Time to go over a few of the new toys the medic got and how they can help the team.

The Projectile Shield

The Projectile Shield is the biggest pull for medic at the current time. To activate it you need to buy at least one upgrade for it and press the key bound to special attack(+attack3), noramlly middle mouse button. This allows him to nullify any projectile or bullet coming his way, though this does not include fire damage and it is still quite dangerous. Energy is used for activating the shield, and much like ubercharge can only be activated at full charge. Energy builds on healing done and damage done by your pocket, the greater the healing rate the faster the energy gain. Burst damage is often better for building shields than constant damage, thus demo and soldier are good pockets at low energy.

Now the shield comes in two levels, the greatest difference between them is the size they cover as seen here, note the shadows.
Level two can easily cover multiple people from not only the front but the sides, a feat not shared with level one. Level two also hosts a greater damage barrier, an area a bit bigger than the shield and a bit forward. This allows you to damage enemies standing in front of the shield while not being in it. The damage barrier also acts like a wall from the bots view, an example of this are demoknights who refuse to pass through it while at the same time taking damage. Larger or faster bots who pass through the damage barrier will not see it as a wall and continue on their way.

The Reanimator

Without the Reanimator I think a lot of us would find the mission a hell of the lot harder. In short it allows the medic to revive players in the field without the need to go back to spawn. The rate of the revive is based on the stock healing rate plus Healing Mastery. A revive is measured by half the players health, thus a sandman scout or a big earner spy rev faster than normal. If you pop an uber, no matter the medigun, on a Reanimator it speeds the revive up to the point where it is almost instant. Note that a revived player will spawn where the medic is currently standing and not where they died.

Mad Milk Syringes

Mad Milk Syringes, although not the best, is still a good upgrade to the medic's fighting ability. This upgrade allows all needle guns, bar the crossbow, to apply mad milk on hit, the duration can last up to 4 seconds. The healing effect from the mad milk pairs nicely with the blutsauger as both healing effects apply.

Primaries dont matter a whole lot as a medic and no one will criticise you on a bad choice since you will almost always focus on your medigun. Even so it may come in handy every now and then and it is better to be prepared for such occasions.

Syringe Gun

The Syringe Gun is neither good nor bad, it is just stock. There is not much to say here other than there are most likely better options, though you dont always need them.

Blutsauger

The Blutsauger may sound bad at first but it can save you from death if need be. In the case where your pocket dies and you cant revive him in fear of death you can often unload a clip of mad milk syringes into a giant to heal to full health and fall back.

Crusader's Crossbow

Crusader's Crossbow lacks mad milk syringes but it really doesnt need them. The Crossbow is often used for long range healing instead of damage. Even though there are no upgrades to the healing effect it may still save a teammate from dying while you are still making your way to them.

Overdose

Overdose is my personal choice of primary when it comes to mvm. It loses a negligible amount of damage for a slight speed boost which is based off ubercharge. The boost may not be that noticeable at first but after awhile you will begin to take note of it and learn to switch to primary when running from one teammate to another. Note the speed boost does stack with the movement speed upgrades so it is not wasted on later waves.

Secondaries are the bread and butter of the medic so picking the right one is crucial. Picking the wrong medigun can put a lot of strain on you and your fellow teammates so you have to learn all the uses of them to get the most out of your upgrades.

Medi Gun

Medi Gun, possibly the least seen medigun around for a few reasons. The uber makes you and your pocket invincible for a short period, a task in which the shield is also used. It also lacks the charge rate of the Kritzkrieg and the heal rate of the Quick-Fix making it harder to revive on both ends. I dont deny that it has its uses but those uses are few and far between as the shield acts a temporary uber for anyone behind it.

Kritzkrieg

Kritzkrieg, the most used medigun in MvM and for good reason. It gives a single player eight or more seconds of triple damage, which we all know is a good thing. The Kritzkrieg also boasts a decent ubercharge rate putting less stress on you to come up for ubers. From sticky traps to tank busting it uses vary on the situation but at each its solid choice. One thing to note is that its healing is the same as the Medi Gun so you will need to up healing mastery to revive into the field faster.

Quick-Fix

Quick-Fix, a very underestimated but rock solid choice, even if it gives half the overheal of other mediguns. The reason I say this now is because of the shield and reanimator, both of which rely on healing rate in which the Quick-Fix is king. As I mentioned before the shield builds on not only healing but also on how fast the healing is done, in this way the Quick-Fix can build up a shield much quicker and have it ready at a moments notice. The overheal hurts the shield building and keeping people alive but the heal rate and overheal upgrades more than make up for it, just a bit of trouble in early waves. The reanimator on the other hand bases revives only on heal rate and at full healing master you can almost match that of an uber revive. Last but not least the uber charge. This beasty is a thing of beauty, it not only gives you a massive healing rate buff and overheal on both you and your pocket but also gets you a free shield. Yes, you heard that right, a free shield thanks to amount you heal on both you and your pocket. If timed correctly you can activated a few shields in a row by alternating uber and shields.

Vaccinator

Vaccinator, what the Quick-Fix is to shields the Vaccinator is to the reanimator. At first glance anyone will notice the 4 ubers the Vaccinator packs, each allowing an almost instant revive. On top of that you protect against certain damage types, fire included which the shield does not protect against. The uber, although small, gives a great deal of resistance and heals you up for damage taken. Since the way mvm works you most likely will not face more than one damage type at a time, allowing for easier resistance management. The downside of using the Vaccinator though is the overheal, which is largely gimped compared to the other mediguns making it harder to keep a pocket at full overheal or gaining shield on overhealed teammates.

Melee weapons, although capable of damage, should not be used for damage but instead the utility they offer. I will be skipping the bonesaw as it has no utility to speak of and thus useless in my eyes.

Übersaw

Übersaw, a classic melee you will see a lot of medics carrying into MvM. This weapon gives a good boost to any ubercharge and even gives the Vaccinator a free single charge on hit. You can upgrade the swing speed of the Übersaw for $100 cheaper than the medigun's ubercharge rate, although I dont recommend this I have seen it done. An engineer and medic working together can farm a whole uber off a single sentry buster before it blows, and I dont need to say how useful that is. Problem I have with this weapon is that you are not healing anyone while this is going on, which allows a passive ubercharge rate. Just a personal issue and not a flaw to the weapon itself.

Vita-Saw

Vita-Saw... No, just no. Please dont use this, for your own good. Yes it gives you 20% ubercharge back on death but with the health lost you will be dying a bit more. The cons far outweigh the pros in this case when you look at alternates like Übersaw which give an even higher uber on a single hit. For the good of everyone around you please just use Übersaw instead of this.

Amputator

Amputator, I like this one only for the extra healing if you need to fall back. If you are not using the blutsauger and you need a bit more health with no one around you just whip this out for faster passive healing. It also negates afterburn without the blutsauger equip, useful for when a giant crit pyro mows down your whole team and you need to regroup.

Solemn Vow

Solemn Vow, worse than Vita-Saw, you can already see giant robots health.

Picking the correct upgrades makes you look less like an asshat and more like someone who knows what they are doing. I am going to go over all upgrades from most to least important, leaving optional ones last.

Secondaries
• Projectile Shield: two points
  
• Healing Mastery/Overheal Expert: alternate both until two points each
  
• ÜberCharge Rate/Über Duration: alternate both until two points each
  
• Personal choice on which to complete, recommend Healing Mastery/Overheal Expert
  
• Apply Canteen Specialist if needed

From this point you should already know why I picked these upgrades in this order. A level one shield serves no purpose when you can always get a level two that same wave.

Medic
• Crit Resistance: three points
  
• Blast/Bullet Resistance: alternate both until complete
  
• Movement Speed: three points
  
• Apply Health Regen, Jump Height, Fire Resistance where needed.

Resistances are most important when it comes to class upgrades, anyone will tell you this. Fire is not listed higher since it is a rarer damage type not common to mvm, thanks to only one class using it.

Übersaw
• Attack Speed: four points

Übersaw is the only melee you should ever upgrade since all others serve no purpose in upgrading.

Primary
• Mad Milk Syringes
  
• Personal preference

If you happen to have extra cash using Mad Milk Syringes is not a bad option, but it needs to be just that, a option.

Medic's roles are sort of self-explanatory, you heal and keep your teammates from dying. If they do happen to die you should always make a effort in reviving them, no matter the class. Most of these will be mind numbingly stupid.

Saving ubers

Popping an uber when you just get the chance is not always the best idea. Save them for when you need them the most, which is specific to each medigun.

• Medi Gun: When under heavy fire it is best to select the teammate under the greatest threat and pocket them with the uber. Keeping agro on the bots while also staying protected. Also, If teammates are nearby when you pop your uber, Its not a bad choice to "Flash them". If you don't know what flashing is, It is when you cycle healing teammates with the uber popped, Thus giving everyone temporary invulnerability.
  
• Kritzkrieg: Giants, tanks, sticky traps. Best to choose to wait for the biggest targets or the biggest groups
  
• Quick-Fix: In need of a shield or just low on health feel free to pop. This gives you a shield and enough health to keep it while still supporting your pocket.
  
• Vaccinator: This uber is best used as multiple revives or temporary protection from specific giants

Quick-Fix and Vaccinator are more free use in the sense that their ubers are not for a specific spot and can be used at any time.

Revive before healing

You should already know what this means but im going to explain it anyway. Keeping a single person alive is good, but reviving that engi that just died is better. Remember, it takes a lot less time to revive them into the field than it does for them to revive back at base and get to the front again, this includes the scout.

Heal everyone

I have seen so many medics in MvM just heal a single player and leave everyone else to fend for themselves. Dont be that guy, no on likes that guy. Heal everyone and try to keep them all overhealed, focusing on one person gets everyone else killed. Healing everyone builds uber and the shield faster.

Scout tow (Requires Quick-Fix)

when using the Quick-Fix it is a good idea to attach to a scout to get around quickly. Grabbing onto them can allow fast transport to where a shield or revive is needed.

Canteen pops (Requires Canteen Specialist)

When using Canteen Specialist you can pop an uber or any other canteen on a pocket and leave them, the effect will still last even when not attached by the medibeam. This is great for when one player is being focused while others are down.

Revive behind cover

You medibeam has a long enough range to more often than not revive behind the safety of cover. This also helps the downed teammate as they are not forced to revive into a firefight straight away.

Not much more to say here, just dont shrug off options you are not used to. It is all too often I see people getting flack for making "bad" choices. If you see a medic trying something new leave them be for a bit, this also applies to all to all classes. A new or odd choice of items does not instantly make them bad.

So for a change of pace stash the Kritz for a bit and go dust off your Quick-Fix or Vaccinator. Chase a scout, bum rush a group of pyros, pop a shield on a horde of demoknights, or soar with a soldier. Be unique, like everyone else.

And on a quick note, If you do decide to bust out the Quick-Fix or Vaccinator, People are not exactly used to being healed by anything other than a Kritz. So be prepared for some possible backlash from the uneducated.