How to understand your Medic

Occasionally, a really good SPUF thread will pop up out of the blue. It’s up to us to keep these threads safe. One such thread is Understanding Your Medic by chibi_charon. While the thread covers the basics incredibly well, I felt it was worth expanding this concept a bit, especially since the thread is two years old. Although little has happened in that time, it’s always good to refresh people’s minds. Because I’m a sucker for homages, let’s stick to the question and answer thing. Here’s a bunch of ways to better understand your Medic buddies.

Q. Why is my Medic yelling Medic!?
A. Your Medic is probably in danger and is trying to grab your attention. Turn around and look at him – he may be under attack from enemies from behind, or he may be on fire. Make sure your Medic is safe before you continue onwards, a living Medic is invaluable to your team, but a dead Medic is great news for the enemy team. Another reason he might be calling for Medic is to inform friendly players of his location, particularly if you have just respawned, so he can find someone to heal and build Ubercharge.

Q. Why is my Medic calling me a Spy?
A. There is most likely a Spy nearby, but the Medic does not have line of sight. When someone calls Spy! and looks directly at another class, they will use their X Is A Spy line rather than the default line. Either way, you should kill the Spy or drive him off. If he has Dead Ringer’d, inform your team mates and expect the Spy to come back. If there is no Spy nearby, quickly prove that you’re not a Spy by firing your weapon – this is 100% proof that you’re not a Spy.

Q. I am calling Medic but nothing is happening! There’s a Medic here somewhere…
A. Medics cannot be anywhere and everywhere and they can only heal one person at a time, unless they are using the Amputator. So please be patient and seek them out personally. Also, a Medic may be unable to reach you, because you are in a dangerous spot, too far away or high up, or they simply don’t want to risk their lives and Ubercharge to get to you.

Q. I’m close to a Medic. Why is that Medic not healing me?
A. Two reasons: Either a. that Medic is busy being a bad Medic and only healing one person or b. that Medic considers other people a higher priority. A Medic’s most important job is to build Ubercharge, which he can do quicker with people with less than 142% health (or generally not overhealed), so he’s more likely to heal injured people. There’s also a thing called healing priority, as a Medic decides who should be healed first – generally, they will heal other Medics, then heavy classes (Demomen, Soldiers, Heavies), then flank classes (Scout, Pyro, Spy) before healing support classes (Pyro, Spy, Sniper, Engineer).

Q. Why is that Medic running around with his Syringe Gun/Crossbow/melee weapon out?
A. He is in danger and is trying to save himself. Run over and protect him, and he’ll reward you with heals. Remember, Medics can heal you from a distance with the Crossbow, so look out and see what they’re doing.

Q. Why is that Medic running around with his Medi Gun out but not healing anyone?
A. He may be a Spy. Spies disguised as Medics cannot heal people.

Q. This Medic is healing me and won’t go away. Why?
A. You have proven that you’re a reliable enough player to protect the Medic, so he is now pocketing you. Heavies in particular are very good Medic buddies, since they can both quickly kill enemies and heal Medics with sandviches. Do your best to keep him alive, he will probably want to deploy his Ubercharge on you. If you’re a light class (Scout, Sniper, Spy, Engineer) and you’re being pocketed, try and protect him and persuade him to heal a heavy class. If he won’t or there are no heavy classes on your team, switch to Demoman, Soldier or Heavy and fight to victory.

Q. Help! My screen has gone all team-coloured and wobbly! What do I do?
A. A Medic has Ubercharged you. You are now invulnerable, but still sensitive to knockback from explosions. Try to push forward as hard as you can and kill as many enemies as possible.

Q. Help! My gun is all glowy and lightning-y! What’s happening?
A. A Medic has used the Kritzkrieg on you, making you deal triple damage for a short amount of time. Try to kill as many enemies as possible, particularly enemy Demomen, Soldiers, Heavies and Scouts. Watch out though, you’re not invulnerable!

Q. Help! There’s a weird whirring sound! What’s going on?
A. A Medic has used the Quick Fix on you. You are now immune to knockback and heal very fast. Try to defend your current location and push forward.

Q. Help! There is a weird bubble around me and an icon above my health. What does it all mean?
A. A Medic has used the Vaccinator on you. The Vaccinator gives you resistance against certain types of damage. A bullet symbol means you take less damage from guns, an explosion means you take less damage from rockets, stickies and grenades and a flame emblem means you take less fire damage. Be careful though, you can still die easily!

Q. I was being healed and suddenly my Medic disappeared?
A. Either your Medic ran away to heal someone else or head to safety, or he was killed. Next time, be more careful and keep an eye on him!

Q. That Medic is on fire. What should I do?
A. Guide him to the nearest health pack. If you have Jarate, Mad Milk, the Man Melter, the Sandvich or any flamethrower apart from the Phlogistiantor, extinguish him!

Q. It’s setup time but that Medic isn’t healing me? What gives?
A. During setup time, Medics need to build Ubercharge as fast as they can. Once they have full Uber, they’ll start applying Overheal to everyone. Remember, Overheal decays, so there’s no point being overhealed if there’s 30 seconds of setup time left! Also, there is NO reason to explosive jump in spawn if there’s setup time.

Q. Medic, I have more questions!
A. Well, why don’t you ask them then? Or better yet, post in Understanding Your Medic and a Medic will come along and answer your question, while at the same time, keeping that great thread bumped.