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WELCOME

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Hey guys. Today we are going to take a look into Medic PvP.
I spend a lot of time on the forums and blogs, sifting through the ocean of theory crafting available for Wildstar's coolest class, the Medic!
This build focuses on Shield and dmg mitigation buffs. Your healing won't look great on paper, but your friends (assuming you have some) will love you for greatly increasing their effective health. And at the end of the day, that's all anyone is truly looking for, right!?!?
Many changes have already been made since release (and I'm sure there are more to follow), so I'm sticking to basic concepts that will help you succeed in Arena and Battleground PvP.
*Note: this build assumes NO Elder Points.[/chapter]

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OVERVIEW

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Please read through the following links/sites. Although they offer varying opinions on ability choice and strategy, the math remains consistent across the board. (I will add the rest ASAP)

Shield Surge Analysis

Effective Health

Shield Healer vs HP Healer (more PvE focused, but still great info to have)


[color yellow]My conclusion:[/color]
[color yellow]1)[/color] T4 is not worth the points. The 25% extra shield mitigation means faster shield depletion, thus increasing the frequency that SS must be cast to keep shields up. As stated on Medicatingnexus.com, the trade-off becomes Focus efficiency vs. retaining shield's effective health quality at <10% target hp. In my opinion, the trade-off makes T4 a waste of ability points in an already Focus heavy build. Especially with so many other wonderful options!!! (As you will soon see)

[color yellow]2)[/color] Over-healing/shielding is your worst enemy. It will haunt you from the time you start theory crafting your next "super-omg-best-PvP-pwnsauce" build; up to the point when your friends are trying to tell you that you're "just not making the cut as their support slot in 3v3."....you know...without breaking your tender, little heart.

[color yellow]3)[/color] Yes...there are weaknesses to this build (see below). It is certainly not an 'end-all' strategy. But, with the right amount of discipline, you can adapt to most situations.

[color yellow]4)[/color] By forsaking the "and/or" mentality behind most builds, you will find that maximizing effective health isn't all that difficult. I'm certainly not against going all-in on any given ability, just as long as there aren't better options. This build will teach you to act situationally instead of spamming one main ability. Medics have incredible synergy among Base and T4 abilities that can take us to victory.

So let's begin!!![/chapter]




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ABILITIES

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Nothing complicated here. A 2buff purge on an 8sec CD. As a Medic, think about how upset you would be if someone could purge 2 of your precious probes faster than you could recast them...fuuufuuufuuu
One piece of advice on this: use this ONLY when it makes sense. As with most shield builds, overall focus efficiency is low. So spamming on a target with no buffs or weak buffs is a big No-No.
Note* if you are still having trouble with focus, swap this ability for



These are the big-nutz behind this build. You are already invested into the Amps to get them, why not make Prot Probes the kind of buff dreams are made of?!? T8 turns just about anyone into a tank, plus a sweet shield HoT. Mathematically speaking, T8 almost doubles the effective health they offer (1800 base vs 3350 T8).



Here is your actuator ability. As stated earlier, T4 does NOT increase effective health above 10% hp, and reduces Focus efficiency. And personally, I feel that T8 is a bit too situational for PvP. The T8 mechanic goes against the idea of a Medic being a close-range healer. Not to mention it promotes ignorance of the nice dmg on this ability. Throw your spare ability point here, as it scales best out of your remaining LAS. Other than that; use it, love it, but don't worry about tier-ing it...it's not as good as some might think.



Here is your actuator builder. You will be using it often, and will rely on it for efficient healing throughput. That being said, T4 is a great option. The free cost below 250 is nice by itself. Plus we get decent tier upgrades on what will become one of your most frequently casted abilities.



T4. Nuff said. This will provide you with an instant cast, burst heal that synergizes with Emission.



Again, T4. Base tier Mending Probes are fairly week. T4 makes the HoT more appealing, and adds some burst healing to your . Without in the build, you will want the detonation in those "oh sh**!" moments. I feel T4 are relevant in a shield build since they provide steady healing, with the option for burst via detonate. The HoT helps fill the gap left by not taking T4 . That 25% dmg will now be taken by health bars, so we want to offset that with smaller, consistent heals. Remember, the goal is to increase effective health without overhealing (think of HPF = health per focus). Every time you over heal hp or shield bars, HPF drops. We are looking to avoid this by providing OPTIONS. With Shields taking 75% of incoming damage (assuming they are up), health bars should deplete fairly slow. and , along with certain AMP buffs, etc, should be plenty in this case.



Mandatory PvP ability imo. What good is your build and the hours of theorycrafting if you are CC'd at a pivotal moment with no way out?



This last slot is optional. Generally I would suggest filling it with a CC ability. , , and are all acceptable. I prefer the stun over rooting since it stops all outgoing dmg/healing. But personally, I like Restrictor. Blink is an especially great tool for Medics. You are built to be a short range healer in the thick of battle. What better way to balance that out than an ability that let's you instantly re-position? Add the slow, and you've got yourself some great options for eluding the enemy at every turn. T4 looks tempting here to double it's usage, but it's not a necessity.
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AMPs

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Amps are a wonderful thing. They offer a boost to almost any play style. I will only briefly touch on these. And since this build is meant to be adaptive, I will start with this...

*Disclaimer:
The following are mostly recommendations (some necessities). Pick amps that work best for you and your play style.

[color orange]Utility:[/color]

[color yellow]Protection Probes[/color]
This is the only way to unlock them.

[color yellow]Cooldowns[/color]
Best option for T1. 15% is significant for only 3points. And with and the T4 buff from already in the build, you don't need the extra CC resilience and dash regen.

[color yellow]Quick Dodge[/color]
In such a fast pace game (and yes...you can/will get 'global-ed' by that "OP Warrior" who seems to have your number) you can't ignore an Amp that buys you enough time to cast your next heal. To me there is nothing more frustrating than dying while waiting for the GCD following . Reward your quick reaction time with this great anti-jibb Amp.

[color yellow]Solid State[/color]
Interrupt armor is amazing in case you haven't noticed. And with your CDR gear/amps you will be casting every 16secs or so. That's enough to keep up with most CC abilities.

[color yellow]CC Resilience[/color]
UPDATED* I made room for this in the build. With some of the improvements to interrupt removal by certain skills, it has become a must have.



[color orange]Support:[/color]

[color yellow]Support Power[/color]
Always #1 priority

[color yellow]Armor Coating[/color]
Another great defensive buff in your arsenal


[color yellow]Emergency[/color]
A nice assist to your burst healing when you need it most.

[color yellow]Reboot[/color]
A must-have with SS

[color yellow]Hypercharge[/color]
If you are using Energize, you are out of Actuators.
If you are out of Actuators, someone probably needs a shield heal.
If someone needs a shield heal, Hypercharge gets the job started.

[color yellow]Running on empty[/color]
A must-have for support Medics. Don't leave home without it!

[color yellow]Critical Hit[/color]
UPDATED* I felt that Protective Surge really wasn't offering much with so many great options elsewhere. The points moved into Crit and CC resil offer a solid, more consistent buff to your overall build.

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Playstyle/Summary

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[color orange]PLAYSTYLE:[/color]
Make use of all your wonderful skills, tier upgrades, and AMPs!
And like Bill Nye the Science guy once said...

"Consider the following..."


[color yellow]Sustained Healing[/color]

, , and T8


[color yellow]Burst Healing[/color]

, , along with T4
Along with [color yellow]Protective Surge[/color], [color yellow]Emergency[/color], and [color yellow]Reboot[/color] AMPs (even [color yellow]Hypercharge[/color] if [color yellow]Energize[/color] is off CD)


[color yellow]Damage Mitigation[/color]

25% increased resistance from T8
8.9% increased armor from [color yellow]Armor Coating[/color] AMP
25% increased shield mitigation inherent from [color yellow]Energize[/color]


[color orange]SUMMARY:[/color]


[color yellow]1)[/color] High throughput and big numbers are worthless if you're overhealing (whether it's Shield OR HP)

[color yellow]2)[/color] Shield Healing is AS GOOD as HP healing at increasing effective HP when the target has >10% HP. (assuming 75% shield mitigation)

[color yellow]3)[/color] Shield Mitigation does NOT increase overall effective health unless the target has <10% HP.

[color yellow]4)[/color] This build IS weak against purge abilities, and IS very focus-heavy. Watch our for classes with a purge-like ability. Use Probes only when they are running behind on heals and can't afford the time or focus to use a Purge. On the plus side... your opponent will greatly reduce their HPF (health per focus) by casting their Purge repeatedly. As mentioned earlier, such abilities are low efficiency, and can quickly burn through your resource pool. Use them wisely and try to outlast your opponent by conserving your focus pool when possible. DISCIPLINE!!!!

[color yellow]5)[/color] You will rely on teammates for CC. This is commonplace in the current meta anyway, but it's an important consideration.
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END

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That's it! I hope you enjoy the build. Please leave any comments with success/failure. The game is young, and we have a long way to go. But we will evolve along with it.

[color green]Thanks again to all the wonderful bloggers/theorycrafters/mathematicians that provide us with the data we need to get creative![/color]
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