Picture this:

It's a wonderful day in the Badlands. The skies are blue, and the Heavybirds chirping; the water rolls in serenity disturbed only by the occasional electrical zap of the Pyroshark--the smell of napalm and scout gibs so heavy in the air that you may as well bottle it and sell it for exploitative amounts on TF2 Outpost.

And out of nowhere, the sound of an alien toilet flushing--the terrible cry of a medical abomination akin to that of a Furby singing karaoke in a blender! Standing tall, clad in white, wielding in his hands the power of discount triage, and ready to strike with his instrument of healing. Behold, the terrible sight of the administrant of medicine! Enter, the VacciKnight!

Since the dawn of the Gun Mettle update, Vaccinators have lost the ability to flash uber, and along with it, my abillity to give a flying führer about the welfare of my team. Although, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for me, because the update added a little quirk to how these charges work on yourself.

What is this quirk, and what does it have to do with this guide? Well, I don't really know, but if you just keep reading the next few sentences, I think we'll both find out. Anyway, one of the changes that came with the new Vaccinator was the ability to activate multiple resitances. Another was the extended charge duration on yourself and your pocket that lasted 2.5 seconds. With the powers of these two combined, you are able to have 2.5 seconds of resistance of 1-3 types of damage while still being able to attack.

Awesome, amiright?

Now we gotta get down to the nitty-gritty; your technique, your code of chivalry, your sword, your shield--all that you need to become King Arthur among the VacciKnights.

Basics:
When using the Vaccinator, you get four 2.5 second charges that give you 75% damage resistance to the selected type, and full resistance from the corresponding critical damage. You are able to switch among bullet, blast, and fire resistance by reloading, and are able to activate multiple ubers at the same time. While ubered, you may switch weapons and you will still be charged for the duration of the 2.5 second charge.

Healing teammates that are not at full health will allow you to get a quarter charge about every 6.87 seconds. When healing teammates that have full health, you get a -66% charge rate penalty, which will take you about twenty seconds to get that same quarter charge. This penalty does not apply during setup.

Theory and Practice:
Read the last sentence of the first paragraph in basics. That is the whole point of this guide and gameplay.

So here's the scenario.

You have full uber and are fighting against a shotgunless soldier that tries to shoot the ground to take advantage of splash damage. You switch to Explosive resist, take out your ubersaw, surf the explosion, melee the soldier, and reactivate your explosive resist. Rinse and repeat.

Once again, you find yourself topping off your uber, and suddenly there's a sticky spamming demo who thinks his prickly balls are totes in right now. So what do you do?
You fire up your explosive resist and bumrush him. He'll try to lay down stickies as you close the distance. He'll detonate his bombs while thinking to himself, "What the hell is that Medic doing?" But he does not know that you are no ordinary Battle Medic--you! ARE! A! VacciKnight! You surf the bombs like a rockstar crowdsurfs. You let out a maniacal cry of victory, for today, it is not what the hell you are doing, but rather what hell you will bring! You turn their splash damage against them, and reap the sweet, sweet reward of a bonesaw to the face.

Do you get the idea? Sound pretty? Here's how you can become a knight more chivalrous than a neckbeard tipping his rhinestone lined, mountain-dew-stained, 99-cent euphoric trilby.

PRIMARIES:

The Syringe Gun:
Classic. Vlassic. Asskick. Toothpick. Where was I going with this? You have a pointy-thingy quickly-dooty Jimmy-get-your-hands-out-of-the-biohazard-bin handheld device used for Germany-level efficient delivery of the intravenous iteration of things-you-don't-want-to-get-from-your-date powered by CO2 cartriges. Go shoot someone with it.

The Blutsauger:
Ah, Blood Sucker. Perfect name. Same as Stock, but with this gun, you have two options under the VacciKnight Code of Chivalry: Charge from behind like a starved horny vampire with a blood fetish, or burn to death at the gloved hands of a pyro. (Or play intelligently, but you seem to have forgotten that YOU'RE A FRICKING BATTLE MEDIC!) Your choice.

The Overdose:
This Syringe Gun does not have much use, as you have to be holding it for the speed boost to take effect. If you are holding a primary instead of the Ubersaw, then you may be able to maneuver a bit better.

The Crusader's Crossbow:
This is the closest we have to short range burst damage. Swell for healing teammates accidently, treat it like a longer range melee strike.

The Hero that Gottam Deserves:
The best option for a strategy like this would be a close range burst damage weapon, hopefully a blunderbuss-type weapon that deals uber percentage in damage.

SECONDARIES:

The first rule of VacciKnight Chivalry is that you do not conform to the heresy that is alternate mediguns. The second rule is that you should know we here at the Medic Monastery have a secret Inquisition that may appear at any time, in any place, with any tools used for the purging of heresy, such as a dishrack, some soft pillows, or possibly some sick improv.

Uber up to 4 people who are under fire to recieve a large amount of healing.

BONESAWS:

Stock Bonesaw:
65 damage per strike. All thrill, no frills. Moving on.

Vita-saw:
65 damage per strike. You can no longer survive a headshot while healing with bullet resist. Keep 20% ubercharge on death, so you always have a charge ready to go.

Solemn Vow:
65 damage per strike. You swing 10% slower. Great for targeting people with the crossbow.

Amputator:
52 damage per strike. Light classes take 3 hits to kill. Able to overcome afterburn when above 9 health without Blutsauger. Harder to kill when self-ubered. Taunting heals everyone around you for a minimum of 24.5 HPS, and can uber before taunting to make sure you aren't headshot. Hardmode VacciKnight.

Ubersaw:
65 damage per strike. 20% slower swing. 1 charge given per hit. With this saw, you are able to remain ubered indefinitely so long as you can find people to hit every 2.5 seconds.

Frying Pan:
What makes me a good MediPan?

OPTIMAL LOADOUT:
I think the best for this playstyle may be the following:
Crusader's Crossbow -Closest thing to burst damage.
Vaccinator -Self-uber, Self healing when in numbers.
Ubersaw -Uber for days. Largest reward per hit item available.
(Amputator -Closest thing to damage reduction while ubered. Become the Infamous Fiddler of the Badlands.)

Since you are a Medic, you have mediocre firepower. Because of this, you need to rely on outplaying your opponent much, much more.

So here are some tips and tactics for playing as a VacciKnight:

1. Pretend that You are a Spy:
First, it's always good to catch the enemy off guard. This will allow you to get an extra hit in before they turn around, which, if you are using the ubersaw, will allow you to counter their next attack.

Second, try to 'trickstab'. Even though you have no backstab, and random crits are unreliable, you are slightly faster than the enemy, and can easily crouch jump over their heads when you are on stairs. Uber as soon as possible, and try to hit the enemy as you pass over them.

Third, corners are your friends; try to do a mix of 'matador' and Pyro-esque body blocking. As you are chased around a corner, try to leave syringes in your wake because of the slow travel speed, and get the enemy to go in one direction while you melee them in the back. When they turn around, attempt to move to their right. Most people have their mouses on the right side of their computer, so they will run out of mouse space while trying to catch up to you. Doing so well will allow you to avoid some damage while getting that first hit in, and become much harder to hit.

2. Surfing and Mobility:
Any time you are shot by a gun that is not Natascha, you are moved slightly. You are able to use this to propel yourself toward or away from the enemy that is shooting you. Crouch jump and strafe by pressing A or D and gradually moving the mouse in the direction you want to go. For explosions of all kinds, you generally want to be at a 45 degree angle from the center of the explosive when it detonates. This will propel you the fastest and leave you the least vulnerable. Use this to counter Soldiers and Demomen.

Take shortcuts wherever possible, and cut corners whenever crouch jumping from one place to another. A straight line is the shortest distance between two points.

3. When You Self-Uber, Heal Someone:
If you are touching a teammate when you uber, they will be charged for 2.5 seconds and you will recieve healing for matched damage type. It's basically free heals, so do this as much as possible.

4. Pretend that You are a Puff'n'Sting Pyro:
Your charges are your airblast, your crossbow is your flaregun, and your ubersaw is your axtinguisher. Shoot them with the crossbow whenever they are out of melee range. Bumrush them while ubered whenever in melee range, unless they are a demoknight above half health.

5. There is Strength in Numbers:
When playing with other VacciKnights, you must attack like raptors. When playing with others, you uber as many people as possible before trying to regain the uber with melee. If you use the Amputator, make sure that no one dies, because you have a more limited uber budget.

Mandatory Loadout:

Angel of Death
Polar Pullover
Mustachioed Mann

Tell me what you see, boy.

Conclusion:

This playstyle is surprisingly effective, and I've not seen many people use it. It is a good counter to single damage types against lone wolves, and is great for distracting the enemy team. It should be used in non-serious situations like the Trolldier, Jumper Demo, Ninjaneer, and it has a decently high skill ceiling. It is very hard to counter when in close quarters.

~

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