Axtinguisher vs Back Scratcher: which is better?

[Mr. Manguy]

Ever since the Axtinguisher's nerf, the old axe had dropped its standards in taking down enemies. Now, both these pyro melees are on more or less the same level. Which is better in your opinion and why? (No powerjack allowed)

[Balanced]

powerjack, i know its not allowed but its the best hands down

[Mr. Manguy]

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

powerjack, i know its not allowed but its the best hands down

Not asking which is the best; just asking which of the two stated above is BETTER.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

the third degree since its a direct upgrade to stock, and can kill medics along with their patients
that or the volcanoe fragment since even though its reduced damage, people forget you light them on fire and have the power of a melee strike

[Mr. Manguy]

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

the third degree since its a direct upgrade to stock, and can kill medics along with their patients
that or the volcanoe fragment since even though its reduced damage, people forget you light them on fire and have the power of a melee strike

*facepalm* I'm just asking the two above, not the other axes

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Brutus Maximus:

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

powerjack, i know its not allowed but its the best hands down

Not asking which is the best; just asking which of the two stated above is BETTER.

backscratcher, the axetinguisher nerf made it harder to insta kill players since now frontals are mini crits, its still effective but not in a large area/ if you want to do a hit and run/ puff and sting so to speak. plus if you want back mini crits, why not just use the backburner, and you can do more attacks than a melee
plus scratcher is good for using healthkits when no engies spensers, pootis, or medics are avaliable on your team/near you

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Brutus Maximus:

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

the third degree since its a direct upgrade to stock, and can kill medics along with their patients
that or the volcanoe fragment since even though its reduced damage, people forget you light them on fire and have the power of a melee strike

*facepalm* I'm just asking the two above, not the other axes

stock!

[Balanced]

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

the third degree since its a direct upgrade to stock, and can kill medics along with their patients
that or the volcanoe fragment since even though its reduced damage, people forget you light them on fire and have the power of a melee strike

they didnt forget the after effect, they don't like it because afterburn is its only upside which is useless because you ARE A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PYRO

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

the third degree since its a direct upgrade to stock, and can kill medics along with their patients
that or the volcanoe fragment since even though its reduced damage, people forget you light them on fire and have the power of a melee strike

they didnt forget the after effect, they don't like it because afterburn is its only upside which is useless because you ARE A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PYRO

its good for spy checking and if you dont wanna waste ammo/build up hype for phlogs, plus like i said its all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it as well as afterburn

[Datlossit (Inactive, check bio)]

Axtin nerf was to encourage Pyro to ambush more from behind then attack head on, it's mostly a heavily nerfed Spy knife. They should of gave it a outright damage penatly to 125 crit damage penalty and the fire on the target is extinguished from taking the hit. If you say that's bad of a nerf, you are out of your mind, as you can still two shot 8 of the 9 classes but the Heavy. This is to make it so to give classes a slightly longer time to react and fight back, due to the Pyro has to reignite them again so Pyro can go in for a 2nd Axtin crit. If you can do fine with ambushes, then go with Axtin.

Backscratcher forces you to rely on health packs scattered about on the map, as any other healing source ends up being really slow to around 5-10 health per second from Medics and Dispensers. However, if you can easily rely on health packs, plus the extra health they give with Backscratcher equiped, then go with that. The bonus thing with Backscratcher is that it doesn't affect Uber build rate, making it a very good way to build Uber. It isn't a bad weapon either for melee only matches, due to the +25% damage bonus.

No weapon is the best, it depends on your loadout and playstyle of which one is better, plus what is happening on the battlefield.

[Balanced]

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

they didnt forget the after effect, they don't like it because afterburn is its only upside which is useless because you ARE A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ PYRO

its good for spy checking and if you dont wanna waste ammo/build up hype for phlogs, plus like i said its all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it as well as afterburn

good for spy checking? it takes 20 ammo to check a area and 1 to set a spy on fire
kill and enemy- you get ammo from guns. and i have no idea why you would use this to build hype over the actual phlog.
"all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it"- or i can have every other weapon and get the FULL power of a melee immediately

[Mr. Manguy]

Originally posted by Datlossit:

Axtin nerf was to encourage Pyro to ambush more from behind then attack head on, it's mostly a heavily nerfed Spy knife. They should of gave it a outright damage penatly to 125 crit damage penalty and the fire on the target is extinguished from taking the hit. If you say that's bad of a nerf, you are out of your mind, as you can still two shot 8 of the 9 classes but the Heavy. This is to make it so to give classes a slightly longer time to react and fight back, due to the Pyro has to reignite them again so Pyro can go in for a 2nd Axtin crit. If you can do fine with ambushes, then go with Axtin.

Backscratcher forces you to rely on health packs scattered about on the map, as any other healing source ends up being really slow to around 5-10 health per second from Medics and Dispensers. However, if you can easily rely on health packs, plus the extra health they give with Backscratcher equiped, then go with that. The bonus thing with Backscratcher is that it doesn't affect Uber build rate, making it a very good way to build Uber. It isn't a bad weapon either for melee only matchs, due to the +25% damage bonus.

No weapon is the best, it depends on your loadout and playstyle of which one is better.

Good point, but the Back Scratcher would be great for pubs: no medics, hoovies rarely give sandviches and engies there don't know how to place dispensers. And I didn't say it was bad, just a little bit less powerful.

[Fumo Bnnuy n Frends]

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

its good for spy checking and if you dont wanna waste ammo/build up hype for phlogs, plus like i said its all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it as well as afterburn

good for spy checking? it takes 20 ammo to check a area and 1 to set a spy on fire
kill and enemy- you get ammo from guns. and i have no idea why you would use this to build hype over the actual phlog.
"all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it"- or i can have every other weapon and get the FULL power of a melee immediately

alright sheesh killjoy, dont use the volcanoe fragment then, if i had a strange one i would show you just how effectively it actually is since i equip it on 3/4 of all my loadouts

[Balanced]

Originally posted by newturtlebread3 senpai:

Originally posted by Balanced Insanity:

good for spy checking? it takes 20 ammo to check a area and 1 to set a spy on fire
kill and enemy- you get ammo from guns. and i have no idea why you would use this to build hype over the actual phlog.
"all the power of a melee just slightly reduced, but the set on fire makes up for it"- or i can have every other weapon and get the FULL power of a melee immediately

alright sheesh killjoy, dont use the volcanoe fragment then, if i had a strange one i would show you just how effectively it actually is since i equip it on 3/4 of all my loadouts

im not saying it not effective, im saying its the worst of the pyro melees and it doesn't help that it's a pyro weapon

[Datlossit (Inactive, check bio)]

Originally posted by Brutus Maximus:

Originally posted by Datlossit:

-ship-

Good point, but the Back Scratcher would be great for pubs: no medics, hoovies rarely give sandviches and engies there don't know how to place dispensers. And I didn't say it was bad, just a little bit less powerful.

I didn't say it was bad either, i just find the Axtin nerf far too strong, as it's mostly like i said a heavily nerfed Spy knife.

Originally posted by Salamence:

nobody wins. everyone knows the sharpened volcano fragment is the best pyro melee.

Don't even bother being here if you ain't gonna stay on topic.

[Sir Zorba]

The rake is better now, hands down. It only does 7 less base damage than an axtinguisher minicrit, and all hits with the axe are gonna be minicrits unless your target is a potato. It also doesn't require the target to be on fire, and it can be minicrit and critboosted, as well as random crits and all the health benefits it brings to the roaming pyro.

Originally posted by Datlossit:

Axtin nerf was to encourage Pyro to ambush more from behind then attack head on, it's mostly a heavily nerfed Spy knife. They should of gave it a outright damage penatly to 125 crit damage penalty and the fire on the target is extinguished from taking the hit. If you say that's bad of a nerf, you are out of your mind, as you can still two shot 8 of the 9 classes but the Heavy. This is to make it so to give classes a slightly longer time to react and fight back, due to the Pyro has to reignite them again so Pyro can go in for a 2nd Axtin crit. If you can do fine with ambushes, then go with Axtin.

Backscratcher forces you to rely on health packs scattered about on the map, as any other healing source ends up being really slow to around 5-10 health per second from Medics and Dispensers. However, if you can easily rely on health packs, plus the extra health they give with Backscratcher equiped, then go with that. The bonus thing with Backscratcher is that it doesn't affect Uber build rate, making it a very good way to build Uber. It isn't a bad weapon either for melee only matches, due to the +25% damage bonus.

No weapon is the best, it depends on your loadout and playstyle of which one is better, plus what is happening on the battlefield.

No, it was nerfed because valve finally caved in to years of bad players whining that they couldn't counter it when in reality they never bothered to try. Valve also balances based on equiprates, which is beyond stupidity. Any nerf to a balanced weapon is a bad nerf. If you're in melee range of a pyro, then you already had your chance to fight back. You ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up and let the second least mobile and shortest ranged class in the game get close. Time to pay the price. And there's next to no excuse for getting ambushed. Take every corner like there's something more threatening than a pyro around it. Check your surroundings. BE AWARE. Dealing with pyros couldn't be simpler.