[World of Warcraft] Island Expeditions: Their Wasted Potential

While Battle for Azeroth has been out for quite a while and Shadowlands is now on the horizon, I felt it would be a good time to look back on island expeditions and the potential that they wasted. While the concept in general was sound and interesting, there were a lot of opportunities left unexplored and this potentially amazing content became another lackluster grind. The main offender is the fact that every island is exactly the same just with a slightly different coat of paint slapped on top. While one chaotic dash and grab island would have been fine, there needed to be more variety and a lot more focus on pvp islands. While there are eleven islands in total at time of writing, I’ve come up with six island ideas that might have made for a lot more interesting gameplay, if at least something a little different. Thanks to the Polygon Map Generator for the base map images and thanks to Paint 3D for being the only art program I have on my computer. I tried to make some rudimentary maps just as a little visual aid and are in no way actually designed to be viable as is.

The Blistered Lands

On a craggy island with terrain of varying heights, nodes of Azerite varying in size have blistered to the surface. An initial mining effort was made by both the Alliance and Horde, but both were forced to retreat, leaving their mining equipment behind. Now both factions are looking to seize as much Azerite from the island as they can, each sending a small team of operatives to get the job done. Each team must eliminate hostile forces from a node and reactivate the mining equipment attached. The Azerite gained from a node is dependent on the node’s size, with the largest gains coming from the massive Azerite node in the middle of the island. Smaller nodes are found closer to the shoreline and though they give less Azerite, they also have weaker foes and are less likely to be contested by the other team. As a node is being mined, it will eventually attract more enemies that will start to break the equipment, requiring either defending or reactivation at a later time.

The Slithering Expanse

The Alliance and Horde have both been made aware of a remote island hosting a village of Naga. On further investigation, these Naga have discovered veins of Azerite and converted it all into trinkets, weapons, and armor already. Deciding to take out two birds with one stone, both factions have sent a team to eliminate the Naga and gather up the Azerite items. The island is comprised of three sections, a small amount of farmland, the village proper, and the barracks. Further from the farmland and closer to the barracks the Naga are more difficult to deal with but the Azerite comes in larger amounts. All Azerite items must be brought back to a collection area near the middle of the farmland to be crated up, then the crate taken back to the ship for collection.

Thousand Rivers

The Stormsages have discovered an island with large, underground seams of Azerite that could be mined. Unfortunately, theses seams intersect with an underground river that makes mining unstable. Instead, the Stormsages used the island’s streams to draw eroded Azerite to the surface where it can flow into collection nets. Since the Stormsages were corrupted and left the island, the Alliance and Horde have sent in teams to control the flow themselves. Azerite flows out of the ground at two separate points and into the network of streams crisscrossing the island. At intersections, the Stormsages have set up runes that can alter the direction the water flows in as well as guardians to prevent interference. Each team must redirect the Azerite flow to their own collection net while preventing the other team from doing the same.

Heartsbane’s Landing

On a heavily forested island, the Coven has taken control of a large pool of liquid Azerite and warded it against intrusion. Both the Alliance and Horde have sent a team to take control but, lacking the ability to dispel the Coven’s magic, must instead use the Coven’s constructs against them. Scattered about the island are constructs of various sizes that can be seized from the witches and controlled by either team to harvest the Azerite pool. Larger constructs are better guarded but harvest Azerite quicker. Unfortunately, controlling a construct also leaves the controller’s body vulnerable as it stays in place after the mind enters the construct meaning either can be destroyed to prevent further harvesting.\

Isle of G’huun

The Blood Trolls have taken over an island and prepared a shrine to G’huun at the highest point. At various locations around the island captives are infused with Azerite and prepared as sacrifices to the blood god. Both the Alliance and the Horde have sent a team to rescue these captives and drain the Azerite infusion from them. Each team must make their way around the island, killing Blood Trolls and rescuing their sacrifices, escorting them back to a collection device near the ship that can safely extract the Azerite. Captives closer to the shrine have more Azerite infused into them as they are closer to being sacrificed but are also better guarded. At the shrine itself are the most powerful Blood Troll priests who carry Azerite infusers which can be used by whoever kills their wielder to extract Azerite directly for a short time.

Isle of Ol’ N’Zoth

N’Zoth has sent his minions to an island in order to find a way to corrupt the large amount of Azerite there. Wrathion has gone to the island to monitor and help the Alliance and Horde teams attempting to claim the Azerite there. While the beachhead is relatively safe, moving deeper into the island means moving further into N’Zoth’s corruption, draining the teams’ sanity faster the further they go. The Azerite also harbors the Old God’s taint, further causing dangerous figments to appear to anyone carrying it. Both teams must collect Azerite and bring it to Wrathion for cleansing and collection. Failing to maintain their sanity will cause a team member to fall into a vision of N’Zoth, an incredibly dangerous situation but allowing for the collection of greater fragments of Azerite and other helpful tools.

Conclusion

The overall idea here was just to make the mechanics a bit more diverse so each map would require different strategies and promote more engagement with players. It is unlikely that there will be any changes to the Island Expeditions now that we are so far into the expansion, but it might at least serve as some inspiration for either the developers moving forward, or perhaps for anyone else creating similar content in their own games.

"No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent" -John Donne

[Dark Souls 3] Top 10 Best Weapons

Pretty much all the Dark Souls games are known for two things, difficulty and a legion of red phantoms that have spent so long practicing they can wreck your life with nothing but a broken sword and a loin cloth. While there are many ways players go about making their lives easier, the main way being to ‘Get Good’ as stated in the first commandment of Dark Souls, one method is to optimize your gear. In this list, I’ll be going over ten of the best weapons in Dark Souls 3 and the builds they work best with.

10. Butcher Knife (Strength)

Many people spend their time in Dark Souls 3 trying to give their six pack its own six pack and thus need a weapon to complement how absolutely ripped they get. For these players, there’s the Butcher Knife. Though it has a relatively small base damage, it has one of the best strength scaling in the game, a scaling that improves even more when upgraded to +10. In addition to this, it grants a small amount of health back on every hit, a great bonus in builds that emphasize tanking hits rather than avoiding them. The biggest downside is that despite being the best strength weapon in pve, it is much weaker in pvp due to a fairly predictable move set.

This weapon drops from the Madwoman in the Road of Sacrifices area

Video Guide

9. Chaos Blade (Dexterity)

For players trying more to imitate the ninja aspects of a character, nothing fits this build better than a
katana. Thankfully, the Chaos Blade is one of the best weapons you can choose when boosting your
dexterity to the max. Having a very high base damage to start with, the exceptional dexterity scaling can bring this weapon up to one of the highest damaging dexterity weapons in the game. In addition, it also has the largest bleed effect in the game, making luck a worthwhile stat investment as well. The main downside to this weapon is that it also damages the user for 1% of your hp per strike, though this is countered fairly simply with any of the game’s regen items such as the Sun Princess Ring.

This weapon is found in the far left corner of the Untended Graves Firelink Shrine area.

Video Guide

8. Court Sorcerer’s Staff (Intelligence)

While non-physical builds are less common than their more ‘hit-things’ counterparts, intelligence builds have just as much capacity for destruction as any other. For raw, consistent magic damage, the Court Sorcerer’s Staff is always the go-to. While the Sage’s Crystal Staff can outperform with its weapon art active, the Court Sorcerer’s Staff does more damage without the extra cost to use it allowing for more spells to be cast overall. It has the highest spell buff of any staff at 50 intelligence and higher and has the max scaling possible at only a +4 upgrade. While it isn’t as powerful with dark sorceries, it irrefutably outperforms all other options in every other category.

This weapon drops from a mimic in the toxic swamp area of the Profaned Capitol.

Video Guide

7. Archdeacon’s Great Staff (Faith)

One of the main downsides of a faith-based build is that many miracles are focused on utility or healing, making progress more difficult. Thankfully, the Archdeacon’s Great Staff has a handy solution for this. The main draw of this staff is that all sorceries cast with it scale with faith rather than intelligence. What this means is that provided you meet the intelligence requirement of the spell; you can cast it just as powerfully as an intelligence build. The main downside of this staff is that it only becomes the most powerful spell casting staff at 90 intelligence, despite always being the best at casting miracles.

This weapon is obtained at rank 2 with the Deacons of the Deep covenant.

Video Guide

6. Anri’s Straight Sword (Luck/Hollow)

Sometimes the regular stats just don’t cut it and you’d rather go looking for something a bit more
unique. Scaling primarily with luck, Anri’s Straight Sword fits into just the unique build you’re looking for. Scaling massively with luck, despite poor scaling in strength and dexterity, this weapon boasts one of the higher attack ratings in the game at 40 luck, even with only the minimum physical requirements. The miscellaneous effects this sword possesses also make it very useful, dealing an extra 10% damage to hollows and undead, preventing skeletons from respawning, and granting a minor health regeneration effect.

This weapon is obtained by either killing Anri of Astora or completing their associated questline.

Video Guide

5. Vordt’s Great Hammer (Frost)

Moving on from builds based around a certain stat, some players like to make their builds around a
certain effect. Very few weapons cause frostbite, but Vordt’s Great Hammer is one of them. Being the
strongest frostbite weapon, able to trigger the effect in only two or three hits, it also has a very high
damage output, making it a deadly weapon for how early in the game it can be acquired. Skillful use of this weapon can decimate players and enemies alike incredibly quickly.

This weapon is acquired through transposing the Soul of Boreal Valley Vordt.

Video Guide

4. Manikin Claws (Blood/Poison)

Those looking to create a build around bleed or poison effects are among the most sadistic players in
Dark Souls. The manikin claws excel at both these effects and are therefore a perfect choice for torturing those you intend to defeat. This weapon already comes with the ability to cause bleed damage but can be infused further to cause even greater bleed, making it one of the most powerful bleed weapons in the game, or infused with poison as most experience players will try to combine these effects that are usually weak on their own. Though they have a low physical damage output, their speed will allow you to build the effects up quickly enough to counteract this downside.

This weapon is dropped by both the Londor Pale Shade and the Dark Spirit of Londor.

Video Guide

3. Mendicant’s Staff (Soul Gain)

Though there are many items that can increase the souls gained from all sources, this is the only
weapon with the effect. The Mendicant’s staff is therefore the go-to weapon for any soul farming build. Though fairly weak as a combat weapon, it nevertheless boosts all souls gained by 20%, a very decent amount and made even better when combined with items such as the Silver Serpent Ring as all these bonuses stack. Unfortunately, this weapon is very rare, so it is recommended to boost your item
discovery before attempting to get it.

This weapon drops from the Man-Serpent Summoner’s in Archdragon Peak.

Video Guide

2. Crystal Sage’s Rapier (Item Discovery)

While certainly not the best damaging weapon in the game, scaling quite well with intelligence, the
Crystal Sage’s Rapier is instead sought after for its other effect. This weapon grants its wielder a boost of 50 to their item discovery, making it significantly easier to get items to drop from enemies, including rare items that would otherwise be difficult to acquire. This effect stacks with other items, such as the Gold Serpent Ring, even stacking with its own effect if a second one is wielded at the same time.

This weapon can be transposed from the Soul of a Crystal Sage.

Video Guide

1. Millwood Greatbow (Ranged)

Finally, we come to ranged weapons, and thus the greatest among them, the Millwood Greatbow.
Ironically, this bow has the shortest range of any bow making it the least ranged range weapon in the
game. This is more than made up for in its damage output, however. Even just meeting the stat
requirements to wield this bow gives a greater damage output than its closest contender, the
Dragonslayer Greatbow.

This weapon can be found in the Snowfield.

Video Guide

[Top 10] Fun Team Fortress 2 Community Servers

Since the Meet Your Match update, most servers are split between either casual or competitive,
however there is another. Rounding out a nice ‘3 C’s of TF2’, there are also community servers. These servers are hosted by other members of the Team Fortress 2 community, hence the name, rather than Valve directly. These servers vary in game modes, ranging from the standard rotations including capture the flag or payload, to game modes you won’t find on official servers, like Death runs and Jump maps. Listed here are 10 of the most fun community servers for you to try and maybe dip your toes into some gameplay you’ve never tried before. These servers are not listed in order of quality, they are numbered simply for convenience.

10. [TheOutpost][GA] 24/7 Freak Fortress 2 0_o

This server, run by The Outpost community, runs the Versus Saxton Hale game mode.

Ever wanted to play a boss fight in Team Fortress 2? This server is the place to go then, with a retinue of dozens of different bosses, you team up as a server against one player as the boss. With increased
health and a variety of special abilities, this one player will slowly work their way through your ranks, decimating your team, unless you have the cooperation and skills to take them down first.

IP: 64.94.238.63:27019
Player Limit: 24
Website: https://www.opstonline.com/

9. skial.com | DEATH RUN | US ████

This server, run by the Skial community, runs the Deathrun game mode

Do you love the feeling of overwhelming odds? Do you like having your life left in the hands of an
omnipotent mortal? Do you like being an omnipotent mortal with the power to slaughter your friends? If you answered yes, this server is for you. Run the gauntlet of traps as a mastermind uses them to try and kill you, or take the role of the mastermind yourself and activate a variety of traps to kill your Indiana Jones try-hards.

IP: 91.216.250.13:27015
Player Limit: 32
Website: https://www.skial.com/

8. Glubbable's NY #1 | Slender Fortress: Easter Fools!

This server, run by the Glubbable community, runs the Slender Fortress game mode

Harkening back to the days of Slender: The Eight Pages, this Slender Fortress server gives you the chance to team up against the lanky horror himself and escape his wrath. Featuring a multitude of maps, many custom made by the community themselves, and many horrors alongside the classic Slender Man, this server is the place to go for heart-pounding expeditions into the dark.

IP: 74.91.123.26:27015
Player Limit: 30
Website: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/GlubsServers

7. -[DISC-FF.com]- |24/7 Dodgeball| [Airblast Fun!]

This server, run by the Fire Friendly community, runs the Dodgeball game mode

Ever wish you could get better at reflecting rockets? Are you already a skilled air-blaster looking to have some fun with the mechanic? On the Dodgeball server run by Fire Friendly that’s just what you can do. Find yourself in an arena, beset on all sides by an endless barrage of rockets bounced back and forth. Keep the rocket juggled and nobody explodes.

IP: 162.248.92.127:27021
Player Limit: 24
Website: https://disc-ff.com/

6. ► BlackWonder TX | Surf | Easy Tier 1-2 ◄

This server, run by the Black Wonder community, runs the Surfing game mode.

Sometimes, you must admit, physics are for chumps. Here at Black Wonder’s surfing, you too can give Newton the big middle finger and glide your way along walls. Requiring practice, dedication, and a whole lot of strafing, here you can put Evil Knievel to shame and glide your way to glory.

IP: 45.35.1.186:27200
Player Limit: 24
Website: https://blackwonder.tf/

5. TF2SS.com 39 | TF2Ware | FREE !VIP

This server, run by the TF2 Swap Shop community, runs the TF2Ware game mode.

As anyone who has owned a DS will tell you, WarioWare was a whole lot of fun in a single package, and now TF2SwapShop is helping bring it to Team Fortress 2. The TF2Ware game mode is a collection of minigames in rapid succession, where taking a few seconds to figure out what’s going on is just too much time. Think fast or lose.

IP: 68.235.38.9:27025
Player Limit: 32
Website: http://tf2swapshop.com/forum/

4. IdleServer.Com | TF2[PROP HUNT] | Dallas

This server, run by the Idle Server community, runs the Prop Hunt game mode

A classic game mode of GMod brought into Team Fortress 2, this prop hunt server tasks you with one of two roles, disguise as a map object and pray, or maniacally hose down your surroundings with purifying flame and cleanse the shape-shifting demons from this land.

IP: 45.35.176.5:27070
Player Limit: 32
Website: https://idleserver.com/

3. ★ WonderLand | Balloon Racing! FREE ITEMS!

This server, run by the Wonderland.TF community, runs the Balloon Race game mode.

If you ever loved Wacky Races, then this is the game mode for you. Board your hovering craft and pilot your way to the finish line, all while trying your best to decimate the other team. Fast paced and an interesting twist on the payload race format, there will be just as much chaos and no less explosions.

IP: 213.239.196.115:27024
Player Limit: 32
Website: https://wonderland.tf/

2. ▟█▙ ZOMBIE ESCAPE ▟█ Otaku.TF █▙ ▟▙

This server, run by the Otaku Gaming TF community, runs the Zombies game mode

If you ever get sick of fighting a well balanced fight against actual people and waves of robots just aren’t doing it for you, jump on over to a Zombies server and fight the ravenous horde instead. Here you can build up your defenses as engineers and then silently pray to god for your survival, and by pray I meant shoot bullets, and by god I mean the unholy hordes of hell.

IP: 94.130.49.180:27050
Player Limit: 32
Website: https://otaku.tf/

1. jumpacademy.tf | Dedicated Server | US West

This server, run by the Jump Academy community, runs the Jump Map game mode

One of the most well-known mechanics of Team Fortress 2, rocket jumping, inspired one of the biggest communities in the game, Jump Academy. On this server and on many other maps, you will be able to practice your own jumping with support from talented members of the community. With a regular stream of community members dropping by just to help new players, there’s no better server to go to if you feel compelled to explosively launch yourself through the skies.

IP: 31.186.251.212:27015
Player Limit: 32
Website: https://jumpacademy.tf/

Team Fortress 2: Best Cosmetic Loadouts

There are a lot of guides out there that help you decide on the perfect loadout when it comes to the combat aspects of Team Fortress 2 but let’s be honest, there aren’t enough guides on the core gameplay of this hat simulator with shooting components. Coming into the game as a new player, it can be overwhelming when trying to decide what to dress your merc up in and you might make some decisions you may come to regret (looking at you lime green scouts). Listed here are my personal favorite outfits for each mercenary and why I chose them. This is obviously not a conclusive list of the only good cosmetics, but it may hopefully help you decide on your own direction when it comes to Fashion Fortress 2. Note that some of the screenshots include items that I have renamed, please refer to the list after each entry for the item names and a links to more information about them.

Scout

The Scout is an egotistical, narcissistic, man-child and I felt it was important that his style reflect that. It took a long time to get to this particular loadout but I’m now certain that this is where it will stay. The Punk’s Pomp is the main piece of this set, the quaffed hair, patched nose, and cigarette just screaming 80’s greaser. The Airborne Attire’s open jacket and rolled sleeves match this style as well, with the Blizzard Britches finishing off the look. The main idea was to evoke that greaser look as best as possible while still keeping it unique to the Scout.

Punk’s Pomp

Airborne Attire

Blizzard Britches

Soldier

The Soldier was a bit tricky to nail down a style for, with many of my early loadouts more along the lines of secret service. The Soldier is a bit more of a nutjob though and so his style is a bit odder. The War Pig is a classic item and, combined with his Exquisite Rack, makes him feel a lot more like a soldier behind enemy lines who’s gone a bit native. The Dead of Night ties this together, serving as a military coat.

Exquisite Rack

War Pig

Dead of Night

Pyro

It wouldn’t be new information to say that the Pyro is a bit crazy and obsessed with fire and it’s not hard to see why these items are perfect for it. The Burning Beanie is a genuinely cool looking hat while also making the Pyro a literal hot head. The Hot Case, while apparently a reference to Carmen Sandiego, always gave me a firefighter feel, despite the obvious irony that brings. Finally, the Pyromancer’s Mask just looks freaky enough, and more so the longer you look, that it gives the set the feeling of a corrupted fireman, maybe a villain out of Fire Force.

Burning Beanie

Pyromancer’s Mask

Hot Case

Demoman

I’ll be honest, the Demoman was the hardest loadout for me to come to a decision on and it will no doubt change as more cosmetics come out. I’m largely underwhelmed by most of his cosmetics but I feel that at least a few come together in this case. The Tavish DeGroot Experience and Bearded Bombardier together give off the air of an old, wandering hero, out to blow things up in the name of justice. I’ve once again used the Dead of Night as a good way to round off the set, which I find it does nicely in many situations.

Tavish DeGroot Experience

Bearded Bombardier

Dead of Night

Heavy

If you haven’t noticed from the screenshot already, this is my Saxton Hale loadout. Despite not being Australian, Heavy has the best build to be a genuine imitation of the big man himself. Since there aren’t enough of the right items to really get an exact replica of Hale, this set is supposed to evoke him instead. The Soviet Gentleman and, again, Airborne Attire, together give off a felling of a hunter, with The Mann of the House being a nice item to finish off the look.

Soviet Gentleman

Airborne Attire

Mann of the House

Engineer

Unlike the rest of the mercenaries, the Engineer is most well known for his intellect, possibly only rivaled by the next class. Leaning into this, the set I chose emphasizes the older, wiser, professorial vibe he has. The Professor’s Peculiarity and The Dictator, give him the facial hair and glasses of a refined gentleman of learning and, yet again, The Dead of Night makes another return, here looking like the refined coat of the upper class of academia.

Professor’s Peculiarity

Dictator

Dead of Night

Medic

We reach my favorite class, and therefore my main class, the Medic. If there’s one thing this set is supposed to be, it’s simple. I chose every item in this loadout because they were small, subtle, and barely noticeable in the middle of a fight. The Mustachioed Mann gives a little more character to his face, the Dr. Whoa adds a little class, and the Couvre Corner is just a really nicely designed item. When you’re the biggest target on the team, it’s better to dress like the best.

Mustachioed Mann

Dr. Whoa

Couvre Corner

Sniper

The Sniper is a self-proclaimed professional, and as a fellow Australian, I can confirm that his attitude is definitely more professional than a majority of the country (including the swearing). While his attire here is certainly not fit for the outback, I wanted him to have a simple elegance. The Brim-Full of Bullets is a nice hat with an adornment of spare ammo, the Dead of Night on the sniper looks like a comfortable, long sleeved jacket, and The Dictator finishes it off with yet more classy facial hair.

Brim-Full of Bullets

Dead of Night

Dictator

Spy

The Spy has a distinctly debonair quality even in his default outfit and so everything I added was to emphasize this. The Hat of Cards is one of many fedoras that the Spy can own but I chose this one due to the irony that the hand of cards in the hat is considered to be the worst one possible. The Dead of Night makes its final appearance as another classy jacket for only the classiest of classes, and the Sneaky Spats of Sneaking are yet another smaller, subtler items that finish off the outfit nicely.

Hat of Cards

Dead of Night

Sneaky Spats of Sneaking

[Team Fortress 2] Best FPS settings that will give you an advantage

Everyone wants an edge when it comes to gameplay and nothing gives you an edge like a smooth framerate. The trouble is that not everyone has access to the best gaming rig available and sometimes the game just seems to throw a hissy fit anyway. In order to help you get the most out of your gameplay, here are some ways you can improve the game’s settings to keep things running slick and smooth. If you are looking for a way to increase FPS with minimal impact on overall graphics quality, jump down to the section labelled ‘Console Commands’.

1. Graphics

The Problem: Though Team Fortress 2 is more reliant on your CPU than your graphics card, high quality graphics take extra resources to render and therefore can slow down your gameplay significantly. The Solution: The quickest and simplest way to get things running smoother is to lower your graphics settings. This comes with the obvious cost that while things will run better, they’ll look worse.
* Lowering graphics reduces render time * This can reduce the minor distractions from certain textures and make it easier to focus as well * This is a commonly used method amongst elite and professional players to improve their gameplay
To lower your graphics settings, click the small gear icon on the Team Fortress 2 menu screen (note that the gear icon with a plus sign is for options that affect gameplay and not framerate). From here navigate to the video tab and click ‘Advanced’ (you can also change the resolution from this screen which will also help though it will make your game look more pixelated). The four settings here that will give you the greatest benefit are model detail, texture detail, water detail, and shadow detail. Experiment with these settings until you get a result you are happy with.

2. Launch Options

The Problem: There are many things Team Fortress 2 does by default on launch that aren’t necessary or helpful to certain players. Some of these things can also have an impact on your framerate. The Solution: By inputting some commands to be executed on launch, you can reduce or eliminate some of the less useful things that Team Fortress 2 does by default.

* Quick and easy to implement * Little to no impact on graphics * Low chance of issues

In order to implement these commands, make sure Team Fortress 2 is not running and then right click on it in your Steam library. Go to ‘Properties’ and under the ‘General’ tab, which should be the tab it opens to by default, click on set launch options. The window that should open has a single textbox and this is where you will enter the following:

-noipx this will disable the IPX protocol which stands for Internetwork Packet Exchange. This is an old protocol that is no longer in use by most systems so disabling it will have no impact. The fps benefit is very small but it’s better than nothing.

-nod3d9ex and -dxlevel ## these 2 commands will change the Direct X that Team Fortress 2 uses. The first option disables Direct X 9 and the other will change based on the number you use (replace the ## with one of the following numbers). You can use 80, 81, 90, 95, or 98. All of these will give you some benefit in terms of framerate but as a general rule, the lower numbers will give you a better framerate but are less stable while the larger numbers will give you less benefit but also less issues. -novid, -nojoy, -nosteamcontroller these options will speed up your startup process by disabling the Valve startup logo, the joystick system, and the steam controller system. If you play using either a controller or Steam controller, do not use the launch command for that hardware.

-nohltv this option will disable SourceTV hosting freeing up a lot of resources. SourceTV is used for spectating and broadcasting games so if you only intend to play rather than watch, this option is highly recommended.

-high this option will automatically give Team Fortress 2 a high priority on your system causing your computer to allocate more resources to the game. This can also be done manually through the task manager.

When entering these options into the text field, you should separate them with spaces and always start with a minus sign.

3. Console Commands

The Problem: There are many graphical settings in the game that impact your framerate but unfortunately, not all of them can be changed from the built-in settings window. The Solution: By using the developer console you can manually change these settings to improve your framerate with less impact on the overall graphical quality.

* Less impact on graphics than changing the settings in the settings window * Easier to fine tune the graphics settings to only affect the things you want it to * Have a greater benefit if used together

You can think of these options as taking the regular graphics settings and breaking them down into individual pieces that you can alter separately. To do this we will need access to the developer console which we can get to by clicking the small gear icon on the main menu of Team Fortress 2. From here, go to the ‘Keyboard’ tab, which should be the tab it defaults to, and click ‘Advanced’ near the bottom of the window. There are only 2 checkboxes in this new window, and you need to select the second one.

Now that you have the Developer Console enabled, head back to the main menu and you can now press the ~ key to open the console. This key is in the top left corner of most keyboards however if you do not have one, or this key does not work, you can go to your key-bindings back in the ‘Keyboard’ tab, and change it to whatever you like. In the console, enter the following lines exactly as they appear one at a time.

r_drawdetailprops 0 cl_detaildist 0 cl_detailfade 0 Together, these three options will remove small map details that are largely unnoticeable anyway. These are mainly things like grass and foliage sprites that serve only to mildly break up flat surfaces with a little extra detail. tf_enable_glows_after_respawn 0 A more recent addition to Team Fortress 2, this option controls the effect that allows you to see glowing outlines of your team shortly after respawning. Though there are some tactical advantages to having this enabled, it does take a decent amount of resources and impacts your framerate when your are trying to get back to the fight. MP_DECALS 0 R_DECALS 0 These two options control the number of decals visible on the map. Both are slightly different and the number at the end can be whatever you want within reason. MP_DECALS controls the number of multiplayer decals visible. This includes things like bullet holes and rocket explosions and is usually set to 200. R_DECALS controls all decals that show up in game and this includes things like certain signs or other map assets. This value is usually set to 2048 and you may want to consider just lowering it rather than setting it to 0 to preserve certain map materials. r_lod 2 lod_TransitionDist -1 Like with many games, Team Fortress 2 will lower the level of detail of many models when you’re far enough away to preserve resources. By using these options, the game will always use the lower detail models regardless of your distance, thus reducing the rendering load on the game. This will cause everyone to look a lot more low-poly and blocky, however. R_SHADOWS 0 This option does exactly what you’d expect, eliminating shadows from the game. While you can just lower the quality of shadows from the settings menu, dynamic shadows are one of the biggest drains on your framerate and getting rid of them entirely will have a significant impact. mat_queue_mode 2 This option changes the threading mode used by the material system. By setting it to a value of 2 Team Fortress 2 will use multi-threaded mode and thus get more out of your CPU. This setting doesn’t work as well for some CPUs so try it out for yourself. mat_hdr_level 0 This option will disable the High Dynamic Range in the lighting engine. This essentially controls the difference between light and dark areas in game in a more realistic way but also is more of a draw on rendering. mat_vsync 0 Vertical sync will try and match the framerate of your game and the refresh rate of your monitor. This limits the framerate to what the monitor can display and, if your using an older monitor, can reduce your framerate. Turning this off may cause screen tearing, where the image displayed looks split along a line, but if using an older monitor can increase your framerate and reduce input lag. By combining these methods and choosing the ones that are right for you, hopefully you’ll be able to increase the framerate of your game while still maintaining a graphics level you’re happy with.

[Top Ten] Team Fortress 2 Best Weapons

Over the years, Team Fortress 2 has undergone so many changes, rebalances, and additions that it can
be hard to keep track of everything without feeling like you need the CliffsNotes. So many of these
changes in earlier updates, and seeing a resurgence more recently, are game changing weapons. Like
introducing a swarm of bees to a game of tag, the following items change the game in, what I would say,
are the most interesting ways.

10. Mad Milk

A small glass jar of, concerningly, a ‘non-milk substance’, the Mad Milk is a secondary item for the scout.
Rather than add additional damage mechanics that many scout additions have, the Mad Milk instead
provides a utility mechanic revolving around healing. By throwing this item at an enemy, any targets
within range of the Mad Milk will grant health when dealt damage.
The frontlines of any battle are often hectic and harsh, leaving low priority allies to fend for themselves
without healing. In such chaos, every little bit counts. As one of the best front-line classes, the scout is
easily able to adapt the Mad Milk into gameplay, using his hit and run tactics to quickly launch his ‘non-
milk substance’ into a crowd where his allies can reap the benefits. This also allows the scout to be more
independent despite his smaller health pool, forgoing the need to run back to a medic.

Summary:

• Allows the scout to assist in medic duties
• Gives the scout more independence and survivability on the front lines
• Functions as a form of AoE spy check when necessary

9. Buff Banner

A rather innocent looking backpack, the Buff Banner is also a secondary item, this time for the jingoistic
soldier. Replacing the soldier’s shotgun, the buff banner instead moves that damage to a short burst of
minicrits that affects all targets in a radius. By dealing damage in any way, including telefragging, the
soldier can fill up a rage meter that, when full, can be used to gain an aura that grants minicrits to all
allies within 450 units.
While there are many ways to play soldier, this item is the holy grail for anyone who sticks close to their
team. While you do sacrifice the ability to fall back on your shotgun when your rocket launcher isn’t a
good idea, the banner becomes your own personal Drano, allowing you and your team to clear any
tough blockages on your route. The downside as mentioned is that this requires a good team. The
damage potential of the banner is much greater than the shotgun, but only if your team can capitalize
on it so maybe be careful using it in pugs.
Summary:

• Allows the soldier to increase their team’s damage output
• Gives the soldier a way to push through enemy blockages
• Makes the soldier a juggling expert

8. Thermal Thruster

One of the more recent additions to the game, the Thermal Thruster is a secondary weapon for the
pyro. This item is one of only two items for the pyro whose sole purpose is not directly dealing damage
and instead provides an interesting new ability; flight. Along with a bunch of minor changes, the Thermal
Thruster will launch the player upwards and then in the direction they are facing. This item also
extinguishes nearby allies, knocks back nearby enemies, and can deal damage to enemies you land on.
Pyro can be a terrifying class to come up against in the right players hands, but like adding wings to a
spider, this turns terror into a nightmare. The pyro is often limited by the short range of the
flamethrower but with the Thermal Thruster, the pyro can now cross distances quickly and through the
air, limiting the effectiveness of countering with projectiles. The pyro can also take routes usually
restricted to scouts, soldiers, and demomen, sneaking up on enemies from unpredictable paths.
Summary:

• Gives the pyro incredible versatility of travel
• Compensates for the pyros lack of effective ranged options
• Paired with the backburner makes you an unholy abomination

7. Iron Bomber

For any projectile class, one of the greatest frustrations is when your projectile doesn’t go where you
want it because physics insists on existing. For the demo, the solution is the Iron Bomber. A replacement
to the primary grenade launcher, the Iron Bomber makes one important change, grenades that stay put.
All grenades fired by this launcher will follow an arc that is much more consistent than the regular
launcher and the grenades don’t move much at all after landing. Though the explosive radius is only 85%
of the normal radius, the fuse time is 30% quicker, making it very rewarding for those with better aim.
Demomen, especially those newer to the class, can fall into a bad habit of relying too much on the
splash range of their bombs and forgo careful aim. Not only does this weapon provide benefits for taking
the time to carefully aim, it serves as an excellent weapon for one of the demoman’s main tasks, helping
to deal with sentry nests. Since the grenades don’t roll, even missing the engineer’s buildings by small
amount won’t waste your attack.
Summary:

• Encourages and rewards good projectile aim
• Makes taking out sentry nests easier
• Teach bounce physics whose boss

6. Second Banana

A pity reward from the Meet your Match competition between heavy and pyro, the Second Banana is a
secondary item for the heavy, replacing his shotgun and often used sandvich. This item heals for 200
health over 4 seconds and recharges in 11 seconds. Though the item description states it recharges 50%
quicker than the sandvich, this is 63.3% quicker. The Second Banana can also be thrown for other
players to pick up as a small med-kit.
Many players see the Second Banana as useless as it heals less than the sandvich however this is the
perfect weapon to take when you want to be a bit more independent as a heavy. Having a significantly
reduced recharge, it can be used more often and though it heals 33% less, 200 health is still a significant
portion of the heavy’s total health pool. While it is less useful to your teammates, if you’re lacking a
healer or need to push forward without one, the Second Banana should always be your go-to.
Summary:

• Gives heals more frequently than the sandvich
• Great for when you don’t have reliable access to a medic
• Allows you to play more independently riskily

5. Rescue Ranger

Although the Rescue Ranger is classified as a shotgun, its function seems nowhere close to what you’d
expect from one. Rather than firing buckshot or shells, this shotgun fires darts of mechanical magic,
each one able to repair up to 60 health of a friendly building at a cost of 1 metal for every 4 health
restored. The engineer wielding this weapon is also able to pick up building from a distance, so long as
they are in line of sight, though this comes at the cost of 100 metal.
The Rescue Ranger is the go-to weapon of many skilled engineers and for good reason. Your sentry can
always output more damage more consistently than you can so being able to keep it alive at a distance
is a major bonus. It allows you to main riskier placements of your buildings without having to risk
yourself and always allows you to keep a rapid exit ready. Though the downside means that you are a lot
more vulnerable without your sentry, especially as it is commonly paired with the wrangler, a clever
engineer who keeps his nest on the move will hardly ever be without some heavy firepower.
Summary:

• Excellent for unpredictable placements
• Lowers the risk of maintaining buildings
• Can turn skilled engineers into a mobile madman with a machinegun

4. Quick Fix

An often underrated weapon, the medic’s Quick Fix is an exceptional toll in the right hands and of great
value in pugs. The Quick Fix heals 40% faster than the regular medigun however it can only overheal half
as much, though it can maintain a higher overheal from a different medic. In addition, while all medi-
guns allow the medic to move at the same speed as a heal target, the Quick Fix will also allow the medic
to match rocket jumps, sticky jumps, and shield charges, keeping you at the side of even the most
mobile of classes.
Despite its lack of overheal, the Quick Fix is much more effective at keeping large numbers of allies
healed at the same time. The reason it is overlooked is that new players tend towards pocket healing
and this medi-gun is awful at that. By using the quick fix to juggle healing between many people at the
same time, you’ll be able to help more with large pushes against the enemy without anyone dying
regardless of overheal. It also excels at getting you to the front lines when you have a soldier or
demoman to latch on to.
Summary:

• Allows you to keep more people alive at once
• Great for large pushes
• Vicariously fulfills your insane dreams of flying with explosions

3. Bazaar Bargain

Though you would expect those playing sniper to be amongst the most skilled players in the game, there
remains no shortage of players body-shotting their way through matches. The Bazaar Bargain is the
weapon of those who have mastered headshots, granting a shorter charge time for consecutively
relocating portions of your enemy’s brain matter. Though the Bazaar Bargain starts with a 50% slower
charge time, after 2 headshots, the charge time is the same as the default rifle, and after 6 shots or
more, the charge time is twice as fast.
The Bazaar Bargain is best used when you have a team to provide some covering fire. With a slower
charge time initially, it can be a bit harder for you to get those few initial kills, especially if the enemy
team spots you. With a team helping distract your enemies however, all you need is a few good shots in
a row, and you can pick off targets with ease. With a decent stack of headshots under your belt, you also
become a lot more mobile since a quicker charge means less time stood still. It is not uncommon to see
a skill Bazaar Bargain sniper easily able to retreat from an approaching team while still taking out several
of them in the process.
Summary:

• Rewards the thing your supposed to be best at as a sniper
• Grants you more mobility
• Attracts a lot more angry shouting about hacking

2. Diamondback

The spy is an interesting class to say the least, with a strange range of jobs that don’t always overlap
nicely. The Diamond Back acts as the glue that ties engineer harassment, battlefield spinal surgery, and
general back line harassment together. For every building destroyed while sapped and every enemy
backstabbed, the Diamond Back stores one guaranteed critical hit up to 35 total. The weapon itself deals
15% less damage than stock and cannot get random crits.
The more skilled the players your up against, the harder it is to succeed as spy. Though this is true of all
classes, it affects spy to a much more significant degree since you rely on stealth and deception, both of
which are exponentially trickier to achieve with knowledgeable opponents. By rewarding you for
succeeding, the Diamondback helps to negate some of the missteps that you’ll inevitably make against
high level opponents by giving you some much needed crits to fight your way out of a tough spot.
Summary:

• Rewards you for performing the tasks you excel at
• Helps compensate for mistakes and missteps
• The closest you’ll get to a High Noon is when you pull three crit shots out of nowhere

1. Stock weapons

Though many weapons have been added over the years, nothing will ever come close to stock weapons.
They may lack any special boosts or situational bonuses, but this also means they lack any of the
drawbacks that come with those upgrades. Stock weapons are always the most versatile and reliable of
any weapons in the game, providing an equal balance of use and function without leaving you out of
luck when the tables turn.
Situational benefits are exceedingly powerful but, as the name suggests, only in certain situations.
Whenever that situation doesn’t come up, you wind up somewhat weaker than you would normally be.
Forgoing the situational benefits does sound like becoming less powerful but lacking a downside means
that overall, you can come out on top by picking situations with enemies that leaves them dealing with
their own downsides. Overall, you’ll find yourself a much better player focusing less on weapon benefits,
and more on your situational awareness and teamwork.
Summary:

• If in doubt, go stock
• Unparalleled versatility
• Might get underestimated by fools who see stock as scrub