Valve Update May 29th

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Of note...

Added Sniper/Spy milestone achievements as an additional way players can get the new unlockables

Fixed the Ambassador not doing damage to buildings

Why Valve T_T? Could you not implement the trading system in time? As it stands now we are back where we started with a few weeks of spy-per (spy and sniper) filled teams :/. I admit the new system was horrible compared to the old due to the time it would take to get weapons but the achievement milestones for spy/sniper are almost effortless to attain. All the system needed to fix it was the proposed trading system. As it stands now most people are going to have many useless items cluttering up their inventory too XD.

On the bright side, although I haven't had a chance to test it in a game, the Huntsman looks to please Whon . In fact I think it's overpowered if it works like I think it does. I mean it has no dot to indicate you are being targeted, it looks possible to completely compensate for the lack of range by arcing the shots, you have no peripheral vision loss and you can fire one shot immediately after another . The Ambassador looks like a good weapon too, unfortunately I already know I won't like it. As I have stated before I have a lousy aim and the reason I liked spy was it was supposed to be a class you could out think your opponent with. Now, more so than other classes, spy will be aim dependent .

 

[Bakey]

So when are we going to password the server, set it to achievement box, and farm all the new unlocks?

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

So when are we going to password the server, set it to achievement box, and farm all the new unlocks?

Pssh have you actually logged in? The max number of achievements to get all the weapons are 17?!?! I already had enough spy ones without trying and 14 of the sniper ones from like only a few games as sniper (I had the third weapon the razorback from a drop already).

Having said that anytime you want to password the server to help guys get them go for it . Maybe we can do some before/after practice Sunday since the server will be passworded anyway. I unfortunately will have to be very careful about helping though. I just cleared my stats specifically becuase I messed them up the last time I helped people farm achievements XD.

There is no achievement box map on the server btw but feel free to add one. I don't even want to step in one for testing as some mod things like the amount of heal points you get.

Edit: I tried the Huntsman and it rocks much Whon will likey. It does require leading shots so it's more difficult than I thought to aim although it does still have the potential to be overpowered.

 

[Tek7]

I'd recommend staying away from achievement maps, but I don't see any problem with farming achievements on a map like dm_fortress. (Do we still have that on the server?)

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

I'd recommend staying away from achievement maps, but I don't see any problem with farming achievements on a map like dm_fortress. (Do we still have that on the server?)

Eep nope. I removed it with a half dozen other maps. I probably shouldn't have as it does have the spawns right next to each other which is handy for farming.

 

[exodus]

Of note...
On the bright side, although I haven't had a chance to test it in a game, the Huntsman looks to please Whon . In fact I think it's overpowered if it works like I think it does. I mean it has no dot to indicate you are being targeted, it looks possible to completely compensate for the lack of range by arcing the shots, you have no peripheral vision loss and you can fire one shot immediately after another .

Its highly possible that i'm in the minority here (since I'm not really a sniper) but I don't think the Huntsman is that good after playing with it for a couple rounds. If the huntsman (charged) is faster than the rifle, it didn't seem like a huge difference to me. If you want peripheral vision, you don't have to zoom with the rifle.

there is probably something I'm missing.

Oh, and the Ambassador is amazing Crit HS from a mile away sure are nice.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

Its highly possible that i'm in the minority here (since I'm not really a sniper) but I don't think the Huntsman is that good after playing with it for a couple rounds. If the huntsman (charged) is faster than the rifle, it didn't seem like a huge difference to me. If you want peripheral vision, you don't have to zoom with the rifle.

there is probably something I'm missing.

Oh, and the Ambassador is amazing Crit HS from a mile away sure are nice.

What makes it so powerful is not the charged shot it's the uncharged shot. In the hands of a skilled player (not me) you can fire it one shot after another making headshots. The charge makes arrows go farther and fly straighter, I don't know if it adds any power but no-charge headshots still kill instantly. It excels at mid-range combat. Like today I ran into solider/medic combo around a close corner and BOOM instant, point blank, crit, head shot kills solider, no charge time needed (and my team finished off the medic). I've also been killed several times in that manner too >.< . Valve wanted to encourage the sniper to get closer to his enemies, and that's fine, but at this point he can kill as long as he is quick on the draw and a good aim. Some of the more professional game players have impossible aim so this is a weapon that won't hold them back (though the netcode will). I'd like to try ubering a Huntsman sniper, with a good aim, sometime as you can't run from a sniper as much as a heavy or soldier, though a pyro could throw off his aim. Two arrows will kill a sg too although he probably could not hit a turtle'ing engy. The one thing against the Huntsman is the need to lead shots so it doesn't need a huge nerf just a little one. The opposite with the razorback it just needs to be a little better.

Yes the Ambassador is a good weapon, I do wish it was a more original idea than a "bigger gun" though. Unfortunately I just can't like it becuase my aim has always been lame. One of the reasons I like Spy is it's supposed to be based on out smarting your opponents rather than skillz (Valve said as much) now, more so than all the classes but sniper, aim will count :/ . I will still be using it becuase it addresses some (not all) of the turtle'ing engy problem. Often an engy will get in a position that is impossible to stab or shoot him in (level 3 dispenser heals him faster than you can shoot him at range with the revolver). Now engys will actually have to move or face 2 headshot death. Then there is the whole sniping you from behind thing. I do wonder sometimes about the hit detection on it as sometimes it looks like you don't get a headshot and you do and other times you can be shooting at them for a very long time and get nothing. It's kind of like the other weapons sometimes crits don't register. Occasionally I've used the Axetingusher on flaming enemies and heard a regular hit sound, not a crit, so I know I am not crazy. Anyway the Ambassador is a great weapon.

I haven't even tried the Dead ringer since the nerf. What are all those half ubered looking spies about? Someone tried to explain it to me before but I didn't get the gist.

 

[BassMan449]

The half ubered spies are a bug caused by deactivating the dead ringer immediately after getting hit. For some reason if you get hit and go cloaked and immediately deactivate it it shows like you are losing uber.

 

[[toj.cc]phantom]

I really don't understand why people think the drops were a good idea? This is an online FPS not an MMORPG. I want to get the weapons based on skill and achievements not because I get lucky. Valve needs to stop changing things around and if it ain' broke don't fix it.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

I really don't understand why people think the drops were a good idea? This is an online FPS not an MMORPG. I want to get the weapons based on skill and achievements not because I get lucky. Valve needs to stop changing things around and if it ain' broke don't fix it.

Supposedly people where complaining about the old achievement way taking to long in their forums (though I never saw it). Regardless I completely agree Valve shot themselves in the foot by releasing what amounts to an unfinished system. If trades were possible the system would have worked. I'm thinking they where unable to get trades working so they hurried out a fix in the form of really easy milestones.

...I still want a fedora to drop though...

The half ubered spies are a bug caused by deactivating the dead ringer immediately after getting hit. For some reason if you get hit and go cloaked and immediately deactivate it it shows like you are losing uber.

Ah thanks I get it now.

 

[vibrokatana]

The huntsman and the ambassador both have horrible collision chances. For instance I was shooting at someone that was still, the bullet appeared to go through their head but they get no damage.

With the huntsman it seems more like pure chance. You randomly headshot people but it misses on "easy" shots for no apparent reason. Then you factor in explosion and fire has nearly a 100% hit rate, while bullets are like flipping a coin. Things start to get pretty frustrating.

 

[The Mighty Gerbil]

The huntsman and the ambassador both have horrible collision chances. For instance I was shooting at someone that was still, the bullet appeared to go through their head but they get no damage.

With the huntsman it seems more like pure chance. You randomly headshot people but it misses on "easy" shots for no apparent reason. Then you factor in explosion and fire has nearly a 100% hit rate, while bullets are like flipping a coin. Things start to get pretty frustrating.

As of right now I aim for what I think of as the head with the Huntsman but don't spend a lot of time getting it right on. It more of spam in the place I think it will hit. I've been the most successful with it when there are a lot of enemies in front of me, I just spam the crowd with it and almost always get a hit.

The hit detection on the Ambassador can be horribly frustrating, just like you said, especially when you are trying to use it to fight off someone who has found you :/. Same with the Huntsman, sometimes I do not understand where the arrows are going on the Huntsman. It's like occasionally you will get an arrow that goes off on a bizarre angle.

I don't think I've seen that many spies using the Ambassador properly or doing what I do with it. I've been successful finding angles on sgs that allow me to kill engineers at range but not expose myself to the sgs fire. I've used this to kill engineers guarded by other engineers in crossfires and with groups of other players sitting right next to them (previously unassailable positions). I also believe the Ambassador will fire through an sg allowing you to kill an engy from the front though I still need more testing to be certain. Misses don't matter too much in this circumstance as you can miss all you like until you actually hit them, then you need two headshots in a row. Most of the time the engineers are dead before they can react let alone find where the shots are coming from. I also like killing the w+m1 pyros who think they can run straight toward you without swerving (of course this isn't fun the times the hit detection does not work properly XD).