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Posts Tagged ‘festive’

TF2 Smissmas 2014 Update

Posted on: December 22nd, 2014 by Obey

Merry Smissmass! Team Fortress 2 is on a roll with new content! This update is HUGE in terms of affecting your gameplay. Demoman’s grenade launchers, stickybomb launchers, and charging-attack items have all been reworked/tweaked, stemming from last summer’s temporary changes. As usual, the summary is above, and the full patch notes are below.

TF2 Newbs ICYMI’s (In Case You Missed It news items):

  1. TF2 Newbs’ Server Rules have been modified/clarified in regards to dodging autobalance on December 15th.
  2. The “End of the Line” related duck drops and duck-related statistics will continue until January 5, 2015.
  3. If you haven’t read them lately, here are some links you’ll want to bookmark:
  4. Server Keys Contest
  5. Steam Holiday Sale–vote on Flash Sales and earn Holiday Cards!

Smissmas 2014 Update Summary:

  1. Just log in to TF2 and get a Stuffed Stocking. Identical to last year’s Gift-Stuffed Stocking, you can Use it to get items:
    • A Giftapult
    • A Backpack Expander
    • A Name Tag
    • A Description Tag
    • A Tour of Duty Ticket
    • Two or three random drops (weapon or rarely a cosmetic).
    • You can’t market or trade these Stockings.
  2. If you’re Premium, you also get one Secret Saxton. You can Use it to give one random person on your current server a single random item drop.
  3. Demoman got 3 new weapons, and many existing Demoman weapons were modified.  See below at 1. for more info.
  4. Nice 2014 Crate Keys and Naughty 2014 Crate Keys have been added.
    • Just like previous years, Nice Crates have 29 new, Limited community-designed cosmetics, and Naughty Crates have new, Limited Festive and Festive Strange weapons.
    • See below at 2. for more info.
    • Longer expiration window: They can be opened until February 16, 2015 (or just after Valentine’s Day).
  5. A new game mode and mode-variant maps: Mannpower!
    • This is a variant capture-the-flag game with specific changes (no random crits, instant respawn with 6-second invulnerability) and new Mannpower-specific powerups. See 3. below for specifics.
    • Employs a new default, stock Action Slot item: the Grappling Hook.  Only used on Mannpower-enabled servers.
    • Currently supports ctf_gorge and ctf_foundry.
  6. Now all Advanced and Expert MvM Tours of Duty have a (~2%) chance to drop an existing Australium weapon.
    • Previously, only the “Two Cities” Advanced Tour granted Australium weapons.
    • Now, the following Tours also grant a chance at an Aussie:
      • “Operation Steel Trap”: Advanced — two Decoy missions, two Coal Town missions, two Mannworks missions
      • “Operation Mecha Engine”: Advanced — one Decoy mission, two Big Rock missions
      • “Operation Gear Grinder”: Expert — one Decoy mission, one Coal Town mission, one Mannworks mission
    • No new Australium weapons are available.  The same pool of ten items are currently possible; there are now four different Tours that can be undertaken to try to earn them.
    • Killstreak Kits and Fabricators of the three new weapons are available to drop after completing a Two Cities Tour.
  7. Bugfix: Crafting while consuming an item that is “temporarily untradable” will yield a “temporarily untradable” output, instead of a permanently Not Tradable output.

 

1. Major Demoman Changes

If you can recall the Love and War patch (and subsequent repatch), Demoman changes have been in the works for some time.  Welp, here they come!  A few seemingly minor nerfs will affect the one-eyed wonder’s ability to do quite as much damage, despite the apparent buffs given to his many weapons. Lemme explain….

First, the changes to the existing Demoman items:

Charging and Movement

  • Bootlegger, Ali Baba’s Wee Booties, and Claidheamh Mor now grant +25% Charge meter on a charging kill. (The Claidheamh Mor stacks with either of the boots, refilling half of your Charge meter.) These items lengthen your current Charge, not reducing the delay of your next Charge!
  • Scotsman’s Skullcutter now only reduces your movement speed when the weapon is active, instead of constantly when equipped.
  • The Tide Turner has two tweaks:
    • Charging kills now give only 75% of your Charge meter, instead of 100%, forcing you to pause briefly between charges.
    • Taking damage during your Charge reduces your remaining Charge meter, relative to the damage dealt.

So Tide Turner Demoknights will have shorter charges than before, even when they are successful at going from kill to kill. Damaging them between Charges should not prevent them from Charging again very soon, but now they won’t be one continual blur as frequently.

However, the two boots items and the *Claymore can lengthen the current charge, so that Splendid Shield/Chargin’ Targe Demoknights can replicate some of the Tide Turner’s cleaving-from-kill-to-kill fun.  But use the Claidheamh Mor with the Tide Turner, and your current Charge can really stretch long, helping you reach your next victim before the Charge ends.

Projectile Damage

  • ALL grenades and stickybombs now have their damage variance reduced to +/- 2% base damage, from +/- 10% damage.

If anything, the damage dealt by both projectiles have become more reliable on a direct hit, not less. Grenade base damage went from 100 (variance 90-110) on a direct hit to 100 (variance 98-102). Stickybomb base damage on a direct hit or close-range blast went from 120 (variance 103-138) to 120 (variance 118-122). Enemies with about 110 health, such as barely wounded Spies/Snipers/Engies/Scouts and most Soldier loadouts struck by your first direct projectile, will survive less often. But that’s not all of the changes….

  • Direct-hit grenades (not stickies) now deal full damage to the target regardless of where it struck the enemy.  Previously, full damage would only occur when exploded closest to the target’s feet or legs.

So you no longer have to play like a Soldier and “aim for the feet” or guesstimate where a jumper will land; direct hits should be easier to land, eh? But wait, there’s more:

  • ALL grenades and stickybombs now have their blast radius reduced by about 10% (from 159 Hammer Units to 146 HU), which is identical to rockets’ blast radius.

Demomen are now a bit more reliant on using direct hits to inflict full damage.  A ten-percent reduction sounds small, but in live play, that will relegate many more hits as partial bursts. Your sticky placement and detting will need to be more exact, and a stray grenade is less likely to deal a chance direct hit.

All stickybombs have further changes:

  • Stickybombs now have a more visible trail when traveling through the air.
  • Armed stickybomb particles are easier to see.
  • Stickybombs detonated midair now have a blast radius rampup, starting from 85% base radius at the moment they arm (0.8 sec after firing), increasing to 100% base radius after 1.2 seconds in midair (2 sec after firing). Stickybombs that touch the world instantly revert to full blast radius.

Valve has been trying to nerf an arguably-OP stickybomb launcher that can be used both as a zone-denial, reactionary defense weapon (hence the Demoman’s assignment as a Defense unit), as well as a reliable offensive weapon. With greater blast radius and damage than a Soldier, higher damage-per-second than a medium-range Heavy, and less reliance on actually hitting the target with the projectile directly to deal full damage, some (including myself) felt that there was little reason for a Demoman to forgo the stickybomb launcher in favor of… well, just about anything else. Grenades and stickies also do not suffer from damage falloff due to range, unlike a Soldier’s rockets. A skilled sticky-wielding Demoman has been absolutely essential in competitive play, MvM Tour, and pubs with Engineers that place sentries guarding 90-degree angle chokepoints.

Previously, Valve tried to apply a damage rampup during the Love and War Update, and Demoman mains’ opinions were largely negative. Valve decided to revert those changes and continue testing. That rampup seriously nerfed the damage of a sticky, doing something like 35% of its base damage the moment it was armed, making midair detonation largely unaffective, and granting enemies too much opportunity to remove or evade them before they could become lethal.  It was too severe of a change.

TF2_Demoman_by_JayAxer

Valve seems to have settled on not nerfing the base damage it deals, but rather making it harder to land a direct hit, by slightly reducing its blast radius. Fewer direct hits may lead to many more partial hits, nerfing the Demoman’s damage less substantially than before. This simply increases the skill required to play an effective Demoman, without substantially reducing the effectiveness of detting defensive sticky traps. In the same manner, it is possible to play an aggressive, offensive Sniper–you just have to be a crack shot with your primary to do so.

Launching a single sticky and detting it is still effective, and its direct damage output has less variance than before; you just have to detonate them closer to your target’s body. Note that stickybombs still only have a rocket-sized full blast radius, so midair stickybombs have up to 15% small radius than that (125 HU upon arming in midair, from previous 159). That’s a significantly smaller blast radius to aim and det a midair explosive. You may find yourself waiting to det the projectile the instant it touches the world, effectively increasing its blast radius a bit by the delay.

  • Loose Cannon: A successful double donk now automatically deals full blast radius damage to the target with the secondary explosion. Previously the damage was reduced by radius distance from the explosion.
  • Removed a hidden penalty where cannonballs that touched the world received a 50% damage penalty before applying regular grenade damage reduction.

The Loose Cannon will no longer be penalized if you double donk a target away from the center/legs of the hitbox; simply timing the projectile to achieve a partial blast will deal full explosion damage.

  • Loch-n-Load:
    • Old damage output: base 120 (direct hit variance 103-147)
    • New damage output: base 120 (direct hit variance 116-124)
    • Clip size increased to 3 (from 2).
    • Removed the +25% self-damage penalty. Added a -25% blast radius penalty.

The Loch-n-Load is now less effective on tightly clustered enemies. It still fires +25% faster projectiles, and still deals +20% more damage. And now it gets a third grenade per clip (which is a little silly on a double-barrel)! However, it can’t do more than 124 damage on a non-critical hit, so the 125 health squishies (stock Scout, Spy, Engineer and Sniper) cannot die in a single hit if they have full health. That makes it very difficult to kill more than one enemy unit before reloading, despite having a third grenade per clip. Loch-n-Load is now more effective at taking out a single target with repeated direct hits before reloading.

  • Scottish Resistance: Increased range check for stickybomb jumping (146 HU, previously 100 HU).

 

Weren’t there new weapons? Here they are:

smissmasguns2

The Iron Bomber is for Demomen who want their grenades to land hard and not roll and bounce around before exploding. It launches a sphere-like grenade that barely moves when it touches the world. Projectiles do not stick; they just seem heavy and drop and stop quickly. They deal slightly less damage (direct hit variance 89-111) if they explode 2.3 seconds after fire. They also have a -20% explosion radius, slightly larger than the Loch-n-Load’s new radius adjustment, so the Iron Bomber is also intended for single-target killing.

Why have a grenade launcher that can’t execute angular bounces, but doesn’t defuse its grenades when coming in contact with the world?  Players who keep having their grenades bounce back at them or rolling where they don’t want them now have a third choice. This launcher drops the grenade at its impact point with little risk of it bouncing or rolling away from its intended impact spot. The radius is smaller and the damage is marginally less, but can be used for a few seconds of zone control. Also, demoman trying to pepper an area (such as a sentry) can keep their projectiles close when they land near their target even if they don’t hit directly, and can continually have pills detonating in an area without fear of them bouncing away and without having to switch to a stickybomb launcher for tight zone control. Players who hate the way grenades take silly bounces may learn to love this weapon.

Crafting: Iron Bomber = two recalimed metal + Air Strike

 

The Quickiebomb Launcher is for the Demoman that wants to use stickybombs chiefly for midair or short-duration detonations, much like a grenade launcher. They still don’t explode on a direct hit like a grenade, but you can detonate them in midair like normal stickies. They arm 0.2 seconds sooner (at 0.5 seconds after launch), so they’re more effective for medium-range combat. They deal -15% less damage: base 102 damage (variance 100-104). The Quickie stickies do not suffer the blast radius rampup penalty!  Players wanting to avoid this penalty can switch to the Quickiebomb Launcher and still enjoy most of the original AoE radius (Quickie stickies still have a rocket-sized blast radius).

These stickiebombs can also remove enemy stickies on detonation, rather than merely knocking them around. They are faster to charge for long-range shots, but they fizzle without detonating only 2 seconds after launch if you haven’t detonated them yet. So you give up the ability to leave stickies in defensive locations in order to keep the offensive properties of the original weapon. And you gain the ability to have useless stickies fizzle so they don’t harm you, and the ability to defuse enemy stickies.  They have slightly less blast range and slightly less damage than the original weapon, and have a clip of 6 instead of the original 8, but you’ll be able to det stickies at 0.5 seconds unlike before.  It’s hard to say if the weapon is weaker or stronger than before, for pure offensive might.

Crafting: Quickiebomb Launcher = two reclaimed metal + Tide Turner

 

The Panic Attack is a shotgun (primary: Engineer; secondary: Soldier, Heavy, Pyro) that behaves in combat like the Beggar’s Bazooka: the player holds down the primary fire button to load up to 4 shells (34% faster than stock Shotgun; 0.66 sec for first shell and .33 sec for each additional shell, 2 seconds for a full clip). Release the primary fire to shoot each shell in turn automatically. As your health decreases, the Panic Attack fires faster but fires a more erratic bullet spread.

If you overload the Panic Attack, it will not harm you like the Beggar’s; it will simply fire off its four shells. The stock shotgun is deceptively powerful at close range, so this weapon could deal some incredible burst damage if you can ensure the bullets will hit; if you can sneak up on an opponent while loading, you should be able to kill them quickly, like a Scout’s scattergun.

Crafting: Panic Attack =  two reclaimed metal + Back Scatter

 

2. Nice and Naughty 2014 Crates

Nice 2014 Crates drop list

These cosmetic items will drop in Limited quality, with the usual 1% chance of getting an Unusual accessory instead (probably from this item list and with unknown effects). These crates can’t be opened after Feb 16, 2015.

 

Naughty 2014 Crates drop list

Items have a roughly 50% chance of being Strange Festive, and 50% chance of being Festive. All of these are limited, as the crate can’t be opened after Feb 16, 2015.

 

3. Mannpower CTF Mode

You know what? I’m tired… I will add this in later.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

 

Full Patch Notes — 12/22/14

  • All Players who play TF2 during the event will receive a Gift: a Stuffed Stocking! Stockings contain goodies for good little Mercenaries.
  • Added 29 Limited community-contributed winter items to the Nice crate.
  • Added new Limited Festive weapons to the Naughty crate.
  • Limited time items can only be found during a limited window of time. The Naughty and Nice crate items will no longer be available after February 16, 2015.
  • Added Naughty and Nice winter keys to the Mann Co. Store.
  • Naughty and Nice winter crates cannot be opened after February 16, 2015.
  • Premium Players will receive a Secret Saxton to give to another player.
  • Item grants from previous events (including the Spirit of Giving and the Winter Holiday noise maker) have been re-enabled for all players, including those who deleted their earlier grants.

Weapons

Added The Iron Bomber

  • Demoman Grenade Launcher
  • Grenades do not bounce or roll
  • Damage radius reduced by 20%
  • Grenades that self-detonate deal 10% less damage
  • Added The Iron Bomber to the Mann Co. Store, craft list, and item drop list

Added The Quickiebomb Launcher

  • Demoman Stickybomb Launcher
  • Stickybomb arm time reduced by 0.2 seconds
  • Stickybombs can destroy enemy stickybombs
  • Charge time decreased by 50%
  • Stickybombs fizzle after 2 seconds
  • -15% damage penalty
  • -25% clip size
  • Added The Quickiebomb Launcher to the Mann Co. Store, craft list, and item drop list

Added The Panic Attack

  • Multiclass Shotgun
  • 34% Faster reload time
  • Hold fire to load up to 4 shells
  • Fire rate increases as health decreases
  • Weapon spread increases as health decreases
  • Added The Panic Attack to the Mann Co. Store, craft list, and item drop list

Demoman Changes

  • Damage variance on grenades and stickybombs reduced from +/- 10% damage to +/-2%.
  • Grenades and Stickybombs now have the same base blast radius as rockets. Changed to 146 from 159.

Grenade Launcher

  • Direct hit grenades now deal full damage to target regardless of where it struck the enemy. Previously full damage would only occur when grenades exploded closer to the targets feet.

Stickybomb Launcher

  • Stickybombs that detonate in the air now have a radius ramp up, starting at 85% at base arm time (0.8s) going back to 100% over 2 seconds. Stickybombs that touch the world will have full radius.
  • Stickybombs now have a more visible trail while traveling through the air
  • Stickybombs arm particle is slightly more visible

Loose Cannon

  • Double donk explosive damage now deal full radius damage to victims. Previously double donk explosive damage was reduced by radius distance from the explosion.
  • Removed a hidden penalty where Cannonballs that touched the world would deal 50% less damage in addition to regular grenade damage reduction on world touch.

Loch-n-Load

  • Changes to base grenade damage variance now ensure the Loch-n-Load does not exceed 124 damage on a single hit.
  • Removed +25% self-damage penalty
  • Added -25% radius penalty
  • Changed clipsize penalty to -25% (3 grenades per clip) from -50% (2 grenades per clip)
  • Loch-n-load grenades no longer visually tumble when fired

Bootlegger / Ali Baba’s Wee Booties

  • Added +25% Demo Charge meter on charge kill

Tide Turner

  • Added Penalty: Taking damage while shield charging reduces remaining charging time
  • Kills while charging now only add 75% meter on charge kills instead of 100%

Scottish Resistance

  • It is now slightly easier to do sticky jumps with the Scottish Resistance. Increased range check for stickybomb jumping to sticky damage radius of 146 from 100.

Scotsman’s Skullcutter

  • Movement speed penalty now only applies when weapon is active

Claidheamh Mor

  • Added +25% Demo Charge meter on charge kill

Added new game mode Mannpower to the TF2 Beta

Mannpower Mode

  • To Play. Click on Play Multiplayer, enable Play Beta Maps checkbox, and then choose Mannpower Mode.
  • The Following is a list of features in the initial launch of Mannpower and is subject to changes in future updates. Feedback is highly encouraged
  • Contains 8 permanent power ups players can find in the map.
  • Players can only hold 1 permanent power up at a time.
  • Killing a player with a permanent power up forces the power up to drop.
  • Contains 1 temporary power that can be found in the map.
  • Use the ‘dropitem’ command to drop the currently held permanent power up
  • Added new Default Stock Action Item Grappling Hook. Grappling hooks are usable in Mannpower mode and servers that enable it. Once equipped, press and hold the action key to use it. Use to move the player toward the hooked object.
  • Mannpower Beta plays a modified version of Capture the Flag that requires your team’s flag to be at base in order to capture the enemy flag.
  • Touching your flag will instantly return it to base.
  • Currently supported on maps ctf_foundry and a modified ctf_gorge.
  • Instant respawns enabled
  • Random critical attacks disabled
  • Players spawn with 6 seconds of invulnerability

General

  • MvM : Added chance to find Australiaum Weapon rewards to all Advanced and Expert Mann vs. Machine tours. Previously only available on Two Cities tour
  • MvM : Added Killstreak kits for Quickiebomb Launcher, Iron Bomber and Panic Attack in to Two Cities MannUp loot tables
  • Crafting items that are marked as temporarily untradable will now yield temporarily untradable items instead of permanent
  • Fixed a client crash related to the material system
  • Removed the Giftapult from the store and added a crafting recipe for it
  • Updated the equip_region for The Beastly Bonnet
  • Updated the localization files
  • Removed the map restriction on players in karts respawning ghost teammates when they touch them

[N] Obey

Smissmas 2013!

Posted on: December 21st, 2013 by Obey

Yeah, finally getting back around to the blog again. Here we go with news about games that many Newbs play:

  1. Terraria update
  2. TF2 Smissmas 2013 updates
    1. Five new crates
    2. Everybody gets a free stocking
    3. Important! Weapon Tweaks

Please refer to the bottom of this post to see the full patch notes.

1. Terraria update 1.2.2 (PC only) — **limited spoilers** ———————

Christmas Mode/Halloween Mode

The Christmas Mode has been available in Terraria since 2011, but in order to enable it, the system time of your computer must be changed to a date between December 15th to December 31st. During Christmas Mode, most monsters have a ~7% chance of dropping presents, and the NPC Santa Claus can join your town! Santa, who can sell you a bunch of cosmetics, can only join your world once the Frost Legion has been defeated, and he will die on the next morning if/when your Terraria’s game exists on a computer outside that Dec. 15-31 window. Oh, and the presents now drop lots of festive items, including weapons, eatables, costume parts, and of course, candy cane blocks.  “What’s this?! A chakram… made of fruitcake?!?”

In similar fashion, you can enable Halloween Mode by setting your computer’s system time to a date within October 25th to November 10th, which allows Halloween content, including the ~1% chance to drop Goodie Bags.

In multiplayer, only the system date of the game/server host should matter. (Haven’t tested myself, but that’s my assumption.)

Frost Moon

This hardest-event-yet runs in waves similar to the Pumpkin Moon event released this past Halloween, and can only be started in Hardmode by using a (craftable) Naughty Present. With Christmas-themed enemies and new, Christmas-themed loot like the butt-kicking Christmas Tree Sword, this is one event you’re gonna need some badass friends for help.

Full patch notes (as ripped from the Terraia wiki):

Mechanics and Gameplay:

  • The content of presents have been altered and now contain more goodies. They are also now placeable and stack in your inventory.
  • Santa Claus now has a larger variety of Holiday related items that he will sell to you.
  • Frost Moon is a new event that can be triggered in hardmode. It has 15 standard waves as well as 5 extra bonus waves.
  • There are several new pets as well as 1 new mount that will drop off one of the Frostmoon bosses.
  • Holiday themed wallpaper can now be purchased from the Painter.
  • Maximum player buff slots has been increased to 22.

New Music:

  • There is now an alternate to the underground theme.
  • There is a new track that will play during the Frostmoon.
  • The Music Box will now record music instantly upon being equipped.

Bug fixes:

  • The Honey Balloon can now be crafted.
  • Recording Pumpkin song no longer creates an Ankh Charm.
  • NPCs now go to shelter during eclipses.
  • World gen no longer saves broken chest slots.
  • Increased the damage bonus of stealthing in Shroomite armor.
  • Items which regenerate health per hit now have a cap of 2 hearts per second.
  • Flame Traps will no longer trigger healing from Spectre Armor.
  • Spear Traps are no longer able to fire spear heads upward like projectiles.

 

2. TF2 Smissmas 2013—————————————————-

The following includes info from the December 6th patch to the December 20 patch.

 New Crates #75, #76 , #77, #78 (Naughty), #79 (Nice)

 Crate #75:

Crit-a-ColaCrit-a-Cola
19 .80%
Solemn VowSolemn Vow
19 .80%
Sydney SleeperSydney Sleeper
19 .80%
Strange Part Players Wearing Unusuals KilledStrange Part: Unusual-Wearing Player Kills
9 .90%
Strange Part Spies KilledStrange Part: Spies Killed
9 .90%
Strange Part Burning Enemies KilledStrange Part: Burning Enemy Kills
9 .90%
Defiant SpartanDefiant Spartan
4 .95%
Apparatchik's ApparelApparatchik’s Apparel
4 .95%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%

 Crate #76:

ConcherorConcheror
19 .80%
RevolverRevolver
19 .80%
Eviction NoticeEviction Notice
19 .80%
Strange Part Killstreaks EndedStrange Part: Killstreaks Ended
9 .90%
Strange Cosmetic Part Killcam TauntsStrange Part: Freezecam Taunt Appearances
9 .90%
Strange Part Damage DealtStrange Part: Damage Dealt
9 .90%
Front RunnerFront Runner
4 .95%
Cold KillerCold Killer
4 .95%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%

 Crate #77:

Rescue RangerRescue Ranger
19 .80%
Grenade LauncherGrenade Launcher
19 .80%
Scorch ShotScorch Shot
19 .80%
Strange Cosmetic Part Fires SurvivedStrange Part: Fires Survived
9 .90%
Strange Part Ally Healing DoneStrange Part: Allied Healing Done
9 .90%
Strange Part Point-Blank KillsStrange Part: Point-Blank Kills
9 .90%
Builder's BlueprintsBuilder’s Blueprints
4 .95%
Blighted BeakBlighted Beak
4 .95%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%

 Naughty Crate #78: unboxed items have a chance of also being Strange (as well as Festive)

Festive Force-A-NatureFestive Force-A-Nature
11 .00%
Festive SapperFestive Sapper
11 .00%
Festive Crusader's CrossbowFestive Crusader’s Crossbow
11 .00%
Festive Flare GunFestive Flare Gun
11 .00%
Festive EyelanderFestive Eyelander
11 .00%
Festive JarateFestive Jarate
11 .00%
Festive Gloves of Running UrgentlyFestive Gloves of Running Urgently
11 .00%
Festive Black BoxFestive Black Box
11 .00%
Festive WranglerFestive Wrangler
11 .00%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%

Nice Crate #79: These newly-launched cosmetic items were created by Steam Workshop users. They will eventually be available for purchase from the Mann Co. Store. There are 32 in all, with an equal ~3% chance of getting a specific desired item.

Item icon Blizzard Breather.png Item icon Sub Zero Suit.png Item icon Dictator.png Item icon Neckwear Headwear.png Item icon Trail-Blazer.png Item icon Dead of Night.png
Blizzard Breather Sub Zero Suit Dictator Neckwear Headwear Trail-Blazer Dead of Night
Item icon Snow Scoper.png Item icon Nunhood.png Item icon Angel of Death.png Item icon Kiss King.png Item icon Slo-Poke.png Item icon Minnesota Slick.png
Snow Scoper Nunhood Angel of Death Kiss King Slo-Poke Minnesota Slick
Item icon Toy Soldier.png Item icon Five-Month Shadow.png Item icon Mann of Reason.png Item icon Mann Of House.png Item icon Chucklenuts.png Item icon Tiny Timber.png
Toy Soldier Five-Month Shadow Mann of Reason Mann Of House Chucklenuts Tiny Timber
Item icon Face Full of Festive.png Item icon Ruffled Ruprecht.png Item icon Golden Garment.png Item icon Little Drummer Mann.png Item icon Scout Shako.png Item icon Toy Tailor.png
Face Full of Festive Ruffled Ruprecht Golden Garment Little Drummer Mann Scout Shako Toy Tailor
Item icon Extra Layer.png Item icon Polar Pullover.png Item icon Dogfighter.png Item icon Antarctic Parka.png Item icon Runner's Warm-Up.png Item icon Highland High Heels.png
Extra Layer Polar Pullover Dogfighter Antarctic Parka Runner’s Warm-Up Highland High Heels
Item icon Tartan Tyrolean.png Item icon Marshall's Mutton Chops.png
Tartan Tyrolean Marshall’s Mutton Chops

You Get a Stocking, I Get a Stocking, Errybuddy Gets a Stocking!

Really! Really: Log in to TF2 during this winter season, and you get one Gift-Stuffed Stocking, an action item. When you use it, you will gain the following items:

  • A Giftapult (see below)
  • A Backpack Expander; if used, it gives you 100 more slots/two more pages of item capacity, up to a limit 0f 2000 items/40 pages
  • A Name Tag
  • A Description Tag
  • A Tour of Duty Ticket: good for one (successful) Mann vs. Machine “Mann Up” mission
  • Three random weapons (rarely, one or more could be a random cosmetic item, such as a hat)
  • Note: All of the items except for the 3 random weapons/cosmetics are untradable and show that they have been gifted.

A Giftapult is a tool item that can give another unwanted item that you choose to a random online player. Select the Giftapult, then select an unwanted item. The Giftapult will change to a Loaded Giftapult. When the Loaded Giftapult is used, it will disappear from your inventory, and some random lucky Steam person will be gifted your item. (I’m not sure if they have to be playing TF2 at the time to be eligible, or even have the TF2 game installed, but only Steam accounts that are currently online when the Loaded Giftapult is used are eligible.) You can also buy Giftapults from the Mann Co. Store for only 10 cents US!

…And a Secret Saxton!

Also by logging in, if you’re a premium (not free-to-play) TF2 player, you will also get one free Secret Saxton. If you use it while playing on a TF2 server, one random player on that server (not you) will get one random item drop–most likely a weapon, but with the usual chances of a hat/cosmetic instead. The dropped item will also show that it was gifted from you! Everyone on the server will get a notification that you had sent out a gift. Secret Saxtons cost US$0.99 at the Mann Co. Store.

Weapon Tweaks

The Battalion’s Backup just got a passive +20 health increase. This is the first item to passively increase the max health of a soldier past his usual 200. The Backup is already a defensive item, with its buff granting 35% damage resistance (50% vs. sentries) for 10 seconds; now you’ll be more likely to live long enough to deploy the buff, and can continue to survive while under its effects.

Meanwhile, the Concheror is about to see a lot more play. It now grants the equipping Soldier a 2 health-regeneration-per-second effect! This is fabulous for soldiers who rocket jump to rooftops in order to gain surprise on foes, as they can now heal by standing still, and not have to spend more health rocket-jumping around looking for health kits. The Concheror’s buff grants a speed boost and 35% healing of any damage buffed attackers deal. Roaming Sollies are going to love this; the passive largely reduces the Pyro’s afterburn from his fire attacks. You can also see this as stacking with the Liberty Launcher’s lessened self-damage and/or the Black Box’s heal-on-hit for even more survival power. You even continue to heal with the Escape Plan/Equalizer deployed!

The Crit-a-Cola has a reduced penalty also. Since the Scout is already pretty fragile, he now only suffers a 10% increase in damage while the Cola is in use, while still enjoying increased speed and mini-crits. Be careful if you’re equipping any items that will further increase your vulnerabilities to damage.

The Diamondback will likely see more play now as well. It still has a 15% damage penalty from the standard Revolver, and stores a critical hit each time a building is destroyed while the Spy’s sapper-slot item is deployed on it. But now, it also stores critical hits for each backstab kill you earn! You can easily earn five stored crits if you manage to take out an Engie and his sentry, dispenser, and two teleporters. Of course, you lose the stored crits when you die, and your crits aren’t quite as effective as a Revolver’s. But the Diamondback’s critical hits still score 104 damage per hit; two hits will kill most non-buffed units, or one hit will suffice if they’re wounded. You may wish to practice shooting your Diamondback while fleeing the enemy after a successful sap or backstab if you’re followed by just one other enemy unit. The maximum criticals that can be stored is 35.

The Short Circuit is now more effective than ever for Engineers to remove enemy projectiles. Each shot now only costs 5 metal (down from 35!), and the weapon fires much faster now (0.05 seconds, or twenty times a second!). Spam it to erase any stickies, arrows, rockets, bolts, flares, guillotines, balls or ornaments on the ground or streaking at you and your trusty buildings. You can build a sentry and still have enough metal to take out a handful of projectiles, unlike only two before. It only targets players in front of you in range now, but at the cost of 100 metal, you can spam 80-120 damage to an enemy over one second (4-6 per hit) without having to reload or even aim! (Gee, what would happen if you bought improvements for it in an MvM match…?)

Soda Popper has been reworked. It’s hypermode no longer grants mini-crits, and it no longer automatically deploys when full.  Instead, trigger it with your Alt Attack and you can jump up to five times without hitting a horizontal surface! What was an offensive weapon is now more of a defensive and mobility weapon; use hypermode to clear wide chasms and really jump from building to building. The Atomizer will not grant a sixth jump in hypermode, but you can get even more mileage out of your Winger’s +25% jump height passive. It is still a faster-fire Scattergun, so you can still score some quick kills. But with your extra mobility, you may be able to surprise enemies more than ever before.

 

December 6th Patch Notes (from the Official TF2 Wiki):

  • Added Crate #75, Crate #76, and Crate #77 to the drop list
  • Removed Crate #57, Crate #59 and Crate #71 from the drop list
  • Added new Strange parts that can be applied to Strange cosmetic items
  • Fixed a client crash related to the Mann vs. Machine mission victory panel
  • Fixed players being able to level-up some Strange items when playing on servers with only bots
  • Fixed some cases where Halloween spell effects on items would not appear when they were supposed to
  • Fixed robot Engineer head not looking correct for the Botkiller Sniper Rifle Mk.II
  • Fixed killstreak notices being stuck on the screen when the map is changing levels
  • Fixed Team Shine killstreak sheen effect not displaying properly for the Blue team
  • Updated several backpack images to fix issues caused by mat_picmip
  • Updated Killstreak Kits to work on Festive and Botkiller variants of target weapons
  • Updated pl_upward
    • Fixed players getting stuck in the initial Red spawn room after control point 2 is capped
    • Improved bot navigation
  • Updated cp_gorge
    • Improved bot navigation
  • Updated Mann vs. Machine
    • Fixed players who join in the middle of a mission not receiving the Upgrade Refund credit if it has been earned by the team
    • Fixed Romevision hats conflicting with gatebot hats in Mannhattan
    • Fixed an exploit that allowed purchasing upgrades for weapons other than what they were intended for
  • Updated mvm_rottenburg
    • Fixed a bug where the bomb could get stuck out of reach in the corner near the cap
    • Fixed a bug where bots could be instantly killed by being pushed into the tank tunnel once opened
    • Fixed a bug where money could get stuck in the tank barricade when it was rebuilt, preventing collection
  • Updated mvm_mannhattan
    • Rebalanced Empire Escalation
    • Fixed credits not always being collected when they fall into the grinder
    • Fixed a bug that allowed the gates to be captured out of order
    • Fixed a lighting bug related to lower graphics settings that cause the map to be too dark

Undocumented changes

  • Added the Naughty Winter Crate 2013 and the Nice Winter Crate 2013 to the drop list.
  • Updated the descriptions of Killstreak Kits.
  • Mann vs. Machine
    • Giant Bonk Scout: Reduced bonk regen bonus from +65% to +45%
    • Colonel Barrage: Removed -90% rage attribute
    • Colonel Barrage (gatebot variant): Removed -90% rage attribute until after all gates are captured
    • Major Crits (boss gatebot variant): Increased projectile speed penalty from -60% to -65%, and reduced rage penalty from -90% to -80% after all gates are captured
    • Major Crits (non-boss gatebot variant): Decreased reload rate bonus from +78% to +60%, increased projectile speed penalty from -60% to -65%, and removed -90% rage attribute
    • Giant Heal-On-Kill Heavy (boss gatebot variant): Increased rage giving penalty from -10% to -40%

 

December 18th Patch Notes:

 

December 20th Patch Notes:

Happy Smissmas 2013!

  • All Players who play TF2 during the event will receive a Gift-Stuffed Stocking! Stockings contain goodies for good little Mercenaries.
  • Added community-contributed winter event items[1]
  • Added the Giftapult, which can be used to launch gift items to randomly-chosen online players
  • Added Naughty and Nice winter keys to the Mann Co. Store
  • Premium Players will receive a Secret Saxton to give to another player
  • Item grants from previous events (including the Spirit of Giving and the Winter Holiday noise maker) have been re-enabled for all players, including those who deleted their earlier grants

Weapons

  • Concheror: Added +2 health per second passive for the wearer
  • Crit-a-Cola: Reduced consumption penalty from +25% extra damage to +10%
  • Attack sped up greatly
  • Ammunition cost has been lowered to 5 metal per attack
  • Players and Buildings are only targeted if in range and in front of attacking player
  • Improved visual effects
  • Hype no longer grants mini-crits
  • Added Hypemode which grants up to 5 extra air jumps when active
  • Hypemode is triggered by Alt-Attack when hype is full

Cosmetics

  • “Head” and “Misc” slots for player loadouts have been converted to Cosmetic slots. All items that were previously Head- or Misc-slot-specific can now be equipped in any Cosmetic slot.
  • Unusual effect positioning can now be adjusted for all Cosmetic-slot items
  • Unusual Circling Effects have been given a new origin
  • Unusual effects for all Cosmetic-slot items are now visible in the loadout panel and character HUD
  • Fixed the Wiki Cap clipping with the Demoman‘s head

Mann vs. Machine

  • Fixed being able to inspect Blue-team bots
  • Fixed the mission victory screen not always showing the correct information for each player
  • Fixed some clipping issues with the stats in the scoreboard

General

  • Fixed an exploit where players could move around while using a taunt to attack enemies
  • Fixed an exploit related to the Rocket Jumper and the Soldier’s grenade taunt
  • Fixed killstreaks attained via healing not being considered for round-end win panel
  • Fixed the killstreak hud indicator position in minmode
  • Fixed Taunt Kills strange scores not incrementing properly for the Strange Scorch Shot
  • Fixed strange scores on cosmetic items sometimes failing to increment
  • Fixed gift-wrapped items not showing their interior item to the wrapping player in some conditions
  • Fixed Steam Sale items granted from Snow Globe crafting not being listable on the Steam Community Market
  • Improved bot navigation in cp_gorge
  • Improved bot navigation in pl_upward
  • Updated several materials to fix issues caused by mat_picmip
  • Updated the backpack to filter to automatically filter for valid items when using a tool

Undocumented changes

  • Set the global holiday mode to winter, causing the usual effects such as ropes getting lights and enabling the winter noisemaker.
  • Touching a resupply cabinet will remove any clipping items
  • Content added to bulletin boards in all maps[2], and several maps have had new posters added.
  • Corrected the name of the Smissmas Caribou from Smissmass Caribou.

 

I hope these blog posts are appreciated. Even though I’m no longer rewriting them all anymore, they’re still a lot of work. Let me know in the comments!

[N] Obey