SPUF Balance – Post MYM update

A Team Fortress 2 spectacular

Steam Forums: Ocosn, Reddit: OlimarAlpha Original posted on 15/06/2016, Version 34 for 04/08/2016 Contents INTRODUCTION:...... 5 INTRODUCTORY NOTES:...... 6 GENERAL CHANGES:...... 7 Weapon Switching:...... 7 Kill Icons:...... 8 Visual Indications:...... 8 Options:...... 8 Server Modes:...... 8 Consistency in stats:...... 10 Glitches:...... 13 MULTIPLE CLASS WEAPONS:...... 15 The Reserve Shooter:...... 15 The Panic Attack:...... 15 The Half-Zatoichi:...... 15 SCOUT:...... 17 The Shortstop:...... 17 Baby Face’s Blaster:...... 17 The Back Scatter:...... 17 Bonk! Atomic Punch:...... 18 Crit-A-Cola:...... 19 The Sandman:...... 19 The Candy Cane:...... 20 The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 1):...... 20 The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 2):...... 21 The Fan O’War:...... 21 The Atomizer:...... 21 SOLDIER:...... 23 General banner changes:...... 23 The Black Box:...... 23 The Cow Mangler 5000:...... 23 The Beggar’s Bazooka:...... 24 The Air Strike:...... 25 The Reserve Shooter (Var. 1):...... 25

Page 1 of 80 The Reserve Shooter (Var. 2):...... 26 The Concheror:...... 26 The Righteous Bison:...... 28 The Equalizer:...... 29 The Disciplinary Action:...... 30 The Escape Plan:...... 31 PYRO:...... 32 General Pyro changes:...... 32 The Backburner:...... 32 The Degreaser:...... 32 The Phlogistinator:...... 33 The Flare Gun:...... 34 The Detonator:...... 34 The Manmelter:...... 35 The Scorch Shot:...... 35 The Skheat Shooter:...... 35 The Axtinguisher:...... 37 The Powerjack:...... 37 The Sharpened Volcano Fragment:...... 38 The Third Degree:...... 39 DEMOMAN:...... 41 General sword changes:...... 41 Ali Baba’s Wee Booties:...... 41 The Chargin’ Targe:...... 41 The Sticky Jumper:...... 42 The Tide Turner:...... 42 The Quickiebomb Launcher:...... 42 The Bottle:...... 42 The Claidheamh Mòr:...... 43 The Persian Persuader:...... 43 HEAVY:...... 44 Natascha:...... 44 The Brass Beast:...... 44 Tomislav:...... 45 The Huo-Long Heater:...... 45

Page 2 of 80 The Buffalo Steak Sandvich:...... 46 The Killing Gloves of Boxing:...... 47 The Gloves of Running Urgently:...... 47 The Fists of Steel:...... 47 The Holiday Punch:...... 48 ENGINEER:...... 49 The Pomson 6000:...... 49 The Gunslinger:...... 50 The Southern Hospitality:...... 50 The Jag:...... 51 MEDIC:...... 53 General Medic changes:...... 53 The Crusader’s Crossbow:...... 53 The Overdose:...... 54 The Medi Gun:...... 54 The Kritzkrieg:...... 55 The Quick-Fix:...... 55 The Vaccinator:...... 56 The Vita-Saw:...... 57 The Amputator:...... 57 The Solemn Vow:...... 58 SNIPER:...... 60 The Sniper Rifle:...... 60 The Sydney Sleeper:...... 60 The Razorback:...... 60 Darwin’s Danger Shield:...... 61 The Cozy Camper:...... 62 The Bushwacka:...... 62 The Shahanshah:...... 64 SPY:...... 65 General Spy changes:...... 65 The Enforcer:...... 65 The Diamondback:...... 66 The Dead Ringer:...... 66 ADDITIONAL NOTES:...... 68

Page 3 of 80 The Disciplinary Action:...... 68 The Classic:...... 68 TIPS:...... 69 REFERENCES:...... 72

Page 4 of 80 INTRODUCTION: Who am I? I go by the username “Ocosn” on the Steam Powered User Forums, “OlimarAlpha” on Reddit. I have been playing Team Fortress 2 since May 2009 on the Xbox 360 and I got the game for the PC in September 2009. Since then, I have amassed over 3,000 hours on the PC version. I have never played Team Fortress 2 competitively, but I do occasionally watch matches and I have read into the reasoning for weapon bans over the years. Why do you think you can balance the game? I don’t, or at least not on my own. I wrote this report to express my own views on how to balance the weapons in the game. Obviously, having limited experience of competitive, I cannot speak with any expertise in that regard. This is why this report is an ongoing debate within the community. So far, I have posted this report to the Steam Powered User Forums’ Team Fortress 2 board, where it received 9 votes with a 4.44/5- star average rating. The thread I posted to Reddit’s r/tf2 received a score of +67 with an 86% positive rating (approximately 80 positive votes to 13 negative votes). The report has taken ideas from these discussions to refine the weapon changes. Since the Meet Your Match update came out, I have updated the thread again with ideas based on the changes Valve has made. My next step is to repost this on r/tf2 and cross-post to r/truetf2 to gain their opinions on the topic. Why did you write up this whole thing? I love playing Team Fortress 2, so I want the game’s balance to be better. This began as just simply listing weapons which the community thought to be underpowered or overpowered and giving them buff or nerf ideas, respectively. Since then it has evolved into a much more formal discussion. Since the Meet Your Match update came out alongside some changes to weapons that didn’t need them, such as the Righteous Bison, and the unfortunate ignorance of weapons that desperately needed changes, such as the Darwin’s Danger Shield, I felt even more inclined to update this and get it out there. It feels as if the team who currently balances the game has completely changed and also does not play the game that they balance, especially with information given about Valve’s ideas about the Reserve Shooter (b4nny, 2016) – a weapon considered to be so broken that people seem to refuse to use it out of respect of their victims. All in all, I want Valve to read this report and the discussion surrounding it to see what the community actually wants in terms of game balance.

Page 5 of 80 INTRODUCTORY NOTES: All of the dates are in the British format (dd/mm/yyyy). All of the changes are made in relation to how the game is as of 11/07/2016. Thus, we are under the assumption that changes have not been made since the Meet Your Match update. All changes made to a weapon will affect any reskin of said weapon, unless said otherwise. High quality versions of all of the graphs used can be found on Imgur. A link to an album containing them all can be found in the references section under (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). Blue text means that the change is a buff to the weapon. Red text means that the change is a nerf to the weapon. Green text means that the change is either a fix, or a change to the weapon which can be considered both a buff or a nerf. Purple text means that the change is a consideration. Although not to currently be taken as part of the weapon, if it is found to be overpowered or underpowered, this could be a future change.

“This is the attitude TF2 needs these days. But is it the attitude TF2 deserves?” (Wake123, 2016)

Page 6 of 80 GENERAL CHANGES: Weapon Switching: Weapon switch time increased from (1/2) s to (2/3) s, reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats. Switch speed, as well as firing speed, initial reload speed and consecutive reload speed are all specific times that represent the core of the game. Weapon switch speed was probably the first value determined, as the rest of the values seem to fit around the switch speed. By changing this value in the Tough Break update, it is now faster to switch between two weapons, rather than continuously fire on some of the classes, e.g.: Soldier and Spy. Before the Tough Break update, the important values in times for the Soldier went like this: [ SG I . Reload:1s ] >[ RL I .Reload :0.96 s ]>[ RL Fire:0.8s ]=[RLC .Reload :0.8s]>[ Switch :0.667 s ] >[ SG Fire: 0.625 s ]>[SG C .Reload :0.5 s]

It was faster to switch to your Shotgun than either reload or fire your Rocket Launcher, meaning that players were encouraged to switch away mid-fight. But at the same time, the Shotgun fired faster than it took to switch weapons, meaning that players were encouraged to continue firing their backup Shotgun until they ran out of ammo. It would then take either 1 second to reload the first shot of the Shotgun or approximately 1.63 seconds to switch to the Rocket Launcher and reload that, both of which punishing the Soldier for running out of ammo on his weapons. Had the Soldier have switched to his Shotgun before running out of Rocket Launcher ammo, he could switch back faster than reload the first shell, meaning that his variation was rewarded. Since the Tough Break update, this has happened: [ SG I . Reload:1s ] >[ RL I .Reload :0.96 s ]>[ RL Fire:0.8s ]=[ RLC . Reload: 0.8s ]>[ SG Fire :0.625 s ] >[ Switch: 0.5s ]=[SG C . Reload: 0.5s]

It is now faster to switch between your Rocket Launcher and Shotgun and fire them alternatively. Due to there being a short delay before your weapon fires, you lose a small amount of time when you switch to the Rocket Launcher and fire rather than stay on the Shotgun and fire, but you gain an even larger amount of time by switching to the Shotgun and firing than you do staying on the Rocket Launcher and firing. Unlike the old switch times, this does not reward variation as much as it rewards scripts to switch between weapons. If you switch from a weapon with a faster or slower holster speed and then switch to a different weapon mid-switch, you will switch to the new weapon with the same holster bonus or penalty. e.g.: Weapon 1 has no deploy bonus or penalty. Weapon 2 has a 25% faster deploy. Weapon 3 has a 20% slower holster. A player switches from

Page 7 of 80 Weapon 3 to Weapon 1. This switch would take 0.8 seconds. Before Weapon 1 is fully drawn, the player decides that they want Weapon 2 out instead. The mid-switch from Weapon 1 to Weapon 2 takes 0.6 seconds, rather than the 0.5 seconds that it currently would. This essentially stops players from bypassing holstering speed penalties. Competitive Heavies with the Fists of Steel active would switch to their secondary and then to their primary immediately after, as the switch to the primary would ignore the Fists of Steel’s 100% slower holster. This would also likely fix the Pyro airblast problems (Whistling Pyro (Johnny), 2015), (LiveImmediateHound, n.d.), (GrouchyZealousGander, n.d.).

Kill Icons: Telefrag is given a unique kill icon. Small change, but the Bat Out of Hell now uses the generic telefrag kill icon, so it would be nice for Telefrags to get their own. In my opinion, the icon would be a player coming through a teleporter and another person being split in half by their arrival.

Visual Indications: Players who are ignited by weapons with a -66% afterburn damage penalty such as the Degreaser and the Sun-On-A-Stick will visually have less fire on their body. Just to showcase that they are only taking 2 damage per second. This allows teammates to make better decisions about health distribution and also alerts enemies to try and ignite you with a more powerful flame attack to get the afterburn up to 6 damage per second.

Options: The sound that plays on successfully resisted damage is now an option in the Advanced Options section. I personally find this sound to be very annoying, especially if you have fire damage resistance and you are under the effects of afterburn. Players likely know of their damage resistances, due to the fact that they equipped any of the weapons that gave it to them. The option for the Medic to carry on healing without having to hold the Primary Attack button is now on by default. This would be helpful to new players.

Page 8 of 80 Server Modes: Casual and Competitive now track Kill Assists. This will stop players from subconsciously refusing to choose playing the Medic due to the potential to weaken their K/D ratio. In the UI at the top of the screen, the classes are assorted into numerical class order. This allows players to tell at a glance whether the team has too many Snipers or Spies or no Medics. Brought back Quickplay. Quickplay offers a great way for players to be introduced to the game, as their statistics are not tracked and they can jump into a server with little to no wait times. All Casual servers have been changed to tf_damage_disablespread 1 tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 1 tf_weapon_criticals 0 tf_weapon_criticals_melee 0 Due to the fact that Casual mode tracks kills and deaths, players should fight in a truly fair environment. The full explanation is a few lines down. 25% of Valve’s Quickplay servers have been changed to tf_damage_disablespread 1 tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 1 tf_weapon_criticals 0 tf_weapon_criticals_melee 0 75% of Valve’s Quickplay servers have been changed to tf_damage_disable spread 0 tf_use_fixed_weaponspreads 0 tf_weapon_criticals 1 tf_weapon_criticals_melee 1 Added a server option to Quickplay to “Allow/Disallow random features of play”.

Page 9 of 80 A notable portion of players have shown that they are against random elements within the game. To improve the game for these players, 25% of the current quickplay servers have been changed to have no random damage variations. The in-game demand for these servers will be regularly checked up on and the percentage of these servers when a new update hits will either increase or decrease accordingly. Random Crits have been discussed numerous times over the years and the general conclusion seems to be that they are bad for gameplay. They do not aid new players, as they encourage them to follow bad gameplay habits by trying their luck with a random crit rather than learning a better strategy of play. Random crits also reward better players more with an increased critical hit chance when you, your patient or your Sentry Gun have done damage over the past 20 seconds. The existence of random crits inherently nerfs weapons that use earned crits, such as the Kritzkrieg and Ambassador, whilst also reducing the effectiveness of weapons that nullify critical damage, such as the Battalion’s Backup and the Vaccinator, as their users must be on the lookout for random crits as well as boosts. Some classes also benefit far more from random crits, such as the Soldier or Demoman, due to their respective small and non-existent ramp-up damage increases as well as blast radiuses. Meanwhile, classes such as the Scout, whose Scattergun relies on its massive 175% ramp-up and the Sniper who does not roll for critical hits on his primary weapon both hardly gain from the feature. Removed +/-20% damage variation on fall damage from all official Valve servers, bar the 75% of Quickplay servers that allow random features of play. This is now a server option that is off by default.

Consistency in stats: Due to the Team Fortress 2 team swapping members a lot, the way that stats have been written on weapons is sometimes very inconsistent. The Team Fortress 2 team should aim for a more consistent style of writing. Weapons that deal different damage to players and buildings are now noted with bonus or penalty. e.g. 1: [Homewrecker] “+100% damage bonus vs buildings”. e.g. 2: [Homewrecker] “-25% damage penalty vs players”. e.g. 3: [Atomizer] “-20% damage penalty vs buildings”. Consistency with weapons with generic damage penalties and bonuses. Although we will discuss later that the damage bonuses and penalties are

Page 10 of 80 actually multiplicative, as shown by the Jag (which will be fixed). With the Jag fixed, you can say that the damage bonuses and penalties can be both additive or multiplicative. As damage is a simple value of health, an additive bonus is easier to understand. Later consistency changes which deal with values of time or resistances will have the positive and negative signs removed as they are certainly multiplicative. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Atomizer, the Homewrecker and the Loch-N-Load.

All WETA weapons now have their building damage penalties written as “- 80% damage penalty vs buildings” instead of “Deals only 20% damage to buildings”. Consistency with all of the other weapons that deal different damage to players and buildings. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Cow Mangler 5000 and the Righteous Bison.

All weapons that do different damage under specific conditions will have those changes written in a much more consistent format. e.g. 1: [Back Scatter] “100% mini-crits from behind”. e.g. 2: [Flying Guillotine] “100% mini-crits at long range”. e.g. 3: [Flying Guillotine] “100% critical hits vs stunned players”. e.g. 4: [Sun-On-A-Stick, Flare Gun, Axtinguisher] “100% critical hits vs burning players”. e.g. 5: [Direct Hit, Reserve Shooter] “100% mini-crits vs players forced airborne”. e.g. 6: [Market Gardener] “100% critical hits while rocket jumping”. e.g. 7: [Backburner, Holiday Punch] “100% critical hits from behind”. e.g. 8: [Widowmaker] “+10% damage bonus vs your sentry’s current target”. More consistency between the way things are written. Consistent typing has also been improved for weapons such as the Flare Gun. The Back Scatter is having its range penalty removed later on in this report. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Back Scatter, the Flying Guillotine, the Sun-On-A-Stick, the Direct Hit, the Reserve Shooter, the Market Gardener, the Flare Gun, the Axtinguisher and the Widowmaker.

Page 11 of 80 “Extinguishing teammates restores 20 health” is no longer a positive (blue) attribute on the Flame Thrower. It is now part of the white Alt-Fire text. Therefore, the text does not appear in the description of any of the unlockable primaries, despite the mechanic still working. The Stickybomb Launcher side grades and the Wrench side grades do not do this with their white text. Stock weapons never have blue text on them, as the blue text is supposed to represent a buff over the stock weapon. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Flame Thrower, the Backburner and the Degreaser.

All weapons that cause the marked for death effect explain just like the Fan O’War what the effect does. Not every player has the Fan O’War, meaning that they would have to look up the effects online. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Escape Plan, the Gloves of Running Urgently and the Rescue Ranger.

Weapons that say “On Hit: Gain up to +x health” or similar now reads as “On Hit: +x health restored”. Weapons that give health on kill now read as “On Kill: +x health restored”. e.g. 1: [Blutsauger] On Hit: +3 health restored e.g. 2: [Powerjack] On Kill: +35 health restored e.g. 3: [Half-Zatoichi] On Kill: +50% of base health restored The Black Box’s varying health regeneration is being removed in this report, so it will no longer be regenerate up to 20 health. The other weapons that have this stat, the Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol and the Blutsauger do not have varying health regeneration. They both restore 5 health and 3 health respectively, regardless of the effect of range on the weapon’s damage. Wording is similar to the current Powerjack’s healing effect. The Powerjack’s healing is getting slightly buffed later on. The Claidheamh Mor is having the health on kill removed later on. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol, the Black Box, the Half-Zatoichi, the Powerjack and the Blutsauger.

Page 12 of 80 Weapons that have stats that happen while they are active will now display the “When weapon is active” like it does on the Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol. Consistency. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Winger, the Sun-On-A- Stick and the Fists of Steel.

Weapons that have resistance or vulnerability will no longer show positive or negative signs. e.g. 1: [Powerjack] 20% damage vulnerability on wearer e.g. 2: [Tide Turner] 15% explosive damage resistance on wearer e.g. 3: [Fists of Steel] 100% melee damage vulnerability on wearer e.g. 4: [Fists of Steel] 40% ranged damage resistance on wearer Damage resistance and vulnerability stacks multiplicatively, not additively. Weapons that currently break this rule: The Sun-On-A-Stick, the Chargin’ Targe, the Splendid Screen, the Tide Turner, Natascha, the Brass Beast, the Fists of Steel and the Darwin’s Danger Shield.

Weapons that have a faster or slower attack speed will no longer show positive or negative signs. Also, all ranged weapons will display the stat as “firing speed” whilst all melee weapons will display the stat as “swing speed”. e.g. 1: [Scottish Resistance] 25% faster firing speed e.g. 2: [Axtinguisher] 20% slower swing speed Weapons that currently break this rule: The Force-A-Nature, the Soda Popper, the Atomizer, the Market Gardener, the Axtinguisher, the Scottish Resistance, Tomislav, the Family Business, the Killing Gloves of Boxing, the Eviction Notice, the Jag, the Ubersaw, the Solemn Vow and the Cleaner’s Carbine.

Flavour text, i.e.: The Shortstop’s “Mann Co.’s latest in high attitude break-action personal defense”, is written in the same colour grey as the level of the weapon. This is so that players do not mistake flavour text for stats which are side grades. For this section, any reskins that break the rule whilst their standard counterparts do not will have an asterisk (*) after them.

Page 13 of 80 Weapons that currently break this rule: The Shortstop, the Lugermorph*, the Capper*, the Mutated Milk*, the Holy Mackerel*, the Unarmed Combat*, the Batsaber*, the Sun-On-A-Stick, the Fan O’War, the Wrap Assassin, the Rocket Jumper, the Half-Zatoichi, the Rainblower*, the Phlogistinator, the Manmelter, the Lollichop, the Maul*, the Sharpened Volcano Fragment, the Third Degree, the Bootlegger*, the Sticky Jumper, the Scottish Handshake*, the Ullapool Caber*, the Robo-Sandvich*, the Fishcake*, the Buffalo Steak Sandvich, the Apoco-Fists*, the Bread Bite*, the Holiday Punch, the Pomson 6000, the Golden Wrench*, the Eureka Effect, the Solemn Vow, the AWPer Hand*, the Shooting Star*, the Hitman’s Heatmaker, the Self-Aware Beauty Mark*, the Big Kill*, the Sharp Dresser*, the Black Rose*, the Conniver’s Kunai*, the Spy-cicle, the Quackenbirdt*, the Ap-Sap*, the Snack Attack*, the Conscientious Objector*, the Freedom Staff*, the Memory Maker* and the Ham Shank*.

Glitches: Fixed weapons with “No random crits” having a 0.01% chance of scoring a random crit. Some players have found that weapons like the Eyelander can get random crits on very rare occasions (Slice of Cake, 2015), (BlaringDisastrousHuman, 2016). This is clearly just an error in the coding and needs to be fixed. An in-depth explanation can be found in this next reference (StopThatTank, 2016). Fixed the killcam showing the stats for weapon that caused your last death, rather than your current one. Fixed the marked for death icon appearing over characters who are not currently marked for death. This glitch is very common to see on Escape Plan Soldiers and Gloves of Running Urgently Heavies. Fixed a glitch where damaging a building would show damage numbers for what the weapon would have done to a player (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). Fixed a glitch on Upward involving BLU’s 2nd spawn door (MrPaladin, 2016). Weapons that give a “+x% bonus healing from all sources” will actually now give the bonus healing from all sources, including Medics, Sandviches, Dispensers and the Payload cart.

Page 14 of 80 MULTIPLE CLASS WEAPONS: The Reserve Shooter: This weapon has been given the Equalizer treatment. The Pyro can no longer use the Reserve Shooter. Instead, anybody who owns a Reserve Shooter has received a new secondary weapon for the Pyro called the Skheat Shooter in the exact same quality. Both of these weapons will come up later on under their respective classes.

The Panic Attack: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon fires off a barrage of attacks, it has a more notable chance of scoring a critical hit. As a single critical hit can win a fight, they must be turned off on this weapon.

Figure 1: Graph of the random crit probability of the Panic Attack (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As we can see in figure 1, the Panic Attack has a 7.76% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at minimum crit chance and a 40.03% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at maximum crit chance (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).

Page 15 of 80 The Half-Zatoichi: As this weapon is considered to be a sword, the Soldier’s version will also be affected by the changes that happen to all of the Demoman’s swords later on. Just to note. Description now states in white “One hit kill vs players also wielding this weapon”. As the haiku in the description is now becoming dark grey flavour text, this stat has been written in. The Soldier or Demoman is now able to holster their Half-Zatoichi when at 50 health or below, killing them. This is simply for consistency with the Atomizer. Either both should be allowed to kill their user or neither. A consideration for the Atomizer is to not allow the user to perform an extra jump if the jump will kill them. Either that consideration should happen or this consideration should happen.

Page 16 of 80 SCOUT: The Shortstop: Added “+20% bonus healing from all sources”. The bug of this not working with anything but health packs will be fixed. And with the upcoming changes to the Medic, this will not be overpowered.

Baby Face’s Blaster: The Baby Face’s Blaster is currently an underpowered weapon which suffers from not being able to hold the charge against even the faintest of attacks. Decreased boost lost on hit from 4% per damage taken to 2% per damage taken. Increases the amount of damage it takes to drain the boost meter from 25 to 50. This means that light hits, such as a Pistol shot will no longer cause as much of a disturbance to the Scout’s flow. A well-aimed Sniper Rifle bullet will still completely drain the meter. The Scout will still be massively punished for being set on fire or bleeding. Decreased boost lost on air jump from 75% to 60%. Allows the Scout to potentially avoid an explosive whilst not losing as much of the boost meter. However, combined with the upcoming movement speed penalty, the amount of speed lost will stay the exact same. Increased initial movement speed penalty from -10% to -20% (360 HU/s to 320 HU/s). At no charge, the Scout will run at the speed of a Medic or Spy. This makes the Scout more suspicious to his team, as his run speed is now the same as the Spy’s 320 HU/s. Max speed increase of +30% (520 HU/s) is unchanged, meaning that 1 point of damage earns 2 HU/s rather than 1.6 HU/s. To summarise, this makes the Baby Face’s Blaster a more reliable weapon, which takes slightly more precise shots to slow down, however it punishes the Scout even harder to start out with and if he ends up losing this new, bulkier boost.

Page 17 of 80 The Back Scatter: The Back Scatter is currently considered underpowered due to its minor downside that has little effect on gameplay. The downsides take a lot away from the Scout. I aim to make the Back Scatter more viable by improving its reward for successfully flanking an enemy. The Back Scatter now can cause mini-crits regardless of range. This, combined with the upcoming damage penalty, means that the Back Scatter is as effective as the Scattergun at picking off targets looking away from you at long range. Added “+50% bullets per shot” (10 bullets per shot to 15 bullets per shot). Added “-25% damage penalty” (6 damage per pellet to 4.5 damage per pellet. 105 max ramp-up damage to 118 max ramp-up damage). Combined, these stats allow the Back Scatter to do up to 13 damage more than the Scattergun at close range. It will do less damage than the Scattergun should 2 or more of the pellets miss. This also means that a perfect meatshot into the back of a Medic will be a one hit kill, doing up to 159 damage. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits. Overall, these changes make the Back Scatter more viable for flanking the enemy team, whilst also reducing the effectiveness at both mid-range and frontal assault combat.

Bonk! Atomic Punch: Bonk! Atomic Punch is a secondary weapon which is in quite an interesting predicament – it is underpowered in public play, but overpowered to the point of outright banning in competitive play. Added “Whilst under the effects, the Scout regenerates 5 health per second” (40 health total). In public play, Bonk! Atomic Punch serves two purposes: First and foremost is to aid the team in destroying Sentry Guns. Secondly, it offers an escape plan to a cornered Scout or a way through enemy lines. Unfortunately, due to the nature of public servers, the former is rarely realised due to the amount of coordination it requires between the Scout and his teammates. If done correctly, it can be as effective as an ÜberCharged Medic running next to the Sentry Gun to take all of its

Page 18 of 80 knockback and damage, so this is not a balancing problem. I decided to give it a health regen to help the Scout increase his distance through enemy lines, as he will not have to make detours for health packs. After the positive effects wear off, user has a 20% slower movement speed (400 HU/s to 320 HU/s) and 20% slower firing speed for 5 seconds. When Bonk! Atomic Punch first came out, after the positive effects wore off, it would reduce the Scout’s speed by approximately 43%, taking them to 228 HU/s, which is slower than a Heavy. The current problem with Bonk! Atomic Punch is that in competitive, if a Scout uses it to get behind the enemy lines, the defending team must send two of their own Scouts back after him, which would leave their team a man down in the battle they are trying to win. Not sending a Scout would result in the Bonk! Scout back- capping, whilst sending a single Scout would leave the defending team with a 50/50 toss-up of whether they continue pushing or have to fall back. This change would massively sway a one-on-one fight away from the Bonk! Atomic Punch Scout’s favour, as he would be an easier target and also fire at a slower rate than normal. -Scattergun: 0.625 seconds per shot to 0.75 seconds per shot -Pistol (Taken from the ground): 0.17 seconds per shot to 0.204 seconds per shot Naturally, the “Retire the Runner” achievement would now be obtainable on this weapon again.

Crit-A-Cola: Currently, the Crit-A-Cola’s downsides are quite unnoticeable, as the damage vulnerability is extremely minor and the mark for death only lasts for 2 seconds. This variation of the Crit-A-Cola aims to slightly weaken the Crit-A-Cola whilst still keeping it good at clean-up sweeping. Increased damage vulnerability whilst under the effects from 10% to 25%. This downside is currently pretty much negligible. Almost no weapons in the entire game gain a notable kill threshold. The Scattergun, Rocket Launcher, Shotgun and Grenade Launcher would still take two hits to kill the enemy Scout. Increasing this slightly makes the Scout more likely to die in close range, but he still has enough bulk and speed to make the approach.

The Sandman: The Sandman’s stun ball is considered to be broken in concept, but a complete rework would take a lot of time, effort and playtesting. Instead, I

Page 19 of 80 focus on making the Sandman ball less of a pain to fight and put a greater emphasis on the current health reduction, which only really brings a point blank rocket and a mid-range Direct Hit rocket into the 1 hit kill range. Increased max health penalty from -15 health to -25 health (110 max health to 100 max health). Increasing the max health penalty by a notch brings the Scout into some very bad territory against certain classes. A single, direct grenade will now one-shot the Scout and his overall survivability has been massively decreased. Once again, like back in the days of 2009, Ambassador headshots will put down Scouts who attempt to use this weapon without a Medic backing them up. Decreased the maximum stun duration by 2 seconds (7 s to 5 s). This makes the Sandman ball far less annoying to be the victim of. Stuns from just a few meters away will no longer almost completely immobilise you for a lengthy period of time. This also means that the Scout cannot throw a second Flying Guillotine during the stun if he misses the first one.

The Candy Cane: Stat description changed from “On kill: A small health pack is dropped” to "While this weapon is equipped, all enemies killed will drop small health packs”. This makes it clear that the health pack drop is not just for kills with the Candy Cane.

The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 1): The current problem with the Sun-On-A-Stick is how the only use of it is assisting Pyros. Fumbling around with the stats made me realise how similar it is to the Fan O’War. I aim to transform it into a weapon that works alone as well as combos with a friendly Pyro. Added “On hit: Enemy is engulfed in flames”. The Sun-On-A-Stick will now be able to support itself, as well as friendly Pyros, however some other downsides will have to come with it. Added “-66% afterburn damage penalty” (3 damage per tick to 1 damage per tick). Over the ten seconds of afterburn, the Sun-On-A-Stick will only manage to do 20 damage maximum. Decreased fire damage resistance on wearer from 25% to 20%.

Page 20 of 80 The Scout is only just able to survive a critical Flare Gun shot if he holds this out for the entire time. However, due to the face that he already has to be on fire to be critically hit, he won’t be able to survive without a nearby health pack or a Medic. This damage resistance is still enough to reduce afterburn down to 2 damage per tick. Increased damage penalty from -25% to -80% (26 damage to 7 damage). Combined with the decreased afterburn damage, the Sun-On-A-Stick will do a total of 27 damage, which is equal to the damage that a critical Fan O’War will do. Comparatively, the Fan O’War is better for team aid in general, whilst the Sun-On-A-Stick sets up for Pyro kills. Added “No random crits”. As the Sun-On-A-Stick is more viable, it will give out more certified critical hits, each doing 21 damage whilst the duration of the 20 damage worth of afterburn is reset. Overall, these changes will make the Sun-On-A-Stick much better than it currently is. Although still not as powerful as the Bat in terms of raw damage, it makes the Sun-On-A-Stick Scout + Pyro combo far deadlier, whilst also increasing the damage put out by a lone Scout, provided multiple hits. These changes should also be compared to the Boston Basher. As the Sun-On-A-Stick now causes afterburn, it will now become the premier Scout weapon for hunting down Spies. However, I do not feel that it outshines the Boston Basher overall. Whilst the Sun-On-A-Stick has the advantage of tracking down Spies better, comboing with Pyros and no self-damage risk, the Boston Basher has the advantage of a higher damage output, higher jumps with the self-damage, faster ÜberCharge build with the self-damage and the ability to steal health packs from enemy players with the self-damage. Although it is weaker alone in combat than the Fan O’War and the Boston Basher, the fire damage vulnerability added in the Meet Your Match update should allow for more viability against Pyros.

The Sun-On-A-Stick (Var. 2): This variation of the Sun-On-A-Stick is more about surviving against enemy Pyros. Increased fire damage resistance (while active) from 25% to 50%. With this active, a critical Flare Gun shot will deal a total of 115 damage, making it much more likely for the Scout to survive the encounter should he have this weapon active. Added “No random crits”.

Page 21 of 80 As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

The Fan O’War: Just a slight improvement for consistency’s sake. Added “No random crits”. Following the idea that no weapon that can certify critical hits should be able to get them randomly comes the Fan O’War. Although the critical damage is only 27, it may as well follow in line.

The Atomizer: The current problem with the Atomizer is how much it sways a Scout Vs Soldier fight in the competitive scene. Scout melee weapons are hardly used for combat unless they bring a specific advantage to they hit. The Atomizer is a weapon that has no downsides if never used for combat. This must be changed. Stat description changed from “Grants Triple Jump: The third jump deals 10 damage when used” to "Grants triple jump to wearer”. Description now states in red “Triple jump deals 10 damage to user”. For consistency with the upcoming downside. Added “Double jump deals 5 damage to user”. This gives the Scout a more notable downside whilst using the Atomizer. As the Scout’s melee weapons have little use in combat, not using the Atomizer for combat left the Scout at absolutely no disadvantage while using it, as the downside is never triggered unless the Scout chooses the use the triple jump. Now the Scout has an active reason to not use the Atomizer, as his regular double jump also takes health from him. The Scout is no longer able to use his double jump when at 5 health or below. The Scout can also no longer use his triple jump when at 10 health or below. This is simply for consistency with the Half-Zatoichi. Either both should be allowed to kill their user or neither. The ability for the Half-Zatoichi to kill its user is a consideration on the Half-Zatoichi. Either that consideration should happen or this consideration should happen.

Page 22 of 80 SOLDIER: General banner changes: The Soldier is no longer able to hold his bugles after using them to activate the charge later. Being able to do this almost completely nullifies the sound, as the Soldier can sound off whilst hidden away behind his team and release it without warning on a group of enemies.

The Black Box: The Black Box was nerfed back in the Gun Mettle update as users found the Black Box and Concheror combo to be overpowered. The general consensus seemed to be that the Black Box was very well balanced, while the Concheror was quite overpowered. The Black Box’s health regeneration was changed to do less damage against crowds, but be far more effective in a 1-on-1 fight. I aim to revert it back to how it was, taking into account the improvements made in regards to fighting at long range. Health regen reverted back to pre-Gun Mettle (02/07/2016) stats. Simply put, this didn’t need changing. The Concheror was always the problem with the combo, and thus should have received the nerf. This also means that a victim of the Black Box can tell in an instant that the Soldier that just hit them has healed 15 health, rather than having to quickly work out how much health they lost and divide that value by 4.5 to work out how much the Soldier healed, capped at 20. Added invisible cap of 30 health per hit. This will stop the Soldier from being able to regain massive chunks of health by simply hitting a group of enemies with an explosion.

The Cow Mangler 5000: The Cow Mangler 5000 currently suffers from the fact that it is arguably the worst weapon in the entire game. There is practically no reason to use it over the stock Rocket Launcher, which has a faster reload and takes out Sentry Guns significantly better. The alternative fire leaves the user vulnerable and it doesn’t do too much extra damage. The inability to produce critical hits makes it a complete waste of time for Kritzkrieg Medics and the like. Decreased the initial reloading time to that of the Rocket Launcher (1.24 s to 0.96 s).

Page 23 of 80 Decreasing the initial reload will put the Cow Mangler 5000 on par with the Rocket Launcher in terms of raw damage output so that it is not at a straight up disadvantage in combat. Increased afterburn duration by 4 seconds (6 s to 10 s). Players are used to a 10 second afterburn by now. There is no point in having anything different. This change to the afterburn increase the total afterburn damage from 48 damage to 60 damage. Changed “Cannot be crit boosted” to “Mini-crits whenever it would normally crit”. This will make it more useful with a Medic buddy. Keep in mind that all mini-crits from the Cow Mangler 5000 are the large projectiles that cause mini-crit on hit followed by 60 damage worth of afterburn on hit.

The Beggar’s Bazooka: Description now states in red “30% slower reload”. Not a balancing change, but the weapon actually has this stat despite not saying so on the weapon description. Added “-35% self damage force”. A reduction in your ability to rocket jump will hinder your mobility with this weapon and it will add up over the consecutive rocket jumps that can be performed with it. The ability to fly across the map without landing will now be more difficult for the Soldier, as he will be flying much closer to the ground. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon fires off a barrage of attacks, it has a more notable chance of scoring a critical hit. As a single critical hit can win a fight, they must be turned off on this weapon.

Page 24 of 80 Figure 2: Graph of the random crit probability of the Beggar’s Bazooka (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As we can see in figure 2, the Beggar’s Bazooka has a 5.88% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at minimum crit chance and a 31.85% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at maximum crit chance (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). This weapon will be brought up in the “Additional Notes” section.

The Air Strike: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon fires off a barrage of attacks, it has a more notable chance of scoring a critical hit. As a single critical hit can win a fight, they must be turned off on this weapon.

Page 25 of 80 Figure 3: Graph of the random crit probability of the Air Strike (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As we can see in figure 3, the Air Strike has a 14.92% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at minimum crit chance and a 64.04% chance of scoring at least one random critical hit whilst at maximum crit chance (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).

The Reserve Shooter (Var. 1): The problem with the Reserve Shooter was that Valve was trying to balance a single weapon for two entirely different classes that had massively different amounts of use for it. I aim to make it better for the Soldier, now that it has been removed from the Pyro. Increased faster weapon deploy from 20% to 40% ((8/15) s to (2/5) s). Back before the Tough Break update changed the weapon switching speeds to all weapons, the 15% faster switches of the Reserve Shooter only translated to a minute fraction of a second faster switching speed ((2/3) s to (17/30) s. Having a 40% faster switching speed allows the Soldier to take more advantage of any players he juggles by being able to deploy his Reserve Shooter faster and potentially get off a second mid- range shot with it before they land. The weapon will still be weaker than the Shotgun in generic close combat, other than the faster switching speed. Removed “This weapon holsters 15% faster”.

Page 26 of 80 This stat is currently invisible on this weapon. The holstering switch speed was only 0.1 seconds faster than it would be normally, so I have removed it for being so negligible and buffed the deployment speed. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

The Reserve Shooter (Var. 2): This variation of the Reserve Shooter is designed with the word “reserve” in mind. I prefer Var. 1 due to it keeping the original idea in mind. Added “On kill: 1 rocket reloaded into clip”. This allows for clever use of the Reserve Shooter to hasten the Soldier’s combat, due to little time lost to reloading. A Soldier on a Reserve Shooter killing spree could potentially have his entire primary weapon clip ready without even holding it out. Increased faster weapon holster from 15% to 40% ((17/30) s to (2/5) s). Having a 40% faster holster speed allows the Soldier to capitalise on his additional rocket faster. This stat will now also be shown in the weapon’s description as it is currently invisible. Removed “This weapon deploys 20% faster”. Reduces the heckling potential of the Reserve Shooter. Removed “100% mini-crits vs players forced airborne”. The main benefit of the Reserve Shooter has been changed and thus this goes away. The weapon also does not need random critical hits removed as it no longer certifies mini-crits.

The Concheror: The problem with the current Concheror is that it is the best banner for the Soldier by far. Since it was released, it has never received a nerf (that includes the Tough Break health regeneration change). Although it started off being rather useless, the constant buffs have brought it so far forward in terms of power that the Soldier doesn’t even need his team to make excellent use of it. The three banners can be compared in three different aspects: passive effect, charge rate and the charge effect. As for passive effects, the Buff Banner does not have one, whilst the Battalion’s Backup’s +20 max health bonus doesn’t really add much other than the ability to survive an extra

Page 27 of 80 Scattergun shot. The Concheror has the fastest charge rate of the three banners, charging in 480 damage while the others charge in 600 damage. As for charge effects, the three banners all have their uses. However, the Concheror is viable in almost any situation and makes the Soldier and his team both faster and regenerate health. My aim is to bring down the Concheror to be in line with the other banners. Decreased charge rate by 20% (480 damage for 100% charge to 600 damage for 100% charge). One of the biggest problems with the Concheror is how quickly the charge is earned. It’s the only banner that can be charged in 5 rockets and in turn it allows the Soldier to both run faster than a Medic and heal at a phenomenal rate. The charge rate will be toned down to make the Concheror less persistent and charge at the same rate as the other banners. Health regen reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats. Simply put, the regeneration stats are significantly better after the Tough Break update. The change was probably done to counteract the fact that the Degreaser’s afterburn damage would now only do 2 damage per second, which the old health regeneration would completely neutralise. Honestly, I would be completely fine with this for a few reasons. Firstly, the Medic already naturally regenerates 3 health per second, which doesn’t just neutralise the Degreaser, it outdoes it as well. Secondly, the Degreaser is the Pyro’s choice. Having a single weapon for the Soldier that neutralises its afterburn really isn’t at all a problem. A Pyro picking up the Degreaser would simply have to learn that they would not be able to finish off non-Blutsauger Medics and Concheror Soldiers with afterburn. Thirdly, the Degreaser is not the stock Flame Thrower. This means that new players, without choice from their lack of inventory, would not at all be brought down by this change. None of the other Pyro primary weapons would be neutralised by it.

Page 28 of 80 Figure 4: The amount of health regenerated over time by the Concheror (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). Figure 4 shows the regeneration rates of the Concheror both before and after the Tough Break update. The pre-Tough Break Concheror just healed at a constant 2 health per second, which didn’t really mean much in combat. I tried to find out the function for the new Concheror’s health regeneration, but it always seems to give out very inconsistent results. Due to this, I recorded both a best case scenario and a worst case scenario for it. The best case scenario seems to be what was intended for the Concheror, where it regenerates 1 health per second for the first three seconds, 2 health per second for the next three seconds, 3 health per second for the next three seconds and then it continues on at 4 health per second from the 10th second onwards. The worst case scenario was that it regenerated 1 health per second for the first five seconds, 2 health per second for the next two seconds, 3 health per second for the next two seconds and then continued at 4 health per second from the 10th second onwards. This brings me to my final point. You can see that by the 9th second, both the pre-Tough Break Concheror and the post-Tough Break Concheror’s best case scenario have healed an equal amount, at a quite negligible 18 health total. The latter will continue to be better from there on. Even the worst case scenario has out healed the pre-Tough Break Concheror by the 11th second and begins to completely trump it from there on (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). 20 health within 10 seconds simply doesn’t make much of a difference during combat for either of the versions, meanwhile the newer version is far superior outside of combat.

Page 29 of 80 The Righteous Bison: Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. The ability to hit multiple times was a core element of the Righteous Bison. Valve have even said so themselves. “As a Soldier, the Righteous Bison can hit the same enemy multiple times, and will hit the most times on enemies who are moving away from the projectile. Use it to punish retreating enemies!” (Valve, 2011). Increased damage ramp-up from 100% to 120% (From 20 to up to 24 damage at point-blank range). A projectile passing through an enemy at point blank as they move away should hit about 4 times, causing a maximum potential damage of 96. This is balanced in comparison to the Shotgun, due to the slower firing speed, smaller clip size and the consistency of your damage output not being determined by your opponent’s movement. Added “No random crits”. Mainly due to the fact that a penetrating weapon getting random critical hits can fry an entire team. The Righteous Bison isn’t a Soldier primary weapon, so it should not have that much destructive power to groups without aid from a Kritzkrieg Medic or such. It can also be to fit in with the theme of energy weapons not being able to get random crits.

The Equalizer: The Equalizer is currently considered to be one of the worst Soldier melee weapons, due to its inability to provide any utility and the fact that Soldier already has a lot of power with his primary and secondary weapons. Description now states in red “-50% damage penalty”. This should be added as a dummy stat. While this will not affect the damage output of the Equalizer, it should be noted so that players realise that it will do less damage while at higher health. The stat reads -50% damage penalty as the Equalizer deals 33 damage while at 200 health or higher, which is the ceiling rounding of 32.5, which is half of the Shovel’s base damage of 65. Added “100% mini-crits when health <=10% of max”. One of the most infamous abilities of the pre-split Equalizer was the ability to 1 hit kill Scouts. This caused Valve to change the formula which defined the amount of damage the Equalizer did, so that it would at most do 107 damage. Since then, the speed aspect of the Equalizer has been moved to the Escape Plan and the Soldier has been left with a weapon that still does only just over 50% more damage than the stock Shovel. This change

Page 30 of 80 would cause the upper end of the Soldier’s damage to skyrocket. While a Soldier at 21 health would deal 100 damage, going down to 20 health would push his damage up to 135. A Soldier at 1 health would be able to put out 144 damage per swing, which would up its viability as a last stand weapon. This would be fair against light classes, as a Soldier would still not be able to chase them down and he would be on extremely low health.

Figure 5: The amount of damage done per hit by the Equalizer, dependent on the user’s health (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As shown in figure 5, the boost in damage from the mini-crits causes the Equalizer to become one of the most devastating weapons in the game, essentially having a 121% damage bonus when the Soldier is at 1 health (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). Added “This weapon deploys 25% faster” ((2/3) s to (1/2) s). Added “This weapon has a 37% longer melee range”. This will allow the Equalizer to be brought out as a quick surprise to any enemy who decides to get too close and personal. Giving the Soldier a slightly longer melee range allows for more likely punishes on classes who decide to get too close. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

Page 31 of 80 The Disciplinary Action: The Disciplinary Action is currently considered to be the greatest Soldier melee weapon, due to the massive amount of utility it provides to the Soldier and his team. The weapon is essentially just used during a rollout to make the Heavy get to the front lines faster. It would be difficult to come up with a downside that could not potentially cause the ability to grief your team. Description now states in blue “This weapon has a 70% longer melee range”. Not a balancing change, but the weapon actually has this stat despite not saying so on the weapon description. Added “You are marked for death while active, and for a short period after switching weapons, causing all damage taken to be mini-crits”. Added “This weapon deploys 50% slower” ((2/3) s to 1 s). Added “This weapon holsters 50% slower” ((2/3) s to 1 s). These three stat changes are designed to make the Disciplinary Action far less viable in the field. Unfortunately, this doesn’t really take away from its ability to quickly push bulkier classes to the front lines quickly. This weapon will be brought up in the “Additional Notes” section.

The Escape Plan: Despite being designed for running away or rollouts, the Escape Plan can still easily be used in a pinch to combat enemies, sometimes far more effectively than its own brother. Added “-25% damage penalty” (65 damage to 49 damage). This change discourages combat with the Escape Plan as anything other than a last resort. The damage penalty causes the Escape Plan to require an extra hit to kill almost every class in the game. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon is designed for running away, rather than combat, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

Page 32 of 80 PYRO: General Pyro changes: The so-called “Pyro Mojo” has been fixed (HairyScrawnyDesertpupfish, n.d.). I am not sure if this has been fixed, so I am leaving this here.

The Backburner: Description now states in red “No random crits”. Not a balancing change, but the weapon actually has this stat despite not saying so on the weapon description.

The Degreaser: Changing the weapon switch speed back to what it was will also require value changes for the Degreaser, which should keep its place as being the fastest switching weapon in the game. Increased faster weapon deploy from 60% to 70% ((4/15) s to (1/5) s). This will buff the deployment speed to take the same amount of time it did after the Tough Break update, whilst being even faster in comparison to the larger standard switch speed. Increased faster weapon holster from 30% to 55% ((7/15) s to (3/10) s). This value allows the Degreaser to holster faster that it did after the Tough Break update, whilst still allowing the Axtinguisher to have a more notable delay as it switches in. Added “-20% damage penalty” (6.8 damage per particle to 5.44 damage per particle). With the airblast glitch likely fixed from the notes earlier on in the report, that leaves the Degreaser with one last problem - its damage output. Without this change, the Degreaser will simultaneously be the best Pyro primary for airblast reaction windows, combos and also sheer damage output. The airblast cost penalty only really effects players who use airblasts haphazardly, as Pyros making kills or standing near Dispensers will quickly receive their ammo back. The afterburn damage penalty doesn’t make much of a difference when the Pyro can quickly fire off a flare at the enemy and boost it up from 2 DPS to 6 DPS on top of a high damage critical hit. Now that the fall-off of all of the Pyro primary weapons has been increased from 60% to 70%, the Degreaser could stand to have

Page 33 of 80 a slightly noticeable damage penalty to discourage basic W+M1 strategies in favour of usage for combo attacks and reflect kills.

Figure 6: Graph of the Degreaser’s damage against time compared to that of the other Pyro primary weapons (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As we can see from figure 6, this damage nerf means that it will take approximately 25% longer to kill enemies by attempting to run them down with the primary fire (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). This can be avoided airblasting an oncoming projectile at the victim or by utilising the Degreaser’s faster weapon switch to combo the damage of your primary weapon and secondary weapon.

The Phlogistinator: Like the Backburner once was, the Phlogistinator is now considered to be the noob’s Pyro primary weapon, as it removes the teamwork aspects given by the airblast. The airblast’s ability to defend the team from oncoming projectiles and ability to extinguish burning teammates feel integral to his character by this point. I aim to turn the entire Moonman set into a great set of weapons which will function well both together and apart. Removed “No airblast”. Activation for Mmmph! meter has been moved to the Reload button. You can also still taunt to activate Mmmph! Added “Airblast destroys enemy projectiles”. Added “Airblast does not push back enemies”.

Page 34 of 80 Added “+100% airblast cost”. The airblast is an important mechanic in the Pyro’s arsenal, but I will present a dumbed down variation of it to keep the Phlogistinator’s power in check: the inability to reflect or push back enemies. This is where the usefulness of this newfound airblast dies down a little, as it is only able to destroy projectiles and extinguish teammates. This is still a very important aspect of the Pyro, as it allows him to save teammates who are on the verge of death. Older players may recall the hatred towards Backburner Pyros back in the day when the Backburner could not airblast. There were lots of stories about times when somebody was playing as a Medic, was set ablaze and unfortunately, the only friendly Pyro nearby had a dragon head on his nozzle, meaning that the Medic slowly died feeling that he had nobody to blame but the Pyro. I find it strange that you do not hear many stories like this, especially with the popularity of the Phlogistinator. The ability to destroy projectiles will slightly take away from the offensive capabilities of the Pyro, as he is no longer able to reflect mini-crit projectiles back at enemies. He is still entirely able to stop projectiles from hitting his team, which is still very useful. The Pyro’s matchup against the Demoman will also be improved, as the Demoman will be incapable of detonating any destroyed stickybombs and the Pyro cannot be killed by any grenades that he reflects. It will also slightly improve his ability to defend Sentry Gun nests. It is important to note that this ability is both slower and far costlier than it is for the Engineer to use the Short Circuit. The increased airblast cost allows the Pyro to extinguish up to 5 teammates before needing more ammo. The main reason that the airblast is expensive is to encourage players to extinguish with the Manmelter if they have it. Not every player who has the Phlogistinator will have the Manmelter, meaning that many Pyros disappoint their teams by being unable to extinguish them. Only fire damage from the Phlogistinator will charge the Mmmph! meter. It’s only 300 damage to charge the Phlogistinator’s Mmmph! meter. This change urges Pyros not to just sit on the back lines, firing flares across the map in hopes of getting their charge up. Later on, you will see that I have made the other Moonman weapons be able to use the Mmmph! meter, so that they also benefit from it.

The Flare Gun: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

Page 35 of 80 The Detonator: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

The Manmelter: The Manmelter is currently an extremely underappreciated weapon, which is highly overshadowed by the Phlogistinator and the other Flare Guns. I aim to make it work better, both on its own and as part of the Moonman set. The Manmelter now lets out a distinct sound when it is ready to fire. This both allows the user and the victim to know when the next shot is coming out. The Manmelter now lets out a distinct sound when it fires a critical hit. This is so that the enemy team get a better estimate of how many critical hits you have remaining. Added “Alt-Fire: Extinguish a teammate to increase your Mmmph! meter by 25%”. Added “Reload: Use 20% of the Mmmph! meter to fire a critical hit”. Removed “Alt-Fire: Extinguish teammates to gain guaranteed critical hits”. The Manmelter now critically glows when it is active and the user has at least 20% Mmmph! charge. Extinguishing a teammate is now as effective as doing 75 damage with the Phlogistinator. In comparison to the current Manmelter, you are awarded with more critical hits and you are able to choose when to fire the critical hits, but you now are capped at having 5 critical hits on you at once. Extinguishing four teammates essentially gives you an extra critical hit for free.

The Scorch Shot: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

Page 36 of 80 The Skheat Shooter: The problem with the Reserve Shooter was that Valve was trying to balance a single weapon for two different classes who both gained massively different amounts of usage out of it. Whilst the Soldier barely had any situations to use it outside of following up an occasional juggle, the Pyro was easily able to place it into his Degreaser combo. This lead to a big problem, as before the Reserve Shooter, Pyros had to choose between the Shotgun and the Flare Gun, both of which had their own advantages and disadvantages. The Reserve Shooter came along, offering the best of both worlds without many of the downsides of either. My aim is to create a more balanced version of the Reserve Shooter by taking both the advantages and disadvantages of the Shotgun and the Flare Gun and making a midway point that doesn’t outshine either of the weapons it inherits its stats from. Our stats will be in comparison to the stock Shotgun. Added “40% more accurate” (30:1 distance to spread ratio to 42:1 distance to spread ratio). Having a more accurate spread on the Skheat Shooter’s pellets allows the Pyro to output Shotgun levels of damage whilst leaning towards the Flare Gun in terms of accuracy at range. Whilst the Shotgun might not manage to hit all of its pellets on an airblasted target, the Skheat Shooter will follow more in the lead of the Flare Gun in being able to concentrate a lot of damage into a smaller area, meaning that the Skheat Shooter will do more damage in a combo than the current Reserve Shooter and it will do it much more consistently. It will also make this weapon slightly better for sniping Soldiers and Demomen who are explosive jumping into battle. Added “100% mini-crits vs players forced airborne”. This stat is what makes the Skheat Shooter differ from the Flare Gun and yet still be completely viable to combo. Whilst the Flare Gun may do far more damage per shot due to the overtime damage of the afterburn, the Skheat Shooter will do more initial damage. The Skheat Shooter also effects everybody except for players under the effect of a Quick-Fix ÜberCharge, as nobody else is immune to being thrown up into the air. The Skheat Shooter will act as a great counter to Pyros who get into close range, whereas the Flare Gun would prove ineffective to them (outside of sketchek combos). Added “-66% clip size” (6 shots per clip to 2 shots per clip). Alongside bringing some of the upsides of the Flare Gun to the Shotgun to create the Skheat Shooter, we must also bring some of the downsides. A clip size of 4 on the Reserve Shooter did not make much of a difference to combat. The Pyro could still effectively combat his opponents. Here, the

Page 37 of 80 clip size has been further reduced. The Pyro can fight for longer than with a Flare Gun, but is not able to hold up to the consistency of damage output as with the Shotgun. Unlike the Shotgun, he is still able to fight at a further distance, due to the accuracy increase, meaning that Pyros do not need to get up as close and personal as usual and can hang back slightly before going for a pick with the combo. Added “30% slower reload time” (Initial reload: 1 s to 1.3 s. Consecutive reload: 0.5 s to 0.65 s.) Another downside of the Flare Gun that is brought into the Skheat Shooter is the slower reload time. Whilst the Flare Gun takes 2 seconds to reload a shot, the Skheat Shooter manages to reload both shots in 1.95 seconds, meaning that the Skheat Shooter can be managed effectively in terms of clip size. Unfortunately, one upside of the Flare Gun that will not be brought over to the Skheat Shooter is the ability to reload whilst not active. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits. Added “-10% damage penalty” (6 damage per pellet to 5.4 damage per pellet. 90 max ramp-up damage to 81 max ramp-up damage). Should this weapon prove far better than the Flare Gun, a slight damage nerf (between -10% to -15%) should settle the weapon down a tad. This change would cause the maximum mini-crit damage to reduce from 121 damage to 109 damage. In a single clip, a Pyro using the Skheat Shooter would be able to quickly put out a maximum of 190 damage.

The Axtinguisher: When the Axtinguisher was introduced back in 2008, it was widely considered balanced due to the amount of time it took to deploy, the range and also its inability to deal with Pyros. When the Degreaser was released in the Mannconomy update of 2010, it caused a massive rise in the efficiency of the Axtinguisher. The combination of the two weapons turned the Pyro into a class capable of killing Soldiers within the space of less than half of a second due to the rapid switch speed. In the Love & War update of 2014, Valve decided to nerf the Axtinguisher and keep the Degreaser as powerful as it was. Since then, the Axtinguisher was nerfed once again and the Degreaser was finally nerfed in the Tough Break update of 2015. Given the changes to the Degreaser in the Tough Break update as well as this document, I aim to improve the Axtinguisher to its former glory, but with more fitting stats for the modern age.

Page 38 of 80 Decreased slower weapon deploy from 75% to 35% ((7/6) s to (9/10) s). Switching from the Degreaser to this will take 0.405 seconds, rather than the 0.233… seconds that it took before the Tough Break update or the 0.6125 seconds it took after the Tough Break update. This brings a happy medium, where the combo is still viable for all Pyro primaries, but also allows a decent amount of reaction time from the victim. Decreased damage penalty from -33% to -20% (44 damage to 52 damage). The -33% damage penalty would have made sense before the Degreaser nerf, but now that the Degreaser’s holster speed and the Axtinguisher’s deploy speeds have been edited, a stronger damage melee critical hit doesn’t seem too bad. 156 damage seems like a happy medium, as it one hit kills Medics and allows the Flame Thrower combo to kill a Soldier with no health options. The slower swing speed and the slower deploy speed will still make the Axtinguisher less useful than the stock Fire Axe against Pyros and non-burning enemies.

The Powerjack: Increased health gained on kill from +25 to +35. This means that a kill with the Powerjack is like picking up a small health kit. Also for consistency with the later Solemn Vow change.

The Sharpened Volcano Fragment: The Sharpened Volcano Fragment is currently considered to be entirely useless outside of Medieval mode, in which the Demoknight is the most dominant class. In my opinion, we should ignore this single-map game mode, which is mostly for fun anyway, in favour of balancing the rest of the game. The reason that the Sharpened Volcano Fragment is seen as useless is that its only benefit is to light enemies on fire, which any of the Pyro’s primary weapons can already achieve. I aim to turn it into a completely different type of beast. Added “On hit: Bleed for 10 seconds”. Added “On hit: Enemy is marked for death for 3 seconds”. The Pyro has a range of melee weapons, such as the Powerjack, which makes him more mobile, the Homewrecker, which turns him into a defensive force for the Engineer’s nest, and the Back Scratcher, which allows him to roam the map for increased health bonuses. This is mainly because the Axtinguisher is considered to be the most devastating in terms of actual damage. This version of the Sharpened Volcano Fragment

Page 39 of 80 turns it into an entirely different type of beast – a ticking time bomb. Combining the damage from the hit with the DOT of the mini-crit fire and the mini-crit bleed causes the Sharpened Volcano Fragment to do a total of 204 damage, should the victim not have fire resistance or any way to heal. It also forces the victim to run from an oncoming team, due to the short mark for death. This provides a team supporting alternative to the Axtinguisher.

Figure 7: Graph of the Sharpened Volcano Fragment’s damage against time (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As we can see in figure 7, the damage of the Sharpened Volcano Fragment starts off quite large and scales down after 3 seconds when the mini-crits wear off. In terms of damage, the Sharpened Volcano Fragment does more damage than the Axtinguisher, but it does it over time. I feel that this is appropriate as if a Pyro were able to kill you with the Sharpened Volcano Fragment, he would have probably made the kill with the Axtinguisher, too. Most classes will die to a hit from the Sharpened Volcano Fragment. As you can see from the graph, a Spy equipped with the Conniver’s Kunai will die 0.5 seconds after being hit by the Sharpened Volcano Fragment. Classes who have reduced their max health to 100 will die 2.5 seconds after being hit. Light classes with 125 max health will die 4 seconds after being hit. Most classes with 150 max health, with a few exceptions, will die 6.5 seconds after being hit. The Demoman and a Medic who is equipped with the Syringe Gun or Crusader’s Crossbow will die after 7.5 seconds. Finally, a Soldier or a Medic who has the Amputator active or is healing a damaged patient will die on the final tick of damage at 9.5 seconds after the initial hit (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).

Page 40 of 80 There are a few classes that can survive a hit from the Sharpened Volcano Fragment. Any class which has at least 205 max health can survive. An enemy Pyro will survive with 37 health remaining, due to his natural immunity to afterburn. A Demoman with the Chargin’ Targe equipped will be able to survive provided that he also has either Ali Baba’s Wee Booties or at least two heads decapitated with the Eyelander. A Level 1 Dispenser outheals even the fierce start of the damage over time by 1 HP/s, whilst a Medic outheals it by 15 HP/s. Added “40% slower swing speed” (0.8 s to 1.12 s). This will both punish the Pyro for missing with a longer wait for another hit, whilst also discouraging the Pyro from going for another hit after successfully hitting one. Added “25% damage vulnerability on wearer” (while active). Gives the Pyro a reason not to run at aware enemies with the Sharpened Volcano Fragment out. Having an effective 140 max health, alongside the slower swing speed, should discourage Pyros from going for multiple hits with this weapon if they are noticed within close range. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify mini-crits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

The Third Degree: The Third Degree, despite being the only true weapon upgrade in the game, is currently very underpowered. I aim to take its unique trait and push it further with my Moonman set. The Third Degree now lets out a distinct sound when it swings a critical hit. This is so that the enemy team get a better estimate of how many critical hits you have remaining. Added “Alt-Fire: Use 50% of the Mmmph! meter to fire a critical hit”. Reload also has the same effect. It costs 150 damage worth of Phlogistinator damage to get a certified critical hit ready, meaning that a Phlogistinator into Third Degree combo could cause some problems for Medics and their patients. Added “On hit: User gains +25% Mmmph! charge”. Allows the Pyro to perform a 3-hit combo with the Third Degree, similar to the Engineer’s Gunslinger. Unlike the Engineer’s, the Pyro’s combo is

Page 41 of 80 designed to allow him to keep that critical hit ready for anybody. It can also be attained through usage of the Phlogistinator and the Third Degree. The Third Degree now critically glows when it is active and the user has at least 50% Mmmph! charge. This is an important visual cue for potential victims. Added “20% slower swing speed” (0.8 s to 0.96 s). Now the weapon is not a straight upgrade over the Fire Axe. The Pyro’s combo comes out slightly slower. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

Page 42 of 80 DEMOMAN: General sword changes: Decreased slower weapon deploy from 100% to 20% ((4/3) s to (4/5) s). Decreased slower weapon holster from 100% to 20% ((4/3) s to (4/5) s). Although these weapons deployed and holstered in 1 second after the Tough Break changes, they have been reworked in this to deploy and holster faster than they did during that update, both in time taken and in respect to the standard switch speed. Description no longer states in white “This weapon has a large melee range and deploys and holsters slower”. Description now states in blue “This weapon has a 37% longer melee range”. Description now states in red “This weapon deploys 20% slower”. Description now states in red “This weapon holsters 20% slower”. It would only be an additional three lines on each sword weapon. This allows users to see at a glance the scale of the effect that these stats have on their gameplay, rather than having to look it up on the Team Fortress 2 wiki.

Ali Baba’s Wee Booties: Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. Limiting the additional movement speed to only shield users is strange. Clearly, Valve wants to discourage the usage of the Stickybomb Launcher with this change, so a different nerf will be added in place. Added “-66% secondary ammo on wearer”. A reduced Stickybomb Launcher ammo capacity should discourage usage of the combo. With this, the Demoman only has the 8 Stickybombs in his clip and an additional 8 in reserve. The Scottish Resistance would only carry 12 Stickybombs in Reserve. Ammo packs will also have a massively diminished effect on your ammo pool, meaning that only a Dispenser could provide a sustainable ammo source for the Demoman.

The Chargin’ Targe: Changed inventory picture to the model with orange paint.

Page 43 of 80 The Chargin’ Targe was changed from team colour paint to orange paint in the 119th Update (29/04/2010). I’m pretty certain that the orange paint is here to stay by now, so this may as well be fixed.

The Sticky Jumper: Stat description changed from “A special no-damage stickybomb launcher for learning stickybomb jump tricks and patterns” to "A special stickybomb launcher for learning stickybomb jump tricks and patterns". Description now states in flavour text grey “This weapon deals ZERO damage”. Consistency with the Rocket Jumper.

The Tide Turner: Charging now allows the user to score a critical hit with enough charge drain. Whilst the Tide Turner was added being a completely broken weapon to the Demoman, the Tough Break changes may have nerfed it into unviable territory. The combined efforts of the reduced explosive and fire damage resistances and the damage reducing charge justify this weapon being able to certify full critical hits on a long distance charge.

The Quickiebomb Launcher: Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. The Quickiebomb Launcher buff has given it the capability of one shot killing the enemy Medic after a single 1.4 second charge. This, combined with the ability to destroy the enemy Demoman’s traps will likely cause it to be broken in competitive play. The inability to tell how long a Quickiebomb Launcher bomb had been charged for also brings problems with its new ability to permanently lay down a bomb means that players who are incapable of destroying stickies will be unable to tell whether the bomb will do its minimum of 102 damage or its maximum of 165 damage. All-in-all, I would say that the Quickiebomb Launcher was fine before the buff.

Page 44 of 80 The Bottle: Hitting a critical hit causes the Bottle to break. Something that, deep down inside, we all miss. Flavour text now says: “Breaking the bottle does not do any extra damage, but it sure does look threatening now, dunnit?” New players seem very confused about this aspect of the weapon and would spend the beginning of the round trying to break the Bottle rather than playing.

The Claidheamh Mòr: Reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats (Still maintains the range, deploy and holster speeds of being a sword. I must note that this comes with a price: As the charge duration is longer, that means that the Demoman will have to charge for slightly longer in order to gain a mini-crit or a critical hit.

The Persian Persuader: Reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats (Still maintains the range, deploy and holster speeds of being a sword. Now that the Tough Break update has brought in a universal downside of slower deploy and holster speeds for sword weapons, the Persian Persuader is no longer a straight upgrade for Demoknights.

Page 45 of 80 HEAVY: Natascha: Natascha has been a weapon that has gained many buffs and nerfs over the years. I aim to bring it back to the core concept that Valve had when they announced it: “As a result, Natascha’s great against fleeing cowards, such as Scouts & Medics, and less great against anyone actively trying to kill her master.” (Valve, 2008) Added “+40% move speed on wearer when spun up” (110 HU/s to 154 HU/s). An increased movement speed whilst spun up will push Natascha towards its core concept, by giving the Heavy far more potential to catch up with anybody he is shooting at. 154 HU/s is just slightly slower than a Huntsman-readied Sniper, who runs at 160 HU/s. This will also make projectile classes easier to dodge at long range. Removed “20% damage resistance below 50% health and spun up”. Having a 20% damage resistance causes the Heavy to have an effective 375 max health whilst spun up. This is bad enough, considering that most of the important weapons for damage numbers take an extra shot to kill this Heavy, but it becomes even more problematic if you bring a Medic into the equation. Dalokohs Bar alone can bring a Natascha Heavy up to an effective 438 max health. A Quick-Fix Medic is effectively healing a 469 max health Heavy at a rate of 42 health per second. A Medi Gun / Kritzkrieg Medic is effectively healing a 563 max health Heavy at a rate of 30 health per second. Using the correct damage resistance on the Vaccinator gives the Heavy an effective 625 max health. Although this stat is fine on the Brass Beast, which is designed with turning the Heavy into a slow-moving powerhouse, it’s extremely backwards on Natascha. Natascha is designed to force the enemy to fight its user, rather than run away. However, giving the Heavy an effective 25% extra max health just turns him into a significantly harder target to kill. This means that very few classes have options against a Natascha- wielding Heavy. Post MYM update: Heavy has an effective 338 max health with this. A Heavy using this will now die in 4 point blank shots from the Scattergun and 4 Grenade Launcher direct hits, but still die in 3 close range rockets.

The Brass Beast: Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats.

Page 46 of 80 This change was unnecessary. The Brass Beast, unlike Natascha, is supposed to turn you into a slow moving wall.

Tomislav: The Tomislav is currently a weapon which has stats which fight against each other and end up making the Tomislav into a weapon which works very well in almost all situations. The 20% faster spin up time makes it easier for the user to ambush a victim, whilst also making it harder for the user to be ambushed. The silent killer attribute makes it even easier for the user to ambush a victim. The 20% accuracy increase makes the pellets of the Tomislav more likely to hit at all ranges, whilst the only downside of a 20% slower firing speed equates to -16.67% damage per second. The Minigun outputs a maximum of 540 damage per second, meaning that the Tomislav outputs a maximum of 450 damage per second. The accuracy bonus further pushes the Tomislav towards the Minigun’s damage per second at all ranges, as even point blank, it will be hard to hit every single pellet on a moving target. Thus, the Tomislav’s DPS difference is practically always below 90. This rarely makes much difference in combat, whilst the silent spin up and the faster spin up both make the weapon even more effective. Increased the accuracy bonus from 20% to 30%. Further rewards good tracking by making the Tomislav even more effective at all ranges. This is just a slight buff to prepare for the upcoming nerf. Removed “20% faster spin up time” (0.696 s to 0.87 s). Removing the 20% faster spin up time would stop the Heavy from quickly overcoming any ambush with this weapon. The silent spin up still remains unchanged on the weapon, meaning that the Heavy can still prepare an ambush if he knows the enemy is approaching, but he won’t be able to turn the tides on an enemy who gets the drop on him unless his aim is notably exceptional.

The Huo-Long Heater: The Meet Your Match changes to the Huo-Long Heater have made it into a much more viable weapon, but have kept its ability to completely defend the Payload cart with the ring of fire. Increased damage bonus vs burning players from +25% to +33% (11 damage per pellet to 12 damage per pellet).

Page 47 of 80 This allows the weapon to truly combo with fire damage, doing up to a potential 720 damage at point blank range on a burning target. The surrounding ring of fire will do 16 damage per hit, rather than 15 damage per hit. Stat description changed from “33% damage vs burning players” to “+33% damage bonus vs burning players". The way that it currently reads comes off as a nerf. Removed “-10% damage penalty” (8 damage per pellet to 9 damage per pellet). Quite a negligible difference, as at point blank this only does 60 less damage per second. Increasing the damage allows the Heavy to reap the full extent of their damage increase against burning targets, instead of simply doing the 112.5% (rounded to 110%) of the stock Minigun damage that it currently does with a 25% bonus. Increased ammo drain from -4 per second to -6 per second. This allows the clip to last for 12.5 seconds providing that the Heavy does not pick up any metal packs. Added “90% less ammo from dispensers when spun-up”. This would mean that the Heavy would have to spin down and wait for a couple of seconds before he can defend the cart effectively again. 90% less ammo from the cart would equate to the Heavy gaining only 2 ammo per second. The Huo-Long Heater simply being spun up drains 6 ammo per second, meaning that without firing or spinning down, the Heavy can push the cart for 50 seconds before needing to resupply. If the Heavy fires the Huo-Long Heater, he will only be able to push the cart for 14.25 seconds before needing to resupply. A mixture of both would put the Heavy somewhere between those two time values.

The Buffalo Steak Sandvich: Speed boosts now stack. This change would significantly up the viability of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich. This was added in place in the 22/12/2010 patch to stop the Buffalo Steak Sandvich from comboing with the Gloves of Running Urgently, which at the time drained 6 health per second from the user whilst active. Now that the Buffalo Steak Sandvich makes the user take 25% more damage and the Gloves of Running Urgently makes the user take mini-crits, I feel that the ability for speed boosts to stack could fare well in game.

Page 48 of 80 Weapons used Speed (HU/s) Effective Damage per health hit Stock 230 300 (450) 65 E.N. 264.5 250 (375) 26 E.N. (Boost) 391.45 250 (375) 26 B.S.S. + Stock 310.5 240 (360) 88 G.R.U. 299 223 (334) 49 B.S.S. + E.N. 357.075 200 (300) 35 B.S.S. + E.N. 412.511 200 (300) 35 (Boost) B.S.S. + G.R.U. 403.65 178 (267) 66 Table 1: A table showing the different speeds and effective health values of the Heavy when using the different potential melee combos.

(Note 1: E.N. stands for the Eviction Notice, B.S.S. stands for the Buffalo Steak Sandvich and G.R.U. stands for the Gloves of Running Urgently.)

(Note 2: The speed values for the boosted Eviction Notice and the Buffalo Steak Sandvich with the boosted Eviction Notice are estimates based on an interpolated function of the Disciplinary Action boosts from the Team Fortress 2 wiki. This interpolated fuction was y=70.1794191 ln ( x) )

As we can see in table 1, the Heavy will be able to reach high max speeds which can rival and even trump the Scout, whilst being at the downside of being forced into using his melee weapon only. A Buffalo Steak Sandvich combo could be used to reach the front lines as the Heavy extremely quickly at the downside of being an easy victim of potential bombs and forcing him to only use his melee attacks. One potential problem that may arise from this is that a Heavy under the effects of the Buffalo Steak Sandvich, Gloves of Running Urgently and either the Concheror or the Disciplinary Action would be able to reach speeds of approximately 466 HU/s. However, this amount of speed would only last for 2 seconds and the Soldier using the Concheror or the Disciplinary Action would not be able to keep up. Should this be too much of a problem, then the later consideration could be put into place. Added “Whilst under the effects, -75% less healing from Medic sources”. This is to prevent the new Buffalo Steak Sandvich combo from getting too out of hand. Reducing the healing from Medics to 6 health per second (2 health per second with Vaccinator overheal) would massively decrease the viability of a pocket Medic following the Heavy around after the Buffalo Steak Sandvich is consumed. This is so that the Heavy does not become an unstoppable wall whilst under the effects. The speed boost given by the Buffalo Steak Sandvich is now similar to the speed boost given by the Concheror, the Disciplinary Action and the Dead Ringer.

Page 49 of 80 This stops the ability for the speed boosts to be further improved by outside means.

The Killing Gloves of Boxing: Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random critical hits.

The Gloves of Running Urgently: “This weapon holsters 50% slower” now means 1 second, instead of 0.75 seconds. No value change here, but the length of time to switch is now naturally longer due to the change in switch speed.

The Fists of Steel: Changing up the switch speeds to fit with the new standard switch speed. Decreased slower weapon holster from 100% to 50% ((4/3) s to 1 s). In terms of actual switch time, there is no change from the post-Tough Break Fists of Steel. However, when viewed in respect to the new switch speed, it seems to be quicker. Added “No random crits”. Melee weapons have high critical hit rates. Increasing your effective max health to ranged weapons to 500 health in order to tempt your enemy to combat you with their own melee weapon should not swiftly be ended with you getting a random crit.

The Holiday Punch: The Holiday Punch is currently a weapon used for humorous effect, rather than actual viability. It is banned in competitive due to the ability to stun ÜberCharged players. I aim to fix a few problems with it and make it slightly more viable. Added “This weapon deploys 40% faster” ((2/3) s to (2/5) s). Slightly more viable without breaking it. Being able to pull them out faster allows for quicker decisions with them.

Page 50 of 80 On a critical hit, the Holiday Punch will now force the laugh taunt on players who are airborne. To stop the Holiday Punch from being countered by constantly jumping in rhythm to the user’s attacks. The Holiday Punch will no longer stun ÜberCharged players. The Sandman isn’t able to do it from a standard attack, so neither should the Holiday Punch. Added “No random crits”. As this weapon can certify critical hits, it should not be able to get random critical hits. I must admit, however, that the Holiday Punch is the one weapon that I wouldn’t mind this rule slipping past. Added “-25% damage penalty vs players” (65 damage to 49 damage). This is no longer an almost straight upgrade to the Fists. Forcing the victim to laugh was even worse than just straight up killing the victim as it meant that they would take longer to die, giving them an effectively longer respawn. The only reason not to use the Holiday Punch currently is in fear that the enemy either jumps or you come across an enemy Heavy also using the Holiday Punch. A slight damage penalty makes them less effective in generic combat.

Page 51 of 80 ENGINEER: The Pomson 6000: The Pomson 6000 is currently one of the most meta breaking weapons in the game, capable of completely stumping the enemy ÜberCharge and forcing Spies to drop their cloak early. I aim to balance the Pomson by taking away its anti-meta abilities and make it more powerful at close range. Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats, keeping the fixed eploit with shooting through your own buildings and the updated projectile sound. Just for reference. Valve seems to keep dancing around the actual issue of the Pomson 6000 with their fingers in their ears. The drains will never be accepted into competitive play. Description now states in red “-80% damage penalty vs buildings”. Not balancing changes, but the weapon actually has these stats despite not saying so on the weapon description. Increased damage ramp-up from 100% to 120% (From 60 to up to 72 damage at point-blank range). The Pomson 6000 is now slightly more effective at close range. It still retains its slower firing speed and will not output as much damage per shot as the Shotgun, but the Pomson 6000 still retains its higher damage output at long range. Removed “On hit: Victim loses up to 10% Medigun charge”. Simply put, removing ÜberCharge from the enemy Medic was absolutely broken in concept, especially on a class such as the Engineer, who is countered by the enemy ÜberCharge. Taking this away allows the Pomson 6000 to potentially make its way into competitive. Removed “On hit: Victim loses up to 20% cloak”. Another aspect of the weapon that turns it into a counter destroyer. This may as well go away with the ÜberCharge drain as it completely ruins Spy. This weapon is also notorious for dispatching Dead Ringer Spies, due to the 20% cloak removal immediately pushing the Spy’s initial three second boosts with no drain out of the way. Added “No random crits”. This weapon is one of the most problematic with random crits due to Valve not creating a noticeably different projectile for a critical hit. You are completely unaware of whether or not that incoming Pomson 6000 shot will do just 36 damage or whether it will do a whole 180 damage.

Page 52 of 80 Removing random crits would solve this problem and fit in with the theme of energy weapons not getting random crits. Added “Mini-crits whenever it would normally crit”. This would also mean that no additional projectile model would have to be created, Valve is that lazy. It would also create a link between the two “#n000” weapons that they are completely unable to output critical hits.

The Gunslinger: Changed “Replaces the Sentry with a Mini-Sentry” text colour from red to white. To show that the Mini-Sentry is not a straight downgrade compared to the Sentry Gun. “Sentry build speed increased by 150%” is now invisible on the Gunslinger’s stats. The other stats comparing the differences between the Sentry Gun and Mini-Sentry are not listed as they would take up far too much space (especially in comparison to the sword changes and the notation of the mark for death made earlier on). By changing “Replaces the Sentry with a Mini-Sentry” to white text, it showcases that there are both upsides and downsides to the Mini-Sentry. Players will learn from experience what these differences are, including the build speed. If they want the specifics on the numerous differences, they can research it online.

The Southern Hospitality: The Southern Hospitality is a weapon with a great upside and an almost negligible downside. I aim to change the weapon to have a more noticeable downside. Removed “20% fire damage vulnerability on wearer”. The Engineer will rarely have to contend with fire-based attacks. An Engineer with the Southern Hospitality equipped will still survive a Flare Gun shot, whether they are next to a Dispenser or not. Using the Flame Thrower to run down an Engineer with the Southern Hospitality equipped won’t even cause much of a time difference, as the Engineer has an effective 105 max health to fire damage. Added “-40% damage penalty vs buildings” (65 damage to 39 damage). This change would cause the Southern Hospitality to require 3 hits to destroy a Sapper. This means that although the Southern Hospitality is still strong in combat and gives an efficient way to uncover cloaked Spies, the

Page 53 of 80 Spy will cause more damage to the Engineer’s nest should he manage to get the Sapper on. I was originally planning on making the Engineer have a mark for death or damage resistance whilst the Southern Hospitality was active, but then that would discourage him to not repair his Sentry Gun nest, as he will be punished for it.

The Jag: The Jag currently has two damage penalties that do not showcase clearly to the non-mathematically savvy how much damage it actually outputs. The first few changes made here do not actually change the functionality of the weapon, but simply showcase the functions more clearly. The changes to the construction speed also make no difference, but are reworked to form more consistency. Removed “-25% damage penalty” (49 damage to 65 damage). Added “-25% damage penalty vs players” (65 damage to 49 damage). Increased damage penalty vs buildings from -33% to -50% (44 damage to 33 damage). The reason these stat changes are in green is because they do not actually change the weapon. Currently, the damage reads as having a -25% damage penalty to everything and a -33% damage penalty to buildings. The way that the game sees this is applying the building damage penalty on top of the overall damage penalty (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). [ Base Damage ] × [−25 damage penalty ] ×[−33 damage penalty vsbuildings]

3 2 ¿65× × ( 4) ( 3)

3×2 ¿65× ( 4×3 )

6 ¿65× ( 12)

1 ¿65× ( 2)

¿ [ Base Damage ] ×[−50 damage penalty vsbuildings]

Page 54 of 80 Decreased damage penalty vs buildings from -50% to -40% (33 damage to 39 damage). This minor buff is only for if correcting the damage numbers on the Jag’s damage penalties causes it to take 4 hits to destroy Sappers. It is rumoured that Sappers, unlike other buildings, are unaffected by any damage bonuses or penalties that aren’t specifically for buildings. Decreased construction hit speed boost from 30% to 20%. “Construction hit speed boost increased by 20%” now applies multiplicatively, like it does on the Eureka Effect. Currently, the Jag applies the 30% faster construct boost additionally 10.5 10.5 = =3.75 ( 1+ [1.5+0.3] ) 2.8

Meanwhile, the Eureka Effect applies the 50% slower construct boost multiplicatively 10.5 10.5 = =6 ( 1+ [1.5× 0.5] ) 1.75

These changes will make the stats consistent between the Jag and the Eureka Effect whilst not actually changing the functionality 10.5 10.5 = =3.75 ( 1+ [1.5×1.2 ]) 2.8

Page 55 of 80 MEDIC: General Medic changes: Medic no longer runs at the speed of a faster heal target. This goes back to being a specific trait of the Quick-Fix later. This also means that the Shortstop can have its faster healing rate back. The function of the Medic’s self-heal whilst healing a damaged patient has been edited to include a modulus. The current function for the Medic’s self-heal whilst healing a damaged patient is S=2h.

This consideration would change it to S=2|h|.

To the non-mathematically savvy, the modulus function takes any input value and turns it positive. If the input is positive or equal to 0, then it stays the same. If the input is negative, then it is multiplied by -1 to get the output. The mathematical notation of the modulus function is

|x|= −x,∧x<0 { x ,∧x ≥0

This change would only be implemented if the consideration in the Solemn Vow’s changes is added.

The Crusader’s Crossbow: The Crusader’s Crossbow is widely considered to be the greatest of the Medic’s primary weapons, due to its sheer potency as a long range healing blast. The problem is that the current downsides on it hardly make a difference, so I aim to skill index the weapon to encourage better play with it. Increased max primary ammo penalty from -75% to -90% (38 max primary ammo to 15 max primary ammo). Players know that with the current Crusader’s Crossbow, it does not really matter whether or not they hit. The weapon reloads at a decent rate and also has a massive supply of reserve ammo, which is more than enough for any Medic to actively run out of. Due to the abundance of metal packs and Dispensers, gaining a massive amount of crossbow bolts is easy and takes very little effort. By decreasing the reserve ammo down to 15 bolts, we end up massively reducing the spam-ability of the Crusader’s

Page 56 of 80 Crossbow and also make metal packs and Dispensers have a much direr effect, with small metal packs only giving out 3 bolts.

The Overdose: The Overdose is currently considered to be the best of all of the Medic’s Syringe Gun variations, due to it having both a negligible downside that barely effects combat and a negligible upside that only makes a slight difference to your speed when you are both at a good amount of ÜberCharge and have the weapon active. I aim to improve the weapon by changing the effectiveness of it. Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. For reference. 20% faster movement speed is insanely good and boosts the Overdose into the realm of being always used. Speed boost is now active regardless of whether or not the Overdose is. You have to switch to the Overdose to increase your movement speed if your ÜberCharge has increased. Using your ÜberCharge automatically resets your movement speed boost back to 0%. Switching to this weapon does not give you a speed boost for any ÜberCharge that is currently draining. Now the Medic will be capable of running at his increased top speed of 352 HU/s whilst healing a patient. Allowing this will make the weapon viable in more situations. I have added the “You must switch to the Overdose to increase your movement speed if your ÜberCharge has increased” line so that the Medic’s velocity is not accelerating constantly as he moves. I would assume that this may cause troubles with hitboxes and make lining up headshots much harder. The “Using your ÜberCharge automatically resets your movement speed boost back to 0%” puts a hard reset on when you ÜberCharge, so that Medics do not switch to the Overdose once they are at 100% charge, switch away and never switch back to benefit from the speed boost. A Medic using the Vaccinator at 100% ÜberCharge will immediately lose all of their speed boost upon releasing a Vaccinator charge, but can switch to the Overdose to quickly put them up to the 75% speed boost. Increased damage penalty from -10% to -20% (9 damage to 8 damage). Currently, due to the fast firing rate, the current -10% damage penalty is hardly noticeable. Added “-1 health drained per second on wearer”. Despite the damage penalty downside, I have added this to counteract the speed boost. Due to the fact that the Medic can massively benefit from the new Overdose without ever even using it in combat, the -1 health

Page 57 of 80 drained per second means that an Overdose Medic will not be able to neutralise standard afterburn by healing a damaged teammate or pulling out the Amputator. He will be expected to use his new found speed to run to safety. A Medic using the Overdose will also no longer outheal the Degreaser’s afterburn, instead only neutralising it.

The Medi Gun: Description now states in white “Alt-Fire: Use 100% of the ÜberCharge meter”. Description now states in white "ÜberCharge lasts for 8 seconds and grants invulnerability to the Medic and the current Patient". This is to make the concept of the ÜberCharge easier to understand for new players.

The Kritzkrieg: Description now states in white “Alt-Fire: Use 100% of the ÜberCharge meter”. Stat description changed from “ÜberCharge grants 100% critical hit chance” to "ÜberCharge lasts for 8 seconds and grants 100% critical hits to the current Patient". This is to make the concept of the KritzCharge easier to understand for new players.

The Quick-Fix: The Quick-Fix is currently considered to be the overall best Medi Gun, due to its flexibility in usage. It utterly wrecks the enemy team in 6v6 competitive, due to the small team sizes having to completely focus fire on the Medic to stop the enormous healing rate. It also is considered to be the best Medic secondary weapon for pub-stomping, due to the uses of the ÜberCharge. I aim to reduce the effectiveness of the Quick-Fix in both competitive and public servers. Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. The 10% faster ÜberCharge rate is only 4.36… seconds slower than the Kritzkreig at worst. This change did not reduce the effectiveness of the Quick-Fix notably. The upcoming changes will make more of a difference to the Quick-Fix.

Page 58 of 80 Description now states in white “Alt-Fire: Use 100% of the ÜberCharge meter”. Stat description changed from “ÜberCharge increases healing by 300% and grants immunity to movement impairing effects” to “ÜberCharge lasts for 8 seconds and increases healing to 300% and grants immunity to movement-impairing effects to the Medic and the current Patient". This is to make the concept of the MegaHeal easier to understand for new players. Saying that healing increases by 300% is like saying that it quadruples to 400%. This is not the case, as it actually increases by 200%, tripling to 300%. Increased ÜberCharge build rate from +25% to +33%. This slight increase will cause the Quick-Fix to have an UberCharge ready every 30 seconds, rather than every 32 seconds. Added “-50% ÜberCharge rate on Overhealed players”. Each of the Medic secondary weapons has a two hidden statistics that effect the rate of which ÜberCharge is built. The first is that if a Medic is healing a patient who is being healed by another beam (i.e.: another Medic, a Dispenser or a Payload Cart), the Medic’s ÜberCharge will build 50% slower. The second is that if the current patient is above 142.5% of their max health, then the Medic’s ÜberCharge will build 50% slower. These two effects can stack, making it so that Medics who constantly heal a Heavy on the Payload Cart will only gain a Medi Gun ÜberCharge every 160 seconds, rather than the optimal 40 seconds. The problem with the Quick-Fix is that due to its reduced Overheal, it is never actually effected by the second hidden statistic, unless there is another Medic on the team not using the Quick-Fix, or you are pocketing a player who is using a weapon such as the Half-Zatoichi or the Conniver’s Kunai. This causes the Quick-Fix to almost invariably have its ÜberCharge ready every 32 seconds, with very little intellectual input from the Medic. Adding the reduced ÜberCharge rate would make the Quick-Fix require more from the end of the Medic who uses it, as constantly using it to pocket a single player will now lead to gaining an ÜberCharge every 64 seconds. This, combined with the previous buff would cause the Medic to be able to have a Quick-Fix ÜberCharge ready every 30 seconds, rather than 32 seconds. However, should the patient currently be above 100% max health, the ÜberCharge will take 60 seconds to be ready, rather than 64 seconds.

Page 59 of 80 Decreased max overheal from 50% to 40% (Overheal is 125% of max health to overheal is 120% of max health). With the bonus healing stat on the Shortstop fixed, this change would stop a Shortstop Scout & Quick-Fix Medic combo from becoming too broken. This would make it easier to understand the outcome values of the overheal, due to each class’ max health being a multiple of 5. 125 max health classes would have a Quick-Fix overheal of 150 health, rather than 157 health. At the high end, Heavies would be overhealed up to 360 health, rather than 375 health. This would also fix cases where classes can be overhealed to 1 max health higher than what they should be capable of. Combined with the previous two changes, this would slightly discourage players from recklessly damaging themselves, as they would have a reduced max overheal health.

The Vaccinator: Description now states in white “Alt-Fire: Use 25% of the ÜberCharge meter”. Stat description changed from “ÜberCharge provides a 2.5 second resistance bubble that blocks 75% base damage and 100% crit damage of the selected type to the Medic and Patient.” to "ÜberCharge lasts for 2.5 seconds and provides a resistance bubble that blocks 75% base damage and 100% crit damage of the selected type to the Medic and Patient." This is to make the concept of the WunderCharge easier to understand for new players.

The Vita-Saw: The Vita-Saw is currently a situation of underpowered in public play, yet overpowered in competitive. Using the Vita-Saw in competitive play forces the enemy Medic to do the same, else always be at a disadvantage for ÜberCharge. I aim to change the concept of the Vita-Saw to give it a different niche. Added “On hit: 30% damage resistance on wearer for 3 seconds”. This gives the Medic an effective 200 max health for the next 3 seconds. Note that this effect does not stack if you manage to hit it multiple times before the 3 seconds has finished.

Page 60 of 80 Added “On hit: Wearer’s self-health regeneration is quintupled for 3 seconds”. The Vita-Saw now lives up to its name. Hitting with it will now quintuple your health regen for 3 seconds. Once again, this effect does not stack if you manage to hit it multiple times before the 3 seconds has finished. Due to the way that time works, this means that the Medic will, in combat, heal 45 health over the course of 3 seconds. Due to the damage resistance, this will translate into an effective 65 health over that same 3 second period. Removed “On death up to 20% of your stored ÜberCharge is retained”. This is the one single stat which has caused this weapon to be banned at a competitive level. Competitive play revolves around each team’s current ÜberCharge and your Medic being just 1% above the enemy team’s Medic can cause all of the difference in the game. Naturally, a weapon that allows a Medic to retain up 20% of his ÜberCharge in the event of dying would cause a massive upset in the current meta-game, as allowing the best Medics to shave as little as 8 seconds on their time to build ÜberCharge would massively speed up the game to the point where classes such as the Engineer, who needs to set up his defences, or the Heavy, who relies on having a high max health, would be completely steamrolled through. Added “-25% damage penalty” (65 damage to 49 damage). This is simply to stop the Medic from becoming dominant in melee combat. The purpose of this Vita-Saw is to hit an enemy and attempt to survive an encounter, rather than become a fast, bulky and self-healing destructive force.

The Amputator: Health regen reverted back to pre-Tough Break (17/12/2016) stats. Holding out the Amputator makes the Medic unable to fight back outside of melee range, so allowing it to return to the constant 3 health per second regeneration isn’t that big of an ask. It does neutralise afterburn, but so does healing a damaged patient. The Amputator gives a survivability option if no teammates are nearby or no teammates require healing.

Page 61 of 80 Figure 8: The amount of health regenerated over time by the Amputator (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As shown in figure 8, the current Amputator is always at a disadvantage compared to before the Tough Break update. Bringing back the pre-Tough Break stats will allow the Medic to have a consistent way of dealing with afterburn, at the downside of taking three hits to kill Spies and not gaining ÜberCharge or damage resistance in combat.

The Solemn Vow: The Solemn Vow currently suffers from a similar fate as the Atomizer. But here, the upside is always in play. I aim to give the Solemn Vow a fitting, passive downside to go along with its passive upside. Removed “10% slower swing speed” (0.88 s to 0.8 s). This downside currently only makes a difference should the Medic ever pull out his melee weapon. Added “On kill: +30 health restored”. Combined with the ability to see health, this will encourage Medics to finish off weak enemies with the Solemn Vow. This also gives the Solemn Vow a slight edge over the Ubersaw and Vita-Saw in a survivability regard. The value of 30 health has been picked as it is the equivalent of picking up a small health pack. Added “-1 health drained per second on wearer”. This passive downside gives the Medic both a downside for using this whilst healing and whilst playing Battle Medic. Medics who heal with the

Page 62 of 80 Solemn Vow equipped will be able to call out weakened targets to their team, but will be at a higher risk of death due to a slower regeneration. On the other hand, Battle Medics, who usually use the Blutsauger, will now have slightly less survivability if they do not fight efficiently, as their health regeneration is effectively 0 health per second and slowly builds up to an average 3 health per second. Increased health drained per second on wearer from -1 to -2. This would make the passive downside of the Solemn Vow far more notable. It would also bring the interesting concept of a Medic actually losing health over time, as using both the Blutsauger and the Solemn Vow together would cause the Medic to lose 1 health per second. If the Medic is not damaged, his health regen will build up from -1 health per second to a dismal 2 health per second. If this change is implemented, then the self- healing modulus function in the General Medic Changes section shall be implemented as well, otherwise, a Medic healing a damaged patient would regenerate health at a rate of -2 health per second, which would actively discourage the user from healing anybody. This would mean that a Medic without a patient is encouraged to fight the enemy with the Blutsauger and Solemn Vow whilst retreating, whilst also meaning that a Medic who is healing in combat will not drain health over time, but instead self-regen at a rate of 1 health per second, which decreases to 0 health per second and then increases up to 2 health per second.

Page 63 of 80 SNIPER: The Sniper Rifle: Description now states in white “Crits on headshot”. The Flame Thrower, Stickybomb Launcher, Wrench, Knife and a few other stock weapons have their noteworthy stats written in the description.

The Sydney Sleeper: Stat description changed from “No headshots” to "No crits on headshots". Just to make it a little bit clearer. “No random crits” is now invisible on the Sydney Sleeper’s stats. As the stock Sniper Rifle does not roll for random crits, the Sydney Sleeper does not need to state that it doesn’t, either.

The Razorback: Currently, the Razorback presents a problem of being underpowered in public play, whilst blocking the Spy as a Sniper counter in competitive play. Competitive Snipers will like to stay near the Sentry Gun, as it will save them from a third Revolver shot from the Spy. They generally like to stay Overhealed to save them from Ambassador Spies, as well. I aim to make the Spy a much better pick against Snipers in competitive unless the latter’s team sees you coming. Now blocks all backstab attempts. Now actively encourages Spies to use their revolver against the Sniper. Spatially aware Snipers can use this to shield their teammates. Added “20% bullet vulnerability on wearer”. Allows Spies to take out standard Razorback Snipers in 2 shots with the Revolver. Point-blank Scattergun shots will also one-hit kill. Due to the way that critical hits work the Ambassador would deal 109 damage on a headshot. However, a follow-up shot at point-blank range would deal 61 damage, totalling at 170 damage, which should be enough to kill a Razorback Sniper who is not actively being Overhealed and standing near the enemy Sentry Gun. This does not noticeably change Sniper Vs Sniper combat, unless the Razorback Sniper is being Overhealed.

Page 64 of 80 Darwin’s Danger Shield: The current problem with Darwin’s Danger Shield is that it is a self- countering weapon. This is especially bad for a class like the Sniper, where one of his biggest counters is himself. If the Sniper were able to use the Darwin’s Danger Shield in competitive, doing so would force the enemy Sniper to wear it as well. Added “+40% bonus healing from all sources”. This stat will allow the Sniper to make better use of nearby health packs and Dispensers. As for values, a small health kit will heal 42 health, a medium health kit will heal 105 health and a large would effectively heal 210 health. This change will accomplish numerous things. For example, a Darwin’s Danger Shield Sniper will be able to tank an extra direct hit from the Grenade Launcher by grabbing a medium health pack. This will also increase the Sniper’s bulk when he is pushing the Payload or hanging back at a Sentry Gun nest. Removed “20% explosive damage vulnerability on wearer”. Currently, the explosive resistance completely neutralises the max health bonus in terms of explosives, as a Darwin’s Danger Shield Sniper has an effective 125 max health against explosives. Removed “15% bullet damage resistance on wearer”. This is the biggest problem with the Darwin’s Danger Shield. This causes the Sniper to survive quick scope headshots with 7 health remaining, which in any Sniper Vs Sniper duel completely throws the fight into the user’s direction. An effective 177 max health against bullets also makes the Sniper a very bulky target against Heavies at long range and Spies. Added “25% critical damage vulnerability on wearer”. An uncharged Sniper Rifle headshot will deal 175 damage to a Sniper wearing the Darwin’s Danger Shield. An Ambassador headshot will deal 119 damage to a Sniper wearing Darwin’s Danger Shield, but they should be backstabbing the Sniper anyway. This is to complement the next change. Added “100% faster overheal decay rate on wearer” (15 s drain to 7.5 s drain). An increased overheal decay means that the Sniper will not be able to retain his health above quick scope death range longer than a Sniper with the Submachine Gun. An overhealed Submachine Gun Sniper will stay above 150 health for 8.75 seconds, whilst a Darwin’s Danger Shield Sniper will stay above 150 health for 7.5 seconds. With the critical hit vulnerability added above, the key number to be above is 175 health,

Page 65 of 80 which this overheal decay rate means that the Sniper will stay above 175 health for 5 seconds. Combined, these changes should make the Darwin’s Danger Shield usable in competitive. It will also greatly impact the relationship between the Sniper and the Medic, as Medics will now be encouraged to heal the Sniper due to the +40% bonus healing but they will also be more reluctant to overheal the Sniper, due to the faster decay rate. Medics who decide to pocket the Sniper will be a hindrance to their team, anyway.

The Cozy Camper: The Cozy Camper was already considered to be a solid option in competitive 9v9 Highlander before this buff, which made the Sniper extremely self-sufficient. Health regen is now a constant 1 health per second regeneration. This change means that a decent amount of damage towards a Sniper will make him retreat for health, as his regeneration will not quickly accelerate and heal him considerably anymore. The health regeneration will only make a small difference, as the other two stats of the Cozy Camper should have always been their main aspect.

Figure 9: The amount of health regenerated over time by the Cozy Camper (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016). As shown in figure 9, the current Cozy Camper has a massive advantage in health regeneration, especially for a class that rarely takes much damage. The same function for best case scenario and worst case scenario have been used as the Concheror. Whilst chipping away at the

Page 66 of 80 Sniper is useful for causing him to flinch and miss shots, the update left him no worse off from taking damage and being far better off by not taking it.

The Bushwacka: The Bushwacka is currently the best Sniper melee weapon by far, giving the Sniper an extremely powerful option at close range. It combos easily with both Jarate and the Cleaner’s Carbine to quickly dispatch seven of the nine classes, whilst the current Degreaser to Axtinguisher combo is only capable of removing the four lightest classes and the Medic with afterburn. Another problem is that the combo completely outdoes the damage output of a low health Shahanshah. Removed “20% damage vulnerability on wearer”. This didn’t change much for the Sniper. It reduced his effective max health down from 125 health to 105 health. Only a Rocket Launcher shot could be at a safe enough distance and benefit from this with a one hit kill. With the upcoming nerfs to the weapon, that will not make much of a difference. Added “-30% damage penalty” (65 damage to 46 damage). Decreasing the damage of the Bushwacka accomplishes a few things. Firstly, it makes the Sniper weaker in melee combat than the Pyro, as he should be. Critical hits will now do 137 damage with these numbers, which will still kill light classes such as the Scout, Spy (whether invisible or not) and a weakened Medic, while still allowing classes like the Pyro, Demoknight and the Heavy to completely decimate poor attempts on their lives with this combo. Secondly, it gives the Sniper a penalty for failing to utilise his mini-crit boosts. Before, the increased damage vulnerability would not change much when the Sniper could still kill most ambushers in two swings. This damage penalty makes the Bushwacka the weakest melee weapon, bar the Tribalman’s Shiv, which benefits from the bleed damage it gives out and also swings faster. Finally, this also means that the Bushwacka combo does 27 more damage than the Shanhanshah combo, which does 110 damage. Added “20% slower swing speed” (0.8 s to 0.96 s). Added “This weapon deploys 20% slower” ((2/3) s to (4/5) s). This makes it slightly more readable for a potential victim of the one hit kill, whilst giving more time to stop the Sniper if he decides to go for a target that is way out of his league. Poor timing with the Bushwacka, or attempting to destroy aware Heavies, will lead to death for the Sniper.

Page 67 of 80 Figure 10: Graph of the Sniper’s melee weapon damage against time (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).

(Note 1: The Kukri and the current Bushwacka share the exact same line, but the green is covering the black.) As shown in figure 10, the Bushwacka combo will not only still be very powerful, but also in line with the Shahanshah low health combo. Due to the Bushwacka’s higher damage, but slower deployment and swing speed, players will find that the Bushwacka is better for dealing with classes with 125 max health, as a single hit will deal with them. On the other hand, players are rewarded massively for the great risk of being at low health with the Shahanshah’s combo by earning quicker kills on Scouts and Spies who are using weapons such as the Sandman or the Big Earner, as well as any class with more than 125 max health. A Bushwacka Sniper will get these kills slightly slower, but without running the risk of dying as fast due to low current health (Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016).

The Shahanshah: Stat description changed from “+25% increase in damage when health <50% of max” to “+25% damage bonus when health <=50% of max”. Stat description changed from “-25% decrease in damage when health >50% of max” to “-25% damage penalty when health >50% of max”.

Page 68 of 80 This change is for consistency with the Equalizer. This will also mean that a Darwin’s Danger Shield Sniper at 75 health will do 81 damage per hit, rather than 49 damage per hit, so this is actually a very minor and almost negligible buff, due to the fact that it is highly unlikely that a scenario where the Sniper has 75 health with the Darwin’s Danger Shield comes up.

Page 69 of 80 SPY: General Spy changes: Fixed the 20% damage resistance whilst user is invisible applying at the end of the damage formula, rather than during it. The Spy will now take the expected 140 damage from an uncharged headshot whilst invisible, much like a revved-up Brass Beast Heavy. A headshot on an invisible Spy should be a kill, rather than 120 damage.

The Enforcer: The Enforcer is currently underpowered in all environments, due to the fact that a single shot doing an extra 20% damage really doesn’t add up to very much in combat. I aim to make the Enforcer serve a different role. Stats reverted back to pre-Meet Your Match (08/07/2016) stats. I’m not sure exactly what Valve were going for with this. At first I thought it was a power creep against the Darwin’s Danger Shield, but then I realised that the changes made don’t even allow the Enforcer to two shot kill Darwin’s Danger Shield Snipers. Regardless, why aren’t you backstabbing him? It’s slightly more effective against Vaccinator Medics, but not enough to be notable. You should be backstabbing him. The only thing that this really seems to counter is the Dead Ringer. I’ve reverted the change altogether. Added “On hit within mid-range while disguised: One target at a time is marked for death, causing all damage taken to be mini-crits”. This will allow the Spy to serve a different role. For now, we will say that the mark for death lasts for 5 seconds. If the Spy is unable to approach a priority target, he can use his Enforcer to place a mark for death on said target. This will allow his team to kill that target more efficiently while the Spy accomplishes another task. Removed “+20% damage bonus while disguised” (48 damage while disguised to 40 damage while disguised). There is no reason to have a damage bonus with the new Enforcer. Added “-25% damage penalty” (40 damage to 30 damage). This, along with the 20% slower firing speed, will stop the new Enforcer from outshining the Revolver in standard combat. Combined, these stats will cause the Enforcer to do far less damage alone than the Revolver. When firing at a target who has not been marked for death, the Enforcer will only be doing 62.5% of the damage per second of the stock Revolver.

Page 70 of 80 A marked for death target will take slightly more damage, but will still be doing 84.375% of the damage per second of the stock Revolver. The Enforcer Spy will be able to hit his mark for death shot followed by an extra six shots before his mark for death runs out. Assuming maximum ramp-up, this means that the Spy will output 45 damage on the first shot and 61 damage on all of the shots following, totalling at 411 damage. In the same time, a Spy using the Revolver would be able to land eight shots in total, all doing 60 damage, totally at 480 damage.

The Diamondback: Players find it annoying that the Diamondback can fire a critical hit whilst the user is disguised. Can no longer fire a critical hit whilst the user is disguised or for 0.5 seconds after being disguised. A simple change. Players should not be able to store certified critical hits on a weapon that they are holding and be able to completely hide that from the enemy. The 0.5 seconds part stops this downside from being circumvented by a script.

The Dead Ringer: There are a few problems that currently plague the Dead Ringer, which I will go over. I aim to make the Dead Ringer better for getting through the enemy lines, but not a complete counter to the Pyro. The Dead Ringer now gives 100% critical hit resistance on the hit that triggers it and during the first 3 seconds of cloak. This makes the Spy capable of soaking up critical damage, which can be used to harass the enemy Kritzkrieg, but not for as long as you could pre- Gun Mettle update. It also means that the Spy will also consistently survive backstabs. The Spy’s knives contain an odd phenomenon in Team Fortress 2, as they are programmed so that if they hit the enemy with a backstab, they roll a 100% chance for a random critical hit, on top of doing two times the victim’s current health in damage. This means that a backstab does 200% of the victim’s current health in damage in a server with random crits turned off, whilst doing 600% of the victim’s current health in damage in a server with random crits turned on. This didn’t make a notable difference until the Tough Break update, where the damage resistance was toned up from 50% to 75%. Before the Gun Mettle update, the 90% damage resistance kept you safe from backstabs regardless of whether or not random crits were on. Between the Gun Mettle update and the Tough Break update, the 50% damage resistance

Page 71 of 80 wasn’t enough to survive a backstab either way. But now, thanks to the Tough Break update, the Spy is in a strange predicament in which he will survive in a server with crits turned off, but die in a server with crits turned on. I personally prefer the old ways in which a Spy would survive a backstab, but others disagree. Luckily, the current 75% damage resistance holds a good compromise – should the attacking Spy notice that his victim used the Dead Ringer, another backstab will immediately kill him due to the decreasing damage resistance. Removed afterburn immunity during the first 3 seconds of cloak. The Spy already has a large amount of damage resistance as well as a 35% speed boost during the first 3 seconds of cloak, so why does he need an afterburn immunity? I must also bring up the fact that the Spy-cicle exists, which is a weapon purely designed to counter the Pyro. If Spies are having troubles getting past Pyros with the Dead Ringer, they should either attempt a different route or use the Spy-cicle. Valve even buffed the Spy-cicle to regenerate faster using metal, which makes it the perfect companion for the Dead Ringer. With this change, the Dead Ringer will still stop afterburn when the feign death is triggered, just like it stops bleed, but being torched afterwards will start the afterburn again.

Page 72 of 80 ADDITIONAL NOTES: There are a few weapons that may or may not have been mentioned during this report which will probably need to be looked into.

The Disciplinary Action: The Disciplinary Action’s nerfs within this report do not deal with its biggest problem – the ability to push the team’s Heavy to the front lines in 6v6 and Highlander.

The Classic: I don’t even know where to start with this one. Perhaps mini-crit headshots while not fully charged? I really don’t know.

Page 73 of 80 TIPS: Due to all of the changes made in this report, many of the official tips that the game cycles through will have to be edited to make them correct.

Due to the Pistol being effective against enemy buildings: Tip changed from “As a Scout, your Pistol is great for picking off enemies at a distance.” to “As a Scout, your Pistol is great for picking off enemies and destroying buildings at a distance.”

Due to the Sandman stun duration change in this report: Tip changed from “As a Scout, the further your Sandman baseball travels, the longer it will stun any enemy it hits – up to a maximum of 7 seconds.” to “As a Scout, the further your Sandman baseball travels, the longer it will stun any enemy it hits – up to a maximum of 5 seconds.”

Due to the Atomizer self-damage change in this report: Tip changed from “As a Scout, watch your health when using the Atomizer. A poorly-timed triple jump could cost you your life.” to “As a Scout, watch your health when using the Atomizer. A poorly-timed mid-air jump could cost you your life.”

Due to the Shortstop push change in the Meet Your Match update (08/07/2016): Tip changed from “As a Scout, the Shortstop is very effective at medium to long range, allowing you to maintain your distance from dangerous enemies.” to “As a Scout, the Shortstop is very effective at medium to long range. Push any aware close-range enemies away to optimize your damage against theirs.”

Due to the Sharpened Volcano Fragment change in this report: Tip changed from “As a Pyro, your Sharpened Volcano Fragment sets enemies on fire upon a successful hit. Use in combination with the Flare Gun in order to inflict substantial damage!”

Page 74 of 80 to “As a Pyro, your Sharpened Volcano Fragment will cause phenomenal damage over time to any enemy that has been hit by it. You are vulnerable to damage while it is active, so switch after a hit and try to keep them from getting to a health pack, Medic or a Dispenser.”

Due to the Powerjack overheal change in the Tough Break update (17/12/2015): Removed the tip saying “As a Pyro, the Powerjack is able to overheal you if you make a kill at full health.”

Due to the Phlogistinator change in this report and the recent changes: Tip changed from “As a Pyro, inflicting damage with the Phlogistinator fills the ‘Mmmph!’ meter. Once it is full, activate it using your secondary attack (MOUSE2) in order to completely refill your health and inflict crits for a short time.” to “As a Pyro, inflicting damage with the Phlogistinator fills the ‘Mmmph!’ meter. Once it is full, activate it using your Reload button in order to inflict crits for a short time.”

Due to the Loch-N-Load changes in the changes between 2014 and 2015: Tip changed from “As a Demoman, use the Loch-and-Load to inflict additional damage against slower moving classes and buildings. Aim carefully however! You only have two shots before you must reload and you will only inflict damage on a direct hit.” to “As a Demoman, use the Loch-N-Load to inflict additional damage against buildings. Aim carefully, however! You only have three shots before you must reload and you will only inflict damage on a direct hit.”

Due to the Warrior’s Spirit changes in the Tough Break update (17/12/2015): Tip changed from “As a Heavy, the Warrior’s Spirit will inflict additional damage, which makes them very effective in combat. The penalty is a slight reduction in health however, which may affect your longevity.” to “As a Heavy, the Warrior’s Spirit will inflict additional damage and will heal you after every kill, which makes them very effective in combat. The penalty is a damage vulnerability to all sources however, which may affect your longevity.”

Page 75 of 80 Due to the Pomson 6000 changes in this report: Removed the tip saying “As an Engineer, the Pomson 6000’s projectiles drain the ÜberCharge meter of enemy Medics and the Cloak meter of enemy Spies.”

Due to a calculation error between the Bonesaw and the Ubersaw: Tip changed from “As a Medic, your Bonesaw swings 25% faster than the Ubersaw. Use the Bonesaw in defensive situations in which an ÜberCharge isn’t as important.” to “As a Medic, your Bonesaw swings faster than the Ubersaw. Use the Bonesaw in defensive situations in which an ÜberCharge isn’t as important.”

Due to players not understanding the Megaheal: Added a tip saying “As a Medic, your Quick-Fix’s ÜberCharge is very effective in a push against teams that cannot output much focus fire against you. Because of this, the Quick-Fix is not very efficient for taking out Sentry Guns!”

Due to the Vita-Saw changes in this report: Tip changed from “As a Medic, the Vita-Saw will retain up to 20% of your UberCharge meter if you die before activating it. This can be very useful when attempting to assault a strongly-fortified position with only a small amount of time remaining.” to “As a Medic, hitting an enemy with the Vita-Saw gives you a boosted self-regeneration rate and damage resistance. Don’t stick around for combat though, as the reduced damage and your lowered maximum health will hinder you greatly.”

Due to the Razorback changes in this report: Tip changed from “As a Sniper, the Razorback breaks after being stabbed. Grab a new one from a resupply locker.” to “As a Sniper, the Razorback may protect you from backstabs but it increases your vulnerability to the Spy’s Revolver! Try to position yourself near to your team or a friendly Sentry to further increase your chances of survival.”

Page 76 of 80 Due to the Sydney Sleeper change in the Meet Your Match update (08/07/2016): Tip changed from “As a Sniper, the Sydney Sleeper only applies Jarate to enemies. Do not waste your ammo trying to extinguish burning teammates as you would with normal Jarate.” to “As a Sniper, the Sydney Sleeper also can be used to extinguish teammates with a scoped shot.”

Page 77 of 80 REFERENCES: b4nny, 2016. (133m15s) It's a long way to the top if you wanna frag [MarketPlace.TF]. [Online] Available at: https://www.twitch.tv/b4nny/v/77007877?t=133m15s [Accessed 11 07 2016]. BlaringDisastrousHuman, 2016. Eyelander random crits a Medic after charge. [Online] Available at: https://gfycat.com/BlaringDisastrousHuman [Accessed 14 06 2016]. GrouchyZealousGander, n.d. Pyro switching bug. [Online] Available at: https://gfycat.com/GrouchyZealousGander [Accessed 13 06 2016]. HairyScrawnyDesertpupfish, n.d. Pyro mojo example. [Online] Available at: https://gfycat.com/HairyScrawnyDesertpupfish [Accessed 13 06 2016]. LiveImmediateHound, n.d. Pyro switching bug. [Online] Available at: https://gfycat.com/LiveImmediateHound [Accessed 13 06 2016]. MrPaladin, 2016. Valve Please Fix #2 [PL_Upward Blu Tunnel Spawn]. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvJKP8zeDMA [Accessed 30 06 2016]. Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016. Jag damage against buildings reads the wrong numbers. [Online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/4a8zmt/jag_damage_against_build ings_reads_the_wrong/ [Accessed 29 06 2016]. Ocosn/OlimarAlpha, 2016. Team Fortress 2 balance report graphs. [Online]

Available at: http://imgur.com/a/dRflS [Accessed 06 07 2016]. Slice of Cake, 2015. Eyelander Random Crit. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KtuMF5Cl7Q [Accessed 14 06 2016]. StopThatTank, 2016. Spooky criticals on "No random critical hits" weapons - bug explained.. [Online] Available at: https://www.reddit.com/r/tf2/comments/4muk7e/spooky_critical_hits_on_n

Page 78 of 80 o_random_critical_hits/? [Accessed 06 07 2016]. Valve, 2008. A Heavy Update - Natascha. [Online] Available at: http://steamgames.com/tf2/heavy/natascha.htm [Accessed 13 06 2016]. Valve, 2011. Team Fortress 2 weapon tips. s.l.:Valve. Wake123, 2016. Weapon Balance Thread III: Too big for SPUF edition. [Online] Available at: http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showpost.php? p=36260786&postcount=23 [Accessed 28 06 2016]. Whistling Pyro (Johnny), 2015. Degreaser is BUGGED, and so is Airblast - TF2. [Online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Az- g0YIIpk&feature=youtu.be [Accessed 13 06 2016].

Page 79 of 80