Another wave of nerfs/reworks designed to reverse power creep in VSH. These are nerfs that were intended for the previous post, but either I hadn't taken enough time to think on, speak to other regulars about good solutions, and/or didn't get to know enough about the finer details and mechanics of Skial's specific balancing.
Soldier:
Manntreads, Gunboats: Reduce fall damage resistance -90% -> -40%
Part of what makes this weapon incredibly easy to stall with is the fact that you're not going to take more than 6 fall damage after landing, instead of how much manntreads soldiers actually could be taking without this-- up to 60. This change will increase that to a maximum of ~36.
The gunboats do not necessarily fly high into the sky, but that means you're likely only taking 2-4 damage from falling instead of ~30-40. A good middle ground of 10-20 fall damage for this weapon's fall damage resistance would also incentivize and reward more highly skilled Soldiers who can do more with less, chaining jumps, being more precise, better with health management, etc.
Pyro:
Phlogistinator: Remove -20% Damage Penalty, Reduce max HP 175 -> 150
This is definitely supposed to be Pyro's DPS weapon. This rework will make this weapon the viable damage option with the vanilla damage change while toning down its survivability by taking one less hit during MMMPH (you can currently take 4 hits without overheal), which used to be part of the problem for old phlog combined with the (now nerfed) gas passer.
Scorch Shot: Remove jump modifier
This weapon is relatively strong and meta considering it gives good mobility on top of being a useful knockback tool. Being the best at both can make Pyros really infuriating to chase down and kill.
Reverting this weapon's mechanics to vanilla will still give it a small jump, but mainly sell it as a knockback device; the flare gun and detonator will become more appealing as mobility secondaries.
Sniper:
Remove passive -90% fall damage resistance
So long as Sniper still has his sniper climb, this passive bonus just allows Sniper to get away with way more. Being able to jump from an extremely high perch that Hale needs a superjump or two to reach (weaponsdepot, toys, etc.) and only take 3-6 damage just to be able to climb back up or climb around to evade again feels incredibly easy to perform. Besides, you'd still be able to negate fall damage with a single sniper climb at the bottom of any fall you'd encounter. This mechanic feels like it's just a crutch for players newer to sniper climb and VSH sniper.
Razorback: -25 Max HP, -50% healing from all sources
Neither this weapon nor sniper climb was accounted for in the original VSH balancing. If we cannot remove either, I still believe something needs to be nerfed here-- it is incredibly easy to give Hale a bad time when playing Razorback Sniper, and incredibly annoying and cumbersome to chase one down as Hale. The idea is to make it so that if you're going to pick an item that lets you tank a hit, you should not be able to be as easily effective in some regard. Being able to climb 8 times with a free hit, and then just simply take one crossbow shot, full health pack, etc. and get 8 more climbs is infuriating and unfun for Hale when you need to hit the Sniper twice to handle just one. This change will force snipers to pick between more mobility and getting a free hit.
Spy:
L'Etranger: add 20% slower firing speed
A minimum of three shots to receive full dead ringer back isn't very difficult to do currently. I think the best approach to this is to slow the fire rate to the Amby's to force the Spy to make his shots count, and to take overall longer to get cloak back.
Dead Ringer: Remove recharge modifier (+100% -> +50% (vanilla))
The Dead Ringer in Vanilla TF2 takes ~10-20 seconds to recharge, 10 being the minimum if you uncloak right after activation. In VSH, this value is modified to be ~7-15 seconds. Reverting this mechanic back to Vanilla ought to help reduce the amount of careless spam Spies perform with this weapon. This nerf combined with the L'Etranger nerf should greatly reduce the ease and amount of stalling Spies, as well as make stock cloak more of an appealing alternative.
Soldier:
Manntreads, Gunboats: Reduce fall damage resistance -90% -> -40%
Part of what makes this weapon incredibly easy to stall with is the fact that you're not going to take more than 6 fall damage after landing, instead of how much manntreads soldiers actually could be taking without this-- up to 60. This change will increase that to a maximum of ~36.
The gunboats do not necessarily fly high into the sky, but that means you're likely only taking 2-4 damage from falling instead of ~30-40. A good middle ground of 10-20 fall damage for this weapon's fall damage resistance would also incentivize and reward more highly skilled Soldiers who can do more with less, chaining jumps, being more precise, better with health management, etc.
Pyro:
Phlogistinator: Remove -20% Damage Penalty, Reduce max HP 175 -> 150
This is definitely supposed to be Pyro's DPS weapon. This rework will make this weapon the viable damage option with the vanilla damage change while toning down its survivability by taking one less hit during MMMPH (you can currently take 4 hits without overheal), which used to be part of the problem for old phlog combined with the (now nerfed) gas passer.
Scorch Shot: Remove jump modifier
This weapon is relatively strong and meta considering it gives good mobility on top of being a useful knockback tool. Being the best at both can make Pyros really infuriating to chase down and kill.
Reverting this weapon's mechanics to vanilla will still give it a small jump, but mainly sell it as a knockback device; the flare gun and detonator will become more appealing as mobility secondaries.
Sniper:
Remove passive -90% fall damage resistance
So long as Sniper still has his sniper climb, this passive bonus just allows Sniper to get away with way more. Being able to jump from an extremely high perch that Hale needs a superjump or two to reach (weaponsdepot, toys, etc.) and only take 3-6 damage just to be able to climb back up or climb around to evade again feels incredibly easy to perform. Besides, you'd still be able to negate fall damage with a single sniper climb at the bottom of any fall you'd encounter. This mechanic feels like it's just a crutch for players newer to sniper climb and VSH sniper.
Razorback: -25 Max HP, -50% healing from all sources
Neither this weapon nor sniper climb was accounted for in the original VSH balancing. If we cannot remove either, I still believe something needs to be nerfed here-- it is incredibly easy to give Hale a bad time when playing Razorback Sniper, and incredibly annoying and cumbersome to chase one down as Hale. The idea is to make it so that if you're going to pick an item that lets you tank a hit, you should not be able to be as easily effective in some regard. Being able to climb 8 times with a free hit, and then just simply take one crossbow shot, full health pack, etc. and get 8 more climbs is infuriating and unfun for Hale when you need to hit the Sniper twice to handle just one. This change will force snipers to pick between more mobility and getting a free hit.
Spy:
L'Etranger: add 20% slower firing speed
A minimum of three shots to receive full dead ringer back isn't very difficult to do currently. I think the best approach to this is to slow the fire rate to the Amby's to force the Spy to make his shots count, and to take overall longer to get cloak back.
Dead Ringer: Remove recharge modifier (+100% -> +50% (vanilla))
The Dead Ringer in Vanilla TF2 takes ~10-20 seconds to recharge, 10 being the minimum if you uncloak right after activation. In VSH, this value is modified to be ~7-15 seconds. Reverting this mechanic back to Vanilla ought to help reduce the amount of careless spam Spies perform with this weapon. This nerf combined with the L'Etranger nerf should greatly reduce the ease and amount of stalling Spies, as well as make stock cloak more of an appealing alternative.
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