Planetside 2 Combat Medic Survival Guide by Zagz
Survival Guide
I think it’s time for us dedicated Combat Medic to share our knowledge, tricks and style with each other. Too often do I see a medic reviving a target for nothing while too often do I see a medic running past an incapacitated soldier. Medic is an easy class to get in but quite a hard class to master.
I love being a medic. I think it is the foundation of a solid squad. Being part of a very old competition clan (12+ years), my clan basically expect me to be the designated medic. I’ve learned the ropes in leagues and tournaments back in the good old days of Return To Castle Wolfesntein, was a top ranked medic in Battlefield 2 and 2142, played one in Team Fortress 2 and competed as one in Quake Wars. Even on a paintball field with role oriented scenario, I play the medic. Of course, It is only natural that I play one in PS2.
Now, you need to take all this with a grain of salt. This is my proposition on how a good medic is played. It has worked for me in leagues and tournaments as well on pub stomp servers. How I play does not necessarily mean that it will suit your own style. Even my own clan mates plays the Combat Medic differently and they all get solid results. Take what works and adapt your own strategy is the way to go!
The Combat Medic
A role that everyone can get into and be somewhat efficient but at the end of the day, it is actually one of the toughest job on the field. You are the foundation of your team, your timing, fire support, healing and revive abilities are all necessary to the survival of your squad. If you’re in the for the XP, your team will fail. If you’re there because you like healing yourself to compensate with your lack of skills, your team will fail. You are the secondary gunner, the guy that’s not always at the far back but closely behind the leading charge. You’re a hybrid between an assault and a support class that will dance around various position as the fight dictates you. One bad revive sequence and your team is out of the battle. A good medic is someone with impeccable timing, great combat skills and a solid tactical mind. Sneaking around, choose to be aggressive or passive, running away when things are out of control are essential tools that a medic should learn.
Now, I’m not really going to talk about skills, abilities and weapons here. If you need to know, I’m pretty much a fully maxed Combat Medic, with 100% revives and now working on Revive grenades. I’ve tried every gun available and have found my own setup based on my own way of playing. If you wish to discuss abilities and skills with me, I’ll gladly discuss with you.
Pro-Active versus Reactive
Great, you decided to be a medic but you end up being a heal bot and getting shot left and right is the norm. At the end of the day, you do not really feel important and end up switching to a different class that seems more involving.
The ultimate goal here is to remain Pro-active but trust me, no matter what, there will be times where you’ll be forced to be reactive to a situation. Being pro-active means that you are observing the battlefield as a whole and trying to predict the outcomes. You are actively trying to avoid a situation where your team is completely wiped out. The first steps into becoming successful at this is to keep an eye on the status of your team. Are they dead or are they alive? Why is number 5 dead 120 meters away from the squad. Constantly opening your map to track the position of your squad and trying to be in a position where you can cover as less ground as possible. Using voice chat or in my case Ventrilo to let my guys know where I am standing. Observing choke points, noticing cover spots and finally, adapting yourself to the ever changing situation. As long as you understand what’s going on, have a solid idea on what you’re up against and you're aware of your immediate surroundings, you’ll be able to take split second decisions. The moment you lose control, get stuck healing and running between your spread across team means that your focus is now broken.
Key points:
Keep an eye on the status of your team
Observe the battlefield and learn how to predict outcomes
Use your map
Prepare for a situation before it actually happens
Take calculated risks
Assault/Support: The Eternal Dance
You never want to run around with your medic gun, exclusively healing. You’re simply too vulnerable and will die. You always want to have your weapon of choice in hand and ready to fight and second; support. The only time where you should become a healing bot is at a choke point or in a very hectic situation where if you shoot, chances are, you’ll hit a teammate. You are a Combat Medic and that means you are there to kill but as a bonus, you can play nurse. I know it sounds odd and before you disagree with me, here’s the reasoning behind it all.
Healing or reviving is not instant. It takes less time to kill someone than to heal (assuming that your aim is half decent) – This means that in several situation, you’re better off shooting the enemy in the face and then revive or heal instead of just healing while your buddy is stuck fighting against the odds. In a situation where your team is fighting and does get wiped out, chances are that the opposing forces are probably reloading, half health and slightly agitated. If you start reviving your buddies, you’ll probably get killed before you can even pull it off. If you go all out and finish off the fight, you will be surprise on how often this works to your advantage. I remember back in RTCW, this was probably the number one tip a veteran medic would give to a recruit. Of course, back in that game, we knew exactly how many people we had to deal with. In PS2, this is a bit different but at the end of the day, this rule of thumb still works like a charm.
So remember, you want to first fight and second, play the nurse. To effectively do that, you want to learn how to always dance between these two roles. Things get tuff, you go full healing bot, things are under control, you are there fighting with your squad, guns blazing.
Key points:
Learn to know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to heal
Practice your timing – Killing someone that is reloading is a good thing btw.
Keep up with your team - Don't be a tourist!
Learn to take quick thinking decisions – don’t just act on instinct, calm down and use your head!
Positioning/Movement/Self Preservation
Ok, so you’re getting good at observing and predicting the outcomes. You’re not too shabby with playing around stance idea but there’s one problem… You’re always dead.
Luckily, we’re not fighting on a flat terrain with nothing to use for cover. Being pro-active will enable you to take notice of the terrain and in the back of your mind, you’ll remember that there’s pillar you can hide behind. Until you know each spots in the game by heart, take the time to explore a bit and learn where you can hide. Even if you’re only hiding 30% of your body, that is 30% more chance to surviving. When the fight is on, people get agitated and nervous, everyone gets a little adrenaline rush and bullets are flying around. If one of your buddies is incapacitated, don’t just rush in to revive. Think about how you can survive that revive and most importantly, think if it’s worth reviving him. If he’s dead in front of 3 Max suit, chances are, he’s going to die again. Be logical about it. If you cannot revive from cover, always stay on the move. Lock your medic gun on the guy and dance like it was your last night on earth. Sounds silly right? Well, you’ll be surprise on how most people suck at shooting a moving target. Again, if it’s only 1 guy, shoot then revive!
Self-Preservation is your key to success. learning when it’s time to back off will really make a difference for you and your squad. If you enter a corridor with your 2 buddies and you’re suddenly attacked by an opposing force, stop moving forward, stay near the exit you just came in. If your shield suddenly drops, fall back and take cover. Basically, you should fight as long as you have a shield up, the moment it goes down, time to move out and hope that your team can handle the treat. If not, you’ll be back fully ready to finish them off or to revising the fallen guys.
Always put yourself in a position that somewhat higher your odds of surviving but please, don’t put yourself in a corner with no exit, try to find spots where you have multiple escape routes. If you're stuck in a corner, hurry to find a better position.
While self-preservation is great, there are times where dying may be key to victory. There’s a tank on top of a hill, pinning down your entire team. Your heavy assault tried to take him out but got shot before launching that last crucial rocket. Dude, now is the time to be a hero and to try to revive that guy. Killing that tank might be exactly what you need to break free from an assault.
Once you're good at finding good cover spots, it's time to adapt and add a new layer of tactics. Generally, if you kill someone and he respawn close enough, he's likely going to come back and take revenge. Most people go by instinct and what does that do? They come back to your last know position. Now during a long firefight, constantly changing cover spot and moving around, will make you a hard target to hunt down. A few nights ago, my 3 buddies and I managed to hold a capture point for 45 minutes. After each encounter, we quickly switched things around, placed our mines at different location and took cover in a new spot. At first, we were fighting 5 or 6 guys but eventually when the Biolab was completely lost, we started get waves of 10 to 15 guys. Funny enough, we survived the odds until we got rushed by an entire squad of Max.
Key points:
Cover is your best friend even when it’s a tiny piece of rock that protects on your legs
Learn to always be on the move (remember Duck hunt?)
Value your own life but sacrifice it at key moments
Always have an escape plan
Combat Skills
I’ll keep this short!
Play with every guns and pick one that suits you. Become a master of that gun and learn its weakness and strengths according to your own skills. Practice, practice, practice at becoming a marksman. A good nurse is great but a nurse that can headshot people is even better! Killing people to ensure the survival of your team is pretty much the most efficient thing to do! Remember, healing and reviving in this game is slow. Killing is not. Learn to blend both worlds. Become a great soldier that people can rely on.
Oh and also, don’t listen to people enforcing their setup. If the NS-11A with Soft Bullet Points and a silencer is your bread and butter, than by all means, use that setup. It doesn’t matter if the TAR is way better at CQC or if some mighty known player tells you that your setup sucks. The reality is this; which setup are you most comfortable with? Yes, you may want to focus on the most efficiently known setup but at the end of the day, it’s your game and your play style that counts.
Key Points:
Learn to aim - Seriously, practice your aim!
Well, I hope that this guide can help some people and if it doesn’t, I had fun writing it and revising my own gameplay. I love being a medic and to that love it and rock, please do share your own strategies!
One final word… Never play medic for XP. As a medic, you’re a selfless soldier that is there to ensure the survival of your team. By doing that, you’ll be surprise on how much XP you’ll do! If you need to know, I play from 8:30PM to 11PM and usually do between 50 to 100 certs without really thinking about it. I just do my job.
Survival Guide
I think it’s time for us dedicated Combat Medic to share our knowledge, tricks and style with each other. Too often do I see a medic reviving a target for nothing while too often do I see a medic running past an incapacitated soldier. Medic is an easy class to get in but quite a hard class to master.
I love being a medic. I think it is the foundation of a solid squad. Being part of a very old competition clan (12+ years), my clan basically expect me to be the designated medic. I’ve learned the ropes in leagues and tournaments back in the good old days of Return To Castle Wolfesntein, was a top ranked medic in Battlefield 2 and 2142, played one in Team Fortress 2 and competed as one in Quake Wars. Even on a paintball field with role oriented scenario, I play the medic. Of course, It is only natural that I play one in PS2.
Now, you need to take all this with a grain of salt. This is my proposition on how a good medic is played. It has worked for me in leagues and tournaments as well on pub stomp servers. How I play does not necessarily mean that it will suit your own style. Even my own clan mates plays the Combat Medic differently and they all get solid results. Take what works and adapt your own strategy is the way to go!
The Combat Medic
A role that everyone can get into and be somewhat efficient but at the end of the day, it is actually one of the toughest job on the field. You are the foundation of your team, your timing, fire support, healing and revive abilities are all necessary to the survival of your squad. If you’re in the for the XP, your team will fail. If you’re there because you like healing yourself to compensate with your lack of skills, your team will fail. You are the secondary gunner, the guy that’s not always at the far back but closely behind the leading charge. You’re a hybrid between an assault and a support class that will dance around various position as the fight dictates you. One bad revive sequence and your team is out of the battle. A good medic is someone with impeccable timing, great combat skills and a solid tactical mind. Sneaking around, choose to be aggressive or passive, running away when things are out of control are essential tools that a medic should learn.
Now, I’m not really going to talk about skills, abilities and weapons here. If you need to know, I’m pretty much a fully maxed Combat Medic, with 100% revives and now working on Revive grenades. I’ve tried every gun available and have found my own setup based on my own way of playing. If you wish to discuss abilities and skills with me, I’ll gladly discuss with you.
Pro-Active versus Reactive
Great, you decided to be a medic but you end up being a heal bot and getting shot left and right is the norm. At the end of the day, you do not really feel important and end up switching to a different class that seems more involving.
The ultimate goal here is to remain Pro-active but trust me, no matter what, there will be times where you’ll be forced to be reactive to a situation. Being pro-active means that you are observing the battlefield as a whole and trying to predict the outcomes. You are actively trying to avoid a situation where your team is completely wiped out. The first steps into becoming successful at this is to keep an eye on the status of your team. Are they dead or are they alive? Why is number 5 dead 120 meters away from the squad. Constantly opening your map to track the position of your squad and trying to be in a position where you can cover as less ground as possible. Using voice chat or in my case Ventrilo to let my guys know where I am standing. Observing choke points, noticing cover spots and finally, adapting yourself to the ever changing situation. As long as you understand what’s going on, have a solid idea on what you’re up against and you're aware of your immediate surroundings, you’ll be able to take split second decisions. The moment you lose control, get stuck healing and running between your spread across team means that your focus is now broken.
Key points:
Keep an eye on the status of your team
Observe the battlefield and learn how to predict outcomes
Use your map
Prepare for a situation before it actually happens
Take calculated risks
Assault/Support: The Eternal Dance
You never want to run around with your medic gun, exclusively healing. You’re simply too vulnerable and will die. You always want to have your weapon of choice in hand and ready to fight and second; support. The only time where you should become a healing bot is at a choke point or in a very hectic situation where if you shoot, chances are, you’ll hit a teammate. You are a Combat Medic and that means you are there to kill but as a bonus, you can play nurse. I know it sounds odd and before you disagree with me, here’s the reasoning behind it all.
Healing or reviving is not instant. It takes less time to kill someone than to heal (assuming that your aim is half decent) – This means that in several situation, you’re better off shooting the enemy in the face and then revive or heal instead of just healing while your buddy is stuck fighting against the odds. In a situation where your team is fighting and does get wiped out, chances are that the opposing forces are probably reloading, half health and slightly agitated. If you start reviving your buddies, you’ll probably get killed before you can even pull it off. If you go all out and finish off the fight, you will be surprise on how often this works to your advantage. I remember back in RTCW, this was probably the number one tip a veteran medic would give to a recruit. Of course, back in that game, we knew exactly how many people we had to deal with. In PS2, this is a bit different but at the end of the day, this rule of thumb still works like a charm.
So remember, you want to first fight and second, play the nurse. To effectively do that, you want to learn how to always dance between these two roles. Things get tuff, you go full healing bot, things are under control, you are there fighting with your squad, guns blazing.
Key points:
Learn to know when it’s time to fight and when it’s time to heal
Practice your timing – Killing someone that is reloading is a good thing btw.
Keep up with your team - Don't be a tourist!
Learn to take quick thinking decisions – don’t just act on instinct, calm down and use your head!
Positioning/Movement/Self Preservation
Ok, so you’re getting good at observing and predicting the outcomes. You’re not too shabby with playing around stance idea but there’s one problem… You’re always dead.
Luckily, we’re not fighting on a flat terrain with nothing to use for cover. Being pro-active will enable you to take notice of the terrain and in the back of your mind, you’ll remember that there’s pillar you can hide behind. Until you know each spots in the game by heart, take the time to explore a bit and learn where you can hide. Even if you’re only hiding 30% of your body, that is 30% more chance to surviving. When the fight is on, people get agitated and nervous, everyone gets a little adrenaline rush and bullets are flying around. If one of your buddies is incapacitated, don’t just rush in to revive. Think about how you can survive that revive and most importantly, think if it’s worth reviving him. If he’s dead in front of 3 Max suit, chances are, he’s going to die again. Be logical about it. If you cannot revive from cover, always stay on the move. Lock your medic gun on the guy and dance like it was your last night on earth. Sounds silly right? Well, you’ll be surprise on how most people suck at shooting a moving target. Again, if it’s only 1 guy, shoot then revive!
Self-Preservation is your key to success. learning when it’s time to back off will really make a difference for you and your squad. If you enter a corridor with your 2 buddies and you’re suddenly attacked by an opposing force, stop moving forward, stay near the exit you just came in. If your shield suddenly drops, fall back and take cover. Basically, you should fight as long as you have a shield up, the moment it goes down, time to move out and hope that your team can handle the treat. If not, you’ll be back fully ready to finish them off or to revising the fallen guys.
Always put yourself in a position that somewhat higher your odds of surviving but please, don’t put yourself in a corner with no exit, try to find spots where you have multiple escape routes. If you're stuck in a corner, hurry to find a better position.
While self-preservation is great, there are times where dying may be key to victory. There’s a tank on top of a hill, pinning down your entire team. Your heavy assault tried to take him out but got shot before launching that last crucial rocket. Dude, now is the time to be a hero and to try to revive that guy. Killing that tank might be exactly what you need to break free from an assault.
Once you're good at finding good cover spots, it's time to adapt and add a new layer of tactics. Generally, if you kill someone and he respawn close enough, he's likely going to come back and take revenge. Most people go by instinct and what does that do? They come back to your last know position. Now during a long firefight, constantly changing cover spot and moving around, will make you a hard target to hunt down. A few nights ago, my 3 buddies and I managed to hold a capture point for 45 minutes. After each encounter, we quickly switched things around, placed our mines at different location and took cover in a new spot. At first, we were fighting 5 or 6 guys but eventually when the Biolab was completely lost, we started get waves of 10 to 15 guys. Funny enough, we survived the odds until we got rushed by an entire squad of Max.
Key points:
Cover is your best friend even when it’s a tiny piece of rock that protects on your legs
Learn to always be on the move (remember Duck hunt?)
Value your own life but sacrifice it at key moments
Always have an escape plan
Combat Skills
I’ll keep this short!
Play with every guns and pick one that suits you. Become a master of that gun and learn its weakness and strengths according to your own skills. Practice, practice, practice at becoming a marksman. A good nurse is great but a nurse that can headshot people is even better! Killing people to ensure the survival of your team is pretty much the most efficient thing to do! Remember, healing and reviving in this game is slow. Killing is not. Learn to blend both worlds. Become a great soldier that people can rely on.
Oh and also, don’t listen to people enforcing their setup. If the NS-11A with Soft Bullet Points and a silencer is your bread and butter, than by all means, use that setup. It doesn’t matter if the TAR is way better at CQC or if some mighty known player tells you that your setup sucks. The reality is this; which setup are you most comfortable with? Yes, you may want to focus on the most efficiently known setup but at the end of the day, it’s your game and your play style that counts.
Key Points:
Learn to aim - Seriously, practice your aim!
Well, I hope that this guide can help some people and if it doesn’t, I had fun writing it and revising my own gameplay. I love being a medic and to that love it and rock, please do share your own strategies!
One final word… Never play medic for XP. As a medic, you’re a selfless soldier that is there to ensure the survival of your team. By doing that, you’ll be surprise on how much XP you’ll do! If you need to know, I play from 8:30PM to 11PM and usually do between 50 to 100 certs without really thinking about it. I just do my job.
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