Team Fortress 2 Jungle Inferno update releases tomorrow | Patch notes, Mercenary Park, trailer
Team Fortress 2 still gets players, and despite being released over a decade ago now, it's getting a huge new update in the near future. The Jungle Inferno update is being slowly revealed, with the patch notes now up. Here's everything that's been revealed.
Campaign
Like many other Team Fortress 2 events, there's a campaign pass for this event which you can purchase. The Jungle Inferno Campaign Pass allows you to access 36 contracts which you can complete for rewards. Unlike other updates, these contracts are all available from day 1 of the update. For the first time, those in your party will be able to help out with contracts, making them easier to complete, too.
For completing a contract, you'll get a reward of either an item from the campaign or Blood Money. The full list of available items isn't out yet, but Blood Money can be used to War Paint or War Paint Cases
War Paint
What is War Paint? Well, it's a way to change how a weapon looks. Redeeming War Paint gets you "an entirely new patterned item," meaning it won't be used in conjunction with your existing arsenal. You're not limited by the weapons you already own, at least.
Patch notes
The Jungle Inferno update comes out tomorrow, October 21. The full patch notes are out, and they're incredibly long, affecting pretty much every class in Team Fortress 2. The Scout, Pyro, and Heavy have some really interesting changes, especially.
Pyro update
The Pyro is getting his own set of weapon for the Mercenary Park update, for a whole lot of added fire-related fun. The new weapons are going to be unlocked through contracts, although these contracts are free to everyone, not just those who purchase the campaign pass. Complete the six contracts, and get these new weapons (plus a new secondary weapon for the Heavy).
The Dragon's Fury
Pyro primary weapon
Powerful, single-shot flamethrower
Consecutive hits reduce reload time and deal increased damage
The Thermal Thruster
Pyro secondary weapon (actually a jetpack rather than a traditional secondary weapon)
Fires a short-duration blase
Deals 3x falling damage to anyone you land on
The Gas Passer
Pyro secondary weapon
Creates a horrific visible gas cloud that coats enemies
Flammable material then ignites into afterburn if enemies take damage (even enemy Pyros, who are usually immune)
The Hot Hand
Pyro melee weapon
Gain a speed boost when you hit an enemy player
-20% damage penalty
Every successful slap is announced in the kill feed
General flamethrower changes
Burn duration is now based on how long the flamethrower was actively hitting an enemy
New particle effects with better visual sync
Airblast strength increased
Players pushed into the air have more control
Gas Blast
Pyro-only kill taunt
Unlocked with The Thermal Thruster
The Second Banana
Heavy secondary weapon
Replenishes half the health that a Sandvich does over the same amount of time
Recharges twice as fast as the Sandvich
Cosmetic items
The Kathman-Hairdo
"This prehistoric pompadour was first spotted by Sir Edmund Hillary on the slopes of Everest, followed immediately by Hillary spotting himself crapping his own pants."
This head cosmetic looks to be for the Heavy only, and goes alongside two other Yeti-themed Heavy cosmetics available in the campaign loot.
The Himalayan Hair Shirt
"Everybody loves beards, but why let your face have all the fun? This hirsute hair suit is like a beard for your arms and torso."
The chest part to the Heavy's Yeti outfit is The Himalayan Hair Shirt, which makes his arms hairy with white fur.
The Abominable Snow Pants
"The yeti derives its name from the Tibetan yeh-teh, which translates to “terrifying monster who lives in mountains and wears tiny short pants."
Finally, the Heavy needs some hairy Yeti legs, and this is them, finishing off his Yeti outfit.
The Saxton
"Now you too can look like Mann Co’s owner and CEO! Specifically the head part, not the marvelously well-muscled below-the-head part."
We can only assume this hat is for all classes, and is a large hat just like Saxton Hale wears himself, adorned with monster teeth. We assume they're monster teeth.
The Monstrous Mementos
"You went to Yeti Park, and all you got was this stupid hat! And dysentery. Display one of these handsome travel mementos in your new home: The bathroom at the hospital."
A cap with the Yeti Park logo, this one is plain and simple. Depending on the rarity of this item, it might be worth a lot, as Team Fortress 2's caps can sell for some serious cash.
New Maps
Mercenary Park
A new map, developed in-house by Valve, has two teams battling over three control points. It's a parody of Jurassic Park, where Saxton Hale (who's basically Chuck Norris in the Team Fortress 2 lore) previously held yetis for people's amusement. They escaped, and Hale punched them so hard they exploded, eventually causing yetis to go extinct.
Now, he's enlisted the Red and Blu teams to fight it out in the park instead, turning it from Yeti Park to Mercenary Park. A full runthrough hasn't been shown, although screenshots have given a little glimpse at what to expect from this jungle map.
Lazarus
A King of the Hill (KOTH) map, this one was created by community members Aeon 'Void' Bollig, Fuzzymellow, Tim 'SedimentarySocks' BL, Tim 'Sky' Dunnett, Benjamin 'Badgerpig' Bl?holtz, and Stiffy360. Like Mercenary Park, this is also heavily jungle themed, but more like a facility built on top of jungle ruins.
Mossrock
This attack/defend map was made by Freyka, E-Arkham, Michael 'AsG_Alligator' Byczko, PEAR, Andrew 'Dr. Spud' Thompson, Jake 'Xi.Cynx' Handlovic, Aeon 'Void' Bollig, Neal 'Blade x64' Smart, and Harlen 'UEAKCrash' Linke. It's a more traditional Team Fortress 2 map, with wooden buildings surrounded by the jungle.
Banana Bay
Moving towards a jungle's beach, Banana Bay is a Payload Race map by Neal 'Blade x64' Smart, Jennifer 'Neodement' Burnett, Pear, Stiffy360, Fuzzymellow, Aeon 'Void' Bollig, and Freyja. It looks like you'll be delivering bananas, which is new.
Enclosure
Taking place in a large jungle greenhouse, Enclosure was made by Michael 'AsG_Alligator' Byczko, Aeon 'Void' Bollig, E-Arkham, PEAR, Stiffy360, Andrew 'Dr. Spud' Thompson, Fuzzymellow, Maxime Dupais, Freyja, and Ivan 'Crowbar' Sokolov. It's a traditional Payload map, with a tyrannosaurus rex enclosure. The t.rexes seem to be gone, though.
Brazil
The final featured community map is Brazil, another KOTH map, by Jérémie 'Ravage' Nicolas, Tyler 'Yyler' King, Sean 'Heyo' Cutino, and Nassim 'Nassimo' Sadoun. Similarly to Mossrock, it looks like a more traditionally styled affair for a Team Fortress 2 map.
New taunts
Yeti Punch
Usable by all classes, the Yeti Punch taunt has the player create a cardboard cutout of a yeti and punch it, causing it to explode. While all classes can use it, the Scout definitely has the best animation of the ones shown off in the trailer for this taunt.
Yeti Smash
Again usable by all classes, Yeti Smash has the player turn into a yeti themselves, roaring and smashing the ground in front of them before turning back to normal. Only the Soldier's animation for this was shown, unfortunately.
The Dueling Banjo
Engineer players are getting two new taunts in this update, the first of which is The Dueling Banjo, made by ?SedimentarySocks? and Nonamesleft~. It's a reference to the 1972 horror film Deliverance, in case Team Fortress 2 was just too topical for you in 2017.
The Jumping Jack
The other option for engineers is described as "groin-liquefying". It has the Engineer ride a jackhammer forward, and can go endlessly. It was made by The Winglet, хвзз, Zxo Pink, Karma Charger, and ?SedimentarySocks?.
The Soviet Strong Arm
Another infinitely looping taunt is The Soviet Strong Arm, for the Heavy class. It has the Heavy endlessly pumping iron by lifting some weights, showing off those huge biceps. This taunt was made by Hypo, Codenator, and FiveEyes.
The Russian Arms Race
Again, made to show of the Heavy's sheer strength, The Russian Arms Race has him doing one-handed pushups, for as long as you leave him. The caption is "own the means of lactic acid production," which is by far the best thing in the update so far. The Russian Arms Race was made by community member _kyle.
The Headcase
Finally, The Headcase has the Pyro pull out a dish, revealing a head inside, which he sniffs before giving a lovely chef's kiss, for some delicious head flesh is clearly his favourite dish. The Headcase was made by Hypo, donhonk, and Greg.
Each day, more content from the Jungle Inferno update is getting revealed, so check back tomorrow for more updates.!