Medic Positioning

[caleeb101]

As a marine, since the admins CLEARLY hate us I find that all the little stuff you can do to help really make a difference. (its joke please don't hurt)

One mistake that I see a lot of the positioning of medics. Yes, it's good to be urgent with treatment. Yes, it's good to be attentive. But when you're treating a man about 10 tiles away from the frontline and the frontline starts to crumble or you're getting attacked by runners and hunters because the hive is competent, it's time to re-consider your positioning. I see this the most on more open maps like big red and LV-624, especially on LV-624 when you're just coming out of hydro into the Jungle clearing.

If there is a fortified area, USE it to your advantage. Conduct treatment in that space. Don't stand outside of it and go "Welp" because your patient got dragged away or you got pounced by a hunter. Try not to stand near the edges of barricades. It's a meme being tackled by a xeno outside of a barricade and slashed half to death.

These are just small things I observed and they could be fixed with a little critical thinking and a few taps of the WASD or arrow keys.

ps. never go anywhere alone as a medic, i can't honestly say that i haven't targeted medics before as a xeno because i know how important/scarce they are

[Dumblike]

ps. never go anywhere alone as a medic, i can't honestly say that i haven't targeted medics before as a xeno because i know how important/scarce they are

almost every xeno player, if not new, goes an extra mile just to attack someone with a red square on their chest/backpack. and it pays off

[antonkr]

You should be at the front lines, but far away enough for anyone but maybe an annoying runner to have a chance of touching you.

[CaptainYankee]

How do you guys feel about medic positioning if the closest point not directly behind the front lines is, for example, across the river on LV? I agree that LV is the worst map for medic placement. But every goddam LV map marines stop protecting lines to the front and medics have to make a choice of being where they can help the most guys, or sitting in a near empty fortified position treating the lucky few who were anle to walk or be drug back.

[Carnolus]

When I rocked medic, what I would do is stand in the rear of the squad, about 15 tiles back. Obviously that isn’t something that is favourable, I mean, who wouldn’t like to treat people behind barricades? But in LV the best way for you to shine is to be there. You heal the most guys, get the most protection, and you always have that chance of running back with wounded if you have to. Your job is to make sure people either get back on the field or get them stable enough to evacuate. You rarely get to make a huge impact way behind the lines. It’s also more fun having those 2-3 guys begging for treatment.

[Mister Jeether]

i often refuse to play as a medic because i often end up trying to defib 6 marines at once while other three keep yelling stuff like ''HEAL ME PLS''.

I quite often find medics that die because they stand still on the frontlines healing 1-2 crit marines and get up slashed to death.

[Jroinc1]

One "mistake" I see many medics make is to stay in the back healing people, but for TOO long.

Once the squad moves up, one of the medics needs to go with them, and not get bogged down treating people in the back while the advance gets farther and farther off, till people who only needed a pill/bandage keel over in paincrit.

[PerfectDeath]

Too many "one mistake" comments from a bunch of nit pickers... Don't fret, I'm not actually mad, I get that medics are a very limited asset and losing one is a MASSIVE blow to the marines and a single mistake is all it takes.
However, there is an incredibly complex net of decisions and situations for a medic to be "perfect" in their positioning. That level of situational awareness is really hard to achieve and much of it is out of the medic's hands.

As for my experience on LV, I have an easier time keeping track of the squad as a medic and there are often places of habit that are established as field hospitals (T-Fort and hydro for example). The main decision comes down to what the squad is doing and who is filling what roles.

Is the squad stationary or moving? Stationary is much easier to set up an "aid station" while a moving squad will often leave the medic behind.

Are the wounded being hauled to the medic's "aid station"? This requires either voluntary action by the some of the squad or the medic to pull rank and order a few boots to just haul wounded.

How secure is the surrounding perimeter? Unsecured flanks are just begging xenos to harass the medic, sticking close to the squad will at least deter the xenos from that.

Do the two medics divide their positioning? One medic up close and one farther back can be a good call to cover the different situations. Especially if the marine presence on the front is strong and things are advancing along, a medic to keep pace is useful.

It is all about being flexible and being able to maintain as much situational awareness as possible, that is never going to be perfect the whole round. Yes, medic tunnel vision is bad and I understand why it happens. Reading the health analyzer in the middle of frantic chatter enough to memorize the numbers and condition of multiple patients is pretty darn taxing.
Medics do need to establish a habit of taking in their surroundings in case they end up out of good/safe position. Maybe the marine paired up with you got bored and left and your rear position is no longer safe? Maybe it is safer within line of sight of the squad because there are no secure areas to work in? Maybe the squad leader gets ordered to re-position to the other end of the map and he only tells you they moved "south" when in fact, they went around the center to the north, then moved west and THEN south? 'Cause that has happened to me and OH BOY some people were pissed their only medic couldn't meet up with them for almost 30mins. =P

Its certainly a hard call and it has been an enjoyable challenge for me when I play medic. But don't nit pick and scold other medics for tunneling with some "one solution".

Oh god, this is becoming a long rant... this is not a simple topic to cover, I've cut out a big chunk detailing some situations. xD

[Artemis111]

Medic main here. Generally what I find to work the best is sticking next to the squad 10-15 tiles behind the front line.Your squad will know where you are and will drag wounded back to you so you wont have to try to be a hero and grab them yourself.

If the bodies start to pile up THEN you should start to fall back to a fortified position or at least a little further away from the front line. Grab a wounded marine and if you have an extra stretcher deploy it over someone that cant walk and more often then not a marine will take them back with you, if not ask some marines to drag the wounded that cant walk back with you. In the event that the whole xeno horde descends on your squad, you'll most likely survive and be able to save the patients you are treating.

[YourNeutralness]

One "mistake" I see many medics make is to stay in the back healing people, but for TOO long.

Once the squad moves up, one of the medics needs to go with them, and not get bogged down treating people in the back while the advance gets farther and farther off, till people who only needed a pill/bandage keel over in paincrit.

That's good advice. I enjoy the rp aspects of being a medic far more than the actual gameplay minutia. I think I will start striving to be the medic attached to the squad as often as possible. It always amazes me how so many marines don't take a first aid pouch. I swear that as a standard I use some ointment every 2 minutes in a regular firefight. The people who go without that and have no medic attached must be so frustrated with the pain from just all the spits landing. Being surrounded by 10 wounded marines in a fob is so boring to me as medic, even if I try to challenge myself to go as fast and efficiently as possible it is still such a trial for me. I almost never play 2 medic rounds back to back because of this. But if I stick with the squad and the inherent dangers and complications that go with that it will definitely be a more exciting game.

[Omicega]

Heal as close to the front as possible and be proactive in seeking out patients. Dish out Tramadol like it's Christmas time and don't be afraid to go aggressive with the rest of the push if needs be. People will go above and beyond to keep you safe.

Being mobile and flexible is far more important than any of this 'medical zone/aid station/triage area' bullshit. Be ready to pack up and go off somewhere else at a moment's notice - the only thing that should ever stop you now is the medevac stretcher still waiting on pickup.

A FOB medic is more often than not a wasted medic. Surviving to the end of the round is pointless if you do fuck all healing worth a damn in all that time. Get in deep and support the pushes.

[Miranda]

Time to wear normal backpacks and engi ones?

[Amaxin]

Second line. That's where your place is.

Right behind the marine forces, healing the injured, stabilizing the critical, defibrillating the recently deceased. From the second line, you can protect the flanks with your shotgun or rifle (or an SMG if you're gay enough), you can see the situation. You can determine if it's time to dip, evac the wounded, or time to stay and treat actively fighting marines.

FOB medic placement is a dumb idea, but it has one advantage (which doesn't make it any good, mind you) - the medics survive. It's still a lot better to just send them to the second line of the assault and let them do their job.

[PerfectDeath]

Time to wear normal backpacks and engi ones?

I've run medic with the satchel before. It was definitely convenient being able to access the bag without taking it off, switching hand, opening the pack, take item out, switch hand, and put the pack back on.

The main draw back is running out if your round as medic lasts too long and you don't get resupplied. However, if you get what you need an a reserve storage (empty a medkit or two for reserve supplies) and the only thing I end up cutting out would be spare defibs, roller beds, stasis bags, and the triple reserve of meds. xD

So yeah, the satchel is a pretty decent choice if you just want to be close to the front, quick to respond, and be less of a target for Benos. Of course, you won't be a walking med-vender without the medical backback. =P