Charge Shot Fun Fact: If you use the charge shot to disable a teleporter, and then fire a charge shot again as soon as possible, the next charge shot will hit the teleporter as soon as an enemy could teleport through. This means you can get funny kills on an engineer who is standing on the teleporter entrance wondering why his teleporter isn't working.
One thing I can said, this weapon is really good in class wars, especially in defense. In class wars since you force to play one class, the infinite ammo is helpful and the charge shot is really spammable. Sure against all engineer, it not good, but then again facing an all engineer team is uphill battle in general.
Despite what the wiki says the charge shot does NOT have the same splash as a regular shot. This is strangely even carried into self hits which makes it surprisingly easy to observe: push yourself ever so slightly out of the self-hit range of regular shots, and a charge shot from the same set-up can still hit you.
I used to use Cow Mangler on KOTH maps, specifically Harvest (since everyone only seems to choose that map when available LOL). Not having to retreat to find ammo and remain perched on the roof of the control point was enjoyable.
Yeah, picking maps to queue is probably the best option (and also a lot of stock map community servers only running the one map, not so much there), but it does lead community choice to override variety compared to map rotation. I don’t really mind with Harvest, because I do like that map a lot, but there’s a LOT of maps that, even if queued for them in Casual, you just never see anymore. Some of them are trash that deserve burying, but not nearly all the ones that have been buried, right?
Weighing it up, the Cow Mangler is probably the best example of a situational weapon. Big problem if you use it in the wrong situation, but otherwise pretty helpful over stock, and most importantly, both sides of the coin are broad enough that the situation isn’t likely to change and screw you over mid life. I guess none of the other situational weapons really do that either unless they just suck entirely (a lot of situational weapons are like the Air Strike and Widowmaker where you’re in control of making the situation happen), but the Cow Mangler’s simple good and bad scenarios make it easier to assess the game state and switch it in or out.
I remember being new to the game in 2016 and almost singlehandedly stopping the blue team for 20min straight on dustbowl last, just using the charged shot
I won’t mention your competition, but I will say that you really popped the hood and explained the engine on this one as well as I have seen from anybody else on any other weapon without getting too far into the numbers.
Have heard that rockets come out from the cowmangler somewhere inbetween where stock & original rockets come out from, unsure how true that is but it's interesting. I really like the look of the TF2 laser weapons, their overly futuristic nature & especially the impractical reload animations for the mangler & bision give the impression of what people in the late 1960's would think weapons of the future would behave like. The cow mangler feels like a non-offensive side grade overall. I really like it for the infinite ammo & funny charge shot although the downsides are drastic enough that I usually prefer stock, still it's fun for what it is.
I'd love a video on the Amputator. Many people consider it obsolete due to the sheer prominence of the Ubersaw, but I think it's a perfectly viable sidegrade. Medicating Melody is a highly risky play, but the reward of being able to heal multiple players at once is one that no other Medic weapon provides.
I wanna nominate the Beggar's Bazooka for this series because it's a pretty great burstfire tool, and I won a golden pan with it that one time. It was named Reginald.
The charge shot is a perfect combination of absolute hilarity and actual practical use, i love it. Randomly sniping light classes or burning heavies at a long distance is so dumbshit but so funny.
I agree that the Cow Mangler is a great weapon most of the time, the only exceptions being if there is an enemy engineer or allied kritzkrieg you want to work with. It's definitely the best laser weapon I think the Manmelter doesn't deserved to be grouped with the Pomson and Bison though. It is very situational, but it is a good choice if there is an enemy pyro spamming flares and you are using a flamethrower with a airblast nerf like the Dragon's Fury
Great to see this series make a comeback, maybe we'll see new weapons added in the interim to shake things up? For current weapons, I think the Panic Attack's worth discussing with how it's used by all four Shotgun classes, as well as how it's changed somewhat drastically up to Blue Moon
This is my go to soldier weapon with the conch and the whip. Full support loadout. This thing is also amazing against one commonly seen engineer weapon, the wrangler. Because it disables a sentry, it turns off the wrangler from a distance, so the sentry that refuses to die is easy pickings for the rest of your team. Even better if you kill the engineer huddling behind it with the charge shot in the process. It also is good at killing bots and cheaters since if I can read where the sniper is going to be then I can tank their inevitable headshot when I peak around the corner, but they are not surviving the shot and the afterburn.
If you are taking suggestions for new merc’s munition episodes, i would love to see a video on the Babyface’s Blaster. Its not a fantastic weapon, but the ability for scout to fuck with people’s tracking via inconsistent movement speed is a talent that i think combos extremely well with nearly all of scout’s arsenal. I consider Babyface to be one of my favorite weapons in the game, and i would greatly enjoy seeing a video on it!
I will say one situation its arguably better than stock is against wranglers, as when a sentry is wrangled you cant kill it in one clip and you alone cant do much too it but being able to disable it entirely for 4 seconds is in some cases better than simply dealing roughly half its hp only for it to get instantly repaired
I like this video and may now use the Cow Mangler more often to help with coordinated pushes against sentry nests, but the events of 5:16 are unholy. My stomach hurts after seeing that unfold in front of me.
Surprised people thought it went against the art style, Dr grordbort is basically the same as the original jc leyendecker artstyle, and it's 1950s/60s sci-fi.
Good weapon to goof around spam snipers or chokepoints. The charged shot is a brilliant little thing. I'd rank it a third best grordbort weapon, after Phlog and Eureka.
The cow mangler is a lot like the makana , heat maker and enforcer because the stats don’t really matter one way or the other so there bacically just reskins
It’s also really good on defense because you almost always have engineers on defense, but not as often on offense since moving buildings up and maintaining them is more of a hassle
@@Duolisa_the When you're defending the other team is less likely to have sentries, because engineer on offense can't really use level 3 sentries without it being a lot of work
If you could do full loadouts, and not just one or two suggestions for other slots to pair with the weapon, that would improve the series. Like, a shotgun being paired with it is good, but it could work easily with a support set, with the conch and disciplinary action. Or by pairing it with a shotgun and escape plan, you can help take down the sentry with the shotgun, then escape on low health with the escape plan. Otherwise, great series, hope to see more.
Mangler is one of my favorite weapons, probably my top side grade weapon, up there with the panic attack. Mangler, Panic, and Whip is my go to soldier loadout, but sometimes I swap to the Direct hit. My entire playstyle is based around unfavoured weapons, I love the baby face, the shortstop, and the pistol (not a bad weapon by any means but heavily underused). And I use the short circuit offensively (soldiers weep when they realize they must use a shotgun against an engi). If you could, I would like to see videos on the babyface and shortstop, and perhaps the pistol if you are willing to do stock weapons.
The Cow mangler is my main soldier primary, I have a strange killstreak one. I use it when I need to kill ppl from long range, like tryhard snipers who kill friendlies
He's my second most played class behind Heavy. I think people understate just how much the game and match flow of TF2 is based around Sentries and pushing past them. I like him.
Cow Mangler upon release was actually really good with those 5 shots it was straight better than stock for gunboats loadout as long as there were no engineer, and back then there were also a lot more "no random crit, spread" community servers. The damage also wasn't that bad as it had a different rampup that would almost even out to stock in close to mid range. The charge shot being its focus honestly was the weakest aspect to the weapon, getting rid of its 5th rocket made it a worse weapon. Also having a painted Mangler when it was available also colored the rocket, and white/black painted mangler shots were fun for being hard to see.
It's funny and kinda sad that the Cow Mangler of all things was once considered too divergent from TF2's art style. Things certainly have changed since then
It was when I deleted all of my past TF2 videos in 2022. I had videos going back as far as 2017 but I removed them all because they were bad and outdated.
I really dislike the mangler, because it’s SOOO BORIIIING statswise for what should be an awesome laser rpg. The charge shot /can/ be fun, but most of the time its super gimmicky and not worth your clip. If you aren’t using the charge shot then it isn’t a sidegrade, its stock but slightly worse
![[TF2] Head Collecting Weapons](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/7SU8Xz5-qAU/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TF2] Head Collecting Weapons](/img/tr.png)
![[TF2] One Kill with Every Weapon](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HBzzjKjezVY/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TF2] Is this OPTIMAL FLANK SCOUT? (Reacting to arekk's Flank Scout guide)](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4DI8iW7eowg/mqdefault.jpg)
Charge Shot Fun Fact: If you use the charge shot to disable a teleporter, and then fire a charge shot again as soon as possible, the next charge shot will hit the teleporter as soon as an enemy could teleport through. This means you can get funny kills on an engineer who is standing on the teleporter entrance wondering why his teleporter isn't working.
This is clearly an incredibly pertinent trick that I assure you is an important asset to anyone's career as a soldier
Clearly this means that the cow mangle is the better rocket launcher against engines despite the minus 80% damage to buildings
I just try this, and of course it was a heavy who came through, thankfully a random crit pan save my ass.
One thing I can said, this weapon is really good in class wars, especially in defense. In class wars since you force to play one class, the infinite ammo is helpful and the charge shot is really spammable. Sure against all engineer, it not good, but then again facing an all engineer team is uphill battle in general.
Even then, disabling a cluster of sentries while the direct hitters spam is a pretty good strategy if you can coordinate
nah. soldier is the second best class to go against engineer in class wars
nominating the reserve shooter!
"Tifa's stepping stool". Respect
Despite what the wiki says the charge shot does NOT have the same splash as a regular shot. This is strangely even carried into self hits which makes it surprisingly easy to observe: push yourself ever so slightly out of the self-hit range of regular shots, and a charge shot from the same set-up can still hit you.
I used to use Cow Mangler on KOTH maps, specifically Harvest (since everyone only seems to choose that map when available LOL). Not having to retreat to find ammo and remain perched on the roof of the control point was enjoyable.
Yeah, picking maps to queue is probably the best option (and also a lot of stock map community servers only running the one map, not so much there), but it does lead community choice to override variety compared to map rotation. I don’t really mind with Harvest, because I do like that map a lot, but there’s a LOT of maps that, even if queued for them in Casual, you just never see anymore. Some of them are trash that deserve burying, but not nearly all the ones that have been buried, right?
2:54 ok but i was so caught off guard by the fucking gibs of the engie getting desintegrated aswell 😭
Weighing it up, the Cow Mangler is probably the best example of a situational weapon. Big problem if you use it in the wrong situation, but otherwise pretty helpful over stock, and most importantly, both sides of the coin are broad enough that the situation isn’t likely to change and screw you over mid life. I guess none of the other situational weapons really do that either unless they just suck entirely (a lot of situational weapons are like the Air Strike and Widowmaker where you’re in control of making the situation happen), but the Cow Mangler’s simple good and bad scenarios make it easier to assess the game state and switch it in or out.
I’m really enjoying this breakdown so far. Hope you continue the series!
A triumphant return for sure. Glad to see it!
I remember being new to the game in 2016 and almost singlehandedly stopping the blue team for 20min straight on dustbowl last, just using the charged shot
I won’t mention your competition, but I will say that you really popped the hood and explained the engine on this one as well as I have seen from anybody else on any other weapon without getting too far into the numbers.
I have that Righteous Bison prop IRL!
Wow, this is more in-depth than I remeber the old episodes being. I am pleasantly surprised! Good job, can't wait for more!
Have heard that rockets come out from the cowmangler somewhere inbetween where stock & original rockets come out from, unsure how true that is but it's interesting.
I really like the look of the TF2 laser weapons, their overly futuristic nature & especially the impractical reload animations for the mangler & bision give the impression of what people in the late 1960's would think weapons of the future would behave like.
The cow mangler feels like a non-offensive side grade overall. I really like it for the infinite ammo & funny charge shot although the downsides are drastic enough that I usually prefer stock, still it's fun for what it is.
I'd love a video on the Amputator. Many people consider it obsolete due to the sheer prominence of the Ubersaw, but I think it's a perfectly viable sidegrade. Medicating Melody is a highly risky play, but the reward of being able to heal multiple players at once is one that no other Medic weapon provides.
Definitely, I’d love to see an amputator video too.
Hell yeah! I remember requesting a review for this weapon on one of your community posts. Glad to see you actually doing it.
THAT CLASSIC SERIES
THE SERIES IS REAAAAAAAL
I wanna nominate the Beggar's Bazooka for this series because it's a pretty great burstfire tool, and I won a golden pan with it that one time. It was named Reginald.
It also has insane mobility. Whenever I use it, I'm lucky to get one kill without cratering like an absolute moron immediately afterwards.
The charge shot is a perfect combination of absolute hilarity and actual practical use, i love it. Randomly sniping light classes or burning heavies at a long distance is so dumbshit but so funny.
I use this mostly with the Conch, to ambush people from above on ledges and doorframes.
I agree that the Cow Mangler is a great weapon most of the time, the only exceptions being if there is an enemy engineer or allied kritzkrieg you want to work with. It's definitely the best laser weapon
I think the Manmelter doesn't deserved to be grouped with the Pomson and Bison though. It is very situational, but it is a good choice if there is an enemy pyro spamming flares and you are using a flamethrower with a airblast nerf like the Dragon's Fury
I got a teal opal video notification after getting out of school, this day couldn't get any better
One amazing thing is the conch mangler combo means you can persist on the flank far beyond most any other class or loadout
Great to see this series make a comeback, maybe we'll see new weapons added in the interim to shake things up?
For current weapons, I think the Panic Attack's worth discussing with how it's used by all four Shotgun classes, as well as how it's changed somewhat drastically up to Blue Moon
I would definitely watch this alongside the subcategories videos.
5:30 that A-pose spy tho
Awesome! Can’t wait for episode 2!
This is my go to soldier weapon with the conch and the whip. Full support loadout. This thing is also amazing against one commonly seen engineer weapon, the wrangler. Because it disables a sentry, it turns off the wrangler from a distance, so the sentry that refuses to die is easy pickings for the rest of your team. Even better if you kill the engineer huddling behind it with the charge shot in the process. It also is good at killing bots and cheaters since if I can read where the sniper is going to be then I can tank their inevitable headshot when I peak around the corner, but they are not surviving the shot and the afterburn.
I'm not sure why people think it's bad. The lack of damage towards buildings isn't that bad if you aren't focusing on buildings.
the persian persuader would be a fun weapon to look at, especially the ammo = charge mechanic
I miss the 5 rocket mangler ngl
If you are taking suggestions for new merc’s munition episodes, i would love to see a video on the Babyface’s Blaster. Its not a fantastic weapon, but the ability for scout to fuck with people’s tracking via inconsistent movement speed is a talent that i think combos extremely well with nearly all of scout’s arsenal. I consider Babyface to be one of my favorite weapons in the game, and i would greatly enjoy seeing a video on it!
I've had a Mangler/Bison extra loadout on standby since those weapons were first released, and I regret nothing.
I will say one situation its arguably better than stock is against wranglers, as when a sentry is wrangled you cant kill it in one clip and you alone cant do much too it but being able to disable it entirely for 4 seconds is in some cases better than simply dealing roughly half its hp only for it to get instantly repaired
oh wow I really like the cow mangler I didn't realize it has anything to do with weta workshops lol
Also one thing I noticed about this weapon, pyros seem to have a much harder time reflecting it for some reason
I like this video and may now use the Cow Mangler more often to help with coordinated pushes against sentry nests, but the events of 5:16 are unholy. My stomach hurts after seeing that unfold in front of me.
I really dig this format.
Surprised people thought it went against the art style, Dr grordbort is basically the same as the original jc leyendecker artstyle, and it's 1950s/60s sci-fi.
Cowmangler supremacy will come some day, my faith has not wavered
Good weapon to goof around spam snipers or chokepoints. The charged shot is a brilliant little thing.
I'd rank it a third best grordbort weapon, after Phlog and Eureka.
Cow Mangler Soldiers in a nutshell: Spam M2 down a chokepoint
The cow mangler is a lot like the makana , heat maker and enforcer because the stats don’t really matter one way or the other so there bacically just reskins
Vita-saw was paintable too
It’s also really good on defense because you almost always have engineers on defense, but not as often on offense since moving buildings up and maintaining them is more of a hassle
You mean offence right?
@@Duolisa_the When you're defending the other team is less likely to have sentries, because engineer on offense can't really use level 3 sentries without it being a lot of work
The Manmelter? My personal favorite weapon in tf2 (even if it's buggy bad)
Damn it, this was an idea I wanted to make
If you could do full loadouts, and not just one or two suggestions for other slots to pair with the weapon, that would improve the series. Like, a shotgun being paired with it is good, but it could work easily with a support set, with the conch and disciplinary action. Or by pairing it with a shotgun and escape plan, you can help take down the sentry with the shotgun, then escape on low health with the escape plan. Otherwise, great series, hope to see more.
Mangler is one of my favorite weapons, probably my top side grade weapon, up there with the panic attack. Mangler, Panic, and Whip is my go to soldier loadout, but sometimes I swap to the Direct hit. My entire playstyle is based around unfavoured weapons, I love the baby face, the shortstop, and the pistol (not a bad weapon by any means but heavily underused). And I use the short circuit offensively (soldiers weep when they realize they must use a shotgun against an engi). If you could, I would like to see videos on the babyface and shortstop, and perhaps the pistol if you are willing to do stock weapons.
The Cow mangler is my main soldier primary, I have a strange killstreak one. I use it when I need to kill ppl from long range, like tryhard snipers who kill friendlies
Could you review the flare gun? Its my favorite secondary for every class. :)
The cow Mangler and Widowmaker are two side grades that have mostly replaced stock for me
Really hope beggars is up next, i love that weapon to death
The only good way to use the charge shot is to harass snipers.
opinion on engineer?
He's my second most played class behind Heavy. I think people understate just how much the game and match flow of TF2 is based around Sentries and pushing past them. I like him.
as a texan i am forced to play engineer @@TealOpal
greart vid!!!
What are your viewmodel settings?
Force-a-nature
Cow Mangler upon release was actually really good with those 5 shots it was straight better than stock for gunboats loadout as long as there were no engineer, and back then there were also a lot more "no random crit, spread" community servers. The damage also wasn't that bad as it had a different rampup that would almost even out to stock in close to mid range. The charge shot being its focus honestly was the weakest aspect to the weapon, getting rid of its 5th rocket made it a worse weapon.
Also having a painted Mangler when it was available also colored the rocket, and white/black painted mangler shots were fun for being hard to see.
It's funny and kinda sad that the Cow Mangler of all things was once considered too divergent from TF2's art style. Things certainly have changed since then
Y O U K I L L E D T H E H O O V Y
Nice vid
4:43 is that pyro hacking? lmao
i dont even know how people got mad over a mere 5% slower reload speed back in the day bruh
Do a video on the gass passer that weapon is underrated
I main heavy so some of that stuff would be easy, if you need facts on some stuff.
What’s the tf2 content purge?
It was when I deleted all of my past TF2 videos in 2022. I had videos going back as far as 2017 but I removed them all because they were bad and outdated.
@@TealOpal oh ok, thanks for telling me about the tf2 purge.
i like cars they're cute
Look, IK you won't like this comment much, but I think you misspelled "A Mann's Guide"
Love your content always enertained by it, keep it up❤
hamburger
Brooooooo
2 views gang who’s up
I am
44 views here
I really dislike the mangler, because it’s SOOO BORIIIING statswise for what should be an awesome laser rpg. The charge shot /can/ be fun, but most of the time its super gimmicky and not worth your clip. If you aren’t using the charge shot then it isn’t a sidegrade, its stock but slightly worse
Damn im early
Do you have a discord?