Combat Medics

[Jon_dArc]

[…] if the medikit is not already in hand, you probably won't be able to apply a patch until the turn *after* you get behind cover.

For a soldier with a two-hand-fire, one-hand-hold weapon, it's only an additional two TUs to pull a medkit from the holster. For one-hand-fire I generally prefer to have them have a weapon in each hand for better flexibility (plasma pistol and monoknife is a perennial combo, or plasma pistol and grenade).

~J

[Triaxx2]

I tend to put a normal pistol and two mags in the holster and a medikit. I fill the belt with one Frag/Plasma Grenade, and the other three with Flashbangs.

[mutonizer]

High speed and high close combat, 1 per 5 combatants (so 2 for 10, etc) since I tend to split my team into 2 squads on maps.
- Pistol in one hand
- Medkit in the other
- Stungear in pack.

I still carry a medpack on each soldier, but it's handy to be able to patch someone up quickly when things are hot.

[Jon_dArc]

I still carry a medpack on each soldier, but it's handy to be able to patch someone up quickly when things are hot.

Again, though, "quickly" is 20 TUs instead of 22. You really find the savings that valuable?

~J

[Starbug]

Again, though, "quickly" is 20 TUs instead of 22. You really find the savings that valuable?

~J

^This +1

I equip all my troops with a medkit in their holsters, and give them all two handed weapons otherwise. The rocket launcher is the only one who can't use a medkit without un-equipping his main weapon, but I've stopped using them in favour of grenade launchers.

Besides, any troop can get injured, and there's no way to know if the medic is going to be in the right place at the right time, so best to make everyone capable of it. Plus, medics can't heal themselves (unless I've been doing it wrong...)
I'd rather have the extra firepower, and prevent injuries through having more dead aliens

[Battlescared]

^This +1

I equip all my troops with a medkit in their holsters, and give them all two handed weapons otherwise. The rocket launcher is the only one who can't use a medkit without un-equipping his main weapon, but I've stopped using them in favour of grenade launchers.

Besides, any troop can get injured, and there's no way to know if the medic is going to be in the right place at the right time, so best to make everyone capable of it. Plus, medics can't heal themselves (unless I've been doing it wrong...)
I'd rather have the extra firepower, and prevent injuries through having more dead aliens

+2.  I use the same tactic.  It helps always having someone close by who can heal, and it's saved many a life.  Plus, as you get down to the end of a mission, I usually try to heal everyone to full no matter what.  It is much faster than having them heal in the hospital. Then it really helps to have a healing party with everyone.

[djivi]

+2.  I use the same tactic.  It helps always having someone close by who can heal, and it's saved many a life.  Plus, as you get down to the end of a mission, I usually try to heal everyone to full no matter what.  It is much faster than having them heal in the hospital. Then it really helps to have a healing party with everyone.

This definitely works the best for me too. Effective and flexible. I don't feel like planning any other tactical details until arriving at the battle scene. There I like to have maximum freedom in setting up the operation, e.g. starting 2, 3, or 4 units, counting 2 till 5 heads each. Keeping units not more than 1 till 1,5 moves apart, at any time, a soldier from one unit may join another unit that got into trouble. As long as everyone stays somewhere near anyone else, wounds can be healed early next turn, for the greater part. Wounds from alien reaction fire often the very same turn. While nobody gets hurt, all can wield weapons, quickly killing as much vermin as possible. (Panicked aliens do a lot less damage, so you want to see this happen rather sooner than later . If anyone gets hurt, they don't need to retreat to a medic. You gain in all cases.

P.S. Even the Machine Gunners carry a medikit in their belt and two spare magazines in their backpacks, since they rock without any side arms.  .

djivi

[Triaxx2]

Still playing 2.4, but I'm going to try it with a 6/2 distrobution of combat to medic. Then I can operate in teams of four and clear the map while not getting too far from the safety of healing.

[Neonin]

I equip all my troops with a medkit in their holsters, and give them all two handed weapons otherwise. The rocket launcher is the only one who can't use a medkit without un-equipping his main weapon, but I've stopped using them in favour of grenade launchers.

I do this too, but it has me wondering if this is something that should be "fixed"... Have you ever tried administering stuff from a First Aid kit while still holding an assault rifle or grenade launcher? Perhaps they should be changed to two-handed held and not just firing like the rocket launcher currently is, making the idea of a Combat Medic as originally described here more useful.

[Telok]

I do this too, but it has me wondering if this is something that should be "fixed"... Have you ever tried administering stuff from a First Aid kit while still holding an assault rifle or grenade launcher? Perhaps they should be changed to two-handed held and not just firing like the rocket launcher currently is, making the idea of a Combat Medic as originally described here more useful.

Hand-to-Ground is... one TU? And Ground-to-Hand is... three? It would add a little time and really only enforce the no-medic paradigm. As it is the only one handed guns are the starter pistol and the particle beam pistol (in 2.5, in earlier the laser pistol is decent damage and accurate).

Everyone with a med-kit is what I learned early in XCOM and it still applies today.

[Neonin]

Hmm true... However, TU costs for moving things in and out of inventory spaces (including the ground) are in a script file, so I might look at modding it a bit for my own game. I know, deliberately making things more difficult for yourself is generally considered a biy weird these days, but hey I like a challenge! I'd like to combine it with a boost to Hospital recoery times but that value seems to be hard-coded.

[Jon_dArc]

I do this too, but it has me wondering if this is something that should be "fixed"... Have you ever tried administering stuff from a First Aid kit while still holding an assault rifle or grenade launcher? Perhaps they should be changed to two-handed held and not just firing like the rocket launcher currently is, making the idea of a Combat Medic as originally described here more useful.

But realism shouldn't just be enforced where it's inconvenient for the player. If it's important to be realistic about how many hands a medkit takes to apply, it should also be important to be realistic about the fact that an assault rifle or grenade launcher would be on a strap, enabling it to be "dropped" and recovered quickly and without detachment (so you can "drop", move, and then recover). So on and so forth.

~J

[Neonin]

But realism shouldn't just be enforced where it's inconvenient for the player. If it's important to be realistic about how many hands a medkit takes to apply, it should also be important to be realistic about the fact that an assault rifle or grenade launcher would be on a strap, enabling it to be "dropped" and recovered quickly and without detachment (so you can "drop", move, and then recover). So on and so forth.

~J

Also true, but then you have the current problem in that pistol weapons are pretty much ignored as pointless because why use one when you can just use a rifle instead? The starting difference in soldier stats is generally negligible except for the odd exceptional recruit, using a weapon with an 18 skill doesn't seem to have much difference to using one with 23 and that range is more common than anything outside it.

[Sandro]

For soldier, pistol is a backup weapon, and should be treated ingame as such IMHO. No need to force player to use it as a main weapon.

Also, considering the 20 TUs which are needed to use a medkit, it's easy to think that part of those are used to put the gun on strap and back in hands.

[Nokim]

For soldier, pistol is a backup weapon, and should be treated ingame as such IMHO. No need to force player to use it as a main weapon.

What do you mean by "backup weapon"? I'm using pistols solely for few soldiers (not more then 2 in mission squad) with special task like capture alive alien (with gas grenade) or rescue others in difficult situation with plasma or frag grenades. Indirect fire is very useful sometimes. But mainly they are used to scout enemies.
As secondary weapon i'm using plasma blade. One touch - one kill. That's not like pistol - many shooting and zero result, alien alive.
Situations when i need "backup weapon" to replace primary i don't recall... But in such case there are aliens around. Kill one and get plasma rifle or what he had...

As to topic i equip all soldiers with medkit in holster. I don't see any gain to have a dedicated madic.