Team Fortress 2

[Menacing Spike]

Engineer is very, very simple to grasp - run around, put your buildings down, and stay nearby to keep them healthy - you'll eventually want to learn things like the dispenser jump (build a dispenser, jump on top of it, jump and plant your teleporter exit while jumping on a surface that's usually out of reach, then take your teleporter to the new vantage point), and better hiding places for your turret and buildings.

Nice. This will be fun.
What I'm doing at the moment with engi is build a lvl 3 sentry, move it in a terrible spot (near the train tracks in that ctf map for example) and kill their next spawn wave out of sheer surprise. Grab it and run away if they outrange it. Then I try sneaking in a port exit in their base.
Sometimes I build one right behind a door, move close and open the door if there are enemies nearby, then move back before rockets and grenades hit.

If he has a Medic, you can't take him alone - though if you're in a forced confrontation, try to kill the Medic, not the Heavy.

Even flaring the medic twice doesn't kill him . And they usually expect short range flanking.
I don't have the axe.

Also, I'm amazed at the amount of teamwork and cooperation the players of this game exhibits.

[SirBryghtside]

Engineer is very, very simple to grasp - run around, put your buildings down, and stay nearby to keep them healthy - you'll eventually want to learn things like the dispenser jump (build a dispenser, jump on top of it, jump and plant your teleporter exit while jumping on a surface that's usually out of reach, then take your teleporter to the new vantage point), and better hiding places for your turret and buildings.

Nice. This will be fun.
What I'm doing at the moment with engi is build a lvl 3 sentry, move it in a terrible spot (near the train tracks in that ctf map for example) and kill their next spawn wave out of sheer surprise. Grab it and run away if they outrange it. Then I try sneaking in a port exit in their base.
Sometimes I build one right behind a door, move close and open the door if there are enemies nearby, then move back before rockets and grenades hit.

If he has a Medic, you can't take him alone - though if you're in a forced confrontation, try to kill the Medic, not the Heavy.

Even flaring the medic twice doesn't kill him . And they usually expect short range flanking.
I don't have the axe.

Also, I'm amazed at the amount of teamwork and cooperation the players of this game exhibits.

Pyro isn't really good for long range, a couple of tips here would be to use compression blast to separate them (Also destroys ubers) and use the flamethrower as much as possible. None of his other weapons are anywhere near as good (in my experience). Flare gun only really kills snipers and fleeing dudes (best if they're already on fire), but it's mostly for irritation. I recommend Mountainlab as a great map for starters of any class. It's my favourite map, it has ambush spots (I know one corner where you can backstab/backburner anyone easily), Sniper spots (which lead to A LOT of wars), a big, open strip for battle-style combat, protected Engie spots, high areas, narrow corridors... it's my favourite map, and not just because it has one of those death-pits in Red's base

Anyway, I got the Axtinguisher recently - combo'd it with the Degreaser and shotgun, but I'm having a lot of trouble actually getting kills with it. Anyone got tips?

In fairness, that's more because the sniper is very good, rather than the rifle.


Although right now it DOES look like a straight upgrade to the normal rifle, so it could use a downside (such as you initially having a longer charge time)

Um... it has that disadvantage

[Box Boy]

*re reads stats*


.....IGNORE ME

[BurningLed]

Even flaring the medic twice doesn't kill him . And they usually expect short range flanking.

Flaring the medic twice will kill him if the full afterburn takes it's toll, or the medic was previously damaged -- 30+90 damage from flares, 60 from afterburn minus regeneration, medic has 150 hp.

Anyway, I got the Axtinguisher recently - combo'd it with the Degreaser and shotgun, but I'm having a lot of trouble actually getting kills with it. Anyone got tips?

Axtinguisher as all about positioning -- flame+airblast (puff) people into enclosed walls and corners then whack them with the axtinguisher. You can't just do it any old place unless they're not paying attention, in which case it's simply flame+axtinguish, no airblast.
[/quote]

None of his other weapons are anywhere near as good (in my experience).

That might be your experience, but I vehemently oppose this. As a Pyro, I don't feel like I'm being as effective as possible if I'm not getting a roughly equal amount of kills with each method of attack (less with melee if not using axtinguisher). Reflects should be the method for unprepared soldiers and demomen, flames for people caught unawares in the open, axtinguisher happens in heated close-range combat, flares/shotgun should be mid/long range kills. Really, flares are good at any range, they're essentially an instant burst of 90 damage, and they're easy to land on people airblasted or explosive-reflected into the air. They also let you heckle like there's no tomorrow, get into a long-range fight with a slow-moving heavy and you'll see what I mean when you win.

[existential_elevator]

I tend to enjoy flareguns most when you have a high vantage point over a battlefield. Especially with heavies. They're usually too busy shooting straight ahead, and get a bit confused when they're suddenly on fire.

Re: medics not dying after being flared twice - if the medic wasn't healing anyone at the time, they would have been self-healing. This may well have bought them time to recover between two flares.

[Xeio]

Flaring the medic twice will kill him if the full afterburn takes it's toll, or the medic was previously damaged -- 30+90 damage from flares, 60 from afterburn minus regeneration, medic has 150 hp.

Unless he has kritzkreig.

That might be your experience, but I vehemently oppose this. As a Pyro, I don't feel like I'm being as effective as possible if I'm not getting a roughly equal amount of kills with each method of attack (less with melee if not using axtinguisher). Reflects should be the method for unprepared soldiers and demomen

I love airblast against soldiers, it's a little less useful against demos (particularly since stickies are almost unaffected). It's really useful against long range spam though, even if I die I can help keep anyone near me alive by changing the team of the projectile (particularly useful since I only play payload, protect the cart!). Also useful to protect an engineer nest (pyro+engineer is extremely difficult to counter, since airblast counteracts long range rockets or grenades, and you can airblast back ubers).

[Box Boy]

Also, Homewrecker.

[EdgarJPublius]

I'm starting to worry that this game is changing for the worse. The last time I played, the populated servers were: 1 full-rotation, 1 goldrush/badwater, 2 dustbowl insta-spawns, and about 20 2fort insta-spawns.

That's pretty much always been the case though. If anything, populated servers have gotten more diverse. In the beginning you would find one full rotation for every twenty 24 hour 2fort. The payload maps have at least added a little variety.

I either play on a clan server with custom maps, or one of the Reddit servers which are always populated

[BurningLed]

Reddit servers are great for diverse maps and cool people, as are SourceOP and SLAG servers. If you can get a server to host an unusual but popular map (Like arena_grid_walls, any VS saxton hale, dm_store, etc.) it'll usually fill up pretty quickly.

[Menacing Spike]

Also, Homewrecker.

Also unlimited ammo for the pyro. Permanent spy check!

[broken_escalator]

Have they released page 3 of the update yet? The site is blocked at work;;

[Rek]

None of his other weapons are anywhere near as good (in my experience).

That might be your experience, but I vehemently oppose this. As a Pyro, I don't feel like I'm being as effective as possible if I'm not getting a roughly equal amount of kills with each method of attack (less with melee if not using axtinguisher). Reflects should be the method for unprepared soldiers and demomen, flames for people caught unawares in the open, axtinguisher happens in heated close-range combat, flares/shotgun should be mid/long range kills. Really, flares are good at any range, they're essentially an instant burst of 90 damage, and they're easy to land on people airblasted or explosive-reflected into the air. They also let you heckle like there's no tomorrow, get into a long-range fight with a slow-moving heavy and you'll see what I mean when you win.

I agree, although even then I don't use my degreaser for kills much. Most of the time I either light them up and axe, or I'll set them on fire for an added damage boost for when I pull out my shotgun . It's kind of disappointing to see how low the DPS of the flamethrowers actually are.

Oh and elevator if you're still wanting the hat, add me on steam. My ID is Ifflix.

[SirBryghtside]

My last couple of minutes with TF2:

Wheee Degroot is fun, oh look Demo achievements! *crafts* only one scrap left!

*plays for a bit more while failing to trade*

*sigh* died again... MESSAGE: YOU RECIEVED ITEM: DEGREASER!

OH. MY. GOD.

*leaves server*

*crafts fourth refined metal*

OK, put them into the crafting bit... one... two... three... four.

Now the Razorback.

*craft*

No matching blueprint!

...what?

*tries Jarate*

No matching blueprint!

Um... what?

*puts in sleeper to check*

matching blueprints: create set headgear

...

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF-

[Cecilff2]

Create set headgear only works with a weapon from the set and 4 refined. So bushwacka, crocoshield, or sleeper for the croc hat.

[Box Boy]

That wonderful moment when you have a massive stockpile of weapons to expend while crafting the new ones.
*like8

That horrible moment when you realise you're back to square one on saving up for another hat.
*dislike*

That said, anyone want a heavy duty rag (non-vintage) or a re-named Ushanka (Commisar of Controlled Killing) for pretty much any pyro/spy/set hat?

Really, I ain't picky.

[SirBryghtside]

OK. After that initial OMGWTFBBQ, I've realised I need one reclaimed to get a Danger Shield.

Just one... more... reclaimed... *twitch*

Edit: and are scammers really this pathetic? I wanted to get a sleeper, so I asked, and someone said yes. I told them that I had a bunch of weapons (which I do), and he asked for 2 refined.

TWO. RECLAIMED.

[BurningLed]

One refined for a danger shield? What? Are they selling a vintage or community one or something? I'm not sure if I have one in my backpack, but if I do I'll give it to you for three weapons.

Also. After this update the scout will have gained the ability to quadruple jump. This disappoints me greatly. Also also. I laugh at those who play on low gravity servers.

That wonderful moment when you have a massive stockpile of weapons to expend while crafting the new ones.
*like8

That horrible moment when you realise you're back to square one on saving up for another hat.
*dislike*

If you're lucky, they'll change the recipes, yours will go vintage, and you'll be able to sell your weaponry for a hat's worth in refined. I sold my v. zatoichi for almost 3 refined a couple of weeks ago.

[Menacing Spike]

I get a warm fuzzy feeling every time I hear a heavy yell "YOU DID WELL".

Also how to counter demos as engie?
At the moment I either pack up and back the turret in case of stickies, or run at him and shotgun in case of grenades; is there a better way?

[broken_escalator]

Pretty much just don't let the demo fire at your sentry if your sentry can't hit him. Pistol/shotty attack and lure him in is what I usually do.

If hes simply out of range you can use the wrangler to shoot him, but I prefer luring him into turret

[The Scyphozoa]

Ooh, I like the sound of the Liberty Launcher. Should solve why I currently hate playing Soldier: can't freaking hit anything with the rocket launcher. Although I've only been using the default loadouts, so iunno reely.

[Rek]

OK. After that initial OMGWTFBBQ, I've realised I need one refined to get a Danger Shield.

Just one... more... refined... *twitch*

Edit: and are scammers really this pathetic? I wanted to get a sleeper, so I asked, and someone said yes. I told them that I had a bunch of weapons (which I do), and he asked for 2 refined.

TWO. REFINED.

Er, I can generally get any weapon I want for a scrap at a trade server or something. Sleeper maaaaybe two since it's rarer (or something). On a side note:
Razorback + Rec = Danger Shield
Eyelander + Rec = Bushwhacka
Huntsman + Rec = Sleeper

If you can't find someone trading, just do that Much less metal needed.

[Larry]

Have they released page 3 of the update yet? The site is blocked at work;;

Soldier stuff.
Liberty Launcher: Rocket launcher with 40% faster rockets, 25% smaller clip size.
Mantreads: Boots w/ 75% reduction in push force taken from damage, 3x fall damage to the player you land on.
Disciplinary Action: Melee w/ on hit ally, boost both players' speed for several seconds, -25% damage done.
Reserve Shooter: shotgun w/ 15% faster weapon switch, minicrits airborne targets for 3 seconds after switch, -50% clip size.
Market Gardener: Melee w/ crits while rocket jumping, no random crits.

Lawnchair looks interesting, like a cross between stock and DH. The speed boost melee sounds fun too. Shotgun looks like a straight upgrade from the stock, if the numbers work. (there are people out there who know how many hits it takes to kill someone with the rocket/shotgun combo. I'm not one of them.)
Mantreads and Market Gardener sound ridiculous. I'm sorry, but how often do you jump on people and melee mid rocket-jump?

[SirBryghtside]

OK. After that initial OMGWTFBBQ, I've realised I need one refined to get a Danger Shield.

Just one... more... refined... *twitch*

Edit: and are scammers really this pathetic? I wanted to get a sleeper, so I asked, and someone said yes. I told them that I had a bunch of weapons (which I do), and he asked for 2 refined.

TWO. REFINED.

Er, I can generally get any weapon I want for a scrap at a trade server or something. Sleeper maaaaybe two since it's rarer (or something). On a side note:
Razorback + Rec = Danger Shield
Eyelander + Rec = Bushwhacka
Huntsman + Rec = Sleeper

If you can't find someone trading, just do that Much less metal needed.

Yeah, that's what I meant - I have 2 razorbacks, so I can craft one of them when I get one reclaimed. Gah...

Edit: It was past midnight when I was posting that, so... um...

every time I said Refined, I meant Reclaimed

Ooh, I like the sound of the Liberty Launcher. Should solve why I currently hate playing Soldier: can't freaking hit anything with the rocket launcher. Although I've only been using the default loadouts, so iunno reely.

I only started playing Soldier when I got the Direct Hit, so if you've got that use it.

[thecommabandit]

Something that seems to have been missed by those here: There's a Pyro weapon too. Clicking on the easel on day three gets you this.

[EdgarJPublius]

Gah, don't like the look of those mantreads. Giving me flashbacks to when we had goomba installed on the clan server and one player who religiously plays soldier was like an 'Edgar's head seeking missile'. He always rocket jumps into battle, and regardless of intent or my ability to hide or dodge, he always managed to land on me.

[Box Boy]

.....so all that's left is the medic update now.

*crosses fingers for a new alternative to the medigun and kritzkrieg that isn't the quick fix*

[Rek]

Engineer should get something.

[SirBryghtside]

Engineer should get something.

There's only so many wrenches you can hand out, my friend

EDIT: EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/24/break ... y-forever/

[Menacing Spike]

EDIT: EVERYONE LOOK AT THIS:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/06/24/break ... y-forever/

This could be a hoax; I didn't find any official info anywhere, just that interview on the website.

[EdgarJPublius]

welp, it's on teamfortress.com now, so it's official.

I'mma go make eighty bajillion idling alts now brb

[SirBryghtside]

Meine freunde - zu treffen die Sanitäter

[Menacing Spike]

Well, whoa. Ten euros saved, nice.

[CombustibleLemons]

Idk. for some reason i don't like the F2P thing. Might be because i bought the game, but I just don't know.

[Menacing Spike]

Idk. for some reason i don't like the F2P thing. Might be because i bought the game, but I just don't know.

Because cheaters can just make another account if banned :/?

[EdgarJPublius]

According to the FAQ, valve has some sort of system in place for dealing with that possibility.

I'm interested in whether or not free accounts still find crates, and if so, WTF they are supposed to do with them since they can't trade them away or open them.

[Menacing Spike]

MTM is out!
It's very good. Also, it explains ubercharge.

[The Scyphozoa]

You'd lose all your items, though.

Hm, teamfortress.com seems to be down. Too much traffic?

[Xeio]

I'm interested in whether or not free accounts still find crates, and if so, WTF they are supposed to do with them since they can't trade them away or open them.

They can still buy keys. And if they do they become premium accounts. So... yea...

[The Scyphozoa]

Dr. Frankenstein. Dr. Moreau. Dr. Quinn: Medicine Woman. Any time a physician starts messing around creating life, trying to improve the species with a giraffe neck or two, or taming a cowboy's heart, you can bet things are going to end badly. The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.

They should have gone with "mantis men".

EDIT: So, the Quick Fix decreases the effectiveness of Ubers, but it makes you heal faster, plus you can actually keep up with Scouts you are healing. I wonder, does the Overdose's movement bonus stack with this? Medics can move faster than a Scout given that they're healing a Scout? (Of course, if you have to stay near the Scout, it wouldn't matter much.)

[Rek]

I love the Tomislav + the Enforcer. Those are the only new items I've gotten so far though. Oh and apparently The Detonator can no longer flare jump. Goddammit Valve, give Pyros something