The Sticky Launcher Nerf got reverted

So it seems that some people listen after all. There’s always been hysteria over the Demoman and his stickies, ever since he’s been able to explode them before they touched the ground. Some think he’s fine, some want him altered a bit, some want him nerfed, some want him nerfed into the ground, some want Demoman’s head on a pike and some people want him removed completely. Alright, we’re not going to get the last two, but discussion is a good thing. The problem is, which side of an argument do you take? In this case, Valve tried taking the… [Continue Reading]

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The Air Strike – The Mother of All Snowballing

What happens if you push a snowball down a hill? It gets bigger the further down it goes. In theory. Snowballing is used similarly in video games, particularly the idea that once someone has started getting strong, they get stronger and stronger and stronger. And stronger. Almost to the point where there’s no stopping them. This phenomenon is something most often seen in RTS and MOBA games but snowballing has never really been that big an issue in Team Fortress 2. Enter the Air Strike. A quick look at the stats. In exchange for a much faster firing speed while… [Continue Reading]

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Engie’s secret best friend

Howdy! Today we’re gonna do things “Texas style,” or at least what new players such as myself like to do, which is find as many interesting new weapons as possible and leave our stock loadouts behind. Yeee-haw! Oh… dead again. But I was so sure my Crusader’s Crossbow would do the trick. Now we start again. Since I know Medic quite well, I hear a lot about how it’s bad to just equip new items as soon as you get them. Assuming a new weapon is better than the stock equivalent usually ends in a horrible death and/or ragequit. This… [Continue Reading]

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ACTUAL Training Weapons

Put that Rocket Jumper down. This article is designed to cover weapons that actually do the job of training somebody who hopes to get better with a class in TF2. These weapons encourage (or force) the player to learn things that translate well into regular loadouts, and don’t force the player to become reliant on them to do well. So put your Front Runners on, it’s training time! 1. Candy Cane. The Candy Cane is a depressingly low-poly melee weapon that grants Scout health kits on kill, at the cost of 25% explosive damage vulnerability. It’s this second half that… [Continue Reading]

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TF2 To recieve new parachute

No, not a golden parachute. Though now that I’ve made the connection somebody will probably make a SPUF thread wailing “Could this be a sign Valve’s gonna retire TF2???” Well, they’re probably wrong, because this new blog post is pretty awesome and hinting at future content. Valve takes a bit of time to talk about some weapon ideas that were scrapped, and leaves us with a teaser regarding a potential new Soldier secondary in the works. I don’t personally understand why everyone is leaping on the assumption that it’s literally just a parachute with obvious parachute stats (slower falling speed,… [Continue Reading]

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

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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Synergy In Every Medic Loadout Combination

Medic has very few unlocks, it’s true, but this really is because almost every niche he’d need filled is already in there somewhere. The lion’s share of discussion on this topic is dedicated to his secondary Medigun, but what about his options in primary and melee? Well, for a change of pace I thought I could cover every single available weapon combo in Medic’s Primary/Melee slots, how they synergize, and their viability and effectiveness as a combo. I’m leaving out the bonesaw because it should never be used ever. Crossbow/Amputator: If you’re going to use the Amputator, this is the… [Continue Reading]

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Spy Melees and You!

This message will self destruct in 3… 2… 1…  Nah, just kidding. Instead, I’m here to discuss the various shivs you can drive between the shoulder blades of your hapless foes as TF2’s conniving, dashingly handsome rogue, The Spy. Sorry to step on the toes of Chevap666, but I haven’t seen one of these in a while, and figured “hey, there isn’t one for The Spy yet!”   The Butterfly Knife (And it’s Reskins: The Saxxy, The Black Rose, and the Sharp Dresser): The most magnanimous and recognizable of the Spy’s melees is also his default, and is a wonderfully serviceable weapon.… [Continue Reading]

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Why Scout Needs a Nailgun

In my article “5 Things I miss From Team Fortress Classic“, I gave the very first spot on the list to its nailgun. Every time I’m stuck as Scout seeing a sentry around a corner, but with no means of dealing with it myself, I wish Valve hadn’t taken my simple and easy way to get rid of that darn thing. The TFC nailgun is most comparable to the TF2 Syringe gun, with a major difference: no gravity falloff on the projectiles, meaning that they fly in a straight line forever like a rocket. This lets you deal basically a… [Continue Reading]

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Evolution of the Spy

Let’s face it; TF2 is very old in video game terms, especially for a multiplayer FPS. It’s been going strong for almost seven years now, even though in the last two years Valve has been winding down on updates and general attention-giving to it in favor of DOTA 2, their new moneymaker, as well as their own console and probably some super-secret projects with their names written in indecipherable coding which just translates to “HL3”. In these seven years, TF2 has gained a fanbase and with that, people have learned things about the game and its classes, and how to… [Continue Reading]

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