Thread: Article on the effectiveness of class updates

Each update has rendered the Heavy even more useless than before, and his now ancient updated equipment fails to help him serve the role he was designed for in the first place.

All of you are puny... awwwww..... *sniffle* It just not fair! Natasha so pretty and stupid, like mail order bride.... And KGB fails as much as Drago did in Rocky 4.... Sandvitch is tasty but should really be left in refrigerator, not brought to battlefield.

I remember when the game first came out and Heavies were the first (and often only) choice of medics. Every push on a point would be initiated by a heavy-medic coming ponderously around the corner. But those days are over.... now medics make a beeline for the demos or soldiers and taking points is done by players explosive jumping forward at the speed of light....

Originally Posted by Veovis

On the plus side, the inclusion of Payload has increased the heavy's effectiveness. To the point where PL offense is the only time I ever play heavy, and I outscore my own performance in any other class on any other map, despite the fact that heavy only accounts for 10% of my playtime.

Loooove me some PL offense heavy.

I wonder when they will finish those "comp beta" tests they were doing including fast heavy mods.

And these times that you pick heavy account for the 10% of the time I play sniper and get easy head shots.

According to the official stats, Heavy earns more points per hour than any other class despite being the least played.

I think he's the most credit to team class. It's about strategy and paying a whole bunch of attention to everything. Plus with a Sandvitch, sometimes you don't even need a damn medic.

Very good points made in that article. I too thought valve fell a little off course with the more recent updates.

They most definitely need to add a bonus to the Bone Saw or add a stiffer penalty to the uber saw.

And to be fair, Heavies are still really powerful in specific circumstances. As you say, in Payload or CTF they can absolutely pwn face. The minigun is still, IMO one of the most effective weapons out there because of the subconscious aversion that gamers have developed to stepping out into a hallway that is full of bullets. Who cares if those bullets do very little damage and can barely hit the broadside of a barn, you still don't want to hang your butt out in the breeze. And at close to medium ranges it can absolutely tear up an advance since it can hit so many people at the same time.

My gripe is that every other class has gotten (to greater or lesser degree) unlocks that make multiple distinct ways that you can play the class. Amby spy vs C&D backstabby spy or huntsman sniper vs rifle sniper for example.

There is only one way to play heavy effectively. You sit back, find yourself a place that can funnel your cone of fire, and wait for enemies to come to you. Or you push the objective, find a place that can funnel your cone of fire and shoot anything that moves until you are dead. Yes, I'm greatly simplifying, but you see what I mean?

I have 0 use for any of the heavy unlocks. Sometimes, rarely if I'm playing dedicated D on a CTF map I will pull out Natasha, but that is such a ridiculously limited usefulness.

Originally Posted by WaterDumple

According to the official stats, Heavy earns more points per hour than any other class despite being the least played.

I think he's the most credit to team class. It's about strategy and paying a whole bunch of attention to everything. Plus with a Sandvitch, sometimes you don't even need a damn medic.

I always get top score when playing heavy. Only thing you have to do (With or without medic) is just stay out of situations that put you in plain view of a sniper.

Basically just stay in small areas such as hallways, chokepoints, smaller rooms/buildings, corner, etc... and you're golden. No class can take you head on in close quarters. You have too much hp and your minigun eats them alive at close range.