Demoknight is awesome if you get the right build. I go with Splendid Screen and Persian Persuader, since it allows me to ram into my opponent, cut off their head before they even feel the impact, then eat their bullets so I stand a better chance against my next victim. Use the grenade launcher for anything demoknight can't kil (sentries and such) and you get a murder machine that is hard to kill.

Really?

See, I was always a fan of the Cabal and chargin Targe. Kaboom indeed!

this is fun, especially for the spiteful because if they get you low on health you kill yourself, denying them the satisfaction. Cause even if its your own life, you still get the killing blow
they are good at one-on-one, normal demo is good at taking out groups. This being TEAMfortress, I find the second option more helpful

That's the whole matter of using your weapons together, for example you can weaken down a group with your grenade launcher, then make a charge as a gamble for a quick kill and a very hefty health restore.

Also when you're in a position to pick off a straggler (or a medic) it works out great.

How about Caber and Screen? Use the Screen as your main weapon, then Caber anything you need to kill right now.

http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/b...ostawesome.jpg

Like, I tried that back when we only had the Targe, and it was less-than-useful, but now you can actually reliably use impact damage.

"The explosion is my FALLBACK option."

Since my last post, my collection of Demoknight items has expanded to include the Half Zatoichi and the Eyelander. The only ones left are the Splendid Screen and the Caber, I think.

Unfortunately, my item drops dried up again so unless I can craft those it'll be nearly another week before I see them.

....is it sad that I just now realized why it's called the Half Zatoichi? (Although to be fair, I haven't seen any of those movies since I was probably 19 or 20, so... I blame that.)Can't believe it took me this long to get the joke. >.<

I've just taken a crash course on Spycrabs and I think I know a way to revive the meme in a way that makes them useful. If you see me on steam you'll figure out what it is.

EDIT: Nevermind, you guys will find out about it when I'm on the steam game night tomorrow. And I hope that the few who do know keep it a surprise.

New items incoming

http://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/August_3,_2011_Patch

So... promotion items for something obviously Fallout related and I guess Skyrim related (the ram-horn hat), but I can't identify the others.

EDIT: The Wingstick is from Rage apparently... but I've never heard of Rage. Eh.
The Original seems to be Quake-related as it's held in the middle of the screen in first person view, Quake/Doom style.
Anger stems from Brink. Screw Brink.

Yeah screw brink it sucks. however Rage is looking pretty good. its basically a Fallout 3 on a cooler new engine and with weirder shit.

So the new Engie item isn't a new item, but a reskin.

I have witnessed the ABSOLUTE WORST case of hateful idiocy ever, of all time.

So I go on the 2fort server I prefer (on the tf.skial servergroup) and there's this guy spamming links to his youtube channel while headshotting cloaked spies, he then accuses anyone who calls him out for his aimbot as being unskilled.

So then I do a quick search online and I find a thread on the forum for the servergroup where this guy is TRYING to get a perma-ban so that he doesn't come across these servers when he has the game find a server for him.

This has accelerated my already declining hope for humanity.

You never know man. It would be slightly awesome ether way.

...Couldn't he just find servers on his own?

just shows how laze he is, not only is he letting the game basically play itself, he even wants it to find servers for him too.

Well when he gets Vac-banned he will have very little choice in servers. Then it will be easy from him to chose.

Sorry, but i'ma drop the nonsense flag on this one.

By that logic spies and snipers aren't team players because they don't have the capacity for collateral damage?

Here's the rub, son. A 'normal' demo can be just as useless to a team as a demoknight if the player doesn't take the time to practice with the class and the situation doesn't play to a demoknight's strengths. Yes, against a engie nest bottleneck a demo knight will be ineffective whereas explosives would be useful.
The map being played, the team composition, offense or defense, these are all factors to be taken into consideration. I've been playin demoknight a lot since it came out and find it to be quite useful for a variety of reasons:

• Impact from the splendid shield can knock back any target. Good for seperating medics from uber'd target if w+m1 pyros don't grasp blowback mechanics
• Hit and run harassment tactics
• Point of entry cock blockin'. If it is known a demoknight is guarding an entry way it's a pretty damn good defense.
• Easy to clear out congested areas with a well aimed chargey chopchop
• Mental warfare: Get up in someone's shit and slap their face with the sword then hop away. Easy to peel off a good chunk of a push that way. People just love chasin a demoknight. Splintered pushes are weak pushes.
• Force an early uber with a charge. wasting an uber that could be otherwise used in a better situation.
• a well timed charge can scatter a tight group apart 'cause noone wants to be decapitated. Again, splintered push/defense

Point I'm makin is: any class/build can suck if the player sucks. There's no exceptions to this simple fact.

And if you take a demoknight that can use the grenade launcher well, you've got a situation where you could very well be killed from a distance, but if you try to get close (like as a pyro) then you can be easily run down (pyro is by far my most common melee victim).

And the crazy part of demoknight is that you can't rely on counting their shots because they'll just run you over if you go after them when they reload. Combine that with the Persian Persuader's effect of allowing demoknights to eat weapons for health and a 6-second recharge time and a single skilled demoknight can easily turn a side (in my 2fort matches most of the time my team ends up controlling the bridge while I pick off people that jump down to fight or spam grenades at snipers).

My only annoyance with demoknight is the fact that the charge and slash combo still won't kill a spy immediately if they dead ringer.

I kill you guys when I play demoknight.

I kill you guys when I play normal demo.

One just has more explosions then slashy slash then the other to me.

Because your vague anecdotal declaration and epeen stroking is pertinent evidence in this discussion.

AHHHHHHHH BIG WORDS

No what I was trying to get across was that both are viable to me.

If I could give them 2 different jobs, the knight would be the blockade runner, while the normal demo would be the one to actually attempt to blow up the blockade.

Shouldn't you be writing a Homestuck post about how much righter you are than everybody else about Homestuck?

Man I'm just sayin' like you know what splinters a push pretty good, is explosions.

Yeah, I mean, this makes sense. It's different roles and methodologies and, in the right hands, either can be delightfully effective.

Though personally, I prefer to see a normal demo on my team than a demoknight.

I prefer to play normal Demo.

Actually, I prefer to play Scottish Resistance Demo.

After playing with that piece of work, the area that regular Stickies can cover just seems tiny.

And if our team has an active Dispenser, I like to play with the Scottish Resistance and Persian Persuader. Because I need to stay alive to maintain a Sticky carpet, and being able to eat ammo for health helps that a lot. As for secondary weapons, well I don't have the Loch-N-Load, so...

I agree but in fairness to the demoknight I'm still happier than if they were another fucking spy or sniper.

Now now, we all know that an infinite supply of body shots and face stabs are the key to any victory.

A good number of Spies and Snipers is usually 2.

Not 2 Spies and 2 Snipers. One of each, or two of one and none of the other.

I play in 12v12 or 16v16 servers.

There's always 1~3 snipers and 1~2 spies, one of each will always be incompetent. The others will be okay players who may switch to another class to adapt. I'm a terrible Spy, I know that much, but there are times where there's an engie nest and our team can't get past it at all and I go Spy and sap everything.

Depends on the map, 2 snipers may be too many as offense on Dustbowl, but on Doublecross you can end up supressing them to the point where they're forced to take the lower bridge no matter what.

E: My favorite time of Doublecross was when they had a teleporter exit right in my sniper alley. It's fun to see flashy lights follow by "-450".

Man I am loving the original (shut up its 2 bucks a game on the pack deal so I got it and Fallout and Quakes) I rocket jump a lot better and edge better too.

So it has different mechanics than the Rocket Launcher?

No damage diffrences, but its rocket is fired from the dead center of the player model. Allowing for me at least to have a easier time corner shooting and rocket jumping.

...So, to everyone else, rockets are coming from the soldier's head?

Which one?

yeah pretty much

Heh. I need to see a video of that. Preferably with the Soldier wearing the HHHH. So it looks like a jack-o-lantern spitting rockets.

By the way, I keep hearing really convincing arguments for how the Pyro is underpowered, and I feel really weak when playing him, but when the nasty little firebugs torch me and my team in 2 seconds flat every other minute during the actual gameplay, I begin to wonder how true that really is.

The problem is, there's always the possibility that I just personally suck when it comes to playing as and combating Pyros. Hard to tell.

It just seems like people are always dying to pyros for 2 main reasons.

A. Pyro fire steal kills alot
B. Alot of people play pyro, so if they just keep sending themselves in with the mindset of the zerg swarm, they are gonna get kills.

Sounds legit.

But a lot of the time, when I die to Pyros, it's directly to flamethrower discharge. Eh. I dunno.

But when I try playing Pyro, the only people I run into close-quarters are other Pyros who have already seen me. Sigh.

It's a matter of tactics, use corners and alternate routes to your advantage, since it is one of the faster classes. If you decide to do a head-on charge (2fort bridge is a prime example) master the airblast so you can kill demos and soldiers without a single flame (one time I actually killed a medic that was healing the soldier using his own rocket, fun times).

Also when you're working from a distance, flare gun and detonator are great for harassing the enemy and forcing snipers to fall back. Also the flare gun crits if it hits somebody that's already on fire, so a fun trick some pyros do is set somebody on fire, airblast them up and then crit-flare them before they touch the ground. Then you have the fact that the axtinguisher can really tear up a battle, especially if you're not the only person setting people on fire.

Pyros have a lot of cool things they can do too, though. A skilled pyro will be able to turn a bad soldier into less "dead weight" and more "active liability" for the opposing team, and... well, under certain VERY SPECIFIC conditions, the Detonator can cause serious chaos (that is to say, no Amputator, no Jarate, no Mad Milk, no airblast, no cart, no water) as the entire enemy team catches fire simultaneously. Afterburn doesn't do much, but there's a certain change in your mindset that tends to happen when you're on fire.

I find I get a lot of genuine kills (not killsteals) when I go my Solo Pyro build - Backburner, Flare Gun, Backscratcher - because the Backburner makes you godly in close 1v1, the Flare Gun lets you take on Heavies if you can aim, and the Backscratcher means that you can operate independently of the main group. Pop out, Flare Gun/set shit on fire, pop back into cover, look for any kind of health kit to put you back in the green, repeat.

It's just beautiful for Payload of any kind, too.

Yep, I've lit up entire groups and gotten a few kills in Payload by being a sneaky pyro with the Backburner.

Because I'll always be a pyro...
 

1) Never run towards a Pyro as a Pyro. You will lose all the time

2) In Pyro battles, shotguns are your friend

3) Compression blasts save your life. MASTER IT!

4) Flame, harass, repeat.

5) Never, EVER try to take on anyone from the frontlines. You are a Spy without the disguise. You are a gangsta style killah, who can kill Heavies in two hits with a Powerjack or Axetinguisher.

6) When in doubt, run to fight another day.

7) A spy should never backstab you, even on stairs.

8) Compression blast, compression blast, compression blast!

9) Combo pyros are one of the hardest classes to master, but getting a degreaser, the Power jack, and a shotgun is one of the most rewarding kill combos that you can do.

10) Some help in the basics

Unless the Heavy has a Tomislav.

Really, taking on Heavies who know where you are is too much of a risk in general.

That's honestly not something a pyro has any control over. Some people are really, REALLY good spies. Telling someone never to be ambushed is unrealistic, and any spy worth his cloakwatch knows how to avoid letting a pyro know he exists.

Axtinguisher does more damage than the Power Jack.

And for the record, I prefer to bring along a Flare Gun 90% of the time. Shotgun is good for dealing with other Pyros, and I'd much rather have the range a Flare Gun supplies you (which lets you deal with 8 of the classes) than the raw damage the Shogun gives (which is preferable for enemy Pyros only).

The meanest pyros do a puff 'n' sting with the Degreaser, Flare Gun the target while you're in mid-air and Axtinguish you on the way down. That's 270ish damage, which means that anything is outright killed or extremely injured unless it's an overhealed Heavy.

Personally, I substitute a mailbox.

It does mean I'm ridiculously weak against other Pyros sporting a shotgun and/or Backburner though.

Speaking of Mailboxes I'll give a strange flaregun and a turtleneck to anyone who has a extra one.

Ah, if only I still had my Degreaser. I guess I'll use the vanilla flamethrower when I do play Pyro.

Currently my best class is actually Demoman. I love defending with him.

All that for a mailbox?

Heck, I don't even HAVE an extra, I'll just give you the one in my inventory.

"turtleneck?"

the Rogue's col roule aka the Treacherous Turtleneck

Oh, I see.

Hm. Seen up close, it actually looks pretty nice.

Speaking of trading things, I don't suppose any of you want to trade for the stuff I have here? I'd very much like to trade my Handyman's Handle for another hat.

Do want that strange flaregun. I got an extra flaregun :3

EDIT: Wait...you want a mailbox? I don't have one :<

Maybe you'd want something from here?

EDIT II: just wondering, where did those strange items come from?

*looks at own backpack*

...I have WAY too much junk for my own good.

I don't suppose I have anything you'd want to trade that Samur-Eye for? Hat-for-hat, I have, well, the Handyman's Handle.

And can I tempt you with anything for one of your Degreasers?

And holy crap, dude, you do have a lot of stuff. That's enough duplicates for about 4 Refined Metal.

It doesn't help that most of those dupes are Vintage.

I'm not willing to part with the Samu-Eye, but I can toss you a Degreaser free. It's not like I'm lacking.

EDIT: Fun fact: not spent a penny on the Mann Co store. >.>

Cool. I'll see if I can find you whenever I have access to the game today (or tomorrow).

And yeah, lots of the dupes are Vintage, but in just about every case, you can scrap the dupes such that the remaining copy of the weapon is a Vintage one, so no harm there.

That's my regular procedure once that oh-so-familiar "YOUR BACKPACK IS FULL, NUMPTY" message pops up upon a new item.

Well, after deleting all the crates first.

I'm pretty satisfied with my current hat loadout except for the Trophy Belt. That was my first ever hat. Which was randomly crafted. AFTER the second batch of new hats had come out with the Classless update. So a 1/30 chance or so for the WORST hat at the time (and it's still pretty terrible now, maybe still the worst). And of course, I got it. Incredible disappointment.

...then two weeks later I had a Tyrant's Helm randomly drop. Complete reversal of emotions.

And over time it mutated into... that... collection.

Suffice to say, I'm currently in the market for a Larrikin Robin.

Yeah, I have almost no hats that are random. Just that danged plunger.

I get hat drops a lot.

Tis a shame that most of them are doubles. Like today a medic mask dropped, but I already got one, so it became Karesh's birthday present.

I can't tell you how many times I seen the bloody cat in the hat...hat.

I don't suppose you have any hats you'd want to trade for the Handyman's Handle?

Hey Ocelot, what do you say about trading me that paint with the numbery name for the paint I have?

fez + Turtleneck= Bond villian

I'll never get a Gas Station Attendant hat, or an Ushanka.

I have like, Detective Noir, Vintage Safe'n'Sound, Batter's Helmet and the Pyro's Beanie.

Dude, are you willing to trade the Safe'n'Sound?

I don't even care about it being Vintage quality, I just want me some ear guards.

I've started getting a little more daring with my sentry placement as an Engineer. One specific example: On Turbine, I always try to shoot for getting my sentry right outside the lower entrances to the enemy base. It makes exiting the fast way (out the left entrance) much more difficult, and since the right entrance (to the intel) is usually being zerg rushed by allies it seems like it's fairly effective. Especially if you keep an eye out for spies and don't get yourself killed by friendly fire (Et tu, sentry?).

The only problem is, the round after I realized how effective this could be, one player on the opposing team made it his duty to play disruption and stop me from getting my sentry there. He actually called me out during the match after a few deaths, saying that he wasn't going to let that happen a second time. So I just switched back to Soldier instead.

Any other places on maps where a sentry is that devastatingly effective?

Try getting one up on the right shipping container (you can jump onto it from halfway up the ramp).

It's very entertaining when you pull it off, and has much better coverage of jerks using the top

On 2fort, if you place a sentry right in the middle of the water, it can see everyone in there but no one can see it immediately. This is really nice for if you have fellow teammates controlling the ground level so that soldiers can't take potshots at your sentry down there. It's a good way to get rages if you have it there while your pyro is on a burning spree.

What you got? It's the first hat I crafted and I hate it so I'm totally okay with trading.

Oh there is its just that majority of them require the right conditions and teammates to keep up.

Personaly any spot a mini sentry will do well is a place a L3 will be devastating. so experiment around with your minisentry. Remember High traffic areas FOR YOUR TEAM is sometimes Key to making your sentry really effective. However the more people surrounding it the more it will be effected with splash damage and the "easier" for a spy to get it.

also remember that anywhere a sentry is you need a teleporter. PERIOD it's needed to really amp up your defense and provide your team support.

this be my backpack.

I have a number of duplicate weapons, and if you want a hat for it, I have the Handyman's Handle (the Pyro's plunger hat)

Since we're posting backpacks again :D

http://www.tf2items.com/id/babybahamut

I'm willing to trade 1:1 any duplicates I have for anything I don't have, I'm not too possessive of most of my hats (including both magistrate mullets) and I'm particularly interested in getting hold of an atomiser, candy cane, and the demoman weapons from the Uber update. I'll trade crates for pretty much anything.

Attendant Hat. Full stop.

...Want to do some bizarre trading ( vintage safe'n'sound for attendant hat, you trade that safe'n'sound with Locke ) ?

If Locke's willing to throw in one of the scout bats I'm after with the plunger, that sounds alright to me.

EDIT: I'll be going to bed shortly but I'm usually logged into Steam all day, I'm in the NPF Steam Group under the current alias BBust Of Hippocrates. Hit me up any time you're around and if I'm on at the time we can trade.

I don't have any Scout hats that aren't also omni-class hats.

Little mistake there, buddy.

I swear, it read Hats last I checked.

Alright, hand on:

OK, willing to trade the Candy Cane. I'm hanging onto my Atomizer, but you can have the Candy Cane.

Either/or suits me fine. Righto then, any time we're all online just give me a buzz through the chat and I'll get on. :D

EDIT: Have the safe'n'sound safe and sound. Any time you're ready Locke.

Right. I'll probably be on pretty late tonight, if I'm on. (think, like 4 or 5 hours from now).

4/5 hours from now is 3/4am for me! Don't think my boss would accept "I had to stay up and trade hats" as an excuse for my tiredness :D no rush though, we'll run into each other eventually (weekend?)

Trades are still open if anyone else is interested in some of my things, too.