TF2's Heavy class to get new upgrade

The next Team Fortress 2 class to be given some new toys will be the Heavy, and Valve wants your help to dream up ideas.

"The next class pack will focus on the Heavy," said Robin Walker, TF2 designer, on the official game blog. "For the Medic and Pyro packs we kept our goals for the pack pretty close to our chest, but for the Heavy we've decided to open up the process a little.

"Our hope is that you'll get a better insight into how we approach design problems, and have some fun thinking about the problem yourself."

Robin Walker outlines your goal as making the Heavy "more viable" when there is no Medic around the pair up with. The Heavy, in case you had forgotten, is the enormous mini-gun wielding brute.

The changes shouldn't "significantly" alter the role of the Heavy, we're told, nor result in a Medic and Heavy pairing becoming super-powered.

There's lots of points worth considering in the post by Robin Walker; those of you familiar with the Heavy and how he works will clearly be at a bit of an advantage.

Previously the Medic and the Pyro classes have been given additional weapons you can unlock by earning class achievements. The Pyro was recently treated to a Flare Gun that set enemies on fire from long range but requires significant accuracy, for instance.

It also got an axe that produces critical hits on enemies ablaze, but is much weaker on non-flaming opponents. The third weapon was a flamethrower that does double damage on those with their backs turned to you.