Is Miguel badly designed?

[Icesteel]

I’ve been doing several runs now, rescuing different characters, trying out various strategies, even rating them based on how useful they are. And Miguel... I honestly think he’s kinda badly designed. Hear me out.

We’ve got a paramedic here, a guy who rides in an ambulance, treats people on-site, and keeps them stable until they reach the hospital. That’s why he’s got the “Restless” trait, which makes him lose morale if he’s not out exploring.

Makes total sense lore-wise. But the thing is, that also means you can’t really use him to craft bandages or med gear, which is literally part of his profession. So you’ve got one trait that fits his role, and another that blocks him from doing his job. Isn’t that a bit weird?

I think giving him the “First Aid” trait was a bad design call. If the idea is that he’s supposed to be out and about because he’s a paramedic, then why not lean into that and push players to take him out more?

Like, what if he had an active ability that lets him heal a bit during exploration? Nothing OP, just a small heal and limited. That would make way more sense. He should know how to patch himself up in the field, and it fits the character.

Plus, it could synergize nicely with his “Will to Live” trait, like, he gets through a close call when he’s low on HP, then uses that healing skill to keep going. Makes him more viable for extended runs and gives him more identity as a paramedic.

It’d also help solidify him in that “cleanup” role, by that I mean characters you can send out to wipe the map of zombies. Kinda like how Frank fits into that with his blunt weapon skills, and Leo definitely fits with his boosted defense and damage.

And if it’s an active ability, it wouldn’t be that OP anyway—let’s be honest, we all make mistakes. Sometimes we hit the wrong button, sometimes we don’t hit it in time when we really need it, sometimes we just forget it’s even there, or we straight up refuse to use it because we’re saving it for “that one part of the map” where we think it’ll be more useful.

I don’t know, I think it’d be a solid idea. We’ve already got Aubrey and Daphne holding down the med station, so it’s not like the base is gonna be left without support.

What do you all think?

[Fried Noodles]

Paramedics don't make bandages.
They ride around and stick band-aids to people's boo-boos.

Someone in a factory makes bandages and med gear.

[Quentin1980]

Need a rework on Miguel. He is the same as Wayne. Other than that, hes actually Ok. If hes not doing anything in shelter, I pretty much rest him at communal area unless he is sleeping. Sleeping also lose morale, this is the part I am speechless (same as Wayne)

For paramedics, they can be a OP survivor in this game during the apocalypse, but the thing is how to integrate this Miguel in into the dead our darkest days. if want to rework on Miguel, maybe can consider to give a add on Miguel's such as NPC Eva was injured at the water plant treatment in the meeting, and only Miguel knows how to do the treating to NPC Eva? maybe saving her. (Increase another optional network route if Eva is not dead)

Or give Miguel the role what he should be, Paramedics in real life actually is physically pretty strong and mentally fit, they need to answer the emergency calls immediately and be able to carry all kinds of patient big, small, young, drunk, dead, unconscious and old under circumstances.

So therefore, I think Miguel should be either:
(1) Will to live (Health in critical condition, more resistance to attacks)
(2) Optimist (increase a small morale in every phase)
(3) Medics (base shelter skills, stationed at medical bay, can treat patient festering wounds developed by zombies virus)
(4) Pacifist (less melee damage in combat, if killing human hostile survivors suffer morale loss, medics are trained to save lives, not taking lives so this is something against their code)
(5) Anxiety (while in shelter base if not doing anything small morale lost, unless going for scavenging or work in station)

I have work with the Paramedics in the Hospital before, private ones or the hospital ones, in either way all of them are good souls ;)

[Icesteel]

Originally posted by Quentin1980:

Need a rework on Miguel. He is the same as Wayne. Other than that, hes actually Ok. If hes not doing anything in shelter, I pretty much rest him at communal area unless he is sleeping. Sleeping also lose morale, this is the part I am speechless (same as Wayne)

For paramedics, they can be a OP survivor in this game during the apocalypse, but the thing is how to integrate this Miguel in into the dead our darkest days. if want to rework on Miguel, maybe can consider to give a add on Miguel's such as NPC Eva was injured at the water plant treatment in the meeting, and only Miguel knows how to do the treating to NPC Eva? maybe saving her. (Increase another optional network route if Eva is not dead)

Or give Miguel the role what he should be, Paramedics in real life actually is physically pretty strong and mentally fit, they need to answer the emergency calls immediately and be able to carry all kinds of patient big, small, young, drunk, dead, unconscious and old under circumstances.

So therefore, I think Miguel should be either:
(1) Will to live (Health in critical condition, more resistance to attacks)
(2) Optimist (increase a small morale in every phase)
(3) Medics (base shelter skills, stationed at medical bay, can treat patient festering wounds developed by zombies virus)
(4) Pacifist (less melee damage in combat, if killing human hostile survivors suffer morale loss, medics are trained to save lives, not taking lives so this is something against their code)
(5) Anxiety (while in shelter base if not doing anything small morale lost, unless going for scavenging or work in station)

I have work with the Paramedics in the Hospital before, private ones or the hospital ones, in either way all of them are good souls ;)

Hey, ideas 4 and 5 sound awesome. At the end of the day, Miguel’s whole thing is saving people—just like he tried to do at the start of the outbreak.

And being able to heal seriously injured characters? That’d be sick. It’d add more depth to exploration, beyond just the scavengers and cleanup crew. Plus, we’ve got Cooper, we could actually start treating him, and depending on who goes, they might end up either saving him or putting him down.

It’d be something pretty situational and map-specific, but it’d really push us to be more careful with our choices.

[Icesteel]

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

Paramedics don't make bandages.
They ride around and stick band-aids to people's boo-boos.

Someone in a factory makes bandages and med gear.

Yeah, I know, but there really aren’t many medical options in the game. Every character kinda knows how to use med gear, and it mostly comes down to just crafting it or getting lucky and finding some.

[KMS Bismarck]

may be in ther will be a med station in the shelter with a update you can use a medic as a doctor to save medds and heal faster?!

[Icesteel]

Originally posted by KMS Bismarck:

may be in ther will be a med station in the shelter with a update you can use a medic as a doctor to save medds and heal faster?!

Or we could mess around with healing probabilities, like, if we don’t have a medic and try to patch ourselves up, there’s a high chance we fail the heal or even accidentally hurt ourselves. But if we’ve got a med station and a medic, then the chances of success go way up.