TF2 Classless Update released

The latest Team Fortress 2 content patch, the Classless Update, was released this morning (Singapore time) through Steam. Besides the usual slew of new maps and a new game mode, the update rebalances the Scout unlocks and fixes a number of gameplay issues.

The knockback on the Scout’s Force of Nature has been reduced in most cases, with enemy knockback now only working “in close range” and “scaled by damage done” according to the patch notes. The Sandman can no longer stun Ubercharged players and the Heavy’s mini-gun will continue spinning for the duration of the stun. The Sandman has also been made more costly to use — instead of remove the Scout’s double jump, using the unlock will reduce the Scout’s maximum health by 30.

Other gameplay additions or changes include:

• An “auto reload” option which can be enabled in the multiplayer advanced option
• Capturing the flag in CTF maps will boost critical rates of the capturing team for 10 seconds
• Both ends of the teleporter can now be sapped by the Spy or repaired by the Engineer from one end
• CP_Granary has been updated to improve balance based on competitive community feedback

The Classless Updates also adds a new King of the Hill game mode which GameSync has covered previously.

The full patch notes can be found below:

New Content

• Added King Of The Hill game mode
• Added custom animations played by the losing team during the post-win state. They are moved into third person camera to enjoy them
• Added lots of new hats

Additions / Changes

• Added “Auto Reload” option to the multiplayer advanced options
  
  • Clip-based weapons that reload a full clip at a time can now have their reloads aborted by firing
• Pistol now fires at a fixed rate, not based on the speed at which you press the firing button
• Added a color blind option to add a Jarate icon above enemies who are busy accepting a terrifying existence where they have no dignity
• Significantly reduced the amount of network traffic being sent
• Capturing the flag in a CTF game mode gives the entire capturing team 10 seconds of critboost
• Sappers attached to a teleporter automatically place another Sapper on the other end of the teleporter, if it exists
  
  • Engineers wrenching a teleporter will repair the other end as well, and remove Sappers from both if they exist
• Disguised Spies no longer trigger On-Hit effects (like the Blutsauger’s heal)
• Removed self-inflicted minicrits. Fixes Jarate’d Soldiers/Demomen having ineffective rocket/grenade jumps
• Added an item panel to the spectator cam that shows non-standard items being carried by the player you’re spectating
• Added an “Inspect” key that allows you to look at items being carried by your team mates
• Backpack improvements:
  
  • Added drag & drop to move items around. Item positions are maintained on the backend
  • Added multi-select, allowing you to delete multiple items at once
  • Added a new key to the key binding page that opens your inventory directly to your backpack
  • Fixed mouseover panel being incorrectly position when the backpack first appears
• Cloaked Spies standing in valid backstab positions no longer raise their knife
• Added current map name and gametype to the bottom right of scoreboard
• Added class icons to tips on the loadout and loading screens
• Improved visuals around flags when they’re being carried by a player
• Improved critboosted visuals, making it much clearer when an enemy has critboost
• Updated the loading panel to show the game type under the map name during level transition
• In-game chat dialog now supports full Unicode characters
• Added BLU main menu background
• Added response caching for some server queries to help reduce the CPU load from DOS attacks
• Teammates no longer block friendly radius damage. Prevents nearby teammates causing rocket/grenade jumps to fail

Map Changes

• Update PLR_Pipeline
  
  • Increased the starting advantage in the third round if a team has won the first two rounds
  • Fixed carts not continuing to the second round if they’re capped at the same time in the first round
  • Fixed being able to shoot pipebombs over the starting gates in the first round
  • Fixed being able to open the doors in the first round before the setup time was finished
  • Fixed players getting stuck in some doors
  • Fixed players being able to get onto rooftops and out of the map boundaries
  • Fixed other minor bugs and exploits
• Added community map Arena_Offblast
• Added community map Cp_Yukon
• Update Arena_Sawmill
  
  • Fixed DirectX8 bug where some models would not be visible
  • Fixed exploit with building teleporters outside of the map
• Updated CP_Granary
  
  • Made a few changes to improve balance based on competitive community feedback

Item Reworks

• The Force of Nature
  
  • The enemy knockback now only works in close range and behaves more like the Pyro’s air blast
  • Enemies cannot be juggled by the FaN’s effect
  • The self-knockback has also changed to respect the firer’s view angle. Looking up while shooting will no longer propel the enemy upwards
  • Knockback is now scaled by damage done
• The Sandman
  
  • A Scout will receive 1 point for stunning an enemy and 2 points for a long range stun
  • Stunned players now take 75% of all incoming damage instead of 50%
  • Ubercharged players can no longer be stunned
  • Heavies spinning their mini-guns will continue to spin when stunned (whether the left or right mouse button is pressed)
  • The minimum distance to stun a target has been reduced
  • The negative attribute has changed from “no double jump” to “-25 max health”

Fixes

• Fixed various issues around layout & presentation of items inside the Backpack and “X is carrying” item dialogs
• Fixed an exploit that allowed players to work around sv_pure
• Particle files are now protected by sv_pure
• Fixed critboost effect getting stuck on when you die while critboosted
• Fixed Timer HUD element backgrounds not being the correct color if you change teams during waiting for players
• Fixed a couple of issues with the way critboosts affected The Huntsman and the Spy’s knife
• Fixed an exploit where you could reload The Huntsman faster than intended
• Fixed Heavy “civilian” exploit
• Fixed a set of exploits using the DXSupport config files
• Fixed r_screenfademinsize and r_screenfademaxsize exploits
• Fixed sentries firing at a fully cloaked Spy if they’re still the closest target

Community requests

• Added a HUD element for hybrid CTF & CP maps
  
  • Supports 1 or 2 flags, and any number of CPs
  • Mapmakers need to place a “tf_logic_hybrid_ctf_cp” entity in their map to enable it
• Added custom kill server log text “train” and “saw” for deaths caused by these environmental hazards
  
  • Format: “%s<%i><%s><%s>” committed suicide with “world” (customkill “%s”) (attacker_position “%d %d %d”)
• Added new “medic_death” event for server logs
  
  • Format: “%s<%i><%s><%s>” triggered “medic_death” against “%s<%i><%s><%s>” (healing “%d”) (ubercharge “%s”)
    
    • healing is the amount the Medic healed in that life
    • ubercharge (1/0) is whether they died with a full charge
• Added “func_respawnflag” trigger entity. It will remove & return the flag if a flag carrier touches it, or if the flag falls into it

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