Protecting the Medic

**sL!ppY** · 09-04-08, 10:35 AM

in my opinion.. medic takes first priority in terms of protection sure... but how many people think about the engi. The engi needs almost as much protection in order to defend or attack sucessfully in many situations. Portals get your team up to the needed area fast... sentries protect critical areas and help prevent counter pushes as well as sealing choke points... and then of course theres the fact that while not as good as a medic... engis can get you some heals and ammo via their magic box of awesomeness (aka dispenser) An engi setting up in a critical location and their set up... is almost as important in terms of protection.. as the medic in many situations.

**Vulcan30** · 09-04-08, 12:35 PM

Originally Posted by Manse

I'd like to add that Pyros are great for keeping medics alive provided they have blowback, and not that pos backburner.

I understand the offensive potential of the backburner, but it is severely dwarfed by the blowback power of the base weapon. Pyros come after medics almost as much as spies do. The problem is, most pyros 'watching the medic' forget that the oncoming flames go past you and burninate the medic. Use blowback to keep that from happening when you see the pyro coming. This, combined with the ability to separate uber'd pairs means the whole team lives a helluva lot longer...

Totally agree here Manse (and lol@burninate) and I didn't even think about the pyro when I was writing this. I'm gonna try to get this to articles archives so I'll add another paragraph or two about protecting the medic from a pyro. I have a problem though, I suck at pyro. Some of you pyros out there wanna chime in here and tell us how you would protect a medic against yourself?

**PizzaSHARK!** · 09-04-08, 12:50 PM

Since I play both classes a lot...

Bring the flamethrower and leave the backburner at home. Backburner is wonderful for pyro rushes into spawn (such as 3-1 on Dustbowl), but otherwise the airburst is way too good to pass up. If there's a pyro coming towards your medic, push him past your medic, not back the way he came. Ideally, your medic will have a brain (and you'll be communicating with him) and will move to a position where he's out of range. Try to push the pyro into a corner, and then run and and block him in. If he doesn't have a medic, he will die before you do, barring lucky crits. If he does have a medic... go after the medic while trying to push the pyro away from your medic.

Medics should not rush out and attack after they've hit about 40% on their uber/kritz charge. Save that charge. If the person you're healing wants to go rush, let them go die while you find someone less suicidal. Don't lose that uber. Learn to jump over rockets and grenades, and learn to use cover to protect yourself from snipers. If you're in a stationary position, always keep your back to a wall to lessen the odds of getting stabbed in the back. Always look around, don't just get tunnel vision on the person you're healing.

**Mastermedic** · 09-07-08, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by }EC{Menoske

I've been thinking about ubering the engy on pyro uber rushes. I don't know if the engy can repair the sentry fast enough, but i think it might be a decent tactic to start testing.

I saw this done properly one day on goldrush with two random people that joined the server. they executed it like they had tried it a hundred times before and pulled it of like champions.

**texdirect6** · 09-08-08, 06:35 PM

Although I am quite new to this game i find that this is an effective tactic especially when playing as pyro. I usuually just walk in front of the medics when advancing and Spray and Pray!!!

**IronStomach** · 09-08-08, 06:54 PM

Be good to your medic, and they will be good to you. It's great watching the strategies for this game evolve as people discover new and exciting ways to use all of the weapons and tools at their disposal.

**heyf00L** · 09-10-08, 03:46 PM

Yeah, it's hard to spy check when you're a Medic and healing someone. Sometimes you can whip out the Blutsauger real quick and see if a needle will leach life off that suspicious guy approaching. If you can't afford to switch off your medigun, what I do is back up and when they get near try to walk through them. It's not flashy, but it works. If they're solid, act like you didn't notice and tell your team.