I have an idea. It's odd, but I just thought of it on the spot when looking at this thread.
There could be -something- like an antidote 'weapon', but exclusively for the medic, and the medic can't use it on him or herself. It could be the syringe that does such a task. Normally, it would poison enemies, but if used on an ally, it would remove the 'slow' effect generated by poison, but it wouldn't heal any health. In this way, you can't expect to 'syringe heal' guys on the other team, and it makes a good form of self defense while healing comrades, so even if you don't have hotkeys, you can quickly go on the offensive if necessary. There could be exceptions for the 'updated' syringe, however, such as a slower attack rate and/or more energy consumption. I wouldn't say, "put the antidote in the D slot and the stab attack in the S slot," because that would defeat the purpose of only healing your own team, unless there was a script that made the 'antidote' attack hurt enemies and cure allies.
Now, the power to 'cure' seems unfair to poison wielders, due to the fact that it defeats the purpose of their weapons if they cannot slow the enemy down. Take the crossbow, for instance. It does 22 damage, but it can be pretty easy to avoid with a normal or commando/scout speed foe. However, the poison makes it quite easier to hit them continuously, and it makes it harder for the enemy to run away. However, with an 'antidote' of sorts, one can return to the battle quickly, making the crossbower have to repat the process again.
Well, the initial problem is that the only two ways people can cure poison instantly are with medikits or a medic player, being yourself or someone else. Why need an antidote when a medic can just heal him/herself or a teammate, removing the effect and healing the target a considerable amount. Not to mention, using a medic only consumes energy, so it can be used an infinite amount of times. There really isn't a need for an antidote at all, since people have plenty of ways to deal with poisons at this point anyway. If anything, there should be better poison weapons, with different effects, like damage over time (kinda like fire, but it can only be cured with a medic, and not 'extinguished' by ice or going in a vehicle.) or even something as dramatic as reversing controls. (Although that may be too extreme, but it depends on what kind of weapon administers this kind of effect.) |