Welcome to the discussion page for the Spy sapper replacement, the "Backfire". Here I will go into greater detail about the stats I came up with for this weapon. Feel free to cheer/jeer this, or add your own ideas to the pile.


Backfire

Level 27 Sapper

Sabotage: Causes the target to miss-fire their primary weapon
Cannot be applied to structures
May only be applied while disguised


The sapper's purpose is to provide a stronger counter to enemy teammates, while trading away the ability to disable enemy equipment. It's a hefty trade, and should only be utilized against teams that lack engineer support, or their engineer support is fairly weak. One argument against this weapon would be, "Why not just stab the target?". This comes with inherent risk, which this sapper somewhat removes. It also allows you to disable multiple targets without actively giving away your position, or dying in the process. Some situations cannot be stabbed out of, such as killing an enemy Medic with a Pyro on constant watch, or killing a Heavy who has his back covered by a sentry.


Sabotage: Causes the target to miss-fire their primary weapon
----------------------------------------------------------------
First and foremost, this weapon has quite a few unlisted caveats. The "Sabotage" effect would display a warning next to the ammo count for afflicted player the first time they fire their weapon after being sabotaged. Second, the effect only lasts for 15 or so seconds before being automatically removed. Third, using up 25% of one's primary ammo will remove the effect. Fourth, any healing received removes the effect. Many of these could be tweaked to lean the afflicted players towards different strategies(seeking health, waiting it out, or firing wildly).

The weapon would have a cooldown, similar to BONK or Sandvich, preventing from frequent spam, or locking down a whole team in one run. It can also not be reapplied or stacked. This means that the Spy would have to wait for the effect to wear off before applying again. Players under the effect of "Sabotage" would be revealed only to the Spy that sabotaged them. You can see the icon for this on title card in the video.

So what exactly happens when a person is sabotaged? Their primary weapon, AND only their primary weapon, would refuse to fire bullets/rockets/pipes/needles/fire. The muzzle effect would fire, but no bullet or explosive would leave the barrel. This could also be accompanied by a "Empty Clip" sound, similar to the ticking noise the minigun has when it is out of ammo.

There is an special, experimental case. This is totally optional, but Medics could have a special clause with "Sabotage". If a Medic is sabotaged, his primary will refuse to fire as normal. However, his healing target will also receive the effect of the Medic's sabotage. His target would lose their sabotage if they had it, but would gain the assisting Medic's sabotage instead. Essentially, a sabotaged Medic will spread the initial sabotage to his teammates for as long as the effect was active. It is debatable if this effect should chain through multiple Medics, though that seems a bit overkill.


Cannot be applied to structures
----------------------------------------------------------------
Self-explanatory, as this is an anti-personnel sapper. This is what makes this sapper a stiff tradeoff, and should be chosen when fighting a strong offense, or fighting a team that doesn't have a strong engineer response. Choosing this sapper makes the Engineer a fairly hard counter to the Spy, versus the normal circumstances.


May only be applied while disguised
----------------------------------------------------------------
Also self-explanatory, but with some caveats. The reason for this would prevent the Spy from running straight towards their target, undisguised, and locking down a target. This would be incredibly frustrating for Pyros or Heavies, who would normally get within sapper range of the Spy. The point of this sapper is not to give the Spy a free opportunity to block an enemy, but to reward them for meshing well and acting the part, timing their sabotage at the most critical moment. One could equate it to getting an enemy Medic to uber a Spy. It's a difficult maneuver, requiring timing and patience, but pulling it off is a strong blow to the enemy team's confidence.