In almost every team-based multiplayer game, there are always designated support characters. These characters only have one goal: To make sure their teammates stay alive as long as possible. In Team Fortress 2, the Medic is the bona fide support character, although his primary and melee weapons may indicate otherwise. Here are some basic need-to-knows about the Medic if you want to main as him.
- The Medic comes with a “Syringe Gun” and a “Bonesaw,” two weapons that aren’t really advertised for taking out enemies effectively. However, the Medic shines with the use of his secondary weapon: the “Medi Gun,” which is used to recover your teammates’ Health. But not instantaneously.
- If you heal teammates who are still pristine, their Health can be boosted to break their Health limit. It can go as high as 150 percent. This is why the Medic is usually paired with Heavy, who boasts the highest default Health in Team Fortress 2. Furthermore, the Medic can heal teammates who have managed to stay undamaged for a while more quickly than those who sought help as soon as they got hit.
- The Medic has a unique “ÜberCharge” bar. Whenever the Medic uses his Medi Gun, this bar fills up. Healing damaged teammates causes the ÜberCharge bar to charge much quicker, so always be on the lookout for injured teammates calling for help. You help them recover their Health and in return, they help you fill up your ÜberCharge bar faster.
- Once the ÜberCharge bar is full, you can right-click to activate the special ability of your Medi Gun: temporary invincibility for you and whomever you targeted. That’s essentially a two-in-one bonus. Of course, you can also use this ability without a target in order to save yourself in a firefight. The ÜberCharge effect changes depending on the secondary weapon equipped. For example, if you replace the Medi Gun with a “Quick-Fix,” the ÜberCharge allows you to heal enemies a lot faster than normal. This is best used when healing a bunch of injured teammates in one go.
- Many players save their ÜberCharge exclusively for emergencies or dire situations. This is not usually recommended. The ÜberCharge bar will reset if you’re killed in battle, wasting the time it took to fill up the bar. Instead of waiting for opportune moments all the time to deploy your ÜberCharge, aggressively find ways to use it as soon as possible. Well, unless your partner specifically tells you to save it because he’s planning a strategy based around it.
One last thing: Remember, your primary and melee weapons are for self-defense purposes only. Just because you’re out on the front lines most of the time with your teammates, that doesn’t mean you have to engage in combat, too.
Your teammates rely on you to keep them alive as they brave the front lines. Make sure you’re there for them whenever they’re on critical Health. And that goes for Medic teammates, too. It’s your duty to keep them alive as well, not just heavy-hitters like, uh, Heavy.
Bonus tip: If you have a Soldier teammate, boost his Health at the start. The boosted Health will make up for the Health he will inevitably lose when he uses his patented “Rocket Jump.”
