Holy Mackerel

“

Eat it, fatty! Click to listen — The Scout on his delectable weapon

”

The Holy Mackerel is a melee weapon for the Scout class. It appears as a fish wrapped in faded newspaper with a rubber band, shaped for easy handling.

This weapon has a smaller area spread than the default Bat, therefore enabling it to deal more damage. Additionally, being slapped by the fish is considered so humiliating that the kill list displayed in the HUD will record every connecting swipe, displaying the corresponding number of hits dealt. Should an enemy be killed by the Holy Mackerel, the kill feed will proclaim "FISH KILL!". It can apparently register an unlimited number of hits, yet will fade out at around 25 of them. The taunt for the Holy Mackerel is the same as the Scout's Bat.

Damage

See also: Damage

• Base: 35 (32 to 39 damage)
• Mini-Crit: 47
• Critical hit: 105

Damages are approximate and determined by community testing.

Function times

• Attack Interval: 0.5

All times are in seconds. Times are approximate and determined by community testing.

Item set

Main article: Item sets

The Special Delivery
	Shortstop Mad Milk Holy Mackerel Milkman
Effect	Leave a Calling Card on your victims

Blueprint

Sandman		Reclaimed Metal		Holy Mackerel
	+		=

Previous Changes

• Because of the way Holy Mackerel hits are logged, achievements and stats systems (such as PsychoStats or HLStatsX) would register every hit as a full kill for the attacker and a death for the victim. This made achievements such as A Year To Remember and Doctoring The Ball easier to accomplish. This was fixed in the October 6, 2010 Patch.

Trivia

• Based on its appearance and the creator's information, the fish is an Atlantic mackerel or Boston Mackerel, a reference to the Scout's heritage.
• The Holy Mackerel is a Level 42 Fish. 42 is a reference to Douglas Adams' book series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, in which 42 is considered to be the answer to "life, The Universe, and everything." 42 has become a popular internet meme.
  • A further Douglas Adams reference, besides 42, is the book So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish.
• It is hinted by the creator's entry to the Polycount Contest that the weapon may be a reference to the Monty Python skit "The Fish Slapping Dance."
• The Mackerel has jigglebones, causing it to bend and wobble as it moves. It moves and wiggles in the first person view based on how the wielder moves. Turning to the left or to the right will twist the upper half of the fish. Furthermore, when the fish is dropped it still moves.
• The mirrored version of this weapon (enabled with the "Flip viewmodels" tickbox under Multiplayer > Advanced) currently has a bug that makes it look like it has been turned inside out. [1]
• When hitting a Spy who has the Dead Ringer activated, the kill icon does not come up, unlike other weapons triggering the Dead Ringer effect. This can be used as an easier way to detect Dead Ringer Spies.
• When being healed by a Medic, every slap counts as an assist for the Medic.

Gallery

• Holy Mackerel 1st person cropped.png

  1st person view.

• 

  Full 1st person view.

See also

• Bat Strategy