It's time for some “brains over brawns” for the Scots

Dec 17, 2009 20:01 GMT  ·  By

The Team Fortress 2 War update rages on and, as we come close to the finale of the epic battle, the two sides are neck to neck. With 5,727,928 killed Soldiers and 5,742,720 killed Demos, it looks like anyone could take home that fourth special weapon. But, until that happens, the last push must be made by both classes and, this time around, both of them got new tools to help them get the job done. The first one up is the Demoman and, being pushed back by the Soldier, he has no choice but to force a new tactic onto the battlefield. If brute force and rage could get the job done, in the form of The Eyelander and the The Chargin’ Targe, then it's time to take a more methodical, analytical approach.

As such, Valve, or better said, Mann Co., has a brand-new delivery for the Scots, and its none other than the Scottish Resistance. “Trading offensive capability for increased defensive power, the SR can lay down twice as many sticky bombs, as well as destroy enemy sticky bombs.” So, while it may not be as easy to use as the traditional sticky bomb, the new one has a far greater potential for mass destruction.

“The SR lets you detonate specific groups of bombs instead of having to set them off all at once. The SR detonates whichever group of bombs the player is looking at, letting you control which clusters blow, and when. You’ll be able to lay more traps and guard multiple areas at a time.” By the looks of it, the Demoman could be ready to take over as the new Engineer, with some pretty impressive defensive capabilities, being able to hold off an entire base all by his lonesome.

However, the Scottish Resistance does have some drawbacks, and, while giving so much to the Demoman is its way of defense, it does take away some of the offense, which is exactly what he needs to make a comeback in this war. “But all this awesome thinking man stuff comes at a price, just like real thinking. The SR is less useful for air-bursts and close range combat, thanks to longer priming rate (0.4 seconds) per bomb.”

On the other hand, pure attack hasn't helped the class all that much this far, so this could be exactly what was missing. Also part of the update, 35 new achievements have been given to the class, like Slammy Slayvis Woundya - decapitate an enemy Soldier who is brandishing the Equalizer or Tartan Spartan - do one million points of total blast damage.