Zoopy

There was a lot of discussion of the Kritzkrieg in another thread, so lets try to consolidate it into one spot.

My views on the Kritzkrieg:

Definetly an offensive weapon. It is best equipped on maps were Medics are not easily flanked since blowing a Crit-Uber early won't save the Medic's ass like a normal Uber. You can use it on defense but it is best served for say the last CP of Dustbowl were attackers can't get behind you.

Sparda

Personally i think the kritskreig is a waste of offense most of the time cause you still have no protection over the fire and can get easily picked off. But its also usefull on offense as well. defensively its a great weapon to use with a heavy, demo, pyro, or soilder. But its just to hard to time the weapon for when to use it or when to not use it.

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Golden Salmon

I think part of the reason people don't find the kritzkriege as useful so early after its release is because is substitutes for the uber but operates in a very different role and manner. using the kritzkriege to spearhead an attack like you would with an uber seems like a significant and unnecessary risk. instead you want to bring your target in with a mob of people and sneakily activate the kritzkriege. that way the first problem the enemy faces contending the stream of crits is who's the medic and attacker responsible. i feel like this philosophy is even mirrored in how the kritzkriege is presented graphically. the ubercharge is this big bright sign, your eye and focus are drawn to it. the kritz is far more subtle with the arcing electricity along the weapon being a significant but far more subdued effect.

icky

But I'm sure it's good on a console too! Hey wait, do you get upgrades if you are running TF2 on an Xbox 360?

Lots of people have been saying how good the Kritzkrieg is on a Soldier, but I think you might find that it is really good on a Pyro. A Pyro shooting crit fire can take people down as fast as he can walk over them. In the absence of a sentry, such a pyro could run over an entire team in 5 seconds, and his speed means that he can catch almost anyone who tries to run.

I would also really like to see it applied to a Sniper. In an open area like the second half of the first stage of Gold Rush, a good sniper could one shot kill every opponent with a body shot in a few seconds. No need to spend all of that time waiting for rockets to fly across the screen. Plus, the medic stays relatively safe.

Gnoma

One thing I think is going to be very interesting and possibly hard to balance is if Steam makes a number of new kits with weapons without crits due to other characteristics that would make them crazy.

Imagine Kritzkriege on a pyro who tosses napalm or a demo gun with more rounds or higher splash range or the same with a soldier. It would be a crazy addition to have on a team member who has a higher powered weapon that can not crit ever. I think as more kits come out there will be more changes that make the use of the Kritzkriege just as good as an uber.

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Gnoma

Infinite Cosmic Power
Itty Bitty Body Space

Snail

while a kritzed pyro is pretty sweet, all it takes is one aware soldier and he can juggle you for the entire time. If you do catch them unaware on a flank perhaps, then yea, its like a hot knife through butta.

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PANDAmonium

Kritz on defense is underrated. It doesn't hold people for as long, but if you can break up the enemy defensive line, you can push them back as far as their spawn (especially if you get lucky with a respawn wave, and kill half of them before, and half after, splitting their defensive power in 2). Give it a shot. Especially on Gravel Pit, it's a nice way to hold off enemy reinforcements, considering it charges faster than the Uber as well.

One downside to it is that it requires a lot more coordination between the user and usee. The coordination is not the downside, but whipping it out unexpectedly might make the target panic, or they might not even realize they have it until it's too late. Three times now Lyra has popped it on me, but I was in the middle of jumping over a wall or something, and I lose it seconds later. This is always followed by: "Panda, I hate you."

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Embiggener

The Kritzkreig is best on soldiers and demos. They have the range and the splash damage. Using it on any other class is much more situational.

I think pyros and heavy's still perform best with regular uber. The reason being that people run when they see an uber heavy or pyro, clearing the area for the rest of your team. What i mean to say is that if people are standing around the pyro and heavy have enough firepower without crits to clear the enemy team. They don't really need the crits to kill people, so its much better to have the invulnerability.

As already said the best situations are when you know where the other team is. Defending the last stage of corporation is a good example. A soldier or demo can clear attackers bunched up in the upstairs hall very easily. The medic can stay protected behind the corner and if the soldier/demo goes down then somebody else should be close by to use the rest of it. Coordinating to use it on two players should be done whenever possible. One soldier might only get 6 rockets off since he has to reload, but with two soldiers you could easily get 8.

Most importantly, when a Kritzkrieg is used the rest of the team should be pushing in as with a normal uber. More fodder means its less likely the kritz medic will go down.

BHack

Doesn't work on a sniper, nor a spy's knife, since their crits both have special circumstances.

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Secretary of Keepin it Real

Santa

Actually im pretty sure (not 100% though cuz its hard to tell) snipers get crits on regular, non headshots. Damage output is still largely determined by how long you were zoomed though.

Either way, if a medic gives me a kritzkrieg as sniper im going to turn around, look at him, and taunt.