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(Blog Posts about Strange Parts: 2)

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Smissmas is coming. *badum tss*

And if you don’t remember the previous Strange Parts Post, clickity.

First Archimedes,now Foppish. My past self was really lucky when he chose his Medic cosmetics. Pixel art obtained from g
First Archimedes, now Foppish. aabicus’ past self was really lucky when he chose his favorite Medic cosmetics. Pixel art obtained from AG’s Pixelize Yourself.

I’m a Strange Item fanatic. I love showing off how many kills I’ve got with this weapon or that one. Or recently, how many points I have with this and that class (“InstaCakes is credit to team!”) and in general (Strange Speks!).

So I was thinking: Some weapons aren’t Strange yet. Some are Strange Festive, but not plain Strange (Buff Banner! Sandvich!). Some are Strange and deserve to be Festive (I WANT A STRANGE FESTIVE SHOTGUN!). And then there are cool ideas for Strange Parts that no-one has thought of yet, and Strange Parts everyone has thought of but not added. For example, why is there a “Robot Spies Destroyed” part and “Cloaked Spies Killed” part but no plain “Spies Killed” part  but Spies Killed has only been added with the latest update? Why isn’t there a Strange High-Five yet?

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On The Direct Hit

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"Dodge this!"
“Dodge this!”

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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Sniper Versus Machine: The Post Dualcity

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"Help?"
“Help?”

Valve have recently rolled out an awesome MvM update – Two Cities. For most part it’s great – Medic and Soldier buffs, killstreak weapons (that don’t look too good in most occasions but some are really awesome), Rottenburg. On the downside there is Empire Escalation Wave 4. But that’s later.

Since it’s a blog, it’s kinda logical for someone to get their opinion here, or maybe a story, if they have anything to share, so I’ll do exactly this thing.

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Observations on Killstreak Weapons

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On the 21st of November, the Two Cities update shipped. With it came two new Mann Versus Machine maps, Mannhattan and Rottenburg, much-needed class buffs for the mode, and some fancy-schmancy new cosmetic gimmicks. Completing the Two Cities tour nets you a “Killstreak Kit” for a random weapon, and according to what I’ve heard (unfortunately I have yet to actually beat a single mission), a couple random “Specialized/Professional Killstreak Fabricators”, which can be completed using the pieces of robot scraps found by completing missions. Being the owner of two of these, I would like to make known some truths about… [Continue Reading]

Scout melees and you!

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Who wants some-a this? Picture by Gen. DeGroot.
Who wants some-a this? Picture by Gen. DeGroot.

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). Fortunately, you swing the melee faster. If you fancy some frantic beating while screaming nonsense and double-jumping around, you found your class.

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

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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 for its slot when it has no gimmicks beside emergency damage?

In my opinion, it has to do with the way Valve has handled the unlocks in that slot. Using demoman as an example, here is what I think the golden rules should be for designing melee unlocks.

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Why the Quick Fix Medic* is Now Viable in MvM

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*And other healing-centric loadouts

New MVM Medic

The Two Cities update has vastly improved the medic’s abilities in MvM. Gone is the “kritz machine” of old, now you can do exactly what the medic should be doing in the first place, and be an integral part of the team. And it’s just as fun as anything else.

For reference, there are two major abilities the medic received in this update that attribute to this: revives and the shield.

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“The Hatless Update”

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Oh, you thought I meant this Hatless Update? Haha, no, that is so 2011. I’m talking about the November 21, 2013 update, known as the Two Cities Update, though I believe the main feature of this update is the fact that it contains no new hats. If I’m not wrong, this is the only content update this year to not add any hats to the game. Isn’t that interesting? In all seriousness, I’m loving this update. It added so many new amazing things, adding a whole new role for the Medic in MvM, two new maps and added our much-loved Snakewater to… [Continue Reading]

The Rescue Ranger: Solver of practical problems

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Don't worry, sentry! I'll save you!
Don’t worry, sentry! I’ll save you!

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 people to death. Instead, he has 128 DPS aimbots that fight for him. The fact that it has the lowest DPS of all Engineer primaries, it’s hitbox is not the size of a truck and it isn’t the Frontier Justice means it’s rather uncommon to be seen used by most players. Don’t let that put you off though because the Ranger has two amazing practical uses(other than being a Ninjaneer): sentry transportation and supporting other engineers from your own nest’s safety.

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The Guillotine Games!

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You surely know the Scout. You probably know he’s a baseball fan from Boston. You may know his mom has been having some romantic visits from his co-worker. But did you know he has ties with the Chinese mafia? Or that he is actually just a very lonely guy that needs a hug?
Okay, that last part may not be true, but either way, the Red Sox, the Chinese mafia, and I are proud to present the upcoming event:

The First Annual Guillotine Games!
So what is this all about?You will be fighting with and against other scouts with this exact same loadout. Your only means to kill are Sandman balls or cleaver hits. Hit them in succession to gain a very satisfying instant kill. Way to duck, pallie!
Once you’ve thrown them both, however, you’re harmless until the recharge, so best start chasing those Sandman balls!We will be playing several map types: Koth, Arena and 5CP. Again, only killing with the aforementioned weapons!After that, we will play an individual tourney. In tense 1 on 1 matches it will become obvious who the better Scout is, who will then be fighting other winners, and in the end, only one remains: the victor of the First Annual Guillotine Games!
So sharpen your cleavers and swing your bats for the upcoming tournament, and be the Last Man… well, boy, Standing!

Cleavers will block out the sun!
Cleavers will block out the sun!

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