Well it’s officially an Australian Christmas, and that means it’s time for the true reason for the season: new Team Fortress 2 items and a double drop rate! The Engineer and the Pyro are the recipients of the Valve treatment this time, and they’ve done a pretty fantastic job.
The Engineer’s “The Brainiac Pack” allows all of us to live out our own personal mad scientist dreams.
- The Pomson 6000 doesn’t require ammo, can penetrate can’t be deflected and adds two nasty little surprises. If you hit a medic, they lose 10% of their medigun charge or cloak.
- The Ureka Effect trades in the Engineer’s ability to carry his building for a quick teleport back to spawn. This will certainly allow for a more fleshed out nest at the beginning of maps and will add a new level of strategy.
- The Brainiac Goggles and Maths-Enhancing Hair-Do are simply there to raise your sex appeal.
The Pyro finally gets to live out his dream of going to space (Aww our little baby…boy? … is growing up so fast.)
- The Philogistinator trades in the air blast for a “mmph” meter giving a boost to health and a few seconds of crits.
- The Third Degree fire axe transfers all damage to players connected to Medic beams.
- The Bubble Pipe and Moonman Backpack allow us to to recreate out childhood dreams about being a veteran of the Mars terraforming who has settled down in hopes of opening up their own bar under the surface for dogs (What, I was the only one?)
- And last, but certainly not least, The MannMelter 3600 ZX. This little beauty does not require ammo, can’t be deflected, and gives out a guaranteed critical hit for each teammate extinguished. As a pyro main, this could easily become a central part of my play with the guaranteed crits. Air blasting teammates to put out their flames has become second nature for me, and this is a more than welcome thank you.
The update rounds out with a new map with 12 new achievements (unlocking 7 will get you a new hat) and a plethora of community items. Players will start finding Naughty and Nice Crates until the end of the holiday on December 22. In each Nice Crate, players will find an item made by one of our own. Highlights include the Spy-Cicle, The Wrap Assassin and The Holiday Punch.
The Naughty Crates come with a signature weapon for each class wrapped in Swissmas lights.
So what are you looking forward to the most? Knowing my expertise, it’ll have to be the soothing lights on someone else’s Swissmas lights after I’ve been blown up for the thousandth times, or finally mixing and matching beards to be able and recreate my own Epic Beard Guy.
