My two cents on the new weapons. Come discuss!

[InstantClassic]

I just got the new weapons and I wanted to give my opinion on them. Im going in order of which wep I got first/last. this took sometime to write so please feel the need to discuss with me, even if you hate what I wrote. Please don't make this a complete waste of my time lol.

Neon Annihilator:

100% critical hit vs wet players
-20% damage penalty
No random critical hits

I had the materials when it came out so I crafted this first. Everyone that I have talked to believes that this is a terrible weapon, and they are totally right. This weapon is bad and should feel bad.

This new Melee weapon for the Pyro crits against wet enemies but does 20% less damage then the stock axe. Now I don't want to use this weapon because of all its faults. First off we have to compare it to the best Pyro melee, The Axtuingisher. The problem is that there is no real comparison because the Axtuingisher alright destroys it in situational and raw damage output. Not only that but because of the 20% less damage it does less crit damage. Its also way easier to puff and sting rather then to chase someone down who has been covered in liquid. This means for it to be of any use you need a scout with Mad Milk (rare), a Sniper with Jarate (more common), or a map with water (rare).

Now if we compare the Neon Annihilator to any other weapon it a also falls flat. It deals less damage (non crit) then most of the other Pyro melees (homewrecker does 25% less dmg and Volcano Frag does 20% as well). Not only does it do less damage but it also has a worse situational advantage then other melees. Powerjack/Backscratcher are good for solo pyro due to healing, homewrecker/maul is good for defense, Third Degree for killing Medics, even the Lolichop and stock axe are fun to use and have no real downsides. Its not the WORST Pyro melee though, that honor goes to the Volcano Fragment.

Conclusion: (Better after Buff) But still kinda crappy. Some changes I propose are to take away or lower the damage penalty. Its too weak and and needs a buff badly before I even consider using it. If the Pyro got some sort of liquid (like a gasoline canister) to throw that complimented it then that would work so much better. At least it looks cool and has a rockin' taunt. Thats about it.

EDIT: Lookie what got a buff today. Now the Neon Annihilator doesn't suck as much as it used to. Now it can damage sappers, not unlike the Homewrecker though which it says Damage removes Sappers. I'm guessing it hits twice or more to kill a sapper. Well needed buff Valve. GJ.


Huo-Long Heater:

Sustains a ring of flames while deployed
6 ammo consumed per second while deployed

Holy crap does this thing look and sound cool. The engine revving sound and the look are pure badass. I saw a guy using this today so I had to craft and try it. Now personally I love this weapon despite its faults.

We have a new Minigun that chews up ammo fast while reving but in return you get a protective ring of flames to hurt the enemy team. Comparing it to stock Minigun is hard because its exactly the same in terms of speed and damage. Obviously the differences are the faster ammo consumption and the ring of fire it emits. This is a real sidegrade and not a downgrade because I actually want to use this weapon over another weapon for a certain purpose. The stock Minigun is still better overall imo because of the less ammo consumption. I also liking using this over other miniguns because Natasha and The Tomislav have been nerfed to hell, and the Brass Beast just sucks badly.

The problem is that losing ammo while revving is a harsh downside when a ton of enemies are around and you NEED that extra ammo. I have ran out of ammo on certain occasions when I got surrounded by too many enemies. Not only that but the ring deploys a split second AFTER you start losing ammo, which kinda sucks. If you want to use the Heater then you have to know when to pick your fights to maximize your ammo available. That ring of fire is the perk of this gun because it protects you against spies (to a certain degree). A spy with low health is going to think twice before stabbing you because he will probably die to afterburn, but its also nice to know that if a spy does try to backstab you then it will most likely get set on fire. Great counter to Spysicle because if they get near you than their Spysicle will melt and the spy becomes a sitting duck. I like how the ring alerts me to enemies close to me because if im not shooting and I hear that ding then I know to turn around or move. I love how I have watched enemies that have gotten too close burn to death because they didn't think their attack though and died due to afterburn. Another pro is the fact that you can stay near a dispenser and help defend with the ring of fire AND bullets. It can really help in the middle of a fray where it can be harder to detect a spy attacking an Engineers buildings.

Conclusion: An awesome sidegrade with a fun gimmick. The fact that the Huo Long Heater looks and sounds badass is a huge plus and it has real uses in combat (unlike THAT. OTHER. WEAPON. previously mentioned). Problems are that the Stock Minigun still outclasses in terms of ammo consumption, and the ring of fire is a bit too small. Two small fixes I can think of is to make the ring of fire a tiny bit taller/wider to hit more, or to make the ammo consumption 5 ammo per second rather than 6 per second. totally worth a try.


The Flying Guillotine:

Throw at your enemies to make them bleed!
Long distance hits cause mini-crits
100% critical hits vs stunned players
No random critical hits

Now we come to the best weapon in the update IMO. This is the most fun I've had with a secondary weapon in tf2 I believe. The problem is that I love this weapon so much but have little to say about it due to how weird it is.

So the Flying Guillotine is a new throwing weapon for the Scout that makes people bleed, and crits when an enemy is stunned. My problem is that The Flying Guillotine is hard to compare to any scout secondaries. Its throwable like the Mad Milk but causing bleeding like the Wrap Assassin making it a unique weapon. It has a nice base damage of 50, then add bleeding and it can take a nice chunk of damage out of any class. I love that Valve made it go well with The Sandman too. Having that stat that causes crits against stunned enemies was a GREAT idea. The fact that the crit does 150 damage means its gonna kill light classes outright and do a lot of damage to other classes; then add the bleeding damage as well. I also LOVE how fast it regenerates. Personally as much as I love this weapon I would rather use the Pistol because of its ability to finish off an enemy easier then the Guillotine. I also like to use the Mad Milk a lot due to its emphasis on teamwork but its all opinion really. The rest of the Scouts Secondaries are good in their own way so you pick your weapon based on what situation your team is in.

Concusion: The Flying Guillotine is a really good side grade, well balanced and fun to use. Some things I would like change would be to add a timer to show how much time is left before you can get another one, to be able to pick up a thrown one (like the Sandman/Wrap Assassin ball), and to have a more defined steak when thrown. Other than that this is the best new weapon in the pack. I'm glad Valve decided to do something new and weird. No buff or nerf is needed.


The Red-Tape Recorder:
Reverses enemy building construction
-100% Sapper Damage Penalty

I wasn't about to get 3 Spysicles to craft this this so I just traded outright for it. So finally we have a new Sapper for the new Sapper slot the spy recieved awhile back. Its about time we got a new Sapper. So how does it fare against the the Stock Sapper? Well it certainly is interesting that's for sure.

The Red tape Recorder slowly saps enemy buildings, but in return it reverses the building process until the building disappears. I got the Recorder last so I'm not completely sure if I like it yet. I like how it reverses the Sentry Gun to lvl 2 almost instantly causing the Engineer to have to rebuild an entire level, rather then fix it again for minimal metal. This is a great way to totally jarate off any Engineer whos buildings you sap. I had a enemy call me a hacker and rage quit because he was that jarateed about his sentry

So the problem is that its so easy for the Engineer to come back to his nest and undo all your hard work because it takes double the time to destroy the building. Not only that but the noise it makes when it destroys the building is the same noise it makes when a sapper is removed, so it can be a bit confusing. Not only that but sometimes it won't tell you in the kill feed that you destroyed the building you sapped.

Conclusion: This is the Sapper you use when you need to weaken the Engineers defenses rather than destroy it outright. Very helpful for a team thats constantly hovering around the Engineers nest protecting it. Its a different play style and I commend Valve to trying new things, I really like that. Best part is that you will probably do some bit of damage if you attach the Sapper and die, so that is good to know that you did something with your suicide run. No buff or nerf is needed.

[CaptainSurprise]

cool man

[InstantClassic]

Originally Posted by CaptainSurprise

cool man

I love that you took the time to post. I'm not even joking.

[Mcfan2]

Hmmmm.
Sounds about right,

You are credit to team!

[Shunfglol3]

I agree with everything except the red-tape recorder. Downgrading a building the second it gets placed is too overpowered.

[InstantClassic]

Originally Posted by Mcfan2

Hmmmm.
Sounds about right,

You are credit to team!

Thank you good sir, Im glad you agree. I almost dont want to know how long this took to write though. XD

[InstantClassic]

Originally Posted by Shunfglol3

I agree with everything except the red-tape recorder. Downgrading a building the second it gets placed is too overpowered.

It may seem overpowered but when you think about how long it takes to actually destroy the sentry it seems more balanced.

[SarcasmThird]

Why is it that we have the same opinions?

(Although my expirence from these are from people using it against me)

[InstantClassic]

Originally Posted by SarcasmThird

Why is it that we have the same opinions?

(Although my expirence from these are from people using it against me)

Its nice to know someone that thinks alike. I'm glad you agree with me.

[InstantClassic]

Its a new day. I hope more people come talk.

[hawkshadow741]

Pyro Sign: UP

Heavy Minigun: So-So

Cleaver: Finally, a good Secondary that compliments the Sandman, slighty OP with Baby's Face Blaster with a full boost, but then again, it's Scout, speed+high close range damage is his forte

Sapper: Dunno, haven't used it much, looks cool though

[mobott]

I agree with everything you said. Now if I could only get the weapons myself...

Also: I watched some videos and the cleaver actually does okay on its own because it still does 50 damage + bleed, which is still really good for a 6 second recharge time.

[InstantClassic]

Originally Posted by mobott

I agree with everything you said. Now if I could only get the weapons myself...

Also: I watched some videos and the cleaver actually does okay on its own because it still does 50 damage + bleed, which is still really good for a 6 second recharge time.

Yeah its pretty much that. I'm using it right now and its really good for assassinating medics.

[fbbviv]

I crafted them as soon as they came out as I had lots of deuplicates laying around and I can agree with most of your points:

Neon:
It's bad. I've been playing 2fort this week just to swim around the middle with it and kill anything that drops in....and it does work but..I could just shotgun them or use almost any other melee to the same effect....I think it needs boosted speed when wet or in water.

Heatmaker:
Fantastic weapon. When I'm on defense, particular defending the engie's stuff on the roof of badwater, hugging dispensers/guarding the surrounding area is great. I'd usually swap it back to the stock minigun after our setups were taken down until the engie's set up dispensers again. It's a great sidegrade in my opinion.

Cleaver:
Most fun. I found myself not even using my primary most of the time because I always had a sandman or cleaver to use.(I usually used the babyface or shortstop to coincide) Babyface was used for its passive speed bonus only and shortstop to utilize some midrange damage(the range at which the sandman/cleaver shine)
I feel like I was probably a lot less productive team-base wise in matches such as offensive pl and ctf but it was fun.

Red Tape:
Great alternative. I find it lots of fun as offensive. With stock sapper, if there are 2 or more engies in a nest they are almost never fully successful. Now with the red tape, I can stroll in with my sapper out sap their stuff as much as I can, and hide or die and my team will roll in and kick their now lvl 1 stuff into the ground.
With this I now use the enforcer and the big earner usually with the dr or cnd(previous to this sapper I almost NEVER used these.) with great success. You are given a lot of options here to be successful both for yourself and more importantly your team.

also I made this to tribute my feels towards scouts with cleaver/sandmans

[mobott]

Originally Posted by fbbviv

also I made this to tribute my feels towards scouts with cleaver/sandmans

Yea, that's my only problem with the weapon. With 150 damage + bleed, it will kill every class except Heavy almost instantly (well, that kinda is the Scout's job, but this is at long to mid range).