Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Balance
Post MYM
update
A Team Fortress 2 spectacular
Contents
INTRODUCTION:........................................................................................5
INTRODUCTORY NOTES:..........................................................................6
GENERAL CHANGES:................................................................................7
Weapon Switching:...............................................................................7
Kill Icons:................................................................................................8
Visual Indications:................................................................................8
Options:..................................................................................................8
Server Modes:........................................................................................8
Consistency in stats:..........................................................................10
Glitches:................................................................................................13
MULTIPLE CLASS WEAPONS:................................................................15
The Reserve Shooter:.........................................................................15
The Panic Attack:................................................................................15
The Half-Zatoichi:...............................................................................15
SCOUT:.....................................................................................................17
The Shortstop:.....................................................................................17
Baby Faces Blaster:...........................................................................17
The Back Scatter:................................................................................17
Bonk! Atomic Punch:..........................................................................18
Crit-A-Cola:...........................................................................................19
The Sandman:......................................................................................19
The Candy Cane:.................................................................................20
The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 1):.............................................................20
The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 2):.............................................................21
The Fan OWar:....................................................................................21
The Atomizer:......................................................................................21
SOLDIER:..................................................................................................23
General banner changes:...................................................................23
The Black Box:.....................................................................................23
The Cow Mangler 5000:.....................................................................23
The Beggars Bazooka:......................................................................24
The Air Strike:......................................................................................25
The Reserve Shooter (Var. 1):...........................................................25
Page 1 of 80
Page 4 of 80
INTRODUCTION:
Who am I?
I go by the username Ocosn on the Steam Powered User Forums,
OlimarAlpha on Reddit. I have been playing Team Fortress 2 since May
2009 on the Xbox 360 and I got the game for the PC in September 2009.
Since then, I have amassed over 3,000 hours on the PC version. I have
never played Team Fortress 2 competitively, but I do occasionally watch
matches and I have read into the reasoning for weapon bans over the
years.
Why do you think you can balance the game?
I dont, or at least not on my own. I wrote this report to express my own
views on how to balance the weapons in the game. Obviously, having
limited experience of competitive, I cannot speak with any expertise in
that regard. This is why this report is an ongoing debate within the
community. So far, I have posted this report to the Steam Powered User
Forums Team Fortress 2 board, where it received 9 votes with a 4.44/5star average rating. The thread I posted to Reddits r/tf2 received a score
of +67 with an 86% positive rating (approximately 80 positive votes to 13
negative votes). The report has taken ideas from these discussions to
refine the weapon changes.
Since the Meet Your Match update came out, I have updated the thread
again with ideas based on the changes Valve has made. My next step is to
repost this on r/tf2 and cross-post to r/truetf2 to gain their opinions on the
topic.
Why did you write up this whole thing?
I love playing Team Fortress 2, so I want the games balance to be better.
This began as just simply listing weapons which the community thought to
be underpowered or overpowered and giving them buff or nerf ideas,
respectively. Since then it has evolved into a much more formal
discussion.
Since the Meet Your Match update came out alongside some changes to
weapons that didnt need them, such as the Righteous Bison, and the
unfortunate ignorance of weapons that desperately needed changes, such
as the Darwins Danger Shield, I felt even more inclined to update this and
get it out there. It feels as if the team who currently balances the game
has completely changed and also does not play the game that they
balance, especially with information given about Valves ideas about the
Reserve Shooter (b4nny, 2016) a weapon considered to be so broken
that people seem to refuse to use it out of respect of their victims.
All in all, I want Valve to read this report and the discussion surrounding it
to see what the community actually wants in terms of game balance.
Page 5 of 80
INTRODUCTORY NOTES:
All of the dates are in the British format (dd/mm/yyyy).
All of the changes are made in relation to how the game is as of
11/07/2016. Thus, we are under the assumption that changes have not
been made since the Meet Your Match update.
All changes made to a weapon will affect any reskin of said weapon,
unless said otherwise.
High quality versions of all of the graphs used can be found on Imgur. A
link to an album containing them all can be found in the references
section under (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
Blue text means that the change is a buff to the weapon.
Red text means that the change is a nerf to the weapon.
Green text means that the change is either a fix, or a change to the
weapon which can be considered both a buff or a nerf.
Purple text means that the change is a consideration. Although not to
currently be taken as part of the weapon, if it is found to be overpowered
or underpowered, this could be a future change.
This is the attitude TF2 needs these days. But is it the attitude TF2
deserves? (Wake123, 2016)
Page 6 of 80
GENERAL CHANGES:
Weapon Switching:
Weapon switch time increased from (1/2) s to (2/3) s, reverted back to
pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats.
Switch speed, as well as firing speed, initial reload speed and consecutive
reload speed are all specific times that represent the core of the game.
Weapon switch speed was probably the first value determined, as the rest
of the values seem to fit around the switch speed. By changing this value
in the Tough Break update, it is now faster to switch between two
weapons, rather than continuously fire on some of the classes, e.g.:
Soldier and Spy. Before the Tough Break update, the important values in
times for the Soldier went like this:
[ SG I . Reload :1 s ] > [ RL I . Reload :0.96 s ] > [ RL Fire :0.8 s ] =[RLC . Reload :0.8 s ]> [ Switch :0.667 s ] > [ SG Fir
It was faster to switch to your Shotgun than either reload or fire your
Rocket Launcher, meaning that players were encouraged to switch away
mid-fight. But at the same time, the Shotgun fired faster than it took to
switch weapons, meaning that players were encouraged to continue firing
their backup Shotgun until they ran out of ammo. It would then take either
1 second to reload the first shot of the Shotgun or approximately 1.63
seconds to switch to the Rocket Launcher and reload that, both of which
punishing the Soldier for running out of ammo on his weapons. Had the
Soldier have switched to his Shotgun before running out of Rocket
Launcher ammo, he could switch back faster than reload the first shell,
meaning that his variation was rewarded.
Since the Tough Break update, this has happened:
[ SG I . Reload :1 s ] > [ RL I . Reload :0.96 s ] > [ RL Fire :0.8 s ] =[ RLC . Reload : 0.8 s ] > [ SG Fire :0.625 s ] > [ Switch
It is now faster to switch between your Rocket Launcher and Shotgun and
fire them alternatively. Due to there being a short delay before your
weapon fires, you lose a small amount of time when you switch to the
Rocket Launcher and fire rather than stay on the Shotgun and fire, but you
gain an even larger amount of time by switching to the Shotgun and firing
than you do staying on the Rocket Launcher and firing. Unlike the old
switch times, this does not reward variation as much as it rewards scripts
to switch between weapons.
If you switch from a weapon with a faster or slower holster speed and
then switch to a different weapon mid-switch, you will switch to the new
weapon with the same holster bonus or penalty.
e.g.: Weapon 1 has no deploy bonus or penalty. Weapon 2 has a 25%
faster deploy. Weapon 3 has a 20% slower holster. A player switches from
Page 7 of 80
Kill Icons:
Telefrag is given a unique kill icon.
Small change, but the Bat Out of Hell now uses the generic telefrag kill
icon, so it would be nice for Telefrags to get their own. In my opinion, the
icon would be a player coming through a teleporter and another person
being split in half by their arrival.
Visual Indications:
Players who are ignited by weapons with a -66% afterburn damage
penalty such as the Degreaser and the Sun-On-A-Stick will visually have
less fire on their body.
Just to showcase that they are only taking 2 damage per second. This
allows teammates to make better decisions about health distribution and
also alerts enemies to try and ignite you with a more powerful flame
attack to get the afterburn up to 6 damage per second.
Options:
The sound that plays on successfully resisted damage is now an option in
the Advanced Options section.
I personally find this sound to be very annoying, especially if you have fire
damage resistance and you are under the effects of afterburn. Players
likely know of their damage resistances, due to the fact that they
equipped any of the weapons that gave it to them.
The option for the Medic to carry on healing without having to hold the
Primary Attack button is now on by default.
This would be helpful to new players.
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Server Modes:
Casual and Competitive now track Kill Assists.
This will stop players from subconsciously refusing to choose playing the
Medic due to the potential to weaken their K/D ratio.
In the UI at the top of the screen, the classes are assorted into numerical
class order.
This allows players to tell at a glance whether the team has too many
Snipers or Spies or no Medics.
Brought back Quickplay.
Quickplay offers a great way for players to be introduced to the game, as
their statistics are not tracked and they can jump into a server with little
to no wait times.
All Casual servers have been changed to
tf_damage_disablespread 1
tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 1
tf_weapon_criticals 0
tf_weapon_criticals_melee 0
Due to the fact that Casual mode tracks kills and deaths, players should
fight in a truly fair environment. The full explanation is a few lines down.
25% of Valves Quickplay servers have been changed to
tf_damage_disablespread 1
tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 1
tf_weapon_criticals 0
tf_weapon_criticals_melee 0
75% of Valves Quickplay servers have been changed to
tf_damage_disable spread 0
tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 0
tf_weapon_criticals 1
tf_weapon_criticals_melee 1
Added a server option to Quickplay to Allow/Disallow random features of
play.
Page 9 of 80
A notable portion of players have shown that they are against random
elements within the game. To improve the game for these players, 25% of
the current quickplay servers have been changed to have no random
damage variations. The in-game demand for these servers will be
regularly checked up on and the percentage of these servers when a new
update hits will either increase or decrease accordingly.
Random Crits have been discussed numerous times over the years and
the general conclusion seems to be that they are bad for gameplay.
They do not aid new players, as they encourage them to follow bad
gameplay habits by trying their luck with a random crit rather than
learning a better strategy of play. Random crits also reward better players
more with an increased critical hit chance when you, your patient or your
Sentry Gun have done damage over the past 20 seconds.
The existence of random crits inherently nerfs weapons that use earned
crits, such as the Kritzkrieg and Ambassador, whilst also reducing the
effectiveness of weapons that nullify critical damage, such as the
Battalions Backup and the Vaccinator, as their users must be on the
lookout for random crits as well as boosts.
Some classes also benefit far more from random crits, such as the Soldier
or Demoman, due to their respective small and non-existent ramp-up
damage increases as well as blast radiuses. Meanwhile, classes such as
the Scout, whose Scattergun relies on its massive 175% ramp-up and the
Sniper who does not roll for critical hits on his primary weapon both hardly
gain from the feature.
Removed +/-20% damage variation on fall damage from all official Valve
servers, bar the 75% of Quickplay servers that allow random features of
play. This is now a server option that is off by default.
Consistency in stats:
Due to the Team Fortress 2 team swapping members a lot, the way that
stats have been written on weapons is sometimes very inconsistent. The
Team Fortress 2 team should aim for a more consistent style of writing.
Weapons that deal different damage to players and buildings are now
noted with bonus or penalty.
e.g. 1: [Homewrecker] +100% damage bonus vs buildings.
e.g. 2: [Homewrecker] -25% damage penalty vs players.
e.g. 3: [Atomizer] -20% damage penalty vs buildings.
Consistency with weapons with generic damage penalties and bonuses.
Although we will discuss later that the damage bonuses and penalties are
Page 10 of 80
actually multiplicative, as shown by the Jag (which will be fixed). With the
Jag fixed, you can say that the damage bonuses and penalties can be both
additive or multiplicative. As damage is a simple value of health, an
additive bonus is easier to understand. Later consistency changes which
deal with values of time or resistances will have the positive and negative
signs removed as they are certainly multiplicative.
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Atomizer, the
Homewrecker and the Loch-N-Load.
All WETA weapons now have their building damage penalties written as 80% damage penalty vs buildings instead of Deals only 20% damage to
buildings.
Consistency with all of the other weapons that deal different damage to
players and buildings.
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Cow Mangler 5000 and
the Righteous Bison.
All weapons that do different damage under specific conditions will have
those changes written in a much more consistent format.
e.g. 1: [Back Scatter] 100% mini-crits from behind.
e.g. 2: [Flying Guillotine] 100% mini-crits at long range.
e.g. 3: [Flying Guillotine] 100% critical hits vs stunned players.
e.g. 4: [Sun-On-A-Stick, Flare Gun, Axtinguisher] 100% critical hits vs
burning players.
e.g. 5: [Direct Hit, Reserve Shooter] 100% mini-crits vs players forced
airborne.
e.g. 6: [Market Gardener] 100% critical hits while rocket jumping.
e.g. 7: [Backburner, Holiday Punch] 100% critical hits from behind.
e.g. 8: [Widowmaker] +10% damage bonus vs your sentrys current
target.
More consistency between the way things are written. Consistent typing
has also been improved for weapons such as the Flare Gun. The Back
Scatter is having its range penalty removed later on in this report.
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Back Scatter, the Flying
Guillotine, the Sun-On-A-Stick, the Direct Hit, the Reserve Shooter, the
Market Gardener, the Flare Gun, the Axtinguisher and the Widowmaker.
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All weapons that cause the marked for death effect explain just like the
Fan OWar what the effect does.
Not every player has the Fan OWar, meaning that they would have to look
up the effects online.
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Escape Plan, the Gloves
of Running Urgently and the Rescue Ranger.
Page 12 of 80
Weapons that have stats that happen while they are active will now
display the When weapon is active like it does on the Pretty Boys
Pocket Pistol.
Consistency.
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Winger, the Sun-On-AStick and the Fists of Steel.
Weapons that have a faster or slower attack speed will no longer show
positive or negative signs. Also, all ranged weapons will display the stat as
firing speed whilst all melee weapons will display the stat as swing
speed.
e.g. 1: [Scottish Resistance] 25% faster firing speed
e.g. 2: [Axtinguisher] 20% slower swing speed
Weapons that currently break this rule: The Force-A-Nature, the Soda
Popper, the Atomizer, the Market Gardener, the Axtinguisher, the Scottish
Resistance, Tomislav, the Family Business, the Killing Gloves of Boxing, the
Eviction Notice, the Jag, the Ubersaw, the Solemn Vow and the Cleaners
Carbine.
Flavour text, i.e.: The Shortstops Mann Co.s latest in high attitude
break-action personal defense, is written in the same colour grey as the
level of the weapon.
This is so that players do not mistake flavour text for stats which are side
grades. For this section, any reskins that break the rule whilst their
standard counterparts do not will have an asterisk (*) after them.
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Glitches:
Fixed weapons with No random crits having a 0.01% chance of scoring a
random crit.
Some players have found that weapons like the Eyelander can get random
crits on very rare occasions (Slice of Cake, 2015),
(BlaringDisastrousHuman, 2016). This is clearly just an error in the coding
and needs to be fixed. An in-depth explanation can be found in this next
reference (StopThatTank, 2016).
Fixed the killcam showing the stats for weapon that caused your last
death, rather than your current one.
Fixed the marked for death icon appearing over characters who are not
currently marked for death.
This glitch is very common to see on Escape Plan Soldiers and Gloves of
Running Urgently Heavies.
Fixed a glitch where damaging a building would show damage numbers
for what the weapon would have done to a player (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha,
2016).
Fixed a glitch on Upward involving BLUs 2nd spawn door (MrPaladin,
2016).
Weapons that give a +x% bonus healing from all sources will actually
now give the bonus healing from all sources, including Medics,
Sandviches, Dispensers and the Payload cart.
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Figure 1: Graph of the random crit probability of the Panic Attack (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha,
2016).
As we can see in figure 1, the Panic Attack has a 7.76% chance of scoring
at least one random critical hit whilst at minimum crit chance and a
40.03% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at
maximum crit chance (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
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The Half-Zatoichi:
As this weapon is considered to be a sword, the Soldiers version will also
be affected by the changes that happen to all of the Demomans swords
later on.
Just to note.
Description now states in white One hit kill vs players also wielding this
weapon.
As the haiku in the description is now becoming dark grey flavour text,
this stat has been written in.
The Soldier or Demoman is now able to holster their Half-Zatoichi when at
50 health or below, killing them.
This is simply for consistency with the Atomizer. Either both should be
allowed to kill their user or neither. A consideration for the Atomizer is to
not allow the user to perform an extra jump if the jump will kill them.
Either that consideration should happen or this consideration should
happen.
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SCOUT:
The Shortstop:
Added +20% bonus healing from all sources.
The bug of this not working with anything but health packs will be fixed.
And with the upcoming changes to the Medic, this will not be
overpowered.
Page 17 of 80
Crit-A-Cola:
Currently, the Crit-A-Colas downsides are quite unnoticeable, as the
damage vulnerability is extremely minor and the mark for death only lasts
for 2 seconds. This variation of the Crit-A-Cola aims to slightly weaken the
Crit-A-Cola whilst still keeping it good at clean-up sweeping.
Increased damage vulnerability whilst under the effects from 10% to 25%.
This downside is currently pretty much negligible. Almost no weapons in
the entire game gain a notable kill threshold. The Scattergun, Rocket
Launcher, Shotgun and Grenade Launcher would still take two hits to kill
the enemy Scout. Increasing this slightly makes the Scout more likely to
die in close range, but he still has enough bulk and speed to make the
approach.
The Sandman:
The Sandmans stun ball is considered to be broken in concept, but a
complete rework would take a lot of time, effort and playtesting. Instead, I
Page 19 of 80
focus on making the Sandman ball less of a pain to fight and put a greater
emphasis on the current health reduction, which only really brings a point
blank rocket and a mid-range Direct Hit rocket into the 1 hit kill range.
Increased max health penalty from -15 health to -25 health (110 max
health to 100 max health).
Increasing the max health penalty by a notch brings the Scout into some
very bad territory against certain classes. A single, direct grenade will now
one-shot the Scout and his overall survivability has been massively
decreased. Once again, like back in the days of 2009, Ambassador
headshots will put down Scouts who attempt to use this weapon without a
Medic backing them up.
Decreased the maximum stun duration by 2 seconds (7 s to 5 s).
This makes the Sandman ball far less annoying to be the victim of. Stuns
from just a few meters away will no longer almost completely immobilise
you for a lengthy period of time. This also means that the Scout cannot
throw a second Flying Guillotine during the stun if he misses the first one.
The Scout is only just able to survive a critical Flare Gun shot if he holds
this out for the entire time. However, due to the face that he already has
to be on fire to be critically hit, he wont be able to survive without a
nearby health pack or a Medic. This damage resistance is still enough to
reduce afterburn down to 2 damage per tick.
Increased damage penalty from -25% to -80% (26 damage to 7 damage).
Combined with the decreased afterburn damage, the Sun-On-A-Stick will
do a total of 27 damage, which is equal to the damage that a critical Fan
OWar will do. Comparatively, the Fan OWar is better for team aid in
general, whilst the Sun-On-A-Stick sets up for Pyro kills.
Added No random crits.
As the Sun-On-A-Stick is more viable, it will give out more certified critical
hits, each doing 21 damage whilst the duration of the 20 damage worth of
afterburn is reset.
Overall, these changes will make the Sun-On-A-Stick much better than it
currently is. Although still not as powerful as the Bat in terms of raw
damage, it makes the Sun-On-A-Stick Scout + Pyro combo far deadlier,
whilst also increasing the damage put out by a lone Scout, provided
multiple hits. These changes should also be compared to the Boston
Basher. As the Sun-On-A-Stick now causes afterburn, it will now become
the premier Scout weapon for hunting down Spies. However, I do not feel
that it outshines the Boston Basher overall. Whilst the Sun-On-A-Stick has
the advantage of tracking down Spies better, comboing with Pyros and no
self-damage risk, the Boston Basher has the advantage of a higher
damage output, higher jumps with the self-damage, faster berCharge
build with the self-damage and the ability to steal health packs from
enemy players with the self-damage.
Although it is weaker alone in combat than the Fan OWar and the Boston
Basher, the fire damage vulnerability added in the Meet Your Match
update should allow for more viability against Pyros.
As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
The Atomizer:
The current problem with the Atomizer is how much it sways a Scout Vs
Soldier fight in the competitive scene. Scout melee weapons are hardly
used for combat unless they bring a specific advantage to they hit. The
Atomizer is a weapon that has no downsides if never used for combat.
This must be changed.
Stat description changed from Grants Triple Jump: The third jump deals
10 damage when used
to "Grants triple jump to wearer.
Description now states in red Triple jump deals 10 damage to user.
For consistency with the upcoming downside.
Added Double jump deals 5 damage to user.
This gives the Scout a more notable downside whilst using the Atomizer.
As the Scouts melee weapons have little use in combat, not using the
Atomizer for combat left the Scout at absolutely no disadvantage while
using it, as the downside is never triggered unless the Scout chooses the
use the triple jump. Now the Scout has an active reason to not use the
Atomizer, as his regular double jump also takes health from him.
The Scout is no longer able to use his double jump when at 5 health or
below. The Scout can also no longer use his triple jump when at 10 health
or below.
This is simply for consistency with the Half-Zatoichi. Either both should be
allowed to kill their user or neither. The ability for the Half-Zatoichi to kill
its user is a consideration on the Half-Zatoichi. Either that consideration
should happen or this consideration should happen.
Page 22 of 80
SOLDIER:
General banner changes:
The Soldier is no longer able to hold his bugles after using them to
activate the charge later.
Being able to do this almost completely nullifies the sound, as the Soldier
can sound off whilst hidden away behind his team and release it without
warning on a group of enemies.
Decreasing the initial reload will put the Cow Mangler 5000 on par with
the Rocket Launcher in terms of raw damage output so that it is not at a
straight up disadvantage in combat.
Increased afterburn duration by 4 seconds (6 s to 10 s).
Players are used to a 10 second afterburn by now. There is no point in
having anything different. This change to the afterburn increase the total
afterburn damage from 48 damage to 60 damage.
Changed Cannot be crit boosted to Mini-crits whenever it would
normally crit.
This will make it more useful with a Medic buddy. Keep in mind that all
mini-crits from the Cow Mangler 5000 are the large projectiles that cause
mini-crit on hit followed by 60 damage worth of afterburn on hit.
Page 24 of 80
Page 25 of 80
Figure 3: Graph of the random crit probability of the Air Strike (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
As we can see in figure 3, the Air Strike has a 14.92% chance of scoring at
least one random critical hit whilst at minimum crit chance and a 64.04%
chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at maximum crit
chance (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
Page 26 of 80
This stat is currently invisible on this weapon. The holstering switch speed
was only 0.1 seconds faster than it would be normally, so I have removed
it for being so negligible and buffed the deployment speed.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
The Concheror:
The problem with the current Concheror is that it is the best banner for
the Soldier by far. Since it was released, it has never received a nerf (that
includes the Tough Break health regeneration change). Although it started
off being rather useless, the constant buffs have brought it so far forward
in terms of power that the Soldier doesnt even need his team to make
excellent use of it.
The three banners can be compared in three different aspects: passive
effect, charge rate and the charge effect. As for passive effects, the Buff
Banner does not have one, whilst the Battalions Backups +20 max health
bonus doesnt really add much other than the ability to survive an extra
Page 27 of 80
Scattergun shot. The Concheror has the fastest charge rate of the three
banners, charging in 480 damage while the others charge in 600 damage.
As for charge effects, the three banners all have their uses. However, the
Concheror is viable in almost any situation and makes the Soldier and his
team both faster and regenerate health. My aim is to bring down the
Concheror to be in line with the other banners.
Decreased charge rate by 20% (480 damage for 100% charge to 600
damage for 100% charge).
One of the biggest problems with the Concheror is how quickly the charge
is earned. Its the only banner that can be charged in 5 rockets and in turn
it allows the Soldier to both run faster than a Medic and heal at a
phenomenal rate. The charge rate will be toned down to make the
Concheror less persistent and charge at the same rate as the other
banners.
Health regen reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats.
Simply put, the regeneration stats are significantly better after the Tough
Break update. The change was probably done to counteract the fact that
the Degreasers afterburn damage would now only do 2 damage per
second, which the old health regeneration would completely neutralise.
Honestly, I would be completely fine with this for a few reasons. Firstly,
the Medic already naturally regenerates 3 health per second, which
doesnt just neutralise the Degreaser, it outdoes it as well. Secondly, the
Degreaser is the Pyros choice. Having a single weapon for the Soldier that
neutralises its afterburn really isnt at all a problem. A Pyro picking up the
Degreaser would simply have to learn that they would not be able to finish
off non-Blutsauger Medics and Concheror Soldiers with afterburn. Thirdly,
the Degreaser is not the stock Flame Thrower. This means that new
players, without choice from their lack of inventory, would not at all be
brought down by this change. None of the other Pyro primary weapons
would be neutralised by it.
Page 28 of 80
Figure 4 shows the regeneration rates of the Concheror both before and
after the Tough Break update. The pre-Tough Break Concheror just healed
at a constant 2 health per second, which didnt really mean much in
combat. I tried to find out the function for the new Concherors health
regeneration, but it always seems to give out very inconsistent results.
Due to this, I recorded both a best case scenario and a worst case
scenario for it. The best case scenario seems to be what was intended for
the Concheror, where it regenerates 1 health per second for the first three
seconds, 2 health per second for the next three seconds, 3 health per
second for the next three seconds and then it continues on at 4 health per
second from the 10th second onwards. The worst case scenario was that it
regenerated 1 health per second for the first five seconds, 2 health per
second for the next two seconds, 3 health per second for the next two
seconds and then continued at 4 health per second from the 10th second
onwards.
This brings me to my final point. You can see that by the 9th second, both
the pre-Tough Break Concheror and the post-Tough Break Concherors best
case scenario have healed an equal amount, at a quite negligible 18
health total. The latter will continue to be better from there on. Even the
worst case scenario has out healed the pre-Tough Break Concheror by the
11th second and begins to completely trump it from there on
(Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). 20 health within 10 seconds simply doesnt
make much of a difference during combat for either of the versions,
meanwhile the newer version is far superior outside of combat.
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The Equalizer:
The Equalizer is currently considered to be one of the worst Soldier melee
weapons, due to its inability to provide any utility and the fact that Soldier
already has a lot of power with his primary and secondary weapons.
Description now states in red -50% damage penalty.
This should be added as a dummy stat. While this will not affect the
damage output of the Equalizer, it should be noted so that players realise
that it will do less damage while at higher health. The stat reads -50%
damage penalty as the Equalizer deals 33 damage while at 200 health or
higher, which is the ceiling rounding of 32.5, which is half of the Shovels
base damage of 65.
Added 100% mini-crits when health <=10% of max.
One of the most infamous abilities of the pre-split Equalizer was the ability
to 1 hit kill Scouts. This caused Valve to change the formula which defined
the amount of damage the Equalizer did, so that it would at most do 107
damage. Since then, the speed aspect of the Equalizer has been moved to
the Escape Plan and the Soldier has been left with a weapon that still does
only just over 50% more damage than the stock Shovel. This change
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would cause the upper end of the Soldiers damage to skyrocket. While a
Soldier at 21 health would deal 100 damage, going down to 20 health
would push his damage up to 135. A Soldier at 1 health would be able to
put out 144 damage per swing, which would up its viability as a last stand
weapon. This would be fair against light classes, as a Soldier would still
not be able to chase them down and he would be on extremely low health.
Figure 5: The amount of damage done per hit by the Equalizer, dependent on the users
health (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
As shown in figure 5, the boost in damage from the mini-crits causes the
Equalizer to become one of the most devastating weapons in the game,
essentially having a 121% damage bonus when the Soldier is at 1 health
(Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
Added This weapon deploys 25% faster ((2/3) s to (1/2) s).
Added This weapon has a 37% longer melee range.
This will allow the Equalizer to be brought out as a quick surprise to any
enemy who decides to get too close and personal. Giving the Soldier a
slightly longer melee range allows for more likely punishes on classes who
decide to get too close.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
Page 31 of 80
Page 32 of 80
PYRO:
General Pyro changes:
The so-called Pyro Mojo has been fixed (HairyScrawnyDesertpupfish,
n.d.).
I am not sure if this has been fixed, so I am leaving this here.
The Backburner:
Description now states in red No random crits.
Not a balancing change, but the weapon actually has this stat despite not
saying so on the weapon description.
The Degreaser:
Changing the weapon switch speed back to what it was will also require
value changes for the Degreaser, which should keep its place as being the
fastest switching weapon in the game.
Increased faster weapon deploy from 60% to 70% ((4/15) s to (1/5) s).
This will buff the deployment speed to take the same amount of time it did
after the Tough Break update, whilst being even faster in comparison to
the larger standard switch speed.
Increased faster weapon holster from 30% to 55% ((7/15) s to (3/10) s).
This value allows the Degreaser to holster faster that it did after the Tough
Break update, whilst still allowing the Axtinguisher to have a more notable
delay as it switches in.
Added -20% damage penalty (6.8 damage per particle to 5.44 damage
per particle).
With the airblast glitch likely fixed from the notes earlier on in the report,
that leaves the Degreaser with one last problem - its damage output.
Without this change, the Degreaser will simultaneously be the best Pyro
primary for airblast reaction windows, combos and also sheer damage
output. The airblast cost penalty only really effects players who use
airblasts haphazardly, as Pyros making kills or standing near Dispensers
will quickly receive their ammo back. The afterburn damage penalty
doesnt make much of a difference when the Pyro can quickly fire off a
flare at the enemy and boost it up from 2 DPS to 6 DPS on top of a high
damage critical hit. Now that the fall-off of all of the Pyro primary weapons
has been increased from 60% to 70%, the Degreaser could stand to have
Page 33 of 80
Figure 6: Graph of the Degreasers damage against time compared to that of the other
Pyro primary weapons (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
As we can see from figure 6, this damage nerf means that it will take
approximately 25% longer to kill enemies by attempting to run them down
with the primary fire (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). This can be avoided
airblasting an oncoming projectile at the victim or by utilising the
Degreasers faster weapon switch to combo the damage of your primary
weapon and secondary weapon.
The Phlogistinator:
Like the Backburner once was, the Phlogistinator is now considered to be
the noobs Pyro primary weapon, as it removes the teamwork aspects
given by the airblast. The airblasts ability to defend the team from
oncoming projectiles and ability to extinguish burning teammates feel
integral to his character by this point. I aim to turn the entire Moonman
set into a great set of weapons which will function well both together and
apart.
Removed No airblast.
Activation for Mmmph! meter has been moved to the Reload button. You
can also still taunt to activate Mmmph!
Added Airblast destroys enemy projectiles.
Added Airblast does not push back enemies.
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Page 35 of 80
The Detonator:
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
The Manmelter:
The Manmelter is currently an extremely underappreciated weapon, which
is highly overshadowed by the Phlogistinator and the other Flare Guns. I
aim to make it work better, both on its own and as part of the Moonman
set.
The Manmelter now lets out a distinct sound when it is ready to fire.
This both allows the user and the victim to know when the next shot is
coming out.
The Manmelter now lets out a distinct sound when it fires a critical hit.
This is so that the enemy team get a better estimate of how many critical
hits you have remaining.
Added Alt-Fire: Extinguish a teammate to increase your Mmmph! meter
by 25%.
Added Reload: Use 20% of the Mmmph! meter to fire a critical hit.
Removed Alt-Fire: Extinguish teammates to gain guaranteed critical
hits.
The Manmelter now critically glows when it is active and the user has at
least 20% Mmmph! charge.
Extinguishing a teammate is now as effective as doing 75 damage with
the Phlogistinator. In comparison to the current Manmelter, you are
awarded with more critical hits and you are able to choose when to fire
the critical hits, but you now are capped at having 5 critical hits on you at
once. Extinguishing four teammates essentially gives you an extra critical
hit for free.
clip size has been further reduced. The Pyro can fight for longer than with
a Flare Gun, but is not able to hold up to the consistency of damage
output as with the Shotgun. Unlike the Shotgun, he is still able to fight at a
further distance, due to the accuracy increase, meaning that Pyros do not
need to get up as close and personal as usual and can hang back slightly
before going for a pick with the combo.
Added 30% slower reload time (Initial reload: 1 s to 1.3 s. Consecutive
reload: 0.5 s to 0.65 s.)
Another downside of the Flare Gun that is brought into the Skheat Shooter
is the slower reload time. Whilst the Flare Gun takes 2 seconds to reload a
shot, the Skheat Shooter manages to reload both shots in 1.95 seconds,
meaning that the Skheat Shooter can be managed effectively in terms of
clip size. Unfortunately, one upside of the Flare Gun that will not be
brought over to the Skheat Shooter is the ability to reload whilst not
active.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
Added -10% damage penalty (6 damage per pellet to 5.4 damage per
pellet. 90 max ramp-up damage to 81 max ramp-up damage).
Should this weapon prove far better than the Flare Gun, a slight damage
nerf (between -10% to -15%) should settle the weapon down a tad. This
change would cause the maximum mini-crit damage to reduce from 121
damage to 109 damage. In a single clip, a Pyro using the Skheat Shooter
would be able to quickly put out a maximum of 190 damage.
The Axtinguisher:
When the Axtinguisher was introduced back in 2008, it was widely
considered balanced due to the amount of time it took to deploy, the
range and also its inability to deal with Pyros. When the Degreaser was
released in the Mannconomy update of 2010, it caused a massive rise in
the efficiency of the Axtinguisher. The combination of the two weapons
turned the Pyro into a class capable of killing Soldiers within the space of
less than half of a second due to the rapid switch speed. In the Love & War
update of 2014, Valve decided to nerf the Axtinguisher and keep the
Degreaser as powerful as it was. Since then, the Axtinguisher was nerfed
once again and the Degreaser was finally nerfed in the Tough Break
update of 2015. Given the changes to the Degreaser in the Tough Break
update as well as this document, I aim to improve the Axtinguisher to its
former glory, but with more fitting stats for the modern age.
Page 38 of 80
Decreased slower weapon deploy from 75% to 35% ((7/6) s to (9/10) s).
Switching from the Degreaser to this will take 0.405 seconds, rather than
the 0.233 seconds that it took before the Tough Break update or the
0.6125 seconds it took after the Tough Break update. This brings a happy
medium, where the combo is still viable for all Pyro primaries, but also
allows a decent amount of reaction time from the victim.
Decreased damage penalty from -33% to -20% (44 damage to 52
damage).
The -33% damage penalty would have made sense before the Degreaser
nerf, but now that the Degreasers holster speed and the Axtinguishers
deploy speeds have been edited, a stronger damage melee critical hit
doesnt seem too bad. 156 damage seems like a happy medium, as it one
hit kills Medics and allows the Flame Thrower combo to kill a Soldier with
no health options. The slower swing speed and the slower deploy speed
will still make the Axtinguisher less useful than the stock Fire Axe against
Pyros and non-burning enemies.
The Powerjack:
Increased health gained on kill from +25 to +35.
This means that a kill with the Powerjack is like picking up a small health
kit. Also for consistency with the later Solemn Vow change.
There are a few classes that can survive a hit from the Sharpened Volcano
Fragment. Any class which has at least 205 max health can survive. An
enemy Pyro will survive with 37 health remaining, due to his natural
immunity to afterburn. A Demoman with the Chargin Targe equipped will
be able to survive provided that he also has either Ali Babas Wee Booties
or at least two heads decapitated with the Eyelander. A Level 1 Dispenser
outheals even the fierce start of the damage over time by 1 HP/s, whilst a
Medic outheals it by 15 HP/s.
Added 40% slower swing speed (0.8 s to 1.12 s).
This will both punish the Pyro for missing with a longer wait for another
hit, whilst also discouraging the Pyro from going for another hit after
successfully hitting one.
Added 25% damage vulnerability on wearer (while active).
Gives the Pyro a reason not to run at aware enemies with the Sharpened
Volcano Fragment out. Having an effective 140 max health, alongside the
slower swing speed, should discourage Pyros from going for multiple hits
with this weapon if they are noticed within close range.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
designed to allow him to keep that critical hit ready for anybody. It can
also be attained through usage of the Phlogistinator and the Third Degree.
The Third Degree now critically glows when it is active and the user has at
least 50% Mmmph! charge.
This is an important visual cue for potential victims.
Added 20% slower swing speed (0.8 s to 0.96 s).
Now the weapon is not a straight upgrade over the Fire Axe. The Pyros
combo comes out slightly slower.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits.
Page 42 of 80
DEMOMAN:
General sword changes:
Decreased slower weapon deploy from 100% to 20% ((4/3) s to (4/5) s).
Decreased slower weapon holster from 100% to 20% ((4/3) s to (4/5) s).
Although these weapons deployed and holstered in 1 second after the
Tough Break changes, they have been reworked in this to deploy and
holster faster than they did during that update, both in time taken and in
respect to the standard switch speed.
Description no longer states in white This weapon has a large melee
range and deploys and holsters slower.
Description now states in blue This weapon has a 37% longer melee
range.
Description now states in red This weapon deploys 20% slower.
Description now states in red This weapon holsters 20% slower.
It would only be an additional three lines on each sword weapon. This
allows users to see at a glance the scale of the effect that these stats
have on their gameplay, rather than having to look it up on the Team
Fortress 2 wiki.
Page 43 of 80
The Chargin Targe was changed from team colour paint to orange paint in
the 119th Update (29/04/2010). Im pretty certain that the orange paint is
here to stay by now, so this may as well be fixed.
Page 44 of 80
The Bottle:
Hitting a critical hit causes the Bottle to break.
Something that, deep down inside, we all miss.
Flavour text now says: Breaking the bottle does not do any extra
damage, but it sure does look threatening now, dunnit?
New players seem very confused about this aspect of the weapon and
would spend the beginning of the round trying to break the Bottle rather
than playing.
Page 45 of 80
HEAVY:
Natascha:
Natascha has been a weapon that has gained many buffs and nerfs over
the years. I aim to bring it back to the core concept that Valve had when
they announced it: As a result, Nataschas great against fleeing cowards,
such as Scouts & Medics, and less great against anyone actively trying to
kill her master. (Valve, 2008)
Added +40% move speed on wearer when spun up (110 HU/s to 154
HU/s).
An increased movement speed whilst spun up will push Natascha towards
its core concept, by giving the Heavy far more potential to catch up with
anybody he is shooting at. 154 HU/s is just slightly slower than a
Huntsman-readied Sniper, who runs at 160 HU/s. This will also make
projectile classes easier to dodge at long range.
Removed 20% damage resistance below 50% health and spun up.
Having a 20% damage resistance causes the Heavy to have an effective
375 max health whilst spun up. This is bad enough, considering that most
of the important weapons for damage numbers take an extra shot to kill
this Heavy, but it becomes even more problematic if you bring a Medic
into the equation. Dalokohs Bar alone can bring a Natascha Heavy up to
an effective 438 max health. A Quick-Fix Medic is effectively healing a 469
max health Heavy at a rate of 42 health per second. A Medi Gun /
Kritzkrieg Medic is effectively healing a 563 max health Heavy at a rate of
30 health per second. Using the correct damage resistance on the
Vaccinator gives the Heavy an effective 625 max health.
Although this stat is fine on the Brass Beast, which is designed with
turning the Heavy into a slow-moving powerhouse, its extremely
backwards on Natascha. Natascha is designed to force the enemy to fight
its user, rather than run away. However, giving the Heavy an effective
25% extra max health just turns him into a significantly harder target to
kill. This means that very few classes have options against a Nataschawielding Heavy.
Post MYM update: Heavy has an effective 338 max health with this. A
Heavy using this will now die in 4 point blank shots from the Scattergun
and 4 Grenade Launcher direct hits, but still die in 3 close range rockets.
Page 46 of 80
Tomislav:
The Tomislav is currently a weapon which has stats which fight against
each other and end up making the Tomislav into a weapon which works
very well in almost all situations. The 20% faster spin up time makes it
easier for the user to ambush a victim, whilst also making it harder for the
user to be ambushed. The silent killer attribute makes it even easier for
the user to ambush a victim. The 20% accuracy increase makes the
pellets of the Tomislav more likely to hit at all ranges, whilst the only
downside of a 20% slower firing speed equates to -16.67% damage per
second. The Minigun outputs a maximum of 540 damage per second,
meaning that the Tomislav outputs a maximum of 450 damage per
second. The accuracy bonus further pushes the Tomislav towards the
Miniguns damage per second at all ranges, as even point blank, it will be
hard to hit every single pellet on a moving target. Thus, the Tomislavs
DPS difference is practically always below 90. This rarely makes much
difference in combat, whilst the silent spin up and the faster spin up both
make the weapon even more effective.
Increased the accuracy bonus from 20% to 30%.
Further rewards good tracking by making the Tomislav even more
effective at all ranges. This is just a slight buff to prepare for the upcoming
nerf.
Removed 20% faster spin up time (0.696 s to 0.87 s).
Removing the 20% faster spin up time would stop the Heavy from quickly
overcoming any ambush with this weapon. The silent spin up still remains
unchanged on the weapon, meaning that the Heavy can still prepare an
ambush if he knows the enemy is approaching, but he wont be able to
turn the tides on an enemy who gets the drop on him unless his aim is
notably exceptional.
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This allows the weapon to truly combo with fire damage, doing up to a
potential 720 damage at point blank range on a burning target. The
surrounding ring of fire will do 16 damage per hit, rather than 15 damage
per hit.
Stat description changed from 33% damage vs burning players
to +33% damage bonus vs burning players".
The way that it currently reads comes off as a nerf.
Removed -10% damage penalty (8 damage per pellet to 9 damage per
pellet).
Quite a negligible difference, as at point blank this only does 60 less
damage per second. Increasing the damage allows the Heavy to reap the
full extent of their damage increase against burning targets, instead of
simply doing the 112.5% (rounded to 110%) of the stock Minigun damage
that it currently does with a 25% bonus.
Increased ammo drain from -4 per second to -6 per second.
This allows the clip to last for 12.5 seconds providing that the Heavy does
not pick up any metal packs.
Added 90% less ammo from dispensers when spun-up.
This would mean that the Heavy would have to spin down and wait for a
couple of seconds before he can defend the cart effectively again. 90%
less ammo from the cart would equate to the Heavy gaining only 2 ammo
per second. The Huo-Long Heater simply being spun up drains 6 ammo
per second, meaning that without firing or spinning down, the Heavy can
push the cart for 50 seconds before needing to resupply. If the Heavy fires
the Huo-Long Heater, he will only be able to push the cart for 14.25
seconds before needing to resupply. A mixture of both would put the
Heavy somewhere between those two time values.
Page 48 of 80
Weapons used
Speed (HU/s)
230
264.5
391.45
310.5
299
357.075
412.511
Effective
health
300 (450)
250 (375)
250 (375)
240 (360)
223 (334)
200 (300)
200 (300)
Damage per
hit
65
26
26
88
49
35
35
Stock
E.N.
E.N. (Boost)
B.S.S. + Stock
G.R.U.
B.S.S. + E.N.
B.S.S. + E.N.
(Boost)
B.S.S. + G.R.U.
403.65
178 (267)
66
Table 1: A table showing the different speeds and effective health values of the Heavy
when using the different potential melee combos.
(Note 1: E.N. stands for the Eviction Notice, B.S.S. stands for the Buffalo Steak Sandvich
and G.R.U. stands for the Gloves of Running Urgently.)
(Note 2: The speed values for the boosted Eviction Notice and the Buffalo Steak Sandvich
with the boosted Eviction Notice are estimates based on an interpolated function of the
Disciplinary Action boosts from the Team Fortress 2 wiki. This interpolated fuction was
y=70.1794191 ln ( x ) )
As we can see in table 1, the Heavy will be able to reach high max speeds
which can rival and even trump the Scout, whilst being at the downside of
being forced into using his melee weapon only. A Buffalo Steak Sandvich
combo could be used to reach the front lines as the Heavy extremely
quickly at the downside of being an easy victim of potential bombs and
forcing him to only use his melee attacks. One potential problem that may
arise from this is that a Heavy under the effects of the Buffalo Steak
Sandvich, Gloves of Running Urgently and either the Concheror or the
Disciplinary Action would be able to reach speeds of approximately 466
HU/s. However, this amount of speed would only last for 2 seconds and
the Soldier using the Concheror or the Disciplinary Action would not be
able to keep up. Should this be too much of a problem, then the later
consideration could be put into place.
Added Whilst under the effects, -75% less healing from Medic sources.
This is to prevent the new Buffalo Steak Sandvich combo from getting too
out of hand. Reducing the healing from Medics to 6 health per second (2
health per second with Vaccinator overheal) would massively decrease the
viability of a pocket Medic following the Heavy around after the Buffalo
Steak Sandvich is consumed. This is so that the Heavy does not become
an unstoppable wall whilst under the effects.
The speed boost given by the Buffalo Steak Sandvich is now similar to the
speed boost given by the Concheror, the Disciplinary Action and the Dead
Ringer.
Page 49 of 80
This stops the ability for the speed boosts to be further improved by
outside means.
Page 50 of 80
On a critical hit, the Holiday Punch will now force the laugh taunt on
players who are airborne.
To stop the Holiday Punch from being countered by constantly jumping in
rhythm to the users attacks.
The Holiday Punch will no longer stun berCharged players.
The Sandman isnt able to do it from a standard attack, so neither should
the Holiday Punch.
Added No random crits.
As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random
critical hits. I must admit, however, that the Holiday Punch is the one
weapon that I wouldnt mind this rule slipping past.
Added -25% damage penalty vs players (65 damage to 49 damage).
This is no longer an almost straight upgrade to the Fists. Forcing the
victim to laugh was even worse than just straight up killing the victim as it
meant that they would take longer to die, giving them an effectively
longer respawn. The only reason not to use the Holiday Punch currently is
in fear that the enemy either jumps or you come across an enemy Heavy
also using the Holiday Punch. A slight damage penalty makes them less
effective in generic combat.
Page 51 of 80
ENGINEER:
The Pomson 6000:
The Pomson 6000 is currently one of the most meta breaking weapons in
the game, capable of completely stumping the enemy berCharge and
forcing Spies to drop their cloak early. I aim to balance the Pomson by
taking away its anti-meta abilities and make it more powerful at close
range.
Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats, keeping
the fixed eploit with shooting through your own buildings and the updated
projectile sound.
Just for reference. Valve seems to keep dancing around the actual issue of
the Pomson 6000 with their fingers in their ears. The drains will never be
accepted into competitive play.
Description now states in red -80% damage penalty vs buildings.
Not balancing changes, but the weapon actually has these stats despite
not saying so on the weapon description.
Increased damage ramp-up from 100% to 120% (From 60 to up to 72
damage at point-blank range).
The Pomson 6000 is now slightly more effective at close range. It still
retains its slower firing speed and will not output as much damage per
shot as the Shotgun, but the Pomson 6000 still retains its higher damage
output at long range.
Removed On hit: Victim loses up to 10% Medigun charge.
Simply put, removing berCharge from the enemy Medic was absolutely
broken in concept, especially on a class such as the Engineer, who is
countered by the enemy berCharge. Taking this away allows the Pomson
6000 to potentially make its way into competitive.
Removed On hit: Victim loses up to 20% cloak.
Another aspect of the weapon that turns it into a counter destroyer. This
may as well go away with the berCharge drain as it completely ruins Spy.
This weapon is also notorious for dispatching Dead Ringer Spies, due to
the 20% cloak removal immediately pushing the Spys initial three second
boosts with no drain out of the way.
Added No random crits.
This weapon is one of the most problematic with random crits due to Valve
not creating a noticeably different projectile for a critical hit. You are
completely unaware of whether or not that incoming Pomson 6000 shot
will do just 36 damage or whether it will do a whole 180 damage.
Page 52 of 80
Removing random crits would solve this problem and fit in with the theme
of energy weapons not getting random crits.
Added Mini-crits whenever it would normally crit.
This would also mean that no additional projectile model would have to be
created, Valve is that lazy. It would also create a link between the two
#n000 weapons that they are completely unable to output critical hits.
The Gunslinger:
Changed Replaces the Sentry with a Mini-Sentry text colour from red to
white.
To show that the Mini-Sentry is not a straight downgrade compared to the
Sentry Gun.
Sentry build speed increased by 150% is now invisible on the
Gunslingers stats.
The other stats comparing the differences between the Sentry Gun and
Mini-Sentry are not listed as they would take up far too much space
(especially in comparison to the sword changes and the notation of the
mark for death made earlier on). By changing Replaces the Sentry with a
Mini-Sentry to white text, it showcases that there are both upsides and
downsides to the Mini-Sentry. Players will learn from experience what
these differences are, including the build speed. If they want the specifics
on the numerous differences, they can research it online.
Spy will cause more damage to the Engineers nest should he manage to
get the Sapper on.
I was originally planning on making the Engineer have a mark for death or
damage resistance whilst the Southern Hospitality was active, but then
that would discourage him to not repair his Sentry Gun nest, as he will be
punished for it.
The Jag:
The Jag currently has two damage penalties that do not showcase clearly
to the non-mathematically savvy how much damage it actually outputs.
The first few changes made here do not actually change the functionality
of the weapon, but simply showcase the functions more clearly. The
changes to the construction speed also make no difference, but are
reworked to form more consistency.
Removed -25% damage penalty (49 damage to 65 damage).
Added -25% damage penalty vs players (65 damage to 49 damage).
Increased damage penalty vs buildings from -33% to -50% (44 damage to
33 damage).
The reason these stat changes are in green is because they do not
actually change the weapon. Currently, the damage reads as having a
-25% damage penalty to everything and a -33% damage penalty to
buildings. The way that the game sees this is applying the building
damage penalty on top of the overall damage penalty
(Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
( 34 ) ( 23 )
65
( 34 2
3 )
65
( 126 )
65
( 12 )
Page 54 of 80
Page 55 of 80
MEDIC:
General Medic changes:
Medic no longer runs at the speed of a faster heal target.
This goes back to being a specific trait of the Quick-Fix later. This also
means that the Shortstop can have its faster healing rate back.
The function of the Medics self-heal whilst healing a damaged patient has
been edited to include a modulus.
The current function for the Medics self-heal whilst healing a damaged
patient is
S=2 h .
This consideration would change it to
S=2|h|.
{ x ,x 0
|x|= x ,x< 0
This change would only be implemented if the consideration in the Solemn
Vows changes is added.
Crossbow and also make metal packs and Dispensers have a much direr
effect, with small metal packs only giving out 3 bolts.
The Overdose:
The Overdose is currently considered to be the best of all of the Medics
Syringe Gun variations, due to it having both a negligible downside that
barely effects combat and a negligible upside that only makes a slight
difference to your speed when you are both at a good amount of
berCharge and have the weapon active. I aim to improve the weapon by
changing the effectiveness of it.
Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats.
For reference. 20% faster movement speed is insanely good and boosts
the Overdose into the realm of being always used.
Speed boost is now active regardless of whether or not the Overdose is.
You have to switch to the Overdose to increase your movement speed if
your berCharge has increased. Using your berCharge automatically
resets your movement speed boost back to 0%. Switching to this weapon
does not give you a speed boost for any berCharge that is currently
draining.
Now the Medic will be capable of running at his increased top speed of
352 HU/s whilst healing a patient. Allowing this will make the weapon
viable in more situations. I have added the You must switch to the
Overdose to increase your movement speed if your berCharge has
increased line so that the Medics velocity is not accelerating constantly
as he moves. I would assume that this may cause troubles with hitboxes
and make lining up headshots much harder. The Using your berCharge
automatically resets your movement speed boost back to 0% puts a hard
reset on when you berCharge, so that Medics do not switch to the
Overdose once they are at 100% charge, switch away and never switch
back to benefit from the speed boost. A Medic using the Vaccinator at
100% berCharge will immediately lose all of their speed boost upon
releasing a Vaccinator charge, but can switch to the Overdose to quickly
put them up to the 75% speed boost.
Increased damage penalty from -10% to -20% (9 damage to 8 damage).
Currently, due to the fast firing rate, the current -10% damage penalty is
hardly noticeable.
Added -1 health drained per second on wearer.
Despite the damage penalty downside, I have added this to counteract
the speed boost. Due to the fact that the Medic can massively benefit
from the new Overdose without ever even using it in combat, the -1 health
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drained per second means that an Overdose Medic will not be able to
neutralise standard afterburn by healing a damaged teammate or pulling
out the Amputator. He will be expected to use his new found speed to run
to safety. A Medic using the Overdose will also no longer outheal the
Degreasers afterburn, instead only neutralising it.
The Kritzkrieg:
Description now states in white Alt-Fire: Use 100% of the berCharge
meter.
Stat description changed from berCharge grants 100% critical hit
chance
to "berCharge lasts for 8 seconds and grants 100% critical hits to the
current Patient".
This is to make the concept of the KritzCharge easier to understand for
new players.
The Quick-Fix:
The Quick-Fix is currently considered to be the overall best Medi Gun, due
to its flexibility in usage. It utterly wrecks the enemy team in 6v6
competitive, due to the small team sizes having to completely focus fire
on the Medic to stop the enormous healing rate. It also is considered to be
the best Medic secondary weapon for pub-stomping, due to the uses of
the berCharge. I aim to reduce the effectiveness of the Quick-Fix in both
competitive and public servers.
Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats.
The 10% faster berCharge rate is only 4.36 seconds slower than the
Kritzkreig at worst. This change did not reduce the effectiveness of the
Quick-Fix notably. The upcoming changes will make more of a difference to
the Quick-Fix.
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The Vaccinator:
Description now states in white Alt-Fire: Use 25% of the berCharge
meter.
Stat description changed from berCharge provides a 2.5 second
resistance bubble that blocks 75% base damage and 100% crit damage of
the selected type to the Medic and Patient.
to "berCharge lasts for 2.5 seconds and provides a resistance bubble
that blocks 75% base damage and 100% crit damage of the selected type
to the Medic and Patient."
This is to make the concept of the WunderCharge easier to understand for
new players.
The Vita-Saw:
The Vita-Saw is currently a situation of underpowered in public play, yet
overpowered in competitive. Using the Vita-Saw in competitive play forces
the enemy Medic to do the same, else always be at a disadvantage for
berCharge. I aim to change the concept of the Vita-Saw to give it a
different niche.
Added On hit: 30% damage resistance on wearer for 3 seconds.
This gives the Medic an effective 200 max health for the next 3 seconds.
Note that this effect does not stack if you manage to hit it multiple times
before the 3 seconds has finished.
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The Amputator:
Health regen reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats.
Holding out the Amputator makes the Medic unable to fight back outside
of melee range, so allowing it to return to the constant 3 health per
second regeneration isnt that big of an ask. It does neutralise afterburn,
but so does healing a damaged patient. The Amputator gives a
survivability option if no teammates are nearby or no teammates require
healing.
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Solemn Vow equipped will be able to call out weakened targets to their
team, but will be at a higher risk of death due to a slower regeneration.
On the other hand, Battle Medics, who usually use the Blutsauger, will
now have slightly less survivability if they do not fight efficiently, as their
health regeneration is effectively 0 health per second and slowly builds up
to an average 3 health per second.
Increased health drained per second on wearer from -1 to -2.
This would make the passive downside of the Solemn Vow far more
notable. It would also bring the interesting concept of a Medic actually
losing health over time, as using both the Blutsauger and the Solemn Vow
together would cause the Medic to lose 1 health per second. If the Medic
is not damaged, his health regen will build up from -1 health per second to
a dismal 2 health per second. If this change is implemented, then the selfhealing modulus function in the General Medic Changes section shall be
implemented as well, otherwise, a Medic healing a damaged patient would
regenerate health at a rate of -2 health per second, which would actively
discourage the user from healing anybody. This would mean that a Medic
without a patient is encouraged to fight the enemy with the Blutsauger
and Solemn Vow whilst retreating, whilst also meaning that a Medic who is
healing in combat will not drain health over time, but instead self-regen at
a rate of 1 health per second, which decreases to 0 health per second and
then increases up to 2 health per second.
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SNIPER:
The Sniper Rifle:
Description now states in white Crits on headshot.
The Flame Thrower, Stickybomb Launcher, Wrench, Knife and a few other
stock weapons have their noteworthy stats written in the description.
The Razorback:
Currently, the Razorback presents a problem of being underpowered in
public play, whilst blocking the Spy as a Sniper counter in competitive
play. Competitive Snipers will like to stay near the Sentry Gun, as it will
save them from a third Revolver shot from the Spy. They generally like to
stay Overhealed to save them from Ambassador Spies, as well. I aim to
make the Spy a much better pick against Snipers in competitive unless
the latters team sees you coming.
Now blocks all backstab attempts.
Now actively encourages Spies to use their revolver against the Sniper.
Spatially aware Snipers can use this to shield their teammates.
Added 20% bullet vulnerability on wearer.
Allows Spies to take out standard Razorback Snipers in 2 shots with the
Revolver. Point-blank Scattergun shots will also one-hit kill. Due to the way
that critical hits work the Ambassador would deal 109 damage on a
headshot. However, a follow-up shot at point-blank range would deal 61
damage, totalling at 170 damage, which should be enough to kill a
Razorback Sniper who is not actively being Overhealed and standing near
the enemy Sentry Gun. This does not noticeably change Sniper Vs Sniper
combat, unless the Razorback Sniper is being Overhealed.
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which this overheal decay rate means that the Sniper will stay above 175
health for 5 seconds.
Combined, these changes should make the Darwins Danger Shield usable
in competitive. It will also greatly impact the relationship between the
Sniper and the Medic, as Medics will now be encouraged to heal the
Sniper due to the +40% bonus healing but they will also be more reluctant
to overheal the Sniper, due to the faster decay rate. Medics who decide to
pocket the Sniper will be a hindrance to their team, anyway.
Figure 9: The amount of health regenerated over time by the Cozy Camper
(Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
Sniper is useful for causing him to flinch and miss shots, the update left
him no worse off from taking damage and being far better off by not
taking it.
The Bushwacka:
The Bushwacka is currently the best Sniper melee weapon by far, giving
the Sniper an extremely powerful option at close range. It combos easily
with both Jarate and the Cleaners Carbine to quickly dispatch seven of
the nine classes, whilst the current Degreaser to Axtinguisher combo is
only capable of removing the four lightest classes and the Medic with
afterburn. Another problem is that the combo completely outdoes the
damage output of a low health Shahanshah.
Removed 20% damage vulnerability on wearer.
This didnt change much for the Sniper. It reduced his effective max health
down from 125 health to 105 health. Only a Rocket Launcher shot could
be at a safe enough distance and benefit from this with a one hit kill. With
the upcoming nerfs to the weapon, that will not make much of a
difference.
Added -30% damage penalty (65 damage to 46 damage).
Decreasing the damage of the Bushwacka accomplishes a few things.
Firstly, it makes the Sniper weaker in melee combat than the Pyro, as he
should be. Critical hits will now do 137 damage with these numbers, which
will still kill light classes such as the Scout, Spy (whether invisible or not)
and a weakened Medic, while still allowing classes like the Pyro,
Demoknight and the Heavy to completely decimate poor attempts on their
lives with this combo. Secondly, it gives the Sniper a penalty for failing to
utilise his mini-crit boosts. Before, the increased damage vulnerability
would not change much when the Sniper could still kill most ambushers in
two swings. This damage penalty makes the Bushwacka the weakest
melee weapon, bar the Tribalmans Shiv, which benefits from the bleed
damage it gives out and also swings faster. Finally, this also means that
the Bushwacka combo does 27 more damage than the Shanhanshah
combo, which does 110 damage.
Added 20% slower swing speed (0.8 s to 0.96 s).
Added This weapon deploys 20% slower ((2/3) s to (4/5) s).
This makes it slightly more readable for a potential victim of the one hit
kill, whilst giving more time to stop the Sniper if he decides to go for a
target that is way out of his league. Poor timing with the Bushwacka, or
attempting to destroy aware Heavies, will lead to death for the Sniper.
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Figure 10: Graph of the Snipers melee weapon damage against time
(Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
(Note 1: The Kukri and the current Bushwacka share the exact same line, but the green is
covering the black.)
As shown in figure 10, the Bushwacka combo will not only still be very
powerful, but also in line with the Shahanshah low health combo. Due to
the Bushwackas higher damage, but slower deployment and swing speed,
players will find that the Bushwacka is better for dealing with classes with
125 max health, as a single hit will deal with them. On the other hand,
players are rewarded massively for the great risk of being at low health
with the Shahanshahs combo by earning quicker kills on Scouts and Spies
who are using weapons such as the Sandman or the Big Earner, as well as
any class with more than 125 max health. A Bushwacka Sniper will get
these kills slightly slower, but without running the risk of dying as fast due
to low current health (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).
The Shahanshah:
Stat description changed from +25% increase in damage when health
<50% of max
to +25% damage bonus when health <=50% of max.
Stat description changed from -25% decrease in damage when health
>50% of max
to -25% damage penalty when health >50% of max.
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This change is for consistency with the Equalizer. This will also mean that
a Darwins Danger Shield Sniper at 75 health will do 81 damage per hit,
rather than 49 damage per hit, so this is actually a very minor and almost
negligible buff, due to the fact that it is highly unlikely that a scenario
where the Sniper has 75 health with the Darwins Danger Shield comes
up.
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SPY:
General Spy changes:
Fixed the 20% damage resistance whilst user is invisible applying at the
end of the damage formula, rather than during it.
The Spy will now take the expected 140 damage from an uncharged
headshot whilst invisible, much like a revved-up Brass Beast Heavy. A
headshot on an invisible Spy should be a kill, rather than 120 damage.
The Enforcer:
The Enforcer is currently underpowered in all environments, due to the
fact that a single shot doing an extra 20% damage really doesnt add up
to very much in combat. I aim to make the Enforcer serve a different role.
Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats.
Im not sure exactly what Valve were going for with this. At first I thought
it was a power creep against the Darwins Danger Shield, but then I
realised that the changes made dont even allow the Enforcer to two shot
kill Darwins Danger Shield Snipers. Regardless, why arent you
backstabbing him? Its slightly more effective against Vaccinator Medics,
but not enough to be notable. You should be backstabbing him. The only
thing that this really seems to counter is the Dead Ringer. Ive reverted
the change altogether.
Added On hit within mid-range while disguised: One target at a time is
marked for death, causing all damage taken to be mini-crits.
This will allow the Spy to serve a different role. For now, we will say that
the mark for death lasts for 5 seconds. If the Spy is unable to approach a
priority target, he can use his Enforcer to place a mark for death on said
target. This will allow his team to kill that target more efficiently while the
Spy accomplishes another task.
Removed +20% damage bonus while disguised (48 damage while
disguised to 40 damage while disguised).
There is no reason to have a damage bonus with the new Enforcer.
Added -25% damage penalty (40 damage to 30 damage).
This, along with the 20% slower firing speed, will stop the new Enforcer
from outshining the Revolver in standard combat. Combined, these stats
will cause the Enforcer to do far less damage alone than the Revolver.
When firing at a target who has not been marked for death, the Enforcer
will only be doing 62.5% of the damage per second of the stock Revolver.
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A marked for death target will take slightly more damage, but will still be
doing 84.375% of the damage per second of the stock Revolver.
The Enforcer Spy will be able to hit his mark for death shot followed by an
extra six shots before his mark for death runs out. Assuming maximum
ramp-up, this means that the Spy will output 45 damage on the first shot
and 61 damage on all of the shots following, totalling at 411 damage. In
the same time, a Spy using the Revolver would be able to land eight shots
in total, all doing 60 damage, totally at 480 damage.
The Diamondback:
Players find it annoying that the Diamondback can fire a critical hit whilst
the user is disguised.
Can no longer fire a critical hit whilst the user is disguised or for 0.5
seconds after being disguised.
A simple change. Players should not be able to store certified critical hits
on a weapon that they are holding and be able to completely hide that
from the enemy. The 0.5 seconds part stops this downside from being
circumvented by a script.
wasnt enough to survive a backstab either way. But now, thanks to the
Tough Break update, the Spy is in a strange predicament in which he will
survive in a server with crits turned off, but die in a server with crits
turned on. I personally prefer the old ways in which a Spy would survive a
backstab, but others disagree. Luckily, the current 75% damage
resistance holds a good compromise should the attacking Spy notice
that his victim used the Dead Ringer, another backstab will immediately
kill him due to the decreasing damage resistance.
Removed afterburn immunity during the first 3 seconds of cloak.
The Spy already has a large amount of damage resistance as well as a
35% speed boost during the first 3 seconds of cloak, so why does he need
an afterburn immunity? I must also bring up the fact that the Spy-cicle
exists, which is a weapon purely designed to counter the Pyro. If Spies are
having troubles getting past Pyros with the Dead Ringer, they should
either attempt a different route or use the Spy-cicle. Valve even buffed the
Spy-cicle to regenerate faster using metal, which makes it the perfect
companion for the Dead Ringer. With this change, the Dead Ringer will still
stop afterburn when the feign death is triggered, just like it stops bleed,
but being torched afterwards will start the afterburn again.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES:
There are a few weapons that may or may not have been mentioned
during this report which will probably need to be looked into.
The Classic:
I dont even know where to start with this one. Perhaps mini-crit
headshots while not fully charged? I really dont know.
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TIPS:
Due to all of the changes made in this report, many of the official tips that
the game cycles through will have to be edited to make them correct.
Due to the Shortstop push change in the Meet Your Match update
(08/07/2016):
Tip changed from As a Scout, the Shortstop is very effective at medium
to long range, allowing you to maintain your distance from dangerous
enemies.
to As a Scout, the Shortstop is very effective at medium to long range.
Push any aware close-range enemies away to optimize your damage
against theirs.
Due to the Phlogistinator change in this report and the recent changes:
Tip changed from As a Pyro, inflicting damage with the Phlogistinator fills
the Mmmph! meter. Once it is full, activate it using your secondary
attack (MOUSE2) in order to completely refill your health and inflict crits
for a short time.
to As a Pyro, inflicting damage with the Phlogistinator fills the Mmmph!
meter. Once it is full, activate it using your Reload button in order to inflict
crits for a short time.
Due to the Loch-N-Load changes in the changes between 2014 and 2015:
Tip changed from As a Demoman, use the Loch-and-Load to inflict
additional damage against slower moving classes and buildings. Aim
carefully however! You only have two shots before you must reload and
you will only inflict damage on a direct hit.
to As a Demoman, use the Loch-N-Load to inflict additional damage
against buildings. Aim carefully, however! You only have three shots
before you must reload and you will only inflict damage on a direct hit.
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Due to the Sydney Sleeper change in the Meet Your Match update
(08/07/2016):
Tip changed from As a Sniper, the Sydney Sleeper only applies Jarate to
enemies. Do not waste your ammo trying to extinguish burning
teammates as you would with normal Jarate.
to As a Sniper, the Sydney Sleeper also can be used to extinguish
teammates with a scoped shot.
Page 77 of 80
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