That you feel you don't have now.

By sticking point I mean some facet of your game that held you back as a player. It could be tactics, aim, or some theoretical understanding of the game that you wish you had 6 months ago, and now have gotten over. As a result, you're a much better player having realized it.

When I first started playing competitive soldier I spent a lot of time on tr_rocketshooting and tr_airshot. I have since realized that airshots and juggles are only a small part of being a good soldier. A good soldier or any class is concerned with dealing the most damage while minimizing self-damage.

Six months ago I was still playing scout like a former soldier player, I had not learned how to dodge as a scout and I still acted like a soldier in a lot of ways. But now I've changed that significantly and am now around a C level scout.

Probably the most helpful realization I've had in the last 6 months is that you can push continuously as long as you don't lose your medic or put yourself in a situation where you take more damage than you deal (the latter is usually equivalent to not losing your demoman or going through spammed chokes without an advantage). Doing so allows you to constantly edge out an advantage as you open up opportunities to force/kill their medic or capitalize on damage dealt.

Another contender would be in the early days of JAMMIN, after we got smushed 5-0 on freight by MMM, they said "you should keep your heavies out of spam lanes". That's probably the single most helpful piece of advice I've ever received.

Edit: In response to Jesus' post -- a lot of people play soldier like scout and scout like soldier, and it's a big problem. Blands spire comes to mind... good realization!

Probably the most helpful realization I've had in the last 6 months is that you can push continuously as long as you don't lose your medic or put yourself in a situation where you take more damage than you deal (the latter is usually equivalent to not losing your demoman or going through spammed chokes without an advantage). Doing so allows you to constantly edge out an advantage as you open up opportunities to force/kill their medic or capitalize on damage dealt.

Another contender would be in the early days of JAMMIN, after we got smushed 5-0 on freight by MMM, they said "you should keep your heavies out of spam lanes". That's probably the single most helpful piece of advice I've ever received.

Edit: In response to Jesus' post -- a lot of people play soldier like scout and scout like soldier, and it's a big problem. Blands spire comes to mind... good realization!
Well I did it because I used to be a soldier for a year and a half. :biggrin: So I had to shake off some old habits.

Too much dependency on airblast.

People still think I have the problem but I don't notice it nearly as much when I airblast as I used to.

Now it's my shitty interwebs.

Yeah, I'm just getting past the point where I put wayyyy too much emphasis on evasive maneuvers (also known as "I'll just jump in and do some really awesome dodging while trying to get my uber up syndrome)

Also, bad computer and overcrowded network, but what can you do :\

6 months ago my focus was on kills rather than damage output and area denial. As more of a team player, I'm happy to soften up the heavies and/or scouts so my sollies and scouts can clean up. Also, by focusing on damage output rather than individual picks, it forces teams to back off through chokes to heal while my team can reorganize, build ubers, regroup and more effectively push as a unit.

@Sigma - by keeping heavies out of spam lanes does that mean they should be attacking points through secondary entrances, i.e. Upstairs badlands 4 ?

@Sigma - by keeping heavies out of spam lanes does that mean they should be attacking points through secondary entrances, i.e. Upstairs badlands 4 ?

If your soldiers/demo are close together in a fight, they will all take damage from incoming rockets/stickies/pipes. Spreading out such that only 1 person takes damage from each shot gives you an advantage.

That's not to say walk in single file all the time, if you have room you should spread out so the enemy team can't damage/kill you one by one and you don't take splash.

Haha, you made me curious about what I was doing 6 months ago and what was going on with the competitive community 6 months ago. Always fun looking back.

I guess 6 months ago, I was convinced that I was the playmaker/fragging scout while I was just being aggressive at the wrong times. Flanking at every opportunity, trying to get into as many DM battles as possible...thinking that I can win them all.

Now I am more of the conservative scout. Protecting flank, push only at the right opportunities and instead of trying to DM all the time, I make sure to only DM in situations where I am forced to, or I am sure the other player is low enough to pick off.

I guess you could say I grew a brain AND/OR a vagina in the last 6 months.