[TF2] Bad Weapon Academy: Huo-Long Heater

he pronounced huo-long heater correctly, social credit score +0.1

I think if you have Heavy the gas passer the Huo Long Heater would be far less situational because you could make it set people on fire

Also, a 5th option. His secret strat called gun.

It's not about damage. It's about fear and intimidation.

I wouldn't honestly mind that if we were to make this gun have two modes of fire along a spectrum.
The less fire damage that this gun has dealt, the wider the ring of fire will be while the firing circle in front of Heavy will be slower on top of the firing rate being slower among other various balancing aspects coupled with this new version of the Huo Long-Heater.
The more damage that this gun deals though, the more this thing turns into a focused lazer of firery pain.
So at first, this gun basically forces you to find a group of targets and start dealing fire damage, then slowly distance yourself from them and continously "Snipe" any enemy with a what can best be defined as a heat lazer being pointed at basically anyone within the Heavy's sightline.
I wouldn't mind if weapons that deal extra damage on enemies like the Sun on a Stick and the Huo Long-Heater worked like the Axetinguisher. Actually, if all of them worked like that weapon, I could see a lot much more collaboration between Pyros and other classes, particularly Pyros who task delegate by lighting two enemies on fire, and leave one enemy to be handled by a teammate while another Pyro just goes on to handle the other.

Bonus points for using Sly music.

thanks for the advice as a freetoplay i will now delete it from my inventory

Fun fact: in polish this weapons’s name is Entry of the Dragon

ZestyJesus begs to disagree

I would make the dragon minigun deal say... 40% damage as fire damage with a -60% damage penalty(total of 80% dps 40% normal, 40% fire) and inflicts afterburn on hit(0.5 seconds of afterburn per instance of damage)

I can 100% appreciate the theme music from Sly 3's Fire in the sky episode playing in the background

I can tell you from the 1500 hours I've played, which isn't as much as some people, the only heavies that force me to take notice and focus dealing with because the rest of the team for some reason isn't are stock heavies and maybe some really good ninja brass beast heavies. The ones that are like surprising everyone and killing half the team n getting godlikes. I don't ever recall a heater heavy dropping down on me either. Maybe it's happened but I feel like I'd have been surprised enough of the weapon choice and the carnage if it has happened. I do notice people using it but generally they are newer players n cart huggers.

I think the final point on here should definitely have been that it was designed by a furry porn artist. lol

I always love to hear this guy aggressively insult the robots during the mvm section lmao

I actually think this weapon would do good with an on-kill effect. A speed boost one specifically. What if he got a speed boost for a few seconds after killing someone, allowing him to potentially move in faster and snowball. This would be balanced a little by the decreased damage he already has, as well as his ammo drain only allowing him to do this for so long before being stuck in enemy lines if he potentially over-extends. I also think this would give an even sillier synergy to his kit. Combine the speed boost on kill with Gloves of Running Urgently, and you can run super fast for a few seconds, allowing for some potentially fun shenanigans.

Is every weapon bad?

I will say, as a spy main (who doesn’t use the Kunai, the Heater has one actual issue that makes it infuriating. Risk. Normally, going against a heavy is a free kill, as long as his teammates aren’t being super protective, but that fire ring adds risk to everything. If you miss the jump, you’ll probably get burnt and any half aware team will instantly finish you. Timing it to go between waves means you stand still for a fraction of a second, not a good idea for a spy. And lastly, if you aren’t using the Kunai, you’ll probably be on fire after the kill, making a quick escape nearly impossible. The fire doesn’t stop the spy from killing you, but it makes attacking you a much harder mission they probably won’t survive.

"Cheese eating surrender monkeys" That caught me SO of guard💀

I’d think a potentially cool rework of the weapon could be a sort of snowballing mechanic, where there’s an “overheat” meter, that fills as you fire, and when the meter fills, THEN your rounds become incendiary with a damage boost, but ammo consumption is increased as well. To prevent cart/dispenser humping, maybe if you stay overheated too long then the minigun is disabled for a bit, but I feel like this system would fit the weapon’s name a bit more.

If the rings visuals didn't kick in until enemies were in range, this weapon would be a lot better. Heavy, a class defined by his lack of mobility, depends on the element of surprise, and this thing simply broadcasts his location around walls, sometimes seconds in advance. Yuck.

Regarding spies, I find the heater works better if you think of it as a way of Spy-checking everyone around you rather than a deterrent. You still need to be vigilant, but it does force spies to be a little more cautious when approaching you which can make it easier to spot them. Also, if you listen carefully, you can hear a spy behind you ignite. That's saved me a few times from spies sneaking up on me.

You ought to see how powerful it is in x1000, it's a force to be feared to those vulnerable to fire damage, as if you have less than 12.5k health, you die to the first ring which is more merciful in comparison to those who have higher health. I like to say with the Huo, "the stronger you are, the more this will hurt!"

Fastest and most powerful kill was on April 1st on a x1000 server that uncapped the inverse damage bug to allow endless overheal, I killed a beggars soldier who had 2 million HP on the second tick of fire damage, use a smissmas sweater shotgun to boost the ammo pool to make full use of it.

Sadly it's nowhere NEAR as fun in normal gameplay...

mauga overwat

stock heavy best heavy... Although sandwich is fine.

This is a weapon that really needs to be rethought. The AOE is cool, but damaging flaming enemies is weird and situational. I’d make it a screw Spy/Scout/Sniper weapon.

First, rework the AOE to be constant for pure reliability, then reduce the DPS it deals. The goal here is to make sure Scouts and Spies get ignited, rather than kill them via aura.

The second is to make the gun inflict Afterburn rather than deal more damage to flaming targets. Now you lose vs other Heavies and if there’s an enemy Medic around, but you only have to wing an oppt otherwise to send them running for a health pack.

Now, I don’t think this would be GOOD. It’d be a decent crutch for new Heavies who can’t hit a Scout otherwise, and would make for an interesting anti-Sniper or anti-Spy measure if nothing else is working. And it would be funny as hell against large groups. Established Heavies probably would never use it. But I think it would at least have a niche and not be broken, which is better than a lot of weapons.

Tbf I really like this weapon. Since payload is the best game mode in the game, it only makes sense. Plus the stranges are cheap

buff idea: more immune in afterburn and fire damage

not just waves of ring of fire but also a stationary one

faster movement while equipped including revved

I use it in mvm and get near the giants or sentry busters

I actually figured the heater was for heavies to guard turtled engines

I dont get what the CCP joke is for

If there's double class wars, this weapon could be a beast

Good thing they buffed the ammo depletion. Probably still not that good but I don’t really care

Just sit in a sentry nest and stay revved up

You get basically infinite ammo, so you can stay revved up, AND the ring of fire can be a good spy deterrent if your back is against a wall

only saving grace of the huo long heater is that it's still a minigun albeit a bad one.

4:29 am I missing smtn or does the tommyslav have a 20% fire rate reduction and thus would run out of ammo 20% slower than stock, thus making it last 30 seconds instead of 25?

Every time you died in this video you were peaking a sightline revved up or getting outplayed in a fair 1v1 lmao. That's not the heater's fault, thats you. Also Mini gun is already weak at a distance, huo long is a completely different beast that requires guile. It is a midrange weapon.

Huo long is good in payload

This is my favorite minigun by far, especially since I main Pyro, any fire weapon is a yes for me.

A fix I'd like is to remove the ring, do -30%-50% damage, but it sets targets on fire. Making it a long range bully but weaker at close ranges.

I think there is good utility to the ring.
Good Scouts and botle engies worth their metal will know to hug and circle you as a reved up heavy. I died to this strat 3 times today alone. If they manage to flank you , or you were ocupied with giving local troldier crippining depression , or they caught you offguard and by the time you reved they already got to you , there is litle you can do.
1-try to shoot them regardless , 2-try unraving and go for melee or fatscouting .(If you have brass beast there is a good chance you have a shotgun on you , but then you wont ravdown in time , if you have anything else , chances are , you packed a lunchbox, and now you have to melee a scout or smartscout who are right in your face. And if you have trully optimal loadout , your melees are dogshit for head to head combat)

So hualong is good for keeping them at tracking-friendly distance.
But this is just a random thought , this is highly untested.

The Huo-Long Heater can sometimes be good, you know why? In my opinion it hard counters spy. Think about it, if they backstab you, they will most likely die due to them not really being able to cloak effectively and your teammates being around.

Honestly, this weapon's greatest strength is the buff to intelligence it gives heavies. The fancy shiny fire ring incentivises players to ambush more and play more aggressively, while its ammo drain forces players to have some situational awareness and to not overextend. The buff won't apply to everyone, but it'll definitely apply to someone.

me: literally coolest thing ever
you: this fucking sucks actually

I appreciate the Sly 3 music.