Mantra

These are the rules the Balancemod follows when re-balancing or redesigning weapons

To view the complete list of all changes in the mod click here

The rules of balance

Without rules everything falls apart

Rules of Balance

All weapons should be viable in the right situations
General weapons must not overshadow niche weapons
A weapon can be a different version of another weapon as long they do not do the same thing. (More damage and faster attack speed is not the same thing, even though both affect the damage per second)
Class integrity: Classes and their repsective weapons shall remain unique and refrain from blending together

Balance Concepts

Mobility, Speed, Power

Mobility

Ability to move horizontally and vertically

Speed

Running
Jumping
Explosive jumping

Jump height

Normal jump
Crouch jump
Stat modified jump

Weight

Distance pushed from damage / airblast taken

Air Control

Control while moving in the air

Power

Ability to give and take damage

Damage

Damage per second
Effective Damage per second
Reload time
Splash
Single target
Penetration
Sustainability
Lingering

Defense

Effective health
Damage taken modifiers

Knock back

Distance pushed from damage or airblast

Reliability

Accuracy
Consistency

Healing

Amount of damage undone
Gradual
Burst
Single target
Area of effect

Utility

Everything else that doesn't fall within mobility or power

Buff

Increases Power
Increases Mobility

Debuff

Decreases Power
Decreases Mobility

Crowd Control

Effect applied to group of players within a specified area simultaneously

Deception

Invisibility
Feign Death
Disguise
Fake sounds
Anything else that can cause confusion to the enemy

Class Integrity:

Keeping classes unique and separate

Scout

High Speed - Doesn't cost health.
Double Jumping
Low HP
Hit scan
Close range
Single Target
Single target throw ables
Debuff
Margin of Error: medium

Soldier

Explosives
Hitscan
Straight Line Projectiles
Explode on Impact
Explosive jumping
Splash Target
Buff
Margin of Error: medium

Pyro

Fire
Close Range
Crowd Control
Instant damage
Splash Target
Anti-Fire
Particle based
Margin of Error: low

Demoman

Explosives
Arced projectiles
Explode on Impact with players or buildings
Explode on timing
Explode on manual player input
Explosive jumping
Area Denial
Margin of Error: medium

Engineer

Buildings
Burst damage
Area denial
Crowd control
Logistics
Healing
Hitscan
Explosives
Margin of Error: medium

Heavy

Low Speed
Spin up
Constant Damage
Burst damage
Big Health
Hitscan
Margin of Error: high

Medic

Healing
Stalemate breaker
Team Enhancer
Sustain
Uber
Arced Projectile
Margin of Error: Low

Sniper

Long range
Charge time
Instant kill (any range)
Debuff
Hitscan
Penetrate
Burst damage
Margin of Error: High

Spy

Close range
Deception
Instant kill (close range)
Hitscan
Anti-building
Margin of Error: High

Margin of Error:

'How much a mistake impacts each class

Margin of Error: Low Example

Heavy's minigun shoots in a wide circle and only needs to be pointed at an enemy. Corrections to the aim are made fairly easily, allowing for many mistakes while still doing decent damage.

Margin of Error: Medium Example

Soldiers or Demomen having an explosion radius can still make them do decent damage, even if the rockets/bombs don't hit the center of the target. This allows them to get some consistent damage, even when not hitting perfect shots.

Margin of Error: High Example

The Sniper's Sniper rifle will do no damage to anything if he misses, basically rendering him useless
If a Spy is found out before getting a backstab, the spy will get killed and not killed anyone, basically rendering him useless.