Harvest Moon Update
Welcome to August, everyone! It’s the first Anniversary of Taste of Vanilla, so we’ll be having a larger patch than normal, in the flavor of Valve’s own Blue Moon, with more balance changes, maps, and bug fixes!
BUG FIXES
> Fixed community maps not being in our rotation
> Fixed the Lancer not passively reloading
> The Interfector still suffers from this problem, and will hopefully be fixed by next patch
> Fixed the Phlogistinator regenerating health when dealing afterburn damage during Mmmph
> Fixed the Shotgun Bride dealing more damage than intended
> Removed an inaccessible Craft Co. weapon that was not intended to be on the server
General
> Added pl_cashworks, cp_hardwood_final, ctf_pelican_peak, pl_phoenix, cp_reckoner, koth_rotunda, pd_selbyen, and pl_venice from the Official Summer 2023 Update
> Added updated version of cp_sulfur from the Official Summer 2023 Update
> Added pl_extinction_rc2 to the map rotation
> Welcome to the dig site, Mercenaries! Drop your pickaxes and shovels (Actually, don’t, we just shipped some improvements to them!) because on Extinction, Eli Boone has contracted RED to defend his land from BLU, who are interested in using a payload to trigger an eruption in the center of the facility! Take a jump on the steaming geysers, avoid the lava pits, and ogle ancient dinosaur bones!
> Added koth_slaughter_rc1 to the map rotation
> Then, head on over to Slaughter, originally owned by the defunct Sinclair Estate, now bought by our rivals, Mann Co! Bring a jacket and fight for the central point by bombing in with the overhanging conveyor belts, but avoid the meat grinders. You would not believe what they are processing there!
> Removed cp_dustbowl from the map rotation
> Re-added the Bio Breaker
> Re-enabled team switching for all players
BALANCE CHANGES
> Mann Co. (Vanilla Changes)
> Bleed
- Removed “Health packs no longer remove the bleed effect.”
> While this change has certainly proven annoying to many players, it has rarely seen a difference in gameplay outcome, and isn’t worth keeping around.
> Winger
+ Added “+25% deploy and holster speed”
+ Increased clipsize from -60% to -50%
- Removed “Wearer never takes falling damage while active”
- Reverted jump height bonus to vanilla (From +30% to +25%)
> Userate of the Winger did not seem to increase despite the considerable buffs it had received to its jumping utility. Instead, we’re scaling back, and making its utility and damage more accessible instead of just stronger.
> Air Strike
+ Added “+15% reload speed”
- Removed “+33% faster reload time while explosive jumping”
> The reload speed bonus only activating while airborne was incongruent with the Air Strike’s most common playstyle: Jump and Dump (all of your rockets), then land and reload. Making it work at all times, but less efficiently, will fit the weapon more, and also allow the weapon to be more viable in areas where rocket jumping is not favorable.
> Cow Mangler
+ Removed “-67% movespeed while Charging”
> We would like to experiment with the Cow Mangler’s charged shot, and try to get a feel for where it should go. For the time being, we are going to see what happens when Soldier is not slowed by charging it!
> Buff Banner
+ Added “+50% incoming health from packs”
- Removed “On wearer: +15% faster firing speed for all weapons”
> We found the firerate bonus of the Buff Banner to compound too effectively with its minicrit bonus, and ultimately out of line with other Banner’s passive effects. As an experiment, we’re adding a massive healing boon from healthpacks.
> Shovel
+ Added “While active: Incoming/outgoing healing increases as health decreases, up to +100%”
- Removed “Weapon knockback increases as the user becomes injured”
> Equalizer
+ Added “+50% damage”
+ Removed "On wearer: -20% base healing given and/or gained from every healing source or weapon effect"
- Removed “When weapon is active: Bonus healing given and/or gained from every healing source or weapon effect increases as the user becomes injured (up to +150%)"
- Added “While active: -50% incoming healing”
> We have been struggling to find a role for the Shovel, and in the process, realized the Equalizer would be better off moving back to its original role, while moving the healing stat over to the Shovel. Additionally, the Equalizer is now the only Soldier melee that helps build uber.
> Disciplinary Action
+ Increased speed boost duration on self from 2s to 4s
- Removed “On kill with any weapon: +2 stacks. Assist-kills grant +1 stack”
- Removed “Alt-fire: Consume 1 stack (up to 8) to gain a 3 second speed boost”
> Stacks on the Whip tended to go unused, making them feel vestigial. As a result, we’ll be cutting them out, and simply increase the user speed boost duration to match that of their boosted teammate.
> Pyro
+ Added “-80% blast resistance to airblasted projectiles”
> We’re happy to reintroduce this stat after having to previously remove it due to a bug. Hopefully, with the way we have implemented it this time, the issue will not crop back up.
> Dragon’s Fury
= Reverted all stats to vanilla
> Our current changes to the Dragon’s Fury had little notable impact on gameplay, and will resultingly be reverted. We hope to make new changes in the future.
> Flare Guns
- Removed “+10% faster firing speed”
> The Flare Guns already typically pull ahead in userate over shotguns, and this buff has never been very notable to begin with. Better to be rid of it.
> Thermal Thruster
+ Re-added “Push enemies back when you land (force and radius based on velocity)”
+ Re-added “Deal 3x falling damage to anyone you land on”
+ Decreased locked holster duration from 0.75s to 0.35s
+ Re-added “User takes 75% less falling damage after using a charge”
- Added “+40% knockback taken”
- Added “+20% pushforce taken”
- Increased recharge time from 10s to 12s
- Reverted launching delay to vanilla (from 0.5s to 0.65s)
- Reverted re-launching delay to vanilla (from 1s to 1.2s)
- Removed “Wearer never takes falling damage”
> While this is a lot of changes, its mostly geared towards moving the Thermal Thruster closer back to vanilla, as its current state is very overtuned in almost all areas. Instead, we’ll focus on improving the one stat that will impact it the most: switch speed.
> Chargin’ Targe
+ Increased explosive resistance from +30% to +40%
+ Added “+40% knockback/pushforce resistance”
- Decreased fire resistance from +50% to +40%
> The Chargin’ Targe tends to lag behind in value provided over the other two vanilla shields, as a consequence of having the most limited recharge and turn speed of the 3. To help it lean into being the tankiest shield, it will also receive a considerable resistance to both damage knockback and airblast pushforce, making Targe demoknights an unrelenting force.
> Splendid Screen
+ Increased explosive resistance from +15% to +20%
+ Re-added “+70% increase in charge impact damage”
- Decreased fire resistance from +25% to +20%
> The Splendid Screen will go back to being the “assault” shield as in vanilla, as we shuffle around and tidy up the roles each shield currently has.
> Tide Turner
+ Added “+20% explosive resistance”
+ Added “+20% fire resistance”
+ Added “+10% bullet resistance”
+ Re-added “Melee kills refill 75% of your charge meter”
- Removed “Gain a 1 second speed boost (with no cooldown) anytime you take damage”
> The speed boost on damage taken stat has been a terror in the right hands and will once again be replaced with charge on kill. It also will be receiving identical resistances as the Splendid Screen, both being at half that of the Chargin’ Targe.
> Fists of Steel
+ Reverted melee vulnerability while active to vanilla (From +130% to +100%)
+ Increased incoming healing from -50% to -40%
+ Increased non-melee damage resistance from 33% to 40%
- Re-added “+100% holster time”
> The Fists of Steel have long languished at an impaired effectiveness as a result of originally being nerfed in compensation for a short period long past when Heavy’s maxhealth was increased. When this change was reverted, the Fists of Steel were not accordingly buffed back up, as they should have been, and now finally will be.
> Syringe Gun
+ Increased Über gained on hit from 1% to 2%
> Upon our original hesitant addition of Über gain on hit, we were worried 1% would be a lot. After over a year of play, it’s clearly been almost too little!
> Crusader’s Crossbow
+ Removed “Decreased point blank heal shot from 75 to 25 health”
> Crossbows
+ Added “Projectile penetrates all players”
+ Increased reload speed from 1.6s to 1.2s
+ Removed “Increased Primary reserve ammo penalty from -75% to -80%”
- Added “-20% healing and damage from this weapon”
> Crossbows will be less effective in burst, and more focused on consistent output. This simultaneously increases the time to kill at long range and reduces the effectiveness of switching between Crusader’s and your medigun constantly but allows Medics more leniency for missing.
> Sniper Rifles
+ Removed “-30% base damage”
- Added “-20% damage vs. players”
- Reverted max charge damage multiplier from 400% to 300%
> We would like to simplify our changes to Snipers, and reduce the severity of them, especially against buildings, as Sniper has never been a significant enough hazard against them to warrant it.
> Bows
+ Removed “-20% damage”
- Added “-20% damage vs players”
> We found no need for the Huntsman to deal less damage to buildings than vanilla.
> Cleaner’s Carbine
+ Removed “25% slower firing speed”
- Added “-40% clipsize”
> Hopefully, bottomless clip will be a more valuable ability to use now.
> Darwin’s Danger Shield
+ Added “+25 maxhealth”
- Added “+25% critical vulnerability”
- Reduced fire resistance from +50% to +30%
- Removed “+30% explosive resistance on wearer”
- Removed “+50% reduction in push force taken from damage and airblasts”
> We are going to move the Darwin’s Danger Shield into less of a “counter one class specifically” item, and make it focus more on general survivability. In the future, we intend to make further changes to how it interacts with debuffs.
> Cozy Camper
+ Re-added “+1-4 health regenerated on wearer”
+ Reduced headshots required to regenerate 1 primary ammo from 3 to 1
- Removed “15% of any Primary damage done is returned as health”
> We would like to both move the Cozy camper closer back to vanilla, but still distinguish it from the Darwin’s more. In doing so, it will be focused more on sustaining yourself long term, while the Darwin’s focuses on surviving burst attacks.
> Enforcer
= Changed Stealth Shot gains from +2 on sap or backstab to +1 on kill, double on backstab
+ Re-added “+20% damage while disguised”
> We find that mechanics which rely on another class existing are questionably balanced, and instead will shift the Enforcer to simply gain stealth shots on any kill, but more on backstabs. Additionally, its damage bonus while disguised is returning.
> Ambassador
= Reverted all stats to vanilla
> The Ambassador has enjoyed unnecessarily high damage output per shot, often allowing Spies to ambush or snipe players too often and too effectively, where the threshold often instantly killed players who would otherwise have gotten a chance to fight back if it didn’t do so much.
> B.A.S.E. Jumper
+ Added “+10% movespeed”
+ Added “+20% blast jump resistance”
- Removed “Gain a 2 second speed boost after taking fall damage”
- Removed “(Demoman only) +20% faster reload time for your Secondary while deployed”
> The previous bonus of gaining a speed boost for taking fall damage was counterintuitive to the parachute’s design, encouraging you not to use it, while providing no benefit for deploying it. With these experimental changes, the B.A.S.E. Jumper will hopefully be more viable to equip and deploy.
> Craft Co. (Custom Changes)
> Solid Slugger
+ Added “On kill with any weapon, reload all weapons”
+ Increased rechargeable recharge rates on wearer from -20% to +10%
- Decreased clipsize from +33% to -34%
> While this weapon has been viable, it tended to not interest players. As a small rework, we are flipping it from having a plentiful amount of ammo, and easily loading more for not using it, to having a small amount of ammo and loading it for winning fights, allowing scout to engage in conflicts against more than one player more comfortably.
> Follower
+ Increased travel-falloff minimum damage from -38% to -25%
+ Increased distance to reach minimum travel-falloff damage from 1200Hu to 1600Hu
> The Follower has had subpar damage as a result of how its falloff scales and will now be more threatening to enemies outside of close range, as it should be.
> Crocketeer’s Cloak
+ Increased Earthquake blast radius from 219Hu to 292Hu
+ Increased knockback dealt by +90%
+ Increased blast resistance from +10% to +20%
> Although we already improved the radius last patch, we found it to still be underwhelmingly small, and are increasing both it and its knockback dealt to match the Glasgow Greaves.
> Baleful Beacon
+ Added “+25% deploy speed”
> While this weapon is actually rather effective, the setup was clunky and often got pyros killed before they could pull it off. With a faster deploy speed, they will be more in control of building their Soul meter.
> Glasgow Greaves
+ Increased fall resistance from +75% to +80%
+ Increased Earthquake damage from 1x fall damage to 5x
+ Removed damage falloff from the Earthquake
+ Removed maximum 100 damage cap from the Earthquake
- Removed “Explosive jumping doubles the possible damage”
- Reduced pushforce resistance from -75% to -50%
> Outside of pure Demoknight, the Glasgow Greaves has had no impact on gameplay, and we would like to improve the Earthquake and standardize it to work equivalently to how the Crocketeer’s Cloak’s does. With the addition of the Chargin’ Targe’s knockback resistance buff, we would like to scale back the resistance on the Glasgow Greaves to keep the overall resistance approximately equal when paired together.
> Scottish Wargear
+ Increased impact damage from -60% to -50%
+ Increased recharge rate from -75% to -20%
- Removed “Ammo boxes collected also refills your charge meter”
> Our previous changes to the Scottish Wargear have succeeded in moving it in a direction we like, and we want to continue pushing it that way. We’ve come to the conclusion that refilling charge from ammo boxes is too similar to charge on kill, and already exists through the Persian Persuader. As compensation, charge damage and recharge are being improved.
> Vanguard
+ Increased global damage from -25% to -20%
+ Increased healing granted to teammates on death per stack from 5% to 10%
> While not terrible, the Vanguard’s current position is weak, so it’s damage penalty will be scaled back, and the sacrifice mechanic will be buffed considerably. In the meantime, while we hope to work on a more extensive rework, die with glory for your team.
> Assault and Battering Ram
+ Decreased charge threshold to stun and knockback victims from 60% to 33%
+ Added “+20% explosive resistance”
+ Added “+20% fire resistance”
+ Added “+10% bullet resistance”
- Decreased maximum stun duration from 1.25s to 1s
- Removed “+33% charge impact damage”
> With the Splendid Screen reclaiming its damage stat, it will be removed from the Battering Ram, and it will instead focus on disorientation through stuns and knockback, but not to be so disabling that enemies are helpless against a full-length charge.
> Jaws of Steel
+ Removed “While not ‘wet’: Lose -25% move speed”
+ Reduced firerate penalty while dry from -25% to -20%
+ Reduced damage to charge from 280 to 260
> This weapon has been performing well when in its element, but that element is too situational, so being out of element will be less punishing.
> Swifty Swiper
+ Increased attraction range from 900Hu to 3000Hu
+ Added “+10% metal from all sources on wearer”
> The Attraction mechanic’s range was nerfed severely back when it was a radius around the Engineer that went through walls. Since it’s become directional, its range will be brought up drastically, allowing users to rapidly grab packs from almost anywhere on the map they can see. Additionally, using the Swifty Swiper will now passively improve your metal economy.
> Signal Booster
+ Reduced metal cost to activate from 150 to 100
+ Increased Dispenser range and healing while activated from +50% to +100%
+ Increase Sentry range and damage while activated from +25% to +50%
+ Increased Teleporter recharge rate while activated from +50% to +100%
+ Removed “-100% metal from all sources while active”
- Reduced duration from 10 seconds to 5s
> While powerful, the Signal Booster has still been underperforming and niche in application. Reducing the duration, but making it cheaper and more powerful will hopefully allow Engineers to be more confident in using it.
> Gamma Gazer
+ Increased deploy speed from +25% to +50%
+ Increased reload speed from +25% to +50%
> We have future plans for this weapon to give it a better role, but in the meantime will simply further buff its stats.
> Jupiter
+ Increased damage from -25% to +25%
- Added “-50% clipsize”
> The Jupiter is starting to move into the right position, but still lacks firepower. Hopefully, inverting the damage penalty to a buff will rectify this.
> Welder’s Gun
- Removed
> There are too many secondaries, especially pistols, competing for viability in Engineer’s secondary slot. We found it best to simply let go of the least used one, as it had no consistently valuable purpose.
> Maniac’s Maschinenpistole
+ Increased Über gained on hit from 3% to 5%
> We intend to make more comprehensive changes to the Maniac’s Maschinenpistole in a later patch, but for now, will increase the chargerate as a stopgap solution to its low value.
> Interfector
= Clarified “This Crossbow does not have inverted falloff”
> Lancer
= Clarified “This Crossbow does not have inverted falloff”
+ Added “Minicrits on headshot”
- Removed “On hit: Increases Secondary healing rate by +20% (Up to +60%)
> The Lancer was never going to compete with both the Crusader’s Crossbow and Diagnostikiller in its previous role, so we saw fit to move it back to its previous combat-focused playstyle.
> Astral Assassin
+ Added “Shots penetrate all enemies”
- Reduced maximum number of bounces from 10 to 3
> Any bounce past the third tended to feel completely random and unpredictable to both the user and victims hits, reducing it and allowing it to penetrate targets helps focus the Astral Assassin into a crowd controlling role, relative to the Huntsman.
