entertainer) is rediculous. If you got shot in the head where would you go? To a doctor or to the local bar to hear some music?
Not only is the concept rediculous but it negates the skills of the medic profession. For PVE its no biggie but for PvP, a medic will be useless.
Head shot and company needs to have some appropriate special bonuses, but not do mind damage...
Syd Stitches
Aspiring Marksman/Medic/Artisan, Kadaara, Naboo, Tarquinas
When I started the medic prof my mind was stacked. Once I began hunting I had to do a major stat migration; 600 health just doesn't cut it in the field. All the full-blown fighters need to do the same, adapt to the environment or die.
I think the major idea is to keep players somewhat equal, and those that try to be "uber" in one area have a weakness in another. See Achilles.
Stay away from riflemen.
As a side note: I did get a "damage stim" as a tip once. It healed all three pools, though in very small amounts. I asked the guy where he got it, but did not get a response. Maybe that is the item you desire, though I disagree with them if they can be made more powerful.
SWG weapons are rock/paper/ scissors.
As long as I am not out in the open, by carbine or pistol guy can take arifle guy, every tim.. with no mind healing, get into the rifle's bad range bracket and they are toast.
The opposite is true of the melee weapon group that does mind.. stay at range, and you win.
Mind damage, and the inability to heal it, are not a big issue outside 1 on 1 fights, or when people are PVE figthing soemthing really nasty (which it is possible they should not be fighting at that time).
Tactics will always overcome any percieved imbalance in gameplay.
medics, and Doctors are in business from failed tactics. If you need to be healed at alll, then something didn't go right... I'm not saying this is always something under your control.. random chance in special moves can make somthing not work.
Damage = bad luck or lack of preparing before a fight.
Incaps/deaths = major bad luck, or major mistakes.
When fighting mobs known to cause mind damage (imperials with rifles), play towarde their weaknesses, not thie strengths.. Get close and whammy them.
There is balance here, the rifle sniper's greatest tactical foe, is another rifle sniper... neither can rush the other, so it becomes a battle of who has the bigger mind pool (or weapon max damage).
In mixed groups of combatants. People should look for the enemies they can defeat the easiest, and avoid those that can whomp them. Someone shold always be looking to rush the riflemen and their mind damage that can't be healed, while the medics look after who the can look after.
SWG seems to be balanced for group play, not 1 vs. 1. I have not had a mid-sized well prepared group, ever have any problems with combat (PVP, or PVE). .I have never been mind incapped (even with a trando brawler character .. not just high mind medic types)...
I can see where your concern is coming from, but I don't think it is a major issue. It is even less of an issue in PVP, unless your are fighting 1 on 1. Every player weapon that created mind damage specials, has a counter. Indeed ,every mob that specials mind damage will ahve a counter too, when we fight enough of them to figure out what.
Walkign around with 300 mind in high end PVE (whem mobs can hit for 800 on their random attacks), or in PVP, is asking to get killed... it isn't a weakness in the system.
There are actually mind healing stims in the game (the newbie medic damage stim heals mind).
There is a way to heal mind in the field too.. eat chef buffs that raise mind... (though I'd argue, eating them before the fight may be a better use).. But I have seen them as emergency heals, especially on an empty stomach.
If the devs do eventually give mind wound healing to someone, I don't think it should be medics... Nor Do I want to see EQ bards...so I dunno who should get it.
I still see it as a minor problem, that is easy to work around with proper planning.
-T
I am quite bias as a rifleman but for the love of god stop these cries for nerfs. It has already ruined other games. I am all for doctors being able to heal mind damage but leave the riflemen skills alone. I mean what gives you the right to push for nerfs to the profession involving headshots doing health/action just because it is the only damage that YOU can heal? As a rifleman you need to take out opponents quick or you are dead when they close in. Simple as that. I am sorry..but the idea of removing mind damage from combat completely is just rediculous and a bit too selfish if you ask me. And I will state again that I DO believe doctors should be able to heal mind damage. Just stop with these "nerf this whole aspect of combat because it makes me less powerful" posts.
I used to be really concerned about this as well, but after seing my friend's rifleman in action a little bit and getting my medic to a higher level, I realized two things.
A medic who could heal the mind pool would be invincable. I can easily get 600 pt heals (not quite the 900 c stim heals advertised above, but itll do) which, if im paying attention, will allow me to keep nearly anyone alive for as long as i have supplies. Healing mind pool damage would allow a medic to keep someone up indefinately in PvE, and could quite possibly shift the balance of PvP
It seems to me that it should all work out ok on the rifle side as well. Sure, riflemen can target a pool that is essentially unhealable. However, this ability comes at a fairly large cost. With expert rifle skills, my friend could easily one shot mind kill a paralope. However, he would frequently nearly get killed if things didnt go right and the paralope got the jump on him- then the huge melee damage bonuses and huge negative acuracy penalties for close range on the rifle basically made him useless.
I originally thought that the system was stupid the way it is designed. After i spent some time thinking about it, I came to the conclusion that it is in fact pretty clever. Riflemen have distinct advantages and disadvantages as do carbineers, pistoleers, TK masters, and melee weapon wielders. Riflemen need to get quick kills at a distance. One on one, the rifleman has an excellent advantage, especially if he is set up in a strategic location in cover waiting for a target. However, that same rifleman placed against a small group of people who know what they're doing wouldnt stand a chance. He might incap a couple before they get there, and if he's really cocky he might actually kill someone.However, it would only take one group member closing to within about 15 meters to finish the rifle off. Take your pick of TK/melee, pistol, or carbine- any of the three would probably do the trick.
It seems kinda funny to me that everyone sites riflemen when they talk about problems with healing in PvP. Why not talk about the 2h melee weapon users, who also get a head strike? Because the concern is more with one snot rifle kills. Everyone says that a warrior shouldnt be forced to be smart for the sake of diversity. I say that it is only in the land of fantasy that there is such a thing as a dumb warrior. War requires intelligence. War is about survival. Humans are the dominant species on earth not because we are the strongest, or the fastest, but because we are the smartest (or the third smartest, depending on which books you've read :-P). This isnt everquest, my friend- you might be a big strong lizzard, but dont be surprised if you get beaten because you were too dumb.
So, not healing mind damage isnt really a serious problem for medics, as insinuated by the title of this thread. Sure, all your EQ playing tanks that dont realize that this game works differently will get incapped because if their itty-bitty mind pools. They need to either put up and adapt to the system, or shut up and eat the dirt. Sure, riflemen have a distinct advantage on the battlefield because they target the mind pool. They also have a distinct disadvantage because of the other characteristics of their weapon.
If youthink being able to do combat damage to someone that can't be healed is not a problem, then you are not considering the long term ramifactions to PvP. I can garantee you one thing, either some way to heal mind will be introduced or riflemen will get nerfed HARD. It's happened to every long range PvP ability in every game to date.