The New Eviction Notice

I once talked about the old Eviction Notice and how I used it. And below were the stats before the Jungle Inferno update:

And after the Jungle Inferno update, here are the new stats:

The “20% damage vulnerability on wearer” stat has been swapped for “maximum health is drained while item is active”. Right now, having it active will drain 5 Hp per second out of your maximum health. Holstering it will let you regain your maximum health at the same rate.

The fact that your maximum health is being drained rather than you taking 5 Hp of damage per second is important. It means Medics actually charge their Übers slower, since lower maximum health = less healing required to reach maximum overheal = slower Übercharge rate. So Heavies with the Eviction Notice are now less optimal Medic Buddies.

Now, a Heavy actually has to choose between high health or faster movement speed. To get to a point faster, a Heavy has to continuously trade his maximum health for one more second of faster movement. Kind of like an automated microtransaction with the devil. And if you want to reach the frontlines with a decent chunk of health left, you should sheath your melee earlier and trudge along at your normal snail’s pace.

And because of this change, the Dalokohs Bar now works rather well with the Eviction Notice. The +50 maximum health means that you now have more time to run at maximum speed. And once you are near the frontlines, assuming the distance is far enough from your spawn, you Dalokohs should’ve recharged and you can top up your maximum health again.

Eating the Dalokohs Bar takes 4 seconds. So by standing still for 4 seconds, you get to run for an extra 10 seconds. That is one more reason for me to not use the Sandvich. Honestly, I believe the Second Banana is far more superior in terms of self-healing. In terms of sharing, it’s a choice between having less heals at higher frequency or the other way around. So now, the Sandvich really isn’t the ultimate lunchbox item for the Heavy anymore. Well, at least it’s still better than the Buffalo Steak Sandvich. I think. The Steak got a stealth buff this update, giving you one more second of effect duration (up to 16 seconds) and removing the +25% damage taken penalty.

Back on topic, the Eviction Notice is more fair to fight against now. It used to be rather easy to negate its downside by just picking an alternate route that no one goes on. Sure, it demands map knowledge, but with some time on the map or just going in the direction most people aren’t heading towards means that you just got a free speed boost. Now, there is a bit more strategy in using the Eviction Notice. When should I sheath it? How much health do I need? Can I risk running a bit longer? Can the enemy flank find me here? There is a new level of depth added to playing Heavy as there is more gamesense and awareness needed. You need to be able to predict where and when you’ll face combat in order to not be caught at an overly weakened state.

The downside of the weapon now features a lot more strongly in play. As mentioned earlier, the old downside of the Eviction Notice can be negated in the past by picking a safe route. Now, that is no longer the case. Should a flanker caught you off guard, you can no longer just switch away the Eviction Notice and get back to your normal levels of bulk instantly. You are actually vulnerable. After all, a Heavy’s main strength is his bulk, and his main weakness is his lack of mobility. Being able to negate his weakness with practically no cost is somewhat unfair.

But is it really? After all, the Heavy needs map knowledge and gamesense, as well as a degree of situational awareness, to actually make the most out of the Eviction Notice. In that sense, the Heavy earned that “free” speed boost. Besides, a speed boost that only lets you outrun a land-bound Soldier is rather … unremarkable.

Personally, I am rather OK with the idea behind the new Eviction Notice. The concept is sound. My only gripe with it is that for the rate this thing is draining my maximum health and the rate it replenishes after I swap it out, the speed boost seems rather tiny. Personally, I would like either the maximum health drain rate to be reduced, a larger speed boost, or a much faster maximum health regeneration rate.

Am I annoyed that the Eviction Notice is essentially nerfed for me? Of course! I can’t run with it as long as I used to be able to, I have this extra vulnerability to deal with, and I am even slower than before in general. I personally feel that the numbers need to be tweaked somewhat to make it more usable. However, it adds a new layer of depth to playing Heavy, and it is more fair to play against it now. That is all I have to say on the Eviction Notice.