The TF2 economy is a double-edged sword. It is undoubtedly one of the driving forces behind TF2’s continued popularity, but it also has many, many problems of its own as well. As you may already know, I decided to take an extended leave after being scammed out of my entire inventory. I was distraught, and I couldn’t believe I had been so gullible. However, as I wallowed in self-pity, I realized something. I was actually becoming upset over losing virtual items. Of course, they were all worth money, but still, they’re just hats. They don’t affect gameplay (anymore). The economy had taught me that hats were more valuable than gameplay, and it’s done the same to hundreds of thousands of others.

Being a free game for a decade now, TF2 is expected to have microtransactions. Hell, to build an economy off of it was a risky venture that turned out incredibly profitable. When TF2 went free in 2011, the economy was worth around 50 million dollars. This is insane, and Valve’s decision to give the economy full economic reign of TF2 paid off. With CS: GO and Dota’s economies adding to TF2’s, the multi-game economy has become Valve’s money printer, and is, in my opinion, the main reason they keep it around.

Ok, so the economy is important to Valve, but what does it do for the community? Well, we get our hats and the prices for them. We use items like currency instead of actual items. Really, the economy is one built off of rarity. Common items are currency. Super expensive items are used as symbols of wealth. So what happens when the rare items everything is built upon lose their rarity? We get the crate depression.

So, you’ve all heard of it, right? Infinite unusuals, chaos, frantic unboxing, all that good stuff. One bug threatened the entire economic foundation of TF2, and perhaps even Valve themselves. However, we’re still here and nothing has changed, so we made it, right? Yes, we did. However, this really should have served as a wake-up call that basing a multi-million dollar economy on the rarity of hats is a dangerous and ultimately doomed venture. Any super expensive item is doomed to lower in value with every lucky unbox. It’s a game of chicken at its very core, and it’s tearing the community apart.

The TF2 economy has a lot of power over the community. Nobody wants to lose money, right? So hats are hoarded, with thousands and thousands of rare items and expensive, unique hats locked behind the inventory of some super trader who’s poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into this game. Look at Backpack’s top inventory. They have hundreds upon hundreds of unusuals, just sitting there, never to be used. I know this sounds a bit like communist propaganda but my point is that these are virtual items reduced to nothing but currency. It’s borderline depressing how all of these traders care more about the hats rather than anything else.
Speaking of trading, entry-level low-tier trading has been completely ruined by bots. Scrap tf and the idle bots many large traders use have made human trading obsolete except for super expensive purchases. Weapons and most hats are worth nothing, so unless you’ve got the money for a bunch of unusuals and rare items, you can stay down in the pit with the rest of us.
The greed on display as people with the money to run bots monopolize trading is sickening. There is no such thing as fair in this economy, only bitter resentment to the men who have everything.

Gambling is the center of the economy when we break it down to the fundamentals. Everything hinges on somebody unboxing an expensive item. Modern-day games are slammed with microtransactions and subsequently laughed at by gamers everywhere. However, we look back and fail to realize that TF2 did what Fortnite did a decade later. The only thing Valve has to hide it is an economy to make you think you’re not wasting all of your money.
And of course, the economy always leads to...

Scammers. Scammers robbed me and thousands of others of everything we had. This economy is so enticing to make money from that people flock to it to do whatever they can to make money. This community is fueled by GREED. But, I too have fallen into the trap of wanting expensive items. Hell, that’s how I lost mine. But I now realize I should be devoting all I have to gameplay, which is why I’m just going to buy some cheap hats, and then I am never going to trade again. (Except for MVM tickets)
I can no longer engage in the black hole the economy has become underneath the noses of the entire community.

In conclusion, the TF2 Economy is a curse and a blessing. A pillar to keep the game raised, but also a thorn in its shoe, keeping it from greatness. A constant way to keep bringing players in, but also a constant reward for the rich to monopolize. Hats are nice, but a world without them would undoubtedly be a world with better gameplay.

The TF2 community is downright awful in a lot of places. I attribute the community’s building nature to a few different things.

Free games attract many types of people. Some of these are not the best people, and it leads to the community becoming stuffed with terrible people. I’m trying to be general here but I’ll get specific. Reddit, for starters, has begun to have a monopoly with new players’ mentalities. I don’t know why but every player I come across usually spouts some drabble they heard from there. Of course, people regurgitate things from the subreddit on every game, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
Beyond Reddit hiveminds, the community also has a weird hatred towards competitive. This ties into the friendly thread I either already posted or will post depending on how my timeline goes. The community as a whole is forgetting about balance and serious play, even going as far as to demonize players who don’t. It’s sad to see, but there’s even more.
Hats. We all want em. As I elaborated on heavily in my economy section, hats have become godlike statues of wealth to the community. We’ve elevated hats beyond their place as simple cosmetics into a main part of the game, to the point where actually good balancing takes a backseat to “which hat is better haha”.
To bring this first part full circle, I understand the game would still have some bad apples even if it still costed money, but you’d be a fool to think we wouldn’t have significantly less toxicity in-game and in the community if TF2 was never free.

The community’s actions have also resulted in numerous updates that were atrocious (Community updates). These updates are, and still are, some of the worst among them all.
Cosmetic updates with little to nothing balance-wise.
Controversy with scummy community members galore.

Now let’s talk about in-game behavior.
My original intent here was to have the whole friendly rant, but you all saw that in another thread so I won’t bother. However, friendlies are a completely community-made disease and continue to be supported by them.
Other than that, we have Chat. The text chat of most games is filled with garbage binds making stupid jokes over and over again. The same “randumb crits fair and balanced hurr durr” over and over. Not only that, but voice chat is always filled with the screeches of prepubescent players and ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ who think “loud = funny haha soviet anthem earrape so funny!!!!!!!”
I don’t like muting my teammates in any game and prefer to treat it as a last resort.
But I have NEVER had to mute my team as much as I have here.
In and out of a match many of the players are terrible.

However, there’s still plenty of good in this community! The steam discussion forums have many people who have been nothing but good. Sure, there’s plenty of bad apples there too, but not nearly enough to taint it like other platforms. Groups like Potato TF preserve older TF2 spirit, and even the rise of services like FACEIT have allowed for more serious play and have given less power to the toxic part of the community. Hope is not lost.

Overall, the community is really, really bad. Too much of it is tainted with unfunny and annoying players in-game and out, and the only good parts are reduced to mere small sections of the community. There’s no solution here, either. It’s far, far too late.

Random Crits are a fundamentally flawed mechanic.
Duh.

Anything that gives some random the ability to dish out insta-kills whenever they get lucky is a bad mechanic. That’s not really arguable. It’s not good for player interactions and it’s not good for gameplay. I am not here to repeat Dane’s video. I am not here to play devil’s advocate, or pander to the random crit supporter’s side. I am here to say why they are wrong.

Random Crits affect gameplay a lot more than many people think they do. Even a melee dishes out around 195 damage on a crit. That kills 7/9 classes in one hit, and that’s just melee. I think everyone has tried to rush a medic, only to receive a quick death by their hands. This, combined with the ubersaw’s vast usage, results in many a joke about the random crit rate of the ubersaw. However, the medic’s crit rate is no laughing matter. Similar to the current system where more damage = more chance, Medic has an additional system where more healing = more chance, meaning Medics are almost always maxed on crit chance. However, all this talk of melee may be boring you, so let’s get on to the good stuff: The Boom. Random Crits on Demoman and soldier are game-changing, with each being able to deal devastating damage along with splash. A single crit rocket, sticky, or grenade can completely halt a push or even wipe a team. Its immense power in the hands of any schmuck. However, why is this bad, hmm? Why is a random chance to change games bad? Because it undermines any skill required, while also giving an unfair advantage to whoever randomly gains one.

When someone kills an entire team, you probably think, “wow, that player’s pretty good.” When someone kills an entire team with a random crit, you probably think, “wow, that player got lucky.” When someone happens to gain a random crit, it doesn’t even allow them to reflect their skill. It just gives them a free win for no reason. There’s just no real reason to give out this power randomly, especially in modern tf2. This game is filled with wacky strategies and solid gameplay without Random crits, and their addition only sours the experience.

When you get a random crit, it’s fun.
When you get crit, It’s not.
This is the constant description of random crits. A mechanic that functions like this should never truly be an instrumental part of an online shooter. An important piece of balance and gameplay is making weapons fun to use AND fun to play against. This also applies to basic player interactions and the classes. A scout on soldier duel is fun because the 2 classes are fun to fight and require skill to overcome. So when that goes out the window because my opponent got a random crit, you can’t blame me for being slightly steamed. This also creates the now-infamous “random crit bind” that many players have. Y’know the one, where they apologize or say some stupid phrase, and they say it every time they get a random crit. Sincerely ♥♥♥♥ you if you do this, by the way. Own it, don’t apologize. It just makes us feel worse. Anyway, Random crits do also make new players worse. They encourage a tactic of “shoot till you win” with no need for experimentation or new tactics. It teaches new players to learn and adapt around them, so when they inevitably find themselves in games with no random crits, they flop like a fish. I could go on but this point is pretty much the same in Dane’s video, and I’d rather have more of my own ideas here.

RNG on a game-changing level has no place in TF2. Hell, it has no place in online shooter games to begin with. It’s a harmful mechanic which forces new players to stay at a low level of play unless they force themselves to break through it. They’re a mechanic that undermines high-level play and has no real reason to stay. Not even kidding here, there is not a single good reason to keep random crits. So why keep such a terrible mechanic around?

Friendlies are a real hot-button issue in the TF2 community, similar to random crits. Also similar to random crits is the fact that one side is in the objective right here (Hint: Not the friendly side). But what’s the problem? Why go after the hoovy when they are nice and funny? I’ll tell you why.

To list the main problems with friendlies:
1. Actively playing against their team by supporting the enemy
2. Wasting a slot that an active player could be using
3. Attempting to transform servers into their skewed vision of how the game goes
4. Showing toxic behavior in casual lobbies

These are the 4 main issues. I will address each.

Actively playing against their team by supporting the enemy

The Sandvich is an item 99% of heavies use. It’s versatile, it’s iconic, and it’s all around just plain good. However, the sandvich can be thrown to teammates AND enemies, as it seems to just be a portable health pack spawner Heavy carries with him. I don’t know if enemies picking up sandviches is a bug or not, but either way…
Purposefully healing enemy players is GRIEFING.
This should NEVER become the normalized behavior in casual for ANY reason. I see my team heal the enemy, I kick. Simple as that. If a medic purposefully healing a spy is griefing, so is a Heavy purposefully healing via sandvich.
By standing still and idling, you’re also supporting the enemy!
Even if a friendly doesn’t heal the enemy, they can still be the catalyst for their team’s destruction. From Phlog and banners to ammo and metal, when enemies inevitably kill the friendly, they gain from it. This is also griefing, as the friendly refuses to fight back.

So, we can already see how friendlies hurt their team by just being there, right? There’s more though.

2. Wasting a slot that an active player could be using

It’s true! If there’s a friendly on my team, that is a player who chooses to idle. Why him when I should have a real teammate who helps me, hmm? Why would I keep a player on my team who actively hurts me on purpose? If they are kicked, friendlies can do 1 good thing: Open the slot for a real player to join.
This one was shorter because it’s self-explanatory.

Attempting to transform servers into their skewed vision of how the game goes

Yeah, that’s their goal. In this game about war, all they yearn for is peace. Sure, in the real world you might have a case, but not here. We choose war here, we don’t tolerate hippies.
Joking aside, the end goal of friendlies is typically to get the entire server to just sit around and do nothing. Yeah, sounds insane on paper, right? So imagine my shock when a lot of the community agrees with this logic! Idling is a punishable offense, so why make the exception?

Showing toxic behavior in casual lobbies

Now, the experience with friendly toxicity is a different experience for most. Some may see more, others less. I am judging from my personal experience: Most friendlies are toxic. They’ll squeal in chat when you kill them, begging your team to kick you. Every death is another temper tantrum followed by “TRYHARD! TRYHARD!” and it’s infuriating.
Yes, I do like trying hard. The idea that people consider tryhard an insult is pathetic, as they see trying your best to be a bad thing. That’s just sad.
The worst part? Again, the community backs this behavior up, actively going against anyone who “dares to even speak against the mighty hoovy”.
It’s a sickening cult in the making.

Ok, counterarguments.

“But what about partner taunts?” There’s nothing wrong with high-fiving an enemy or dancing at the end of the match. The problem with friendlies is that they do it the ENTIRE MATCH.

“I think they’re funny!” Don’t see why people think this is an argument, it’s more just an opinion. No real way to prove it.

“But in the lore Demoman and soldier are friends!” Yes, and they are also friends in-game! But that doesn’t stop them from doing their jobs. You can still be friends and murder each other, you don’t have to force the friendship in their face.
“The game has a goofy style!” So what? Where does that justify idling? Seriously, there is no reason why a goofy style means you can just start sitting around. It’s still an FPS.

“It’s casual! Go to comp!” So, you want us to go to servers specifically designed for high-level players, and yet when we ask you to go to servers specifically designed for friendlies, we’re the bad guys?

In conclusion, friendlies are an issue. A community issue. They get away with their abhorrent behavior and then get praised by the community.
I’m sick of it. If they would just stay on the community servers MADE FOR friendlies, there would be no problems.

TF2 balance is a joke. I know, I know, not the most controversial statement ever, but it’s true. There are multiple instances of weapons being better than the stock counterparts and vice versa. Now, this would be all fine and dandy, really. There’s nothing wrong with having a few guns that wobble on the edge of “good” and “better”. But the problem arises when those weapons are so powerful that they require special focus. You’ve heard about this one before, I really, really don’t need to tell you about it here. However I feel that TF2’s balance is a special case as it relies heavily on ever-changing and unique factors no other game can compete with or compare to. TF2’s high focus on player interactions and lack of updates has forced players to accept and adapt to the game’s natural balance.

The interactions between players has always and will always be TF2’s strongest element. No game to date has nailed the interaction between a player and their fellow mann in a match quite like TF2. However, this presents numerous irregularities when it comes to balance, as the multiple class combinations possible allow for strategies that seem impossible or just dumb on paper to be dominant strategies. This is where TF2’s balance shines in the good, as it is ever evolving and ripe for creativity. The lack of a real matchmaking system allows a wide variety of opponents to enter your crosshair, and the way you approach them is always up to you. However, this begins to dissipate in high level play, which is where the balance of most games comes to a black and white area. Games that have a majority of high level players will see a repeating cyle of strategies proven to be dominant in a rock paper scissors gameplay loop. While this is a way to describe balance in low level play, random mechanics and non-competitive features (as controversial as they may be) keep it from becoming a solidified “meta”. This is incredible for fostering a casual environment in the game. But, where does that leave comp?

Ugh, Valve comp. Butchered on release, this could use some tuning up. Valve comp died because of many factors, but I wish to focus on 2. System restrictions and a lack of a whitelist. System restrictions would limit certain console commands to keep the playing field “fair”. On paper, this is fine and overall a smart move. In execution? They went overboard. Honestly it’s not as big of a deal as the second reason, but it certainly drove away a large portion of competitive players who used the console to take their games to its limits for the sake of improving themselves. No, the real killer was a lack of a whitelist.
(I guess also the bad map selection but that’s besides the point)
Plenty of weapons in TF2 are very hit or miss when it comes to being better or worse than stock. Some weapons were or still are outright better than their original counterparts. This may pass in a casual game where nothing is at stake and people just want to have fun. However in a ranked match with a ranking on the line, people will use whatever they can to get an edge, including busted weapons. This is why almost all community comp leagues use an ever changing whitelist, to not only keep the gameplay loop fresh, but to also keep the playing field fair.

So that covers player interactions, and how they influence the balance of the weapons in every match. But what about the lack of updates? How could valve not updating the game help balance at all? For this, I’d like to draw a comparison to another class based shooter: Overwatch. Overwatch has also had a very long-standing balance issue between casual and comp. However they took the approach of making changes to cater to comp, and making said changes very rapidly. Eventually, metas began to form as Blizzard wouldn’t stop changing the heroes, typically for the worse. TF2 does not suffer this problem because it hasn’t had any kind of balance change in over 3 years. We as a community have been forced to adapt to the current weapons whether we like them or not. This is a very effective way of balancing as it allows people to feel out what they dislike and can get used to, and then down the line the most egregious can be fixed or changed.

And that’s the general balance of TF2 broken down. Overall I do really enjoy and agree with how the system has worked, even with all the bumps and hiccups.

Oh boy, I’ve been waiting for this one. The day I get to write out about how much I despise cheaters with every fiber of my being. My utter hatred for the losers which plague gaming as a whole. My incurable resentment towards the filth we’re forced to tolerate. Except… Not really. This isn’t a rant thread on Cheaters, nor is it a vain attempt to wake the sleeping giant that is Valve. This is meant to be a call to the community, and an analysis of the how and why of this never-ending nightmare.

So, bots have been around for years, which may come as a surprise to some of you. People have noted their existence on record as far back as 2017, however they were significantly rarer than they are today. Bots really became a problem in late 2019/2020. While unconfirmed, it’s highly likely that this was a planned “invasion” as many people were stuck indoors thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. Many returned to TF2, and the bots were primed and ready to launch.

Before I detail the long history of January 2020 - May 2021, I’d like to talk about the reasoning behind the bots and the cheaters behind them. Names will not be given for obvious reasons. These bots are, and always have been made to get attention. Rumors have and continue to be spread that the cheaters have some ulterior motive or secret agenda. No, don’t give them credit for thinking 2 steps ahead. The bots’ purpose was to bait attention, because it’s pretty easy to get the TF2 community to melt down over something. As has been shown, the TF2 community just can’t seem to stop talking about bots, no matter where you go. Bots have become a large part of TF2 discussion. They are accomplishing their prime directive, if you will.

So how are bots made? Well despite what many think, it’s inexpensive and easy. Scarily easy. To avoid detailing the process in full, I’ll only say that it involves copy-pasting code in linux to avoid VAC. Bots do require ram, but the average computer can run a few. Just know that it’s easy to do, meaning that there are most likely more bot hosters than the ones we know of currently (the ones embracing a public persona). The ones who feed off of hate. We’ll get to them later.

Ok, time for the timeline, going month by month to the best of my recollection and sources. (Note: This is a timeline starting in 2020 due to the sharp rise in bots at this time.)

January 2020: Bots are still rare-ish. Not on a large enough scale, nor are they incredibly talked of. Lockdowns aren’t in full effect yet.

February 2020: Same as january, however bots are becoming more known to people in the community. Info circulates about their possible increase.

March 2020: The beginning of everything. This is the month most people had entered and begun lockdown procedures, and the bots began to strike. While not the height of the invasion, certainly a high number. Bots’ popularity exploded as thousands of players experienced the bots all together. The micspam, chat spam. Without the kick vote this would have been the end.

April 2020: Bots that can crash servers become common. Mass hysteria ensues before Valve quickly and quietly patches the exploit, rendering the crash bots useless. Both numbers continue to rise throughout the month. Rick May, the voice of the soldier, passes away. Bots capitalize upon this with themed bots, but stop shortly after.

May 2020: Uneventful, however the increase in bots did not cease. At this point it was clear most bots occupied CTF servers heavily, more than the other modes. The community was up at arms, begging for help. What they got? A slap in the face.

June 2020: Perhaps the most eventful month of the year, on June 16th, Valve restricted all Free to play accounts from text chat, provoking a massive outrage from the community. While many bots were silenced, so were thousands of real, human players. The community became divided on this issue. Pazer also released his bot detector 1.0, to mixed reception. While many blindly praised it at first, others began to realize how the software worked off of a blacklist. Controversy would follow.

July 2020: Free to play accounts lose Voicechat as Valve doubles down on their methods. A bug that the bots abused to remove cosmetics from players was also patched. Bots are at their heights.

August 2020: Summer update arrives and bots are seemingly stable, if not lowering. This is when regular cheaters began adopting public personas to capitalize off of the hate train.

September 2020: Bots lower dramatically, Nothing much else happens.

October 2020: Scream fortress! Bots do rise quite a bit, but many struggle to maneuver on the new maps with the multitude of spells and bosses, forcing the bots to remain in regular casual servers. A large balance update is included…
for mannpower.

November 2020: The calm, many people are simply excited for Smissmas, with rumors of the final anti-bot update coming. Bots are steady from October.

December 2020: A large Smissmas update to round out the year. No bot updates, however, only cosmetics. Bots rise again, with the infamous “festive hitmen” plaguing all maps.

January 2021: New year, same problems. Bots re-steady, and all seems hopeless. Valve adds pier to casual, and nothing is heard from them for 2 months.

February 2021: Complete and utter dismay as the community continues to talk about bots. Valve has given up.

March 2021: Cp_powerhouse is given a timer. Bots flood the map for a few days in a strategic move from the hosts. Continued dismay,
April 2021: Nothing special happens. Bots stay as they are.

And now here we are in May. Still waiting on Valve for the never coming updates.
So that’s it, is it? Bots win, we lose? No. No it isn’t. The only way for Bots to stop is for the TF2 community to stop talking about them. If we feed them attention they will only grow more powerful. However, let it be known that this is a solution that is heavily dependent on the community working together, a pipedream at best.

But what about the future? What’s in store for TF2? I personally see 2 different futures. Good and bad endings, if you will. The good ending, which is obviously Valve’s intervention. Seems almost unrealistic now, as Valve has clearly put TF2 in the back as their money printer with no need for maintenance unless absolutely necessary. Bad ending is eternal limbo, yadda yadda.

So, bots are bad. It’s been over a year since they started hammering servers and they show little signs of stopping. But I don’t think this’ll last forever. This post was meant to be the be all end all of bot posts, but I know that’s an impossibility. A fun analysis and a trip down a bad memory avenue.

FACEIT is struggling. It's pretty clearly not going to last long, or will at least become a husk of what it was just one month prior. What happened? How did we get here? Why did FACEIT fail?

When FACEIT was announced, it was clear it was going to be something so much more than another community group. It was an e-sports company that's been active for a decade, which has worked with games like CS:GO to host official tourneys. This excited many people, especially with the first trailer. It promised a lack of bots, random spread, and random crits. It looked incredibly promising and everything was going swimmingly with hype, until the first red flag.

The Items
The item shop was a big selling point for FACEIT. Free items is a surefire way to attract money-hungry losers (see The Three Core Issues of TF2: The Economy (1/3)). So of course on day one every child downloaded the client expecting to load up some free Aussies, only to realize it was free to play, not free. Realistically, only premium users could acquire these items in a reasonable amount of time. This was an instant turn-off to every money-focused player. However that was only a small part of the downfall.


The Anti-cheat
While reading the TOS, someone realized the Anti-cheat FACEIT uses has basic Anti-Cheat functions which made some people mad. This caused people to spread the idea that it was Spyware that would infect your PC. Such massive ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ believed by a lot of people. So this starts the beginning of the “community killed FACEIT” reasoning.

”Competitive”
This situation proved my theory I always thought about: The TF2 community is bad at video games. We have become so pampered by random crits and easy-to-use weapons that any actual challenge is labeled “comp” and forgotten. That’s just it. The TF2 community refuses to try, they refuse to play the game. They think friendlies are good and dirty tryhards are bad. They think bots are bad “except when they’re friendly bots”.
The community has labelled FACEIT as comp, even with its 12v12 format and casual maps. This is the main reason FACEIT died. The community just did not enjoy actually trying in a video game. It was too hard for them, and they quit.

The ACTUAL problems with FACEIT
Premium players get to pick maps
This is bad and quite honestly kinda scummy.
Idlers in queue
Idlers can cancel the queue for others, this is a big problem
Balance
Pretty big issue with steamrolls, but with the public release each team was ok with players.

FACEIT isn’t completely dead, but it’s close. It’s quite sad to see this possibly good project abandoned for having the audacity to think the community actually enjoyed playing the game.
Another mark on the “Tf2 community is god-awful” board.

The Homewrecker is my personal favorite pyro melee. I don't think there's a better feeling than smacking someone with a sledgehammer full force. However, I do not use the wrecker because my team always thinks that means I'm going to play "Pybro", the single most problematic subclass in the game. Yes, even worse than demoknight. In this thread I want to inform you all of the problems with pybro, why it should be frowned upon, and how both weapons should be rebalanced.

The main problem, in my opinion, about playing engineer is that he’s just not that fun to play. You plop down this giant auto-aim gun and let it do the work while you kick back and randomly crit any spy who dares to attempt to do his job. Sure, there are items like the gunslinger that let you be more of a Texas nightmare, but the engineer is a hyper-defense class and has been since Team Fortress Classic. Pybro is WORSE. Pybro takes the engineer and replaces his shotgun with a flamethrower. That’s all Pybros do! They sit around and counter spy. Nothing more, nothing less. They are an even more boring and stalemate-y class than Engineer.

“So what?” You may say, “they’re still helping their team!”
Ah, but are they really? What else could that pyro be doing instead of babysitting the class that needs it the least? Helping his team on the front lines, where he should be. Pyro is an offense class, believe it or not. Sadly, over the years Valve has tried their damndest to turn pyro into a fourth support class, and I think that it’s complete bull. Weapons like the phlog and the shotguns have been ditched for the easy mode defense weapons that reward scorch flare spam and airblasting everything that moves. And the homewrecker, oh gee golly gosh. What a weapon it could’ve been.

Appropriately named, this weapon was the main factor behind my divorce: I caught my wife playing pybro with another engineer.
Jokes aside, this weapon could have been so much more. The Homewrecker’s stats make it actually 1 shot sappers. Yes, you heard it right: The pyro is better at doing the engineer’s job than Engineer. Insane, isn’t it? I believe this should be changed. If the homewrecker’s sapper removal is removed as a stat, pybros will lower in numbers dramatically. I believe the homewrecker should be a “bunker buster”, which 1 shots sentries, while doing minimal damage to actual players AND another downside when deployed (Perhaps less speed, Death mark, or less healing?)
Yes, I know, I know that sounds bad. However, I fully believe that it would not only provide a good alternative to the powerjack (especially on offense) But it would birth a new sentry destruction tool, and who doesn’t love those? Well, besides engineers, but ♥♥♥♥ those guys.

This weapon is rarely used outside of a joke, because its stats are so dependent on uncontrollable factors it’s rare to see one used well. It can also remove sappers but it takes 2 swings, however, it also crits wet players.
Both of these stats should be removed. I don’t know exactly what to replace it with, though. My main thought is something electric based, perhaps it could travel to other players upon a successful hit? Something like that, anything that doesn’t involve water or sappers is instantly better.

So why has such a cancerous subclass been allowed to roam free for years now? You guessed it: The community. As I have stated many times before, any baby-level easy carry strategy will always be praised to the highest caliber by the community. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised they’re happy they got a glorified babysitter. So yes, once again, the community supports something that’s terrible, just like friendlies, just like random crits.

So, we’ve reached the end. Pybro is bad, and I understand that may be a big shock to some of you. However if everyone were to band together against this semi-idle playstyle, I firmly believe we could make pyro an offence class again! Probably not though, because the TF2 community would never let go of a tactic that rewards doing very little work.

When I play MVM, I play it for fun. I don’t play with the hopes for an aussie, or a reward. I play to have fun and shoot le robots. So when I see these easy-to-use clear tools dominate servers, it really saps the fun from the mode.

Gas

You already know. The explode on ignite is completely broken, both literally and balance-wise. A portable atom bomb on a non-clear class is just infuriating, and forces the meta harder than anything else. There’s nothing quite as gut wrenching as getting ready to fight a big horde of bots only for them to die instantly to the pyro over and over again. The gas passer is a pretty terrible weapon on its own, yes. However making it trump everything else in mvm is even worse. Pyro was perfectly fine before the gas, he was the tank shredder, and he still is. However, he can now shred tanks while clearing out everything else at the same time! Isn’t it so fun to watch your pyro do all the work? I believe that giving pyro a throwable to begin with was a bad idea, and MVM only multiplied how bad it is.

Explosive Headshot

Is almost as bad as gas. Yes, it’s annoying to play bigrock and every single time it’s a sniper sitting in the same spot doing the same thing over and over and over. Sometimes I go huntsman sniper on bigrock as soon as I join so we can play the game in peace. (hopefully without gas or scot res as well).
It has similar problems to gas, but it isn’t unfixable. Change the stat from explosive headshot to “hit robots connected via medibeams on headshot” for one upgrade. This would make snipers significantly more about taking down giants and medics without also making him clear out every common in the process.

Scottish resistance

Is BORING. It’s not as bad as Gas, but it comes close. It’s extra stickies and multiarea dets reward doing the same thing every single game. It also lets demos one shot some of the tankiest bots in the game! I just think it could use a few changes to lessen how powerful it can get, as it starts powerful already.

TF2, at its core, is a game about player interactions. It’s stated in the dev commentary and incredibly evident in its gameplay. Counters are usually soft, allowing players to overcome even the worst of odds. Most weapons function their best at close range, either with falloff or spread. This encourages players to get close. Barring random crits instant kills are rare, with most enemies requiring two shots or more to kill, allowing for more counterplay.
I think you get my point, so I won’t lead you along. Sniper violates every single thing that makes this game so unique. He is a completely game destroying class that ruins the fundamentals of TF2’s gameplay.

He’s also the easiest class in the game.

But enough controversial statements, let’s break sniper down.
Sniper is, and always has been able to kill anyone, anywhere with 1 shot. While some may draw comparisons to spy’s backstab, labelling me a hypocrite, they need to realize that spy needs to be behind someone in melee range which, at least in this day and age, is a real challenge. Sniper needs to have someone in his sightline from any range. That’s all. It’s complete bull and a slap in the face to any sort of balance surrounding the class.

Of course, we need to talk balance between sniper and everyone else.
Battling sniper as any class has little in terms of difference. The only one is how long sniper has to charge his shot. Scout, Medic, Spy, Sniper, and Engineer all can be instantly killed with 1 headshot. 5/9 classes, and the rest only require a few seconds for the charge to build. This ruins player to player interaction. There is no input between the sniper and his target, there’s just m2, m1, reload.

The interactions between a sniper and another player are the same as another player and a random crit, so it always boggles me that people will whine about random crits for hours and then say that sniper’s fine. Turning a corner and instantly dying to something out of your control isn’t fun no matter how you spin it. There is no way to make it fun, either.

“Sniper is the easiest class in the game” is a phrase I think a lot of people fail to understand. This once again ties into my community analysis: The TF2 community is bad at videogames.
Newsflash everyone: Headshots are not hard to hit. It’s a big cube resting on the enemy’s shoulders, c’mon people. Now, I was born and raised on FPS games. I’ve played every FPS under the sun from DOOM to ULTRAKILL. Sniper does reward that experience. Playing sniper does test the fundamental skills that an FPS requires.
However,
It’s not that hard even without FPS experience.

Snipers have infinite range, that’s probably their biggest advantage. If sniper had even the slightest bit of falloff, he would be slightly less problematic. This infinite range he has contributes heavily to the fact that he is legitimately easier to play than Heavy. He gets to sit out of danger and kill whoever he feels like, instantly. This also contributes to the toxicity of the people who play him.

Bragging that you “main sniper” is like bragging that you have a mental deficiency. “Yeah guys I main the easiest class in the game because I can’t be bothered to learn actual gameplay lol trolled u mad??” Bring me one sniper main that isn’t an absolute chore to interact with, just like the class they play. Very similar to pyro in the vein that the players are just as annoying as the class. We also don’t need a 4th sniper, we could really use a med, but D̵̗̹̻͓͍͇͛̓̽̓̃̊́̀a̶̖̻̳͈͚̋̾͐̿̔̊͝͝r̸̲̲͎͚̲̅̂̿k̷̛̮͍͉̬̭͋͐̋͋́͛Ṣ̵̢̢̙̯͓̪͔̤̤̙̓̌͑̌̎ņ̴̢̬̲̹͕̻̙̱̳̫̭͇̳̋̔̆̊͌̌͒͠͠i̷̧̧̛̙̘̮̝̞̓͆̇̀ͅͅp̴̢̛̙̬̬̥̘̥͇̈̔̓͊͘͝ͅȅ̸̢̟̺̃͗͌ŗ̷̖̙̘̟̈́͛͗͆͂̔͠2̶͍̣͌̑̎̉́̌̕͘͝7̵̥͍̯̗̅̏ couldn’t care less.

So how could sniper be fixed? By making him require actual input to be useful and not rewarding sitting still and waiting for some schmuck to walk into your crosshair.
Slower reload times to allow for missed shots and non-kill shots to have more of an impact
Base sniper damage changed from 50 -> 40, meaning non-charged headshots deal 120. This would still let sniper instakill targets (important for keeping meds + heavies in check) but it would also require him to be selective while he charges.
2 seconds after reaching max charge, it begins to decay. This is important for dropping the axe on hardscoping, making it an almost impossibility.
15 reserve ammo
These changes could allow sniper to still be a threat, but one that is significantly less dangerous and possibly more fun to fight.

In conclusion, sniper is bad because he’s good. Too good. He’s a breaker of balance, and a constant reminder of how much bad design Valve let slip through the cracks all those years ago. I didn’t mention cheaters here, because I believe they should have no effect on how the game is designed.

Heavy is the face of TF2. When you think TF2, you think Heavy. Big burly Russian man with an educated and hardened mind. But there’s the common stereotype that “nobody mains Heavy.” Why? Why do people not want to play as Heavy weapons guy? Why do I still see a Heavy in almost every game? To answer these questions, we need to take a deep dive into Heavy’s purpose and gameplay, which will lead to the conclusion that Heavy is the most boring class in TF2.

So, why don’t people play Heavy? His gameplay seems simple enough, point and shoot. There’s not much else that can be said about him. Simple gameplay attracts people, right?
WRONG.
While many draw comparisons between pyro and Heavy in gameplay, pyro still has mechanics like airblast and weapons like flares to spice up gameplay. Heavy really doesn’t have that luxury. Every minigun functions the same, with only the huo being anywhere close to different. Sure, shotguns exist, but in Heavy’s current state they’re basically worthless. In terms of DPS they’re laughable compared to the miniguns and compared to the utility of the lunchbox items, it’s even more black and white. Heavy has no alternate playstyles, leading to his gameplay becoming a loop very quickly.

So we’ve established why people don’t play or main Heavy. Why then is there a Heavy in almost every game I play? Simple, necessity. Heavy may be a very boring class but he’s also incredibly powerful. A minigun is, well, a minigun. Around 500 DPS at optimal range is nothing to sneeze at. Add to that the never-ending amount of fresh meds who think Heavy is the only healable class and you’ve got pubstomping 101. Bonus chance to get a pocket med if you buy a cheap Heavy unusual. Heavy is used in games because he’s important, he leads the charge. While this doesn’t change the boring nature of his gameplay, it does give him a purpose to be played.

But what about the people who “main” Heavy? They do exist, there are more than you think, because everyone hears “there are no Heavy mains” and thinks they’ll be quirky and unique if they main Heavy. However, this is only the case for maybe ½ of all heavy mains. The other half main him because he’s easy, and he can be a great source of dopamine on winning streaks. Heavy, while boring, is probably the easiest class to get a killstreak with. Fools will continue to run at you in casual, which is where heavy dominates.

Casual heavy vs. Comp heavy is a huge difference. Why? Heavy in casual does not need planning nor good positioning to succeed. Casual is so littered with new players and generally bad players that anybody with more than 2 brain cells can press W into combat and M1 every enemy away. In a competitive setting, it is very different. Positioning is life or death, and holding down M1 is a death sentence. There is no breathing room for error, as any good spy or sniper will give you a healthy dose of anxiety all game.

Oh right, heavy’s counters. Spy and sniper counter heavy harder than any other class in the game, and it’s not hard to see why. The 2 insta-kill classes have no regard for Heavy’s healthpool, allowing them to bypass the threat of being out-tanked when fighting him which other classes face. Spies are significantly less of a threat, seeing as good spies are very, very rare. A sniper, on the other hand, is a different story. Sniper doesn’t need skill to take down a heavy. Putting a dot on the slowest class in the game is easier than playing heavy!

In conclusion, Heavy is on par with sniper in terms of easiness to play. A boring cycle of W+M1 in its purest form, cursed to never grow beyond it. Forever will heavy be just a walking wall with a big gun, with no hope of becoming anything more.

Pyro is one of the most unique classes in TF2. His gameplay is something not seen in shooters before or after, for better or for worse. Pyro is definitely a divisive class though, with some saying he’s OP, some saying he’s weak. But who’s right? What does pyro need? Why is pyro locked in this eternal love-hate relationship? We may never know.
Wait, actually I know.

Ok, so is pyro weak or OP? Personally, I think he’s a bit weak. Of course, this viewpoint stems from personal experiences, so I am not here to say your ideas of pyro being overpowered are completely wrong. I believe in CQC, pyro is a monster, and a real force to be reckoned with. However, for a class to really shine, they need to be able to handle threats at all ranges, which pyro is ill-equipped for. Flare guns are ok at range, but far from fully reliable. Even at medium range pyro suffers from being just a bit short. I don’t really think there’s a way to remedy this, besides something I’ll touch on later. It’s really a matter of perspective though, as pyro fills a much better flanker role than spy.

Except when he has airblast.


Airblast is my favorite and least favorite mechanic about pyro’s primaries. I think reflections are rad, nothing better than punishing an enemy with their own projectile. However giving that projectile mini-crits is a bit much. Knockback on players is admittedly useful at times, but mostly ends up being incredibly annoying to fight against. Player interactions, as I’ve said before, are incredibly important. Pyro’s primaries definitely hurt these interactions, but not nearly as badly as sniper. Airblast really just needs to have the knockback on players greatly, GREATLY reduced. Why not remove it? Demoknight deserves a counter, which is why every shield should also get an increased vulnerability to airblast. Also, remove mini crits on reflects, unless of course it was already a minicrit like with a buff banner.

But what does pyro need? Pyro needs something that makes him an offense class. Something that emphasizes shooting enemies and pushing forward. Something like… The Dragon’s Fury.

Yes, the DF is by far the best designed flame thrower in the game. No contest. The single shot style that rewards tracking is great for an offensive play style and compliments more passive secondaries like the thruster, detonator, and the gas passer (lol). Too bad that it ended up being a buggy mess that Valve has still refused to fix 4 years later. Syringes still block it, it’s still reflectable, and its stats are wrong. It’s an amazing design so bogged down by bugs that Valve left it to rot in the ooze. So pyro still remains a lackluster flank class with no room for experimentation, right?
Due to the many years of repeated failures to make pyro an offensive class, the TF2 community has adopted pyro as a pseudo-support class. (See The Homewrecker and The Neon Annihilator: The Problems With Pybro https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/app/440/discussions/0/3112526089307712243/). I can’t really blame them, however, as pyro definitely feels like the most defensive offense class. The Dragon’s Fury taught us that Valve has no interest in attack pyro, so we embraced support pyro, as sad as that is.

So why do people hate and love pyro? That’s the big question here. The main point. The most controversial class in TF2 is loved and hated for 2 completely different reasons.

Pyro is loved because, well, they’re Pyro! They’re definitely the most unique of the mercs, with no voice to be heard. Pyros cosmetics are, (in my opinion at least) some of the best in the game. He’s a blank slate with just as, if not more customization than the other mercs. Pyro is loved for the character that they are, not for how they play.

Pyro is hated because of his annoying at best attacks and from being difficult to play around. Guaranteed flamethrower damage can come off as cheap and unfun, especially when Pyro is average speed. Afterburn is a deadly pest, with little input required to initiate it. The Scorch shot is a self explanatory weapon. Pyro is hated because Pyro consists of guaranteed damage and “cheap” tactics.

So how could his “hated” parts be changed? Well, for the primaries, designs like the DF are the way to go. If we must keep the constant damage, I think giving pyro a considerable slowdown when firing and possibly an overheat mechanic could discourage the “W + M1” the community seems to like blaming. Otherwise? I have no idea.

In conclusion, Pyro is a love or hate class. A class that is unique and unheard of in past or present shooters, but also a class comprised of cheap and boring gameplay that flies in the face of the player interaction foundation this game was built on.

Oh, spy. Throughout the years, Spy has become less and less of a threat in real games. It is becoming a rarity to find any good spy in a match. But why? Spy is by far one of the most unique concepts in all of gaming! The infamous backstab referenced for years to come, the invisibility, the disguise kit! All of these on paper are enough to make spy a master of stealth, able to destroy any team from the inside out. In execution? Spy is one of the hardest classes to use effectively in modern TF2.

But why? Surely the class that can insta-kill anybody just by being behind them isn’t that hard, right? Well, first we need to think of spy’s purpose, which is internal sabotage. Invisibility is spy’s bread and butter, letting him get anywhere he needs to really make an impact. Spy can also use it to slip away undetected when needed. Disguises (when used right) can allow a spy to move among the enemies undetected. The sapper allows the spy to disable enemy buildings, allowing the spy’s team to push forward easier. All of these with a knife and a revolver. The knife allows spy to instantly cripple any team by picking off key targets, while the revolver allows spy to keep enemies off of him during an escape. All of these flow together to create a class designed to systematically cripple a team to let the spy’s team gain the upper hand.

However, with a class this powerful allowed to muck about, what’s stopping them? A lot, if you think about it. The obvious start is pyro. The guaranteed damage and afterburn of flames directly counters Spy’s disguises and invisibility. With spy being a close range class, he’ll have almost no breathing room when battling a pyro, as backstabs become an almost-impossibility. When disguised, taking damage does not alert enemies with hitsounds (Flames will appear around you though). However there is no punishment for shooting teammates in this game, so there is no need to worry about your teammates’ safety when unloading your damage onto them. This is by far the biggest downside with disguises, as whether they are believable or not, it won’t stop the enemy from shooting you. While this doesn’t apply to non-RC settings, Random crits do completely annihilate spy worse than any other class. They counter disguises and any melee attempt, This is a big thing for engineers, but most other classes will ruin a spy with a melee crit.

Spy’s counters ruin him, and it wouldn’t be as bad if they weren’t so common, and if sniper didn’t do what the spy does better. Yes, besides sapping buildings, a sniper is the better choice for everything that Spy could also be needed for. Sniper picks off key targets from an almost unreachable position with half the effort a spy would need to do the same thing. It’s almost criminal how hard sniper completely overpowers spy, so it’s only fair to let spy counter sniper.

However the biggest problem spy faces, as I have already lightly touched on, is the awareness of enemy players. Every single day, spy gets a little weaker, as the player base adapts and does not fall for his tricks. Currently a spy will only ever trick new players and ones who aren’t paying much attention, which is fine. However, Spy definitely needs tools to help in fooling more experienced players. I’ve heard the idea of a noisemaker, or something of a similar design. This would be a throwable(?) that continuously makes a noise to deceive enemies. This could work, but I think it’s a bit much and still doesn’t fix the core issues spy has.

When discussing spy balance, it’s also important to note the large amount of new spy players that flood the game. At least in my experience, spy is definitely one of the most eye-catching of the mercs. He’s got a cool suit, a sleek voice and playstyle, and is all the way at the end of the line. This leads to spys filling teams in casual games, losing the element of surprise. Eventually, however, these players will fail, leading to them abandoning the class in favor of the more general classes. The only reason this affect any kind of balance is how one bad spy affects any other spies on their team. If a competent spy is trying to sneak around, 3 more throwing themselves at the enemy will only encourage heavy spy counterplay, making the good spy’s life harder. It gets to a point where I believe class limits on the support characters are a considerable idea. ‘

So how could spy be fixed? Well, I really don’t know. I don’t play enough spy to tell you exactly how, but I know generally what should be done. Spy needs to be a little more accessible while not completely removing the need for skilled play. Otherwise, I need the help of you to brainstorm some great changes. Overall, spy is currently the hardest class in TF2, but not by their own fault. Spies just can’t catch a break in the frantic chaos that TF2 provides.

Engineer is an iconic merc. His sentry is one of the most recognizable symbols in TF2. However, the texan terror is really not as fun or active as the community would want you to believe. In fact, I think that Engineer is one of the most boring classes to fight in the entire game.

Before I go about trying to convince you of my thesis, I’d like to recap how the game flows. Tf2 is a movement based FPS, all about running and gunning. Only one class has sights of any kind and he’s designed for it. Everyone else is hip-firing. This gameplay flows well, typically. It thrives in chaotic environments and is complimented by open map design. Most classes need to move one way or another to achieve good positioning and maintain it. Even snipers must change spots to avoid being predictable. However, there is one exception to all of this. A class that rarely has to move, one that automatically counters any other movement, and a class designed for staying in one area. Engineer is that exception.

Engineer’s gameplay can range from brain-dead easy to slightly challenging, all depending on the person behind the keyboard. However, the problem is that both will achieve good results. Why? Because Engineer technically compliments the former playstyle. Buildings are big targets for enemies. They’re expensive and incredibly helpful, any building down will cripple your team if they’re relying on it. This is why many engineers choose to kick back and keep their buildings in hyper defensive positions. Building buildings is boring, you sit and hit m1 over and over, so no Engineer wants to do that many times per match. This will be talked on more in a later section. However before we can really break down the core of what makes Engineer a bad class, we need to look at how he interacts with enemy classes.

All of the interactions with enemy classes typically revolve around the sentry, the most common and important building to the Engineer. Engineers prioritize sentries because they’re the most game changing buildings. However, they’re also the main reason Engineer is so absolutely awful to fight. Sentries deny all air movement around it and need to be destroyed in one giant burst of damage. Trying to fight one head on without ubercharge is suicide, especially if the engie is sitting there wacking it. Sentries are static objects that spew death by auto-aim with very little counterplay that isn’t “switch class”.

And now, the Wrangler. The cherry on top. The ultra defense hyper shield that not only buffs the Sentry’s defense with a shield, but gives the Engineer manual control AND doubles the fire rate! Absolute insanity. The wrangler is the epitome of the super defense class that Engie has become and it deserves a heavy nerf. I could go on but most are in agreeance that it’s bad. Now I’d like to shake it up with a more controversial take: Cooperative engineering (and pybro) is also very bad.

Cooperative engineering (having 2 or more Engineers that help each other build and defend) is just as bad as the wrangler. Both can cause and perpetuate unwinnable stalemates that slow games to a halt. The difference? Cooperative engineering is fine and dandy to some people! Just like how pybro (See: The Homewrecker and the Neon Annihilator: The Problems with Pybro) completely shafts the game’s flow, so does stacking engineers. In fact, the exact same problems apply both ways. Removing cooperative engineering is the first step towards a better engineer.

The Engineer himself plays like a slower scout in many ways. While the point of the class isn’t meant to be pure combat, Valve has made it redundant to do anything but rely on the sentry and your team alone. While this is also a problem on Medic, it’s a bit understandable. However, not so for Engie.
Even the Gunslinger, the Saving grace of “battle engineer” still doesn’t change how unfun the sentry (even a mini) is to fight and most Engies still don’t care about the other buildings. Engineer on offense never works as well as defense because Valve leaned too heavily on the hyper defensive engineer and ended up falling.

In conclusion, Engineer is one of the most boring classes in the game to fight, as he’s so hyper defensive that it’s a chore to fight him. His unlocks only further this, leading him into a rut of defense he cannot escape from. The only way I can think of saving Engie is going back in time and keeping Valve from making him so defensive. However it’s a bit late for that.

Medic is a completely different class than the others. Sure, they’re all unique, but Medic is something else. Completely tailored for assisting his team, the worst class for combat, Medic is the template for healers. However, he’s also better in concept than any other healer before or since. He has the power to change games, to plow through enemies and destroy them. He’s also the weakest of the 9 classes in direct combat and quite the little wimp when cornered. Medic is the most popular and relevant example of a FPS healer, yet he still faces many problems which hold him back from being perfect.

To talk about medic, we need to talk about his counters. Technically, medic is countered by every class and medic counters every class. His gameplay isn’t as rock paper scissors as it might seem. Medic’s 150 health allows him to ride damage, avoiding threats like heavy, demo, and soldier. Pyros are a bit too slow to get in prime range for the medic, especially with teammates around. Engineer’s sentries are stopped by ubercharge, though alone they’re also avoidable. Really, the only classes that can be considered counters are sniper, scout, and spy (SSS). However, spy gets ruined by random crits (which I’ll touch on later) and scout usually has to deal with the medic’s teammates. Sniper is...Sniper. (See: Sniper: Bad In Concept, Worse in Execution). Medic relies on his team for most of the game though, and it becomes a symbiotic relationship. He heals the team, they protect him from harm. This is one of the best ways to do a healer in my opinion, because it forces you to play, well, a healer! It helps to discourage pure offense and helps to encourage actually playing medic. But playing medic can be...boring.

Medic’s gameplay boils down to W+M1 at a fundamental level. You follow the man with the gun and heal him, press m2 sometimes and top-score because you helped. It’s no surprise that medics are significantly rarer than other classes because this is an FPS, and people want to play and shoot things. Having to sit behind your teammates and do nothing really isn’t most people’s cup o’ tea, which is understandable. “But static, what about the syringe guns?” They suck, that’s what. They’re annoying to use and are designed to shine when you’re running away. So, medic’s gameplay is boring, right? Well, there is one weapon that changes that.

The Crusader’s crossbow has dominated the medic meta since its inception over a decade ago. Why? Because it takes every flaw of the syringe guns and removes it. It’s a single fire weapon, which is significantly more rewarding to use and better for gameplay (as evidenced by the large amount of single fire weapons in the game). It does meaningful damage at range, 75 max. It heals at range, encouraging risky plays to save teammates and enabling medic to be a better healer than ever. The Crusader’s crossbow is great. Too great. It is so good, it makes picking any syringe gun a hipster move only. It makes every syringe gun useless in comparison. Hell, it heals better than the medigun in almost every scenario! It could definitely use a nerf. Speaking of which, I’d like to go over each of the Medic’s mediguns.

Stock: The most iconic of the mediguns, Stock dominates with its signature ubercharge: Pure, unadulterated invincibility. The slowest to charge out of all the mediguns but definitely makes up for it with its destructive power.

Kritzkrieg: One of the best examples of a sidegrade, a slightly less powerful uber (that still makes a large scale impact) along with a faster charge. I love the kritzkrieg a tad more than stock, but it’s just as good.

Quick fix: A cool concept, but ultimately flawed in gameplay. It rewards pocketing far too much and the mirror jumping (while very, very cool) is useless and occasionally downright harmful. The ubercharge is interesting, the knockback immunity helps a lot, but overall it’s just a bit disappointing and nowhere near as powerful as the first two.

The Vaccinator: A great example of a terrible weapon. The Vaccinator is the worst medigun, because it’s possibly the best. The vaccinator just through regular m1 healing offers a 10% resistance to a specified type (bullet, explosive, fire). Ubercharge offers a 75% resistance AND a 100% crit resistance of the type. The worst part? It can store 4 ubercharges and charges faster than the other mediguns. Resistances are just not fun, making this the best example of the worst.

Before I wrap this up, I need to touch on medic’s crit rate. It’s ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ bonkers. Healing is similar to damage when the game counts for crit chance. This means that Medic can (and usually does) keep a constant max crit rate of around 60% on melee, enabling him to instantly crit anyone who comes close. The obvious solution? Remove random crits.
However we could also temporarily just remove healing from factors that affect random crits.

So, I don’t think medic needs fixing, really. Just his weapons. The syringes should have reduced or removed gravity, and an increased projectile speed. Give them a passive reload to encourage switching.

The crossbow should have reduced damage, I think a max of 50 works. Removing the passive reload and making it burst heal (instead of instantly heal) on teammates helps to encourage medi-gun usage.

The Vaccinator should have no passive resist, lowered crit resist, and 2 charges.

Removing the “match speed of patient” from every medigun and giving it to the quickfix exclusively would be nice.

In TF2, it is widely agreed that among the 9 classes, there are 3 generalists: Scout, Soldier, and Demoman. These three show great prowess in just about every single situation in TF2, showcasing the full extent of the Source engine and pushing combat to its limits. It is because of this that I believe the generalists are the best classes in the game overall.

Scout is the first (and probably easiest) generalist to talk about. Scout is the closest to being a specialist due to the majority of his gameplay centered around offense. Scout can function on defense, but demo and soldier are significantly better at flip-flopping between the two. However scout exceeds the offensive potential of the other classes tenfold, partially because he’s debatably the easiest to play.

Scout is the undisputed king of 1 on 1 combat. The epitome of “1v1 me bro” in one convenient class. The scattergun is one the highest damage primaries in the game, able to pump out 100 or so damage per shot. However to reach this potential a scout must be on top of the opponent. “Meatshots” melt opponents and are easier to perform when the enemy is unaware. Even when the enemy is aware, the combination of scout’s speed and weapons allows him to hold his own against any opponent.

Scout’s speed makes him a significant threat just as much as his weapons. Scout’s double jumps and significant speed allow him to jump around projectiles and enemies. Scout’s spiratting movement and small hitbox force enemies to track and/or predict the scout’s movement in order to hit him. This speed also allows scout to get to objectives faster, which is his main purpose. Scout is rarely meant to be on the front lines, instead taking flank routes to get to objectives and pick off important targets. This is why scout was made so good at 1v1 combat, as he isn’t meant to fight big groups.

Scout’s downsides in combat are few and far between, which is why he is considered a generalist. However he is the weakest in terms of health, a light class that only makes up for it in speed. In frantic combat that commonly occurs in large groups, Scout’s single target focus and general squishiness makes him hard to play. This is why many differentiate scout between comp and casual, as a Scout will function completely differently in both modes. However while he does have his weaknesses, Scout is technically the easiest generalist to play/start with.

Scout is also the easiest generalist, being the only one with a hitscan primary and base speed to get around. Soldiers and demomen can reach similar speeds with rocket jumps and sticky jumps, however they do require a bit of practice despite Scout’s speed being built in. All of the reasons I have listed for scout’s pros also make him quite easy. However he does have plenty of room for improvement beyond that. He is the easiest of the best classes to master.

Soldier on the other hand, has the possibility for infinite improvement.

Soldier is probably the most iconic part of TF2. He’s unforgettable in his gameplay and his character. His gameplay is so simple on the surface, yet expands into a deep expanse of infinite improvement. Soldier is the greatest class in FPS history.

Now that might seem like a bit much, right? It’s just a soldier, a rocket launcher and a shotgun, so what? Soldier’s improvement and the majority of gameplay revolves around his rocket launcher. The greatest example of one in video games. The perfect blend of power, sound, and weight. The rocket falloff rewards getting up-close and personal, adding to the hilarity and originality of the combat. Soldier is mostly known for rocket jumping, however.

Rocket jumping is one of, if not the most famous videogame mechanic of all time. It’s so comical to think of the idea of using a massive explosion to boost yourself. This mechanic was popularized by Quake and became a staple of the games, leading to the TF quake mod and subsequent TF games keeping the tradition. However, rocket jumping in TF2 is significantly more refined and has the potential for infinite growth thanks to the source engine.

While rocket jumping in other games can be looked over as nothing more than a joke, it is actively rewarded in TF2. It is great for reaching the front lines quickly with multiple short jumps, or ascending vertical maps with one giant jump. The prior mentioned damage falloff rewards soldiers for jumping to their enemies and getting up close and personal. However soldier’s secondaries help to enhance these jumps and attacks, either indirectly or directly.

Soldier is equipped with shotguns, banners, and boots. All of these reward close combat. Shotguns are obvious, and are commonly associated with countering pyros, since they can airblast your rockets. However the shotgun on its own is also an incredibly powerful finisher and great after big jumps. Banners charge with damage, enticing players to get close and get as much damage out of each rocket as they can. Boots assist in making rocket jumps easier (mantreads) or not as punishing (gunboats).

Overall, soldier is one of the greatest examples of a class based FPS class. Versatile in all situations with room for almost infinite improvement. However this does not make Soldier the hardest generalist to master. That would be demoman.

Demoman is the hardest class to master in the game. I put my foot down on this because demoman is the only class in the game that does not have any hitscan weapons, which means demoman as a whole requires good projectile aim (a rarity). Demoman’s two primary style of weaponry opens the door to new playstyles and experimentation galore, making him the best class of the generalists.

Demoman is the demoman: He blows things up. His sticky bombs are a concept that has long been his staple, and lead to many widows by his hand. I personally cannot say I value stickies over pipes, however I would be a fool to ignore their incredible defensive potential. Just one sticky is enough to ward off any pesky merc who dares enter your zone. The knockback from the explosions allows 2 stickies to become an instant uber counter, launching anyone and anything. They’re silent, allowing a demo to hide them anywhere and experiment with high-traffic spots on different sized maps. However stickies suffer from being slow and clunky in CQC, which is complemented by pipe grenades.

Demos grenade launcher is one of the greatest weapons in any FPS, it stands proud among weapons like DOOM’s Super shotgun, Blood’s dynamite, and Quake’s rocket launcher. The grenade has 4 grenades in a clip, with each one dealing 100 damage regardless of distance. This allows demo to kill any class with precise aim in 1 clip. While this might sound easy on paper, in execution pills are difficult to master, requiring aim unlike any other weapon in the game. Gravity and the environment must be factored in when firing, along with the grenades’ bounce. Direct hits will instantly explode, but missed grenades (rollers) can be just as good for finishing off targets. The combination of stickies and pipes allow any demo to be a huge threat in medium-close range, but what about very close range?

Demoman relies on melee more than any other class. Demoman needs melee to counteract his lack of explosives in close range encounters. Both stickies and grenades can easily damage the user just as badly as the person they’re trying to hit. Melee helps to remedy this. Of course, I can’t talk about demoman melee without talking about…

Demoknight. A subclass of demo utilizing the boots and shields to trade his explosive power for more health, a charge, and a significantly more dangerous melee. The booties serve only to buff the demoman in place of his grenades, giving more health and speed. The shields give demoman a charge, allowing him to close in on opponents and guarantee a 195 damage melee crit at the end of the charge. The melee choice varies, with swords like the eyelander collecting heads, increasing speed

I loved writing these. They were all fun to type out and sharing my ideas with the people of the forums was a pleasure. I made this guide for anyone else who may be interested or anyone who wishes to re-read one of them. I may write more in the future, but I think it's time for a little R&R first.
Thank you for reading.