CommunityFortress

Power creep is something that's been happening to many classes throughout TF2's lifespan. While the majority of unique weapons simply provide an opportunity for an alternate playstyle, some weapons are nearly always (and in a few cases, literally always) better than their stock counterparts. I see this as a poor design choice, and the unfortunate side effect of having 120+ weapons in the game.

Sure, this number includes a few weapons that are shared amongst classes, and the promotional reskins that aren't technically different, but the point remains valid. TF2 is thick with content.

For these articles, I'm going to break down one individual class slot at a time and show you what's happening to our beloved classes, and why I believe power creep is something that's preventable if we step in soon.

This first article will focus on the Soldier's melee slot. We'll start with one obvious statement:

The Equalizer is better than the Shovel in 99% of all situations. This is damn near fact. If you're getting Ubered and have exhausted your ammunition, you could pull out your shovel. If you have exhausted your ammunition, have an enemy in melee range, and are above 121 health, then you could pull out your shovel. In every other situation, Equalize your way through enemies or out of trouble and into a healthpack. The biggest downside that isn't explicit is something Deathanchor sums up well: "The second you see a soldier whip out his equalizer, you know he's lit." If you saw a random Soldier on the battlefield, wielding his rockets menacingly, you'd be terrified and start looking for a way around him. If you see him floating around with an Equalizer, quick, shoot him!

Is the Equalizer fair, especially in competitive matches? It's another case of an interesting weapon that promotes risky clutch plays, like the Ubersaw. Sam P. calls it "a lot of fun", and that's something to seriously consider. Sure, it's better than the Shovel. Is it worth nerfing, just to promote good old reliable, bursting-into-flames shovel gameplay?

I say nerf it. Gaamoo sums it up best, in my opinion: "You should not make weapons that remove weaknesses in exchange for lesser strengths. Instead, expound on the strengths and weaknesses to make even more unique classes and, thus, reasons to use [the weapons]." Soldier was slow and vulnerable without loaded ammo / in short range, so what did Valve do? Get rid of that entirely! It's a fun weapon, and I've used it many times to my own benefit, but its place in the game should be reconsidered.

What about the Soldier's other melee weapons? The Uber Update brought us the Market Gardener, which is a direct upgrade to the Shovel on no-crit servers (even if it is a bit silly). The Pain Train is still around, which williamdude1 claims is particularly effective in faster matches especially - "if you are dealt 50 damage from a Scout's Scattergun, it increases to 55" is the example given. Certainly something to consider, though I've never really believed in the Pain Train as a powerful weapon. Half-Zatoichi is nice if you've got an enemy cornered, but it's bad in all other situations. Problem is, it's not the Equalizer!

And, of course, we have the Disciplinary Action, which boosts your allies to the front lines at the cost of melee damage that never mattered a whole lot anyway. It competes with the Equalizer, sure, but "it only solves a problem created by another problem that still remains" (Gaamoo). Is that okay, particularly from competitive standpoints? It certainly makes the possibility of alternate strategies more plausible, "like whipping a sniper/spy/engy to mid with the solly" (Sam P.). The problem I see is that it's just another general-use, overall-effective weapon for the most general-use, overall-effective class.

Let's assume that the power creep on the Soldier's melee slot is bad. With me so far? Okay, now how do we fix it? Something I'll end up playing around with on other classes is simply buffing the now-useless stock weapon, but I don't think that fixes anything here - it only solves a problem that exists because of a bigger problem. The Soldier is as cookie-cutter as you can get, good in every situation already. What Valve is trying to do with the Equalizer in the Beta is good, but I sincerely hope the alternatives carry some heavy penalties to promote those alternate playstyles, not uselessness or overpowered-ness.

Maybe the new, speed-only Equalizer has half damage. Now you can split out of combat in a pinch, but you're not going to destroy Scouts on accident. The damage-only Equalizer carries a tweak to the current damage formula (rather than a linear graph, a parabola), promoting even riskier, but less reliable, gameplay. Disciplinary Action needs a slower swinging speed, and the effect only applies to your allies - so instead of rushing everyone to the point along with yourself, you can temporarily get teammates ahead at the cost of your own time and melee potential. The Market Gardener could use a nerf to damage in exchange for on-demand crits, to keep the Shovel relevant.

In short, Equalizer = DA, both > MG > Shovel > Half-Zatoichi (?), with Pain Train floating somewhere in the middle. Throw down some nerfs and promote traditional Soldier gameplay, with off-the-wall strategies being valid, but only alternate, choices.

Let me know in the comments what you thought of this first article - yes, comments, if you please!