TF2 Tactics - Blogs

TF2 Tactics: The Buff Banner

Chainspell — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 05:48:20 GMT

Video by tf2tactics (February 27, 2010)

The intention for the buff banner was to rally the troops and give them an incentive to attack. So far this morale-booster isn't used quite often. Some may argue that it's because the effect seems minimal... So let's jump right on to the tests!

With damage spread disabled the actual damage of a rocket launcher is around 100. Mini-crits add an extra 35% damage to a weapon's actual damage. 35% doesn't sound like much but let's consider the following:

A soldier will need 3 rockets to kill a scout, a sniper, a spy and an engineer, however with a buff banner you can kill those targets with only 2 rockets. And you need 8 rockets to kill a buffed heavy being healed by a medic, but with a buff banner you only need 4 rockets.

So in short you get a boost of damage, multiply this by the number of teamates in the area and you have a potent force by which to attack the enemy. But the best part is that mini-crits are still given a ramp-up. Which means the more mini crits you make, the more chances you get for full crits.

The buff banner can be used to increase your own damage if there are no teamates around. More soldiers are beginning to utilize the banner for personal gains.

Use the banner in conjunction with an uber, altho sometimes it's not practical, requiring a skilled soldier to make use of the uber effectively. You can also use the banner with a kritzkrieg medic. Use kritz to fill up your rage meter faster, usually 4 kritz rockets is more than enough to fill your rage meter.

The area of effect for the Banner is large and passes through walls. Be careful when using the banner as you will become the main target. Stand behind your teamates if you have to.

Here are some notable tips for other classes:
- The pyro's afterburn will deal mini-crit damage if the pyro is within the range of the buff banner.
- Demoman have to detonate stickies before the buff banner effect ends even if the stickies were laid down while under the effect of the banner. Likewise all stickies already in the ground become mini-crit stickies while under the effect of the buff banner.
- Heavies with buff banner can effectively mow down the enemy faster.
- Medics will have to prioritize and heal soldiers with buff banners, buff banner soldiers can go a long way with the help of competent medics.
- Friendly soldiers should exploit the opportunity to build up their own rage meter while under the buff banner. It is possible for 2 soldiers to alternately use buff banners, each feeding the other damage to build his own rage meter.

And now for some quick facts on the buff banner:
- The Rage Meter requires 600 damage to fill.
- The effect lasts for 10 seconds.
- The Buff Banner has separate, unique calls for both the BLU team and the RED team.

And lastly, when trying to fill up your rage meter. Staying alive is the key, but it is important to note that when firing from a distance you will need more rockets as opposed to firing at a closer range. This is because the farther you are the less damage your rockets make. So in effect, staying at a farther range decreases your potential effectiveness.

TF2 Tactics: Spy Actual Gameplay (Episode 2)

Chainspell — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:07:44 GMT

Video by tf2tactics (February 24, 2010)

For the tips... while I was watching the video there really isn't much that I haven't said before:
- uncloak in corners
- be conscious about enemy field of view
- kill special targets (engy, medic)
- never let the enemy get a sentry up because sentries limit your operational stab range
- take out teleports
- don't uncloak too close so you won't be heard uncloaking
- don't get too cocky (some deaths in the video could've been avoided)

This game was recorded back in January. This is a full, actual, unedited and real gameplay, with no conscious knowledge for the gameplay to be viewed by the public.

Please realize that on the video I only had a split second to react to events and make decisions. You're watching the video as it 'happened' (past tense). You've had time to think and analyze it, and you know what was gonna happen next, because you saw what happened. You probably don't realize that to me I had no idea wat was gonna happen next.

Having said that... you can criticize away! But if you're being an ******* I'm just gonna block you without hesitation.

TF2 Tactics: Soldier-Sentry Kills (2nd Edition)

Chainspell — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:39:13 GMT

Video by tf2tactics (February 18, 2010)

In this edition we added direct hit tests, as well as regular rocket launcher tests, added more examples, and added a way to deal with tanking engineers.

A regular rocket launcher can kill a level 3 sentry gun with 3 rockets, and the direct hit can kill it, with only 2 rockets. But it is important to note, that if there is an engineer repairing it, both weapons cannot kill a sentry gun head on.

So the trick is not to hit the sentry gun directly, but to use the floor and the walls or even the dispenser itself, to create splash damage that will hit the engineer, the sentry gun and the dispenser all at once.

If we follow this logic, there are 2 paths:
- the engineer can repair his sentry or dispenser and then die in the process
- or the engineer can choose to run away
Both of which results in a successful destruction of a sentry gun.

Which brings us to another tactic. If the engineer is busy or not paying attention, and as long as he doesn't see your rockets coming. You can usually destroy it, before he can repair his sentry. Remember it only takes 1.5 seconds from the moment of impact to destroy a sentry and the direct hit takes less than a second to do it!

---- 1st Edition Description ----
from: http://www.tf2tactics.com/entry.php?...r-Sentry-Kills

Note: please watch the video responses, if you do not know how to aim for the engineer. (they are my older videos)

I would have to say that if the skill level were the same the soldier and demoman are the main sentry killers. The key points for taking out a sentry with the soldier is aim, saturation fire, range, rocket jump and map knowledge. Killing the engineer by aiming at the his feet is the best way if you are firing head on.

AIM: Stand still if you have to, especially when firing from far away. Aim at the engineer if he is there, otherwise hit the sentry. If the engineer isn't paying attention or too far away, hit his sentry with 4 rockets, you can usually kill it before he can get to it.

SATURATION FIRE: This involves saturating your target with a lot of rockets. Not one at a time, but 4 at a time.

RANGE: Take advantage of the soldier's incredibly accurate and long range rockets. At long range only snipers can actually inflict critical damage on you while you're firing at a sentry.

ROCKET JUMP: Get into higher positions or positions thought unviable to fire from. Reload your rocket while in mid-air, that way when you land, you have 4 rockets.

MAP KNOWLEDGE: This is derived from experience of common sentry locations, good firing positions and alternative firing positions. A part of this is knowing how to use walls and corners to hide behind and fire from.

TF2 Tactics: Tele-Frag the Engineer (2nd Edition)

Chainspell — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 00:35:27 GMT

Video by tf2tactics (February 17, 2010)

I added a few things in this video:
- the advantage of the dead ringer
- how to avoid getting caught sapping their teleport
- more examples

I forgot to add that Valve has updated the tele-frag status icon and changed it into an actual kill icon. Which signifies that they have accepted this as an actual spy tactic. The spy gets 1 point for a successful tele-frag.

Special Thanks to: _ kT [g0d] -高手- and (-TN-) Sprite for helping me make the dead ringer clip. I crafted all my dead ringers and now I don't have one to use for this video...

---- 1st Edition Description ----
from: http://www.tf2tactics.com/entry.php?2...

"I have a very cool spy trick that was just recently found that works about 80% of the time. It's very effective against engineers who are paranoid of spies. I'll put it in steps."

1.Get to the teleporter entrance and sap it. Both the entrance and exit will be sapped.
2.Stand on top of it.
3.Wait for the engie to unsap it.
4.Get teleported onto the engineer who will then die to a teleport kill.
5.Sap his buildings. :D

-Tactic submitted by Toesrus:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Toesrus

TF2 Tactics: Medic Heal Rate (2nd Edition)

Chainspell — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 01:02:50 GMT

Video by tf2tactics (February 10, 2010)

source: http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=1656

"The rate of healing actually ramps up based on the amount of time since the heal target was last injured. If it's been greater than 10 seconds since the target was hurt, the heal rate is increased. The amount of increase ramps linearly up to 3 times the base heal rate at 15 seconds since the target was hurt. So if you're healing a target who's been hurt less than 10 seconds ago, you'll only be getting the base heal rate of 24 health a second. If the target was hurt 12.5 seconds ago, you'll be healing at 48 health a second. If the target hasn't been hurt for over 15 seconds, you'll be getting the maximum heal rate of 72 health a second."

-Valve

The reason behind this is valve wanted to encourage the duck and cover behaviour among players. Little tweaks like these is the reason why TF2 is the best team strategy game online.

TF2 Tactics: Offensive Engineer in Goldrush

Chainspell — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 04:54:41 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (February 03, 2010)

There's only two important things to remember when using this strategy:

- build a level 3 teleporter first as fast as you can
- let your dispenser accumulate metal first, before you start building your sentry.

Music made by:
Dj roguE

TF2 Tactics: Understanding Demo-Sentry Kills

Chainspell — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:37:59 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (January 29, 2010)

In this video we talk about the different ways to kill a sentry:

- Side Sticky
- Strafe Sticky / Pipe
- Pipe the Engineer
- Aim for the Top of the Sentry
- Jump then Pipe / Sticky
- Sticky Vertically
- Use your Teamates as Shield

- Stickies Weakness
- can be shot
- can be blown away
- too slow at long range
- Pipe Weakness
- hard to aim
- have to be a direct hit

Tests:
- How many stickies to kill a level 1, 2 or 3 sentry
- How many pipes with direct hit
- How many bounced pipes
- Can a level 3 dispenser keep up with the damage?

Notes:
- There's a reason why the demoman weapons arc, it is the only class that can kill a sentry without direct line of sight.
- General Rule: If you have a straight line of sight use pipes because it hits harder and faster, if you have to use corners use stickies.
- When you use pipes as long as it lands close to the sentry it doesn't matter if you miss or don't cause a direct hit, since the pipes on the floor will kill the engineer anyway, and then you're free to kill the sentry.
- The difference between soldier and demo: soldiers are reliant upon killing the engineer first. while demoman can kill the sentry without killing the engineer first.

Music:
EVANGELION 2.0 - (In My Spirit, Destiny & Fate)

TF2 Tactics: Understanding the Dead Ringer Update

Chainspell — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:54:00 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (January 08, 2010)

So I have this footage of a Dead Ringer test back in December, where I wanted to find out how loud the DR really was. Well good thing I still kept it because now, we can actually compare it! So if my tests are correct, the DR didn't really go quieter because it's still the same loudness when you're up close. But now the difference is, the falloff distance is much shorter. Meaning the sound doesn't travel as far anymore. I'm not an audio specialist tho.

The Dead Ringer now:
Has a quieter de-cloak sound

Reduces cloak to 40% when uncloaking early

Has a 35% cap on the amount of cloak it can gain from an ammo pack

Music Used:
Robin Thicke - Lost Without You

TF2 Tactics: How to Heal as a Medic

Chainspell — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:50:00 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (December 30, 2009)

I hope this video saves a lot of people the headache of screaming their lungs out at medics who are new to the game. The key points include:

how to monitor everyone's health even while healing someone else

paying attention to health indicators

how to buff players

why you have to avoid healing in small amounts

prioritizing who to heal on specific situations

Let's all admit that most of us know how to do all this... and yet when we play out there not all of us actually do it very well. Just keep in mind, if you're a medic, your job is to heal and heal and heal. Pay attention to other people's health bar, not just the person you're healing (probably the biggest gripe against medics).

Music used in this video:
- Dragonforce - Fury of the Storm
- Rihanna - Take a Bow

TF2 Tactics 1,000 Subscriber Recap

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:45:58 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (October 12, 2009)

Thanks everyone! It has been an amazing month, full of test videos, strategy videos and tutorials. Thanks for all the feedback from the community and keep them coming! There will be more videos to come in the future.

Sniper Tactics: Understanding Fire and Kritz Arrows

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:43:41 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (October 11, 2009)

This test was requested by: Planetary0

My conclusions are:
a full headshot deals the same amount of damage with kritz, fire and regular arrows--which is around 350 damage.

same damage done against sentries.

with a body shot, a fire arrow deals slightly more damage because of the burn

with a body shot, a kritz arrow can kill a full health heavy guy.

fire arrows do not deal more damage than regular ones. (so it's only there to look pretty?)

More Field of View Tests

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:41:13 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (October 09, 2009)

I had to test this again... Altho I think I'm still wrong...

Correction to Cart Cap Speed Video

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:39:36 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (October 07, 2009)

Had to retest this again. It turns out the actual cart cap limit is 3 players not 4. Thanks to slodice for making the correction.

Understanding Spy-Sentry Kills

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:37:34 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (October 03, 2009)

As a spy there are so many skills that you have to master in order to be an effective sentry killer. The following is a list of these:

STAB & SAP: The most common and the most sure fire way of taking out a sentry. You stab the engineer and quickly sap the sentry before it starts firing on you. Circle strafing helps tremendously.

SAP & STAB: Commonly used if other sentries are nearby. You sap first and quickly stab the engineer. Players new to the spy class might think this tactic is a good way to start practicing killing a sentry. I actually found it harder...

SAP, SAP & SAP: The beginner's way of destroying a sentry. But thic tactic is quite effective against a cluster of buildings. As it creates a lot of confusion, and eventually the engineer won't be able to keep up.

TELE-FRAG & SAP: This was recently discovered and proved to be very effective against engineers bundled together in a confined spot--making a conventional sneak attack harder to pull off.

TELE, STAB & SAP: Can be used when the engineer is already aware of the tele-frag trick. Instead of sapping his entrance, just use it normally--he won't expect you popping up behind him!

OVER STAB & SAP: This is typically employed against engineers who stay and camp their sentry with their backs against a wall. You first get on top, decloak, crouch and stab.

LURE KILL, DISGUISE & SAP: Lure the engineer away from his sentry gun, usually by sapping one of his buildings. Sap, cloak, and wait for the engineer to come and repair it. Then uncloak, stab and sap his sentry.

CAMP KILL & SAP: This is done by camping on his dispenser until the time is right. Usually when you hear an uber incoming, that would be a good time.

AMBASSADOR KILL: This is done by going to the back or side of the sentry, while being out of range. Headshot the engineer to kill him, then you are free to shoot his sentry.

DIVIDE AND CONQUER: This should be done if you are having a hard time doing your job as a spy. Players clustered together with sentries isn't a very ideal place for a spy to sneak into. So kill their teleports and make them spread apart.

STALK, STAB & SAP: Wait for the engineer to leave the safety of his sentry, then stab him when you can. This is useful against engineers who never stand still.

KILL ENGINEER WITH SENTRY: This isn't really very practical, but there are very few situations when this tactic will be doable.

Understanding Field of View and Blind Spots

Chainspell — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 14:32:51 GMT

Video by christianmalazarte (September 29, 2009)

description to come later...