between lower skill end medics and medics at the higher end (from Sigma and co in the high ESEA Open all the way up to the Invite level medics). I feel that I have hit a wall where I am not getting any better in the last 25-40 hours or so (though I did break 200hrs as medic, NEXT ROUND'S ON ME!!!!!)

is it as simple as the inordinate (1000+ hrs) as medic or is there some secret sauce per say.

i.e WHAT CAN I PRACTICE TO GET GOD LIKE HEALER POWERZZZZ

a couple things i think of when i think of determining a medic's skill are:
-positioning
-heal priority
-communication
once you know where to position yourself, your done with that, when you learn your heal priority, your done with it, you learn what to say your done with it. Medic is a hard class IMO to get better at because when you play it you need to think a lot more than other classes. So what i would do is watch demos of mid level teams playing and gradually work up to the high level teams so that i can grasp how to be a mid level medic first, then work my way up to a higher level.

The only difference between me and sigma is a community medigun.

The best way to get better at med is to make a note of what mistakes you make and stop making them. The easiest way to do this is to watch one of your POV demos in which you think you were doing well, and notice how many little errors you make -- how often you break your heal beam unnecessarily, how often you take damage, how often you let someone take damage when you're ubered, how often you die to a solly jumping or a scout you didn't see... etc.

Watching STV's of your team/good teams is a good way to increase your situational awareness as well. It's much easier to play when you know the timing of people coming behind you, or you're prepared to pop before your pocket takes 250 damage, or you know where the demo's trap is based off of when he spawned/where he was last seen...

If you record your comms in game as well, then watch the STV, you can see how accurate you were tracking the enemy med's uber -- ideally you should be paying attention to his spawn time as well as who's spawning with him. For example, if the enemy has a solly spawn, then later a scout+med spawn, you should be paying attention to that solly's position -- it's pretty important to know if he waited for the med or if the med healed only the scout for some time (giving you another 5s uber advantage).

Ideally, the only thing you should ever die to is scouts that you're already aware of (nothing that can be done if your team doesn't handle them). If you go down to a jumping soldier, or a trap, or you got flanked without realizing it, or they uber in when you're too close, you made a mistake somewhere and could have played better (and should play better next time). Same goes for letting someone die when you're ubered, or forgetting to buff the scouts before a push, or what have you.

thanks :3

Experience. A lot of hours on medic.
And have a bff pocket.

If your heal orders are correct and you manage uber well I think the only thing separating a good mid-level medic from a top invite level medic is game sense and intelligence. The top medics know exactly when to commit and when to run away. They know where to stand and which paths to take. They know which direction to face and they know exactly when to push and when to fall back. They always seem to know exactly what's going on in the match even when they aren't near the action. They seem to know exactly when someone is going to be coming around a corner at any given time, and call out things early to control information flow.

Perfection is the art of medicing; not making any mistakes is what sets the top medics in the game apart from their peers. Think to yourself who the top four medics in the game are right now. Watch how they play as opposed to how the next tier or medics right below them play, then compare both of them to how you play.

Pretty much what bodknocks said, they're constantly aware of the enemy, where they are, what their uber is at, who has an advantage, etc. A lot of top medics boss their pockets around too (like pure), telling them to back out when it's not safe, etc.

If you have a bff pocket, you won't need to boss, they just know.

If you have a bff pocket, you won't need to boss, they just know.

This. Vengeance and I practically never had to talk in order to be on exactly the same page. Also, hours don't make the medic. Knowing your team and them knowing you makes the medic. Learning from your mistakes and learning QUICKLY makes the medic.

Adapt. That's pretty much the most important rule.

This. Vengeance and I practically never had to talk in order to be on exactly the same page. Also, hours don't make the medic. Knowing your team and them knowing you makes the medic. Learning from your mistakes and learning QUICKLY makes the medic.

Adapt. That's pretty much the most important rule.

I feel like hours make a great medic Fish. Not because you get better at flick heals or needling.
But it goes back to what Sigma was saying and what you just said.

A. Every time you make a mistake, you remember it and think about how you can get out of it next time. TF2 is not repetitive at all and players are constant variables in every match, but similar situations WILL pop up in the future and you will have a better idea of how to handle it.

B. With more time, the more you will get to know your team and their habits. I was unfortunate to be on a team that had 3 different roaming sollies with 3 different playing styles over 2 months. Definitely couldn't adjust well enough and the blame for our losses was rightfully put on me.

Don't be afraid to voice your opinion in combat, I on occasion remind players to open their mouths so I am aware of where thing I have no hope of seeing are, the scout pair are great to allow you to keep tabs on your flanks.

Also, having a solid pocket is awesome, but as a practice, make both your soldiers play pocket alternating in scrims, so you can be familiar with both their play styles during a match plus a good exercise for the team to ensure both soldiers are equally capable in any situation.

Also, spam dodging!

I forgot. When I started medic, I had a hard time dodging rockets, so I jumped in ammomod and just got my arse handed to me for hours...but I got a lot better at dodging spam.

When I saw you pugging Shadow, I noticed that you were taking a lot of spam. Not an insult, but just something you could work on!

Also, spam dodging!

I forgot. When I started medic, I had a hard time dodging rockets, so I jumped in ammomod and just got my arse handed to me for hours...but I got a lot better at dodging spam.

When I saw you pugging Shadow, I noticed that you were taking a lot of spam. Not an insult, but just something you could work on!

yeah I take a lot of spam, it is getting better, but at mid, that is what takes me down 90% of the time (damn scouts and jumping soldiers the rest of the time)

Thanks for all the tips guys, was very useful.

Any suggestions for good ammomod servers?

FACT: Pro medics hold M1 harder.

Playing medic is a bit like playing Heavy, it's not as overt as playing Soldier and airshoting, it's all about positioning.

A good medic will not die, in the same way that a good Heavy will never lose a fight.

Also the good medic will not only know where to position himself but will help his pocket to position himself even better.

It's more of a continium instead of a "good/bad" switch.

Also, spam dodging!



If nothing else the Soldier/Demo war was great practice for spam dodging.

agree with 2thumbs there xD It was like playing some strange twisted version of ammomod with 12 people.

On a only-somewhat related note, how do I dodge a jumper? I've tried moving into them to throw off their aim, but that only works part of the time, and moving anywhere else usually opens me up for a direct hit. Riding the rocket away isn't always reliable for me.

The best way to dodge a jumper is to not be there when they jump. Recognize when it's likely that you'll get jumped, and in these situations play far back or in a doorway. On mid fights, you need to play more aggressive while picks are even (jumpers are more likely to attempt to damage your soldiers than kill you), but once you start to take an advantage, a jump's focus will switch to killing the medic or forcing a pop to even things up (particularly if the other team's medic dies), so in that situation you should be way back (corner or garage of gran, house of blands) if an enemy soldier is still able to jump you.

When getting pushed 3-2, balance your position between being close enough to block the uber (if you have it), and far enough that a single jumping solly can't force you. 2-1, be ready for coordinated suicides, and position yourself that you can still heal most of your team, but also such that you can get into the spawn to avoid popping against 2-3 jumpers. If they're pushing 2-3, chances are you can either deny them on the choke or they have enough picks/advantage to push -- in the latter case, you should be way the heck back so you don't die before getting charge (let them get cap time on mid while you finish your charge, then block it). Note the exception: if you're 2 or 3 down getting pushed on mid + you have charge and they don't, you can often score 2-3 kills (including medic) by hiding your combo close to the choke and ubering when their medic commits. It's hard to avoid getting drawn into this from the other side.

So, aside from being in a position that renders the jumper ineffective, you're doing all you can. Dodge the first rocket by not moving backwards (if possible), or ride the rocket. As long as you don't go down to the first 2 shots your team should have time to kill the guy (unless you're holding too close with not enough people, then that's on you... but if you get a nice ride or combine dodging rocket 1 with riding rocket 2-3, you should be able to live against a single suicide pretty consistently).

Whats the value of going inside your teammates to avoid damage as a medic?

Playing medic is a bit like playing Heavy, it's not as overt as playing Soldier and airshoting, it's all about positioning.


So about the pocket/medic combo. I've always thought of a medic like a reverse-pocket in terms of movement. It gets confusing on who calls the movement sometimes, especially in PUGs. I like to call movement a lot, as I play very adaptively and think very short-term, but sometimes a bit cocky and think I can stop a push by out-DMing in and catching over-extenders in chokes when there is little chance of it. This drives my medics crazy sometimes, especially when they are unexperienced. To solve both these problems I like to call offensive movement (pushing up, capping points, focus fire) While the medic calls defensive (retreating, stopping caps, getting scouts and jumpers off of teammates).

To solve both these problems I like to call offensive movement (pushing up, capping points, focus fire) While the medic calls defensive (retreating, stopping caps, getting scouts and jumpers off of teammates).

I have a very nice relationship with my main medic, we have played together enough so as to know what crazyness the other is going to do and more often than not I drive my other medics mad because my playstyle throws them of.

I always open a private channel with him so as to not spam the main channels with "go ahead", "go back" "go ahead", "go back", "blablabla".

As a whole I'm the one bossing the medic around because I normally have a more open view of the battlefield and how damaged the enemies are. I think that makes me the more knowledgeable player of the two of us when it comes to peeking and DM.

However the medic has priority over my orders if it's needed. If he says that we must go back he is going to have a very good reason and thus I obey him instantly.

I think it's very similar to your relationship. Similarly to your DM skills, I rely a lot on my prediction skills and thus sudden changes of direction and such are very common. It's a very powerful tool but requires a lot of time to get used to.

My best part as medic buddy is not playing at my skill level. I always play as if I were closer to perfection and sometimes it hurts.

Also crazy medics that are skilled with the syringe gun/blutsauger are awesome.

When your scouts go down, you're the eyes typically. I've seen a lot of medics (of all levels) get meatshotted from behind because they left their flank open by not communicating and observing. The scouts should let you know they're down and where they went down so keep that in mind while you heal. It helps to also play other classes so, say you played scout, you would think "What/where what I do/go?" and adjust accordingly. Memorize popular sniping spots and times, like Granary last or Follower, and position yourself so you're not an easy/open target. If you played Sniper, where would you be and where you be expecting the medic? Medics can be found in some common areas.

Medic is exciting, really. You are watching your team, yourself, dodging rockets, rollers while trying to keep your heal beam active and your team alive. You're pushing with multi-ubers, withdrawing while throwing every needle you have away to deter any would be pursuers until you connect back with a spawning team mate, and the team saying "Is he still alive? Holy shit, nice dude - get up here!"

While a medic can't always make or break a team - a good Medic won't hinder.

So while you do try to improve, as we all do, remember to have fun.

if you want to make it look like you have super healer powers, you gotta convince your team to stop being hit so often when you're trying to heal them. here's a video to explain:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
XL7Tzq168Bs

so you see that if you can convince your teammates to stay out of the action when you heal them, they will heal faster and therefore be able to get back in the fray faster in the long run than if you were to just heal them in the middle of the chaos.

I love the music in that video wand.

It makes me want to procreate