Team Fortress 2 - MafiaScum Edition COMING BACK MAYBE?

[Sudo_Nym]

I'm in, but I've never played before, so that'll be awesome. I don't care much about what we play, and either day works fine for me- just let me know what's decided.

[Sudo_Nym]

So I've been playing with the bots, and it turns out I suck. Part of it is I don't know the maps, and part that I don't know the mechanics, I think. I seem to be alright as a Soldier, but bad as the other classes I tried (Heavy and Scout, mostly). Need to start checking for Sentry Guns more often.

[Sudo_Nym]

Someone get on and play with me. I'm terrible.

What's this "coaching" thing?

I was going to ask exactly this.

[Sudo_Nym]

And what about the impromptu playing?

[Sudo_Nym]

I'm in, though I only have about an hour.

[Sudo_Nym]

Got disconnected after a few kills, but I managed to pick up the Sandman, so that's nice.

[Sudo_Nym]

So I'm home now.

[Sudo_Nym]

Somebody message me through Steam if this happens.

[Sudo_Nym]

I'm checking, but I don't see anyone else on. What's the deal?

[Sudo_Nym]

I still can't connect to the server, btw. I also don't know how to search for a server, since there's no textbox labelled "Server Name" in the search field

[Sudo_Nym]

Friends tab shows me nothing.

[Sudo_Nym]

So who wants to be the one to jump into an empty server so we can all follow?

[Sudo_Nym]

Alright, time to eat, and let my connection not lag. I'll be back later, probably, if we're still on.

[Sudo_Nym]

So, any critics of my play that would help me improve would be awesome, if anyone was paying enough attention.

[Sudo_Nym]

Also, fuck you Socio. I thought we were friends.

[Sudo_Nym]

True, though it's hardly my fault that the Heavy moves so slow. Especially when he's spinning up- I imagine that's the leading cause of my headshot and backstab deaths; I didn't have that problem with the Medic, who moves considerably faster.

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, that, and the Heavy doesn't really have much range- the Minigun is useful out to medium range, but has too much spread to be consistent at long range. And the Shotgun is a short range weapon, too.

[Sudo_Nym]

If there's TF2 tonight, I'll come in and play, and probably suck. But I'll play.

[Sudo_Nym]

So, I picked up a Supply Crate I have no interest in buying a key for? Anyone interested in trading?

And Pie, I'd take a Brass Beast off your hands, if you don't happen to want it.

[Sudo_Nym]

So, I picked up a Supply Crate I have no interest in buying a key for? Anyone interested in trading?

No.

And I speak for everyone. ABSOLUTELY NOBODY wants crates nowadays. Either delete them or hang on to them and hope Valve makes them craftable.

The newbie is missing something. What's the deal with crates that makes them bad?

[Sudo_Nym]

I imagine I'm going to be interested in playing a lot of TF2 in my spare time this weekend.

[Sudo_Nym]

Just played a few hours myself. I love playing Medic, for some reason, as well as Heavy. Starting to improve as Pyro and Engie, though, so that'll be nice.

[Sudo_Nym]

Hey, just found the Bushwacka! Neat! Now, if only I didn't hate playing Sniper.

[Sudo_Nym]

I already had the Jarate from when I bought a bunch of bundles.

[Sudo_Nym]

I'm getting on. May jump on and off, as real life requires.

[Sudo_Nym]

This game is awesome! I've been racking up kills as an Engie- it's a ton of fun once you figure out where to build your shit.

[Sudo_Nym]

So, why is my score so low as an Engie? I think I'm playing pretty well, I get kills and assists; get my dispensers up in the hot zones; teleporters in useful places. Yet, I'm frequently one of the lowest scoring players on the team.

Also, I've got a couple of Spy knives now, despite not playing Spy. Anyone want to trade Heavy/Engie equipment for them?

[Sudo_Nym]

Yeah, I was going to say, Heavies have lots of counters. I think it's nice they get the chance to do some damage now before a Sniper blows their head off.

[Sudo_Nym]

Okay, I've now got the Connivers Kukri, The Big Earner, and Dead Ringer for the Spy, and an extra Frontier Justice for Engie, if anyone wants to trade.

[Sudo_Nym]

Now I've got the Crusader's Crossbow- is it any good?

[Sudo_Nym]

Just to put it all in one place, for trade I have:
-Kritzkrieg (Medic)
-Crusader's Crossbow (Medic)
-Conniver's Kunai (Spy)
-The Big Earner (Spy)
-Loch-n-Load (Demo)
-Frontier Justice (Engineer)

I'm mostly looking for:
-Jag (Engineer)
-Tomislav (Heavy)
-Glove of Running Urgently (Heavy)

[Sudo_Nym]

I am extremely tempted to offer my Tomislav for your The Big Earner, Sudo. Hmm...

Would work for me. Though I'm having plenty of fun with the Brass Beast, so don't feel obligated.

[Sudo_Nym]

What you have in return?

[Sudo_Nym]

So, after a fun round with Reck and Untrod, I picked up The Scotsman's Skullcutter, Darwin's Danger Shield, and The Direct Hit.

[Sudo_Nym]

Also, the Half-Zaotochi, but I'm not trading that.

[Sudo_Nym]

Holy shit, IH!

How do you have so many weapons, and not the ones I'm looking for?

[Sudo_Nym]

Yippee first hat.

GAAAAH I HATE YOU

The only hats I've got are the ones from purchasing from the store, and for having a premium account. Though I admit the Proof of Purchase is a fairly neat looking hat.

[Sudo_Nym]

The Tomislav is fucking awesome! Thanks Untrod!

[Sudo_Nym]

And now I've got The Black Box. Maybe the game is telling me to play Soldier?

[Sudo_Nym]

I haven't played the Soldier very much, but I've found people are much less likely to dodge rockets if I aim them at the ground near their feet instead of straight at them. I'm guessing because hitting the ground means that I've got a better chance to at least get the splash damage if they dodge the rocket itself. Which makes high ground and rocket jumping more important, because then you can aim the splash more precisely. That's just my newbie experience, though.

[Sudo_Nym]

Goddamn it, lost at Badwater because every other member of my team went sniper.

[Sudo_Nym]

I was playing 5Gorge yesterday, and noticed that my team lost whenever I went engie, but won whenever I went Heavy. That was odd.

[Sudo_Nym]

I thought most servers had anti-cheating technology.

[Sudo_Nym]

Yes.

Though I have to say when I take someone down with my Tranq gun as a medic it's a pretty awesome feeling

It is pretty awesome. I keep getting Scouts trying to sneak up on me with their scattergun. Dance around enough, though, and you get the opportunity to shoot back, and most of them think they have the health to try and take the needle gun while they try to "finish me off".

[Sudo_Nym]

So I've been playing Soldier a lot lately. The Disciplinary Action (whip) is so much fun to use.

That the one that gives a speed boost?

[Sudo_Nym]

that's because the strategy to win as pyro is hold down LMB

It's not quite that simple, reck. You also have to hold w.

[Sudo_Nym]

Somebody is bitter.

[Sudo_Nym]

Basically. Pyros have advanced things like the airblast, but really, to be a good pyro, you ambush people. You may not even do a ton of damage- the point is, the opponents tend to scatter, breaking down their offense/defense, when they see themselves on fire.

[Sudo_Nym]

Apparantly, all my TF2 skills are rusty, and I'm back to sucking now.

[Sudo_Nym]

Holy shit, TF2 is so much fun guys. Logged on again for the first time in forever, and fuck, it's a lot of fun.

Also, picked up the Gloves of Running Urgently on my first crafting attempt, which was nice, because I wanted those.

[Sudo_Nym]

Last night was one of the funnest I've played, I think. 8 vs 8 on 5Gorge, no Heavies. Both teams went Soldier/Soldier/Scout/Sniper/Medic/Pyro/Engi/Spy. It was pretty damn fun.

[Sudo_Nym]

Did they decrease the drop rate? Feels like I'm getting fewer items then I used to. Also, crates bleh. Any reason to open them?

[Sudo_Nym]

Plus, I don't see the problem with Spies using their revolvers. It isn't always possible to get a clean stab; most spies depend on their knives too much, and get shot because of it.

[Sudo_Nym]

Reinstalling now...

Is the Tomislav even worth it anymore? I used to love playing Ambush Heavy with the Tomislav's quick, silent spin up, but now it's not so quick. Maybe I go back to the Brass Beast.

[Sudo_Nym]

Please. I was playing Ambush Heavy before the Tomislav was made.

Ambush Heavy is THE BEST Heavy.

There was one server I played on, where an Ambush Heavy teamed up with a C&D spy to cover both halves of a doorway. Go through facing one way, and the spy backstabbed you; go through the other, and the heavy started shooting. It was pretty sweet play.

[Sudo_Nym]

My Engie secondary is the Lugermorph, which is superior to the pistol, obv.

[Sudo_Nym]

Frontier Justice with mini-sentries is nice.

[Sudo_Nym]

I don't know that I'd start with Spy, honestly; it's the most unique class, and skill with Spy doesn't really translate well to playing other classes, and vice versa. Being a Spy is a lot like playing a sub-game inside the actual game. That said, if you find it fun, then more power to you.

[Sudo_Nym]

I've been getting back into this. We should try out the Mann vs. Machine Multiplayer Mode.

[Sudo_Nym]

I could dig out my microphone if we want to try being pro-venters or something.

It feels kinda weird, since before my hiatus, I was mostly Engie and Heavy, but now I'm mostly Demo or Medic. Not sure why the change.

[Sudo_Nym]

Two medics with Ubersaw can chain Uber each other. Build up your charge, then Uber the other medic, he uses the Ubersaw to build up with meter, then when his Uber wears off, he switches to the Medigun to Uber the second medic, who now uses his Saw to charge his Uber. Rinse and repeat.

[Sudo_Nym]

Medic can take down Sniper and Spy 1v1, provided he's in close and accurate with his needlegun or saw.

[Sudo_Nym]

For combat purposes, you never take a Medic unless it's an emergency. And I have killed scouts with the needle gun, so it's not hopeless, but it's not plan A, either. I'm just saying, there's a neat Uber-Chain you can do, and weak in combat or not, permanently invincible medics can be trouble for any class.

I've been loving the combat engi. Usually, I only play Engi on defense, but I've been playing on offense with Frontier Justice/Lugermorph/Gunslinger, and it's been going pretty well.

[Sudo_Nym]

And the biggest pro-tip I can think of is: "Don't be afraid to use your revolver". A lot of people get obsessed with trying to land backstabs, because it's a one hit kill. But backstabs aren't always possible- it isn't always wise/feasible to get behind somebody, or you've been detected, or the sniper's equipped the razorback. Your revolver is more accurate and does more damage than you think it does, so don't be afraid to use it.

[Sudo_Nym]

Well, basically, that's what Uber does- you charge in, but then it runs out, and now you're surrounded. Most good opponents will aim to kill the medic first, as well. So what you should be doing as a medic is keep moving. Be unpredictable- medics are fast, and you can jump. Remember, you only need line of effect to keep healing, you don't need to be standing next to the guy or even looking at him. If you don't have it set yet, go into your options, and set your medigun to keep healing when you let go of the button- that way, instead of having to hold it down, it just keeps healing the last target until you click again.

Don't worry about the medic equipment- most of the healing guns and ranged weapons are sidegrades, not real upgrades- none of them are really better, they're just different. And I find the Kritzkrieg difficult to use correctly. The only upgrade you really need to worry about is the melee weapon- all upgraded melee weapons for a medic are strictly better than the default one, so pick the one you like- you aren't going to use it very often anyway.

[Sudo_Nym]

Depends on what you want to do. If you're trying to break through a defensive line, Heavy and Soldier are both good picks. If you're trying to bust an engie nest or have the Kritzkrieg, then Demo, Pyro, and Soldier are good picks.

[Sudo_Nym]

Uber Heavy is for clearing out a defensive line; it doesn't matter if they flee, since then the rest of your team can follow through and clean up. You don't Uber a Heavy to do damage, you Uber him to use him as a battering ram. Nobody stands and fights with Uber Heavy.

[Sudo_Nym]

The key to Ubering Heavies is that their minigun does a lot of damage up close, and Ubering lets them survive up close. There are many situations where the opponent can't or doesn't want to run away (Control points and payload), and an Ubered Heavy, especially on defense, does a ton of damage. On offense, they aren't so great, perhaps, but it's easy to screw up Ubering a Soldier or Demo thanks to their ammo limits.

[Sudo_Nym]

Another tip for Sniper, since I find it one of the hardest classes to play really well: you don't have to headshot everything. A fully charged body shot does a lot of damage.

[Sudo_Nym]

The thing about medic regeneration is that it's not useful. The amount your health regenerates is linked to how much damage you're taking; you only regen 1 HP a second while you're actively taking damage, and every class can kill you faster than that.

[Sudo_Nym]

Not really. They're treated like normal items; and I think "Untradeable" goes away after a while- they put it on there just to stop scammers, so you can't get easy acheivements and then turn around and trade. Metalizing isn't really bad, though, if you aren't going to use it anyway. Though some things are worth more than 1 scrap in trade, if you want to get into the game's trading economy.

[Sudo_Nym]

I remembered being told that the Untradeable tag goes away after owning the item for long enough. Could be wrong, of course. But like Glork said, it doesn't matter a ton for most stuff- all of the older weapons and achievement weapons aren't really worth anything in trade anyway. Basically the only things worth trading are the newer weapons, item set weapons, and hats.

[Sudo_Nym]

Huntsman is really only great for beginners, though. Once you start getting past that, you want the Bazaar Bargain or the Sydney Sleeper, depending on what kind of Sniper you want to play.

[Sudo_Nym]

Personally, I like the Sydney Sleeper, just because I'm bad with Twitch Aiming for Headshots. Much easier to get Charged Bodyshots, and Sleeper applies Jarate, so at least the guy will die somehow.

[Sudo_Nym]

I haven't played in a few weeks, but I could be in.