Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

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Idjit
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Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

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VSH Guide:

(Small Disclaimer: a majority of this post will be my own opinions, based on my gameplay experiences and observations. They may differ from yours, and if you think something should be changed, feel free to tell me in the comments)

Hey there guys, Idjit here. Given that I've been playing VSH for a while, I decided I'll try my hands at a guide for VSH. The guide is going to include an overview of each class, popular load outs, and some helpful tips and tricks to hopefully boost everyone's overall gameplay. The underlying objective I'm reaching for in this lid out is viability throughout the stages of a VSH match, from the Start to being the Last man alive. I will also include a bit of an in depth guide to each of the Hales, some more tips and tricks, and at the end a list of some of the more useful commands. So without further a do, here's my VSH guide:

Scout:

Now, Contrary to popular belief, Scout can be a very high damage dealing class. It seems a lot of the scouts on the VSH server prefer to act as a general annoyance, which, while sometimes helpful, is overall less effective than dealing damage. There are two types of scouts that excel at dealing damage. These methods of dealing damage will be called Crit Scouts, or Goomba Scouts.

Crit Scouts:

Load out:
Shortstop, Crit-A-Cola, Atomizer/Sandman

Utilization/Objective: Stay out of reach of the hale, chipping away with your primary. Focus on Taunting for Crits, or drinking Crit-A-Cola, for maximum damage.

Now, it's debatable as to whether you'd like to use the Shortstop, or the Scattergun in your primary. I recommend the Shortstop for a few reasons. One, being the range of a Shortstop is far superior, Hitting for a 144 Crit from pistol ranges. The Stock Scattergun cannot compete in the range department, meaning that overall the Shortstop will deal more damage, while keeping you more safe. The Shortstop is also better in terms of reloading. The scattergun reloads one shot at a time, While the shortstop reloads your entire clip. If you have a full clip in your Shortstop, you can fire 12 Shots before a Crit-A-Cola boost runs out, or 8 Shots after gauging for Crits. Compare this to a Scattergun's Potential 8-9 shots with Crit-A-Cola, and the winner becomes apparent. It should also be noted that since a majority of the pellets within your shot are hitting, the knock back is much greater on the shortstop. It is possible to fully stunt a Hale's super jump (Depleting all the forward momentum of the jump) with a single shot, making it very good at disrupting a jumping Hale.

Crit-A-Cola has two functionalities within this set: Escape, and Crits (Obviously). Quite a few people seem to overlook the fact that the Crit-A-Cola gives a speed boost, along with Crits. This means that if you are the last man standing, you still have functionality. You have the ability to escape faster than you normally would should you be rolling out with Crit-A-Cola. Also, quite obviously, you get Crits, which can be used to chip away at Hale's HP.

For Melee weapons, I suggest either using the Atomizer, or the Sandman. The Sandman is used for stunning hale, making for easier shots. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. DO NOT MELEE HALE AFTER HITTING HIM WITH YOUR SANDMAN. You have a gun, and using that gun with Crits will deal a helluva lot more damage than your Melee. It's safer, and It allows for other classes who need to Melee hale to do their thing: I.E. Spy and Demoknight. Or, If you choose to pick the Atomizer, use it for mobility purposes. It should be noted that you don't want to be jumping straight over Hale's head. If hale jumps, he will be able to hit you should you try and triple jump over his head. An experienced hale won't fall for the ledge trick, either. If you jump off of the edge of a high place, then use your remaining two jumps to get to the ground safely. Jumping just before you touch the ground will negate all fall damage, so remember that.

Goomba Scout:

Load out:
Force-A-Nature/Soda Popper, Your preference of a secondary, Atomizer/Melee.

Utilization/Objective: Just step on his head. Seriously, Just, Jump on his head from a decent height.

As stated above, your goal is to step on the Hale's head, and then escape. You become somewhat vulnerable when going for Goombas, as Hale will know exactly where you're going to land. I suggest trying to Goomba hale when he wont expect it. An example of hale not expecting a Goomba would be on FortDesk, Should a scout jump from the stack of books onto his head. An example of Hale expecting a Goomba would be on Crevice, when using the lift. So, pick your fights, or jumps, appropriately, to catch Hale by surprise. Use the Soda Popper and Force-A-Nature to jump to higher locations, and catch hale by surprise, or use them for escape. These two guns are normally superior to the others in both of these categories, so pick one or the other if you want to Goomba.

Picking a secondary isn't all too big a deal, so pick whichever you're comfortable with. Just remember that the goal is to evade hale and wait until he isn't expecting anything, and Goomba him. Shooting him will alert him to your presence, and general location. Giving a way your Goomba could spell death, so try and avoid that.

Melee isn't all too big a deal either, the Atomizer is good for a triple jump, which will give you an escape after getting your Goomba, or it allows you to jump further, getting Goombas that would normally be out of your reach. So, use the triple jump wisely. Alternatively, You can use the Sandman to stun Hale and make him an easier target for a Goomba. The choice is yours, but these two are what you want to decide between.

Soldier:

Soldier is a somewhat underplayed class in VSH, compared to other classes. It's a very versatile class, though, if you use Taunt Crits and positioning to your advantage. A good soldier can easily deal heaps of damage, protect teammates, and survive long throughout the round. Load outs for soldier are going to involve either the Battalion's Backup, or the Gunboats. I'll call these either the Tank or the Escape Artist. Both of these load outs are very viable, and very good.

Tank Build:

Load out:
Direct Hit, Battalion's Backup, Half Zatoichi.

Utilization/Objective: Deal Damage until your Backup is charged. Use the Backup, and rush Hale with the Half Zatoichi.

Now, The Direct hit isn't really the main part of this load out. The reason I choose this launcher is for the Airshot Minicrits, and the fact that it will charge your Backup fastest of the rocket launchers. Landing some solid hits will charge your banner in no time, since charge is based off of damage dealt.

The Battalion's Backup is the first punch in this one-two combo. The Backup gives you an extra 20 Health, allowing for more rocket jumps, and to survive a single one of Hale's hits. Activating the banner gives you and surrounding teammates a damage reduction, which is incredibly good. Using this will trivialize Hale's normally devastating punch. Hale will normally deal 202 damage with each punch, one hitting a majority of the classes. Activating the Battalion's Backup knocks that damage down to a whopping 35, meaning that every class can now survive multiple hits from Hale. You can use this banner before Hale Rages in order to give your teammates more survivability, or use it to lead a rush against the Hale. Using this with a couple Demoknights nearby makes for a great chunk of damage being dealt, or it can be used in coordination with Spies to make for a great combo. A single back stab gives hale rage, but as long as the banner is active, the spies may survive a few hits. This keeps a pivotal member of your team alive, while getting damage done. You should also try and do a little bit of a complex jump near the end of your Backup's charge, based on your HP. If the Backup's duration is about to end, let Hale hit you, and Jump as he is about to do it. This will send you very far, as Hale has a great deal of force behind his Melee hit. This makes for a quick escape, without using ammo and losing less health. The timing of this is difficult, so it may not be recommended for inexperienced players.

The Half Zatoichi is part two of this Combo. Each Melee hit grants health back to the player, 75 if I'm not mistaken. This means that as long as you trade Melee hits with hale, and that your Battalion's Backup is active, you will not lose HP. Any time you take damage, you will gain it back with your hit. This allows for you to deal a great chunk of damage, even by yourself, while barely risking your survivability. Do note that honor bound is still a downside, though, so you if you take out your Zatoichi, you NEED to get at least one Melee hit, or you will make yourself into a sitting duck. Landing hits will allow you to deal fantastic damage, though, and even heal after rocket jumping.

Escape Artist:

Load out:
Liberty Launcher, Gunboats, Escape plan.

In all honesty, the Primary weapon is personal preference. I recommend the Liberty Launcher due to the reduced rocket jump damage, as pairing this with the gunboats means you can rocket jump for days. The damage reduction won't make too much of a difference, as you'll be dealing most of your damage with Taunt Crits.

The gunboats trivialize both your initial Rocket Jump damage, and your fall damage taken. This allows for huge amounts of mobility across the map, without putting you in much danger. Use this to get to higher places, and to escape hale when need be. It is also recommended to attempt Goomba Stomps, given your high mobility and easy escapes. This is your choice, however, as either way deals a good amount of damage.

Should your health ever get too low, then you can whip out the Escape plan to keep on moving. If your health is low enough, below around 20 HP, you will move as fast or faster than Hale. This means you can continuously escape, so long as you watch out for his super jump. The Marked for Death aspect of this weapon makes no real difference, as Hale will 1 Hit kill you anyways.

Pyro:

Pyro is probably the least played class in this game mode, at the very least by experienced players. Normally, when you see a Pyro, they are constantly air blasting the Hale, which is not recommended. Air blasting the hale gives rage, which is not what you want to be doing. There's only two loud outs I would recommend for Pyro, and they play relatively the same.

The one true load out:

Load out:
Degreaser, Flaregun/Reserve Shooter, Back Scratcher/Powerjack

The degreaser is going to be your staple for switching to weapons quickly, allowing you to make either a quick escape with your Flaregun, or get a cheeky hit with your Melee. The stock Flamethrower really doesn't allow for the same versatility, making it a bit worse. The heightened air blast cost may seem a little frightening, but it serves to remind you that air blasting is not your means of attack. Remember to use this only when Hale is close, to maximize damage. Always light Hale on fire before air blasting, as well.

The reserve shooter should be used after air blasting hale, or just as a ranged attack. It will Minicrit as long as hale is in the air, meaning that you can deal a decent amount of damage. It can be used to push back an airborne Hale, or to just chip away at his health. The Flaregun can be used instead, however. The Flaregun will deal Minicrits to a burning target, and allow you to do a very insane detonator jump. The jump allows you to jump at the same height of a Soldier's rocket jump, making for a very good escape tool. This can also be used to deal damage from a range. Just make sure to watch how far hale is before detonator jumping, as it makes you pretty vulnerable until you're airborne. (Note: To detonator jump, just treat it like a rocket jump.)

The Melee is a mix between either the Powerjack, or the Back scratcher. I would pair the power jack with the reserve shooter, to serve as a bit of an escape tool, due to that increased movement speed. It should be noted, however, that the movement speed does not make you much faster, so you cannot rely purely on that movement speed. The Backscratcher should be paired with the Flaregun, as the damage you take will be negated by the extra health from health pickups. You gain 52 Health from a Small health pack, 132 from a Medium, and max health from a Large. This means that maps with a scarce amount of health do no affect your gameplay all too much. Do remember that medics will heal you more slowly, though.

Demoman:

The Demoman has two decently distinct gameplay styles, using either a large amount of sticky traps, or using the Shield and becoming a Demoknight. Personally, I recommend a hybrid of the two. I recommend either using the Grenade Launcher, Shield, and Eyelander, or the Boots, the Stickybomb Launcher, and the Eyelander. These two classes I'll call Offensive, and Risk/Reward.

Offensive:

Load out:
Preferred Grenade Launcher, Tide Turner, Eyelander

Utilization/Objective. Play cautiously, getting Melee hits and Grenade shots in when you can. After getting four heads with the Eyelander, become more aggressive.

Using your preferred grenade launcher is an important part of this build working. For example, since I prefer the faster projectile speed of the Loch n Load, I use that. The goal of using a Grenade Launcher is to "Juggle" Hale, which is a term used by most Soldier/Demo mains, Juggling means landing consecutive hits with your grenades, which launches your enemy into the air. Doing this makes them a much easier target, and allows for chain shots of damage. Juggling properly also allows you to put a good amount of distance between you and the Hale, as they will be stuck mid air while you're free to run away. It should also be mentioned that you can Grenade jump off of Hale, or in general. A grenade has a 3 second fuse, Meaning that if you shoot it at the ground and stop it from rolling, you can jump with the explosion to simulate rocket jumping. Alternatively, if you don't have three seconds or Hale is nearby, you can jump off of Hale. Run at the Hale, and once you are within Melee range, jump and shoot the Hale. The explosion will push you far enough away to be relatively safe from Hale, making for a decent getaway if Hale gets the jump on you.

The Tide Turner is a key part of this set. using a Tide Turner gives you full time Crits for both your primary and Melee weapon, meaning you will deal very large amounts of damage with it. The Tide Turner has the most mobility of any shield, allowing you to turn corners and make quick getaways. Which brings us to the use of the shield. Too many times, I've seen Demoknights charge directly at Hale, Only to get their hopes, dreams, shield, and face crushed, in that order. The shield allows you to take one Melee hit from Hale, without dealing any damage to you. This means that your shield is a pretty valuable asset. Losing it is not the end of the world, but it is a pretty big blow to your overall effectiveness. The shield should be used as an escape tool, until you have at least 4 Melee hits. This will ensure your safety up until the special threshold.

Now, I've mentioned 4 Melee hits a few times, and for good reason. the main feature of the Eyelander, is that with each kill, it gives you a head. Heads increase movement speed, and overall health. In this game mode, you gain a head for every Melee hit you get. Now, after getting four Melee hits, your speed will no longer be increased, and you will gain an overhead of 15 Health. BUT, the key part of this weapon is, after getting 4 Melee hits, you can run as fast as Hale, and you can survive one Melee hit from Hale. This means that your survivability will increase drastically. It allows you to tank a Melee hit and survive, move as fast as hale, and become overall more effective. This weapon also has more range than Hale, meaning that you can effectively damage Hale at Melee range while he cannot fight back. It should also be noted that string a Melee hit while you're missing Health restores your health, 15 at a time. Not recommended as a way to heal, but works if your Melee fighting skills are up to snuff.

Risk Reward:

Load out:
Booties, Sticky Bomb Launcher, Eyelander.

The booties are important to this set, as after you get 4 Heads, you will move faster than Hale. This means you can effectively outrun hale, which throws us right into the next weapon.

The Sticky Bomb launcher is a very versatile weapon, and is very useful to this set. The reason why I call this load out the Risk Reward, though, Is that you have no shield. You lose a huge escape mechanism, an you cannot survive a hit from Hale until at least your second Melee hit. This means you need to play very cautiously, unless you have a pocket medic. After your 4th head, though, you become a force to be reckoned with. Taunting for Crits allows you to shoot four sticky bombs that will deal critical damage. You can use this to make sticky traps around corners, dealing massive damage to Hale should he walk into it. You can also "Spam" your stickies, shooting them at Hale and immediately detonating them. To effectively do this, lead your shot by a decent amount, so that by the time the stickies are armed, Hale will be on top of them. I recommend sticky spamming once you are the last person alive, and using traps until you have reached the point of being the last one standing. The Damage your launcher can put out is ridiculous, it all just depends on getting those initial heads.

Eyelander: See Above.

Heavy:

The Heavy is another rather underplayed class in this game mode. He can tank a few hits from Hale, but really excels with a Medic. A very common, and the most recommended tactic, is to partner up with a medic. Find a room that is small, and has only one exit. Wait until hale enters the room, and have the medic pop Über. After popping Über, Have the medic block the doorway. Then, lay into the Hale. Heavies can deal a solid 5 Thousand damage with a single Über, should their aim be good enough.

Load out:

Mini gun of your choosing, Sandvich, Gloves of Running Urgently/Killing Gloves of Boxing

Since a majority of the Heavy's role was explained above, this section will be rather short. Pick whichever Minigun you prefer, Brass Beast for most damage. use your Sandvich to heal yourself, or your allies in case they need it. Use the GoRU or the KGoB to run away from hale, as these gloves give you increased movement speed. These gloves do not let you run faster than Hale, and WILL deplete your health over time. Be careful with them, and use them to move quickly to your choke point location. Also, take out the gloves if you are being healed by a medic. This will build their Über faster, and it will not kill you.

Engineer:

The Engineer is one of the more complicated classes to play in this mode, and if played properly, can deal good chunks of damage. However, the Engineer can also be played poorly, and as a result can lead to some pretty frustrating rounds. Engineers excel at the ability to deny areas, and deal damage over time. You have a decent amount of versatility, and with the right knowledge can cause a good amount of havoc. The two types of sentries, Level Three and Mini-Sentry, are also the basis of the two load outs.

Level Three sentry:

Load Out:

Rescue Ranger, Pistol, Jag

The recommended use for the Rescue Ranger is to heal your buildings after they've been hit by rage. Doing this will allow you to save your metal, which means you can build more in the future. You can also use the Rescue Ranger to move your buildings around, which can make for an easy getaway and for saving time building. Saving a Dispenser allows you to build much faster, which could mean saving your life.

The pistol is a fantastic sidearm, given full crits. your pistol uses full crits at all times, dealing 45 damage at all ranges. This can be spammed very easily for solid amounts of damage, with little risk to yourself. The pistol should be what you use most often, alongside your sentry, for good measure.

The Jag is what you'll want to be using as your melee. It builds faster, deploys, faster upgrade times, and faster healing. It has no downsides when compared to the other wrench, meaning that it should be your choice of weapon.

Sentry placement is important when it comes to being Engineer. It is important to put your sentry in a relatively open area, so you can deal a good amount of damage.

Medic:

The Medic is a key part of a successful Hale round, allowing people to survive Rages through Über, giving Crits to the heavy hitting classes, or to just keep the team alive with healing.

Spy:

The Spy excels in dealing large chunks of damage very quickly with a backstab. Getting a backstab will immediately give Hale rage, which can be very dangerous, however placing yourself properly, clocking after backstabbing, or making a quick escape, can lead to over 9000 Damage round after round.

Sniper:

Pew Pew.

That concludes the 9 Classes, and so we will move onto the four Hales in this game mode. Each Hale plays relatively similar to the others, aside from a few differentiating factors.

Saxon Hale:
The first Hale ever created, and the original Boss for the game mode, Saxton Hale isn't to be messed with. Saxton has two abilities, Superjump and Rage. Saxton Hale can Superjump by holding down the Right Mouse Button. (I recommend using this over holding down shift as you will go higher and farther by using the Right Mouse Button) this will allow Hale to move quickly around the map, Reach targets normally out of reach, and dodge incoming rockets, projectiles, or players. Rage is used by calling out for medic, normally bound to the E button. Doing this stuns all players who are within range, as if they ran into the ghost found on the Halloween event maps. This lowers all player's movement speed, removes their ability to shoot weapons, and presents them from jumping. Rage will also disable the Engineer's Sentry and Minisentry, making them much easier to deal with.

Christian Brutal Sniper:

The Christian Brutal Sniper is the second Boss on this list. He behaves very similarly to Saxton Hale, aside from two factors: his rage, and the amount of knock back he takes. When the Christian brutal sniper rages, He stuns all people within a very close range to him, and gains a bow. He gets one arrow in the quiver, and an extra arrow for every living player on the Red team. This Bow draws very quickly, charges very quickly, and does not reduce the Christian Brutal Sniper's movement speed. it should be noted that this bow does an average of 197 Damage on body shot, so be mindful of this when choosing your targets. Also remember to keep an eye out behind you when using the bow, as that is normally the time other classes such as the Spy may attack. The other changed factor is Knockback. The Christian Brutal Sniper takes a large amount of Knockback, meaning that he gets launched further by explosives, air blast, and guns with Knockback, such as the Force-A-Nature. Make sure to keep this in mind, and try not to charge head first into combat. You may end up just taking a large amount of damage without getting anywhere. Instead, try to Superjump around the map, attempting to land next to enemies and giving them little time to react.

The Vagineer:

Very aptly named, this Hale is similar to Saxton in all aspects aside from Rage. When the Vagineer rages, he gains Über. This Über is very useful for taking out large amounts of enemies, as you take very little Knockback and are invulnerable. One of the few things that can knock you back is a Pyro's air blast, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing. When a Pyro Airblasts you, it extends the duration of your Über, meaning you are invulnerable for a longer amount of time. You can use this to your advantage, making unaware Pyros airblast you, giving you a longer duration.

The Horseless Headless Horseman JR

Referred to as HHH, or "That piece of shit Hale no one wants", HHH is somewhat similar to Hale, aside from a few factors. HHH moves slower than Hale, making it frustrating for the HHH to catch certain classes, like the Scout. HHH also lacks the ability to Superjump. Instead, HHH gains the ability to teleport, although much less frequently. The teleport allows you to appear inside of a random player, temporarily stunning you. However, once this stun wears off, you are free to move around and kill your targets. HHH rages the same as Hale, but has a greater Melee range due to his weapon of choice. This means you can get kills you normally cannot get.

If anyone would like a more in depth explanation of my choices, or wants to talk about certain classes and their uses, hop on the VSH server. I'm on quite frequently, and would love to hear your ideas.

Note: the guide is unfinished for now, I'm writing this on the road. Once I am back home, I'll correct any mathematical mistakes, and include some more in depth views on classes. I will also finish the remaining three classes, as they require a bit more depth in terms of their gameplay.
Last edited by Idjit on Thu May 12, 2016 2:32 am, edited 4 times in total.
Fire wrote:Funny but don't post this stupid shit.
MrRocketBoots wrote:Completely understandable, I did overlook that. Apologies, Thanks for you time none the less.
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Tornado123
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Re: Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

Post by Tornado123 »

This looks really good, Idjit. If i think of anything that you might miss i will talk to you about it through steam.
Last edited by Tornado123 on Tue May 10, 2016 8:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Idjit
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Re: Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

Post by Idjit »

Thanks Man, Appreciatenit. I still have a good bit of work to do for the last four classes, with them being as complex as they are in some areas.
Fire wrote:Funny but don't post this stupid shit.
MrRocketBoots wrote:Completely understandable, I did overlook that. Apologies, Thanks for you time none the less.
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Re: Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

Post by Tornado123 »

Idjit wrote:Thanks Man, Appreciatenit. I still have a good bit of work to do for the last four classes, with them being as complex as they are in some areas.

Yeah ik what you mean
Last edited by Tornado123 on Tue May 10, 2016 8:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

Post by Charizard »

I'm not sure if this counts as one of the Engineers, but I've been using an Offensive strat for Engineer.

Loadout: Frontier Justice, Short Circuit, Gunslinger.

I usually use this loadout if the map does not have any clever spots for Engineer. I only recommend this loadout if you don't mind getting single raged. Anyway, you place an amp/dispenser somewhere to support the heavies while you go out and hunt for the hale. So this is basically a support/offensive type of engineer. Place your mini sentry near crowds where hale will go to most of the time. When your mini sentry hits the hale, you get 3 revenge crits, so you don't have to taunt for crits or rely on your sentry for damage. Use your right click to activate your Short Circuit to support the Spies for easy back stabs. This happens because The Short Circuit stuns hale for a couple of seconds. This is an advantage because the hale can't attack for a couple of seconds and your team can get some damage in during those seconds. Note that you lose metal while you use this secondary. So I recommend staying close to your dispenser or an ammo crate at all times.
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Re: Somewhat In-Depth VSH Guide

Post by Odie »

I don't like the way you dismiss the pyro, he can be a great asset to sentry nests and protecting raged teammates in general. It takes someone experienced of course but when an engie for example gets raged, I'm always not too far away ready to flaregun jump to the rescue. That and I have seen wombo combo pyros do substantial damage to hale.
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