Slowdown

“

What da hell's goin' on? Click to listen — The Scout on being slowed down

”

Slowdown or Slow is a gameplay mechanic that decreases the speed of a player for a set time. This can be either given as a detriment for using an item, or as a method of attack delivered by a weapon.

Falloff

The Slowdown effect has no falloff, meaning it will slowdown affected players at any distance. The effects of bullet spread, however, means that it is more difficult to slowdown players further away.

Weapon Effect

Even though the two weapons use the same mechanic, they are implemented in two different ways. The difference is that the Shortstop's effect has a changed time period, as well as the scaling of speed.

Natascha

On Hit: 100% chance to slow target

Every bullet that hits the player will slow them down to approximately 113 Hammer Units per second. All affected people are slowed to that speed, regardless of their normal running speed.

Shortstop

Slow target movement by 40% for 0.5s

The target is slowed down by 40% of their max speed for 0.5 seconds. Unlike Natascha, this speed effect is scaled by their max speed. The Shortstop lacks a constant rate of fire, so that the slowdown cannot be constantly applied, meaning the effect is more subtle.

Sandman

Launching the baseball by using the Sandman's secondary fire can stun the target. The stunned target will slow down in speed and cannot use any weapon during the stun effect. If the baseball is launched at max ranged distance, the victim will be completely immobile and cannot move at all for a few seconds.

Weapon Slowdown Uses

There are many uses for the slowdown effect on weapons; the first and most obvious use would be diminishing your opponent's ability to flee from a fight. In the case of the Shortstop, the opposite can be applied. The slowdown effect from the Shortstop can help the Scout escape from a lethal situation by slowing down his pursuers. Slowdown can also be used to prevent enemy players from jumping to strategic points on the map; a player hit with a slowdown mid-air will lose almost all momentum, falling short of his intended destination. Sometimes, this can even cause an environmental death. Another use is denying a Demoman of his charge. Any Demoman using his Chargin' Targe that is hit by a slowdown will instantly slowed down to a crawl, preventing him from charging to his target. This is especially useful for Heavies with a Natascha, whom might otherwise have trouble avoiding the charge.

Weapon Penalty

Scotsman's Skullcutter

-15% movement speed on wearer

Currently, the Demoman's 'Scotsman's Skullcutter' is the only weapon to have Slowdown as a weapon penalty. When added to the loadout, the Demoman's movement speed is lowered from 280 units per second (93% of normal speed) to 238 units per second (78% of normal speed), rendering him only marginally faster than a Heavy. This effect is constant, so long as the Skullcutter remains in the Demoman's loadout.

Environmental Slowdowns

Scared

On the map koth harvest event, there will occasionally be a ghost belonging to Zepheniah Mann wandering around certain areas of the map. If any players are near the ghost, they will be frightened and have their movement speed reduced. This also applies to the Horseless Headless Horsemann in Mann Manor.