Equalizer
Template:Targeted Template:Weapon infobox
| “ | Get close enough to death, and you will become Death himself.
— Equalizer publicity blurb
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” |
The Equalizer is the unlockable melee weapon for the Soldier. It is simply a worn handheld pickaxe, leading to it often being named 'the Pickaxe'.
Uniquely, this weapon has a damage potential that is inversely proportional to the player's current health, dealing low damage at high health and high damage at low health. This can make the player vastly powerful, able to destroy buildings in two hits if at low heath. Additionaly, the speed of the wielding Soldier is also inversely proportional to the his health, his movement speed increasing the more he is hurt. Medics cannot heal a Soldier who is holding out his Equalizer. For its Critical hit animation, the Soldier swings the Equalizer in a backhand fashion, attacking with the sharp end. This animation is identical to the Shovel.
Taunting with the Equalizer will undertake the Soldier's Kamikaze kill taunt.
Contents
Damage
Scales inversely with health. Approximately 113.7 − 0.81x (113.7 minus 0.405x), where x is the amount of health the player currently has as a percentage of their max health, with a minimum of 33 when the player is at or above 100% health, and a maximum of 113 (before random damage and Critical hits).
| Health range | Damage | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 100.5%-150% | 33 | |
| 60.5%-100% | 65 | Base damage of Shovel |
| 50.5%-100 | 73 | |
| 25.5%-50% | 93 | |
| 0.5%-25% | 113 |
Speed
Speed values are based on player's current health. For reference, the standard movement speed is 100% which is 300 velocity units per second, the speed of the Spy, Sniper, Engineer and Pyro, whilst the Scout moves at 400v (33% above the standard movement speed).
| Health range | Speed (units per second) | Relative speed increase | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80.5%-150% | 240 | 0% | |
| 60.5%-80% | 264 | 10% | |
| 40.5%-60% | 288 | 20% | Faster than Demoman |
| 20.5%-50% | 336 | 40% | Faster than Medic |
| 0.5%-20% | 384 | 60% |
Function times
- Attack Interval: 0.8
All times are in seconds. Times are approximate and determined by community testing.
Related Achievements
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Previous Changes
- Reduced the damage bonus the Equalizer receives as the player loses health
- The speed boost was not changed
As a Crafting Ingredient
| Equalizer | Eyelander | Homewrecker | ||
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+ | 
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= | 
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Trivia
- Before becoming an official weapon, the Equalizer was first thought of by community members Tom Francis and jibberish. These users were to receive unique version of the weapon called "The Great Equalizer"[1], however, they are currently labeled as "Community Equalizers."
- Based on the hidden Poopy Joe page on the WAR! Update, the Equalizer was originally a pickaxe issued to American Monkeynaut Poopy Joe for him to "pierce the Vault of Heaven itself" before it was acquired by Mann Co. in entirely innocent circumstances.
- A Spy who is disguised as a Soldier with the Equalizer will not move faster than default Soldier speed, regardless of the Spy's fake health display or actual health. Furthermore, Medics will also be able to heal the disguised Spy.
- Despite the fact that Medics cannot heal Soldiers with the Equalizer active, which is a negative attribute, the trait is listed as blue in the backpack and therefore indicated as a positive attribute, perhaps because a Medic's healing would nullify The Equalizer's low-health speed and damage bonus.
Gallery
- Equalizer 1st person cropped.png
1st person view.
Full 1st person view.
See also
External links
