Items
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Items in Team Fortress 2 refer to objects that players can use and collect within the game world. With some exceptions, weapons are the only type of item in the game to directly influence gameplay; all other items exist for cosmetic purposes.
Contents
Types
There are five types of items:
Obtaining items
There are currently multiple ways to obtain items in Team Fortress 2.
Item drop system
The most common way to obtain items is through the item drop system. This system assigns random times during gameplay for the player to obtain an item. When received, the item is placed in the player's backpack and the game displays the newly earned item on screen.
Store
Items can also be bought directly from the Mann Co. Store for money from the player's Steam Wallet. Introduced with the Mann-Conomy Update, the store does not promote any 'pay-to-win' gameplay, instead providing players an alternate way of earning items instead of waiting for them to drop, crafting, or trading for them. Creators of community-contributed items receive a percentage of sales for their creations.
Items bought from the Mann Co. Store are typically neither tradable nor usable in crafting (with the exception of some tools such as the Paint Can). However, using the Gift Wrap item available from the Store on another item will enable it to be traded to other players.
Crates
Items can also be obtained from Mann Co. Supply Crates. A Mann Co. Supply Crate Key can be purchased from the Mann Co. Store and be used with a Mann Co. Supply Crate to give you an item. All items received from a Mann Co. Supply Crate are tradable and it is the only way to obtain an unusual hat.
Crafting
Items can also be created through the Team Fortress 2 crafting system. This allows players to craft unwanted or duplicate items (such as weapons) into other items like hats or crafting metal.
To create items, the player must use 'blueprints'. Initially, certain blueprints are made available to all players to be used, but other specific blueprints must be found by players through experimentation. If a player attempts to craft specific items together that does not match a blueprint, no new item will be crafted and the ingredients will remain in the player's backpack.
Gifting
Items can be received from other players on the server through gifting. The Gift Wrap tool allows a specific item to be traded to other players (including offline players). The Secret Saxton and Pile o' Gifts tools, when purchased, drop random items to players currently in the server.
Trading
The trading system enables an in-game interface for players to swap items for other items.
Promotional
Hats, Miscellaneous items and weapon reskins have been released as promotional offers for other Steam games including Template:W, Template:W, Template:W, Template:W, and Template:W.
Events
There are several event-specific items such as the Mildly Disturbing Halloween Mask, Halloween Masks, Golden Wrench or Gentle Manne's Service Medal that can only be obtained at specific times.
Community Contribution
Community items are distributed manually by Valve to reward extraordinary community contributions. Historically, these items have been awarded to users for submitting outstanding maps or models (via the Contribution page), for assisting Valve in language translation or locating bugs or exploits within the engine. Community items were also awarded in other circumstances, as well; self-made item versions are given to players who create an item that enters the game (via the Contribution page, or through a contest such as the Art Pass Contest), and the Wiki Cap was released to players who have proven to be valuable contributors to the Team Fortress Wiki.
Item characteristics
Levels
Every item in Team Fortress 2 is either assigned a specific level or a random one. Hats are assigned random levels (with a few exceptions) while weapons are assigned specific levels depending on the weapon. Metal, tools, and action items are also assigned specific levels.
Levels are a purely cosmetic feature and have no actual impact on gameplay. An example of this being a cosmetic feature is the levels on the hats released during the Scream Fortress update, which are all level 31, representing the day that Halloween falls on (October 31st). Weapons also formerly had unique levels but this too is completely cosmetic.
Rarity
Item rarity is a cosmetic feature that is included in all backpack items. It is assigned based on when and how the item was obtained and is identified by the colour of the item name when viewed in game or from within the backpack. For example, a stock weapon such as the Scattergun are of the 'normal' rarity (grey), and unique items such as Horsemann's Headtaker are of the 'unique' prefix (purple).
Attributes
Attributes are strings and values attached to an item that determine their effects. An attribute can be neutral, positive, or negative. A negative attribute is one that is harmful to the user, a positive attribute is one that is beneficial, and a neutral attribute is one that is neither negative or positive but more of an alternative behavior.
A full list of item attributes can be found here.
Customization
The Paint Can tool can be used to alter the color scheme of items in the game. Currently, the paint can only be applied to hats, but Valve has not ruled out extending the ability to weapons in the future.[1]
The Name Tag and Description Tag tools enable the player to alter standard item names and descriptions and apply their own custom names and descriptions to be visible to other players.
Backpack
The backpack is where items are stored, and can be used by players to equip items for play in the Loadout menu. The backpack has a limited capacity of 200 slots, so it may be necessary to destroy, trade or craft duplicates in order to make room for new weapons or items. The backpack can also toggle the display of stock weapons on the screen. Backpack items can be sorted into a certain order according to Class, Loadout Slot, etc.
The capacity was originally a single page that stored 50 items. The capacity was doubled to 2 pages, a capacity of 100 items, on September 15, 2009. It was doubled again to 4 pages, a capacity of 200 items, on September 30, 2010 with the release of the Mann-Conomy Update.
Every item in the backpack will make a sound when moved; when picked up and when dropped. Most guns, metal, and wooden items share the same sounds, but some items have unique sound effects. For example, moving Ze Goggles will make a sound that sounds like the goggles turning on and off, and Noise Makers will play their sound effects.
References
External links
- All Item Types on TF2 Backpack Examiner – displaying all items currently present in the game (collected from the WebAPI schema)
- All Items on optf2.com – displays the same list with more detailed information (collected using the same method)
