Character Balancing

[Stormy]

So I have played for quite a wile now, a good few hours yesterday and there where a few little things that where just bugging me. It just seemed that a few of the characters where perhaps a little under-par with the others and perhaps needed to be tweaked slightly.

First off is the Pyro, what I have been finding with the pyro is that its just damn hard to get people in range of the flame thrower as they just run backwards. I feel that either the range needs to slightly longer or the speed of the pyro needs to be upped slightly just to make him take effect a little more.

I also would like to see the Demoman get a shotgun, 4 nades isnt to many and once they are gone its a pain sodding around trying to get more shells in. Would be nice to have a support weapon.

What do other people think need to be tweaked to even out the characters a little more?

 

[Dr0ndeh]

i disagree with the pyro comment, youre sposed to switch to shotgun if theyre just out of range. and the flamethrower does much more damage now, its quite beefy. theyve made the pyro a much more well rounded class. agree with the demo man comment, 4 genades arnt really enough without any form of backup weapon.

the class i find quite imbalanced is the scout, the shotgun does loads of damage and the baseball bat does a huge amount of damage, i seemed to be one shotting most people with it yesterday, and killed a heavy in 3 hits.

people have moaned about the spy, but i think its quite well balanced, theyre so easy to kill once youve spotted them, its just a matter of spotting them.

i also think the sentries should be a little easier to destroy, other than that tf2 seems very well balanced.

 

[PvtRyan]

Sentries are fine, a spy can kill a bunch of them in a few seconds.

 

[Dr0ndeh]

Sentries are fine, a spy can kill a bunch of them in a few seconds.

you must have been playing against some really....really bad engineers. they can just wrench off the sapper before it blows.

would be better if it was like FF's spy where you take control of the turret for a few seconds before it blows, usually killing the engineer.

 

[DESSTROYER]

you must have been playing against some really....really bad engineers. they can just wrench off the sapper before it blows.

would be better if it was like FF's spy where you take control of the turret for a few seconds before it blows, usually killing the engineer.

that's why you put the sapper on, then kill the engineer, or let him chase after you giving enough time for the sapper to kill the turret.

 

[Stormy]

Funny enough after playing a little more with the pyro I feel maybe I was a little quick to judge, its damn powerful that thrower and i'm starting to get the hang of it.

 

[CyberPitz]

I'll say most of the classes are pretty good. They did a great job at balancing. The most part, I've only seen people complain about another class if they can't kill that person...like when I was a Spy, I kept sneaking behind everybody, knifing 3-4 people, getting 2 sentries/teleporters/etc, and then hiding again. Hell, ask Asus! I got him a few times...great fun.

Really, I think the classes are ace for balance.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

i disagree with the pyro comment, youre sposed to switch to shotgun if theyre just out of range. and the flamethrower does much more damage now, its quite beefy. theyve made the pyro a much more well rounded class. agree with the demo man comment, 4 genades arnt really enough without any form of backup weapon.

I disagree too. I love the Pyro, and the class is all about getting the drop on the enemy. His biggest advantage is his constant stream of damage without having to reload. He can inflict an insane amount of damage on a group of unsuspecting enemies. Pyro's need good map awareness and sneaky tactics.

I think if the flame range was increased, you'd quickly start to see the class become overpowered.

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Funny enough after playing a little more with the pyro I feel maybe I was a little quick to judge, its damn powerful that thrower and i'm starting to get the hang of it.

Ah! Good man. :thumbs:

 

[PoweredBySoy]

Sentry gun balance is fine. Really, what else does the Engineer class really have going for him?

Sure, a well placed sentry can be brutal, but there's always a counter. If not a Spy, then Uber Heal.

 

[CyberPitz]

I agree. Having a very powerful sentry makes a spy just that much more important. They are pretty much the one that can take out the sentry with ease...might as well make it worth while!

 

[ZEROarmy]

Na, I think the Pyro needs to be a wee bit stronger, and the flamethrower should throw farther and do a little more damage.

The Medic is also pretty helpless with that stupid pee shooter.

 

[Wanted Bob]

I disagree, the syringe launcher worked quite well for me....

 

[Ennui]

I like the syringe launcher because it reminds me of one of the bosses in Wolf3d

 

[Gunner]

Soldier > sentry gun.

Just stay out of range and shoot. If you have to get in range to shoot, strafe & shoot.

 

[Asus]

Pitz faked me out good. Thinking he was an engineer by the turrets but really a spy.

Yeah, spy or soldier take the sentry guns out quick. It's funny seeing a Heavy try to shoot them though. No accuracy to hit the small target and the Heavy dies.

 

[Flyingdebris]

i vote for more range on the pyro. Right now the flame is a glorified melee more than anything else, though i think the power is fine.

Also they fare horribly in sudden death, since to be effective you literally have to be in the thick of the enemy, and its hard to survive more than a few seconds doing that.

 

[Letters]

I don't really have any balance complaints.

As far as the pyro, my steam page says I've played him the most. I like him! I had one round earlier where I killed 8 people and 3 buildings within the span of like 20-30 seconds... a one-man steamroller through the entire enemy team... glorious!

 

[Dr0ndeh]

ive resorted to playing as the soldier pretty much all the time now as hes the only class that can actually take out the sentries from more than a couple of meters away. plus alot of players dont seem to know how to fight against the soldier with the exception of other soldiers.

but ive got the most points on the medic cos its so easy. i really really really like what theyve done with the medic. turned it from one of the most boring and hard to master classes to one of the easiest and quickest to pick up.

 

[Sloth]

I like the Pryo - in a good small space he is most usefull.

2forts with two Pryo's either in the basement or in the base above is damm good - the tight spaces allows for them to flame down whoever they want.

 

[Operational]

Also they fare horribly in sudden death, since to be effective you literally have to be in the thick of the enemy, and its hard to survive more than a few seconds doing that.

So change class at the start of Sudden Death.