Beyond The Wire – Medic Class Basic Guide

Basic strategy behind playing the medic class with tips, tricks and more for how to be the best medic in not only your squad but the entire team. Put together by two of the current best medics in the game. If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to play medic, this is the guide for you. Good medics are key to winning…come learn how.

Guide to Medic Basics

All credit goes to brentter!

#1 – Use Your Microphone!

• If you’re going for someone let them know not to give up, same with if you find yourself in a group of downed players. “Medic here, hold on, there’s a bunch of you i’m going to get this guy first.. i’ll get you next, etc..”
• If you are with another medic – let them know who you are going for so they can go for someone else.. sometimes it might help to even tell them (if you’re in front) who they should go for so you can both piggyback revives. Also be clear with “I’ve got this guy, you get that guy, etc..”
• If there’s a group of players needing revives, go for the medics first so they can help, it’s not about points its about getting everyone combat-effective… ask if anyone is a medic and prioritize them!
• While reviving – tell the guys you’re helping where to cover for you and where to move after they’re up.. i.e. “move back into the trench to your left when i get you up” or “when i get you up cover the corner in front of us while I heal you and get up your buddy”
• If you find yourself in a group of multiple medics (3+) spread out!!! One grenade or artillery can incapacitate multiple medics rather than just one.
• If you are going for a revive and notice another medic closer or already on the revive – find someone new to revive or provide cover.. once again, one grenade or artillery can take out one medic or all the medics in the area.. play smart (use your mic).
• When you’re out of bandages + can’t revive? Either yolo and instantly give up or play the rest of your life as a rifleman, let others know you don’t have any more medkits.

Medic As A Role

• You are a support, not an assault. Be mindful about how you choose to engage the enemy, dying with bandages left can affect everyone around you
• People may never pick you up, that’s okay. Don’t hold it against people if they do not get you, as a medic we have to deal with that reality and if we are playing to win, we can get passed this.
• Know your limits. Don’t engage an enemy unless you know you will survive, don’t go for a downed teammate until you’ve figured out a way to get to them safely.
• Be a team player. You are there for the team, not there for yourself. You may die a lot or get a negative K/D, and that’s okay.
• Revives and Heal Points is our K/D. Other roles focus on the kill count, we focus on the heal count. No medic is remembered for getting 20 kills, but we are remembered for getting 20 revives.
• Do not harass your co medic even if you are under attack yourself. It is not worth it, if you get kicked, find a new squad and attempt to fit in there. You can’t heal everyone, especially if they get themselves killed.
• Have fun: Medic is meant to be fun for people who want to handle action in a different way while also taking a step back from that sometimes and be a soldier to help fight the enemy.
• Be supportive: help your fellow co medics and make sure you can both have a good experience.
• Do not leave people outside of your squad to die. Everyone is a priority, not just the squad.

Movement

• You sprint faster with your melee weapon out.
• If you play up front you’ll most likely die before you can help. Always play a little distanced/back so when your squadmates go down you can charge up , get them back in the game and stay alive.
• Kill the enemy before you revive. It’s one thing if it was a grenade or artillery but if you know the guy in front of you just died from a close-range shot/melle you will die with them if you don’t kill whoever downed them.
• Reviving people in corners is risky for the very reason said above. If you have players near you tell them in voice to move up and cover you. You can revive fast, they revive slow. Remember that. Sometimes playing the slow-game is better than charging, especially in a trench.
• Stamina is key, you need to be able to jump outta your position to revive and push back to a slightly safer position.. try to conserve it as much as possible.
• If you’re in a hot area it’s usually easier to prone a few meters before the guy you’re trying to revive and sprint crawl (hold shift wile prone) up to them than prone once you’re on top of them (which is slow and provides an easy target for whoever just killed the guy you’re going for). Know your surroundings and communicate them to the person you’re going for (i.e. “once you’re revived move back or move into the ditch to your left).
• Jump and prone transition will help you restore about half of your stamina by the time you hit the ground.
• Corner reviving is best if you lay prone and revive the body that is furthest from you, use a downed teammates body to absorb bullets and mask some cover to the enemy doesn’t notice you are reviving. Heal the person afterwards as they will spawn in a situation where they most likely will engage the enemy.
• To maintain a less crowded trench, always revive people from the outside in, never start reviving in the middle, you will have to jump over proned bodies and be jumped up, could creates a traffic jam.
• Use jumping across trench tops and laps to continue your momentum, jumping does not cost as much stamina.
• If a player is out in the open, the best chance you have of getting them is running either sporadically with jumps, or to run in a direction adjacent to the downed player, and then prone behind a tree and wait 1-20 seconds before the enemy gets bored.
• Always be running, you can rest when you’re prone and reviving. The team needs you, there will always be someone that is down and always someone that needs you.
• Use trench tops to move around if trenches are too crowded, if the enemy is too close, stay on the outside of the trench line, so that you’re not stuck in the middle between a bunch of soldiers.

Situational Awareness

• While you’re reviving always be looking around for the enemy who just killed the guy you’re working on as well as in the direction of the enemy advance, you can stop reviving if needed to swap to your weapon.. in that case usually they’re close enough that you shouldn’t try to aim (right click) and just hip-fire it.. that one second delay can mean life or death.
• Downed allies have a super-long death timer, use that.. take it slow, talk with other allies and make sure they know you’re going in and to cover or advance. You don’t need to revive them within 30 seconds of them being downed… play smart, play safe so you can get both of you back out alive and stay in the game.
• If you’re reviving someone in gas: Make sure to tell them the first thing they need to do is put their gas mask on (by hitting ‘g’).. Otherwise they’ll just die two seconds after the revive! It’s not about farming revives, its about keeping your squad alive to secure objectives!
• Sometimes the play might be having your team hold on while you revive at your spawn point + come back to try and get them.. if that’s the case make sure to let them know via voice/chat that they should hold on and you will be right back.
• Bleeding and alive is less of a priority than downed. Your bandages are limited, there is no resupply so choose wisely. Someone who is alive and bleeding may be shouting for a bandage, but with people downed all around him he comes last on the list. If you heal a bleed, he can still be shot once and downed and now you are about to use a 2nd bandage for 1 revive. Most medics don’t have an incentive to bandage bleeds, some feel like its a good idea for certain roles (SL, Commander, Heavy MG) Make the decision yourself, notice the medics in your area will most likely not do it, so you either follow them or make the decision for yourself.

Playing for the team, or playing for your squad

Personally my philosophy with the 2 medic per squad system is that one medic will always be attached to the squad, the other medic can roam and assist where you are needed on the map. It is up to you to choose your play-style, but just note that you should always come back if your Squad Leader asks you to.

You are a medic first and a rifleman second. If you want to play as a combat medic, you are a rifleman first and a medic second. Know the difference, and know how that impacts the team. If you want to just pick medic to be able to heal yourself, use the bandages every time you bleed, I advise you put more thought into the role and its impact on the team. You are there to support your team with the special tools given, everyone has a rifle, everyone has 2 bandages. A medic however, has 12 bandages, and a 4 second revive time instead of 12 seconds… Just know what your main purpose is and don’t let the thrill of killing the enemy distract you from doing your job