TF2 engy update

[Samwise]

I haven't gotten to use the Wrangler yet, but being on the receiving end of it has been absolutely terrifying.  It might be less so once there aren't four of them all spelling each other with at least two of them spamming the fuck out of my spawn door (from across the map, mind you) at any given time.

[taolurker]

Yeah, I see a lot of people doing that, but I don't think it's quite as useful.  Having a level 1 sentry now and a level 3 sentry later is better than just having a level 3 sentry later.  But that's assuming you have a good supply of metal and decent protection at the front line -- on maps with a scarcity of metal at the front lines the "build at spawn" trick is pretty handy.  

What I did a couple of times on those maps was drop an entrance, sentry, and dispenser at spawn, run out, drop an exit just behind the front lines, run back, upgrade the sentry and dispenser, and then teleport to the front lines with them.  Pretty nice little pipeline since as each piece is building I'm out putting the next piece in place.

This actually will make a huge difference on maps where there's a warm-up prior to the start of the map... Not only now will teams burst out of the spawn with an uber, but also a fully built sentry that then becomes mobile.

[Samwise]

On most "offense vs defense" maps the blue team's spawn is a no-build zone, so it won't be an issue there.  Could make for some interesting shenanigans on maps like cp_well, though.

[Soulflame]

How do you people find servers?  I seem to have poor luck when I go looking for one.

[Prospero]

I think a lot of the engie changes were focused on tag team engineering. It seems like they want to make it as viable to have two engies as it is to have two soldiers.

The Wrangler is vicious for area denial. The amount of firepower it can deliver is awe-inspiring. There's a reason there is a red laser of death attached, and it's not just for aiming the thing.

[Samwise]

How do you people find servers?  I seem to have poor luck when I go looking for one.

First I check my favorites to see if any are not full and not empty.

If that fails, I use the server browser, filter out tags that correspond to things I dislike (anything with "crit", "spawn", "dmg", or "custom" is usually no good since I like vanilla), filter out empty or full servers, and sort by latency. 

Then I start trying servers. 

If I find one that was pretty good I add it to my favorites for next time.

[Ingmar]

Alternately you could friend Samwise on Steam and then just stalk him from server to server.

[Prospero]

How do you people find servers?  I seem to have poor luck when I go looking for one.

I play wherever I have friends playing as long as the server doesn't have a dumb ruleset. It generally works well for me.

[Samwise]

Alternately you could friend Samwise on Steam and then just stalk him from server to server.

I'd only recommend that option if you're on the west coast.   

[Malakili]

I usually play on The Druken Brawl 1 or 2 (2 is my preference, as it has no crits and only has the competitive maps installed).  If I'm feeling more casual I play on the Furry Fortress.  Yeah, the furry's have a good TF2 community apparently, so sue me.  

Edit: Feel free to follow me into any of my games, im in the f13 steam group, name is SnuggleZhenya

[Musashi]

Dude the Wrangler combined with the Mini Sentry is a deadly combo.  It might even be OP.  It's like a sniper with a shield that allows you to hide behind a corner and still kill people.  It's not instant death or anything, but fuck.  I think it will just take me some getting used to offensive Engineers.

[Nightblade]

I usually play on The Druken Brawl 1 or 2 (2 is my preference, as it has no crits and only has the competitive maps installed).  If I'm feeling more casual I play on the Furry Fortress.  Yeah, the furry's have a good TF2 community apparently, so sue me.  

Just... don't look at the sprays.


The update has been a lot of fun so far - that's what I would be saying if this update didn't turn my game's performance from Okay to Pure Shit.

[Soulflame]

Alternately you could friend Samwise on Steam and then just stalk him from server to server.

I'd only recommend that option if you're on the west coast.   

It just so happens I -am- on the west coast!   

[Malakili]

Just... don't look at the sprays.

[/quote

People leave sprays turned on in valve games?

[Segoris]

I'm absolutely loving movable buildings

Edit: Feel free to follow me into any of my games, im in the f13 steam group, name is SnuggleZhenya

I'm in the same boat as Soulflame and looking for a good server (midwest preferred). Is Schild the only one with invite privs to that or can someone else invite? I put my name in the Steam community thread but I saw a post with him saying he was really busy which is why I ask.


Edit: Also, I'm guessing it's just because it's patch day (I normally don't play for a few days on patch day) but is anyone else lagging really badly when starting matches or when control points are captured?

[sickrubik]

I'll probably be playing more TF2 starting this weekend as a palette cleanser between ME2 and other games. I, too, have posted in the steam thread. Just 'sickrubik' on zee steams. well, right now I think its [SLAP] sickrubik or some such.

[Nightblade]

People leave sprays turned on in valve games?

... Yes.

[Sky]

Yeah, the furry's have a good TF2 community apparently, so sue me.  

Spoilered for bloodworthiness:

[Soulflame]

That?  Right there?  Goddamn hilarious.

[Yoshimaru]

I've only gotten the shotty upgrade so far, but I've been having the time of my life as a spy. It seems to be a general consensus that when a spy is sapping your buildings, it's best just to try and repair them instead of killing said spy   I've killed 7 teleporters at once in front of their spawn, it's quite easy to blend in with 6 engineers running around in the same space.

The only way I play the new maps is on a server with class limitations. Payload maps with both teams that are 80% engineers is a turtle of epic proportions.

[Samwise]

Okay, I have to eat my words on those mini-sentries.  They're pretty awesome.  Being able to just drop one right in someone's face and have it start shooting him is  .

[Malakili]

Okay, I have to eat my words on those mini-sentries.  They're pretty awesome.  Being able to just drop one right in someone's face and have it start shooting him is  .

I think part of the problem at the moment is that a lot of defensive engineers are still using them because "ooh its new" when its clearly inferior when you intend the enemy to be walking into it.   I think the Normal Shotgun/Pistol/Gunslinger is the best offensive engineer combo though.  Its intended to make you into a death matching class, as you've noticed.  Just toss out that mini sentry and get to fighting.  I just don't think most people have figured out that playstyle yet.  A mini sentry should be treated as a strictly disposable distraction/light damage dealer to support your shotty.   The quick build time ensures that an enemy has to deal with it, even if you lay it down in battle, which is great, as you noted. 

The 3 shots in the Frontier Justice is just not enough, crits or no, in my opinion.   Without the crits, you are in big trouble, and win the crits it means you have just lost your sentry to begin with.  If you are playing defensive engineer, it might be worth it though, because if you just lost your gun, suddenly those crits look real good.  Kind of the opposite of what I was expecting in terms of that weapon.

[Samwise]

Got my Wrangler.  Sweet Jesus is that thing fun, although I think it's only really useful in limited situations.

Also, finally got Sap Auteur, which was my last spy achievement, and got Division of Labor (my last heavy achievement) on engy update day.   

[Malakili]

Got my Wrangler.  Sweet Jesus is that thing fun, although I think it's only really useful in limited situations.

Also, finally got Sap Auteur, which was my last spy achievement, and got Division of Labor (my last heavy achievement) on engy update day.   

Yeah, thats how I feel about the Wrangler as well.  I mostly gimmicky, but it is fun.  Also, there are a few real cheesy spots where you can shoot at people from a LONG way away, especially on custom maps

[Samwise]

I've only played with it on pl_hightower so far, since I just got it.  Set up sentry on the middle tower, hope they don't kill it before it finishes building, and then spray them with bullets as they come out of their building.  The I'M KING OF THE WORLD feeling only lasts until they get someone to rocket or snipe you from the angle you aren't looking at.  It is, however, a fantastic distraction if the rest of your team takes advantage of it.

[Sjofn]

I love payload maps, but I hate payload race maps so fucking much. They burn me like elven rope.

[Triforcer]

The new payload race map is the fucking devil.  I've seen a grand total of ONE completed.  All the rest either had a map timer and ended after a fucking hour, or I logged out after screaming at God.  There is no fucking way anybody completes that on a pub if the other team has at least two engineers.   

[Samwise]

Huh, I don't think I've seen a stalemate on it yet.  Eventually one team or the other manages to lock down the area long enough for the elevator to go up.  My main problem with that map is that the entire "race" comes down to that point; getting the cart that far is trivial and might as well just be skipped.

[Triforcer]

Huh, I don't think I've seen a stalemate on it yet.  Eventually one team or the other manages to lock down the area long enough for the elevator to go up.  My main problem with that map is that the entire "race" comes down to that point; getting the cart that far is trivial and might as well just be skipped.

Except for the one match that finished, I've never seen the cart make it through the long shed near the opposition spawn.  It always gets near the cliff side and stops right at the entrance of the shed, because the other team turtles the shed.  

[kildorn]

Huh, I don't think I've seen a stalemate on it yet.  Eventually one team or the other manages to lock down the area long enough for the elevator to go up.  My main problem with that map is that the entire "race" comes down to that point; getting the cart that far is trivial and might as well just be skipped.

Except for the one match that finished, I've never seen the cart make it through the long shed near the opposition spawn.  It always gets near the cliff side and stops right at the entrance of the shed, because the other team turtles the shed.  

The issue is the class balance right now. An uber and nobody blocking it properly can clear every engine out of the shed. As long as you have enough backup to try and exploit the opening, it works out. Sadly right now it's hard to get more than 3 people to stop sniping or building turrets and actually assault that hill. I'd actually rate backburner pyros as the leading cause of perma stalemates, since they can singlehandedly reset that cart down the hill if they get a lucky spawn.

[Triforcer]

Huh, I don't think I've seen a stalemate on it yet.  Eventually one team or the other manages to lock down the area long enough for the elevator to go up.  My main problem with that map is that the entire "race" comes down to that point; getting the cart that far is trivial and might as well just be skipped.

Except for the one match that finished, I've never seen the cart make it through the long shed near the opposition spawn.  It always gets near the cliff side and stops right at the entrance of the shed, because the other team turtles the shed.  

The issue is the class balance right now. An uber and nobody blocking it properly can clear every engine out of the shed. As long as you have enough backup to try and exploit the opening, it works out. Sadly right now it's hard to get more than 3 people to stop sniping or building turrets and actually assault that hill. I'd actually rate backburner pyros as the leading cause of perma stalemates, since they can singlehandedly reset that cart down the hill if they get a lucky spawn.

I've heard a rumor that this "uber" does exist, and is initiated because of a class called "medic."  If this class does indeed exist, your solution may work.

[Samwise]

Hey, we have all these engineers now because there was an engineer update, right?  They should, like, do a medic update, and then we'd be up to our eyeballs in medics.

[Nightblade]

Hey, we have all these engineers now because there was an engineer update, right?  They should, like, do a medic update, and then we'd be up to our eyeballs in medics.

Medic was the first class updated, when that update happened; pubs were just as unplayable as they are now... Actually, it was worse back then because the achievements were mind shatteringly retarded: IE: "Bonesaw 50 people".

[Samwise]

The worst part of the medic update wasn't just the retarded achievements, but the fact that you were supposed to get ALL of them to unlock the weapons.

[Ingmar]

The new payload race map is a bit stalematey, yes. The matches I played on it did all *eventually* end though. I think I actually like it a little better than that long skinny 5 stage one - hightower? That one feels a little imbalanced on the side of the defender to me, although it is hard to know for sure with the overpopulation of engineers at the moment.