A question for Beta testers!
 

How well do the Pyro and Spy do on Offence and Deffence? I would like to hear how they do on both sides (on CTF and AvD). Also, does the Sniper's tracer make him more valuable?

Cant remember if this has been asked (probly has, just tolazy to look right now), but since the spy and sniper is getting this array of nice new features/ability(s), what about the other classes? anyting new for them to keep up with this new stuff?

sniper's tracer is pretty immense in my opinion, although there's been quite a stir in other forums about it, it seems. hence forth, i've put a request in for it to be toned down in a certain way that doesnt give an exact visual representation through walls.

the pyro is just incredible now. he's up there with the soldier in terms of power, and is probably gonna be seen as a defensive class imo, although he could still tear an enemy room apart long enough for a flag runner to get through. fire keeps people busy!

again, the spy is just awesome! in a chaotic situation, he can pretty much do as he pleases, be it disguised or cloaked. the problem is, a good spy is very good at the moment! ask those who have backstabbed me while in the thick of it :/

I think the idea of adding more power to the sniper, spy and pyro was to bring them into line with other classes and fix the balance of the game. I guess this means that the other classes won't be getting any significant new skills, but I'm sure that lots of tweaking will be going on to make sure that they don't become under powered in comparison.

In terms of how they are playing, I'm not a beta tester, but I'd assume that its probably a little too early to really have a proper feel for them. Spy was always the best attacking class on AvD maps, particularly dustbowl, so I imagine that he's even more powerful in that regard now with his new abilities. I guess the pyro will be able to hold his own more as a DM class in all forms of the game; the sniper will have become a little more useful if used in clan style CTF and a little less powerful on pub-style, without his AR. I think thats about as much as we know, for now.

I think I'm ready to play FF now.

Pyro moves fast enough to be useful on O and does enough damage to keep people occupied. We were using a pyro in the FR on well today during playtesting and it worked out pretty good.

i love the text below your name Lost :p

yeh what about the other classes , they got new features or something like that ?

you like the fact that it's fooling ppl?

Has there been any progress since the last update?

how fast is the pyro compared to other classes and what are his IC/napalm grenade jump capabilities like?

how visible is a cloaked walking spy?

pyro: same sort of speed. a normal IC jump is better than TFC, but still fairly mediocre. a well executed frag/IC jump goes insanely high, but you lose most of your health achieving it. that said, nothing like that is set in stone, so is probably gonna get a look at.

cloaked spy: depends on the scenery, and how much attention you're paying to your periphery. i've let many slip past and knife me in the back.

That is odd, I always thought of the Pyro as more of an offensive class than a defensive one.

I mean, he can not do much in the way of killing unless he is moving around a lot, and defense =/= moving around a lot. At least for the most part...

I always had more fun running into the enemy base and hitting someone up with the Pyro trifecta (Napalm, IC, Flamethrower). I mean, sure, I could do an IC+Nade attack and kill most classes right off, but it is more fun to watch them burn. :3

Now an IC+nade combo really will kill someone, fast. It does good damage, decent radius and flame damage to boot, what's not to like? 8)

AHH! one question i just thought about!

when setting a detpack, is it still possible to det your pipes (like it is in tfc?)

i always loved laying a pipe trap at a chokepoint (or respawn door :-P) when i knew there were more than one attacker en route and blowing it up as they walked through while i was setting my detpack.

What differentiates between a soldier and a pyro then? It seems now they have very similar roles.

theyre still quite distinct:

the soldier throws people around a lot more, and his damage is dealt all at once (besides the nail grenade).

from the other perspective, the pyro cant throw people around as much, but is great as a sort of area denial guy, and has the ability to ignite people, causing the time based damage.

the soldier has more armor, but the pyro is faster. you're quite right in saying they have similar roles, but not exactly the same. a pyro would nicely compliment a first line of defence now, i'd say, and perhaps as a heavy offense.

Just because the medic can conc doesn't mean he can replace the scout, same with the sol and pyro. There are still major differences as well as tweaking to be done. Thats one thing that is being emphasized is the usefulness of all classes instead of just a few.

Its also harder to kill stuff with the IC than the RPG. Its slower and has a shorter range as it is affected by gravity, which I absolutely love. Maybe we can sneak in some pyro vids.

Pyro cannon being limited range is a vast improvement for the sake of not having some fucking spack pyro sending them across nml. All they do is annoy; good tactic, yes, makes for a fun game, no.

And as for spy being best class on AvsD, they're the best class on defense in AvsD too, it's great fun getting 70+ stab kills ;p

Thanks for the response, I didnt mean to take an accusing tone, im sure you guys are doing a great job making the classes distinct (yet balanced!), its just i was genuinely curious as to what the differences were :)

the cloak is going to be a very powerful tool and will add some uniqness to the class. as now its going to be harder to recognize a spy