It's that TF2 update time again.

[Revising Ocelot]

And it's a big one. No engie update, but I like that because sentry spam already annoys me enough when only half the enemy team are engineers, let alone all of them.

Team Fortress 2

* Added new community map cp_freight
* Added missing physics models for several items
* Added jiggle bones to the Sam & Max items, and The Buff Banner
* Added Crit-a-Cola


Dedicated Server

* Linux optimizations.
* Fixed Linux servers not relisting correctly after a master server restart
* Fixed a case where servers could have "ghost" players consuming player slots


Engine

* Marked the "snd_show" convar as a cheat


Gameplay Changes

* Pyro changes
o Flamethrower direct damage reduced 20%.
o Burn duration reduced (10 -> 6 seconds).
o Airblast re-fire delay reduced by 25%.
o Airblast ammo usage reduced by 20%.
o All reflected rockets/grenades/arrows now mini-crit.
o Airblasting enemies into environmental deaths now awards the death credit to the Pyro.

* Heavy changes
o Minigun spin-up/down time reduced by 25%
o Minigun firing movement speed increased to just under half-normal (from 80 to 110).
o Throwing a sandvich to a teammate now earns a full bonus point (was half a point).

* Bonk! changes
o Post-use movement penalty removed.
o Now has a re-use cooldown time, like The Sandman.

* The Chargin' Targe changes
o Direct charge hit now does 50 damage + 10 per head (up to 5 heads).
o Capped the turn rate from +left and +right while charging.

* The Huntsman changes
o Removed restriction that arrows need to be aimed before they can be lit by a Pyro.
o Bow can now be lowered without losing the lit arrow.
o Changed bow so you can start charging it while you're jumping, but you can't fire until you're on the ground.
o Fixed bug where flame effect would get stuck on if you change weapons with a lit arrow.

* Backpack changes
o Moved Crafting button out to the root class/backpack selection panel.
o Dragging and dropping items in your backpack now makes appropriate sounds.

* Bot changes
o Bots don't retreat to gather health as readily if they are in combat.
o Bots no longer retreat when moving to block a point capture.
o Bots should now equip an appropriate combat weapon and fight while moving to collect health.
o Bots who are roaming the map and hunting now chase down their victims, following them around corners.
o Bots That fire projectiles (ie: rockets/grenades/etc) don't hold down their fire button for a minimum time. This was causing Soldier bots to fire rockets into nearby walls as they strafed, killing themselves.
o Soldiers bots now switch to their shotgun after firing all four rockets when engaging an enemy.
o Added a few more bot names from community suggestions.
o Fixed a behavior loop with Engineer metal gathering.

* The Sandman change
o Added a slight speed reduction to stunned players.

* Community requests
o Added ConVars log_verbose_enable and log_verbose_interval to report player positions in the server log at regular intervals
o log_verbose_enable default: 0
o log_verbose_interval default: 3 secs
o "Last-weapon" initialization on respawn now sets itself to be the melee weapon if you don’t have a selectable secondary weapon (like The Razorback).

Bug Fixes

* Fixed an case where The Gunboats didn’t apply their damage reduction properly.
* The amount count in the HUD now flashes red when you’re low on ammo.
* Extinguishing a burning teammate now earns a full bonus point (was half a point).
* Fixed a permanent overheal exploit involving dispensers.
* Fixed a bug in spectator mode where the user aborted out of freezecam, setup a spec mode (like IN_EYE), and would then have the setting stomped after the freezecam timer expired.
* Fixed bug with disguised spy sometimes seeing his own name in the disguise status HUD.
* Fixed a client crash that could result from players with arrows embedded in them.
* Fixed items that can be worn by any class having the wrong model when worn by a disguised Spy.
* Added missing map prefixes to server browser game types.
* Killing yourself with your own sentry no longer increments the sentry's kill counter.
* Fixed dropped hats sometimes having the wrong team color.
* Fixed crit-boosted players not getting critical hits if their weapon has custom no-crit behavior.
* Fixed the achievement dialog taking a long time to pop up, and completed achievements now sort to the bottom of the list.
* Fixed Spies disguised as Medics hearing the autocaller sound.

Pyro changes are interesting. Reduces the whole W+M1 factor, but increases the potential for skilled air blasters to... blast.

Crit-a-Cola is apparently a Kritzkrieg version of Bonk - after drinking it the scout gets minicrits for a duration, but at the cost of everything becoming minicrits on him. Emphasising the glass cannon aspect.

[Art of Hilt]

Crit-a-Cola sounds fantastic for when a Scout can snipe a sentry from afar with the pistol, or against any enemy that could kill him with one hit anyway so he might as well drink it.

[Viridis]

I like the Heavy changes

Pyro: That's a mixed bag there. I think I'll try airblasting more, but I do sort of count on the enemy to burn to death while retreating. Hm.

[Flarecobra]

I dunno about the Pyro changes...I'll have to see it in combat before I decide.

[mauve]

Originally Posted by Viridis

Pyro: That's a mixed bag there. I think I'll try airblasting more, but I do sort of count on the enemy to burn to death while retreating. Hm.

Same here. My pyro strategy often involves jumping in, setting everything on fire, killing anyone with low hp, and then retreating from stronger enemies and leaving the fire to finish them off. This kind of pushes people even farther away from using the backburner.

[Kerensky287]

Originally Posted by Art of Hilt

Crit-a-Cola sounds fantastic for when a Scout can snipe a sentry from afar with the pistol, or against any enemy that could kill him with one hit anyway so he might as well drink it.

...Doesn't the drink replace the pistol though?

[Flarecobra]

Or making the Pyro more sneaky, making people burn them up from the back with the Backburner.

[Jagos]

* Pyro changes
o Flamethrower direct damage reduced 20%.
o Burn duration reduced (10 -> 6 seconds).
o Airblast re-fire delay reduced by 25%.
o Airblast ammo usage reduced by 20%.
o All reflected rockets/grenades/arrows now mini-crit.
o Airblasting enemies into environmental deaths now awards the death credit to the Pyro.

...

)(*&%&*^%$&%$

So, we the Pyro do less direct damage. Ok... Cool... NOT! Burn duration is down. (*^%ing NERF!

CB blast is stronger... Hmmm... Not bad...

Minicrits? Great, now the pyro takes some skill.

The last one is just retarded. That should have been in there from the first day.

All in all, the Pyro is even weaker than he was before for little benefit.

* The Sandman change
o Added a slight speed reduction to stunned players.

Wow... The Sandman may be useful yet.

[Aerozord]

how do you toss sandvich?

and I'm sure I'm not the only one that realized while this makes pyros a deeper class. Backburner is now even more useless

[Viridis]

Originally Posted by Aerozord

how do you toss sandvich?

and I'm sure I'm not the only one that realized while this makes pyros a deeper class. Backburner is now even more useless

Alt-fire (Right-click). Use it to heal the medic healing you.

Hm, does the update apply to the Backburner? Wouldn't really be a nice trade-off if so.