Why Medic?

I suppose there are a lot of people that, when they first got into TF2 and saw the Medic class, asked this:

Out of the nine classes available, why would anyone go for the one class that can’t kill anything to go healer?

The main draw for me to play Medic is probably power. Every other class in the game has the power of death, whether it is with the pinpoint precision, single target elimination of the Sniper, or the mass destruction of the Demoman. Medic has none of those, despite what every single Battle Medic out there says. Medic holds the power of negation. He nullifies and negates the presence of the enemy team.

Having a Medic means that whatever the enemy team does, whether it be getting set on fire, shot, blown up or whacked with a frying pan, will be undone, as long as you don’t die first. As long as my team and I are careful, my presence trumps everyone else’s. With my left click, I can turn back the clock for my teammates, as the shrapnel leave their bodies, their blood returns to them and their wounds seal back up, leaving no trace of the injury at all. I am the angel that watches over them, and over them the enemy team shall have no power.

To be able to slowly erase my enemies’ progress while looking them straight in the eye is quite a wonderful feeling. I always have a smile on my lips when my pocket and I encounter a small group of players. Unless we really messed up or they have backup, we almost always win. Even if we both survive with only a scrap of health left, I can undo that. Healing is a wonderful thing.

And of course, the enemy team knows that, so they’ll start aiming for my head. And that’s where the second part of the fun begins.

The feeling of power isn’t as prominent now with a pack of hunters after me, who has less offensive capabilities than a bunny and dresses in either white or baby blue just in case everyone else is having difficulty noticing me. Of course, once I have a full Über, that feeling of power is going to return tenfold. Until then, I must survive.

And there is a thrill to surviving when everyone is gunning for you. Each close shave sets your heart pumping, each potentially deadly encounter pulls the corners of your mouth into a demented grin as you are ready to thwart their attempts at ending you before they themselves are finished off.

It’s almost the same as the thrill of sneaking past enemy defenses as a Spy, just that this time I have the full attention of the enemy team. The swish of my lab coat is like the red cape of a matador, taunting the enemy team as they desperately try to end me while my teammates are tearing them apart. Every shot dodged means I get to live just a bit longer to heal my team and build my Über.

One of my most memorable moments of playing Medic is about this. Once, I was a Medic on Badwater Offense. We were pushing into the final point at the last right turn.

I was strafing about just in case some cheeky Sniper decided to use me as target practice. At that moment, the opposite Soldier fired a random crit Rocket at me.

And for that one split second, I was staring straight at a critical rocket heading straight towards my face.

At that moment, time froze.

That rocket is going to kill me and everyone around me if it hits me.

I cannot die here, we need the Über to push through the upcoming Sentry infestation at the last point.

I will not die.

I strafed to the right, and the rocket flew past the side of my head and hit the wall far behind me, its crit-boosted damage being completely wasted. I have absolutely no memory of how that match went after that, but that one moment is going to stay with me for a very long time.

However, I can’t dodge everything. Sooner or later, I am going to die. And there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. And sometimes, the odds are so great there is absolutely nothing I can do to survive more than a minute unless I decide to cower in fear in my spawn until the enemy team wins.

But then, I’ll grab my Medi Gun and move out, as I have done so, so many times. I need to heal my team so that maybe, just maybe, we can push through. This won’t always happen, but we won’t know unless we try. Either way, I am needed at the frontlines, and that is my third reason for playing Medic: I need to do it.

So why do I play Medic? For the good of my team. For the thrill of being hunted. And for the sense of power as I rescue my teammates from the edge of death.

And that is why I play Medic.