Pipe Stacking, is it frowned upon?

Aelok · 07-07-2010, 10:09 AM

I'm talking about everyone swapping to demoman for the patriarch, buying pipe bombs, stacking them all in a pile hopefully in a narrow hallway right outside the trader, buying more, and repeating. This nukes the boss to death very easily if your team does it.

However, I can't for the life of me get my newb ♥♥♥♥ teammates to do this strategy. I get it, a lot of people are new to the game right now because of the sale, and a lot of people are pretty petty and will do everything in their power to spite the guy that comes up with a plan under the motto "You can't tell me how to play!" (despite the strategy being suggested as a question rather than demanded from the team).

But i'm pretty new to the game, I baught it during the recent sale too, so... I don't consider newbness to be an excuse for blatant stupidity. I mean, even when my team does agree to do this, they just stand there and watch me do it, maybe type the occasional "lololo" thinking it's funny to see so many explosives in one place, I assume? Maybe the pretty flashing light mesmerizes them? I really don't know.

So does the community for this game consider pipe stacking to be a 'bad thing'? I for the life of me just can't rally my newb squad into ever doing this

(This is on normal difficulty servers)

ASecondOpinion · 07-07-2010, 10:11 AM

I certainly don't mind it.
While I'm not one to suggest that pipe-stacking is how we should fight the Patriarch, if someone else suggests it - or if someone else starts doing it - I'll join in and try to help.

The 1st Wasted · 07-07-2010, 10:16 AM

Against the Patty is ok. However, staking you pipe on someone elses during the normal waves is not a good thing, drop it a few feet behind.

Aelok · 07-07-2010, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The 1st Wasted

Against the Patty is ok. However, staking you pipe on someone elses during the normal waves is not a good thing, drop it a few feet behind.

Oh yeah thats a different thing entirely. Thats just a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ bag move right there

Vulkans · 07-07-2010, 10:20 AM

A lot of veterans don't do it because it was already nerfed once in a previous patch, giving them the impression that because it doesn't work as well as it used to, it's pointless to bother... Even though a pipe field is a very good tool to finish off a fleeing Pat.

Edit: Which reminds of this this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KANum...eature=related

El Magic Diablo · 07-07-2010, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aelok

I'm talking about everyone swapping to demoman for the patriarch, buying pipe bombs, stacking them all in a pile hopefully in a narrow hallway right outside the trader, buying more, and repeating. This nukes the boss to death very easily if your team does it.

However, I can't for the life of me get my newb ♥♥♥♥ teammates to do this strategy. I get it, a lot of people are new to the game right now because of the sale, and a lot of people are pretty petty and will do everything in their power to spite the guy that comes up with a plan under the motto "You can't tell me how to play!" (despite the strategy being suggested as a question rather than demanded from the team).

But i'm pretty new to the game, I baught it during the recent sale too, so... I don't consider newbness to be an excuse for blatant stupidity. I mean, even when my team does agree to do this, they just stand there and watch me do it, maybe type the occasional "lololo" thinking it's funny to see so many explosives in one place, I assume? Maybe the pretty flashing light mesmerizes them? I really don't know.

So does the community for this game consider pipe stacking to be a 'bad thing'? I for the life of me just can't rally my newb squad into ever doing this

(This is on normal difficulty servers)

Personally, pipe stacking is boring as hell to me - but to teach is own. You said it right - it's easy... TOO easy. It's much more fun to shoot the Patriarch and watch him disappear, then try to guess where he will reappear. Having him die within 10 seconds of his appearance leaves me with that feeling you get when you've just finished a 88 minute action movie that ended abruptly.

Aelok · 07-07-2010, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by El Magic Diablo

Personally, pipe stacking is boring as hell to me - but to teach is own. You said it right - it's easy... TOO easy. It's much more fun to shoot the Patriarch and watch him disappear, then try to guess where he will reappear. Having him die within 10 seconds of his appearance leaves me with that feeling you get when you've just finished a 88 minute action movie that ended abruptly.

I don't care much for the patriarch boss. I mean, he's just so poorly designed that fighting him is really no fun. He nukes you to death pretty much instantly... yeah thats real fun. oh wait, no it's not.

It just depends on who he decides to instant kill first, theres no strategy to counter that. You might get lucky and he tries to gatling you from a long ways off, but thats not strategy, thats just luck. What if he pops in right next to all of you and starts gatlin gunning you all? That gun kills in about a second at close range, he'd go through 3-4 players in no time, and there goes the majority of your damage output.

Pretty much the only strategy is to stay next to a wall or something you can duck behind should be pop in close enough to nuke you to death, and even then it depends on the angle he comes in from. And if it's not you he instant kills, it's going to be someone else. He's just a bad boss

Syncourt · 07-07-2010, 10:35 AM

Wouldn't be my sort of game. But I'm one of the few that prefer to mix up the game and go pretty much any class just for fun sake. Plus it rewards more diverse skills rather than relying on the same old cheap strategies or weapons selections every game, you get used to passing it with just about anything.

Games that are full of xbows, EBRs or demolitions pipe spamming I would simply leave, not of interest to me. But I couldn't care what the rest of the community does in their own games as I can just find another easily enough. But just doing it just once on the odd patriarch round, I couldn't care less.

As long as you don't start yelling at people to do it and trying to force people at it as if it should be some general strategy that everybody should always use or I'll get lonely.

Aelok · 07-07-2010, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Syncourt

As long as you don't start yelling at people to do it and trying to force people at it as if it should be some general strategy that everybody should always use or I'll get lonely.

Lol no it's not like that. I know that if I propose the plan in the form of an order people will do their damndest to avoid the plan. It's when they agree to it but don't do it that I get annoyed. It's like... wtf.

zYnthetic · 07-07-2010, 02:18 PM

http://store.steampowered.com/news/3050/

Quote:

Added a system to prevent taking out the Patriarch instantly with one giant group of pipe bombs.

From my own experience, pipe stacks seem to double as rocket magnets.

trilance · 07-07-2010, 03:07 PM

The Patriarch regards multiple pipes as a target, so he'll shoot them. I prefer the hallway of death style where you line an entire hallway with pipebombs and just watch them go off as he runs/walks down the hall...and gets blown apart at some point through it.

Guhn.E · 07-07-2010, 03:08 PM

I never bothered trying to stack pipes
If it's Patty time, I lay out lines of them for him to trip one at a time then have the M32 handy

What annoys me is people that insist welding a door shut with pipes scattered around the door.
It's pointless. The Patty isn't going to try and smash it down like the other beasties, he's going to blast it open with a rocket, taking out everyone that was stupid enough to try and hold the door shut

DarkLiberator · 07-07-2010, 03:09 PM

I always lay pipebombs in a line and not in a pile so that the PAT doesn't blast the pile with his rocket.

trilance · 07-07-2010, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guhn.E

What annoys me is people that insist welding a door shut with pipes scattered around the door.
It's pointless. The Patty isn't going to try and smash it down like the other beasties, he's going to blast it open with a rocket, taking out everyone that was stupid enough to try and hold the door shut

This.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkLiberator

I always lay pipebombs in a line and not in a pile so that the PAT doesn't blast the pile with his rocket.

It depends on if he can see it first before he enters the room. Literally, if you were to place all the bombs at the side of the door where he can't see it unless he walks in, he won't shoot them because he can't.

Aelok · 07-07-2010, 04:35 PM

I've had his rocket launcher detonate a pipe bomb pile before, but I always assumed it was because there was one idiot standing on top of them looking at the pretty lights. I didn't know he actually targeted the pipe bombs themselves

I've had a little bit of luck by trying to manage the squad into staying OFF the pile, NOT using grenades near the pile, and staying out of the line of sight. This usually lures the patriarch in over the pipes as he's trying to get a shot on us.

I've still been able to pipe bomb pile the boss, but maybe it wasn't enough pipes to justify him targeting them? I know it's very rarely enough for the instant kill because, welll... As this thread says, I can't get anyone to pipe bomb pile with me

. Most of the time it's just me laying pipes which totals... ~12-15? Depending on how near I am to the trader and if any noobs block the trader door.

07-07-2010, 10:09 AM	#1
Aelok Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 637 Posts: 6,694	Pipe Stacking, is it frowned upon? I'm talking about everyone swapping to demoman for the patriarch, buying pipe bombs, stacking them all in a pile hopefully in a narrow hallway right outside the trader, buying more, and repeating. This nukes the boss to death very easily if your team does it. However, I can't for the life of me get my newb ♥♥♥♥ teammates to do this strategy. I get it, a lot of people are new to the game right now because of the sale, and a lot of people are pretty petty and will do everything in their power to spite the guy that comes up with a plan under the motto "You can't tell me how to play!" (despite the strategy being suggested as a question rather than demanded from the team). But i'm pretty new to the game, I baught it during the recent sale too, so... I don't consider newbness to be an excuse for blatant stupidity. I mean, even when my team does agree to do this, they just stand there and watch me do it, maybe type the occasional "lololo" thinking it's funny to see so many explosives in one place, I assume? Maybe the pretty flashing light mesmerizes them? I really don't know. So does the community for this game consider pipe stacking to be a 'bad thing'? I for the life of me just can't rally my newb squad into ever doing this (This is on normal difficulty servers)

07-07-2010, 10:20 AM	#5
Vulkans Join Date: Dec 2008 Reputation: 63 Posts: 586	A lot of veterans don't do it because it was already nerfed once in a previous patch, giving them the impression that because it doesn't work as well as it used to, it's pointless to bother... Even though a pipe field is a very good tool to finish off a fleeing Pat. Edit: Which reminds of this this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KANum...eature=related Last edited by Vulkans: 07-07-2010 at 10:30 AM.

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07-07-2010, 10:11 AM	#2
ASecondOpinion Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 710 Posts: 3,482	I certainly don't mind it. While I'm not one to suggest that pipe-stacking is how we should fight the Patriarch, if someone else suggests it - or if someone else starts doing it - I'll join in and try to help.

07-07-2010, 10:16 AM	#3
The 1st Wasted Join Date: Jun 2010 Reputation: 2 Posts: 179	Against the Patty is ok. However, staking you pipe on someone elses during the normal waves is not a good thing, drop it a few feet behind.

07-07-2010, 10:35 AM	#8
Syncourt Join Date: Feb 2008 Reputation: 132 Posts: 2,050	Wouldn't be my sort of game. But I'm one of the few that prefer to mix up the game and go pretty much any class just for fun sake. Plus it rewards more diverse skills rather than relying on the same old cheap strategies or weapons selections every game, you get used to passing it with just about anything. Games that are full of xbows, EBRs or demolitions pipe spamming I would simply leave, not of interest to me. But I couldn't care what the rest of the community does in their own games as I can just find another easily enough. But just doing it just once on the odd patriarch round, I couldn't care less. As long as you don't start yelling at people to do it and trying to force people at it as if it should be some general strategy that everybody should always use or I'll get lonely.

07-07-2010, 03:07 PM	#11
trilance Join Date: Oct 2009 Reputation: 29 Posts: 1,038	The Patriarch regards multiple pipes as a target, so he'll shoot them. I prefer the hallway of death style where you line an entire hallway with pipebombs and just watch them go off as he runs/walks down the hall...and gets blown apart at some point through it.

07-07-2010, 03:08 PM	#12
Guhn.E Join Date: Mar 2008 Reputation: 78 Posts: 1,647	I never bothered trying to stack pipes If it's Patty time, I lay out lines of them for him to trip one at a time then have the M32 handy What annoys me is people that insist welding a door shut with pipes scattered around the door. It's pointless. The Patty isn't going to try and smash it down like the other beasties, he's going to blast it open with a rocket, taking out everyone that was stupid enough to try and hold the door shut

07-07-2010, 03:09 PM	#13
DarkLiberator Join Date: Feb 2010 Reputation: 208 Posts: 1,365	I always lay pipebombs in a line and not in a pile so that the PAT doesn't blast the pile with his rocket.

07-07-2010, 04:35 PM	#15
Aelok Join Date: Jun 2009 Reputation: 637 Posts: 6,694	I've had his rocket launcher detonate a pipe bomb pile before, but I always assumed it was because there was one idiot standing on top of them looking at the pretty lights. I didn't know he actually targeted the pipe bombs themselves I've had a little bit of luck by trying to manage the squad into staying OFF the pile, NOT using grenades near the pile, and staying out of the line of sight. This usually lures the patriarch in over the pipes as he's trying to get a shot on us. I've still been able to pipe bomb pile the boss, but maybe it wasn't enough pipes to justify him targeting them? I know it's very rarely enough for the instant kill because, welll... As this thread says, I can't get anyone to pipe bomb pile with me . Most of the time it's just me laying pipes which totals... ~12-15? Depending on how near I am to the trader and if any noobs block the trader door.