So much for digging

[Minilandstan]

Origionally, the backburner was the least used gun in all of TF2. Now, the shovel is used by only 8% of the entire population! The facts do suggest that the shovel is now just a starter weapon. Poor shovel

 

[Nutomic]

Eqalizer > 100 shovels

 

[lana]

Eqalizer > 100 shovels

bq

 

[Tapp]

Give me 1 good reason to use the shovel.

 

[Nineaxis]

Give me 1 good reason to use the shovel.

Medics will love you.

 

[grazr]

What annoys me more is that the equaliser still gets random crits. It is my opinion it shouldn't be able to crit at all considering its mechanics.

edit: Oh and yes, there's nothing more annoying than a bunch of soldier's running to an A/D starting point with their equalisers out and then complaining that you havn't managed an uber before the round start and blame you for their immediate death.

Doi'

 

[The Political Gamer]

I would like to see the shovel get some kinda off new buff like an even faster fire rate or something because atm equaliser is so much better.

 

[fubarFX]

Give me 1 good reason to use the shovel.

I'm not sure but I believe the shovel is stronger when you are at full health.

 

[Dr. KillPatient]

On TF2Wiki it says the shovel's base damage is 43. The Equalizer's is 33, so apparently it does a bit less damage when at full health, yes.

The problem is that after losing 10-20 health that won't matter at all.

 

[Nutomic]

The point is, as a soldier, i didnt use my shovel once in the years since the release, because it does less damage than the shotgun, and you are so slow that you can hardly catch someone to meelee him.

With the equalizer however, you get a real advantage if you get low, and have a good chance at fleeing.

So, there isnt any reason to use the shovel.

 

[Okrag]

I like being able to melee sentries while ubered.

 

[Sel]

I'm not sure but I believe the shovel is stronger when you are at full health.

When you're at full health, you'd have to be one of those dumb melee only kiddies, to even bother using it, the shotgun, and rocket launcher top it in every way possible.

 

[gamemaster1996]

Look it's like this with most primary weapons it's a matter of if you do these achivements we reward you with something alot better! Of-Course this is not the case due to achievement unlock programs and achievement boxes.

 

[cadeonehalf]

I keep the shovel when I'm on a server full of enemies that don't watch their backs.
Embarrassing melee ftw!
Seriously though, the equalizer is so much better than the shovel. It's like the fire axe v. Axestinguisher. The perks outweigh the fact that it has a low base damage.

 

[lana]

The shovel and only the shovel should score critical hits, and it should also deal more damage than it currently does. At the moment, there's nothing to stop you from just using the shotgun or eq. like a man.

 

[grazr]

I've always found the shovel useful for those moments when you were out numbered. You kill 3 people with the rocket launcher, another 2 with a quick weapon switch to the shotgun, the last guy has also extinguished his primary and secondary clips to no avail at felling you. All that damage grants you a huge crit chance percentage, on an already high 40% base crit possibility. you're pretty much garaunteed to positively rip the other guys face off. And when the other guy wips out his melee in mutual understanding of the inevitable dual, it begs the question why you wouldn't. Particularly when it's possible to get into that position and still have most of your health still. It's a loss to try and reload your shotgun whilst another soldier makes linguini of your chest skin.

The amount of times i pulled that stunt on a pyro who thinks he has the upper hand cause he flared me and whips out his axetinguisher.. a crit shovel to an axetinguisher weilding pyro is priceless. I don't care how much you tell me it's a redundant weapon choice.

 

[owly-oop]

i use the shovel because it looks cooler and i'm not a prick for using the equalizer

i don't get the purpose of it. natasha = sacrifice damage for denial of retreat. etc. what makes it worse is that valve said themself they knew it was better and didn't bother balancing it.

soldier is already strong enough we don't need to buff the shovel

 

[Spammish]

I don't think it's a case of not bothering to balance it, they said they would buff the shovel, I just assume they're just being valve. Personally, I think no random crits for the equalizer would mean you would have to do less to balance the shovel.

 

[Tinker]

give the speed boost to the equalizer

give the damage boost to the shovel

 

[Thingy Person]

give the speed boost to the equalizer

give the damage boost to the shovel

Ho, now this is an ingenious idea. I was thinking either of the EQQ's perks should be nerfed to make it balanced, this is a rather great idea.