Explaining Ubercharges to Patients

"I HATE IT when an Uber goes wrong!"
“I HATE IT when an Uber goes wrong!”

“So there I was, Uber ready to go, and the Heavy spinning up his minigun. I tell him, I’m about to deploy my uber, get ready. It’s time to go. I deploy my ubercharge, and the stupid Heavy fails to kill ANYONE!”

I bet that sounds pretty familiar to most of you Medics out there. I too have been in the same situation, and I have spent a long time trying to work out how to fix it. Of course, results my vary, as some people understand Medics, others don’t.


From what I have discovered, it seems that many patients react poorly to being put under pressure. This applies doubly so when the player is given extra power and limited time to complete their task. The sudden influx of power can often cause confusion. While this may be a side-effect of an Ubercharge, which has been present in many versions of the Medigun, this may also just be another instance of Peer Pressure. Something, which, in the midst of battle, isn’t a good thing to have.

After much thinking, I have come to a few suggestions. While my results are still inconclusive, hopefully this small guide may help.

Number 1: Inform your patient of what is going on. People don’t like surprise ubers, or not knowing what’s going on in their Medic’s head. Although some people can and do react very well to being suddenly ubercharged, especially if you are doing so to protect you and your team mates, most people will suddenly panic at the huge amounts of power being granted to them. This pressure can cause them to lose their control. Also, a sudden ubercharge may be distracting to them. A flash of colour around your field of view can alter your concentration in more ways than most can imagine.

Number 2: Explain before you charge. If you want to take down a certain target, inform your patient of the target and its location. They can’t see everything the way you can, since they are too busy defending or attacking. Use words like “To your left!” or “Above us!” instead of vague instructions. Naming classes also helps. Informing a patient to simply kill everyone is not the same as telling them to target the Demoman and the enemy Medic.

Number 3: Tell them what Medigun you have. Not everyone takes the time to look at what Medigun you have, and, especially with the similarities between the normal Medigun and the Kritzkrieg, a patient may become confused and rush out into open ground, or hide back and not push forward. Yes, the patient may be too lazy to look at whatever Medigun you’re holding or to read the text when they’re being healed by you, but you might be forced to Uber such lazy people in the future…

Number 4: Ask the patient if they feel comfortable with an Ubercharge. They may not want to be Ubercharged, for fear of screwing up. This is much more important if you are going to deploy an Ubercharge on an unusual target, such as a Spy or Engineer, inform the team first before doing so. A Soldier may want to use that Uber, or the patient may not want to be Ubercharged. If circumstances arise and you need to deploy the uber though, do not worry about asking. Your safety is more important than their wishes to not mess up an Ubercharge.

Number 5: Be respectful to your patient, even if they screw up. They are human beings too, and they don’t like being insulted. People make mistakes. Shit happens. Don’t rage at them. Simply say “Don’t worry, we can always try again!” and carry on.

Being a Medic is a stressful job at times, but we often forget, so is being a Soldier or a Heavy Weapons Guy. Treating patients with respect will help you get from A to B and maybe even C, D and E… Unless your team is composed of utter morons. Sadly, there is no guide in existence that will help you with that.

Medic

Medic, also known as Phovos (or occasionally Dr Retvik Von Scribblesalot), writes 50% of all the articles on the Daily SPUF since she doesn't have anything better to do. A dedicated Medic main in Team Fortress 2 and an avid speedster in Warframe, Phovos has the unique skill of writing 500 words about very little in a very short space of time.

One thought on “Explaining Ubercharges to Patients

  • January 2, 2014 at 1:13 pm
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    Was an offensive Engi on Hoodoo. Second stage, yes? So I’ve carefully set up in the mineshaft, and I have a Medic pocketing me as he’s about to reach full charge. “Please don’t uber me” I say. “No.” He replies. 90%, 95%… “Get ready” he says on the mic. And he indeed DOES uber me, and I think fast: I nab my sentry, haul it to a position overlooking the goal, set up FAST – and Wrangle my Level 3 Sentry at everything in sight. I died, but I took down 4 people and we won the mini-round.

    Medic may be stressful, but Engi is a self-induced panic attack at times, especially when he’s got hell raining on him. Spare him a thought instead of the Medic, okay?

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