analysis – Page 16 – The Daily SPUF

Force-A-Nature: The Superior Scattergun

January 2, 2014 Argeon 3 Comments advice, analysis, scout, weapon

The Force A-Nature is a peculiar weapon. Seemingly underpowered, people constantly set it aside in their backpacks to collect dust or be converted into metal, but does it deserve this kind of treatment? I say ‘No, of course not!” The Force-A-Nature is different weapon, like the Quick-Fix. You have to think differently. Think mobility and disorientation. The FaN trades off six shots and a little damage for two shots, more pellets, knockback, and faster firing speed. At first glance, you may think “Why on earth would I use this? Six shots is much better than two, and knockback is a… [Continue Reading]

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The New Popper-Cola Combo

December 31, 2013 IceFuse 2 Comments analysis, balance, class, comparison, criticism, fun, loadout, scout, strategy, update, weapon

Let’s face it: The new Soda Popper is pretty sweet. The new movement mechanic activated from hype that causes the Scout to have up to 5 jumps after getting off the ground has a far better purpose than farming situational mini-crits. It still does good damage without the mini-crits. I believe the weapon was buffed rather than nerfed, since there still isn’t a damage penalty that doesn’t allow you to land two good meatshots identical to the Scattergun’s damage. But besides that, what we’re overlooking right now is how it affects the old Popper-Cola Combo (Soda Popper + Crit-a-Cola of… [Continue Reading]

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Move Those Weapons… Up… I Guess…

December 19, 2013 delirious biznasty 0 Comments analysis, balance, class, comparison, loadout, update, whips

So. It’s been a long time since July 10th, when this update arrived. With it, Valve sought to rebalance some common staples of TF2 play, and bring some new weapons to the forefront. In those five months… what’s changed? Has Valve done what it set out to do? Did they change the face of public servers forever with their weapon balance? Well… No.

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Regarding the Difference Between SPUF and the Steam Forums

December 16, 2013August 19, 2023 Jaydor 1 Comment analysis, comparison, history, SPUF

You read that correctly, this one isn’t an article about TF2, but about the official forum meant for its discussion. No, not the Steam Community User Discussions, I’m referring to SPUF. Or as some may call it, the Steam Powered User Forums, despite the lack of an actual “powered” noun anywhere in the title for the Steam Forums. More specifically, by SPUF, I mean the TF2 section of the Steam Forums, and that distinction is something I’m going to be touching upon in this article. To put it simply, it’s sort of odd that we as a community frequently refer to… [Continue Reading]

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Shooting the scorched earth

December 14, 2013 Chevap666 1 Comment analysis, crates, fun, loadout, pyro

Scorched earth is a tactic used by militaries where the main goal is to destroy everything useful for the enemy while retreating or advancing (destroying their manufactories, farms, oil fields and stuff like that). If you have participated in kindergarten gang wars, you will spot the similarity with the real thing – if you managed to win a small tackle-fight against your little enemies in their own lair built of wooden bricks, chairs and clothing – you totally wrecked their camp afterwards, victoriously, so they would have to build everything from scratch. You were also a terrible person, but whatever. Scorched… [Continue Reading]

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On The Direct Hit

December 8, 2013 IceFuse 3 Comments advice, analysis, class, comparison, fun, guide, loadout, soldier, strategy, weapon

The Direct Hit can either be the most devastating single-shot rocket launcher unlock or the worst rocket launcher to ever disgrace the battlefield if you can’t place your shots right and want to rely on splash damage. As a Soldier-main who’s retired his first strange Direct Hit for the easier stock rocket launcher after reaching a few hundred kills past Epic Rank, I too can agree that it’s a troublesome weapon to many who don’t know the nature behind using the Direct Hit. But mastering this pesky launcher can pull off some both quantitative and hilarious outcomes.

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Scout melees and you!

November 30, 2013 Chevap666 0 Comments analysis, guide, loadout, melee, scout, weapon

If you had a baseball bat, and you were insane enough to hit random people with it, you wouldn’t really care about its looks. If it’s hard enough to crack some skulls – it’s good. However, you wouldn’t really hit people with wrapping paper, now would you? That’s just your preference. If you would like to hit people with wrapping paper, but some federal laws and such nonsense forbid you to do so, you have TF2 for that. Play Scout and you get to hit people with baseball bats if that’s your thing. Unfortunately, you deal less damage (35 base damage per hit).… [Continue Reading]

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Why all Melee Unlocks should be Balanced like the Demoman’s

November 28, 2013 aabicus 0 Comments analysis, balance, demoman, loadout, melee, theory, weapon

SPUF enjoys arguing about TF2’s balance. A lot. One of the most common issues to sprout up involves TF2 melee weapons. It’s no secret the vast majority of stock melees are underpowered, except those with utility like knife and wrench. If their only job is to deal damage, then they’re gonna suck because every class has a plethora of primary or secondary weapons that deal more damage at longer ranges more effectively. So when most competetive TF2 players agree that the bottle is the best Demoman melee weapon, this may seem unusual. How can it really be the best choice… [Continue Reading]

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The Wrench in Balancing Plans

November 26, 2013 A Pointed Stick 0 Comments analysis, balance, engineer, theory, weapon

Whoo doggie, the Engineer. If people are not playing rock paper scissors over who between him and the Heavy has the lowest skill floor, they’re having arguments over his weapons so bad that they make [insert appropriate argumentative body here] look like a teen romance! How can one guy cause such a fuss that has SPUF so evenly divided that it could be the motivation for a community made WAR update? Well, if I was to answer it in a reasonably sized sentence (which as an academic, should be impossible) I’d say it’s because the Engineer is, in many ways,… [Continue Reading]

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The Rescue Ranger: Solver of practical problems

November 22, 2013 kierany9 2 Comments analysis, engineer, loadout, weapon

As an Engineer main, the Ranger is by far one of my favorite weapons. While it takes some skill to use well, the payoff is ridiculous and is overall a fun weapon to use. Also, 120 damage crits at any range is a godsend for a shotgun. I’ve jarateed off many friends with a lolcrit smashing them in the face. The Rescue Ranger is a weak weapon in combat, shooting repair claws that do 60 damage at close range and 20 at long range, with a base damage of 40. But then again, the Engineer was never meant for shooting… [Continue Reading]