VS Saxton Hale Mode (custom game mode)

Saxton Hale as he appears in the mod.

“

Me, I'd rather get down there and tell them myself... with my BARE HANDS! — Saxton Hale on communication

”

The VS Saxton Hale Mod is a Juggernaut-style modification of Arena mode. The modification pits the Team Fortress 2 mercenaries, on RED, against Mann Co. CEO Saxton Hale, on BLU. Armed with plenty of health and his bare hands, the player taking control of Saxton Hale must eliminate all of RED to win, while RED either attempts to kill him, or captures the map's control point (which can also be captured by Saxton).

Gameplay

This mode is similar to Arena, in the sense that if a player dies, they will not respawn until the round has ended. Every player but one is put onto the RED team, leaving BLU with a single player, whom now takes the role of Saxton Hale. This player has unique stats as Saxton Hale, which include increased health, a special jump ability, and a rage taunt. However, this player can only use his fists (an invisible Shovel) to kill the other players. Many actions that would instantly kill a normal player, such as backstabs and taunt kills, will only deal a large amount of damage to the player playing Saxton Hale rather than killing him outright.

In addition, there is a small chance that the player will take the role of the Vagineer, the Horseless Headless Horsemann Junior or during Christmas and New Year, the Christian Brutal Sniper instead of Saxton Hale.

Info about plugin

• Current version: 1.24
• Needed SourceMod extensions: Attachables, TF2Items, SDKHooks, Socket
• Plugin is avaliable to download from 31 dec 2010 on Random Fortress Forum. From 2 Jan 2011 - on Allied Modders Forum.

Boss Characters & Abilities

Saxton Hale

• Superjump: In order to use this ability, the player must crouch on the spot, look up and release crouch. After doing so, the player will propel themselves up into the air. This ability has a five-second cooldown before its next use.
• Rage: When Saxton Hale has taken approximately 1,900 damage, his rage meter will be full. Taunting with a full rage meter will stun all enemy players in close proximity. The stun effect is similar to that produced by the Ghost in Harvest and the Horseless Headless Horsemann. It's worth noting that Saxton Hale's taunt also affects Sentry Guns, as they are disabled for the stun duration.
• Equalizer Effect: Movement speed increases as Saxton Hale (the player) takes on more damage.
• Super Duper Jump: Only works in the pits and precipices. That is why the ammunition was again increased to Pyro. It was added in patch 1.23.
• Goomba Stomp: After performing a Superjump/Super Duper Jump or falling from a high height, if Hale lands over a player, the player will instantly die.

Vagineer

• Superjump: In order to use this ability, the player must crouch on the spot, look up and release crouch. After doing so, the player will propel themselves up into the air. This ability has a five-second cooldown before its next use.
• Rage: When the Vagineer has taken approximately 1,900 damage, his rage meter will be full. Taunting with a full rage meter will make the Vagineer become ÜberCharged for 8.5 seconds. The Vagineer's taunt also stuns the nearby players, similar to that produced by the Ghost in Harvest and the Horseless Headless Horsemann. The Vagineer's taunt, however; does not affect and disable Sentry Guns.
• Equalizer Effect: Movement speed increases as The Vagineer (the player) takes on more damage.
• Super Duper Jump: Only works in the pits and precipices. That is why the ammunition was again increased to Pyro. It was added in patch 1.23.
• Goomba Stomp: After performing a Superjump/Super Duper Jump or falling from a high height, if Vagineer lands over a player, the player will instantly die.

Horseless Headless Horsemann Junior

• Teleport: The player must crouch on the spot, look up and release crouch. After doing so, the player will be sent to a random enemy. This ability has a fifty second cooldown before its next use.
• Rage: When HHH Junior has approximately 1,900 damage, his rage meter will be full. Taunting with a full rage meter will stun all enemy players in close proximity. The stun effect is similar to that produced by the Ghost in Harvest and the Horseless Headless Horsemann. It's worth noting that the HHHJR's taunt also affects Sentry Guns, as they are disabled for the stun duration.
• Equalizer Effect: Movement speed increases as The HHHJR (the player) takes on more damage.
• Goomba Stomp: After falling from a high height, if HHH Jr. lands over a player, the player will instantly die.

Christian Brutal Sniper

The Christian Brutal Sniper was a temporary character that served as a Christmas event from December 25, 2010, to January 7, 2011, altough some servers still have him as a playable character. The character used the normal Sniper model, while holding the normal Tribalman's Shiv model with modified attributes.

• Superjump: In order to use this ability, the player must crouch on the spot, look up and release crouch. After doing so, the player will propel themselves up into the air. This ability has a five-second cooldown before its next use.
• Rage: When the Christian Brutal Sniper has taken approximately 1,900 damage, his rage meter will be full. Taunting with a full rage meter will stun all enemy players in close proximity. The stun effect is similar to that produced by the Ghost in Harvest and the Horseless Headless Horsemann. It's worth noting that Christian Brutal Sniper's taunt also affects Sentry Guns, as they are disabled for the stun duration.
• Equalizer Effect: Movement speed increases as Christian Brutal Sniper (the player) takes on more damage.
• Goomba Stomp: After performing a Superjump/Super Duper Jump or falling from a high height, if CBS lands over a player, the player will instantly die.

Balancing Specifics

Saxton Hale's (and thusly the HHHJR's, Vagineer's and CBS's) health increases based on the number of players taking part in the game. The health follows a formula based upon the initial number of players on RED at the start of the round. His health is calculated as [(n+250)*n]^1,155, where n is the initial number of players on RED. For the HHHJR: when n>10, he has the following formula: n=n-(n-10)/3.

Some weapons equipped by players on RED will be changed into their default counterparts or edited for balance issues:

• All classes: Non-backstab melee weapons will always perform Crits, to reward the player for taking risks with close-range combat.
• Scout: The Crit-a-Cola gives full Crits instead of Mini-Crits.
• Soldier: The Battalion's Backup is replaced with a Shotgun. The Rocket Jumper is not allowed and is replaced with default Rocket Launcher.
• Pyro: The player is limited to 100 Flamethrower ammo.
• Demoman: The Chargin' Targe blocks one hit from the character on BLU. The Sticky Jumper is not allowed and is replaced with default Sticky Launcher.
• Heavy: Natascha can't be used. If a Heavy has it equipped, it is replaced by the Minigun. The Minigun starts with 100 ammo.
• Engineer: The player can only can find small metal packs. The player also starts with 158 metal.
• Medic: Medi Gun is replaced with Kritzkrieg. Syringe Gun is replaced with Blutsauger. The Medic spawns with 40 percent ÜberCharge. ÜberCharge grants both Critical Hits and Invulnerability to medic and patient. ÜberCharge lasts 50% longer. Needleguns grant 5 percent ÜberCharge on each successful hit. Crusader's Crossbow always performs Critical hits (no ÜberCharge gain on successful hit). At the end of a ÜberCharge the Medic gains 40 percent ÜberCharge.
• Sniper: Jarate is not allowed and is replaced with the SMG. All usable Sniper weapons perform Critical hits.
• Spy: A backstab from the Knife deals roughly 10% of the character on BLU's max health in damage. Upon a successful backstab a message stating that the enemy was stabbed is displayed to all players. In addition, the Spy is unable to backstab again for approximately 2 seconds. This is similar to backstabbing a Sniper wearing the Razorback.

Remember however that balance specifics such as boss speed, rage taunt damage, rage taunt distance, and appearance of characters other than Saxton Hale may vary from server to server, as these specifics are adjustable via server console variables.

Strategy

Playing the classes

General

• Stick together! Teamwork here is vital.
• Try to attack the enemy from afar. He can only use melee weapons.
• Saxton's punch does about 175 damage. If you survive, don't try to get lucky again and seek help.
• Taunts only do 500 damage. Because of this, taunt kills are rarely seen as a legitimate tactic.
• Communicate! Alert your teammates of Saxton's whereabouts at all times.

Scout

• The Sandman becomes an upgrade of the Bat as you will gain the power to stun. Because of the fragility of the Scout, Saxton can one-hit kill you even with the full Special Delivery set.
• The Force-A-Nature knocks back Saxton Hale. Try to push him away from teammates or into a chasm.
• As an emergency weapon, Bonk! Atomic Punch can help you get away from close encounters.
• Crit-a-Cola is even more of a high-risk, high payoff situation for Scouts as one hit from Saxton Hale will kill you regardless.
• On a team without Medics, Mad Milk will help your team get much needed health back from close encounters with Saxton Hale.

Soldier

• In this mod, the Equalizer becomes more of an escaping weapon rather than a high damage weapon.
• If Saxton is too close, you can rocket jump to escape.
• The Black Box is very useful on a team without Medics as it will heal you when you hit Saxton.

Pyro

• Your Flamethrower's and Degreaser's airblast can prove to be invaluable. Blasting Saxton Hale around can disorient him, allowing your team to get some easy shots in. In addition, try airblasting him into environmental hazards such as the saw blades in Sawmill or off a cliff such as the cliff in Lumberyard.
• Stay close to ammo resources, such as Dispensers and Ammo Boxes, as you will lose ammo very quickly when firing or airblasting.
• Beware of maps with water. Saxton can easily drop in and extinguish the afterburn.
• The Flare Gun is very useful as it can burn Saxton from far away.
• The Axtinguisher becomes a risky weapon as you have to be very close up to him. Burning him will make Saxton aware of your presence.
• The Gas Jockey's Gear's speed boost may prove to be useful in escapes.
• Although the Powerjack's health gain bonus becomes useless, the extra 25% damage becomes very useful.

Demoman

• The Chargin' Targe is more for defensive purpose, as it allows you to survive one hit. Do not charge toward Saxton Hale as he can easily notice and hit you.
  • Instead, use the Targe as an escaping weapon as Saxton cannot keep up with the Targe's speed.
• Consider equipping the Claidheamh Mòr when using the Chargin' Targe because of the benefit of extra charge distance.
• Set plenty of stickytraps along map routes used by Saxton. The Scottish Resistance can come in handy for this.
• Alternatively, place a concentrated amount of Stickybombs where Saxton will come from. The Scottish Resistance's extra 6 bombs comes in useful here.
• The Eyelander is a better choice than the Bottle due to its extended melee range. In addition, the weapon's inherent inability to deliver Critical hits is not a downside, because melee weapons are guaranteed to deliver Critical hits against Saxton. The health reduction from 175 to 150 also makes little difference in combat, because Saxton will still be able to kill a Demoman in one hit (or two hits if the Chargin' Targe is equipped) regardless of whether or not the Bottle is used.
• Spam grenades at Saxton to distract and disorient him.

Heavy

• Always have a Medic with you. You will be Saxton's main priority.
• You are the ultimate gunner in your team. Try not to go anywhere alone.
• On a team without Medics, consider using the lunchbox items for the Heavy, as health becomes a scarcity in this mode.
• Don't rely on your high health to survive. Saxton can beat you down in two well-placed hits, one if you make the poor decision to wear the Fists of Steel.
• The Sandvich and Buffalo Steak Sandvich can be dropped. Try to aim them at very wounded teammates.
• Consider carrying the GRU as your Melee to run away.
• If you plan to just stick to one place, consider using the Brass Beast. Aside from the higher damage output, if you're constantly firing at Saxton Hale and you have a refillable ammo source, he will also be knocked back.
• Stay close to a Dispenser; your guns will chew through ammunition easily.

Engineer

• Build your Dispenser first. Your team needs lots of ammo and health.
• The Gunslinger gives you the ability to build Mini-Sentry Guns that takes less metal. Use them as a temporary defense or as an alert to see where Saxton is.
• Sentry Guns provide significant knockback. With enough Engineers, you may provide enough force to relocate Saxton.
• After building a Sentry Gun and Dispenser, you can build a Teleporter to use as an escape if Saxton gets too close. Beware, however, as it takes some time to teleport when you are on the teleporter entrance.

Medic

• ÜberCharge gains from needleguns can build your ÜberCharge extremely fast as you gain 5 percent ÜberCharge on each successful hit. Firing needles whilst backpeddling away from Hale can easily build a full ÜberCharge.
• The Crusader's Crossbow is useful if played on a large map, such as Watchtower.
• Heal everyone. Do not prioritize one class. Most classes fully buffed can survive a hit from Hale.
• Heal your teammates often, either by using your respective medi-guns or the Amputator, depending on the situation and the number of potential patients.
• Don't use your Übersaw to build up your ÜberCharge unless Saxton is distracted or if you are trying to stun him with the Spinal Tap taunt.
  • However it is a conceivable tactic whilst being ÜberCharged by another medic.
• Do not hesitate to deploy your Übercharge on a teammate in danger.
• Hales stun is your largest threat however you are immune to it whilst ÜberCharged. Try to stay behind your team mates to avoid being stunned and be prepared to use your ÜberCharge to save team mates when they are stunned.

Sniper

• Since all of your weapons have a critical boost, your SMG will have a higher damage output compared to a Heavy's Minigun.
• Your critical un-zoomed shot (or uncharged in the case of Huntsman) can deliver 150 damage. Considering the speed of Saxton Hale, it is in generally preferable to shoot him unscoped/uncharged, or go for body shots.
• A possible, but risky tactic is to use the Sniper's Skewer taunt. The taunts initial thrust is coupled with a stun on the target, meaning you can quickly take down Saxton with the help of another Huntsman Sniper if both players lock him in a taunt chain. Beware, however, of Saxton's rage taunt.

Spy

• Always go for backstabs, as the knives do not deal Critical hits.
• A sucessful backstab will decrease the health of the boss by 10%. Meaning, if the boss has around 1000 health the stab will instantly kill it.
• Because Saxton Hale is always moving, using the Invisibility Watch to uncloak behind him is difficult to pull off. Instead, use Dead Ringer to ensure you survive his attacks.
• Using the L'Etranger is recommended as it allows the Spy to recharge his Dead Ringer faster and potentially survive an extra hit.
• Saxton's rage taunt can reveal cloaked Spies. Cloaked Spies will remain invisible but a ring of ghosts will still float on top of their heads.

Playing the Bosses

General

• General etiquette is not to cap the point(s) as one of the bosses unless desperate; generally, that's when your health drops under 2000. However, should the opponents be heavily entrenched, cap the point to draw them out. On high enough health, actively attacking is expected when playing as a boss.
• Remember that you are not invincible, especially on a small server with a small amount of opponents (e.g. if you only have one opponent your health is 500). If you can not charge forward, find another route toward their stronghold.
• Be careful of chasms such as the pits in Nucleus as it is impossible to get out of them.
• Fire is your friend, especially if you have high enough health. It is effective in that you use it to charge your rage meter.
• Knockback will be your worst enemy. Deal with Pyros, Scouts, Heavies, Engineers/Sentry Guns first before you go after other classes.
• On a server with large amount of players, feel free to use a brute-force approach against the enemy. Chances are more probable that you will catch one or two easily.
• Remember to use your taunt! (default "g") Despite being a taunt, you can still move around and beat enemies to death. You should use your taunt when one of the following was encountered:
  • Trying to catch the Scout, the only class that can outrun you.
  • Knockback clusters (e.g. Pyro and Scouts). Even though they might be a small group, but they are your worst opponents as they prevent you from approaching.
  • A cluster of opponents, as well as Sentry nests. The taunt, aside from allowing the boss to quickly dispatch a bunch of opponent, also helps eliminate the knockbacks from the Sentry Guns.
• If the Engineer dies, his buildings are also destroyed. Using this knowledge, if both an Engineer and his Sentry Gun are both stunned, go after the Engineer.
• Superjump may have disadvantages in some situations; a cluster of well placed Sentry Guns can easily send you hovering above ground, making you a floating target; possibly until you die.

Horseless Headless Horsemann Junior

• If you have low health, retreat to a safe corner, provided that your opponents are not capturing the point.
• Use teleport to surprise them before either giving your opponent a quick chop or stunning them with your taunt.
• Right before letting go of the crouch button before teleporting, press your attack button, as this will cause you to chop the person you teleport in to.
• Remember that you cannot Superjump, so high places (such as the boxes on Granary) are relatively unaccessible, especially if there are Sentry Guns or Pyros that will knock you back if you try walking there.
  • In order to counter this, make sure you have a teleport charge ready, and hope that you will end up in the high place you were planning to go while simultaneously taunting to make sure no one can escape.

Vagineer

• Your taunt will not only stun enemies, but it provides a lengthy ÜberCharge. When taunting, go after more damaging targets such as Heavies or Sentry Guns.
• Remember that your scare taunt has an extremely limited range. Only go for the scare taunt when you are very close to an enemy.
• Also remember that you are not immune to push-back by weapons and Sentry Guns. Be sure to take out Pyros who can easily airblast you into a corner for the duration of your ÜberCharge.
• Sentry Guns are the HARDEST things that Vagineer can encounter. Due to the fact that your scare taunt has a limited range, and because you cannot effectively disable Sentry Guns, always go for Engineers first, especially in maps such as Granary where the Engineer can build on top of the boxes.
• Superjump can also be used when you run, but only in the leap.

Boss Model Application Method

Saxton Hale is a fully rigged (full skeleton) model that is then attached to the Soldier class via the head bone named "bip_head". This is in effect mimicking the process in which hat models attach.

Due to hat models usually only having one bone, they stay in one place, the Saxton Hale model however (having a fully rigged bone structure) automatically maps to the bones of the same name across the body of the relevant class. Then, using SourceMod (required to run VS Saxton Hale), the Soldier model is forced to become completely transparent by making the opacity of his texture to be "0" using built in commands. The same applies to each class and boss character model used in the mod.

Bugs

• Due to the nature in which the class models are forced to become transparent, occasionally SourceMod will fail to execute the command correctly, thus causing the attached boss model and the class currently being played, to be visible at the same time.

Trivia

• This mode is similar to PwnShop's One.VS.All mod. However the two plugins were developed independently by different authors, using different methods.

External Links

• Random Fortress Forum
• Official group
• Relevant SPUF thread
• Mode Credits
• News on Kotaku.com