I was expecting the Medic to be a mix of Doctor talents and combat talents, but I actually think if anything the Medic is the better healer, and the Doctor is just slightly more combat oriented (edit: Regarding talents. Not skills, obviously).

They have an incredible overlap of abilities. By my count, 13 of the talents are the same on both trees. Where the Doctor gets 3 ranks of Surgeon and 2 of Bacta Specialist, the Medic gets 3 of Stimpack Specialization, 2 of Surgeon, and 1 of Bacta Specialist. So as I see it, not only does the Medic have more of the basic healing-related talents, but s/he gets fewer of Bacta Specialist, which is probably the weakest of the three (though still cool). Also, the Medic gets It's Not That Bad and the Doctor has no comparable awesome healing talent. Not to mention that the Soldier: Medic can start with 2 ranks in Medicine for free, but the Colonist: Doctor has to pay for his/her second one.

Am I alone on this?

I think it makes a degree of sense. The medic is more concerned with keeping in the soldiers in the fight now rather than their long term medical care, as I believe is shown in the ranks you pointed out. Now I do find it odd that the doctor can only start with 1 rank of medicine, but I think I know where they were going with it. Soldiers (airmen/marines/sailors) are almost always are taught basic first aid and how to tend combat wounds in the field, which is represented in ability to get 1 rank in medicine. Medics have more advanced knowledge do to their specialty and therefore also get a rank. Colonist don't nessicarly have to have that basic knowledge like a soldier does, and therefore lacks the rank and the doctor gets stuck with only one rank.

Now, personally and haven't actually seen the tree yet, I think the medic should be more for stim packs and keeping PCs alive for now so the doctor can fix them up. The more long term stuff, like bacta specialist, should get bumped for a more combat oriented ability. Maybe when it comes out I'll house rule in something to reflect that.

I was expecting the Medic to be a mix of Doctor talents and combat talents, but I actually think if anything the Medic is the better healer, and the Doctor is just slightly more combat oriented (edit: Regarding talents. Not skills, obviously).

They have an incredible overlap of abilities. By my count, 13 of the talents are the same on both trees. Where the Doctor gets 3 ranks of Surgeon and 2 of Bacta Specialist, the Medic gets 3 of Stimpack Specialization, 2 of Surgeon, and 1 of Bacta Specialist. So as I see it, not only does the Medic have more of the basic healing-related talents, but s/he gets fewer of Bacta Specialist, which is probably the weakest of the three (though still cool). Also, the Medic gets It's Not That Bad and the Doctor has no comparable awesome healing talent. Not to mention that the Soldier: Medic can start with 2 ranks in Medicine for free, but the Colonist: Doctor has to pay for his/her second one.

Am I alone on this?

The Doctor is not more combat oriented. A Medic gets access to Brawl, Melee, and Range(L&H) as career skills. The Medic is a better healer in the field.

Yeah. Conceptually, I understand why a Soldier would be more likely to have a rank of Medicine than a Colonist. It just seems odd to have a Specialization with better access to Medicine than the Doctor. Why am I playing a Doctor if not to be the bomb at Medicine? I guess it's just one of the quirks of the system.

And yeah, I'm with you conceptually regarding a Medic being focused on first aid and the Doctor being focused on long term care, but the only thing the Doctor has to represent that is being able to take a second rank of Bacta Specialist. And isn't first aid (healing now) inherently better than long term care (healing later)?

Bacta Specialist needs to be tweaked and should be more concerned with potentially healing multiple critical wounds or something.

I was expecting the Medic to be a mix of Doctor talents and combat talents, but I actually think if anything the Medic is the better healer, and the Doctor is just slightly more combat oriented (edit: Regarding talents. Not skills, obviously).

They have an incredible overlap of abilities. By my count, 13 of the talents are the same on both trees. Where the Doctor gets 3 ranks of Surgeon and 2 of Bacta Specialist, the Medic gets 3 of Stimpack Specialization, 2 of Surgeon, and 1 of Bacta Specialist. So as I see it, not only does the Medic have more of the basic healing-related talents, but s/he gets fewer of Bacta Specialist, which is probably the weakest of the three (though still cool). Also, the Medic gets It's Not That Bad and the Doctor has no comparable awesome healing talent. Not to mention that the Soldier: Medic can start with 2 ranks in Medicine for free, but the Colonist: Doctor has to pay for his/her second one.

Am I alone on this?

The Doctor is not more combat oriented. A Medic gets access to Brawl, Melee, and Range(L&H) as career skills. The Medic is a better healer in the field.

Edited to clarify that I just meant regarding talents.

Pressure Point is too situational and a Doctor has to buy Brawl as a non career skill or spec out to get it. Well Rounded also allows a Medic to get Gunnery and have all combat skills as career skills if they so choose. Medics are better healers though like I said, and really a better spec imo.

Yeah. The more I look at it, the more bummed I feel. The Doctor specialization actually seemed really great to me. It's only disappointing in comparison, seeing another specialization do my main shtick better. At least they combine fairly well.

They combine astoundingly, you'd essentially be breathing life back into wounded players.

On the whole AoR classes seem stronger than EoE ones, either by been more focused or by having better skills.

Only real exception is the marauder, which still holds the gold standard in been melee beat stick.

It may be a different thing when the signature abilities come out.

The colonist will likely have something that makes the doctor shine, where the medic will have a more combat ability.

AoR benefitted from play testing by those familiar with EotE, so expect some amount of power creep since the AoR stuff should have far less of the "marginally useful on a rare day, but usually not" Talents. It's reasonable to assume that FaD will show further fine tuning too, but I really can't say.

Here is another thing you have to look at is they treated colonist like a colonist and a soldier like a soldier. A colonist is going to be more likely able to survive on worlds that are not settled yet. While a soldier is going to be use to the military machine providing him with equipment. The colonist will be able to make due with his environment and survive just fine in the wilds of the unsettled planet even able to take care of his patients with very limited medical facilities and supplies. See Bacta Specialist is for either bacta or just plain long term care. The medic is pretty much screwed if he only has a limited supply of stims at his disposal like say in the middle of a major engagement or on a covert op.

Here is why they seem 'more powerful' is because they are all specialists. In EotE you have individuals who are good at a great many number of things. None are specialized (though a few can be such as the Marauder) in any one particular area. For example why would a Doctor need Negotiation or Leadership? Because he going to know what he needs in medical supplies and may need to tangle with traders or merchants from time to time. Also Doctors in the old west movies are often the 'leader' type on those frontier towns. See I think this goes back to the old mindsets of DnD or the old D20 where you HAD to be specialized to have a good character. Combat was the only thing that mattered in those games if you were no good at those what good were you? The healer had to have the best heals, the mage had to have the best spells, and the tank had to have the best armor. That not the case here because with talents you could make some of the worst armor the best and still be flexible enough not to over encumber yourself. As a healer you basically have the same things as the other guy it just the focus would be different then that of just a regular medic. As a mage well we don't really have F&D yet but with the two force classes we have it not about flash of your Force powers but the subtlety you use to employ them. Mainly so somebody doesn't yell JEDI and try and burn you alive or blast you to bits.

On the whole AoR classes seem stronger than EoE ones, either by been more focused or by having better skills.

Only real exception is the marauder, which still holds the gold standard in been melee beat stick.

I think the fact Infiltrator has Improved Stunning Blow, Dodge and Soft Spot, puts them on par with Marauders.

On the whole AoR classes seem stronger than EoE ones, either by been more focused or by having better skills.

I wouldn't say AoR has better skills. Just that everyone has combat capability built in to the Class. Which makes sense, since all these classes have a military bent, where Edge's classes are largely (though not exclusively) more civilian-oriented even if they have illegal applications. In the IRL military, doctors, engineers and lawyers are still given basic combat training, and that reflects well in the way AoR has set up its Classes.

FWIW I think some of the AoR classes are weaker: I find Edge's Technician much better for its overall role (and cheaper to buy into collateral Specs) than having to go into Engineer and Spy to get both Mechanic and Slicer. It's all in how you look at it. To me, Infiltrator is a lousy blend of Marauder and Thief that succeeds at neither.

But if you're looking strictly at Commander, Ace and Soldier, yes, those Careers are powerful and have broad, internal synergy between their Specs.

If the game is combat focused, then yes, the Soldier/Medic is a very powerful combo comparable to say a Paladin or Fighter/Cleric in the fantasy genre... but it also makes sense for the game, as others have pointed out.

That having been said, don't overlook the Resolve talents available to the doctor, that aren't available to a Medic. The ability to reduce incoming involuntary strain for "a character" --meaning pretty much anyone in the party, can be a real boost in combat situations. It also means that stim application is also much more effective in the hands of a Doctor. Doctors are also better Long-term healing (Surgeon x3)...

Keep in mind that the Soldier/Medic is the primarily healer type in AoR, and people playing that may not play EotE, or vice versa. So while the Medic may have an edge in some respects, they are operating in two different theatres.

Granted, what will really kick butt is cross-specialization between the two.

Thanks for all of the responses! It's great to see other people's take on the matter. I just wanted to clarify my original concern, which I think will respond to some of the comments.

I guess it breaks down into two issues: Access to skills. Access to talents.

Skills:
I get why the Colonist wouldn't have Medicine as a career skill and why Soldier might, but if the result is that a Doctor (perhaps someone who went to med school or is a med droid) has to pay XP in Medicine to catch up to a Medic, isn't there a design flaw?

Talents:
Not much to add here. For the reasons summed up above, the Medic seems to have more and better healing talents. I can kind of see the argument that they focus on slightly different aspects of healing (immediate vs. long term care), but if that's the case, the Medic's emphasis is just inherently the stronger of the two.

It's not that I think either in isolation doesn't make flavorful sense. And it's not even that I think overall the Medic is more powerful. It's that the Medic is better at the Doctor's primary shtick.

Talents:
Not much to add here. For the reasons summed up above, the Medic seems to have more and better healing talents. I can kind of see the argument that they focus on slightly different aspects of healing (immediate vs. long term care), but if that's the case, the Medic's emphasis is just inherently the stronger of the two.

Well, compare what you get in the low-hanging fruit of each tree.

Doctors get quicker access to Stim Application. Doctors have a straight-line route that gets you Dedication for 75 XP total. They're better in melee with the combo of Pressure Point + Anatomy Lessons. They heal +3 wounds with first aid and +2 with long-term care

Medics have a deeper investment to get Stim Application but easier to get it Improved, yet Superior is off by itself. They don't get Master Doctor. And they can get Dedication by the quickest route with 95 XP. However you can heal +3 wounds with each use of a stimpack, +2 wounds with first aid, +1 with long-term care and the excellent Well-Rounded.

It is a hell of a combination if you put them together but I think Doctor stands on its own merits as well. It's different, but it's in no way purely inferior.

Naturally the Doctor gets access to some skills and talents the Medic doesn't get, but I’m looking purely at their ability to heal people (as opposed to their overall usefulness). Also, is there an update? I thought Medic did get Master Doctor (fourth column, third row)? Meaning that if you look exclusively at their talents for healing people, the Medic loses one rank of Surgeon and one rank of Bacta Specialist in exchange for three ranks of Stimpack Specialization and It’s Not That Bad. Meaning two more healing talents, overall. Especially since Bacta Specialist heals later instead of now, the Medic seems solidly the better healer.

Also, is there an update? I thought Medic did get Master Doctor (fourth column, third row)? Meaning that if you look exclusively at their talents for healing people, the Medic loses one rank of Surgeon and one rank of Bacta Specialist in exchange for three ranks of Stimpack Specialization and It’s Not That Bad. Meaning two more healing talents, overall. Especially since Bacta Specialist heals later instead of now, the Medic seems solidly the better healer.

I haven't seen an update that changes that for Medic.

In any case, ok, I can see how Medics are better healers overall, even at low XP (looking at +heal talents on the first two talent tiers).

Don't write off Doctor yet, given how sort all over the place the Colonist career is the Signature Abilities for them are going to have to be somewhat general and will probably really be a boost to Doctor's overall.

Don't write off Doctor yet, given how sort all over the place the Colonist career is the Signature Abilities for them are going to have to be somewhat general and will probably really be a boost to Doctor's overall.

I am absolutely not writing off Doctor. Personally I think Doctor is a lot more versatile than Medic.

Talking specifically about healing (which is white-room, since healing will theoretically be a very small percentage of the overall game versus, say, combat or socializing), Medic has a leg up with what we have so far.

So, the Medic is a better healer when it comes to stimpacks. When it comes to actual Medicine checks, Doctors get more action.

I'm not seeing the issue here.

I'm not seeing the issue here.

Buyer's remorse?

Granted, stimpacks are good. Stimpacks are REALLY good. Healing 8 damage on the first use of a stim is awesome especially since stim healing can be supplemented with normal first aid. And I haven't seen long-term care come up once yet.

So, the Medic is a better healer when it comes to stimpacks. When it comes to actual Medicine checks, Doctors get more action.

I'm not seeing the issue here.

The TL;DR of the Medic being a better healer than the Doctor is:

1. Two ranks in Medicine at no cost instead of just one.

2. More of the basic healing talents (6 instead of 5).

3. Generally better basic healing talents (since Bacta Specialist is the weakest)

4. Getting It's Not That Bad when the Doctor gets no comparable talent.