3.4.0.9 Changelog
This Thursday update has been applied to the US server. It includes a considerable amount of balance changes while we recover from some of the “broken” content and a new map.
BUG FIXES
> Properly applied the changes to the Scottish Wargear intended in 3.4.0.5
General
> Added ctf_converge_b3 to the map rotation.
> This Special Delivery-styled CTF map, made by Psy (Author of official maps plr_nightfall and koth_highpass!) has one neutral briefcase in the middle for both teams to fight over! Fight in this tug of war and push all the way to the enemy’s computer mainframe 3 times to shut their systems down and win!
> Removed ctf_2fort from the map rotation.
> This map was often leading to 30-minute friendly matches where over half the players had already left by the time the map ended by forcing a stalemate.
BALANCE CHANGES
> Mann Co. (Vanilla Changes)
> Flying Guillotine
- Removed “100% minicrits vs players below 33% health”
> The Flying Guillotine is already a very effective weapon in vanilla and doesn’t require the buff it has had in the server for a long time now.
> Mantreads
- Reverted stomp damage multiplier to vanilla (from 3.5x to 3.0x)
- Removed “+20% rocket jump strength”
> The Mantreads is well known for being the most-used trolldier secondary, even in vanilla. While it’s not necessarily overperforming, we want to move closer to vanilla power, and see userates for it and other trolldier secondaries equalize.
> Gas Passer
+ Re-added “Gas meter builds with time”
+ Added “+100% recharge rate”
- Reverted damage to vanilla "(From 4% to 4)
> Currently, the Gas Passer is strong against certain classes while weaker against most others. This % damage ultimately isn’t working as we wanted, and we will instead focus on making the Gas Passer a more disposable tool like other throwables.
> Heavy
- Removed “Heavyweight: Melee weapons have +5 damage, +50% range, and +25% bounds”
> While this class ability has enabled powerful melee combat for Heavies, it’s a tactless approach, and we will shift to supporting his melee weapons individually, instead of blanketing generic changes on the slot as a whole.
> Gloves of Running Urgently
+ Reverted maxhealth drain while active to vanilla (From 20HP/s to 10HP/s)
+ Removed “Particle system shows how much maxhealth you are missing”
- Reverted movespeed bonus to vanilla (From +33% to +30%)
> Our changes to the GRU were originally made back when Heavy had more class changes than he currently does, and they no longer make enough of a positive impact on gameplay to be worth keeping around for players to have to memorize.
> Eviction Notice
= Reverted all stats to vanilla
+ Added “+1 capture rate while active”
+ Added “Third succesful punch in a row always crits”
+ Removed “maximum health is drained while active”
- Added “+25% damage vulnerability while active”
> The Eviction Notice has struggled to distinguish itself from the Gloves of Running Urgently. While we want to try to keep it in its role of movespeed, we need to find a way to do it differently. To this end, it will function like the old GRU, and also benefit point control.
> Short Circuit
= Reverted primary fire to vanilla
+ Added “+40% primary firerate”
+ Reduced primary fire metal cost from 5 to 2
> While giving the Short Circuit its old AoE secondary fire back in the form of the primary fire was interesting, players still ultimately rarely used it, and it had many visual bugs. Rather than work on such a drastic change further, it will be moved back to the pistol-like primary fire and buffed to be a more viable form of damage output.
> Gunslinger
+ Reverted build speed to vanilla (From +100% to +150%)
- Removed “+100% Mini-Dispenser range”
- Removed “Mini-Teleporter can be used in both directions”
> The server’s Mini buildings have been imbalanced for a long time now, being almost entirely superior to their level 1 counterparts, unlike Valve’s Mini-Sentry. On top of this, they haven’t felt like they build fast enough for how quickly they go down.
> Huntsman
= Reverted projectile speed to vanilla (from 1500-3000Hu/s to 1812-2600Hu/s)
+ Removed range falloff
- Added “-20% damage”
> The changing of the projectile speed originally served no specific gameplay purpose, and only lead to players having to retrain themselves on the aiming and dodging of the weapon. Range falloff ultimately didn’t solve very many of the weapon’s problems, so instead damage will be lower across the board. This will hopefully limit situations where people die almost instantaneously to Huntsman Snipers in split second encounters, and make it more in line with our rifle changes.
> Vaccinator
= Reverted all stats to vanilla
+ Increased overheal rate from -66% to -33%
+ Increased Übercharge duration from 2.5 seconds to 3s
+ Increased Übercharge rate on overhealed targets from -33% to -15%
- Removed “+67% Übercharge rate”
> The Vaccinator is a known and hated weapon for its versatility and the necessity of a higher skill floor to take one out than a regular medic. To make it more reasonable to fight against, especially in lower player counts, charges will be longer lasting, but weaker and slower to build.
> Craft Co. (Custom Changes)
> Follower
+ Removed “-20% explosion radius”
- Added “-10% projectile speed”
> This weapon has not been performing very strongly, and we are opting for a small improvement by making it easier to hit shots through both the explosion radius, and having more time to maneuver airborne rockets through a lower projectile speed.
> Crocketeer’s Cloak
+ Increased Earthquake radius from 146Hu to 219Hu
> Through both playtesting ourselves and feedback from players, it’s become obvious the Crocketeer’s Cloak is underperforming. Hopefully, making its primary function more effective at crowd damage will help it find its niche.
> Gamma Gazer
+ Added “+25% reload speed”
+ Added “+25% deploy speed”
+ Decreased damage penalty from 91.06% to 90%
- Decreased bullets per shot from 11 to 10
> This weapon has felt too unresponsive to be a secondary, and its investment deserves better damage output.
> Welder’s Gun
+ Added “Bullets penetrate all enemies”
+ Increased firerate from -100% to -20%
+ Increased accuracy from +40% to +60%
- Removed “On hit: Gain metal back based on damage by 50%”
> Under the shadow of the Widowmaker, the Welder’s Gun has no room as a metal-generating gun, and will be moved to a damage tool both for sniping enemies far from your sentry, and for deterring medic combos.
> Jupiter
+ Increased damage from -50% to -25%
- Added “While active: -100% metal from all sources”
> The Jupiter has been clearly underperforming, and has a confused design. To fix this, the damage will be improved, and committing to the high firerate of low metal counts will no longer conflict with the fact that you are required to stand next to a constant metal source in order to have this firerate.
> Astral Assassin
= Changed projectile speed from 1500-6000Hu/s to 1812-5200Hu/s
+ Removed range falloff
+ Reserve ammo increased from 12 to 25
- Added “-20% damage”
> Astral Assassin, being a bow, inherits the changes to the Huntsman. While the wiki was not reflecting this, the Astral Assassin’s projectile speed bonus compared to the Huntsman was up to +100% at maximum charge, which remains true. Additionally, it is a much more ammo-efficient weapon, to compensate for needing to use more shots to kill enemies than the Huntsman does.
> Lil’ Mate
- Decreased base accuracy from -40% to -100%
- Removed “+50% reserve ammo”
> When we last nerfed the Lil’ Mate, we thought -40% would be enough to give it a considerable spread. Unfortunately, the weapon continued to outperform the SMG at all ranges. This should be solved now.
> Subjugated Saboteur
- Reduced damage from -30% to -80%
- Removed “Reprogrammed sentries gain +10% firerate”
> This Sapper’s userate has gone down considerably, so it may seem weird that we’re “nerfing” it so hard, but reducing the damage has two benefits for the Spy. First, the building is more likely to survive the conversion process with enough health to be useful to him, and second, he can now convert Mini-Buildings, as they previously were destroyed before the conversion process finished.
