Author: Tarrynot

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How to Jump Safely in a Wrangled Universe: Adaptability, Self-Preservation, and You

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As fun as it can be, the viability of sentry jumping — undoubtedly one of the flashiest tools in the Engineer’s arsenal — is severely limited in comparison to the other two forms of self-initiated explosive mobility, rocket- and sticky-jumping. The setup and positioning demands, not to mention the unforgiving health cost — all the more dangerous for a light class — can leave players scratching their heads and asking, quite reasonably, what possible use sentry jumping could have outside of gimmick plays in artificial or highly unlikely situations. No matter how you spin it, sentry jumping will always require… [Continue Reading]

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A hop, a skip, and a (normal) jump away

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I’ve always had a curious affinity for the tops of resupply cabinets. Whether it’s during my weekly quasi-idle sessions in Offline Training, or at the tail end of some test or other conducted to investigate weapon properties, I find myself gravitating toward the nearest one, hauling myself onto it, and engaging in highly meaningful activities along the lines of “see how many times you can shoot the cabinet before the old bullet holes disappear” or “make smiley face patterns with melee hits :)”. But, like many illustrious scientists in history — to whom I am entirely comparable — I’ve encountered… [Continue Reading]

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Extending Southern Hospitality for Crate Justice

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It’s a curious fact that the Strange Southern Hospitality, alone of all the Engineer’s wrenches, ranks up on its owner’s melee kill count rather than sentry kill count. The March 5, 2014 update added sentry kill tracking to it, ruling the former melee-only counter a mistake, but if fans of Southern Hospitality think they’re going to be spattering their spiky wrenches with gore anytime soon, they’ve got another think coming — the newly added sentry kill counter is secondary and doesn’t affect Strange rank. Players all over have been protesting this, of course. They cite the difficulty not only of… [Continue Reading]

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Of Pistols, and the Engineer, I Sing

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The Wrangler has long been plagued by regular accusations of being overpowered. The Short Circuit was massively buffed during the Smissmas 2013 update, to immediate or nigh-immediate bans from all Highlander leagues; subsequent nerfs have failed to placate them (or angry Soldiers and Demos). So where does that leave the Engineer’s third secondary option — the humble Pistol? Many insist that in the face of such strong unlocks, there is no reason for Engineers to use the Pistol — to use considerably less colorful language than a typical comment along those lines. In fact, the Daily SPUF’s own aabicus ran… [Continue Reading]

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How to Live the Trackpad Life

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Mention to anyone that you’re using a trackpad — also called a touchpad — to play TF2, and you’ll be greeted with gasps of horror. How could anyone play an FPS without the finesse afforded by a real mouse? Why would you limit your own aim and movement like that? At least a controller would allow you to become the graceful and bloodcurdlingly bloodthirsty Demoballerina. Even drawing tablets have been advocated favorably over the specter of the default laptop trackpad. How and why are different questions, of course. No doubt the why differs from person to person, but there are… [Continue Reading]

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6v6, 9v9… 4v4?

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Competitive TF2 comes in many forms, including relatively niche ones like Ultiduo (a 2v2 duel of Soldier/Medic combos) and BBall (rocketjumping CTF — dunk that intelligence!). For the most part, however, the main competitive leagues have stuck to the old standbys of 6v6 and 9v9/Highlander. Come January 24th, this will no longer be the case. The 4v4 format has been picked up by UGC, one of the biggest competitive TF2 leagues (certainly the biggest in the North American Highlander scene!) — and the first match of the season will be here by the end of January. The format isn’t entirely… [Continue Reading]

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