So I just bought Team Fortress 2.

[TheTaco007]

One tip, don't use the heavy, he's worthless. Other classes have their uses (my personal favorite was the pyro), but there is absolutely nothing the heavy can do the other classes can't better.

I'm sorry, WHAT? The entire concept behind the heavy is that he can MOW DOWN THE ENTIRE ENEMY TEAM. I average about 5 kills per life with that guy. He's amazing at defense, and rallies troops around him. A single heavy can defend a point from multiple attackers, or, with a medic, completely route the enemy team, and cap points. Hell, if you want to uber him, he can destroy more buldings than a demo in 10 seconds.

But I could see your point about him not having his own niche, like the other classes do, were it not for the fact that you said that the PYRO was better. WM1 much? What exactly does a PYRO do for the team? OK, Airblast enemies off a point. Done. Scout has the FAN for that. Now what? Get ubered and kill off a sentry nest? Cool, a heavy or demo does it better. What else does the pyro do? It's good at killing enemies? Isn't that exactly what I just said the Heavy did?

I hope you were being sarcastic.

 

[Neverhoodian]

Welcome to the fold.

TF2 is hands-down my favorite multiplayer game. Here's some tidbits for a newcomer such as yourself:

1. Try the offline Training mode first, as it introduces you to the basics and is a good primer for the multiplayer aspect.

2. I would recommend playing as the Soldier first, as his weapons and basic abilities are some of the easiest to learn. After that I'd suggest Medic, as it will allow you to really help the team while observing how the other classes play.

3. Don't get too caught up in trying to get all the unlockable weapons. They're meant to be "sidegrades" instead of upgrades anyway, so it's not like you're at a huge disadvantage if you don't have them.

4. Don't buy keys for crates. It costs $3 to buy a key, and there's no guarantee you'll even get a good item from a crate. In fact, don't buy anything from the Mann Co. Store, as the in-game items they sell are, quite frankly, absurdly overpriced.

5. If you must visit trade servers, get your business done and leave as soon as possible. I only go to a trade server once every few weeks to get excess crates off my hands.

6. Don't get discouraged if you die a lot early on. Bear in mind that most of the people you run across have been playing this game for years now, and know the intricacies of each class. Just keep playing and you'll get the hang of it soon enough.

Hope that helps. Have fun!

 

[archvile93]

One tip, don't use the heavy, he's worthless. Other classes have their uses (my personal favorite was the pyro), but there is absolutely nothing the heavy can do the other classes can't better.

I'm sorry, WHAT? The entire concept behind the heavy is that he can MOW DOWN THE ENTIRE ENEMY TEAM. I average about 5 kills per life with that guy. He's amazing at defense, and rallies troops around him. A single heavy can defend a point from multiple attackers, or, with a medic, completely route the enemy team, and cap points. Hell, if you want to uber him, he can destroy more buldings than a demo in 10 seconds.

But I could see your point about him not having his own niche, like the other classes do, were it not for the fact that you said that the PYRO was better. WM1 much? What exactly does a PYRO do for the team? OK, Airblast enemies off a point. Done. Scout has the FAN for that. Now what? Get ubered and kill off a sentry nest? Cool, a heavy or demo does it better. What else does the pyro do? It's good at killing enemies? Isn't that exactly what I just said the Heavy did?

I hope you were being sarcastic.

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land. In the brief time I played I killed heavies by simply rushing into their hail of bullets and torching them, coming out with most of my health intact. At least the flamethrower hits what you point it at, and it's quite useful when you get the drop on foes. The heavy is big and slow, and the soldier just does tanking better since he doesn't get hit with every pellet from the scatter gun at sniper range, and has an all around superior weapon.

 

[wizard_joe88]

Ohhh, I love me some TF2, it's better than hurp-de-durp Call of Duty, more team work and stratagy involved.
BTW, does anyone else on the escapist play this on the Xbox 360 copy of the orange box? It is kind of surprising there is still a pretty good player base for this even though Valve must have dropped the console orange box after a few updates.

 

[Bags159]

TF2 was really good. Then VALVe turned it into a hat simulator, causing massive performance loss on my end. My computer that I bought to play it in 2007 could max it at 1900 x 1080 without going below 50 fps in the most intense 16 vs 16. Now that same computer can barely get over 30 fps in an ORANGE_X(very low graphic detail level), 8 vs 8 server.

I can forgive them for introducing the hats and items as they're either collectible or unimportant, but I cannot forgive them for the performance decrease the hats seem to have brought. That said it's still a hilarious, enjoyable game and a complete steal for $15.

Edit: @ the above poster. We're so matchy-matchy.

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land. In the brief time I played I killed heavies by simply rushing into their hail of bullets and torching them, coming out with most of my health intact. At least the flamethrower hits what you point it at, and it's quite useful when you get the drop on foes. The heavy is big and slow, and the soldier just does tanking better since he doesn't get hit with every pellet from the scatter gun at sniper range, and has an all around superior weapon.

Corners: Use them. A good Heavy may not be as good as a good Soldier but he's still fairly good now that they've given him some items and buffs. You can't run at most people, hold mouse-one and expect to get kills.

 

[Johnny Impact]

I recently got TF2 as well, didn't see what all the hype was about. To be honest worst valve game.

TF2 was better in its early days.

Also you likely didn't experience real team action. Many people play as if they're the only ones on their side, no strategy, no teamwork. It's the same mentality you see in pro sports when one player (who is admittedly very good) says something about having to carry his team around like baggage. Well excuse me, Mr Superstar, but without those other ten guys you would face the whole opposing team by yourself, and ain't NOBODY that good.

When two equal teams support their own members properly, things become EPIC. Doesn't happen often, but it's awesome. I prefer to play Left 4 Dead as it rams the necessity of teamwork down your throat, forcing all but the biggest idiots to work together.

 

[ThriKreen]

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land.

You're either playing heavies wrong or playing against bad heavies then. I've noticed that when people play the heavy as more of a support class, believe it or not, he is the most effective. Duck out, suppress the enemy with fire while your team moves in (or out), then duck out to reload and allow your medic partner to heal you. You might not get as many kills, but you'd get tons of assists.

And since you're a big fat target, make sure you have a good communication with your medic, he can watch your back for spies or incoming fire. Rush into the middle of the enemy mob with an uber, let them focus on you, and allow your team to flank them.

And don't forget the TEAM aspect of the game. I find the most enjoyable times are the big 12v12 games where everyone is a regular and makes use of the voicecomm, going with their assigned roles, taking it for the team and not caring so much about dying. And if the teams are really balanced, where the end score could be won or lost by one point, makes for a very close, tense and exciting game. I fondly remember the BioWare vs. Raven TF2 tournament where we found Raven in the center of cp_well for 20mins before we were able to push then back for a 1-0 win.

As opposed to the random pub guy that is the 4th sniper on the team that hardly talks and is only focused on his own score, yet has the nerve to blame the team losing when he's been on the map the whole time and has the lowest score.

 

[Johnny Impact]

Except the heavy can't hit shit.

If he could deliver the volume of bullets he does, at long range, *and* be accurate, he'd be unstoppable. No one would play any other class. Every class needs a weakness and his is poor range. The heavy is a defensive class. Find a tight spot where the enemy has to engage you at close range. Make them come to you. The heavy is my favorite class. Soldier/medic teams come at me and get their backsides minced like burgermeat. I scare people away with just the sound of my gun spinning up. And I don't know what you mean about crappy damage, he has ridiculous damage output, it's just short range. Like all the other classes, you have to play him right.

 

[archvile93]

Except the heavy can't hit shit.

If he could deliver the volume of bullets he does, at long range, *and* be accurate, he'd be unstoppable. No one would play any other class. Every class needs a weakness and his is poor range. The heavy is a defensive class. Find a tight spot where the enemy has to engage you at close range. Make them come to you. I scare people away with just the sound of my gun spinning up. And I don't know what you mean about crappy damage, he has ridiculous damage output, it's just short range. Like all the other classes, you have to play him right.

You're not quite getting what I'm saying. What I mean is that he is so horrednously inaccurate that even at point blank range he can't hit you reliably.

 

[Solo-Wing]

I recently got TF2 as well, didn't see what all the hype was about. To be honest worst valve game.

TF2 was better in its early days.

Also you likely didn't experience real team action. Many people play as if they're the only ones on their side, no strategy, no teamwork. It's the same mentality you see in pro sports when one player (who is admittedly very good) says something about having to carry his team around like baggage. Well excuse me, Mr Superstar, but without those other ten guys you would face the whole opposing team by yourself, and ain't NOBODY that good.

When two equal teams support their own members properly, things become EPIC. Doesn't happen often, but it's awesome. I prefer to play Left 4 Dead as it rams the necessity of teamwork down your throat, forcing all but the biggest idiots to work together.

Yeah I kinda want L4D2 but I don't got the money and I am certain no one would gift. Hardly anybody is THAT generous.

 

[Johnny Impact]

You're not quite getting what I'm saying. What I mean is that he is so horrednously inaccurate that even at point blank range he can't hit you reliably.

No, I *am* getting it. You're just mistaken. Nothing grinds people up like the heavy's minigun. It just takes practice to swing the reticle in time with your enemy's movements. Be happy you've yet to encounter a good heavy player.

 

[archvile93]

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land.

You're either playing heavies wrong or playing against bad heavies then. I've noticed that when people play the heavy as more of a support class, believe it or not, he is the most effective. Duck out, suppress the enemy with fire while your team moves in (or out), then duck out to reload and allow your medic partner to heal you. You might not get as many kills, but you'd get tons of assists.

And since you're a big fat target, make sure you have a good communication with your medic, he can watch your back for spies or incoming fire. Rush into the middle of the enemy mob with an uber, let them focus on you, and allow your team to flank them.

And don't forget the TEAM aspect of the game. I find the most enjoyable times are the big 12v12 games where everyone is a regular and makes use of the voicecomm, going with their assigned roles, taking it for the team and not caring so much about dying. And if the teams are really balanced, where the end score could be won or lost by one point, makes for a very close, tense and exciting game. I fondly remember the BioWare vs. Raven TF2 tournament where we found Raven in the center of cp_well for 20mins before we were able to push then back for a 1-0 win.

As opposed to the random pub guy that is the 4th sniper on the team that hardly talks and is only focused on his own score, yet has the nerve to blame the team losing when he's been on the map the whole time and has the lowest score.

Relying on your team is one of the stupidest things you can do, they're almost always worthless I'll paste my two most blatant examples. They might not usually be this bad, but it comes pretty close and I could never rely on them in the six hours I played (I got one hat in all that time too, god I despise the game's weapon unlock system). Spending ten minutes defending the briefcase from a scout while calling to my team for backup the entire time kind of drove that point home (you try hitting one of those speedy bastards with a grenade), or like when my half dead allies run right past me and into the room guarded by three fully upgraded sentries, me, the medic, and then they whine to me that it's my fault they died for not healing them.

 

[Vigormortis]

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land. In the brief time I played I killed heavies by simply rushing into their hail of bullets and torching them, coming out with most of my health intact. At least the flamethrower hits what you point it at, and it's quite useful when you get the drop on foes. The heavy is big and slow, and the soldier just does tanking better since he doesn't get hit with every pellet from the scatter gun at sniper range, and has an all around superior weapon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That would be great, except I don't have the natasha since the game arbitralily denies me it, unless I jump through a lot of complicated hoops, win the lottery, or pay through the nose for reason I've boiled down to greed, shits and giggles, or both. And this still doesn't change the lack of teamwork. I added that in after posting so you might have missed that. Also, you can use those general strategies for any class. The soldier still just plain does the tanking better, at least with the basic loadout, not that that matters since everyone has better weapons than you now, so good luck getting the achievements for new equipment without stat padding.

I'm just gonna say it. It sounds to me like you just didn't know how to play heavy. There's actually a level of finesse to playing him. I've seen just two heavies hold off near a whole team just long enough for the rest of our team to get in there to help. No medic involved. Don't take this as an insult though. I actually know of the "tricks" to playing as Heavy and even I still don't do it that well that often. 'Course, I'm more of an Engie/Spy/Scout player, but that's me.

On a related note, I'm really getting sick of hearing people ***** about the new items and, specifically, the weapons. Save a very small handful of them, they're all no better or worse than the starting weapons. And I don't even mean the unlocks. The actual basic weapons. I've seen plenty of pro-players actually prefer just the starting weapons as they're usually better in most situations.

I keep hearing, "If you want to win you have to spend a lot of money to get the best stuff", or more specifically I hear things like, "The black box is auto-win for the soldier.", or, "W+M1 Backburner pyros are cheap." Bullshit. Backburner's been so nerfed by this point (mainly due to whiny players who don't know how to fight a pyro) it's almost useless. Thank God Valve not only restored it almost to what it used to be but also tossed in the airblast. And the Black Box "auto-win"? Really? You're telling me a slight bit of healing with each kill, and no real boost to damage, is worth only having 3 rockets? No thanks. Give me the original launcher any day.

The only item I could see as being over powered was the Fists of Steel. A heavy equipped with those was so unbelievably hard to kill it was aggravating. Full charge sniper headshot took out only a little over half of their health. Thankfully, though, in that last big update Valve addressed that, along with a number of other tweaks.

One last thing, even though they don't add anything to game beyond pure aesthetics, the hat situation is getting a bit extreme. Valve needs to cut back on that. Big time.

 

[archvile93]

You're not quite getting what I'm saying. What I mean is that he is so horrednously inaccurate that even at point blank range he can't hit you reliably.

No, I *am* getting it. You're just mistaken. Nothing grinds people up like the heavy's minigun. It just takes practice to swing the reticle in time with your enemy's movements. Be happy you've yet to encounter a good heavy player.

Well I probably never will since I realized I hated the game and had the presence of mind to stop playing, but I also got torched by pyros rushing through my hail of bullets. yes I had the reticle on him, don't even try to argue I didn't since he didn't even try to dodge.

 

[Johnny Impact]

Yeah I kinda want L4D2 but I don't got the money and I am certain no one would gift. Hardly anybody is THAT generous.

Left 4 Dead, on Versus mode, with both teams full, both teams miked, and both teams having their respective shit together, is the most sublime multiplayer experience I've ever had. Get the game. No more need be said.

 

[archvile93]

Except the heavy can't hit shit. The minigun is horribly inaccurate and doesn't do all that much damage on the rare occassions it does land. In the brief time I played I killed heavies by simply rushing into their hail of bullets and torching them, coming out with most of my health intact. At least the flamethrower hits what you point it at, and it's quite useful when you get the drop on foes. The heavy is big and slow, and the soldier just does tanking better since he doesn't get hit with every pellet from the scatter gun at sniper range, and has an all around superior weapon.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
That would be great, except I don't have the natasha since the game arbitralily denies me it, unless I jump through a lot of complicated hoops, win the lottery, or pay through the nose for reason I've boiled down to greed, shits and giggles, or both. And this still doesn't change the lack of teamwork. I added that in after posting so you might have missed that. Also, you can use those general strategies for any class. The soldier still just plain does the tanking better, at least with the basic loadout, not that that matters since everyone has better weapons than you now, so good luck getting the achievements for new equipment without stat padding.

I'm just gonna say it. It sounds to me like you just didn't know how to play heavy. There's actually a level of finesse to playing him. I've seen just two heavies hold off near a whole team just long enough for the rest of our team to get in there to help. No medic involved. Don't take this as an insult though. I actually know of the "tricks" to playing as Heavy and even I still don't do it that well that often. 'Course, I'm more of an Engie/Spy/Scout player, but that's me.

On a related note, I'm really getting sick of hearing people ***** about the new items and, specifically, the weapons. Save a very small handful of them, they're all no better or worse than the starting weapons. And I don't even mean the unlocks. The actual basic weapons. I've seen plenty of pro-players actually prefer just the starting weapons as they're usually better in most situations.

I keep hearing, "If you want to win you have to spend a lot of money to get the best stuff", or more specifically I hear things like, "The black box is auto-win for the soldier.", or, "W+M1 Backburner pyros are cheap." Bullshit. Backburner's been so nerfed by this point (mainly due to whiny players who don't know how to fight a pyro) it's almost useless. Thank God Valve not only restored it almost to what it used to be but also tossed in the airblast. And the Black Box "auto-win"? Really? You're telling me a slight bit of healing with each kill, and no real boost to damage, is worth only having 3 rockets? No thanks. Give me the original launcher any day.

The only item I could see as being over powered was the Fists of Steel. A heavy equipped with those was so unbelievably hard to kill it was aggravating. Full charge sniper headshot took out only a little over half of their health. Thankfully, though, in that last big update Valve addressed that, along with a number of other tweaks.

One last thing, even though they don't add anything to game beyond pure aesthetics, the hat situation is getting a bit extreme. Valve needs to cut back on that. Big time.

Well considering all the shit you have to do to unlock weapons I can see why people complain. I really would've liked to use the bow and direct hit, those looked awsome. Too bad I never will.

 

[Solo-Wing]

Yeah I kinda want L4D2 but I don't got the money and I am certain no one would gift. Hardly anybody is THAT generous.

Left 4 Dead, on Versus mode, with both teams full, both teams miked, and both teams having their respective shit together, is the most sublime multiplayer experience I've ever had. Get the game. No more need be said.

I know. I played it on my friends PC. I beat Dead center on expert for him. God I rock the sniper. Not a single friendly fire shot from me.

 

[Vigormortis]

Well considering all the shit you have to do to unlock weapons I can see why people complain. I really would've liked to use the bow and direct hit, those looked awsome. Too bad I never will.

"..all the shit you have to do..."? You mean just play the game? Yeah. It's so hard to just play the game and either get up to 11 items a week in drops or unlock some of the achievement items. You've also seemed to completely miss my point. You don't need those extra weapons. You can play just as well with the starting weapons. At least TF2 is no where near as bad as other games, like say Call of Duty, in terms of it's unlocks.

And, if you think getting the achievements is too hard in a match, you could..oh I don't know...go to an achievement server and have someone help you farm and grind out the achievements in record time. Seriously, in the span of about 2 hours or so I helped someone get every Milestone item for every class.

 

[archvile93]

Well considering all the shit you have to do to unlock weapons I can see why people complain. I really would've liked to use the bow and direct hit, those looked awsome. Too bad I never will.

"..all the shit you have to do..."? You mean just play the game? Yeah. It's so hard to just play the game and either get up to 11 items a week in drops or unlock some of the achievement items. You've also seemed to completely miss my point. You don't need those extra weapons. You can play just as well with the starting weapons. At least TF2 is no where near as bad as other games, like say Call of Duty, in terms of it's unlocks.

And, if you think getting the achievements is too hard in a match, you could..oh I don't know...go to an achievement server and have someone help you farm and grind out the achievements in record time.

Not as bad? In CoD everything you do except moving and dying get's you closer to unlocking that new weapon you want. In TF2 you have to either jump through a lot of difficult hoops (10 right?), get really lucky and get the exact item you want, or pay through the nose. That doesn't sound easier. Not to mention most of those eleven items will either be lock boxes (I hope you won't miss three dollars) or worthless hats. As to your second remark, you mean like stat padding? Most people I know look down on that big time.

 

[Katana314]

Except the heavy can't hit shit.

If he could deliver the volume of bullets he does, at long range, *and* be accurate, he'd be unstoppable. No one would play any other class. Every class needs a weakness and his is poor range. The heavy is a defensive class. Find a tight spot where the enemy has to engage you at close range. Make them come to you. I scare people away with just the sound of my gun spinning up. And I don't know what you mean about crappy damage, he has ridiculous damage output, it's just short range. Like all the other classes, you have to play him right.

You're not quite getting what I'm saying. What I mean is that he is so horrednously inaccurate that even at point blank range he can't hit you reliably.

archvile, you need to get a better connection; the Heavy is my go-to class for killing pyros because contrary to many beliefs, HE is the king of close range.

I realize you're not as good with the heavy, but that's part of what makes the game great. Different strokes for different folks. I see newbies loving the pyro, and I do horribly as him. Part of the heavy's advantage is he doesn't need to reload, unlike the soldier. If you look at it as a pure time formula, he simply does more damage over time at a certain distance if you go long enough to include reload time, and if you're thinking about more than a one-on-one burst of fire, that does matter.

I can't convince you to keep trying the heavy or anything, but given that plenty of people in this thread are good Heavy players (I often dominate the enemy team as one) it's pretty presumptious and rude for you to just say he sucks.