Gold Rush Update

This article is for content released in the update. For the patch itself, see April 29, 2008 Patch.

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This update will also mark the beginning of the most significant change we'll be making to Team Fortress 2 over the next year. Beginning first with the medic, players will be able to earn three unique items by earning some or all of the new Medic achievements coming in this update. These three unique items will allow players to have new choices as to how they play the class, as well as have a new impact and benefit to the team they play on. After this initial release we'll be quickly adding unique items for the remaining eight classes. — Goldrush Update Page

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The Gold Rush Update, also referred to as the Medic Update, was the first major content update for Team Fortress 2.

The update centered around the Medic as the first class to recieve three new weapons that provided alternate means of gameplay. Alongside the introduction of these weapons, the Character Info and Loadout system was implemented to allow players to equip the different weapons that would come in later updates.

The update also detailed the introduction of the new Payload gamemode, the related titular map Gold Rush, and the release of Meet the Scout. Numerous improvements and additions were also included.

The update was released in the April 29, 2008 Patch.

Additions

Weapons

Medic		Blutsauger
		Kritzkrieg
		Ubersaw

Maps

Name	Picture	Game mode	File name
Gold Rush		Payload	pl_goldrush

Update progress

Setting a precedent for future content updates, the Gold Rush Update revealed all aspects on the day of release. Explanation was given for the new major additions to the game, as well as justifications concerning player experience.

Trivia

• Medic was chosen to be the first class to receive an update due to criticism against the passive role players would often find themselves in when using the class, as well as the fact that he was the least played class at the time. The release of this update saw the Medic rise to the third most played class in the game.
• Soon after the update, players could use console commands to automatically unlock all of the Medic weapons without unlocking any achievements. This was later fixed.
• The initial Medic weapons differed from their current incarnations:
  • The Blutsauger was released with the inability to deal critical hits as a negative attribute. This was replaced with the amount of health naturally regenerated by the Medic per second being reduced.
  • The Kritzkrieg only charged 10% faster than the default Medi Gun when it originally released. This number has since been increased to 25%.
  • The Übersaw was previously unlocked after earning all 39 Medic achievements. This has since been reduced, due to difficulty.

Update Gallery

• 

  The Gold Rush Update page

• 

  The Gold Rush Update showcard

External links

• Gold Rush Update page
• Meet the Scout