I have played with all four of the medics as of yet, and I found that Sawbones is the weakest medic now that Pheonix is out of the gate.
I have played with Phoenix, and honestly I find it fits my niche rather well. I like the class for how it can literally get through a contaminated zone solo and surprise a group of campers. I don’t think it’s overpowered, and in fact that kind of tactical use makes me actually want to play medic more out of fun factor than necessity.
But unfortunately I know that Sawbones is weakened because of how the Phoenix can act more offensively, and more stealthily if using the class right, than the old class does.
But honestly I would like to play as a medic where I can use my intellect over my ability to go “shoot at people, see a dead or hurt guy, go assist him”. I usually play Bushwacker and the recon classes over medics for that reason, as I would have to think about position and visibility over twitching over a target.
*Phantom may be categorized as a recon class, but in practice doesn’t suit that purpose for his team unless using team chat through text or voice. He’s suited for lone wolves, which makes him more of an Assault class than anything else.
I find that from all four medic classes, Phoenix already suits the niche for players that like to use their brains, in the form of sowing confusion and picking out weak targets behind the lines, while allowing them to provide as a medic for their team. He also provides for players that like to go up front and aggressive. Meanwhile Sawbones suits the upfront aggressive niche, but only just as well as Phoenix does.
My guess would be to buff Sawbones’s ability to kill things, and nerf Phoenix’s ability to do the same while buffing his survivability so that if need be he could retreat to his team’s side while whittling down his enemies’ health, and find another route to flank later.