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Posts Tagged ‘strangifier’

A TF2Newbs Guide to Halloween/Full Moon Items

Posted on: October 26th, 2016 by Obey

[N] Obey here. This FAQ isn’t 100% complete, but there’s enough useful information here to share now. I’ve put a lot of time into it, so I hope it helps. The intent is to cover as many Halloween Items as possible in a single blogpost. Check back later for more content and info! (Links Coming Later)

Table of Contents:

Items are listed in chronological order. Items in strikethrough can no longer be earned the usual way; some may be marketable and/or giftable, and some are available as a Merasmission reward or via transmuting.

  1. Get Halloween Items by Transmuting
  2. The Gibus Family of Hats
  3. The Mildly Disturbing Halloween Mask
  4. The Nine Halloween Class Masks
    • Saxton Hale Mask
  5. The Haunted Scrap
    • HHH Headtaker
    • Spine-[Chilling] Skulls
  6. MONOCULUS! and the Bombinomicon
  7. Voodoo-Cursed Souls
    • Voodoo-Cursed Items
    • Piles of Ash
    • Halloween Spells
  8. The Skull Island Topper
    • Fancy Spellbook & Spellbook Pages
  9. Halloween Gift Cauldron
  10. Necro Smasher
  11. Antique Halloween Goodie Cauldron
  12. Taunt Unusualifier
  13. Halloween Costumes 2011*
  14. Halloween Costumes 2012*
  15. Halloween Costumes 2013*
  16. Halloween Costumes 2014
  17. Halloween Costumes 2015
  18. Halloween Costumes 2016
  19. Haunted Halloween Gift

*Parts of these Halloween Costume sets could drop as rewards for completing the pop-up Merasmissions during the Scream Fortress 2016 event.

1. Get Halloween Items By Transmuting

(Coming Soon)

2. The Ghastly/ier/iest Gibus

Ghastly Gibus The Gibuses are a series of hats awarded to players that earn a domination against a player who is currently wearing a Gibus.

  • Unlike most Halloween items, a Gibus can be worn at any time. It is all-class: it can be worn by any character.
  • A Gibus can be painted, changing the color of the entire hat.
  • A player can only ever earn one Gibus, and they cannot be traded or sold.
  • Players that have the Ghastlier Gibus or the Ghastlierest Gibus earned them before the 2011 Halloween event.
    • They cannot be earned anymore.
  • Players that earned a Gibus during the 2012 Halloween event received the Ghostly Gibus instead.
    • All Gibuses earned before the 2012 Halloween event have a Ghostlier style that can be chosen.

The Galvanized Gibus isn’t a Gibus in the above sense; it’s a hat available from the Robo Community Crate #58. It also doesn’t have any Halloween restrictions. To earn: Dominate a player wearing a Ghastly Gibus to earn your own. This can be done at anytime, but only once per Steam account. The others cannot be earned, since you had to earn them during specific windows of time.

A Strange Gibus?!

Yeah, these exist. You would need a Strangifier, a tool item (very rarely dropped from the item drop system) that changes an item’s quality to Strange. And yes, they exist for each kind of Gibus in existence, as well as virtually any other cosmetic item, as well as some weapons. Strangifying a Gibus won’t make it marketable on the Steam Market, like most Strange items. The Strangifier tool items themselves are themselves marketable, and certain ones are worth plenty. But a few of the first Gibuses to exist were accidently untradeable; these are the ones available for sale on the Market, after being strangified.

3. The Mildly Disturbing Halloween Mask

MDHM Ever wanted to run around with a paper bag on your head? Not out of shame, but a strange sense of pride? Well then, do I have a hat for you! The MDHM has nine different appearances depending on which character class equips it at the time. It is untradeable and unpaintable. 150px-Pumpkin To earn: Collect 20 Halloween Pumpkins, which drop from killed players on any Halloween Event map, to unlock this mask. The pumpkins are a temporary powerup that refills ammo and grant a crit boost for 3.4 seconds. (NOTE: On some Halloween maps, you’ll find yourself frequently running out of ammo, such as when you’re trying to kill a boss. So keep an eye on your ammo, and take advantage of the crit boost as soon as you pick these up.) Collecting 20 pumpkins will earn you the “Candy Coroner” Scarechievement as well.

4. The Nine Halloween Class Masks

Not enough paper bags to wear? Collect the nine Halloween Masks, where there’s one for each class. Any class can wear any mask, so you can put a Pyro Mask on a Soldier if you want. They’re tradable, but not paintable, and they can only be worn during Halloween/Full Moon periods. PyroBut that’s not all! Collect all nine, and you can go to your Crafting Menu and craft the Saxton Hale Mask! Run around doing Saxton Hale things as any class. The Saxton Hale Mask is unpaintable, but it is tradable and it can be worn at any time. Wearing the Saxton Hale Mask makes you immune to the Headless Horseless Horsemann’s BOO! Taunt, which stuns players. It doesn’t affect the fear effect from touching ghosts or other bosses’ abilities. Previously, you had to join the Mann Manor event during the annual Halloween Event and find the Haunted Halloween Gift, but the Gift no longer spawns. To earn: Now the Masks are rarely found when turning in a Merasmission during the Halloween Event, or transmuting.

5. The Haunted Scrap

Haunted Scrap The Haunted Metal Scrap is a special tool item that you can only earn once, and can use it to craft one of four items. It is not tradable or marketable, but it is giftable. To earn: At any time of year, go to any map where the Headless Horseless Horsemann spawns, and deal the killing blow to him to earn the “Gored!” Ghostchievement and unlock the Scrap. But then, what will you do with it? Here are your crafting possibilities (you can only choose one):

  • Haunted Scrap + Scotsman’s Skullcutter + 2 refined => The HHH’s Headtaker
  • Haunted Scrap + 4 refined => one of three Spine-Chilling Skulls*

Like all crafting, your choice is permanent and cannot be reversed, nor can you ever earn another Haunted Scrap. HHH Axe The Horseless Headless Horseman’s Headtaker is an Unusual weapon that is only available by crafting in the above manner. It functions identically to the Eyelander (even though it may appear larger, it’s not), but emits its own sounds. And it is not an Unusual item in the traditional sense… so yes, you could say that it is an unusual Unusual. Spine-chilling The Spine-Chilling Skull is actually one of three similar, but different hats. Each hat has since been modified by Valve to have all three styles available to each hat. The hats are Unique, Limited quality, and are tradable and paintable.

6. MONOCULUS! and the Bombinomicon

monoculus If you’ve seen some players running around with a big eyeball for a head, they’re wearing the MONOCULUS!, a cosmetic that replaces their entire head for the Demoman’s missing eye. It is an all-class cosmetic that isn’t paintable or tradable, since you unlock it as an achievement. illuminati__monoculus__is_unamused___tf2__by_mangledarobowitswag-d9i2g7b You have to earn it by fighting the eye-boss itself, Monoculus! It angrily shoots damaging eyeballs at you like rockets. bombinomicon The Bombinomicon is an all-class cosmetic item that you wear on your chest. Wearing it overwrites the usual animation caused by your death, so that you violently explode when you die. The Bombinomicon even overrides special death animations of other weapons such as the Spy-cicle or a Golden Wrench, but not for feign deaths from the Dead Ringer. As an achievement item, it is untradeable and unpaintable. To earn both cosmetic items:

  1. Go to the Eyeaduct map, at any time, where Monoculus can spawn.
  2. Deal damage to Monoculus just before it dies to earn the “Optical Defusion” Eye-chievement and the MONOCULUS! cosmetic.
  3. When Monoculus dies, jump into the portal that appears in the air when he dies, to travel to Loot Island.
  4. Climb the stairs of Loot Island, and touch the Bombinomicon after its cage lowers.
    • This will teleport you back to the original server, temporarily invulnerable with boosts to your health, speed, and crits.
    • Move quickly, as you will be killed if you take too long.
    • You must also avoid being killed by your enemies and the hazardous terrain. If you die, you will have to return to Loot Island in the future to try again.
  5. This unlocks the “Dive Into a Good Book” Eye-chievement and the Bombinomicon cosmetic.

 

7. Voodoo-Cursed Souls

How come some of the players you’re fighting against look like zombies? It’s because they have equipped a Voodoo-Cursed Soul!Voodoo PyroThis accessory does exactly that: it reskins the entire character to look like an animated zombie. Since it reskins the entire body, it allows pairing with most cosmetics, but with some weird effects such as missing hands or clipping materials. The Haunted Halloween Gift no longer drops on Ghost Fort, so these Souls (and the items need to craft them) can no longer be collected. The old process used to be:

  1. Go to the Ghost Fort map (koth_lakeside_event) during the annual Halloween Event days.
  2. Collect the Haunted Halloween Gift, a yellow giftbox, that spawns every five minutes when there are at least 10 players on the server.
  3. Collect seven Voodoo-Cursed Items to create a Pile of Curses tool item.
  4. Use the Pile of Curses to “uncrate” one of the nine random Voodoo-Cursed Souls.
    • The Souls have a chance of being Haunted quality, which are also marketable.
    • They currently sell for about US$1 on the Steam Market.
    • At one time, Halloween Spells would sometimes drop from the Piles of Curses also.

To earn: They rarely drop from as a Merasmission reward, or by transmuting item. Or you can buy a Haunted one from the Market, because you can’t earn them anymore. They currently sell for about US$1 on the Steam Market. Piles of Curses, Voodoo-Cursed Items, and Halloween Spells are no longer available.

8. The Skull Island Topper

Skull Island Topper The Skull Island Topper is an all-class hat you can unlock by playing on Ghost Fort (a haunted cp_lakeside_event map) at any time. It’s the same hat that the wizard Merasmus is wearing while he throws bombs everywhere. It also tracks the highest level of Merasmus you have helped defeat. It is not tradable or paintable.

Unfilled Fancy Spellbook

A spellbook is necessary to be able to use spell powerups that are found on some Halloween Event maps such as Helltower and Hellstone. To earn the Skull Island Topper and the Unfilled Fancy Spellbook:

  1. Go to any Ghost Fort server, at any time.
  2. When Merasmus dies, jump into the portal that appears in the air when he dies, to travel to Skull Island.
  3. Climb the stairs of Skull Island, and touch the caged Skull Island Topper.
    • This will teleport you back to the original server, temporarily invulnerable with boosts to your health, speed, and crits.
    • Move quickly, as you will be killed if you take too long.
    • You must also avoid being killed by your enemies and the hazardous terrain.
  4. This unlocks the “A Lovely Vacation Spot” Necromannchievement, your new hat, and an Unfilled Fancy Spellbook!

Spellbook Pages (fix!)

The Unfilled Fancy Spellbook is an action-slot item that doesn’t do anything… yet. You need to collect at least three Spellbook Pages before it becomes fully functional. To earn Spellbook Pages:

  • Pick up Haunted Halloween Gifts on the Helltower map (plr_hightower_event).
    • The Gifts also contain a random 2013 Halloween Costume Part or a Costume Transmogrifier.
  • Complete four Bereavements to unlock the “Mann-tastic Four” achievement and its unique Spellbook Page.

Once you have at least 3 pages, it becomes a Fancy Spellbook. Now you can use magic spell powerups on Helltower on Carnival of Carnage. fancy spellbook Wait… don’t want to go through all of that? Look in your inventory… you should have a Spellbook Magazine as a Stock action-slot item. Equip it, and you can start slinging spells right away! (This was added during the 2014 Halloween Event, so players no longer have to complete the Fancy Spellbook to use spell powerups on newer maps.) If you join a map that has magic spell powerups, and your loadout doesn’t have a spellbook equipped, you will be prompted upon joining the server whether you want to equip the Spellbook Magazine. If you don’t equip it, you won’t be able to use magic spells. NOTE: A third spellbook, the Fireproof Secret Diary, is no longer available.

9. Halloween Gift Cauldron

H Gift CauldronThe Halloween Gift Cauldron was given away to every player who logged in to TF2 during the 2014 Halloween Event. Opening the cauldron will grant you three random cosmetic items from the 2014 Halloween season; one of the items will be Strange and Haunted quality, and the other two will be Unique quality. All three items (and the cauldron itself) are untradeable, unmarketable and uncraftable. To earn: It is still possible to earn a second Halloween Gift Cauldron, if you haven’t already! Complete the “Carnival of Carnage: Bumper to Bumper to Bumper” Merasmachievement by winning each of the three bumper car mini-games at the end of the Carnival of Carnage rounds (bumper car soccer, duck grabbing on a figure eight, and falling floors).

10. Necro Smasher

Necro SmasherThe Necro Smasher is an all-class-except-Spy melee weapon that functions identically to your class’s default melee weapon, without any change in range or damage. In the hands of an Engineer, it repairs buildings as normal. To earn: Complete the “Step Right Up” Merasmachievement by completing 4 of the other 6 achievements related to the Carnival of Carnage map (sd_doomsday_event). Be patient, as completing these achievements may require you to play that map quite a bit.

11. Antique Halloween Goodie Cauldron

antique goodieThe Antique Halloween Goodie Cauldron, when used in the backpack, will give you a Seal Mask (see below) and one random costume set cosmetic from the 2011 Halloween season. Note that the 2011 Halloween cosmetics are tradable. To earn: You probably have already earned it. Each player that logs in to TF2 during any Halloween Event season will earn this Goodie Cauldron. Only one can ever be earned, and they aren’t tradable or marketable.

Seal Mask

Seal Mask The Seal Mask is an all-class hat: a visor that covers most of the character’s face. It is not tradable or paintable. Like most Halloween cosmetics, the Seal Mask can only be worn during Halloween/Full Moon. Ever notice that when the Demoman wears the Seal Mask, one of the eyes is taped out?

12. Taunt Unusualifier

Unusualifier Valve has released Unusualifiers that are keyed to a specific taunt. It works just like a strangifier: use the tool item to give the taunt a random unusual effect! For example, you may have the taunt “The Director’s Vision“, and an unusualifier for The Director’s Vision. Using the unusualifier on the taunt, your Director’s Vision receives a random Unusual effect: Spectral Swirl! Spectral SwirlTo earn: Rarely appears as a bonus drop when opening a Creepy Crawly Case (Crate #104), perhaps a 1-2% chance. Note that the Creepy Crawly Case and its special keys do not expire. Note also that there is crates currently double their chances of dropping an unusual item… perhaps that includes the chances of Unusualifiers! Like Unusual hats, they are rare and currently worth a lot of money on the Steam Market…. Unusualifier PricesClick here if you’re curious how much a Conga Unusualifier is being sold for.

13. Halloween Costumes 2011

The first year to offer Halloween Costumes, Scream Fortress 2011 had players competing to grab a Haunted Halloween Gift every 5-10 minutes. This caused players to stop playing the objective and start hunting for the gift. Unintentionally distracting from the match, Valve changed the format slightly the next year. Unlike the later costumes, the 27 accessories that make up the 2011 Halloween costumes are all tradable, so it is possible for you to trade other players for them–or you can buy them outright in the Mann Co. Store (but not on the Market unless they’re Haunted). The Tin Soldier specifically has extra voice lines and a special taunt when the entire costume is worn. Halloween Costumes 2011 cosmetic parts can drop from completed Merasmissions, otherwise you’ll have to buy them from the in-game store.

Curse-A-Nature Tin Soldier

Curse-A-Nature / Tin Soldier

Infernal Imp Highland Hound

Infernal Imp / Highland Hound

FrankenHeavy Brundle Bundle

FrankenHeavy / Brundle Bundle

Mad Doktor Camper Van Helsing

Mad Doktor / Camper Van Helsing

Invisible Rogue

Invisible Rogue

 

14. Halloween Costumes 2012

Only one costume set was released in 2012: the Grand Duchess! The set’s parts were formerly available as drops from Eerie Crate #51; now you can only get them by buying them straight from the Mann Co. Store, or buying their Haunted versions from the Market, which would run about US$6 for the entire set. Grand Duchess

12. Halloween Costumes 2013

This year introduced a lot of new Halloween Costumes, and had also made them available in the now-retired Spooky Crate #74, as well as by finding the Haunted Halloween Gift. Currently, they can be bought off of the Steam Market in Haunted quality only. They can also be bought directly from the Mann Co. Store, and be found as rewards for completing Merasmissions during the 2016 Scream Fortress event. Depending on the method you receive the item, they may also be tradable.

 

 

 

13. Halloween Costumes 2014

14. Halloween Costumes 2015

15. Halloween Costumes 2016

16. Haunted Halloween Gift

HH Gift The Haunted Halloween Gift no longer drops on any Halloween map. During past Scream Fortress events, you could  find the Haunted Halloween Gift on four different maps: Mann Manor, Eyeaduct, Ghost Fort, and Helltower. The Gift used to spawn at one of several predetermined spawn locations, and will last for 3 minutes after informing you that a Gift has spawned for you. If you fail to find it in time, you then have a 5-10 minute cooldown timer before another Gift respawns for you to try to find once more. (Often, when you join a new eligible server, you will receive a Gift spawn notification within a minute of joining, since your old cooldown timer will have expired.) However, the Gift will not spawn if there are not at least ten players (not bots) playing on the server at the same time. Also, the Gift will only spawn during the Annual Halloween Event (from late October to early November each year). When you pick up a Gift, you then had a three-hour cooldown (real time, not playing time) before you become eligible to pick up another Gift on any server.

  • Mann Manor Gifts contain one of nine Halloween Masks.
  • Eyeaduct Gifts contain one of 27 Halloween Costume Parts from the Halloween 2011 collection.
    • Gifts found in the Underworld are Haunted quality.
  • Ghost Fort Gifts are no longer available. They would contain Voodoo-Cursed Items and/or a Halloween Spell, or rarely Halloween constume parts or other items.
  • Helltower Gifts contain a Spellbook Page, plus either one of many Halloween 2013 items OR a Costume Transmogrifier.

 

NOTE: The Haunted Halloween Gift no longer spawns, ever. It was removed by Valve and replaced by the Gargoyle transmute and the Merasmus Contract systems.   [N] Obey

Catching Up on TF2 Updates — Mar 9 2016

Posted on: March 9th, 2016 by Obey

There’s been a smattering of small updates, which are listed at the end of this post. Here’s a summary of the changes of the four updates since Feb 29:

  • TF2 Competitive Mode will soon beta; patches have been adding relevant content to the game
  • Added Civilian Grade Stat Clocks to the game; functions like a strangifier for graded contract weapons
    • Multiple ways to acquire these have been added to the “Item Grade Trade-Up”
  • Gift Wrap has returned!
    • Only works on untradeable items
    • You can unwrap an item you’ve wrapped, but the gift wrap is still consumed
    • Gift Wrapped items are sent thru Steam Trading, which may create a hold if one of you doesn’t use the Mobile Authenticator
  • Fixed: MvM Mann-Up victories sometimes failing to give you loot in exchange for your tickets
  • Summer Shades, Bounty Hats, Treasure Hats, and HOUWARs are now tradable!
  • Added a “Last Hit” or killshot sound option
  • Added combat text and hit sounds for damage done to buildings
  • Lots of changes to the areas around the 2nd and 3rd points on pl_snowycoast
  • Fixed various exploits, incl. the dropped weapon exploit on Borneo’s last point (YAY!)

What’s a “Civilian Grade Stat Clock”?

You may recall the Mann Co. Trade-Up option launched during the Tough Mettle campaign, giving you the ability to trade 10 contract graded weapons for a random weapon of the next highest tier. By right-clicking a contract weapon, you could reach this window:

Tradeup2

(Halloween items have a separate Trasmuting coupon.)

New options have been added to let you “craft” Civilian Grade Stat Clocks. It is functionally a Strangifier tool, counting the kills you receive when applied, and it works on any contract graded item.

300px-Civilian_Stat_Clock_Menu

Choose five of any of these items for the exchange:

  • Freelance (Grade 2) or higher contract graded items, even if they are untradable
  • Strange-quality weapons and/or cosmetics, even if they are untradeable

NOTE: If any of the items have the untradable trait, the resulting Stat Clock you receive will inherit the untradable trait, as will any item you attach it to.

 

Impact on the Steam Market

Do you have a bunch of junk Strange weapons lying around? If so, they have become a little more valuable in the last week. People have been buying up cheap Stranges and turning them into Civilian Stat Clocks–in some cases, Marketing those Stat Clocks for a profit (at the moment, almost US$1).

So a Strange Fire Axe, which used to sell for about 7 cents, now sells for 15-18 cents. Not a big deal, but it does mean that another item on the Market that used to be near-worthless have spiked in demand and becoming somewhat rarer. The same has occurred for Grade 2 contract weapons with higher wear, as they also have hit the same sell price.

 

Here’s All of the Patch Notes:

(previous patch was February 2nd, 2016)

February 29, 2016

  • Added content and features necessary to begin limited public testing of the TF2 Competitive Mode beta
  • Community request: Added SetPlayerPointsOnDeath input to tf_player_destruction_logic and a PointsValue key field to the item_teamflag entity when used in Player Destruction mode
  • Fixed Mann vs. Machine Mann-Up victories sometimes failing to take player tickets and reward loot
  • Fixed security issues when loading certain custom content (thanks to Nathaniel Theis and Simon Pinfold for these reports)
  • Added the Civilian Grade Stat Clock
  • Mannpower update
    • Grappling hook movement speed penalty for powered up flag carriers increased by 10%. Flag carriers with no powerup still have no penalty.
    • Reflect powerup
      • Removed 25% resistance attribute
      • All classes can now have up to 400 health
      • Fixed a bug where reflection damage was being calculated prior to distance falloff reduction
      • Reflection damage increased from 50% to 80% of damage received
      • Fixed a bug where sentry rockets would reflect damage to the owning Engineer rather than the sentry itself
    • Supernova powerup
      • Minimum stun duration increased from 1 to 2 seconds
      • Stun duration increased by 0.5 seconds for each additional victim stunned (max 4 seconds)
    • Vampire powerup
      • Melee attack now returns 1.25x damage as health (up from 1.0x)
    • Regen and King powerup
      • Increased the frequency of health regeneration. Rate of heal is increased for Scout and Spy
      • Increased metal regeneration amount
  • Gift Wrap has returned!
    • Gift wrapped items will be delivered through Steam trading, and are subject to trade holds if the sender doesn’t have a Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator
    • Items can now be unwrapped by their original wrapper
    • Moving forward, only tradable items can be gift wrapped. Items that are currently gift wrapped can be delivered regardless of the tradability of the contents of the gift.
  • Giftapults can again deliver items to random players online, but will remain un-craftable
  • Updated The Bounty Hat, Treasure Hat, and Hat of Undeniable Wealth And Respect to be tradable
  • Vote kick events now display that target player’s Steam avatar
  • Updated models/materials for Hot Heels, The Trencher’s Topper, The Exorcizor, The Mutton Mann, Doc’s Holiday, The Cotton Head
  • Updated the Crusader’s Crossbow
    • Added a new shoot sound
    • Added a new impact/heal sound when a teammate is healed
  • Fixed the Taunt: Kazotsky Kick not hiding the Heavy‘s weapon
  • Fixed That ’70s Chapeau not being removed when the Sniper taunts
  • Fixed the Catastrophic Companions hiding the player’s hat and headphones
  • Fixed an LOD issue for The AWPer Hand
  • Added combat text and hit sounds for damage done to buildings
  • Added a “Last Hit” sound option to Hit Sounds
    • Triggered when one of your attacks causes the death of a player or building
    • Can be toggled in the Adv. Options menu
  • Updated the materials for the Panic Attack to support mat_picmip
  • Updated the Taunt: Zoomin’ Broom sound effects
  • PASS Time update
    • Fixed workshop maps not loading correctly
    • Fixed being able to get inside jump pads
    • Removed Sandman long-distance steal
    • Added experimental cvars for playtesting
  • Updated cp_vanguard
    • Removed teleporter exploit on second point
    • Various minor fixes (lighting, collision, optimization)
  • Updated pl_borneo
  • Updated pl_snowycoast
    • Adjusted various spawn point facings to make side exits more obvious
    • Adjusted position of resupply cabinet in RED‘s 1st spawn
    • Added ledge to 2nd point flank route window
    • Adjusted common sentry nests on 2nd
    • Added stronger light to entrance of lower flank route
    • Door near RED’s first spawn now opens on A capture and closes on final bulkhead opening
    • RED no longer get forced respawn when 2nd is captured
    • Added minor spawn for RED once 2nd is captured, active until BLU pushes through kennels
    • Adjusted timing of flank doors at 2nd and in mines
    • Updated door texture for flank exit by 2nd point gate
    • Improved defendability and enlarged 3rd point
    • Adjusted position of 3rd cap
    • Adjusted health & ammo at 3rd
    • Updated door texture for flank exit by mines
    • Changed a medium ammo pack at last to full ammo pack
    • Added door to ledge at last to improve RED defendability (closes when bulkhead opens)
    • Added 3rd exit to BLU’s last forward spawn
    • Improved defendability of ledges at last inside building
    • Added new dropdown area to RED’s last
    • Adjusted lighting in various areas
    • Fixed dx settings on light pole props

Undocumented changes

  • Added a normal quality Power Up Canteen as a default action item.
  • Updated The Exorcizor to be equipable by the Soldier, Pyro, and Medic.
  • Updated The Mutton Mann to be equipable by the Scout, Soldier, and Heavy.
  • Updated The Cotton Head to be equipable by all classes.
  • Updated the Iron Bomber and Quickiebomb Launcher‘s explosion sounds.
  • Updated all Stickybomb Launcher’s reload sounds.
  • Updated the firing sounds of all weapons that use the Heavy’s Gloves sound effect.
  • Changed BLU team’s side of cp_foundry to the ctf_foundry version.
  • Updated the localization files

Full Patch Notes: March 1, 2016

Full Patch Notes: March 3, 2016

Undocumented Changes

  • Updated the Breakneck Baggies to be equippable by all classes.
  • Updated the Beep Boy to be equippable by the Scout and Pyro.

 

Full Patch Notes: March 7, 2016

Undocumented Changes

  • Updated the Dead of Night to be equipable by all classes.

[N] Obey

TF2 Update: 8/13/2014

Posted on: August 14th, 2014 by Obey

First, the news:

  1. Don’t forget: The Newbs’ Medieval Arent Event is this Saturday, Aug. 16th!
  2. [EDIT: 8/15/14] Dota 2 is fundamentally changing its economy to remove Treasure Keys entirely.
    • These keys, which used to cost $2.49 from the Dota 2 Store, were removed in the June 6, 2014 patch.  Treasures now open without a key.
    • Existing keys now expire on July 1st, 2015. You can redeem a Treasure Key for one unlocked Treasure of your choice. Use them before they expire!
    • Mastery Gems have been removed, with their functionality merged with Kinetic Gems.
  3. [EDIT: 8/15/14] Valve is now accepting merchandise design submissions via the TF2 Workshop. Click here for more info.
  4. Newbs’ #15 is now officially 24/7 Hightower.  We’re stepping up the search for Jr. Admins and Server Starters.  You can also win some free stuff! See this client post and this forum post for more info.
  5. TF2 patched yesterday.  See below for full patch notes and see what’s in the new crates.
  6. Steam client patched around 4 PM EST today.  Those notes are at the end of the blog post, but here are the major changes:
    • Visual upgrade
      • The borders on all of the windows and popups are gone.
      • The Steam Icon has changed.
      • Plenty of Big Picture bugfixes.
    • Mac OS X 10.5 will no longer be supported.  This is its final patch.
    • Games can be assigned to categories, and more than one at a time.  You can now hide games so you/others can’t see them.
      • Hiding games probably tells Valve what games users strongly dislike.
    • Linux: Fixed audio being lost when alt-tabbing.
    • Some newer NVIDIA hardward support has been added.
    • Web browser updated for increased performance and stability.

 

Here’s what happened in the latest TF2 Patch:

  1. Two new crates!
    • Crate #84 drops just standard killstreak kits, one primary weapon for each class.
    • Crate #85 drops new strangifiers and new strange parts
    • This means the following items now have strange variants:
      • Air Strike soldier primary wep
      • Classic sniper primary wep
      • Manmelter pyro secondary wep
      • Vaccinator medic secondary wep
      • Widowmaker engineer primary wep
      • Apparition’s Aspect cosmetic
      • Anger cosmetic
    • New strange parts:
      • Robot Scouts Destroyed
      • Taunting Player Kills (number of times you’ve killed a taunting player)
  2. You now can has your very own Spycrab!
  3. Some bugfixes.

1. “Supply Munition” Crates #84 and #85

These only drop standard Killstreak Kits. If you want to use them for crafting higher-tier Specialized or Professional K. Kits, make sure you apply them to a Unique-quality item only!  See my guide for more information.

Crate Series #84
Drops Yes
Items
Stickybomb Launcher Killstreak KitStickybomb Launcher Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Minigun Killstreak KitMinigun Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Direct Hit Killstreak KitDirect Hit Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Huntsman Killstreak KitHuntsman Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Backburner Killstreak KitBackburner Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Back Scatter Killstreak KitBack Scatter Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Kritzkrieg Killstreak KitKritzkrieg Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Ambassador Killstreak KitAmbassador Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
Frontier Justice Killstreak KitFrontier Justice Killstreak Kit
11 .00%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%
Crate Series #85
Drops Yes
Items
Air Strike StrangifierAir Strike Strangifier
9 .90%
Classic StrangifierClassic Strangifier
9 .90%
Manmelter StrangifierManmelter Strangifier
9 .90%
Vaccinator StrangifierVaccinator Strangifier
9 .90%
Strange Part Robot Scouts DestroyedStrange Part: Robot Scouts Destroyed
9 .90%
Strange Part Taunting Player KillsStrange Part: Taunting Player Kills
9 .90%
Strange Part Buildings DestroyedStrange Part: Buildings Destroyed
9 .90%
Anger StrangifierAnger Strangifier
9 .90%
Apparition's Aspect StrangifierApparition’s Aspect Strangifier
9 .90%
Widowmaker StrangifierWidowmaker Strangifier
9 .90%
or an Exceedingly Rare Special Item!
1 .00%

 

Team Fortress 2

Undocumented Changes

Steam Client Update: Patch Notes

General

  • Updated desktop user interface styles, simplifying common controls and navigation elements, and neutralizing overall color palette to align with Steam web pages and Big Picture mode
  • Major update of embedded web browser to increase performance, reliability, and to bring in various security fixes and functionality updates
  • Work around to prevent duplicate key presses in some cases for games running inside Adobe AIR
  • Don’t delay content updates for games set to high priority
  • Fixed in-game progress indicators for workshop downloads displaying incorrect percentages for compressed files
  • Fixed mods and shortcuts not displaying their names correctly in the friends interface and server browser

Library

  • Games can now be assigned to more than one category at a time
  • Add “Hide this game in my library” functionality, accessible from the Set Categories menu. Games that are hidden will not show up in library filters except for a new filter called “Hidden”, which will only appear once at least one game is marked as hidden. Hidden games are still available for play and will still appear on the user’s profile.
  • Add an “Uncategorized” filter in desktop library filter drop downs. This will appear when a user has at least one game in a category and at least one game that has no categories.
  • In desktop library details, list, and small views, games can be multiply selected using shift-click and control-click and certain operations can be performed on the group
  • Added install option to context menu for multiple selections
  • When filtering by favorites or by owner, display only a single section instead of all the sections that the games are in.
  • When adding a new category, scroll the category list to the bottom so we can see the category that was just added
  • Added by-category filter options to the filter drop downs in all library views
  • When switching between library views, remember the category of the game selected and retain it when possible
  • In list view with game images selected, display the image on all instances of the game instead of only one
  • Eliminate extraneous “Favorite” category when favorites are added from Set Categories instead of Add to Favorites
  • Make type-to-search properly expand categories in list view. Better synchronize type to search between library views.
  • Remove user categories from navigation bar hover menu. They are still available in the game filters drop-down in the library views.
  • Add context menu to category headers in library views, containing “Expand All” and “Collapse All”, and, in details/mini view, “Show/Hide Icons”
  • Improve category collapse state synchronization between library views.
  • Don’t show hover effect on list items when a context menu is visible
  • Add glow effect on hover to 2′ library game filter button
  • Retain selections when switching filters whenever possible
  • Retain multiple selections when switching between details and list view
  • Synchronize selection between main window library views and Small Mode.

Mac OS X

  • This update ends support for Mac OS X 10.5
  • Updated Big Picture to make use of the Spaces feature for full-screen mode
  • On 10.9 and above ask the OS to prompt for Accessibility access to enable the overlay

Linux

  • Updated Steam Runtime with support for newer compilers
  • Added support for entering custom network settings in Big Picture
  • Fixed audio being lost when alt-tabbing
  • Fixed crash when doing a voice chat if you did not have a network connection
  • Fixed launching SteamVR games

Big Picture

  • Updated various visual styles across Big Picture including focus treatments
  • Limit daisy wheel input to numeric entries where appropriate
  • Improved gamepad navigation through checkout
  • Fixed custom icons for streaming non-Steam games
  • Fixed crash when enabling parental controls
  • Fixed scroll bars disappearing on some EULA pages after scrolling to the left
  • Fixed daisy wheel adding multiple periods after pressing space twice to end a sentence
  • Fixed automatic capitalization getting stuck enabled in daisy wheel
  • Fixed a bug preventing the user from changing payment methods if their stored credit card has expired
  • Fixed crash on launching Big Picture if your PC has no sound card (or it is disabled)
  • Fixed crash on game launch if you mashed the A button

In-Home Streaming

  • Added support for NVIDIA hardware encoding for D3D9+ games on GeForce 650+ cards and the latest NVIDIA drivers. You can enable this by turning on hardware encoding in the advanced options on the host computer.
  • Reset hardware encoding setting to default off, to minimize surprises now that NVIDIA encoding is available
  • Added hardware accelerated decoding for Mac OS X 10.9 and 10.10
  • Reset hardware decoding setting to default on for Windows and Linux, and default off for Mac OS X
  • Improved software decoding performance for clients with multiple CPU cores
  • Disabled vsync while streaming for a smoother capture framerate
  • Fixed being able to scroll the right and bottom edges of a map in certain resolutions
  • Fixed Steam crash streaming from a host with an i5-3450 CPU
  • Fixed games detecting both local and streaming controllers; streaming controllers take precedence if they are connected.
  • Fixed streaming games from Steam when it has been put in Windows XP compatibility mode
  • Made it more clear that unlimited bandwidth increases latency and is not recommended

[N] Obey

A TF2 Newbs Guide to Getting More and Better Items

Posted on: July 4th, 2014 by Obey

The following is a beginner-level guide describing all of the ways to earn weapons and cosmetic items in TF2. For details on items, gameplay, or anything else Team Fortress related, be sure to bookmark The Official TF2 Wiki.

 

 

trophy Over 25k lifetime hits!

Updated 11/2/16:

  • Simplified information about item qualities
  • Compared rocket launcher prices with differing item qualities
  • Added links to Halloween-themed items where necessary
  • Added more pictures for easier reading
  • Hit 25,000 lifetime hits by November 1st

Updated 7/31/16:

  • Added links to recent tutorials on class rebalances and matchmaking changes since Pyro vs. Heavy patch

Updated 4/23/16:

  • More info about free hats you can earn
  • More info about Australium and Graded (contract) Weapons

 

So you’ve just started playing TF2, learned some maps, captured some points, and found a couple of nifty items. But other players are blowing you up with awesome weapons while wearing ridiculous hats.  How can you get more weapons and cosmetic items?  That’s what this guide is for, so read on!

Similar bloglinks useful to you:

 

Table of Contents

0. Being Free-to-Play vs. Being Premium

1. Earn Items By Playing TF2

  • Achievement Items
  • Free Cosmetics You Can Earn
  • The TF2 Item Drop System
  • Rewards for Playing Mann vs. Machine, the Players-vs.-Bots “Horde Mode”
  • Earn TF2 Items While Playing Other Steam Games

2. Crafting Items: What To Do with Metal, Crates, and Robot Parts

3. Buying Items From the Mann Co. Store or the Steam Market

  • Explanation of Item Qualities like Stranges and Unusuals
    • Updated: Rocket Launchers as example of price comparison
    • Updated: Typical item prices of each quality
  • Decorated Weapons, earned by contracts
  • Trading-Up Items

4. Trading Items With Other Players

5. Free Unusuals!

6. What To Do If You Have Too Many Items

7. Helpful Links

Cold_Snap_Coat

0. First: Are you Free-to-Play?

There are two kinds of TF2 accounts: free-to-play accounts and premium accounts.

  • Free-to-play (or “F2P”) accounts only get one page of 50 inventory slots, limited crafting options, can only drop some basic items, and most importantly, have limited trading options.
  • Premium accounts start with six pages of inventory slots (300 total), have full crafting options, can drop basic and rare items, and have normal trading options.

Why aren’t all accounts Premium? The reason is to reduce the number of spammers and cheaters on Steam by attaching a small monetary cost to each account, so that thousands of accounts cannot be used by a single person for these schemes.

So if you are free-to-play, you will not have full access to all of the kinds of items out there. There are a couple of simple ways to gain a premium account:

  • Buy something in the Mann Co. Store, anything at all, no minimum. A single US$0.49 weapon is all you need.
  • Buy the Orange Box from the Steam Store for US$19.99, which grants you a Premium TF2 account as well as two other Valve games: Half-Life 2 and Portal.
  • Have someone trade or gift you an Upgrade to Premium Gift, which is a tool item that makes your account premium when used.
    • However, your Steam Account must be premium to be able to trade from the Steam Client, which means you’ve made at least $5 worth of purchases. Steam Trading and Steam Chat are two features disabled if you’ve never bought anything on the Steam Account you’re using.

Upgrade Premium

Why would someone give you a Premium Gift? Doing so grants the giver a Professor Speks accessory, or adds to the counter of their existing Professor Speks.

If you make a purchase that upgrades your account to premium, you are asked to refer one person on your friends list as someone who has helped you in the game.  That is how a person is awarded a Professor Speks or ranks up its counter.

 

Now that you know your status, here are all of the ways that you can acquire new items:

 

1. Earn Items By Playing the Game

Earn “Achievement Items”

trophy

There are hundreds of achievements to earn in Team Fortress 2. Just play the game, and if you complete a specific task, the achievement will unlock and announce it to everyone on the server. You can check which achievements you have or haven’t learned in your Steam Client.

Spy achievements

If you earn enough class-specific achievements, you will earn one of three weapons available for each class. These items significantly change the role or options available for that class, such as a Sandvich healing item for the Heavy, or a Huntsman bow that replaces the Sniper’s rifle!  Here is the full list of 27 achievement weapons in TF2.

Note: These achievement-reward items have the untradable trait, so you can’t trade them away later. And if you use them to craft metal or another item, the resulting item will carry that untradable trait, and the game will warn you that that will occur.  This is to keep players from having dozens of separate Steam accounts just to farm for items. Only achievement-reward items will have the untradable trait.

There are “achievement servers” in the TF2 community, but TF2Newbs doesn’t have one; they’re frowned on by Valve.

 

All-Class Cosmetics You Can Earn

Professor SpeksAs stated above, earn the Professor Speks all-class cosmetic by gifting someone an Upgrade to Premium Gift. It cannot be painted or traded.

Ghastly GibusEarn the Ghastly Gibus all-class hat by earning a domination on a player wearing their own Gibus. There are multiple, slightly different versions (the Ghastly, Ghastlier, Ghastlierest, Ghostly, and Galvanized), and dominated any player except for the Galvanized will earn you your own Ghastly Gibus (the other versions were awarded earlier). You can earn this achievement at any time, and it can be worn at all time, unlike many Halloween-themed items. It is paintable, but cannot be traded.

You can also get the Pyrovision Goggles by dominating a player that is wearing them. Pryovision items changes the scenery on most official maps so that you play in a pastel-painted world of balloons and laughter instead of the screams and gibs of your enemies. You can change its vision in your Advanced Options menu.

Mann Co CapEarn a Mann Co. Cap all-class hat the first time you buy anything at the Mann Co. Store, regardless of amount spent. (You can only earn one.) It is paintable, but not tradable. You can also buy a real-life version from New Era. There is a second hat, the Mann Co. Online Cap, which you can earn by buying something from the Mann Co. Online store, which sells real-life Valve merchandise like posters, T-shirts, and hats!

World Traveler's HatEarn the all-class World Traveler’s Hat by buying your first Map Stamp, which is not an item, but a donation that goes directly to the author(s) of the Community-made map you choose. You can level it up by buying more Map Stamps. When you play on a map where you’ve purchased map stamps, you can give your hat unusual effects! This hat is paintable, but not tradable.

Other cosmetics you can earn by playing TF2:

  • There are lots of other cosmetics that can be earned during the annual Halloween or Winter Holiday events! See my Halloween Items FAQ to learn how to earn Halloween-themed items. Some can be earned at any time, like the Ghastly Gibus.
  • Director’s Vision: Earn this all-class taunt by recording a replay of yourself playing the game, then enter the video editing window. It’s that easy.
  • Frontline Field Recorder: Get this hat by uploading a replay video to YouTube from within TF2, and earn 1,000 lifetime views.
  • Proof of Purchase: By being gifted the game, or buying TF2 yourself, like in the Orange Box from the Steam Store, earn this hat.
  • Party Hat and TF Birthday Noisemaker: Get an all-class hat and an action item by playing the game on August 24th, TF2′s anniversary launch date. The Noisemaker can only be used on August 24th (or any server that has Birthday Mode enabled).
  • Spirit of Giving: Earn this accessory playing during the annual Winter Holiday. Rank it up by gifting, such as using a Secret Saxton tool item.
  • Horace the Bear Mask: Be an RPS Supporter (for the gaming news website Rock Paper Shotgun).

 

Earn Items by Playing the Game

Team Fortress 2 wants to reward you for playing, and does so by granting you periodic “item drops”. Approximately every hour you play in a week, up to roughly 10 hours a week, you will earn a random item, usually a weapon but rarely (perhaps a 3% chance) a cosmetic item such as a hat. Most, but not all, craftable weapons can drop via this system, and if you don’t play much one week, that extends the playing time where you can earn items in the next week only. “Weeks” for this purpose begin on Wednesdays at 7 PM Eastern Standard Time (which is also Thursdays at midnight Greenwich Standard Time; doesn’t change for Daylight Savings Time).

Item_drops_frequency_graph

The list of possible weapons available is roughly the same as the craftable weapon list plus the achievement-reward weapon list (i.e. almost all non-stock weapons). “Stock” weapons are the default weapons and action-slot items of each class, which are also the only weapons that most computer-controller bots use, and they’re the only weapons you can access in those rare, unfortunate times when your server loses connection to the item server :(  Stock weapons never drop, and you can’t lose access to them by crafting or trading.

By a similar but separate system, crates (and rarely, other tool items such as Name Tags instead) can drop for you as well, and they are NOT limited by your weekly playing time.  Of course, you need keys to open crates; they are basically opportunities for Valve to make money by selling you keys. Crates always provide a random item out of a list, and the series number relates to the list of items available to drop; most crates drop Strange-quality weapons (with a 1% chance for a random Unusual item instead!).

Crate drops are rarer than in years past; players got annoyed by having too many crates.  Sometimes, such as during the winter holiday, crate drops will occur more often. You may also get a crate once a week in your account just for logging in. They’re simply “opportunities” to spend money on keys for virtual items.

 

Earn Items by Buying and/or Playing Other Games

Many cosmetics can be earned just by buying certain games. Some were only available during pre-order, but many are still available if you buy the game today. Here is the current list of games that award TF2 items, maintained by the Official TF2 Wiki. Note that many of these items will be Genuine quality.

For example, the $4.99 game Poker Night at the Inventory features five unlockable items (some of which may be difficult to do so), as you play Texas Hold ‘Em against the Heavy, Strongbad and other characters. You need to get good at playing poker, but you can earn:

dangeresque

Its $4.99 sequel, Poker Night 2, features five more unlockable items, as you play Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha Hold ‘Em with Claptrap, Ash Williams and others! Earn the following:

 

See this link to learn how to earn TF2 items by playing these free-to-play Steam games:

 

Earn Items by Playing “Mann Up Mode” in MvM

500px-Mvm_logo

Mann vs. Machine, or “MvM”, is a horde mode where you and five other players form a RED team that defends against an onslaught of class-specific BLU robots.  The free-to-play “Boot Camp” mode does NOT earn you items, but is good for practicing the game. The real rewards can be gained by completing “Mann Up” missions, which require a brown Tour of Duty ticket that costs US$0.99 in the Mann Co. Store (not to be confused with the white Surplus tickets). Tickets are used up and rewards are earned only when you successfully win an entire mission.

mannworks

  • Each completed mission earns you an item drop, in exchange for your Tour of Duty ticket, if you did not previously have credit for that mission on your current Tour.
    • If playing the “Two Cities” Tour, you will instead earn some robot parts, and possibly even a Fabricator, after each mission.
  • Each completed Tour of missions will earn you different rewards, on top of your usual mission rewards:
    • “Two Cities” Tours reward Killstreak Kits, and one or two higher-tier Fabricators.
    • Other Tours reward one of several kinds of Strange Botkiller weapons, depending on both random luck and which Tour had been completed.
    • Completing any Advanced or Expert difficulty Tour also has a small chance (~2%) of getting an Australium weapon! (You won’t have any chance to drop them on Intermediate Tours.)

fabricator rl

For more information on MvM and the items you can earn by playing in “Mann Up” Mode, please refer to the TF2 Newbs’ Guide to MvM Item Hunting.

2. You Can Craft New Items

Crafting_anvil

You can take undesired items and turn them into metal, which is used to craft other weapons.

two weapons of same class  —> one scrap

 

                                          three scrap  <—> one reclaimed

 

                                                     three reclaimed <—> one refined

 

metal

What Can You Do with Metal?

  • Use as a trading currency (see Trading, below)
  • Craft cosmetics, such as hats
  • Craft weapons

 

Crafting Cosmetic Items

There are two ways to craft cosmetic items such as hats. Here is the first:

three refined  —> one random cosmetic item

The above menu says the output is a “random headgear”, but in reality the output is some kind of cosmetic, such as a hat or an item that equips elsewhere on your person, and are never weapons. For instance, you might get a Football Helmet for a Heavy, or an Itsy-Bitsy Spyer that hangs on the hip of your Sniper, or a Big Mann on Campus sweater for a Scout. These items are always Unique quality; you’ll never get Stranges or the like. Almost every non-Limited cosmetic can be crafted, but of course, what you receive is randomized.

Crafting

But if you want to ensure that you get an item that a specific character can use, consider the next formula:

four refined + class token  —> random class-specific cosmetic item

With the above formula, you apply some extra metal and a token, but you ensure that you’ll get an item wearable by the token’s class (and possibly other classes also, depending on the item you receive). Use this formula if you really want more cosmetics for your favorite class.

See this page for a list of many other crafting recipes, which are also found in your Crafting menu.

 

Crafting Weapons

There is a list of craftable weapons under the second tab, “Common Items”. Simply follow the recipe to craft a desired weapon. If you lack the items, you can’t make the item, but you may be able to trade someone for the parts you need (or just buy it from the Mann Co. Store instead).

The top recipe reads, “Fabricate Class Weapons” with the following recipe:

scrap + class token + slot token –> random matching weapon

The above formula will generate one random weapon out of the possible craftable weapons that match both the class and weapon slot of the tokens. For example, following this recipe with a Pyro token and a Secondary token can generate a flare gun, detonator, reserve shooter, manmelter, scorch shot, or panic attack. See the “Crafting Weapon Classifications” heading in the the TF2 Wiki Crafting page for the full list.

 

What Are Crates For?

Crates are opened with keys (usually Mann Co. Crate Keys, but special crates require special keys), and they can be purchased from the Mann Co. Store for US$2.49, traded, or bought and sold in the Steam Market. Opening a crate provides you one random item (usually Strange) from its short drop list, but rarely (about a 1% chance) grant you an Unusual hat!

Mann_Co._Supply_CrateOh, if you have too many crates, you should probably just delete any duplicates you have. You’re unlikely to sell any on the Market, as you’d only get one cent, and there are thousands of them for sale already. You’ll always have more crates than you’ll ever open–they’re simply opportunites to buy a random Strange item.

What Are Robot Parts For?

If you have robot parts in your possession, you have probably been playing some Mann vs. Machine “Two Cities” missions. These are used for crafting certain Killstreak Kits.  See this MvM Item FAQ for more information.

Reinforced_Robot_Emotion_Detector

3. You Can Buy Items

Access the Mann Co. Store within the TF2 game itself. You can’t while you’re playing in a server, however.

 

Items You Can Buy from the Mann Co. Store

You can buy most Unique-quality items in the Mann Co. Store.  Unique is the standard item quality that doesn’t do anything special, and signifies something that is probably not rare. Want a different kind of rocket launcher for your Soldier?  It’s probably US$1 or less. Want a new community-designed hat? Snap one up for US$2 to $10. Just look at the catalog of items in the in-game menu, and purchase with your Steam Wallet funds.

Starter Packs

Don’t want to bother with crafting or trading, but you want all the possible options available for your favorite class? You can buy a Starter Pack the gives you one of each Unique weapon for that class! They run between $2 and $7, depending on the class; some classes like the Soldier have more items, so they’re more expensive.

You can also buy (from either the in-game Store, or from the Market) an Unlocked Class Crate, which will drop you one random cosmetic equippable by that class. You could get just about anything. They’re $2.49 in the Mann Co. Store.

You can’t buy everything at the store, such as an Unusual hat… but there’s lots to buy on the Steam Market!

Items You Can Buy on the Steam Market

  • You can’t buy most plain Unique-quality weapons in the Market, but you can buy Unique Tools such as crates, keys, robot parts, and killstreak kits.
  • Also, almost all Strange, Haunted, Vintage, Collector’s, or Unusual item can be bought and sold on the Steam Market.
  • Unique items that are also Limited can also list on the Market. Limited items cannot be crafted, item dropped, or bought from the Mann Co. Store anymore.
  • Decorated weapons can also be bought and sold in the Market.

 

A Short Explanation of Item Qualities–and Rocket Launchers!

“Wait a minute. Why do I need an explanation of item qualities?” you ask.

Not all rocket launchers are created alike. (Set aside the Black Box and the Liberty Launcher and all those others; we’re talking just about the stock Rocket Launcher.) The stock Rocket Launchers are all alike, of course.

GadCIcM

But there are many kind of reskinned rocket launchers. They’re all functionally the same. How they’re different is that they might be promotional items, have different colors on the weapon itself, or have a counter to track kills or other statistics. (The pictured Rocket Launcher is a Decorated weapon; scroll down to the next section to learn more about Decorated weapons.)

Here’s a comparison for the different rocket launchers out there, and the cheapest price for one on the Steam Market (as of this writing):

All of the above rocket launchers behave identically in play. But they’re also a show of status: players may assume that if you’re using the stock rocket launcher, that you haven’t been playing very long. Sure, it’s a silly game, but it stands out all the same.

 

Item Qualities

Okay–here’s the different item qualities out there:

  • Stock items are items that every TF2 account has access to; they cannot be removed, sold, or traded.
  • Unique items are common items, often found via the TF2 item drop system or from certain older crates.
    • They can typically be traded, but not marketed.
    • Achievement items and some Halloween-themed items are untradeable Uniques.
  • Limited items are uncommon; they can no longer be purchased or crafted, such as retired hats.
    • They can be traded or marketed.
  • Vintage items are simply items that were crafted before March 15, 2011.
    • These are cheap to buy on the Market.
  • Strange items track total kills (on weapons) or points scored (on other items) while the item was equipped.
    • Most commonly, Stranges are dropped from a crate; the item is randomly chosen.
    • A few Strange items are rare, such as the Kritzkrieg.
    • A few Strange items have been made so by Strangifier items, which are also sometimes rare.
  • Australium weapons have a golden sheen, but are otherwise Strange weapons.
    • They are a rare reward for completing Mann vs, Machine tours, and are valuable.
  • Haunted items are usually Halloween-themed cosmetics.
    • In some cases, they can only be worn during Halloween/Full Moon times.
    • They can be purchased cheaply on the Steam Market.
  • Genuine items are promotional items, often given away for (pre)purchasing another Steam game.
    • Many of these can be purchased on the Steam Market.
  • Collector’s items are rare, requiring a rarely-dropped Chemistry Set plus two hundred identical copies of the item to craft.
    • They can be purchased on the Market, but are usually expensive.
  • Killstreak weapons show in the killfeed how many kills the player has earned since their last death.
    • The killstreak property only modifies the weapon, and doesn’t change its quality color. But it does add value to the weapon.
    • Specialized Killstreak kits also add a temporary visual sheen to the weapon after five kills are scored during the same life.
    • Professional Killstreak kits add the visual sheen and an eye effect to your character as well.
    • Killstreak kits and fabricators (used to craft the kits) are Mann vs. Machine rewards.
  • Unusual items are rare, with a visual effect centered near the head of the character.
    • They are very rarely (1%) dropped from a crate, and are always valuable.

See my MvM Item FAQ for more information about Australium weapons and Killstreak Kits.

 

Decorated Items

decorated item is a weapon, cosmetic, or taunt that has been reskinned with different visual effects (and rarely, different sounds). Below is the Warbird, a rare decorated rocket launcher from the Tough Break season:

Warbird

A ”season” is a period of weeks, directly after a major content patch such as the Tough Break Update, that allows players to complete missions/contracts in order to earn random items with randomly generated paint jobs. A decorated weapon or item includes the following:

  • One of six Grades of rarity, which determines the text color of the item. Civilian is very common; Elite is rare.
    1. Civilian:                contracts only
    2. Freelance:            contracts only
    3. Mercenary:          contracts or crates
    4. Commando:        contracts or crates
    5. Assassin:                                    crates only
    6. Elite:                                           crates only
  • Each item Collection (of item skins or “paint job” themes) has many weapons in a variety of Grades.
    • For example, items from the Concealed Killer Collection are generally camouflage-themed.
    • Some Collections are only Grades 1-4, and some are only Grades 3-6 (see above).
    • Each skin is tied to its specific grade. For example: The “Warbird” above is always a Grade 6 Elite.
  • Each Weapon has one of five random levels of Wear, which changes the look of the weapon skin somewhat. All are equally as common, but the more Wear variations are less popular because the weapon skin is less visible. (The wear patterns are also randomly positioned to give a further uniqueness to each individual item.)
    • Factory New (most popular and valuable)
    • Minimal Wear
    • Field-Tested
    • Well-Worn
    • Battle Scarred (most of the paint job has worn off)
  • NOTE: Weapons DO NOT increase their Wear when used. They have a set level of Wear when dropped which does not change. A weapon’s Grade, Skin, and Wear is entirely cosmetic and does not change its gameplay whatsoever.
  • Also, these Weapons and Cosmetics are Limited quality. Unboxed Weapons and Cosmetics will have a chance of being Strange (and in a few cases, being Unusual, or both!)
    • Also, items exist that can Strangify these items.
  • These weapons will be tradable and marketable. If you wish to trade or sell a weapon, look up its worth on the Market or another site like backpack.tf first, so you don’t get scammed. Unusual items are always valuable and very rare.

How to earn Graded items:

  1. Buy-in to the current update Season by purchasing the appropriate pass from the Mann Co. Store. This will grant you a fixed number of contracts to complete over a set period of time (even if you join late in the Season). Completing these contracts (with tasks such as completing objectives on a certain map or getting kills while playing a certain class or weapon) will earn you a graded weapon OR one of several Weapon Cases.
    • NOTE: You can purchase these Weapon Cases from the Steam Market also, as the cases, their corresponding keys, and the items obtainable within are all marketable and tradable.
  2. Or, you can simply buy Cases and the appropriate Key for the Case, and use the Key in your TF2 inventory screen.

 

How to Trade-Up Graded weapons:

300px-Civilian_Stat_Clock_Menu

Some items can be used in a trade-in, much like crafting, into another item.

  • 10 Graded items of the same Grade level, regardless of Collection or Update, can be traded in for 1 random item of the next higher Grade.
    • Example: 10 Freelance items for 1 Mercenary item.
    • You may collect ten decorated items from all of the different collections ouut there, but the formula will only work if they are all of the same Grade.
    • BEWARE: The possible output item is from all available Collections, not necessarily the same Collection.
  • 5 qualifying items can be traded into a Civilian Grade Stat Clock, a tool item similar to a Strangifier for Graded items only.
    • Qualifying items include any Freelance Grade or higher item (of any Collection), and any Strange item (Graded or not).
    • ANY item with the “untradeable” trait also qualifies, but the resulting Stat Clock will also be “untradeable”.
      • Yes, this means you can use your untradeable Achievement items to create a Stat Clock!
  • During the annual Halloween event, you can trade-in three qualifying items for a random, untradeable Halloween cosmetic.
    • Find this function by right-clicking your Soul Gargoyle tool item.

How can you tell the difference between a Strange Graded Item, and a vanilla Graded Item with a Stat Clock attached? Look at the item name: one will be Strange, and the other will say “Stat Clock”.

 

4. You Can Ask Others to Trade or Give You Items

Yes, there are gifters who play TF2 regularly. Very few players just go around looking for Newbs who need items. But there are plenty of players wiling to give a couple of weapons or an odd hat to someone who has none.  The important thing is to be nice and civil. Spamming chat with demands for free items will annoy anyone who would have been willing, and that behavior can get you banned from the Newbs servers.

250px-Backpack_Pile_o'_Gifts

If you want people to trade or gift you, show some proper etiquette:

  1. Be gracious and don’t make demands.  Don’t spam the text chat or the voice chat.
  2. Many players are willing to trade away a spare copy of a weapon (not cosmetics) for a single scrap metal, or its equal value of any two weapons. Likewise, if you happen to have extra copies of an item, you can offer to trade two of them to someone for one weapon you need.
  3. If there is an item you want to trade for, or to ask for free, you should ask people in chat if they have specific items you’re looking for.  But don’t spam the chat with constant messages.
  4. Look at your friends’ profiles, and click on Inventory to see their TF2 items.  Unless their profiles are private, you can find out what spare items a friend has, which can help you make them a trade or gift offer.
  5. When you really want to trade items, go to a trade server, such as Newbs #2 and #18 Trade Servers. You won’t be interrupting anyone’s game with trade offers or chatter, and you’ll meet up with others actively looking to trade.

 

Trading Items for Items

Trades do not involve the exchange of Steam Wallet funds (that’s what the Steam Market is for). So how do you trade items for other items and know one of you isn’t being cheated out of value? Over the years, players have established a de facto economy by using certain common and uncommon items as currencies, specifically metal, keys, and earbuds.

Metal is the crafting ingredient discussed above to create random cosmetics and weapons. Because of these uses, metal also has worth in the economy.

Common item prices are discussed in “ref”, an abbreviation for refined metal. A refined metal is 1.00 ref.

A reclaimed metal is .33 ref, since it takes three reclaimed to make a refined.

A scrap metal is worth .11 ref, since it takes three scrap to make a reclaimed (nine to make a refined).

For example: A hat worth 1.33 ref is worth a refined and three scrap.

If you play TF2 10 hours a week and smelt all of your non-cosmetic drops into metal, you’ll average one refined metal in three weeks.

Keys, or standard Mann Co. Crate Keys, cost US$2.49 in the Mann Co. Store. Since they’re tradable (after a week) and the price doesn’t change, they are good for trading valuable items. Popular, in-demand items that are not very rare are often measured in keys, such as taunts or popular hats.

How much ref a key is worth changes based on the demand in the economy (how bad people want keys, or metal). Refined metal is also useful for making “change”, since a key cannot be broken into smaller values. As of January 2016, a key is worth about 20 ref.

Buds, or Earbuds, are a somewhat rare, Limited cosmetic item. Buds were often used as currency for rare, high-demand items, such as Unusuals. They’re not used for trading much anymore.

 

5. Where Can I Get Free Unusual Hats?

The following is a list of phrases people enter into their search engines:

how to get easy hats in tf2
tf2 free hats
tf2 easy unusuals
tf2 item giveaway
tf2 free keys
free tf2 unusuals

…and so on.  I know this because the blog dashboard shows me certain search engine terms that bring readers to this blog. Lots and lots of TF2 players want free unusual hats, keys and items.  New players beg for free items, and sometimes start raging when they don’t get what they want.

The TF2Newbs community, like many other public gaming communities out there, frown on begging. Repeatedly asking for items disrupts the game and can lead to a permanent ban on Newbs servers.  Would you want your games interrupted by beggars?

My point is, earn or buy items yourself. Trading exists so that you can meet other players and swap items. It’s a metagame–a game within a game–to collect desirable items. Don’t disrupt a good game by begging; go to a trade server if you’re looking for something specific.

TF2Newbs’ Trade Servers (type these into your console to jump right in):

connect s2.tf2newbs.com
connect s18.tf2newbs.com

 

6. Too Many Items?

Well, that’s embarrassing: it is certainly possible to fill your backpack with so many crates, weapons, tools, and cosmetics that you cannot hold more. When this happens, you won’t receive more items from the item drop system; it “stops the clock”, so to speak.  What do?

Backpack_case

  1. Delete worthless items: crates and untradable duplicate items are the only ones I would advise deleting.  You’re not likely to sell them on the Market or trade them for any value. (The only crates that have a value are crates numbered in the 20s–because each class has one that only carries items for that class–and crates #30, #40, #50 and #60, which are rare and may drop high-demand Strange weapons.)
  2. Condense your metal: 18 weapons <-> 9 scrap metal <-> 3 reclaimed metal <-> 1 refined metal.  Refined metal can “carry more value” in a smaller space, and is faster if you want to trade for a valuable item. Condense your space further by trading for keys or more valuable items.
  3. Buy a Backpack Expander, or several, from the Mann Co. Store (US$0.99) or the Steam Market. Each one gives you 100 slots (two pages) more, up to a maximum of 2000 slots or forty pages. This is very necessary if you’re collecting robot parts from “Two Cities” MvM Tours, or trying to get one copy of every weapon.
  4. Check to see if you own a Summer Adventure Pack, Summer Starter Kit, or a Gift-Stuffed Stocking tool item. A Backpack Expander is inside, among other items.
  5. Put items up for sale on the Steam Market. While on the Market, the item is removed from your inventory, so you can fill those slots once more. You can remove the item from the Market if it doesn’t sell, and then you will receive the item once more.
  6. Check the Crafting List and see if there are any desirable weapons or cosmetic items you can craft. For example, if you don’t have a B.A.S.E. Jumper parachute for your Soldier, you can craft one at the cost of a Sticky Jumper, a Buff Banner, and a reclaimed metal.

 

7. Other Useful Links You Should Bookmark in Your Browser:

 

I hope this blogpost has helped you learn about the wide variety, and multiple functions, of the items of Team Fortress 2.  The item-acquisition game within the “war-themed hat simulator” keeps players coming back. If I have helped you in your quest for mighty loot, feel free to say so in the comments, or post in the forums.

[N] Obey

 

TF2 Update: April 1, 2014

Posted on: April 1st, 2014 by Obey

(This update is real, and not an April Fool’s joke.)

Added April 3, 2013:

  1. If you haven’t seen the first post on the Official TF2 blog in four months, do so. It will link to a third comic in the Gray-takes-over-Mann-Co. storyline, and gives teasers for moonbases, new gameplay, and community-inspired taunts that just look awesome.  (And if you can’t find the obvious Anchorman movie reference, you obviously don’t remember the movie.
  2. Updated blogpost: A TF2Newbs Guide to MvM Item Hunting

The Most Important Things to Know:

  1. [Fixed 4/3/13] Added holiday mode 9 for April Fools Day, which sometimes substitutes Schadenfraude taunts for ordinary taunys, and class responses are changed to laughing (akin to Pyrovision).
  2. Standard crates will now drop much less often. Salvaged Crates #60 can no longer drop, as well as crates #75, #76, and #77.
  3. Crates #82 and #83 have been added.
    • Crate #82 contents:
      • Rocket Launcher Killstreak Kit
      • Scattergun Killstreak Kit
      • Sniper Rifle Killstreak Kit
      • Shotgun Killstreak Kit
      • Ubersaw Killstreak Kit
      • Gloves of Running Urgently Killstreak Kit
      • Spy-cicle Killstreak Kit
      • Axtinguisher Killstreak Kit
      • 1% chance for an Unusual
    • Crate #83 contents:
      • Note that it grants Strangifiers and not the Strange Weapons themselves!
      • Pretty Boy’s Pocket Pistol Strangifier
      • Phlog Strangifier
      • Strange Cosmetic Part: Kills
        • A Strange cosmetic ittem tracks points scored, not kills. This part adds a kill counter.
      • Strange Part: Full Health Kills (your full health, not your victims)
      • Private Eye Strangifier
      • 1% chance for an Unusual
  4. Changes to Chemistry Sets:
    • Chemistry Sets now have a “Series” number attached. Older Series #1 and Series #2 are now named as such.
    • Current Series #3 (and presumably future Chemistry Sets) now have expiration dates.
    • Since Chemistry Sets drop alongside standard crates, I assume that Chemistry Sets will also drop much less often now.
  5. The Wrangler can now take Strange Parts–but will only track increments while the Sentry is actively Wrangled.
  6. Exploits granting a Demoman increased turn rate (due to increased frame rate) while Shield-charging have been fixed.
  7. Added the Little Bear (a cosmetic Giant Heavy Robot) to the Mann Co. Store, purchasable for US$7.49.
    1. Three A Toys sells a toy figure Giant Heavy Robot; purchasing it can award you a Genuine-quality Little Bear.
  8. Occasionally, players that taunt will randomly do the Schadenfraude taunt, even without having the Schadenfraude equipped or possessed.

 

 

Full Patch Notes: April 1, 2014

Undocumented changes

 Added April 4, 2014

Thanks for reading this far! Just so you know, {N} Haley is giving away an unusual hat in a contest!! Read this thread to find out how you can win.

 

[N] Obey