Introduction

Self-Introduction

Hello my name is Yuulgea. I played Physician for a long time in Project Duck because it is my first class. Guide is initiated by Kahlua (Obliviare#8246, thanks for the template), I updated some stuff since the last guide to keep up with the current physician and also add my experiences playing the class into it.

Physician is a healer class with easy access to damaging skills. The class focuses on poisoning enemies and detonating the poison to deal big damage, while giving minimum support to parties.

As a healer, your primary responsibility is to stay alive and help keep your team alive. I cannot emphasize the STAY ALIVE part enough. Because you can not heal anyone if you are dead.

Class

Physician is one of the three viable healers in the game. As a healer, your primary responsibility is to stay alive and help keep your team alive. I cannot emphasize the STAY ALIVE part enough. If you die prematurely – unless your party is incredibly experienced – you have effectively ruined the run and wasted everyone’s time.

In addition to healing, you have many other responsibilities including buffing/debuffing, doing damage, giving your party members food, and applying CC/movement speed boosts. Compared to Saint or Light Bringer, Physician brings strong burst damage and (food RNG!) stronger party buffs in return for weaker healing, sustained DPS, and utility.

Skills

Tinkerer

[Slip and Slide / Wax]: This is really nice for locking enemies, helping you run away from danger, and moving around. Maxed for duration and better chance to make enemies fall, though in raid / dungeon only small mobs are affected. If you are not sure when to use Wax, try to place it for yourself, some class moves so fast they don’t need any Wax

[Force Bump]: You can use this off-cooldown, due to your CM3, it’s good damage, good for slight position readjustments, hold W on cast to not move.

[Bubble Trouble]: Small AoE locking skill for small mobs

Alchemist

[Volcano Punch]: Reduces enemy elemental resistance by 20% for 10 seconds while also giving you 1 bubbles. Keep this debuff active at all times.

[Slime Shake]: Your unique self buff. Always have this up – it gives you 25% cooldown reduction and +8% STR/AGI/INT, overall offensive stat increase.

[Slime Surge]: This summons a slime. Only if you have 6 bubbles, its first attack will always be the ice attack, which grants 1 ice stack (5% unique dmg increase) but 30% chance of it to actually give the debuff to the boss. Only use this when there is no ice-stacker in the party, otherwise it will not give much damage/utility.

[Sacrifice]: Gives small AoE +5% attack status buff, use this when the party groups up or find a spot where you can get the most party buffs. Its duration is longer than the cooldown by 6 seconds, so if it’s available do check party position before popping it, you get 6 seconds to do that.

[Injection]: This gives you 10% action speed for 25 seconds after followed by Left-Click. If you use this on a party member, this will also give them 10% action speed for 25 seconds. Most classes love this, but some do not. Keep this buff active on yourself 100%. Use this on your party members when you can (low priority) – 10% action speed is really nice for DPS. Every hit of injection that you land reduces its cooldown by 2 seconds even on party members. Landing all 5 hits reset its cooldown, making this a spammable skill. This skill also generates 3 bubbles on cast.

[Contagion]: Good damage, create a poison pool on contact with enemies or ground that can be exploded by [Toxic Spill EX] + [Left Click]. Gives debuff that deals 100% additional damage when [Toxic Spill] hits the enemies affected by [Contagion].

[Toxic Spill]: Your main DPS. Left click for more damage, right click to cast [Expunge]. This is a party heal for 10% max hp, and also heals them for 20% of your attack (magic damage) every 2 seconds for 10 seconds.

[Toxic Twirl]: Gives 3 bubbles; use this to enable [Toxic Spill EX]. Usable by [Tumble] + [Right Click] or pressing the skill on the skill bar.
You can cancel its animation by doing [Tumble] + [Right Click] → [Toxic Spill EX] on low ping, only usable on [Tumble] + [Right Click] version.
On high ping you can cancel the falling down animation (no tumble cast version required) [Toxic Twirl] -> [Tumble] -> [Toxic Spill EX Instant]

[Poison Pop]: TL;DR always use Instant version, Instant version does big AoE damage overtime and deals double damage without any requirement. Normal version deals single big AoE damage but needs the enemy to be affected by [Contagion] to deals the same amount of damage as Instant version.

[Toxic Surge]: Never use this. The total damage is technically better, but the cast time is too long and all of your skills have low Cooldown. Take 1 point as a prerequisite for Physician skills. Voice line is 10/10 though.

[Frosty Fist]: Decent damage on par with [Volcano Punch] and adds extra iframe after tumble and only the [Tumble] + [Left Click] version that has iframe.

[Frost Fangs]: Adept tree ultimate. This skill is fantastic DPS since you can just pop it and move on. Consumes bubbles to deal extra damage.

Passives

[Chemical Cavorter]: Gives you extra bubbles on your poison and healing skills. Closer range melee skills ([Injection], [Toxic Twirl]) now grant 3 bubbles instead of 1, and ranged skills ([Disease], [Lovesick], [Good Vibrations]) grant 2 bubbles instead of 1.

[Element Enthusiast]: not taken in the build presented but worth to note, gives extra bubbles on [Volcano Punch] and [Frosty Fist] cast. Usually you are already overloaded with bubbles by using Physician and Dark elemental Alchemist skills, in case you need more can take this skill too.

[Bubble Brain]: Reduces damage taken by 0.5% per alchemy bubble you have – up to 15% at max bubbles. This passive is invisible power – just take it and don’t think about it, as it’s not worth keeping max bubbles to be slightly more tanky.

Physician

[Lovesick]: Increases the damage taken on an enemy by 20% for 25 seconds. Keep this debuff active at all times. Also gives 2 bubbles. This is one of your only long range skills.

[Antidote]: When antidote is cast, you will see a heart shape gradually grow on the ground. While your party members are inside the heart, it will cleanse debuffs every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. The heart shape starts out pretty small, grows rather slowly, and doesn’t have a high vertical range either. I try to use this preemptively if possible.

[Good Vibrations]: Big heal, on cast, recover 30% HP for self and party member, apply Heal over Time for 15% of your Magic Attack, every 1 second for 5 seconds.

[Expunge]: Small heal, on cast, recover 10% HP for self and party member, apply Heal over Time for 10% of your Magic Attack, every 1 second for 5 seconds.

[Toxic Spill EX]: Part of your main damage – you cannot cast [Expunge] using this. Use [Toxic Twirl] to enable.

[Class Mastery 1]: Grants a 10 second self buff that increases dark elemental attack by 15% after casting a Dark Attack skill (except [Force Bump]) or [Good Vibrations]. This is also why landing hits of [Injection] lowers its own cooldown.

[Class Mastery 2]: Taking this lets [Toxic Twirl] activate [Toxic Spill EX Instant].

[Class Mastery 3]: Casting [Force Bump] enables [Poison Pop] Instant version

Awakening Skills

[Poison Strike]: Your strongest instant damage skill. It has a small hitbox – be careful to not cancel your third hit by moving around, make sure that it hits 3 times before moving or casting other skills.

[Slime Pool]: This skill is awesome. It gives you a slime army... they explode! Damage isn’t great but it’s an exploding slime army. Use this as filler or when you are far away from the boss/waiting during mechs.

Bubble System

Physician bubble system is called Alchemy Bubbles. Alchemist and Physician skill generate bubbles that will be used to increase damage of [Toxic Spill], [Poison Pop] Normal version, and [Frost Fangs]. All bubble are generated on cast so no need to hit the boss to generate bubble

[Injection]: 3 Bubble

[Contagion]: 2 Bubble

[Toxic Twirl]: 3 Bubble

[Lovesick]: 2 Bubble

[Good Vibrations]: 2 bubble

[Volcano Punch]: 1 Bubble (2 bubbles if [Element Enthusiast] is taken)

[Frosty Fist]: 1 Bubble (2 bubbles if [Element Enthusiast] is taken)

Invincibility Frames

Physicians don’t have too many iframes, so make them count!

[Roto-whirl] (Tumble): Your bread and butter and your most reliable iframe.

[Sleep Escape]: Use your regular attack when you are getting hit to dodge back. This skill acts as a crisis – if you get your Super Armor broken with a stagger or light impact (no extra effects), you can use this as a free dodge. Manually use this by right clicking after [Injection].

[Frosty Fist]: A relatively short iframe. Casting this by left clicking at the end of your tumble will extend your iframe by a bit.

Skill Build

Not too much to say here. Take all Physician tree skills and your buffs. You can take points away from [Frosty Fist] or [Toxic Twirl] to max [Ground Zero] for damage or [Sleep Escape] to reduce its cooldown.

Unified Skill: FD Boost

Gear

Essential Crests

[Contagion] DMG

[Poison Pop] CDR

[Toxic Spill] CDR

[Lovesick] CDR

[Volcano Punch] CDR

Skill Up Crest: [Toxic Spill] + 1

Optional Crests

[Frosty Fang] DMG

[Force Bump] CDR

[Toxic Spill] DMG + [Toxic Twirl] CDR this must be used as a set read tips and tricks for explanation

[Sleep Escape CDR]: For more survivability.

[Slime Surge CDR]: Lets our slime friend live for a while longer before having to sacrifice it (grants possible extra ice attack).

Gameplay

Gameplay 101

[Slime Sacrifice] -> [Injection] -> [Slime Pool] -> [Contagion] -> [volcano Punch] -> [Force Bump] -> [poison Strike] -> [Poison Pop Instant] -> [Toxic Spill EX] -> [Toxic Twirl] -> [Toxic Spill EX Instant] -> [Frost Fang] -> [Contagion] -> [Force Bump] -> [Lovesick] -> [Volcano Punch] -> [Frosty Fist] -> [Injection] -> [Toxic Spill EX] -> [Toxic Twirl] -> [Toxic Spill EX Instant] -> [Poison Strike]

Golem Rotation

Main Strategy

Stay alive with tumble and avoid enemy attacks, cause this class is pretty fragile with no survivability option except [Bubble Brain] damage taken reduction.

To keep up DPS requirements, as long as you land [Poison Strike], [Toxic Spill EX], [Poison Pop] you are doing good enough.

Never miss [Contagion] but in case you miss [Contagion], just use [Toxic Spill] as long as the enemy is poisoned, it is better than saving your [Toxic Spill EX] for next 5 seconds.

Tips and Tricks

On hit [Toxic Spill] removes all poison from enemy, this includes [Contagion] debuff too because it is a poison, to do double damage on each [Toxic Spill EX] or [Toxic Spill EX Instant] wait a bit before [Left Click] to make sure the [Contagion] in the ground hits the enemy again to preserve buff.

You can chain [Toxic Twirl] -> [Left Click] -> [Tumble] -> [Frosty Fist] -> [Toxic Spill EX Instant] and land all those skills, adding extra damage to your main damaging combo. Or including a bit of iframe before [Toxic Spill EX Instant].

When Transitioning from [Force Bump] into [Poison Pop] Instant you can add 1 of these  low casting skills of your choice: [Volcano Punch], [Lovesick], [Slime Sacrifice], [Injection], [Poison Strike].

[Toxic Twirl] CDR + [Toxic Spill] DMG gameplay:

[Toxic Spill EX] does not remove poison from enemies (unless this is a bug), so if you want less headache on keeping [Contagion] debuff, start with [Toxic Spill EX Instant] before [Toxic Spill EX] so you always get double damage on both cast. You could plug the crest  mentioned to just spam [Toxic Twirl] off-cd just remember the [Toxic Spill EX Instant] cooldown is 2 [Toxic Twirl] cast.

Gameplay Videos

Conclusion

Huge thanks to CoolCat for some great Physician tips!