Arena tips...

So what are some general tips for arena matches.  I can tell that my usual tactics are not nearly as effective, but I'm not sure what is.  I usually play medic, but I would appreciate any advice.

Stay alive.  Where in CP/CTF/PL you can make sacrafices and you'll respawn later, here, you have to break those habits.  You have 1 life, and you need to be overly protective of it.  Don't stick your neck out as easily as before.

As a Medic, you definitely have to focus on staying alive like Aegis said. You are without a doubt the most powerful class in Arena, as you not only ensure the survival of your team, but your offensive capability is also valuable. Your Blutsauger is a great weapon in Arena as it not only allows you to get kills, but to restore your own health. Often you can pop out to plug an enemy a few times to get some health back, then retreat and let one of your buddies finish the job. However, never do this unless you can catch your enemy off guard, as any Soldier or Demo will kill you in less than a second if they see you first.

 Communication is also extremely crucial. As any class, pointing out positions of enemies and yourself to your team is almost more important than scoring kills. Arena Teams with no communication usually fail miserably.

As far as general tactics go, stay out of head-on battles as often as you can. Try to get behind your opponents at all times, never take classes like Soldiers, Demos or Heavies head-on, and save your teammates from flanking Scouts as soon as you spot them. Spy check constantly, as a good Spy can decimate an Arena team very quickly if they're caught unawares.

Don't die.

So many things to remember...

Don't die, stay alive, try not to get killed.  How do you guys keep it all straight?  I think I'll stick to following heavies around until I get used to the whole thing.  I would ask about kritz vs. uber, but that topic has been done to death with no real consensus.  Also I don't usually live long enough to get either one. 

From what you are saying it would be better to let the team go first and come back to me for healing than to try to keep the beam on them at all times.

Right now I am having trouble with getting separated from my team, and running around looking for friendlies then getting killed.  Is there any way to deal with that besides just not getting separated?

Yeah, communication, as stated above, keep talking to your team and you should always have a buddy.

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Communication is the only way. Indicate to your team where you are, tell them to shout for medic if you can't find them. It's the closest thing to a radar TF2 has, so put their barks to good use. If the area is too hot, find a safe area and let them know it's too dangerous for you to reach them. Inform them of where you are and have your injured players make their way to you. This will do double duty of keeping you alive while bringing your buddies to you. Unless it's Mach2, you're always better off sticking together as a team, centered around the Medics.

It's rough, but part of the fun of Arena is how much you really have to be on top of things. Sometimes the other team just outdoes you, and it can be hard to Medic if you don't have buddies that will protect you well enough. Don't get frustrated if your team is dumb and they get themselves separated from you; if you're the only one left alive at the end and you're in a 3v1 situation, just go down fighting. You've done your part already.

I am having a lot of fun at them.  There are a lot more opportunities for thrilling heroics in arena matches.

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