I was fooling around with the Apothecary class. And it is fun to play a medic at times. And I get it, you're a bullet magnet if you do choose to play one. Especially if you're in white armor. But it feels like you go down faster then a standard tactical marine. So I wonder if they actually have less of a shield. Which I'm not sure if it does need to be fixed or not. Anyone else have thoughts or opinions on the matter?

I'm not sure what's what with the Apothecary. I know for a fact their Bolter and Chainsword do 10% less damage than Tactical Bolter and Assault Chainsword.

Way back when the Apothecary was supposed to have better defensive potential than the Sorc because they have to get within melee range to heal. Don't know what happened to that theory. The Apo does seem extremely squishy.

I'm wondering why the Apo is still nerfed based off of initial closed Alpha game play last fall. Things have changed drastically in game since that time. Everyone now heals with almost every single player in game carrying a medkit. The Narthecium and Apothecary in general have a minimal impact on game play. If you think about it the Apothecary really isnt even needed with the current state of the crusade.

The Sorcerer has 3 unique abilities, the Apothecary performs a function that every player in game can perform, healing and removing the critical state.

The Apothecary's heal takes ~1 second, puts you back to full HP, and regens health for a bit after. He's a battle medic. He runs in with everyone else, stops shooting long enough to pick up the dying guys, and then goes back to shooting. Neither the Sorcerer nor someone with a medkit can do that. Sorcerer takes significantly longer to bring someone from downed to full health and medkits aren't practical to use during a fight.

I'm not saying the class is perfectly balanced, but it definitely has it's own unique role.

Medics roles are still redundant with everyone reviving and everyone being able to carry med kits. I feel Sorcs, Medics, Painboys and Warlocks should have more of an impact on their Squad so players are encouraged, dare I say required to work with and stay near their squad mates.

In MMOs and shooters only medic/healer classes can revive and heal. Sure there are heal pots and the likes but you simply cannot replace the value of a medic/healer. In EC while a Sorc or Apothecary are nice to have along they're not irreplaceable or required like a Tactical, Traitor or MoN(being the only classes that can capture objectives).

Support classes should be irreplaceable for their faction. Currently they are NOT. Team play needs to be required for success.

The Apothecary does seem a bit squishier. Which does not make much sense as they wear the same armor with a Diagnostor helmet instead of a MarkVII Aquila Helmet to match the Mark VII Aquila Armour all the marines wear in this game. I do hope they will take the time to reskin Chaos to Chaos Power Armour as it would be rare for a Traitor legion to have a full chapter of full suited Mark VII suits untouched by the Warp.

I can't agree that the apothecary used properly has a minimal impact on gameplay. 25 Charges of Narthecium Panacea able to be administered rapidly to Battle Brothers makes a difference when played like a true medic. It is equivalent to the Advanced medkit which cost 500 points to equip fully healing and providing regeneration. Also the time to dispense it to another Battle Brother is half that of a medkit and you can run around giving full health marines regen with little effort. I always have myself injected before I walk around that blazing corner as well. Try running up to a melee clang fest and injecting your brothers instead of swinging into the fray.

Also it should be noted that the Apothecaries should be armed with a chain sword, as right now they are actually wielding Exsanguinators which is the Narthecium variant unique to the blood angels Altered to be used as a weapon. Which is why when you slash a Traitor you inject poison(also worth noting) . To put on par with the multiple options of the Aspirant Sorc they could add Battle Stimulants to be injected Or allow actual Progenoid gland extraction of downed marines which could end the respawn time for that player.

"Yours is to serve, unto the last drop of your blood, that your brothers might live to fight on. Watch over them, heal them, offer up your very life should it extend theirs but a moment, and by your sacrifice the enemy be slain. And when the time comes that you must fulfill your most solemn oath, speak clearly, speak proudly, speed the bolt that brings his end and send him joyous to the Emperor’s side. Then do your duty, take that which is due, and know your mission is done."
— Extract from the Apocrypha of Eons, Verse V, Chapter L (M40 Redaction)

I don't see how they are. In the time it takes you to pick up and heal two players using your medkits (assuming you miraculously don't die before then), I'll have already revived and gotten them both back to full health and gone on to stab more people with my magic hyper-needle while you run off to track down a supply box. They have a massive impact on their squad, they're often the difference between everyone dying or taking the objective.

Essentially, a Sorcerer and Medic are essential to holding your ground in an intense firefight. Which is why I think they should have MORE armor at least equal to a tacs because otherwise they get focus fired into paste with no real time to react.

support class have less armor. (the yellow bar).

But if the support glad has more armor then wouldn't more players play as apothecary over tactical? I mean, not only can you heal yourself but you're tougher too

But you can't cap and your weapons are much more limited, composing an entire team of Apoths isn't as threatening now as it was back at Alpha start because they were functionally the same. Now even with improved armor an Apoth just isn't versatile enough to compose an entire team.