What is the best strategy for playing as a medic?
A Battlefield 1 team without medics will have a hard time winning any type of battle, but that's only part of the struggle. How many times have you watched one or a couple medics run by while you lie wounded on the ground? Why did they ignore your calls for help? Here's how to properly help your teammates as a medic and which equipment to use while doing it.
Medic basics
No matter how you play as a medic, the basics remain the same: your primary role is to provide healing and revives to your teammates. Playing on a full squad with varied classes works best as you can all contribute in different ways to the overall objective — you'll also get more XP for revives and heals within your squad.
Medpacks
If you have them equipped, toss as many medpacks as you can; you'll never run out. Just ensure you don't block a teammate's view if they're lying prone.
A new addition to Battlefield 1 is the ability to quickly toss medpacks using the spot button (Q on PC, right bumper on Xbox). You will be prompted to do so when you aim at a wounded teammate — use it to your advantage, as more medpacks means more healing and more points!
Revives
When you see a downed teammate, don't just rush over to revive them unless they're in the clear. Running out without checking your surroundings will likely just end up with you dying beside your friend before you can get in a revive. What's true in the real world battlefield is true in Battlefield 1: you need to keep yourself alive if you're going to do any good.
Your medical syringe needs no charging or buffering to give a full-health revive. Just pull it out and stick your teammate once to bring them back to life with 100% health. You can also use your syringe on the enemy for a one-shot kill and some good laughs all around.
Downed teammates have a skull above them with a circular bar that disappears — this is their time remaining until redeployment. They might not always redeploy when the bar is depleted, so if you still see a skull above them, try to revive them.
Ideal loadouts
Choosing the correct combination of weapons and gadgets for your play-style will make an enormous difference both to your team and to the scoreboard. Here are a few ideal loadouts based on how you want to play.
Tank buster
When enemy armor rolls onto the battlefield, your squad should immediately think about taking it out. Having a medic on the anti-armor squad is a good plan — your squad mates will need revives, and you can even contribute to disabling the tank.
- Rifle: You'll probably want something that is good for short-range fighting, as the crew of the tank you just blew up will probably come pouring out right before it explodes. The Cei-Rigotti Trench or the M1907 SL Trench are both good options.
- Pistol: Really up to you here. Keep in mind the C96 holds the most rounds of ammunition at once.
- Gadgets:a Rifle Grenade - HE will be a good friend when busting tanks. It does quite a bit of damage and can be used from a distance. Keep your medical syringe with you — you'll need to revive downed teammates.
- Grenade: Use the light anti-tank grenade.
Defensive runner
If you're guarding a point on the map, there's no doubt your position will be getting shelled, shot at, and gassed. In these situations, it's not a bad idea to concentrate fully on your medical duties, shooting back only when absolutely necessary. There will be plenty of injured and downed teammates to keep you busy.
- Rifle: This is really up to you as you'll mostly be busy healing your teammates.
- Pistol: Again, this is up to you. Keep in mind the auto revolver does the most damage of all medic pistols.
- Gadgets: Medical syringe and medical crate will be your go-to gadgets here. You want to heal as much as possible.
- Grenade: Smoke grenades will cover you when you need to revive and heal teammates.
Front-line fighter
Playing as a medic doesn't mean you can't fight back. This class is actually one of the best for assaulting on the front lines, as you have the ability to heal yourself and your squad in between firefights. The gadgets you can choose from also make up a pretty good offensive loadout.
- Rifle: The Selbstlader M1916 holds 26 rounds in a single magazine and offers pretty decent stopping power. The Mondragon also offer the same damage but has only a 10-round magazine.
- Pistol: If you're looking for pure damage, take the auto revolver. It has a 6-round magazine and does the most damage of all pistols available to the medic.
- Gadgets: If you want to focus more on healing, take the syringe and medical crate. If you'd like to deal damage, keep the syringe but swap the medical crate out for a rifle frag grenade.
- Grenade: Impact and Incendiary grenades are both great options here.
Your favorite class
What class do you usually play as? What style of play do you enjoy? Let us know in the comments section below!