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After an exciting Day 1 with "Love" yesterday, Day 2 has arrived and is bringing the "War" to the Love & War update for Team Fortress 2. As many suspected, today's reveal has mostly focused on the introduction of brand new weapons for various classes. Before we get into the juicy details, check out this short 30 second teaser Valve have released to preview several of the new taunts and weapons coming up with this update.
Valve are making up for over a year without any new weapons by revealing nine new ways of killing your foes. Five of these weapons are brand new, while four of them are bread-themed reskins of existing weapons.
First up is "The Back Scatter", a new Scattergun for the Scout. As a primary weapon, this new gun appears to function similarly to the Pyro's Backburner by providing minicrits when an enemy is attacked from behind at the cost of a reduced clip size, no random critical hits, and less accuracy.
Next is "The Tide Turner", a new shield for the Demoman. While this captain's wheel would probably better suit Kunkka from Dota 2, the secondary weapon will provide enhanced fire and explosion resistance, similarly to the Chargin' Targe, but will also provide "Full turning control" while the Demoman is charging. Should the Demoman kill an enemy, the charge meter will be instantly replenished.
Regular readers will be familiar with the "The B.A.S.E. Jumper", a new parachute for the Soldier and the Demoman. As a likely replacement for the Soldier's Shotgun and the Demoman's Grenade Launcher, the B.A.S.E Jumper will allow players to press the "JUMP" key while airborne to deploy the parachute and slowly glide back to earth. Valve have previously described the parachute as providing position-based benefits at the cost of reduced maneuverability and movement speed while in the air.
Next up is "The Classic", a new Sniper rifle for the Sniper. This new primary weapon will allow the Sniper to charge and fire shots without having to use the scope, unlike every other rifle in the game. Don't fret, however, as this shouldn't turn the game into your typical 360noscoping match of Call of Duty given the fact The Classic cannot headshot targets without being fully charged, and any body shots will receive a 10% damage reduction. Veteran players may also recognise The Classic, as the weapon features a very similar design to that of the Sniper Rifle originally used in Team Fortress Classic.
Last but definitely not least is "The Air Strike", a new Rocket Launcher for the Soldier. This new launcher provides increased attack speed while rocket jumping before also increasing the gun's clip size should the player score a kill. To balance the weapon, the Air Strike features a 25% reduction to damage and the initial clip size, and a 15% reduced explosion radius. This new rocket launcher should combo quite nicely with the B.A.S.E. Jumper, making Soldiers an even greater airborne threat.
Now for those reskins we mentioned earlier. In keeping with the bread theme from yesterday's Expiration Date short, Valve are releasing bread-themed versions of the Sniper's Jarate, the Spy's Sapper, the Heavy's Gloves of Running Urgently, and the Scout's Mad Milk. All four of these yeasty reskins can be acquired by opening a new "Bread Box" crate, which is available via crafting. These items will only be available for a short period of time, however, as the recipe to craft the Bread Box expires on July 9th, giving players just under a month to get their hand on some delicious beauty mark filled bread (those aren't tumors, but that doesn't mean you should try to eat them).
Like Day 1, Day 2 has also introduced a bunch of new achievements. While yesterday's batch were entirely themed around the new interactive taunts, today's batch all appear to be influenced by the use of the 5 new weapons detailed earlier in this post. Oh, and in case you're interested in hats and cosmetic items, you may want to rewatch that short teaser trailer we listed earlier, as it gives a pretty neat overview of several sets we expect to see included with the update.
With Day 2 over and done with, the Love & War update for Team Fortress 2 is now live on the game client! Click here to check out the full changelog, which also includes a few balance tweaks for existing weapons. Before you go, check out our little summary of the update below.
Now what are you waiting for? Get on out there and get killing, mercenaries!
