TF2 Summer Update aka The Great Weapon Nerf/Buff Update

[Darren716]

So the TF2 Summer update is here and Valve has made major changes to the stats of many of the games weapons which has caused an outcry from a large amount of players. What do you guys think of the changes you've encountered so far? Has one of your favorite weapons been nerfed to hell and you can no longer use it? Are you using a weapon you never did before because of a new buff?

Personally I hate the escape plan's nerf since the whole point of the weapon is to allow you to retreat when you have taken damage and by having it mark you for death it makes it easier for you to be killed while retreating. On the other hand I have found myself using the crit a cola much more since it no longer causes you to recieve mini crit damage but instead only has you take 20% damage. The worst change however for me is the removal of the medieval medic set's +1 health regeneration since I had been religiously using that set for about a year and it has served me extremely well.

 

[Foolery]

Stopped playing TF2 a couple years back, due to the items and the playerbase's obsession with them. Not my thing. Valve can nerf/buff whatever they want. Doesn't bother me.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

huh the batallion backup for the soldier is interesting, now is built up by damage dealt and not damage recieved, should help me out massively when i'm being offensive as fuck.

also, glad they fixed that beggar's bazooka exploit, was getting damn annoying with a few full map rocket jumpers using that.

AND OH DEAR GOD. FINALLY. THE CROCK SET NO LONGER DENIES HEADSHOTS. bloody annoying as hell having 2-3 snipers on the other team all sporting that gear, fuckin christ.

 

[cgentero]

Nerfing both escape plan and beggars bazooka? Talk about a big FU to roamers.

 

[Malty Milk Whistle]

Nerfing both escape plan and beggars bazooka? Talk about a big FU to roamers.

Roamers using BB? U wot?

I play roamer in 6s 'n' Junk, and I'm pretty happy with the escape plan nerf now, it brings it down from the auto-use status it once had, and allows me to equip stuff like zatoichi and gardener without feeling like I've missed out on something.

But I foresee a LOT of rage coming from removing those dumb set bonuses, which I can kinda understand.

The only things I'm miffed with are the map fixes ( My hidey spots are gone forever....), the huge amount of items and yet another buff to the targe.

Then again, they added process and made quite a few weapons viable, so all in all a good update. Though SPUF will be up in arms crying as to why valve hates them, but somethings never change.

Edit: With the Shogun's Shoulder, my dream samurai set is now complete! Woot!

 

[Stomperchomper]

I'm just happy they finally made it so the Phlogistinator doesn't reset it's Mmmph meter every time I go to a cabinet. Well, that and the liberty launcher nerf.

 

[NeutralDrow]

The Loose Cannon is frickin' awesome now!

Also, super happy that they made a bunch of Scout weapons more viable (great thing about the Crit-a-cola buff, no more mini-crits means range scaling again!), Snipers can help gather money in MvM without leaving their nests, the rescue ranger desperately needed that buff to healing, I have renewed faith in the short circuit, I might even start carrying L'etranger, and I suddenly have a reason to use the Targe that I never had before (even when I played demoknight, I preferred the splendid screen).

On the other hand, I will miss the Saharan Spy's old set bonus. I rarely used it, since I hate the Eternal Reward (most of my tactics involve disguising as my own team), but it was fun to use occasionally...the DR nerf doesn't affect me much, though, since I never really used as a shield to begin with. Also, the thing with the coolers feels like an ungodly ripoff.

 

[kurokotetsu]

Interesting changes. Nothing that I use regularly, but I think that some pyros will be angry with the changes in the Gas Jockey set, as it was a good pyro-counter meassure. Like how they left the Power Jack formovement though, as it still can be a good combo wth the degreaser. but I will have to play this changes to see how it feels. In paper it looks nice (for example the excape plan was a bit too annoying for a pyro against a soldier) but it may hurt some play styles too much. As a Pyro the Targe will be a pain in the ass though (especiall yhe half Zatoichi combo I think).

 

[Solo-Wing]

My scout no longer gets a 25+ health increase for the Milkman combo. This actually angers me a bit. I hate how low the scouts health is. I die way to fast. I liked the added bonus of the set for this reason...

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

I'm sooo happy that they took out set bonuses. I fucking hated that I didn't have the hats I needed for set bonuses because I refuse to buy hats.

 

[Legendairy314]

Kind of wanted some weapons in the update. I understand the balance and all that but to me hats feel like only a portion of the community will appreciate them while introducing new weapons lets everyone enjoy different ways to play the game. Besides, how many cool workshop weapons are out there?

The balances are nice but aren't anything that will overtly change how the game is played. Though viability with more weapons is still all kinds of good.

 

[Spambot 3000]

I couldn't be happier. More strategies opened up now that previously low tier weapons are viable? Commonly overused weapons getting taken down a notch? Yes pls.
The only problem I can see is the Cow Mangler possibly overshadowing the stock but I wouldn't care about that. So yeah, good stuff. Buffalo Steak Sandvich nom nom time.

 

[SayHelloToMrBullet]

Personally I preferred the Liberty Launcher the way it was. I mean I never actually used it anyway, but I think it would've been better to keep the 3 rocket clip rather than nerfing the damage.

Everything else though I'm pretty satisfied with. I use the Escape Plan a lot so it'll be interesting to see how much of an effect the marked for death thing has on gameplay. Also is it just me, or are the Cow Mangler's new effects just plain awesome?

EDIT - Yay for getting rid of set bonuses too. They should never have been there in the first place since they gave benefits but had no negative side effects.

 

[Ulkjen]

*Cracks knuckles!* The new update is great. Mostly. I love a lot of the buffs. Funny thing is, some of the items that got buffed I used constantly. The chargin targe for example. Its always been better than the spelndid screen. Sure the screen gave you that large damage boost but the targe increased survivability immensely. Eating 5 rockets to the face was always good fun. I cant really talk about the demo without mentioning that damn canon. I freakin loved that cannon already before because it disoriented people. Tossing a medic into the sewers with the cannonball was great. Now it minicrits if it explodes the moment it hits them? WIN! Sadly, i am still not used to the insanely short prime time. It might need nerfed, honestly. I am hitting for 130-170 damage consistently -and- throwing people acrossed the map with this thing. The only thing I imagine it will get hit with nerf-wise is have the prime timer up from 1 second back to 2. 1 is insanely short and allows such a heavy hitter weapon to be used consistently in close ranges. 2 may allow for more distant shots but it doesnt let me put out shells in just a couple seconds. I am having some fun insta-gibbing spys, scouts, and sometimes medics.

I am sad about the saharin spy debuff. However its spelled. I used this set almost everytime I played spy because its hillarious fun with the dead ringer. Just let them get a shot or two off on you, fake death, show up behind them and stab. Haha. I guess now it encourages me to play around and have fun. Love that 40% cloak duration buff on the leteranger. Default watch is *amazing* and so is the cloak n dagger with that thing.

On the soldier I am mixed in regards to the liberty launcher. I am happy it got tweaked but I am not sure I like the result. Need more experience with it to find out. I am ANGRY about the change to my precious Cow Mangler. Most people preferred the black box or liberty launcher to it but i -loved- this thing for its 5 shot clip. Plenty of excess damage because of that 5 shot clip. Now its just a reskin with an OP alt fire. The escape plan changes change very little. I only used the escape plan when I was at a sliver of health anyway. But the taunt change is good! That added music is entertaining.

The sniper. Thank the allmighty Flying Spaguetti Monster for these changes. Haha man. The darwins danger shield should tick off any snipers using that stupid body-shot crap and the removal of the no-headshot-kills set bonus is amazing. Now I can headshot every jerk that i feel like iwth the default sniper and win ;D. I hear a lot of whining from a good bunch of people but these are the guys that just easy-mode bodyshot people. It was easy enough to kill em. Just use a Machina but man. It stunk not being able to just blast the guy in the face with a small charge.

The Scout. I love the change to that stupid pistol-shotgun. Gosh darnit that thing ticked me off. It was essentially better than the default shotgun. There were no trade offs. 4 shots per clip able to unload at a decent pace? Reload like the FaN? At least now its amazingly easy to push a scout into the corner thats using that thing via pyro. Or getting a FaN shot on the guy and -flinging- him into the sky or cross map. Good luck buddy! My crit-a-cola changes might make me switch off the guillotine. Not sure yet though. The guillotine sandman combo lets me kill heavy medic pairs.

The medic. I always had an affinity for the quick fix. But without being able to overheal it was a little UP. It might not overheal as well as the rest but it is definately a contender now. Look forward to using it in pair with a scout buddy. Nothings more annoying than a good scout with a medic ;D.

No real comments on the heavy. Nothing much changed for him except his melee setup. I do have to talk about the pyro a little. The little firebug didnt get too much of a change but the chargin targe buff nerfed his axtinguisher combo getup. Glad as I am for that (the axtinguisher is the easiest weapon setup i know of. But its needed for balanced imbalance. Ex. Underbarrel Grenade Launcher from Modern Warfare 1. Some games need to make the newbies feel strong as well). This may have an affect as the new players will have difficulty with good demo-knights. I dont play demo man without the targe now. Especially if there is a pyro on the field. The MMMPH 'fix' was much needed, however!

TLR. I am conflicted about the changes but with everything considered, i like them! Also, still want new weapons. I would love a weapon with an interesting mechanic for the sniper. A bow-like weapon that does 50% the bow's damage and swaps places with the victim. ;D

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

The buff to the Charge Targe gives it more of a survivability reason over the Splendid Screen, and it makes Demoknights immune to the Axetinguisher and Flare Jockeys.

They removed the movement drawback of the Cozy Camper, fine, but did they really have to make you more vulnerable? Not having a usable second slot should be enough of a downgrade.

Liberty Launcher is a lot less annoying and overpowered, but it's still an enormous crutch.

I am happy they nerfed the Escape Plan a little more, it was essentially a straight upgrade to the shovel because it did as much damage as a shovel but let you run stupidly fast for nearly no drawback. Now with the Marked for Death thing, hopefully it won't be used as a free get away like the pre-nerf GRU

Cowmangler is okay, the charged shot can one-shot light classes, jesus tits. Still not using it because it's a shitbucket against buildings.

Loose Cannon is an absolute monster and is probably OP. The shorter timer, no more scaled body shots, and the minicrits of the Double Donk make it insanely easy to out DM the 'nade launcher or even the Loch-n-Load, plus the enormous knockback that makes it easy to finish an enemy off. I think they should go back to a two second timer, but make it reload faster to compensate for it.

I do not like the Powerjack now, but I can't get mad at Valve for nerfing what was essentially a straight upgrade to the Stock, because it really is a good change to make you take more damage, instead of only taking more melee damage when the Powerjack is out. Good job Valve, I might have to switch to something like the Third Degree or Axetinguisher after running the Gas Jockey set for years.

Dislike the new Crusader's Crossbow syringe--being unable to see the syringe means it's hard to dodge as an enemy, and hard to wait for as an ally.

Beggar's Bazooka cannot overload jumping, but it's still a shitcan of a RL because it can instagib everything in the game, and it can get random crits. If Valve did something like the pre-nerf Cowmangler and made it impossible to be crit-boosted, I'd be fine with it.

Mini-Sentries and Wrangler are nerfed, thank fuck.

Rescue Ranger and the Short Circuit are more viable, thank fuck. The Short Circuit still needs more work to make it better.

The Quick-Fix is so ANNOYING now, I'm happy the Vaccinator got the crit buff, but why penalize it with shorter Ubers?

And Darwin's Danger Shield. Why give that the bullet resistance!? Now I'm getting in Sniper v Sniper battles where I can't kill with a headshot, but they can! Maybe if it had no critical hit protection, fine, but now it's the staple of most Sniper loadouts because of that!

...

Some things I'm disappointed they didn't touch. The Diamondback, The Wrap Assassin, The Fan o' War, the Loch-n-Load's model, The Sharpened Volcano Fragment, the Reserve Shooter (Pyro-wise), The Scottish Resistance, and all other guns most people never use.

AND OH DEAR GOD. FINALLY. THE CROCK SET NO LONGER DENIES HEADSHOTS. bloody annoying as hell having 2-3 snipers on the other team all sporting that gear, fuckin christ.

Stop playing 2fort.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

AND OH DEAR GOD. FINALLY. THE CROCK SET NO LONGER DENIES HEADSHOTS. bloody annoying as hell having 2-3 snipers on the other team all sporting that gear, fuckin christ.

Stop playing 2fort.

not sure if that was meant to be snarky or not, but i don't play just 2fort, not in the slightest. Sure there are plenty of convenient 24/7 2fort servers, but i switch it up alot, depending on if i can find a room that has decent respawn times and has enough people in it.

my favorite map is actually doublecross, too bad the 2 servers i used to frequent don't use it anymore...*sigh*

also, just because alot of snipers use that on 2fort, doesn't make the set any less annoying.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

not sure if that was meant to be snarky or not, but i don't play just 2fort, not in the slightest. Sure there are plenty of convenient 24/7 2fort servers, but i switch it up alot, depending on if i can find a room that has decent respawn times and has enough people in it.

my favorite map is actually doublecross, too bad the 2 servers i used to frequent don't use it anymore...*sigh*

also, just because alot of snipers use that on 2fort, doesn't make the set any less annoying.

I just never ran into anyone who used that set, other than for fucking around. Most of the people who could get an Ol' Snaggletooth had figured out that the Sydney Sleeper is the worst guns in the game, even worse now that you don't need to use it for the set bonus.

And it's not like that set was that hard to counter anyway, they couldn't one-shot you unless they were fully charged or you had low health. A headshot either scared them off, or it gave you a very easy way to finish them off with another shot. Or you could pull out an SMG and pick them off.

But thankfully Ol' Snaggletooth will be readmitted to competitive. I like that hat because it is a cool hat, I hate how Highlander and 6v6 banned it.

 

[shadowuser10141]

Stopped playing TF2 a couple years back, due to the items and the playerbase's obsession with them. Not my thing. Valve can nerf/buff whatever they want. Doesn't bother me.

Go play on a vanilla server then.

Why does every TF2 thread have the same posts complaining about how the artstyle is ruined or the epeen.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

Personally, the further mangling of the shattered remains of Team Fortress can go on; I jumped ship a looong time ago.

Also, people who complain the scout has low health? Thank god they didn't play scout in the PC days - 75 health, 50 armor, and little more than a pitiful nailgun to your name.

Go play on a vanilla server then.

Why does every TF2 thread have the same posts complaining about how the artstyle is ruined or the epeen.

Because Team Fortress 2 bears so little resemblance to Team Fortress or even Team Fortress Classic. Hell, the version of TF2 out in the wild now bears little resemblance to the TF2 of 2007. You make radical changes to just about everything like Valve has, you're bound to lose fans along the way.

 

[shadowuser10141]

Because Team Fortress 2 bears so little resemblance to Team Fortress or even Team Fortress Classic. Hell, the version of TF2 out in the wild now bears little resemblance to the TF2 of 2007. You make radical changes to just about everything like Valve has, you're bound to lose fans along the way.

Then go play TFC on their empty servers with bots.
TFC is a relic.