Holy Mackerel

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Tired of people telling you what you can or cannot use as a weapon? Those days are over! This fish is PURE ACTION!
Holy Mackerel publicity blurb

The Holy Mackerel is a community-made melee weapon for the Scout. It is a fish, presumably a mackerel, wrapped in faded newspaper and tied with a rubber band. The end of the newspaper is shaped for easy handling. The Festive version replaces the newspaper with gift wrap, and places five small, team-colored lights around the handle, as well as one large one in the fish's mouth. While the Scout is moving, the Holy Mackerel will bend around, depending on your direction.

The Holy Mackerel is identical to the default Bat. However, every successful hit by the weapon on another player will be announced in the kill feed, showing the weapon's icon in addition to the number of times the victim has been slapped recently. Upon killing a player, the kill feed will replace this number with the message "FISH KILL!" alongside the icon.

The kill feed will not register hits or announce "FISH KILL!" on non-player objects such as buildings or bosses.

The kill icon for the Holy Mackerel was contributed by Template:Steam profile link.

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Identical to: Bat
Damage and function times
Damage
Base damage 100% 35
Point blank 30-40
Critical 105
Mini-crit 40-54
Function times
Attack interval 0.5 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Item set

Main article: Item sets
The Special Delivery
Backpack The Special Delivery Bundle.png
Effect

Leave a Calling Card on your victims

Demonstration

Crafting

See also: Crafting

Blueprint

Sandman Reclaimed Metal Holy Mackerel
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Holy Mackerel.png
Class Token - Scout Slot Token - Melee Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Scout.png + Item icon Slot Token - Melee.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Sandman.png Item icon Holy Mackerel.png Item icon Boston Basher.png Item icon Candy Cane.png
Item icon Sun-on-a-Stick.png Item icon Fan O'War.png Item icon Three-Rune Blade.png Item icon Atomizer.png
Item icon Unarmed Combat.png Item icon Wrap Assassin.png Item icon Freedom Staff.png Item icon Ham Shank.png
Item icon Bat Outta Hell.png Item icon Conscientious Objector.png

As a crafting ingredient

Refined Metal Special Delivery weapon Milkman
Item icon Refined Metal.pngx4 + Item icon Shortstop.pngItem icon Mad Milk.pngItem icon Holy Mackerel.png = Item icon Milkman.png
Reclaimed Metal Holy Mackerel Gloves of Running Urgently Holiday Punch
Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png + Item icon Holy Mackerel.png + Item icon Gloves of Running Urgently.png = Item icon Holiday Punch.png

Strange variant


Update history

September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)
  • The Holy Mackerel was added to the game.

October 6, 2010 Patch

  • This weapon was altered to not display the hit message concerning disguised Spies.
  • Hitting someone with this weapon no longer counts as a kill, as this would cause problems with achievements and some statistics systems.
  • [Undocumented] This weapon will no longer add to the kill feed when hitting a building.

October 8, 2010 Patch

  • [Undocumented] This weapon was added to the crafting blueprint for the Milkman.

October 18, 2010 Patch

February 3, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the assister's name not being listed in the fish humiliation and kill notices.

February 14, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed this weapon's melee attack not destroying remote detonation pipes (Stickybombs).
  • Fixed players getting set bonuses applied on tournament servers when the server is restricting the player's weapons using the item_whitelist.

June 3, 2011 Patch

  • Added community contributed response rules to this weapon.

October 13, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Added Strange Quality.

January 11, 2012 Patch

  • [Undocumented] This item was added to the crafting blueprint for the Holiday Punch.

December 20, 2012 Patch (Mecha Update)

January 8, 2013 Patch

  • Fixed Festive Holy Mackerel not completing a set when equipped.

January 16, 2013 Patch

  • Fixed The Festive Holy Mackerel using the wrong sounds.

Bugs

  • The flipped viewmodel version of this weapon appears as if it has been turned inside out.
  • If you assist a fish kill, it will not be highlighted in your kill feed like your other kills and assists.
  • Due to a glitch with the jigglebones, this weapon's viewmodel will occasionally twist up, giving a deformed look.

Trivia

  • The Holy Mackerel's level, 42, is a reference to Douglas Adams' book series Template:W in which 42 is considered to be the answer to "the ultimate question of Life, The Universe, and Everything".
    • Two further references are the books Template:W, a title in the book series whose name was taken from a line in the original book, and Template:W, a posthumous collection of various essays and an unfinished novel written by Adams.
  • "Holy Mackerel!" is an expression of surprise found commonly in comedy TV shows, as well as cartoons and other children's TV shows.
  • The texture file of the Holy Mackerel reveals that the newspaper wrapped around the fish is named The Gravel Pit Gazette, alluding to the map Gravel Pit. The Gravel Pit Gazette was also the newspaper that advertised the Soldier vs. Demo conflict.
  • The melee weapon for the Special Delivery pack was originally a spiked bat named "Nail Biter" before being replaced by the Holy Mackerel.
  • The subtitle for this weapon's announcement in the Polycount pack (shown here) is a reference to the British comedy troupe Monty Python's sketch about a British ritual.
  • As part of a cross-promotion, the Holy Mackerel is available as a melee weapon in Alliance of Valiant Arms.
  • The holy mackerel counts up to 19 hits, excluding killing blows.

Gallery

See also