What I think of the New Weapons *SPOILERS*

[Kibo]

Well now that the new weapons are out, I'd like to give my two cents of good I think they are. I tried not to make this too detailed, so you can try it out too and have your own reactions.

Force A Nature: The clip size and reloading times really arent that bad. So you may only grt two shots, but it only takes a second to reload because the scout puts both rounds in at once. The kickback is not that good if you have the sandman though. ts basically another jump. but shooting people does send them flying depending on how close you shoot them.

Bonk! Not as exciting as you would think. You arent really that much faster. The camera does zoom out into third person, and your body streaks, which is a cool effect. and once the engery wears off, youre only slowed for a couple seconds. But its still nice!

Sandman: For those of you concerned if it would be unlimited ammo, its not. Its one basebal, and you just aim like you would a weapon. After firing it, it recharges like the spy's cloak. arcing does help There is no stunning animation I believe. I think they just fall over or stand still, I cant remember. After launching the ball, you have a normal baseball bat, though it is a lil bigger.

Overall I think its a good update, and I;m excited to try the weapons out some more!

 

[Carmine]

A bit of a correction on the sandman as I used it extensively tonight, when they are stunned which is a much higher duration at long range they stand around with stars around their heads, in addition instead of the bonk taunt you get a new taunt where the scout raises his arm then with two hands swings the sandman killing the person it hits and sending them flying really far, very long taunt though so it isn't as useful as the heavy bang or pyro haduken. One other thing is that the sandman does 50% damage on enemies that arent stunned making it a horrible melee weapon to use on unstunned players, but when you do stun someone from maybe about 15 feet you have enough time to close the gap and kill them if left undisturbed, quicker kills are just made by switching to the force a nature though. The loss of double jump is very hindering at first but very easy to get used to, and I was still able to leap around enemies with just one hop, and if I need an extra boost to jump the 2fort battlements I can just use my force a nature.

Bonk is very useful, its an upgrade for me because I mainly used the scouts pistol on sentry guns, now I dont need to, I can just run past the sentry guns and heavies and the like, very nice and only with a few seconds of running slow after the effect wears off. A good note to take is that you cant use the bonk while carrying enemy intel nor can you fire during the effect.

The Force a nature is just great, I would call it a plain upgrade.

 

[Jeebus]

Yep. New gear is pretty good. Everything seems well balanced and fits in nicely with the rest of the current upgrades.

I've been a big fan of the Scout class, so I'm taking my time with these achievements, just like I did with the Heavy class. No achievement servers for me! Gonna earn these bad boys!

 

[Plork]

The Sandman taunt kill might be the best taunt kill in the game.

 

[=[Ga]= AutoDMC]

I know, as a Certified Engineer, that I was a bit worried about scouts just up and BONK!ing past my hard earned Sentry enplacements, but I discovered that if I stand a few feet intel-ward from the gun and have my shotty handy, a Scout that BONK!s past my gun is ripe for the shotgun. All in all, balanced. The type of people I miss with the shotty are the same type who just cornersnipe my gun with the pistol, so on the good side, BONK! has lead to less rebuilds as the Scout would rather just save the time by running past.

Watching the actual gameplay last night allayed my fears about the scout getting too powerful. All his new toys simply bring him back up to balance with the rest of the classes so he's viable to everyone, instead of just to the type of people who like playing underpowered underappreciated characters

 

[Haggus McGee]

By the look of this thread, I'd say scout is viable for all game modes now. Unless I'm wrong (I have no weapons!)

 

[Carmine]

By the look of this thread, I'd say scout is viable for all game modes now. Unless I'm wrong (I have no weapons!)

Definitely, he has even become a viable defense character with the sandman and force a nature!

 

[Major Payne]

I'm pleased to hear that the unlocks were successful. I was pretty worried about the stun feature, but it sounds very well thought out and balanced.

 

[midget31394]

the FAN (Force-A-Nature) is awsome, havent used it in a proper server since I had to leave when I got my weapons. Going to go ingame now, I'm not too keen on the sandman though. It is very luck-based.

~M

 

[Kibo]

It is luck, but you learn how to aim eventually. But having the force a nature just makes up for your lack of double jump. and also, bonk! is helpful if youre being chased by a pyro. You can run backwards quickly so the backburner doesnt destroy you

 

[DRaGZ]

The FAN is definitely far more suited for a Scout who wants to shoot very strategically. The knockback makes it so that you can run around a corner, and shoot the guy to knock him back, allowing you to retreat or to pursue. Basically, it gives you more options.

The lack of a big clip isn't bad at all, and I haven't been seeing it as an issue at all in play.

Plus, the amount of maneuverability you get with the force jump is just epic. This is definitely the highlight of the bunch.

The energy drink is pretty lame, imo, especially since I was looking forward to it. But the lack of a speed boost just makes it a bout of invulnerability that alerts everyone to your presence with the huge streak behind you and will eventually get you killed by a pursuing enemy.

The Sandman pretty much forces a Scout to play defense, so I don't like it very much. It's a pretty cool idea, though.

 

[Jeebus]

I actually just unlocked my Sandman tonight and I'm loving it for offense. I came around a corner and faced a Heavy. Shot him twice with the FAN, retreated a bit to reload and bonked him with the ball. Finished him off with another two shots and a swing of the bat.

I'm enjoying these two items very much so far. Can't wait to tinker around with Bonk! heh.

 

[sittingduck]

The energy drink make otheres "miss" you..Was a pyro trying to burn a scout under the effect and got text poping up "miss"...

 

[Captain Ashton]

The problem with the sandman is that it has too many restrictions. No double jump AND 50% less damage to un-stunned enamies. I think they should remove one of these dissadvantages or no-one will use it; despite the epicness of the taunt and the satisfying sound of stunning opponents.

 

[xenophek]

Thank God the Sandman is harder to use. The whole time they were talking about it I was so seriously worried. Imagine scouts running around with those things, good for limitations! I mean, they're already going to be hell for us medics.

 

[=[Ga]= AutoDMC]

I don't know, Captain Ashton. I've been watching a few Sandman pros... sure, it's got a heavy price tag, but that just makes it more of an "alternative."

Jump, FAN Jump, spin, Sandman, Run, Jump, FAN Jump, FAN to the face.

It changes the way people play Scout. While I can't imagine Valve NEVER changing the FAN and Sandman, it makes for two types of Scout; the dancers and the stunners, if you know what I mean

 

[Thereven]

Has anyone else noticed the FAN shooting through the thinner walls/floors? Well, less shooting through and more of a radius damage through them?
Also, it seems like it does more damage than the normal scattergun.

The bonk drink is marginally useful. Seems like it's good for running past unguarded sentries and as a distraction. Don't know, how good in the long run. Though the pistol is only marginally useful too.

I like the sandman, it's fun to deflect those softballs back at scouts. The stun is annoying. Stun is annoying in any game though.