The Huntsman Sniper is a worse Combat Medic

This is one of those articles where the title kinda says it all. But of course, with such a big claim like “Huntsman Sniper is worse than Combat Medic”, I need to back up my claim with some sort of argument and, preferably, some evidence. Because evidence is cool and I am a man of science. But yes, the Huntsman Sniper is worse than a Combat Medic.

Let’s look at the Huntsman first. Thirteen shots that need charging up for 1 second minimum to be able to do standard damage headshots, or 50 to 120 damage depending on how long you charge the bow for. Charging the bow slows you down, but not as much as zooming in with a scope, although you do get more awareness due to the lack of darkness. You trade accuracy for speed and awareness. You can fire while jumping but not while underwater. Arrows can be lit on fire as well.

Paradoxically, the Huntsman is considered a stupid weapon because its stupidly large arrow hitbox makes it easy to spam down hallways, making it VERY effective on closed maps. But at the same time the Huntsman is a very poor weapon compared to the rifles. Why? As fast as the projectile is, it is wholly inaccurate compared to the rifles, has a travel time which means it can be dodged, and makes Snipers have to get closer to the action to be used efficiently. It’s also got a really fricking annoying taunt. Stab stab stab, anyone?

When compared to the Crusader’s Crossbow, it makes little sense. One is a crossbow, the other is a recurve bow. One has headshots, the other heals allies and hurts enemies. The damage difference is quite big too. But even though the Huntsman is, damage-wise, way better than the Crossbow, the Crossbow is a far superior weapon.

Hitting an ally is a good thing. It can be fired anywhere. It has way more ammo. It reloads passively. It can randomly crit and has one of the loveliest critical projectile particles in the game. The model is way better looking. The festive variant is the best festive weapon in the game. Depending on distance, if you don’t get a headshot, it can do similar damage to the Huntsman anyway. Most shots you land will be point blank or mid range, which is 38 to about 50, 55 damage for the Crossbow. The Huntsman at 0% charge only does 50 damage at any range. The Crusader’s Crossbow doesn’t need charging. But unlike the Huntsman, the Crusader’s Crossbow doesn’t care if it hits an ally, it just heals them, for up to 150 health, or a MASSIVE 75 health at point blank!

But let’s be realistic here. We’re comparing weapons. We should be comparing classes too. Hence the title. But here, Medic wins, unless Sniper uses Jarate or gets a headshot. Getting a headshot though is mostly luck with the Huntsman. At long range, it’s easier for the Medic to fight, since he’s got more ammo to waste, does more damage without needing to slow himself down and charge AND the syringes travel faster than the Huntsman’s arrows, unless the Sniper fully charges his shot. At closer ranges, the Medic starts to lose out as it becomes easier to hit Huntsman arrows, until they get to point blank, and the Sniper switches to Jarate and Bushwacka and kills the Medic. But now we’re in the wrong sort of territory.

A quick clarification here. There’s a difference between a Combat Medic and a Battle Medic. A Combat Medic is more aggressive, but he does actually use a Medi Gun. A Battle Medic never uses his Medi Gun unless he gets full Uber from Ubersaws or whatever.

In an actual game though, a Combat Medic proves more useful. Assuming they both hit and miss equal numbers of people, the Huntsman Sniper needs to go the extra way to get headshots, and if the Combat Medic hits an ally by accident, that’s 75 health minimum he just gave them. Melee is about the same, but Medics get more random crit power by healing and assisting, compared to Snipers. It all ends up boiling down to secondaries, but the only way for a Huntsman Sniper to be more useful is by using Jarate. Jarate is an amazingly powerful weapon, although it has a 20 second downtime. So is a Medi Gun though, and while it doesn’t have Uber, it’s healing and increasing the health of the rest of your team. Unless you managed to cover most of the enemy and your team mates helped kill everyone, an Ubercharge is always going to be more useful.

Unless it’s a Vaccinator Ubercharge. That’s a different story entirely.