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Why no Medical Officer?

SystemSystem Member, NoReporting Posts: 178,019 Arc User
Why do we get Science/Tactical/Engineering officers but no Medical officer? In the Star Trek Universe a ship is only as good as there Medical Officer or Medical Hologram.... Please Cryptic give us Medical Officers!!! They can even beam down to planets with us and be the "Healer Class"...

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
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  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    Why do we get Science/Tactical/Engineering officers but no Medical officer? In the Star Trek Universe a ship is only as good as there Medical Officer or Medical Hologram.... Please Cryptic give us Medical Officers!!! They can even beam down to planets with us and be the "Healer Class"...

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    I usually make a science officer my chief medical officer. Usually they don't have any ship abilities, or very limited ship abilities, but they have maxed out healing abilities. Medical Tricorder, etc etc etc for ground missions.

    Now if we could have a title to give said officer, that would be nice too.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    technically, a medical officer is a member of the science branch, specialising in biological sciences.

    if you spec one of your science officers with the right powers (medical tricorder being the most obvious) you have yourself a medical officer.

    personally i like the freedom of being able to choose to do that, or to not do that, if we so wish :)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Medical is a subdivision of the Science department. Depending on what ground skills you choose for a science officer they can fit the "Medical Officer" role nicely.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Well I was more thinking along the lines of
    Science Officer = Buffs
    Medical Officer = Heals

    Just my thoughts though, however I do understand that the current Science officer is technically the "Medical Officer"
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Other than ground PVP there is no real healing in this game.

    Better to just forget healing and do what Cryptic expects... pew pew pew :(

    Tac = Best DPS
    Sci = Mediocre DPS
    Eng = Poor DPS

    To cryptic nothing else matters... :cool:
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Yeah, Medical is under science, give em all the healing and remove debuff stuff and there you go. Of course, death is so irrelevant here that it doesnt really matter.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    "Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a science officer!" :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    Well I was more thinking along the lines of
    Science Officer = Buffs
    Medical Officer = Heals

    Just my thoughts though, however I do understand that the current Science officer is technically the "Medical Officer"

    It's not a strange thought, certainly. But the game is a little more weird than that.

    Science team members can serve as either assault OR buff OR healing agents.

    But engineers can also serve as healers. My current kit has a Medical Generator II in it, and if it's going to be a huge fight, one of the first things I do in ground action is plop down a phaser turret, a shield dome, and then a medical generator.

    Then my science officer on most away missions has Medical Tricorder as well as Photonic Shock, so can serve in healing or attack purposes.

    And in space of course other engineering skills can be used to assist other ships.

    So it's kind of hard to pigeonhole STO into the typical class roles used by some other MMOs. It's a lot more varied and flexible from my experience with it.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Um actually, my alt that I'm levelling now is a doctor. She took all healing/buffing skills and kits and is a damn fine one. I just let the NPC's do the fighting and heal them and its a slaughterhouse. Not that it wasn't one already but you get the idea.

    Also on my main, I use science officers and spec their ground skils for healing buffing and they do a fine job of it, considering the idiotic AI pathing. So yah there is CMO's in the game- you just gotta spec one out as one is all.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I have a CMO, one of my BO's is always in my Away Team list, has all his healing ground abilities maxed out. He's not assigned as a Ship BO either, just my Away Team.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Shingi wrote:
    technically, a medical officer is a member of the science branch, specialising in biological sciences.

    if you spec one of your science officers with the right powers (medical tricorder being the most obvious) you have yourself a medical officer.

    personally i like the freedom of being able to choose to do that, or to not do that, if we so wish :)

    Nice. I hadn't thought of that and will make one later.

    Actually, that's strange, since I made a XO, but a med officer never occurred to me.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I did the same thing.

    My first Sci BO was Sci... she does all the Sensor Jamming and all that in space, but on the ground, she kept trying to put baddies in the little frozen block (whatever power that is). Of course, she kept using it on my next target, so it was totally useless.

    Then I got a 2nd Sci BO, with healing stuffs. Now I can go in with my borrowed bat'leth swinging, and not worry so much about dying right away.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Yah its amazing what a ground healer can do if specced that way. My NPC team now just mauls on away missions- I"m actually preferring ground missions now over space ones on my Admiral since I can blow through them so fast.

    On my alt, speccing science and healing is problematic since its not much use soloing that way- but if they put a REAL raid system into place, a good healer main is going to be essential I would think.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    Why do we get Science/Tactical/Engineering officers but no Medical officer? In the Star Trek Universe a ship is only as good as there Medical Officer or Medical Hologram.... Please Cryptic give us Medical Officers!!! They can even beam down to planets with us and be the "Healer Class"...

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    Because you can make a science officer your CMO by giving them all of the healing abilities.

    I have two science officers. One is Dr. Marshan, a Betazoid medic and the other is my first officer, Commander Staark. He specializes in holds and debuffs.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    Why do we get Science/Tactical/Engineering officers but no Medical officer? In the Star Trek Universe a ship is only as good as there Medical Officer or Medical Hologram.... Please Cryptic give us Medical Officers!!! They can even beam down to planets with us and be the "Healer Class"...

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    I completely agree with you on this, there really should be a separate medical class. I would be one in a heartbeat. ;)
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I just declare my science officer CMO,since they have all the medical abilities. Outside of fluff, under the current system why would you need more then that?
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    You can also set one of your team members not to shoot, but do nothing but heal and buff/debuff and it works miracles sometimes.

    That's the problem with this game- fabulous game engine, albeit some minor tweaks- but WAYYYYYYYY too easy and simplistic with no endgame content.

    And it makes me furious that such a fine engine is so wasted.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    Why do we get Science/Tactical/Engineering officers but no Medical officer? In the Star Trek Universe a ship is only as good as there Medical Officer or Medical Hologram.... Please Cryptic give us Medical Officers!!! They can even beam down to planets with us and be the "Healer Class"...

    Anyone have any thoughts on this?

    I have one. Give your science officer all the healing buffs for the ground game.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I did this just last night. I respecced my science officer to be more... sciencey and then got a new BOF that is now my CMO. He won't have a bridge position (mostly since I don't have one for him yet) but he'll come down on landing parties.

    I like how that is working out so far.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    I know science officers can be "made into" medical officers, its the fact that the game (in my opinion) should have a medical officer officer type that is more specialized in the medical field. Leaving you to have a science officer for other more important "sciency/Nerdy" tasks...
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    I know science officers can be "made into" medical officers, its the fact that the game (in my opinion) should have a medical officer officer type that is more specialized in the medical field. Leaving you to have a science officer for other more important "sciency/Nerdy" tasks...

    Is there that much difference? a science (medical) bridge officer can be purely focused on medical abilities, all medicine related ground abilities. Same for a non-medical science officer

    For the player science career, wether your character is medical or science is all down to your choice of kit and how you assign the ground skills.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    There are space "healing" abilities but they lie in the Engineers hands. Its called extend shields, Ive used it before to maintain a damaged ally during battle. Wierdly enough, Ive never aggroed doing this.

    By your rationale, we should have a TAC officer and then a Security officer, as they both do different jobs. TV shows aside, the Chief Tactical Officer (incharge of shipwide security and exterior threats in space) wouldnt leave the ship, as his skills are needed there (same reasons why a Captain doesnt leave his ship, or isnt supposed to...his skills are needed there) While a Security Officer would be needed on the planet. His ability to either repel boarding parties or assist in Away Team Missions would put him apart from his TAC Officer who would both be apart of the same Tactical Division but both would be in different SubDivisions.

    I get it, you liked the way the show was set up, it was broken down more realistically. But this is a game, and you have to make some sacrifices to reality to get everything to fit. You still have healers, If you choose to give those able to learn Healing abilities said abilities. Its not that hard to give one character all Healing abilities and just remember everytime you go on an away mission that she/he comes with you.

    Currently I have 3 of every Class on my ship,

    1 Science Officer is my dedicated Ship Science Officer, with my Medical Ground Officer as his back up.
    1 Engineer Officer as my dedicated Ship Engineering Officer, with another as the ground Combat Eng.
    1 Tactical Officer that stays on the ship, while 2 beam down with me and the other two Officers, both of which are trained in ground combat over Space.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Popkornn wrote:
    I know science officers can be "made into" medical officers, its the fact that the game (in my opinion) should have a medical officer officer type that is more specialized in the medical field. Leaving you to have a science officer for other more important "sciency/Nerdy" tasks...

    You can select the ground skills your CMO will have to be purely medical skills, removing any debuff/combat abilities in the process. As I, and others, have said, we did exactly that.

    I HAVE a CMO, ground abilities are all medical based, heals and buffs, not combat based. Said CMO is only used on Away Teams, not as a shipboard BO, which is where my Science Officer is placed, with skills that are reflective of such a position. My CMO's ship abilities are more healer/buff oriented then debuff/combat oriented, and I'll occasionally slot my CMO as a ship officer when I'm in a party and I feel like playing 'healer' more then debuff/dps.
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    Inviegle wrote: »
    Yah its amazing what a ground healer can do if specced that way. My NPC team now just mauls on away missions- I"m actually preferring ground missions now over space ones on my Admiral since I can blow through them so fast.

    On my alt, speccing science and healing is problematic since its not much use soloing that way- but if they put a REAL raid system into place, a good healer main is going to be essential I would think.

    HA HA HA... good one, made my moring... :D
  • Archived PostArchived Post Member Posts: 2,264,498 Arc User
    edited February 2010
    What is 'Said' medical officer could heal your ships crew faster thus making Captain Picard one happy guy.
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