Heavy Confirmed as Next Class Update

[CSN NewsBot]

It seem as though the rumors are true. The Heavy will be the next in line to receive a class update in Team Fortress 2. This means new achievements and unlocks for the Heavy and pal, Sasha.

We've found that the best method of working objectively is to have clear goals up front. Once we've got clear goals, we can throw a bunch of ideas up on the board and measure how well each idea achieves those goals. Often the work of testing those ideas against the goals causes us to further refine or clarify the goals.

The blog entry is a lengthy one. You should hit the break here to see the Goal, the thought processes, and the tentative solutions to the problem of how to create unlocks for the Heavy.[break="goal: heavy - medic = ?"]

Goal: Make the Heavy more viable when he has no Medic to pair with.



Constraints


• It shouldn't have a cumulative effect when being healed by a Medic as well. Heavy/Medic pairs do pretty well as it is.
  
  
• It shouldn't significantly change the Heavy's role, relative to other classes. In particular, it shouldn't significantly encroach on another class's role.
  
  
• It should be understandable for both the user and the player it's being used on.
  
  
  
  Extra
  
  
• How much work is it? How many new models, sounds, effects, etc?
  
  
• Does it deepen the Heavy's skill curve? Is it easy to learn? Hard to master?
  
  
• Is it an interesting tool to choose relative to the base Heavy weapon it's replacing? What scenarios can you envision in which each is useful? What arguments can you raise for why each is better than the other?
  
  
• How often does the Heavy need to think about it? Is it something he uses once every 5 minutes, or is it something he needs to be constantly thinking about? A greater impact on player decision making is generally a good thing.
  
  
• How many other features of the game does it affect? Often, the best ideas are "economical", with a small set of required actions, but a wide set of resulting effects.
  
  
  
  Finally, keep in mind the skillset required to be a good Heavy. He doesn't really rely on fine aim, since his minigun has such a wide spread, instead relying on more tactical skills, like these:
  
  
• Being in the right place before he starts firing, because he has little ability to move while firing.
  
  
• Good anticipation of enemy behavior, for both the above point and because his minigun needs to be spun up before firing.
  
  
• The ability to estimate the amount of damage he's taking. It takes time for the minigun to spin down, so he needs to be able to know when it's time to retreat several seconds before his health has run out.
  
  
• The ability to keep firing at a target while still keeping an eye out for other dangers, in particular Snipers & Spies.

[Bad Coupon]

I love the Heavy class, and I will love this update. :]

[Kotae]

I am terrible at Heavy.



.. I'm terrible at any class besides the medic.



I QUIT.

[Zips]

I really wish they'd release a few class updates at a time. It was painful joining a server with nothing but medics. It was painful joining a CP game with nothing but Pyros... on Offense.



Heavy? God help us all. I really enjoyed it when I found a server with class restrictions in place for the Pyro. It made things fairly normal while playing.

[Bad Coupon]

That is true. It is a pain going on a server filled with the class that they updated. However, my server has a class limit plugin so I don't have to worry about it. :]

[-:Nighthawk:-]

As Gabe mentioned in his lengthy response to an email recently, the next class pack will focus on the Heavy.

His "lengthy response" was simply the word "Heavy" for those who missed the humor in that.



It would be nice to have more than one class update at a time, but with the whole iterative process, it does kind of make sense. Hopefully more servers will begin using class limit plugins. If not, well... the surge of heavies should cut back on the pyros at least.



On-topic a bit more, their design questions sound pretty complex. I don't have any amazing ideas off the top of my head, but it will be interesting to see what comes of this.

[milly9]

You know the Heavy seems like a really tough challenge for this.



And if you love Heavy, this next unlock will be a trade-off for you, because right now Heavys can go on a rampage destroying Pyros, and spies can't do much to Heavys with all the Pyros! The problem? When every player is a Heavy, there will be no Pyros. And spies will be licking their lips in anticipation.

[RP]

Zips wrote..

I really wish they'd release a few class updates at a time. It was painful joining a server with nothing but medics. It was painful joining a CP game with nothing but Pyros... on Offense.



Heavy? God help us all. I really enjoyed it when I found a server with class restrictions in place for the Pyro. It made things fairly normal while playing.

Someone (maybe it was here on csnation, don't remmeber) asked them about updating 3 classes at once with only one item instead of one class and 3 items and whoever it was from valve said that they thought about it and they figured out that it is better for them to focus on one class at a time.

Anyway the "class rush" usually calms down after a week or two when most of the people get the unloackables and go back to playing other classes.

Yes, even now there are too many pyros imo, but i belive it'll calm down, hopefully this update (the fix to the incorrect critical with the bakcburner) will help.



Anyway looking forward to the update heavy, and hopefully after the heavy the scout will come, cuz right now it's just a fast class with a really big and overpowered gun.