Medics, what do you need your Pocket to do?

**Watsyurdeal?** · 01-24-12, 08:24 AM

Pretty basic question, as a Medic, what do you need your Pocket to do for you?

I ask this because I'm trying to get better at Soldier, and up till recently I've mostly been a Roamer. But can't really do to much of that here on TPG.

**kibner** · 01-24-12, 10:02 AM

Pay attention to things above, as well as in front. If you hear someone call out scout/spy or say something got behind us, always do a quick check. If your medic starts moving oddly (probably can tell if the medi-beam behaves erratic) there is a good chance he is trying to avoid a spy or other enemy.

Stay between medic and enemy. If you rocket jump while fighting an enemy (leaving me vulnerable to everything), I will cut you. You are also the medic's scout. Let him know if there is something big happening or if it is time to retreat or use uber.

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**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-24-12, 12:09 PM

-Keep enemies off your medic, even if you can't kill them you can knock them around.
-Tell your medic you are retreating before you start to turn around or back up, you can't win every fight.
-Secure medpacks for your medic.
-Take full advantage of your uber/krits.
-Your medic's life if more valuable then your own, don't be afraid to tell them to fall back while you stick around to hold the enemy back, you can always rocket jump back to catch up in the retreat.
-It is ok to leave your medic for a few seconds to rocket jump up somewhere and check your surroundings, kill a stray enemy, or destroy a building. But like kibner said, you're their scout, tell them you're going to go and check something and just call for medic again when you drop back down.

**Langrad** · 01-24-12, 12:13 PM

Insane forgot to mention you should die for your medic. Tell him to run and you stand your ground if you staying will delay the opposition. With 11v11 you should be able to roll with two big classes near your medic. You can slow the enemies down while your companda sticks with the medic while retreating.

**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-24-12, 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by Langrad

Insane forgot to mention you should die for your medic.

Originally Posted by insanegammer109

-Your medic's life if more valuable then your own, don't be afraid to tell them to fall back while you stick around to hold the enemy back, you can always rocket jump back to catch up in the retreat.

**Langrad** · 01-24-12, 12:29 PM

You dont mention death in there at all. You just say you can let your medic run away from you and always catch up :P

**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-24-12, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by Langrad

You dont mention death in there at all. You just say you can let your medic run away from you and always catch up :P

I'm not a pessimist like you Langrad

the point still stands. Your medics life is more important then your own, don't be afraid to die to protect them, but also a living soldier is better then a dead one. You only need to stick around long enough to get your medic a head start and away safely. Then jump back to catch up with him. No one should die for their medic unless it is unavoidable, you just shouldn't be avoiding death by putting your safety above your medic's. However if you keep your medic in the loop, you should both be able to retreat to safety without one of you dying.

Check corners first, block fire aimed at your medic, and call out crits. If you know crits are coming and take the first few shots, it can buy enough time to get your medic away. (Unless it is a random crit, then all bets are off)

Another thing,
-Know how much damage you can take, expect how much damage will be coming at you. Waiting to be fully overhealed isn't always the best option. If you know there aren't that many enemies alive but there is a big spawn wave coming, reposition and regroup. Wait for a little health and move through/out of the danger zone and find a safer place to heal and continue your push. Remember, Ubers charge faster when medics heal damage, don't be afraid to poke around corners and get hurt.

**~~insanegammer109~~** · 01-24-12, 01:15 PM

A few more.

-Keep track of how much damage you are doing, if you know how much your rockets should do you can better predict which fights you will win and which you will lose.
-If you don't already I recommend you turn on your damage done display and hit sounds, checking corners with hit sounds is a very valuable tool.
-Watch your enemies behavior, people act diffrently when they are hurt. Picking these people out before they get healed is important.
-Kill enemy medics first. The more practice you get at jumping medics and focusing spash damage towards them the better you will be at protecting your own medic.

*edit*

-Don't fire in predictable patterns, enemies will strike when they know you are low/out of ammo. Plus pyros love it.
-Try to keep a rocket loaded at all times, keeping that 4th rocket handy is great for stopping scouts and spies from ruining your medic's day.
-Turn, turn, turn. Look around for flanks, its not just the medic's job to watch your back.

**DrHaphazard** · 01-24-12, 01:21 PM

Originally Posted by insanegammer109

-Tell your medic you are retreating before you start to turn around or back up, you can't win every fight.

Communication, communication, communication. Having a pocket that actually talks is like night and day. It soothes the fevered brow of the paranoid medic because HOPEFULLY the communications tell him where he DOESN'T have to focus his attention.

So much about playing medic is about trying to create "safe zones" where you are unlikely to be attacked from. If the pocket soldier can create a bubble of a safe zone around him (both by killing/repelling threats but ALSO by alerting the medic of potential threats) that is immensely helpful. This allows the medic to scan the rest of the area for danger while the soldier focuses on what's coming from the front.

Be liberal with suggestions to "back up", "RUN", "GET OUT" hopefully in a way that lets your medic know how immediate the danger is. You should not be engaging in 3v1 or worse willingly, no matter how overhealed you are. Sure if they force you to fight do your best, but don't be charging into multiple enemies like a bull in rut.

Surviving ubers is a good skill too. Too many players just push until the uber runs out, often leaving the foolish medic that follows in amongst several enemy players. Don't get yourself too far in amongst the enemy, try to keep the majority of them in front of you so you can back up cleanly. Rarely do you need to win the whole round in a single uber. If you know you are going to die when uber runs out (3+ enemies still alive is bad news) try to communicate this BEFORE it does, preferably when there is still a second or two or uber left.

Anyways, learning to hit your shots will obviously come in time, but the ability to communicate is simple and anyone can do it.

Getting the medic to actually listen/trust you is another matter altogether.

**DrHaphazard** · 01-24-12, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by insanegammer109

Your medics life is more important then your own, don't be afraid to die to protect them, but also a living soldier is better then a dead one. You only need to stick around long enough to get your medic a head start and away safely. Then jump back to catch up with him.

Another good point. You don't need to have a do or die attitude. Medics can run pretty fast and they should already be quite a few feet behind you. Normally a good call + 1 or 2 warning shots will allow you both to get away. Partly this depends on your meds positioning, which you should get a sense for if you play with him often enough.

Oh one minor note on rollouts. If you got people jumping on your team (on TPG you better) then do an equalizer roll out. With EQ rollout you can wait just before mid at around 50 hp and the med should get you fully overbuffed in about 2 seconds. This is great because he will have healed the others on the way there and will now have a fully overhealed soldier + an extra little bit of uber from the extra healing he did on you.