I've always played as a Heavy Weapons Guy, even back in the Q1 days when he was considered the most useless class in the game. There was a only a small niche of us who could play the class well back then, but we still weren't really taken seriously.. and I think only two of us in total were used in clan matches on a regular basis. [r3m]AnimeMan was the other, and he was possibly the best at the class.

Anyway.. what's the point of all this? Soldier was my most hated class back then, because I was always told that soldiers could do anything a HWGuy could do.. but better. Hearing all the rants and criticisms probably made me better at my chosen class though, so I should probably thank everyone.

Of course, that was back then.. TFC made playing the class easier, and honestly I never liked TFC. q3f/ETF made it easy as well, but I felt it was a better game than TFC. And now I still play Heavy in TF2.. and I still get a certain piece of joy when I kill a soldier. For all of the ranting I do about Snipers.. I probably hate Soldiers more, just because of the past.

I was hoping the Demo would win the contest, not only because I despise soldiers.. but because Demo is my 3rd favorite class in TF2.. after Heavy and Pyro.

As a side note, I still look back to the QWTF days with a certain pride. Anyone can play Heavy these days.. back then it took some real talent. You were locked in place, unable to move, when you started firing the gun.. and it also had a spin-down delay when you stopped firing it. You couldn't throw grenades and shoot like you could in TFC and other spinoffs. You were also only able to get 200 armor on a lot of maps even though 300 was your max.. but competent engineers were few and far between outside of clans. TF2 Heavy feels like noob mode to me, even if it is fun.

But I digress... down with Soldiers!

I was always more of defensive mindset, so that's how I've always played Heavy. Medics always expect me to charge forward for some odd reason.. sometimes it takes them 3 minutes or so to get the clue that I'm not leaving the base, or the most forward control point that we own. The only times I go offense is on OvD maps.. and that's usually when I switch over to Pyro.

I do despise all of these anti-Heavy weapons though.. rockets hurt bad enough as it is, now direct hits will hurt even more.. and we're the easiest class to score a direct hit on. Oh well. Maybe playing as Heavy won't seem as easy.

Soldier can be fun to play as well, precisely because they are more versatile. They can easily adapt to whatever a team needs, be it offense or defense. I switch to Soldier when I need more survivability than I get with Pyro, but I'm generally more effective as a Pyro.

I play a more forward defense on 2fort.. usually the ramp room (sorry, I forget what the area is called in TF2), or the front of the base under the grating. If I'm in the ramp room and see someone run down the spiral from the sniper nest, I can usually either meet them down in the basement by taking the quicker route, or, if it's a Scout, trap him in the intel room by camping the hallway intersection and watching the intel radar to see which hall he is taking. Oddly enough, I've been playing defense in the same exact spots on 2fort(5r) for over a decade now.. lol. Which minigun I use depends on what the other team has more of. Soldiers, Heavies, and Demos I tend to prefer Sasha. Scouts, Pyros, Medics, and Spies I prefer Natascha. I also prefer Sasha for those odd moments when I do happen to go offensive Heavy.. dunno why.

That said, I think I'm alone in saying that I prefer the shotgun over sandvich. There's usually enough health laying around on CP maps.. and on CTF, the resupply usually isn't too far away (even better in both cases if there's a nearby dispencer). Plus.. on those really odd moments when a Sniper decides to try to go offense, the shotgun is a very handy tool. It's also good against other classes as well if you know they're hurt and/or want a bit more mobility. Quite the underused weapon, especially with Heavies. Not saying I don't like Sandvich, but I feel naked without my trusty shotgun.

Nice to see someone else who plays Pyro with the basic flamethrower too. It seems very rare when I come across anyone's backside, so I can't bring myself to use the Backburner. Plus, I also like the usefulness of the airblast. Handy little tool against soldiers, stickies, ubers, and anything else where you can cause a bit of havoc.

Anyway, after playing around with the dozens of Soldier and Demos.. it's really not as bad as I thought it would be. Suicide charging Demos get mowed down pretty quick with either minigun if you know they're coming. I'm sure the Direct Hit is doing more damage, but it must not be as bad as I thought it would be. All that said, the weapon I probably depise the most in this update so far is that damn pickaxe.. but even that is manageable.

The Direct Hit is nice when you're at medium-to-close range.. bit difficult to aim though, but that's probably more on me for almost never aiming rockets directly at people for over 10 years.

I agree with the Targe being a bit too uber.. and in that same vein, I also think the Equalizer needs a bit of a toning down as well. Both in how it works, and also with the speed increase working when you carry the intel.

Scottish Resistance isn't bad, but it promotes camping just with how it works. The Demo can set up as many different sticky traps as he wants, but he has to look at a cluster to set them off... and it's pretty much useless as an offensive weapon due to the longer priming time and for 'carpet trapping' an area. The bombs pretty much need to be close to each other, otherwise they all won't got off when set. A lot of Demos don't like the weapon, but I've seen a few that use the gun quite effectively already as well.

I think both classes got some sweet upgrades, but I also feel they might be a bit too sweet in some regards.

I think they're more Christopher Lambert wannabes than Mel Gibson ones. Cuts the opponent's head off when it gets a kill.. you get stronger for each enemy you decapitate.. it's called 'Eyelander'.. etc. Obvious Highlander nods all around with the Demo update.
*listens to Queen's Princes of the Universe*

It is true that running around on servers is hell shortly after, or during, an update period for a class (or two). I still get nightmares of trying to play Heavy during the Scout update. That said, I want to clarify that the Sandman isn't nearly as bad now as it was then.. but the hatred is still there. The freeplay weekend probably didn't help much either.

I only play on pubs as well. My clanning days ended about 6 years ago, and I really have no desire to get back into it again.

That said, on Saturday.. playing on the usual 24/7 2fort server that I usually play on.. a Targe/Eyelander Demo was trying to voteban me because I was playing, my also usual, defensive Heavy and "ruining his fun" as he put it. I thought it was hilarious, but it also made my day. It was even funnier because he never swapped to his GL at all every time he saw me.. other Demos on his team were bombing me to hell and back instead of suicide charging. One was even dominating me for pretty much the whole round.

Natascha does slow down a charging Demo, but it's not anything spectacular. It still chews them up pretty good. I put it on par with Sasha in terms of taking them down. Crouching when they get right up next to you also seems to work to a relative degree.. not just against Demos either, I notice it against anyone who tries fighting me with melee. They usually miss the first swing.

Man, I've been seeing all this talk about Team Fortress 2 everywhere and I still have yet to play it (on the PC at least). Sounds like I'm missing out on a fun game. :<

(Sorry 'bout the almost month-old bump, but considering the thread is still very near to the top of the list, I don't think it'd be that big of a deal.)

TF2 is fun, but it's also constantly changing.  The original lineup of characters is there, but there's a crapload of new "unlockable" stuff - alternate weapons, decorative items (mainly hats), and an insane number of achievements.  The unlockable weapons do alter the gameplay.  Here's the original lineup of characters and their base weapons, along with the general theme:

There are two corporations, Reliable Excavation and Demolitions (RED), and Builder's League Unlimited (BLU), that are actually fronts for two competing mercenary espionage organizations, that are actually run by the same individual - the Administrator.  The Administrator, or Announcer, is a female voice you hear during the game telling you of objectives, how much you suck or rule, etc.  Each team consists of players belonging to one of nine classes.  Each class has three weapons - primary, backup, and melee - and differing levels of health and speed.  There's no armor in the game to simplify things, and no throwable grenades.


Scout:  Street punk from the Bronx, thinks he's a baseball player.

Primary:  Scattergun.  Powerful shotgun that's very effective at close range.  Holds 6 rounds.
Secondary:  Pistol.  Accurate and fast, damage is low, and ammo count is low.
Melee:  Baseball bat.  Does the least amount of melee damage.

Health:  Low.
Speed:  High.
Abilities:  Can double-jump in mid-air and change directions.  Captures control points 2x as fast as other classes.

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Heavy:  Big bald Russian.  Talks to his gun.  The gun's name is Sasha.

Primary:  Minigun.  Decimates enemies up close.  Takes some time to spin up.  Movement slowed while firing.
Secondary:  Shotgun.
Melee:  Fists.

Health:  High
Speed:  Low
Abilities:  Can use secondary fire to keep minigun spinning without shooting.

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Medic:  Austrian with glasses in a medical coat.  Engages in practices of questionable ethics.

Primary:  Syringe gun.  Shoots hypodermic needles that damage people. Think nailgun with gravity.
Secondary:  Medigun.  It's like a ghostbuster beam that heals teammates.
Melee:  Bonesaw.

Health:  Average
Speed:  Average
Abilities:  Medigun is the medic's primary tool.  It heals teammates, and builds up a charge meter over time while healing people.  While the health beam is on a teammate, it can overheal them past their normal health by about 30%.  Once the charge meter reaches 100%, you can deploy an "Ubercharge" and make yourself and a teammate invulnerable for 30 seconds.  The medic's health also regenerates slowly over time.

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Pyro:  Wears a flame-retardant suit with a gas mask.  Mumbles speech.  Never takes mask off.

Primary:  Flamethrower.  Run in, burn stuff, run out.  Doesn't work under water.
Secondary:  Shotgun.
Melee:  Fire axe.

Health:  Average
Speed:  Average
Abilities:  Can take fire damage, but cannot be set on fire.  Flamethrower will cause a 30 second afterburn.  Flamethrower has a secondary fire that uses 25 ammo.  This compression blast knocks enemies up and back, and can reflect grenades and rockets.

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Demoman:  Drunk, one-eyed black Scottsman.

Primary:  Grenade launcher.  Fires four bouncy grenades before needing reloading.
Secondary:  Sticky launcher.  Fires up to 8 sticky bombs that can be remote detonated.
Melee:  Whiskey Bottle.

Health:  Average
Speed:  Average
Abilities:  Sticky launcher can launch bombs farther if you hold down the trigger.  Remote detonator blows up all 8 stickies at once.  Can simultaneously jump and detonate a sticky bomb to sticky-jump at the cost of health.

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Sniper:  Australian big-game hunter turned assassin.  Views self as a professional with standards.

Primary:  Scoped sniper rifle with laser sight.
Secondary:  Submachinegun.
Melee:  Oversized kukri knife.

Health:  Low
Speed:  Average
Abilities:  Rifle charges up power while scoped in.  After 4 seconds, does maximum damage.  Headshots always generate a critical hit.  A fully-charged headshot will kill an overhealed heavy.

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Spy:  Gentlemanly Frenchman wearing a James Bond mask and a pinstriped suit.

Primary:  Revolver.  Inaccurate at long range, but decent damage up close.
Secondary:  Sappers.  Used for disabling and destroying engineer buildings.
Melee:  Butterfly knife.  Backstab is instantly lethal, otherwise very low damage.
Special:  Disguise kit

Health:  Low
Speed:  Average
Abilities: 

Carries a disguise kit for disguising as an enemy team member or a friendly team member.  Team members will see a disguised friendly spy as wearing a paper mask over his face of what he's disguised as.  Does not take friendly fire while disguised.  Disguises fool sentry guns.  Attacking with a weapon will reveal you.  Being set on fire will make it obvious which team you are on.  Pyros are a constant danger to spies.

Secondary fire toggles an invisibility watch.  The cloak runs out over time, but can be recharged while moving by picking up ammo boxes.  You cannot apply sappers nor disguise while cloaked.  Your watch will recharge over time when uncloaked.  Taking damage or bumping into an enemy while cloaked will cause a faint ghosted glow and reveal your presence for a moment.

You have an unlimited number of sappers.  Sappers can be applied without losing disguise.  A sapper will immediately disable a sentry gun, teleporter, or dispenser, and damage it over time.  Sappers can only be removed by engineers.  Once a sapper is knocked off an engineer building, it becomes active again.  If the sapper is not removed it will eventually destroy the building.

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Soldier:  Helmet-wearing stereotypical American grunt... that's not right in the head.

Primary:  Rocket launcher.  Holds 4 missiles, must be reloaded.  On par with the Q2 rocket launcher.
Secondary:  Shotgun.
Melee:  Entrenchment shovel.

Health:  Slightly high
Speed:  Slightly slow
Abilities:  Can rocket-jump at the cost of health.

==========

Engineer:  Hard-hat wearing Texan with welding goggles, coveralls, and a big work glove.

Primary:  Shotgun.  Same as the backup weapon for Soldier, Heavy, and Pyro.
Secondary:  Pistol.  Holds more ammo than the Scout's, but not as accurate.
Melee:  Wrench.  Has special abilities.
Special:  Build PDA.
Special 2:  Destroy PDA.

Health:  Low.
Speed:  Average.
Abilities:

Metal:  Can carry up to 200 metal.  Metal comes from ammo boxes, dropped weapons, exploded buildings, dispensers, and supply cabinets.

Wrench:  Hitting buildings while they are constructing builds them faster.  Hitting a damaged building will repair it as long as you have metal in your possession.  Hitting non-damaged buildings will upgrade them over time at the cost of 200 metal (I think it uses about 35 per swing).  Maximum upgrade on any building is level 3.  Hitting a sentry gun will reload its ammo at the cost of some metal.  Hitting a building with a sapper on it twice will knock the sapper off.  Sapped buildings cannot be repaired or upgraded until the sapper is removed.  Engineers can repair, unsap, and upgrade each others buildings.

Status HUD:  The health of all of your buildings is displayed in the upper left corner.  If a building is being damaged or sapped, you'll be alerted by a warning tone.

Build PDA:  Used to build teleporters, dispensers, and sentry guns.
Destroy PDA:  Used to detonate the above.

Sentry gun:  Level 1 turns slow, fires slow, and has low health.  It looks blocky with a short barrel.  Level 2 turns faster, fires faster, and has more health.  It "springs out" of level 1 with two gatling guns and hydraulic lines.  Level 3 turns fast, fires really fast, has high health, and shoots four rockets simultaneously.  The back of the level 2 opens and deploys the rocket pod up top.

Dispenser:  Dispenses health, ammo, and metal.  Higher level dispensers dispense more of each at once.  Teammates picking up ammo and health do not use up metal.

Teleporter:  Available in the entrance and exit variety.  Higher level teleporters recharge faster.  Teleported players leave a trail of sparks for about 5 seconds.  Only one exit and one entrance teleporter can be built by a single engineer.

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Other notables:

Supply cabinet:  At least one per base.  Will restock your health, ammo, metal, and extinguish you if you are burning.
Med kits:  Come in two sizes.  Rare, but present on some maps.
Ammo boxes:  Rare, but present on some maps.

Intelligence briefcase:  The "flag" in CTF mode.
Control points:  Stand on these in Control Point maps to score.
Bomb Cart:  Acts like a dispenser.  Must stand on or near to move on Payload maps.

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Gameplay notes:

CTF:  Only difference is that you use briefcases instead of flags.  Spies cannot disguise or cloak while carrying the briefcase.  When dropped, a briefcase will stay put for one minute, then automatically return to base.  You must guard it where it lies until the timer runs out.  An enemy touching the briefcase will restart the timer.

Control Points:  Stand on them to fill up a time meter.  If an enemy is on a control point you can't capture it until the enemy is knocked off or killed.  There are two kinds of control points - locking, and unlocking.  A locked control point cannot be captured until a previous, non-locked point is captured.  Then the locked point will be available.  On some maps both teams battle to control all points.  The game is won when one team owns all the points.  On others, one team attacks, the other defends.  On attack-defend maps, once a control point is captured it cannot be recaptured by the defending team.  The defending team wins if time runs out.  Capturing a control point adds time.

Payload:  The objective is to get the cart to the end of the map.  One team escorts the cart, the other team tries to prevent them from doing so.  The defending team wins if time runs out.

On attack-defend and Payload maps, the attacking team is always BLU, and the defending team always RED.

Killing the same player 5 times without that player killing you results in a Domination award, and you are flagged as a Nemesis to that player.  Killing a Nemesis gives you a Revenge award.

There's a random chance of dealing a Critical Hit from any weapon.  Killing people increases this chance.  Critical hits make a distinct sound, and critical shots glow with your team color, with the exception of melee hits and sniper rifle head shots.  Shotguns and pistols draw tracer sparks that will glow your team color when critical.  Critical rockets are easy to spot but you do not want to get hit by one.  Melee weapons have a higher chance of dealing a critical hit, and are often lethal.

Melee weapons typically a high amount of damage and are comparatively easy to hit with.  It usually takes about 3 hits to kill someone unless you're using the baseball bat or butterfly knife.  One critical hit from the Engineer's wrench or the Heavy's fists will usually kill anyone except another Heavy.

Team areas and team members are very easy to tell apart.  Colors are vivid and player classes along with weapons have a distinct shape, so visual recognition is easy.

Overall movement speed in the game is slower than the Quake series.  You cannot strafejump or bunnyhop, though Quake-style air control is present so you can turn in mid-flight.  Sticky-jumping Demomen have been observed performing pretty insane air movement.

Ubercharges can be game-determining.  A level 3 sentry gun can be extremely difficult to kill with an Engineer constantly maintaining it, but an ubercharged Heavy, Demoman, or Soldier can defeat the sentry gun.  You cannot capture control points or carry intelligence while Ubered, but you can blaze a path through the enemy team's defenses or stop an assault on your own.

A note about spies:  Spies will always be trying to destroy Engineer buildings, and Engineers will always be expecting spies.  Beware that as an Engineer your own sentry gun CAN kill you if you're between it and its intended target.  Engineers cannot move through their own buildings, but friendly team mates move through each other.  If you bump into someone of your own team color they are a spy.  If you set them on fire as a Pyro, they are a spy.  If you see someone moving toward your engineer buildings, they are a spy - shoot them.  If they don't take damage, then they're not a spy.  This is called Spychecking.  Spychecking wins games.  Not spychecking is a quick path to defeat, as a single spy can ruin the best defenses by sapping, backstabbing, and otherwise sporking over your team.

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That's the original gameplay style at least.  A lot has changed with the addition of new weapons, but that's the basics without having to hunt around on the net.

Whoops!  My mistake on the uber.  It's our invulnerability that lasts 30 seconds, hence my goof.  I'm used to dealing with Gen's stats.