Jungle Inferno Balance Changes

[:Bishop the Witch]

Hey. A few months into the jungle inferno update, and people are still talking about the balance changes, and whether they are good or not. I decided to put my two cents in, and get started.

Note: These are JUST my opinions. I will be stating some of the changes, but primarily, i will focus on what i think of them. If you want to learn more about changes, go to the TF2 Blog post. www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=30147

Panic Attack


Now, i kind of like the ideas of this weapons changes. It was never really used, and it uses a simple bullet spread after rapid firing. The damage penalty is a decent backstep with the added %30 more pellets and %50 percent switching speed. This weapons is still, IMO, a close range backup weapon when you are being attacked by a scout or spy that had a bad stab.


Ambassador


The nerf for this weapons, and imma keep my personal opinion out of this, cause im a spy main(I hate it, i hate it, i hate it, i hate it, i hate it, i hate it, i hate it!). The idea is of course, understandable. Long range headshots SHOULD be for one class. But the damage falloff and bullet spread is making skilled spies look dumb, because they can no longer put these skills into use, and even if they do hit, it may not work the way they wanted it to.


Dead Ringer

I am honestly OK with this nerf. As a spy, (a n00b one) i used the dead ringer as a ‘get out of jail free’ card. I spammed it, and i didnt like the habits i was building. So, with this nerf, i am glad to say, spamming the DR is now impossible. I believe many people can agree that this nerf was needed before, and we are satisfied.

Your Eternal Reward

This nerf i am indecisive about, because this is my favorite knife. Having my strategy change is a little scary, but none the less, its easier. Before, it was difficult to even get a stab, JUST so i can fool the enemy (For however long at least) Now, i can have a quick disguise, so i can sneak for that split second they might have killed me without a disguise. It can also help with sentry nests, so you dont have to rely on a rogue engie to run off, and to show his back. Just throw on a quick, temporary disguise and deal witht he problem All in all, its a great weapon, and i believe valve is trying to bring the saharan spy set back together, with the new need for the L’Tranger. Creative.

The Sandman

I dont really know what to say about this nerf as well. The sandman was in a spammable place yeah, but i feel they hit it a little too hard. Comepletely taking the stun mechanic out of the weapon was a little harsh, and ruined many peoples way of playing. And in MVM matches, sandman scout bots are a joke. My idea would be to have a certain range for a stun, and beyond that stun is JUST damage. This way, scout can be the way he normally is, up close and personal, while still having a weapon worth using.

Bonk! Atomic Punch

This nerf i was not ok with. It ruins the main upside of this weapon, and heavily restricts the scout after its effect is used. Imagine a scenario, ok? An engie is camping the RED spawn. There is only two doors out, and both are being watched by the sentry. Scout drinks his bonk, and is able to escape, taking only 167 damage in total (Not taking it, but he WOULD have) He is slowed own to a soldiers pace, and the engie quickly catches up, and shoots him with his shotgun. See what i mean? All in all, the nerf could be better.

Pretty Boys Pocket Pistol

The buffs for this weapon finally bring the weapon to the viable group. After countless nerfs, buffs, and all around changes, it is now a great weapon to use. It replaced its useless “no falling damage” and replaced it with the faster firing rate, lower clip size, and the increase from 5 HP gained on hit to 7 HP gained. It is now a new meta for the “survivalist scout” setup. (My favorite being BFB, PBPP, And the candy cane)

Crit-a-cola

Eh, this nerf is ok. As the blog says, it makes the scouts crits a high risk high reward situatuon, all the time. The one problem i have is the speed buff being removed. I enjoyed running by someone and smacking them with a crit bat before they can even blink. Now, i can no longer do that :(

The Atomizer

Ouch, i feel bad. It’s got the While Active effect. This normally ruins all weapon it applies to tbh :/
I dont really feel the need to penalize it that bad. Other than that, the other nerfs arent that bad, though you dont get hurt by it anymore. Thats neat.

Flying Guillotine

This completely screwed the gullotine/sandman combo. Then again, the sandman nerf did that itself. It can no longer deal stupid amounts of damage to previously hit/stunned by the prenerf sandman. At least it is spammable, until valve nerfs it again.

B.A.S.E Jumper

I definatley can relate to these nerfs. I can agree with the soldier having to much control in the air, and being able to retract AND deploy in the same flight doesnt help. So, this nerf pretty much speaks to all those anti-market gardeners

Mantreads

The meta for rocket jumpers (is it?). Now, at least. It doesnt do the goomba stomp deal, which is nice. They also made airblasts less reliable against mantreads wearers. Now, medics can choose to uber a soldier and not risk him being blown away. The amazing control in the air, is a nice change as well. Now, maybe soldiers will use it to rocket jump. Who knows?

Darwins Danger Sheild

Four words. Anti pyro for sniper. Simple as that. Why valve wanted to make snipers of all classes better against pyros is beyond me. Help the spy out for gods sake! I would say only to use this during the hype about contracts and items, because there are still a whole lot of pyros hanging around.

Razorback

Dang, it got buffed. This weapon now regenerates in 30 seconds, and can no longer be overhealed. Clearly though, valve doesnt understand what “pocket” is, aand no overheal nerf is gonna make a quick-fix medic not spam the heals onto an in-danger sniper

Vita-Saw

To be honest, i dont like the changes this weapon got. With the ubersaw, it is high risk, high reward. It is risky to fight, but rewarding with that sweet, sweet, uber. But the vita saw is a high risk high reward as well. Except that when you have all the organs you can carry, medics tend to get cocky, and slip up. Even IF he keeps his uber charge (At most, 60), hes not on the front lines healing. Its a problematic weapon, and only if you have self control, can you weild it perfectly

Crusaders crossbow

Basically, they implemented a different uber build for this weapon, as well as a crit-healing system. I believe they are trying to make a long ranged meigun with these changes, thats my opinion though. I honestly dont care about these changes, because in all honestly, i dont ever notice uber i get from bolt healing.

Literally every minigun

So, the heavy has to wait after revving up (for only a second) to get his more accurate shots. I honestly believe the heavy is supposed to be a crowd control/shoot everything that moves type of class. Sure, accuracy is great, but heavys shouldnt be firing too far away anyway, and if the enemy is close, their done, no question. So, i dont really think this change is going to affect anything THAT badly

GRU

Wow, the initial changes to this weapon made the invincibal hoovy glitch, which was NOT ok. They fixed it, but it still drains maximum HP. i initially thought this was a great way to build uber, but it doesnt drain HP in itself, just lowers your MAX hp.

Eviction notice

Discount GRU. Thats all.


Fists of steel

Interesting, their trying to fix pocketing. But, since the healing is still the same, just slower, it doesnt really change anything. The heavy will be defended enough to get away, and still be healed. If anything, it is a shiel to get away with.

Rescue ranger

Ok, they added repairing from a distance shots that take up metal, instead of just healing. To be honest, i think they should take away this little peice entirely, and replace it with a long range building placer. (think of a high place an angie cant reach. He picks up the sentry, “loads” it into the gun, and places it at a distance using the rescue ranger, but only with a distance limit