An Engineers perspective on how to improve your game anyone can use

The_Polish_Pyronaut

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Hello TF2 division this is your resident Engineer and bringer of Mini Dooom The Polish offering a small bit of wisdom that seems to be helping a lot of new players who get frustrated from getting killed all the time.

First off for all you players with under 100 hours invested we all were there once and we remember the fight for even reaching a 1:1 KD ratio. So when you are in the server and you find yourself getting crusted by a Heavy, bullet to the brain from a sniper, knife to the back from a spy or even a wave of bullets from an Engie and his mini don't get upset from the unavoidable death.

Instead think of what happened to cause your death. Ask yourself is there anything that could have happened differently that you could have influenced that would have resulted in a different outcome?

Every death is an opportunity to learn how not to die that same way again, by that I mean being unprepared for it. Death is usually an unavoidable fact in the game but after asking these questions enough and looking for the elements that lead up to causing your death you will soon discover the patters of death.

That certain areas are more prone to sniper fire, certain corners seem to always have one spy from the opposing team, that a scout like to flank from this side of the map and an engineer like to setup his building in these spots.

Once you gain this awareness you can then start recognizing the build up and instead of just repeating the same actions that lead to your death try and do things a bit differently. Taking an alternate route to avoid the sniper fire, not showing your back to a corner or turning around every so often to see who is behind you. Avoiding just running off and listen to the sound for a sentry's beep.

From here you will slowly improve your in game habits and not only reduce your over all death but start learning how to counter death. You will learn the personal quirks of how a class is played, what certain weapons will mean in affecting their play/attack style and how you can change yours to counter them and kill them instead.

Many dread seeing my name appear when I join a server and hail or curse my existence because of this. I use the Gunslinger a the mini allows me to be more mobile and thus able to experience more factors that I can change. I cause them to choose between my mini and me. I pick my weapon loadout and change it to address the bigger threats the opposing team has to offer. I'll switch up where I roam and what I do pending the needs of y team and how I not only want to counter my foes but how I wish to attach them.

This is something anyone can do so long as you don't get mad but instead take it as a learning opportunity and try to see how you can change it so you don't die that way again.
 
Thanks Polish!
Very good post mate, very well written.
 
Truly because you told me this a month ago I've gotten so much better.
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I've found for myself that the best way for me to survive is to not die. Usually this involves hiding in lots of corners, hiding behind my teammates, hiding under rocks... It can be hard with my bulky Heavy-ness... but it does work!

In all seriousness though, excellent post Polish.
 
Usually this involves hiding in lots of corners, hiding behind my teammates, hiding under rocks...

Anyone who has ever played with you at any time knows that this statement is not true. -_-
You are the one that starts the push and frustrates the entire opposite team at the same time. Silly poison. Lies are for spies.
 
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Every death is an opportunity to learn how not to die that same way again, by that I mean being unprepared for it.

This is my mantra in every game I ever play. It's especially true in fighting games (omg noob you just spam that projectile) but it holds true in everything. There are no cheap moves. If it wins you the game, it was the right move to make. Same goes for TF2. If you just call things cheap and rage over them, or resolve that something is broken and that's the reason you lose, then all you're doing is shifting the responsibility of bettering yourself to something else. Approach everything as something that can be beaten, learn how to beat it, and learn how to beat it consistently and under pressure.
 
This is my mantra in every game I ever play. It's especially true in fighting games (omg noob you just spam that projectile) but it holds true in everything. There are no cheap moves. If it wins you the game, it was the right move to make. Same goes for TF2. If you just call things cheap and rage over them, or resolve that something is broken and that's the reason you lose, then all you're doing is shifting the responsibility of bettering yourself to something else. Approach everything as something that can be beaten, learn how to beat it, and learn how to beat it consistently and under pressure.

And this is why I use mini's. Its the right move because it counters the play style of run in and gun everything. Forcing my opponents to either become more aware of my presence on the battlefield or die from it.
 
Now, at the risk of going off topic, people rage at things like the mini because they are not fun to play against... and they come to believe that they don't like them because they OP, but that belief is based on nothing more than personal bias and an unwillingness to change and adapt.

Nobody likes it when they are derping around as pyro or scoot and get completely destroyed by minis that are easy to build and hide and difficult to destroy unless you are specifically gunning for them. This makes people claim they are broken, OP, and that the battle engie has no skills. In reality, what many people dislike is having their playstyle taken from them- if they keep playing as scoot or derp pyro or act generally oblivious (as most players do) then they will get creamed. Mini sentries are easily countered by demos, soliders- heck, 1 medic will let those scouts and pyros kill them and the engie without much problem.

tl;dr I think most TF2 players suffer from a strange mix of entitlement and stupidity and it has given minis a bad name.
 
I just don't "get" the hate for Mini Sentries. I mean, I understand why people complain, but they sound foolish. Minis are weak and basically free destruction points for Demos, Soldiers, and Heavies. Heaven forbid a Scout or Pyro can't just kamikaze into the other team at will.
 
To bad a medic cant heal your sentry gun.....and If you have a good pocket-pyro that is spy checking for you, you'll never die...and get a short circuit if you realy wanna be OP
 
Mini's aren't OP.

They're just really good at killing you if you're within range and not paying attention.

This is especially true on Harvest. It's such a tiny map, and there are small skirmishes everywhere. A mini in the middle can cover a quarter of the map, and pick off anyone who's not directly trying to destroy the mini.

Minis are just different to deal with.
 
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