Black Box Forever

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crimsonshootingstar
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Black Box Forever

Post by crimsonshootingstar » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:45 am

I hadn't realized until now but the black box heals 15 damage per target hit by rocket. I thought It was only 15 per rocket that hit but it is 15 per person hit. The game only shows it as 15 but the wiki and testing confirms this not to be the case. If you were like me and in the dark about this congrats now you know. If you think crimson is a dip for using this rocket launcher for so long and not noticing when he healed 60 hp in one shot you are correct sir.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Fano » Thu Jan 13, 2011 12:57 am

The 1 less rocket is still too big a downside for me, I prefer the regular launcher.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Flaming Cheese Wheel » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:01 am

The BB is for the patient Soldier... will keep you alive if used carefully, helps you live long enough to deploy the BattBanner.

Not great on Sentries, though, unless used with the full item set and you have enough time to work it.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by ketchuo » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:02 am

I've notice it when I was low on health and hit 3 guys. I like to use both and Im crafting my way toward the polycount set

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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by TheCarpe » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:06 am

Black Box is good for crowds and/or few or no Medics on the team, but more often than not I'm not accurate enough to make good use of the health buff, nor compensate for the lost rocket, so I usually stick with original RL.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by One_Medic_Army » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:23 am

Personally I've been using the D-hit, works better on most pyros, and the extra dmg can be nice vs sentries/heavies.
Plus there's just satisfaction when someone jumps right as the rocket hits them...

I will be trying the box out more now, though I'll have to drastically change my playstyle.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Guardian » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:30 am

I miss the one rocket too much to give it up for health gain. Though I admit it's useful when there are no medics around.

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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Flobee » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:38 am

I never actually hit anything with my rockets anyway, so the Black Box is useless to me. I'm better off having that one extra rocket for shooting wildly and hoping I hit something.
where doing this man.
where MAKING THIS HAPEN.

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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by bz » Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:57 am

Guardian wrote:I miss the one rocket too much to give it up for health gain. Though I admit it's useful when there are no medics around.

Agreed. Losing that extra rocket, while bearable, is too much of handicap when many times even 4 rockets aren't enough. Even on defense, there are more times I feel I need that extra rocket to clear a point more than the 15-30 hitpoints the BB would offer.

I won't deny if you play patiently, carefully, SLOWLY, the BB can work as advertised, you can definitely sustain yourself well; however, more often than not, the other team isn't going to slow their advance to keep pace with your defense, not to mention you are crippled offensively (you won't survive on even ground against a comparable soldier with 4 rockets/shotty)(somewhat like a sascha heavy meeting a natasha heavy, though the difference isn't quite as extreme: a poor sascha heavy should still be able to take out a better natascha heavy).

Not to mention you become a much, much less attractive target for kritzkriegs, you only have 2 rockets ready after you rocket jump, and you are seriously handicapped against engies and sentries: that extra rocket is the difference between a dead engy & sentry, and you frantically reloading against a fully-repaired level 3, with an almost dead engy still sitting behind it with a slightly winded wrench arm.

I cannot count how many times that 4th rocket alters a push. (though, in all fairness it just depends on your play style)

I'll be releasing my dissertation for peer review shortly... :afraid:
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by One_Medic_Army » Thu Jan 13, 2011 2:39 am

Speaking as a primary medic player: there's only one soldier type I will choose for kritz target LESS than a black-box soldier: D-hit soldiers (so many of them just plain fail to hit anything).
So if you've got decent medic assist on your team, and you're not infighting like Crimson is wont to do, probably a good idea not to use.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by The Spanish Inquisition » Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:54 am

My usual soldier loadout is BB, gunboats and equalizer. One less rocket is ok, the health bonus along with knowing where all the health kits are on the map almost negates reliance on any medics. Same with sandvich for the heavy.

The gunboats absorb a small amount of damage so if you jump slightly when you are shooting near point blank targets, it is also a win. Hint: targets are easier to hit and liquefy if they are closer, which guarantees your health reward. The equalizer allows you to either clean up loose ends or get out quick to reload if you ended up damaging yourself too much.

I usually try to tell medics not bother deploying charge on me when I soldier, it's just not worth it.

A good engie can repair against 4 rockets just as well as 3 rockets and wrangled sentries are impossible. Engineers usually position themselves so you can always get splash damage on them on the back facing wall or targeting their dispenser directly. Most engineers don't get their dispenser up to level 3 fast enough, if at all. This means they are missing out on the faster healing they provide an thus die quicker from back splash. Even a wrangled sentry has to go limp if you target his dispenser, he will go to wrench to fix it or let it burn. A regular RL isn't much better than a BB if all you shoot at is the actual sentry gun.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by One_Medic_Army » Thu Jan 13, 2011 5:09 am

The Spanish Inquisition wrote:A good engie can repair against 4 rockets just as well as 3 rockets and wrangled sentries are impossible. Engineers usually position themselves so you can always get splash damage on them on the back facing wall or targeting their dispenser directly. Most engineers don't get their dispenser up to level 3 fast enough, if at all. This means they are missing out on the faster healing they provide an thus die quicker from back splash. Even a wrangled sentry has to go limp if you target his dispenser, he will go to wrench to fix it or let it burn. A regular RL isn't much better than a BB if all you shoot at is the actual sentry gun.
As someone who regularly plays engie, Spanish is near 100% correct here. It really dosen't matter how many rockets you've got if the engie's not repairing his gun. A single sniper or engineer cannot output damage fast enough to kill a sentry with an engineer repairing it constantly.
On the offchance he's elsewhere having the 4th rocket to finish it off with before he gets back and repairs can be nice though.

As to wrangler...if they're wrangling get a sniper or a spy, wrangler using engineers are easy bait for both.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Plinko » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:23 am

I really don't get the BB. The healing is OK, but losing a fourth rocket is huge, especially if you're not carrying a shotgun to finish off whomever is left after rocket 3 is spent. It's really plain inferior for the majority of play. If you want to kill sentries - you use the DH or go Demoman. If you want to rocket jump you need that fourth rocket, as 2 aren't enough unless you're good enough to pick a light class with 2 rockets in midair and if thats the case, you should be using the DH anyway. If you want to sit back and spam, you go demoman.

The BB shoots the same rockets as the regular, so it's not any harder to airblast than the regular launcher.
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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Flobee » Thu Jan 13, 2011 7:30 am

Speaking of which, I do enjoy airblasting Black Box rockets. The health is a nice added treat on top of the already rad satisfaction that comes from reflecting a rocket at a Soldier.
where doing this man.
where MAKING THIS HAPEN.

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Re: Black Box Forever

Post by Plinko » Thu Jan 13, 2011 8:55 am

No no you gotta reflect the rocket at his medic, then get that smug satisfaction of not only killing the medic with his own solly's rocket, but getting healed for your trouble.
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