I didn't even know this thing _had_ a negative reputation; I always assumed the general consensus was that it was just.. alright. Far from the worst option you could pick, at the bare minimum.
I think people think that the moniker of "Scout's worst secondary" means that the Bonk! is actually bad. Every single scout secondary can be, the very least, considered good, but some (the Guillotine and Milk) are better than the others, overshadowing them.
Genuinely one of the best uses I’ve seen for Bonk is on Steel Offence. If you play your cards right, you can back cap to effectively either cut the enemy team’s numbers in half or increase their respawn timers for a bit, since they’ll all be focused on dealing with the back cap, then crack open a cold one the moment things get hairy. It may not be the most consistent strat, but when it works, it fuckin works
Fun Fact: The Inspector Bonk meme video predates the release of the actual item. (September 15, 2008 and February 24, 2009) It was even published when Bush was still in office, showing just how far TF2 memes go back
One of the more interesting applications I've seen with bonk is as an anti bot tool. Not like mvm bots, but sniper bots. Those bots are built to ignore invulnerable people, so during those 8 seconds, you aren't just invincible but also invisible to bots. So you don't have to worry about getting pushed around or even avoided. If you stand in front of the path they're supposed to follow, they can't do a thing. And so people are using bonk to taunt kill bots like a sport. The tf2 community is really something
I mean, it's hard to defend good weapons that people call bad when we're out of good weapons that people call bad. If there's any that we haven't gotten a video about yet I'd be glad to hear it
@@shanegiorgio4713 A lot of people think it's the worst flamethrower and write it off as gimmicky and inconsistent. I think the general consensus on ranking them is: degreaser, stock, dragons fury, phlog, backburner.
Bonk is actually pretty good for aggroing sentries and forcing heavies to back off. For example, if your team pushes, you can use bonk to distract the sentry to let your team finish it off at little risk, or bodyblock a heavy to prevent him from doing much damage. It has it's own team uses.
can confirm as someone who got trashed as engineer by a bonk scout and demoman combo it was cool to see actual teamwork in a pub so i didnt mind it was pretty cool
I'm late to this video but yeah I do it all the time. The reason it doesn't work most of the time is because people don't communicate with their team what they're doing. A lot don't even realize the effectiveness of this tactic. If you say over voice chat "I'm distracting the gun gogogo get it!" and a good offensive class is near & understands what you're doing it's great.
Bonk’s viability as an escape tool is why it’s banned in sixes since it basically allows a scout to yolo himself at a med, pick said med and then get back to his combo.
@@catpurrito5586 nah, it's just another case of comp players banning options because it breaks their immersion of what "elite" gameplay looks like (this is especially prevalent for scout's secondary options, he only has two, including stock) as for pub... compared to other options, bonk is very hard to use to it's fullest potential, on top of having a higher rate of new players, therefore less usage rate
@@Bnvnu simple issue with bonk in pubs is that it requires team play for offensive bonk and to sometimes wait for bonk to recharge. annoying scout mains however main scout specifically to avoid doing those things.
One time, I was playing CP_Granary and below the dropdown before mid, there was a Level 3 Sentry. Fortunately, I had the Bonk and a Soldier with me. I drank the Bonk, dropped down, and let the Soldier take care of it. It's a simple example, but it's one of my favorite memories with the Bonk.
The winger itself is also underrated, you literally get to do the FaN jump spots for free while still having about 100 damage, PBPP is more subject to spread due to the fire speed and the winger stays as a good finisher in a shorter time, if it had 1 more bullet it could kill 125 pretty consistently. Use it with the soda popper to burst from weird angles or pop the 5 jumps and literally fly away.
personally, if the Winger just had a mag size of 9 rounds that would make it better. PBPP is better off with a little damage debuff(it is a POCKET pistol meaning lower caliber) while having 12 rounds. I would also want a Soda Popper Hype edition(Get Hyped, has Bonk cans and the jumps) and Soda Popper Psyche edition(Get Psyched, Has Crit-A-Cola and minicrits) with a meter you fill up with damage. the only thing I am not sure about is should the Soda Popper Psyched mode be a Soda popper only minicrit buff or like the Cleaner's Carbine minicrit buff. I would buff the Sodas(Bonk and Critacola) by allowing them to give 50HP that can temporary increase HP(Bonk after the invulnerability wears off, and Critacola when you drink, might be even like a pocket small med kit when not used aggressively)
@@CrustyTheMoist for me winger feels like it changes nothing, even though it does, atomizer gices the triple jump which is noticable, and lets you keep a better secondary
I was playing on an uncletopia server as engineer and had a rough time setting up, but a scout stayed behind while under bonk and soaked up shots for my level 1 sentry from spam. Crazy smart idea and unbelievably helpful
The "Spawn-Pestering" Scout is actually a really efficient playstyle that can genuinely help the team, from my experience. If top-scoring is anything to go by, at least. It works best on Payload and most Attack/Defense maps on either team, so long as you have enough room to run around actually behind the team, so usually after your enemy's spawn moves for the first time. The strat gets better if you can get in a voice call with a friend and coordinate. It counters sentries they might place to deter you, not to mention that being double-teamed by Scouts is a death sentence for most classes, especially if they're caught off-guard. It's a fantastic weapon, and I hope Scouts continue to not use it so I don't have to deal with people doing that to my team.
Funnily enough in the spanish translation of tf2. The Bonk is called Bonk! La bebida salvavida (the lifesaver drink). Giving your point as a main focus of the item
The bit at the end of the video about how many other good options scout has I think really just nails it. Bonk is versatile, and has a few things it does amazingly(running through a hell choke/distracting sentry/meme tauntkills), but is really just overlooked because of how many additional great choices it has to compete with. For the situations bonk lets you barely escape too much damage, perhaps milk lets you barely get the kill instead. For the situations bonk lets you take a breather to reload, perhaps pistols let you barely get the kill instead. Etc etc Which puts it in the useful but weird middle-ground between playing really aggressive and really careful.
Great video man! I have always wondered why no-one seems to pay any attention to the Bonk despite it's obvious advantages, so I'm glad this video gives the Bonk the respect it deserved
I guess because people only see those new f2p scouts that get thrown into corner by sentry or use it to get behind enemy lines and fail hard. Not to mention stigma of it being Dead Ringer for Scout when he don't need weapon like this.
As someone who has always used bonk as a secondary on scout, it rly is an underrated tool for scout. As the many applications for it are very handy when you need it such as: -Potentially distract a sentry to try to pave way for your team to destroy it -Get out of jail card if your in deep, meaning you can run to safety (unless pyro's or sentries lock you in place) -Avoid effects of afterburn/bleed -Works with jumping effects such as: Soda popper, atomizer -Generally act as a distraction -Run behind the enemy lines with the bonk to harass and annoy the enemy team or destroy engi's teleporter to buy your team more time But that's what it is a tool for scout to get around or get out of situations or to use it to distract the enemy team! As for why i feel like its unpopular among scouts is cause they see bonk as a gimmicky secondary that strips you of other secondry choices such as dmg or healing. Anywho Great Video Fish!
I don't think anyone is complaining about this, but if you have a presistant enemy that can cover the same distance as you (soldier, demo, pyro with the thrusters, or another scout), the atomizer can help you take paths that the enemy either can't take as quickly or can't take at all. Even though you are invinicble, its better to take flanks and not be seen. If your running past a hold, you should try to run and lose who ever may be chasing you, by losing line of sight with flank routes. Also, plan where you want to go before drinking the bonk. Running into a dead end is a result of poor planning and will get you killed. You have think more like a dead ringer spy who just used his dead ringer. Finally, Im very happy that someone has talk about the bonk and of how good it can be. Your using the bonk to flank and to be a lethal distraction, or to make more risky plays with a get out of jail card. I love your videos fsoas!
One of thd funnest things to do as a bonk scout is to just annoy the fuck out of the enemy heavy, whenever he is in a spot to shoot your teamates, pop bonk and just stand infront of him. Eat his bullets so he cant do anything, also a great way to ensure your heavy wins the heavy 1v1
Thank you for making this video. The conversation rarely comes up, but people never believe me when I say this thing is really useful maybe now people will see us true potential. Great video, Fish! ❤
My only "buff" to the Bonk would be to have it give the player an extra (stackable with Atomizer) jump while invincible, as well as immunity to sentry knock-back. That'd cement its niche as the ultimate flank tool that can compete with the Winger, and ensure a bonk scout can consistently jump their way to the backline without being body-blocked by defenders or pinned by turrets. I put "buff" in quotation marks because this feels more like a QOL change that just lets it do its job more consistently.
Bonk is literally mini uber, people just don't use it right, I use it to help team push sentry nests, or straight up tank an enemy heavy medic uber by body blocking
Bonk, Cleaver, and Winger are the Scout secondaries I use (in that order). Bonk is just really great for escapes, closing the distance between impossible odds, blocking enemies, and taking down nests.
As much as I love Elmaxo, his legend of bonk drinker video really pushes that negative stigma of the bonk. Great video, very funny and entertaining, but put down by a misunderstanding of what the bonk is really meant to do. Glad to see another great creator doing their best to redeem it in the eyes of the community.
I started using bonk a while back when I decided to give the shortstop a try and it's actually really fun to use, especially getting in the face of a kritz duo and stuffing shots. Nothing feels cooler than running straight into the face of a heavy trying to gun my team down and jumping all over him like a flea while he's helplessly focused down, unable to return fire. It is also a great but still balanced and not always useful escape tool, and most soldiers or demos won't realize you're bonked at first so you absolutely can get them to do some serious self-hitting, especially in a scenario like the heavy one where they try to keep shooting your teammates, since you can just stand in the way blocking shots.
Thinking about it, the Bonk basically turns you into a Medic who popped Uber on themselves only, since they have to hold the medi gun to keep the Uber active and therefore can't attack.
I’ve been running bonk as my main secondary for quite awhile and I never really understood why people disliked it so much. The most common complaint I see is that you use it to get behind the enemy lines and the enemy team will just chase you down, but this is often a good thing. They could be doing the actual objective, but instead there chasing around some random scout who may end up killing them anyway. Either they ignore you and you can do whatever you want, or they chase you and multiple players waste their time dealing with you.
my go to Scout secondary is Bonk! Atomic Punch mainly because i have a strange festive one from when it didnt have the slow down if you got hit while invulnerable. it is still a fun item for scout even with the slow down.
I will always love the bonk, I fondly remember the game which I fell in love with it, all I did was drink the bonk, laugh at the enemy team, say thanks and then run away, peak scout gaming.
pissing someone off while behind enemy lines and baiting them to 1v1 you is like mge but better, and you can do it so consistently with bonk, i love it.
While watching this some points may already have been talked about but I need to say that one viable method I found with the Bonk is one thing: Bonk Surfing. Specifically for making tactical retreats and feign plays. When I play Scout I like to be a constant nuscience, doing the absolute most stupid stuff possible to make the enemy hate me. If the enemy hates me, they'll shoot me. And when they shoot me, I can surf off that damage to do even more stupid stuff. So if I combine that with the Bonk, I turn into a subclass of the Bird Scout: The Bonkers Bird Scout. Flying through the air, using damage surfing to bob and weave through danger, and the skies remain my home, all while taking absolutely no damage, whatsoever. For tactical retreats, I often use the Bonk as a distraction tool and more of a taunting method than anything. After all, annoying the enemy is good for my team, since they'll be too focused on *me* to stop a push of *11 other people.* Plus, it's funny to see the entire team trying to damage me as much as possible only for me to get away and do it all over again nearly half a minute later, as I'm in safety and the slowdown is meaningless unless there happens to be a Spy there. For feint plays though? Oh boy. Oooh boy. I can use Bonk to do so many flanks, so many impossibly stupid stunts that if I take a direct fight, I don't care if I die. The moment I use the Bonk to feint out my enemies it's satisfying to see the cart or point being capped because some Boston born idiot decided to drink a soda and get an 8 second Godmode buff. And if I win direct fights even with the slowdown it's even more hilarious, because most people assume a slowed Scout is an easy target. They're not.
10:20 The main reason is because of target priority. Who's a bigger threat- The guy shooting at you, or the guy who will be shooting at you a few seconds from now that's immune to damage? Either they focus fire on you, and then get gunned down by your teammates who are actively shooting at them, or ignore you, and then get meatshot when the bonk effect runs out with their back turned. That's the true power of the Bonk. You present them with a choice, either make a stupid play or a different stupid play. Either way, they just left themselves vulnerable and distracted.
I remember I was on the last point of upward and managed to help my team push using the bonk. I was too bad at demoman or spy to take out their two level 3 sentries, but as it turns out they’re not very useful when locked onto a random scout with invincibility.
The Bonk! is my favorite scout secondary, because it has all the qualities I look for in a tf2 weapon. It's a silly concept, with a fun gimmick, with great potential for meme play while also being a good offensive or defensive tool for serious play.
Bonk Atomic Punch on offense: get behind enemies to made sentry nests easier to deal with while also making flanking harder to deal with Bonk Atomic Punch on defense: Fatmagic easy mode
I've often been using the Bonk as a crutch, but in time I kinda saw what kind of mind games you can play on the enemy team with it. When you zip past the enemy team to flank them from behind, you are putting them in a position where they have to either ignore you and risk an ambush, send one or two of their numbers to hunt you down instead of assissting, or worst case scenario (for them) they halt all their momentum briefly as they turn around to try and hit you when the effect ends, which can cost them dearly if your allies just so happen to be making an important push at the time.
Fun fact, Bonk use to cause slow speed now matter what back when it first released, and even back then, you could still negate the slow down in the same way. There was a video showing you could tap A,D back and forth while moving forward and it still works.
Hugely underrated perk to the Bonk!: third-person view with full mobility and no noise-making. You take full advantage of it at 10:55 -- nobody saw you, and if anyone snuck up on you, you'd just run away.
IMO, Bonk isn't liked all that much because it doesn't let you attack in any way, unlike other invulnerability effects. Maybe you should be allowed to use melee weapons while bonked, but you attack slower.
Tbh as an engineer main i always wanted to borrow some secondaries from the scout , especially the Bonk Atomic Punch imagine nijaneer with Bonk+ Eureca effect combo, sneaking behind enemy line just to make tele or sentry in tactical location it would be ridiculous creative and fun
As someone who's dedicated their entire steam and TF2 Identity to bonk, (No.2 Bonk Drinker, 20806 bonks and counting), this video really surprised me, Bonk is a weird item, nobody uses it, but nobody hates against it either, it's just forgotten about But still, keep bonkin fellas, it'll get a buff eventually...
The bonk punch is actually pretty good in MvM. If you use it as the first part of each wave comes down, your essentially immune and can pick up the first few money drops without issue, immediately raising your health to 300+. From that point on you simply don't die the entire wave unless you do something incredibly stupid.
When I was doing the backscatter contract, this thing was amazing. Saved my life countless times and let me get away with silly things and escape scott free.
as someone who tried memeing with the Sun on a Stick, the fire resistance did come in handy surprisingly often. even managed to chase after someone on fire once. never got to them as they ran straight into the great wall of 10,000 rounds per minute and i was not taking that chance at less than half health.
Well I've mained bonk for a few years now and I gotta say you nailed most of the important playstyles behind it, but something I gotta add on is the surfing. When flanking, speed is key, because you gotta outrun as many pursuers as possible. Stuff you gotta look out for is sentries, stickies and soldiers. For their _Good_ knockback. The best you can get is with sentries, as seen here 4:20 all you gotta do is jump as its firing at you and you get launched into the roof of the map for you to freely drop down where no one suspects. Be aware of what gives you knockback, cause there is the good knockback like this, the soft knockback like simple shotgun hits and the bad (hard to manipulate) knockback like Airblast.
FINALLY!! Someone who realizes that bonk isn’t bad! I have no clue what everyone was thinking when saying it’s bad. Having on-demand invincibility is INSANE, no matter what class it’s on.
Phenomenal video as always! I most often see Bonk! being used as a panic button- a form of 'I fucked up, so let's do plan B!', which is a valid use! I don't know why people call Bonk! bad at all.
12:58 I'm sorry what. The Winger is easily one of Scouts best secondary weapons in the game. the extra jump height allows him to reach places he could normally reach, which can open more flank routes to ambush enemies. And, sure, the reduced clip can be annoying, but the Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol has one and is one of the best weapons in the game. (and I know health regen is better, but there pistols, they do good damage at mid to far reaches). Plus it doesn't leave him vulnerable to attacks like the Atomizer does. Scouts weapons as a whole are some of the best in the game, so its fine that you put it as the worst. It's just that, to me personally, to put this under the Crit-o-Cola is weird
If it was up to me I'd just make the Bonk give you a slight speed boost & extra jumps but when the effect wears off you get a speed debuff & can't double jump for a moment
Now that I have actually watched the full video I actually just realized a really good strat use the bonk to get behind enemy lines & then use the force of nature to fling the enemy team out from behind cover
I don't have to watch this video to tell you it's based on a false premise: Bonk! is the king of offensive pushes, being a way to freely scout and temporarily distract a literally infinite number of sentry guns. You are an ON-DEMAND UBERCHARGE for dealing with Sentry nests.
Yknow. It's because of these videos that I now run bonk and sandman on my scout. You helped me find their use cases. Bonk to escape. Sandman to slow down enemies to compensate for my bad aim
My main issue with the bonk is that players get into the mindset that they have to pop it too often or early, reducing their effectiveness. At 9:18 fish pops the bonk when he could’ve killed the engineer before he sets up his sentry.
That Ed, Edd, n Eddy sound effect in the opening clip threw me off so much. I love watching your vids, I'm about 500 hours deep in TF2 and I learn something new whenever I watch your vids Fish! Thanks for being peak Team Fortress 2 edutainment.
literally the baby faces blaster, you click once, get atleast minimum move speed back, and run away and live, and yeah also the funny force a nature and sodapopper kills
![[TF2] In Defense Of The Reserve Shooter](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/6of53ZcmjsM/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TF2] In Defense Of The Reserve Shooter](/img/tr.png)
![[TF2] The Hitman's Heatmaker Is A Weapon That Exists](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/KZN-7JPwM6U/mqdefault.jpg)
![[TF2] Just What Exactly Is Wrong With Spy? - A Balance Discussion](/img/n.gif)
Guys there's multiple ways to pronounce "Conch."
Yeah, like crotch.
i pronounce it male chicken
@@pogobod2128so… rooster?
Can I make the n silent
i fuckin love your voice
I didn't even know this thing _had_ a negative reputation; I always assumed the general consensus was that it was just.. alright. Far from the worst option you could pick, at the bare minimum.
It is alright, but compared to other scout secondaries, it's pretty underwhelming
@@yeafu1924
How spoiled are scout mains that on demand invincibility is "pretty underwhelming"
It honestly felt just mediocre
I think people think that the moniker of "Scout's worst secondary" means that the Bonk! is actually bad.
Every single scout secondary can be, the very least, considered good, but some (the Guillotine and Milk) are better than the others, overshadowing them.
@@Her_Imperious_Condescension its a "busted on paper, alright in practice" situation.
I once saw someone who would drink it, run to the enemy team, taunt, and run away. They kept doing this for the entire game.
That's the only reason I play scout anymore. It's hilarious watching the whole team stop and glare angrily at you.
@@sansbros4929
Thats some nice tactic, now that I think about it
Psyops.
Based scout players
Psychological Warfare
Conspiracy Theory: This video is just unmarked advertising for Bonk. You didn't see the fat paycheck Fish received behind the scenes.
You mean funfact?
Big bonk is expanding
Wait, its all Bonk Advertising?
@@yeafu1924There is place for only one Big Bonk.
@@thatinternetguyj5222always has been
Gotta respect the scout from 15:10 for seeing the tauntkill and walking back into it for the sheer funny
Its funny to think this might be the most effective taunt kill because people choose to be killed by it
@@satoruriolu6132that flying ragdoll and sound effect is always worth it
Neuron activation
ey dont forget the scout & demo at 7:40
What a hero
That feeling when you realize that your In Defense video was actually a cleverly disguised advertisement for the Bonk.
12:06 As a medic main, I feel that crossbow shot on a primal level
Monkey neuron activation
Am I crazy or smth cause I keep not seeing it
@@Kernando12:04 you can see the crossbow miss while he’s drinking the bonk
Ah ok I thought I was looking for a hit not a miss lmao@@recruit8921
"Oh shit that Scout's about to die, I'll use my thousands of hours of experience as medic to lead my shot and sav-wait why did he stop moving fuck"
Genuinely one of the best uses I’ve seen for Bonk is on Steel Offence. If you play your cards right, you can back cap to effectively either cut the enemy team’s numbers in half or increase their respawn timers for a bit, since they’ll all be focused on dealing with the back cap, then crack open a cold one the moment things get hairy. It may not be the most consistent strat, but when it works, it fuckin works
The legend of the Bonk Drinker 🗿
The Donk Binker
Bro thinks he's a force of nature.
@@TheSaltAlchemist bro thought he was a sun on a stick
@@chettra9152He must be as strong as Sandman
@@doctorprepologedyedeyadede3542Strong as a Sandman, wow. He must be a good “Soda-Popper”
15:10 Props to Gibby for respecting the taunt kill potential
7:55 I love this, because this is actually something Jerma himself said about the Bonk back in the day when he made the spy scout video
Fun Fact: The Inspector Bonk meme video predates the release of the actual item. (September 15, 2008 and February 24, 2009)
It was even published when Bush was still in office, showing just how far TF2 memes go back
One of the more interesting applications I've seen with bonk is as an anti bot tool. Not like mvm bots, but sniper bots. Those bots are built to ignore invulnerable people, so during those 8 seconds, you aren't just invincible but also invisible to bots. So you don't have to worry about getting pushed around or even avoided. If you stand in front of the path they're supposed to follow, they can't do a thing. And so people are using bonk to taunt kill bots like a sport. The tf2 community is really something
I love "In defense of" series. Please do not end it
I mean, it's hard to defend good weapons that people call bad when we're out of good weapons that people call bad. If there's any that we haven't gotten a video about yet I'd be glad to hear it
@@shanegiorgio4713 yeah I guess you're 100% right
@@shanegiorgio4713has he done one for the back burner yet
@@FoulUnderworldCreature I don't know if there's a sizable enough group calling it bad, but we haven't gotten a video on the backburner yet
@@shanegiorgio4713 A lot of people think it's the worst flamethrower and write it off as gimmicky and inconsistent. I think the general consensus on ranking them is: degreaser, stock, dragons fury, phlog, backburner.
15:25 I love how you referenced old Festus here!
Imagine if Scout could share his drinks Heavy shares his food items.
Bonk Engineer will become the new meta
The second banana on scout would be really powerful, almost broken. Also a crit and cola heavy would be both hilarious and frustrating to face
@@starmaker75Nah the chocolate bar would be. Imagine a 175 health scout with the ability to heal 2/3 of that every 10 seconds. No thanks
@@thegamingcheeseeater1061 yeah that too will be broken as well
@@starmaker75point probably valid but i don't think that's what OP meant
Bonk is actually pretty good for aggroing sentries and forcing heavies to back off. For example, if your team pushes, you can use bonk to distract the sentry to let your team finish it off at little risk, or bodyblock a heavy to prevent him from doing much damage. It has it's own team uses.
can confirm as someone who got trashed as engineer by a bonk scout and demoman combo
it was cool to see actual teamwork in a pub so i didnt mind it was pretty cool
I'm late to this video but yeah I do it all the time. The reason it doesn't work most of the time is because people don't communicate with their team what they're doing. A lot don't even realize the effectiveness of this tactic. If you say over voice chat "I'm distracting the gun gogogo get it!" and a good offensive class is near & understands what you're doing it's great.
the main problem with the bonk is fighting the urge to schadenfreude immediately after drinking to escape an unwinnable situation
Dude the Bonk is my favorite scout item! I'll admit I use it way more for memes than actual strategic plays but its a very unique item.
Lets you do what Heavies couldn't, tank sentries. XD
Just standing in front of battlements spawn on 2fort and blocking snipers is funny
@@bobertastic6541 I do that with a baseball bat taunt for
The kill, gets them STEAMED LOL
@@PARTY_MUTT especially funny if they stare at you for a solid second doing nothing to prevent dying then get mad in chat lol
Bonk’s viability as an escape tool is why it’s banned in sixes since it basically allows a scout to yolo himself at a med, pick said med and then get back to his combo.
its still pretty underused in pub, my guess is in pub its way too crowded to make this works all the times?
@@catpurrito5586 nah, it's just another case of comp players banning options because it breaks their immersion of what "elite" gameplay looks like (this is especially prevalent for scout's secondary options, he only has two, including stock) as for pub... compared to other options, bonk is very hard to use to it's fullest potential, on top of having a higher rate of new players, therefore less usage rate
Comp 6v6 is a completely different game and shouldn't be taken as the source of balance.
@@Bnvnu simple issue with bonk in pubs is that it requires team play for offensive bonk and to sometimes wait for bonk to recharge.
annoying scout mains however main scout specifically to avoid doing those things.
@Bnuvu Or maybe Sixes and Highlander are different gamemodes with different balance demands?
One time, I was playing CP_Granary and below the dropdown before mid, there was a Level 3 Sentry. Fortunately, I had the Bonk and a Soldier with me. I drank the Bonk, dropped down, and let the Soldier take care of it. It's a simple example, but it's one of my favorite memories with the Bonk.
15:22 that's just the "silly ol' advisory" for Sunset Sarsaparilla
The winger itself is also underrated, you literally get to do the FaN jump spots for free while still having about 100 damage, PBPP is more subject to spread due to the fire speed and the winger stays as a good finisher in a shorter time, if it had 1 more bullet it could kill 125 pretty consistently. Use it with the soda popper to burst from weird angles or pop the 5 jumps and literally fly away.
personally, if the Winger just had a mag size of 9 rounds that would make it better. PBPP is better off with a little damage debuff(it is a POCKET pistol meaning lower caliber) while having 12 rounds.
I would also want a Soda Popper Hype edition(Get Hyped, has Bonk cans and the jumps) and Soda Popper Psyche edition(Get Psyched, Has Crit-A-Cola and minicrits) with a meter you fill up with damage. the only thing I am not sure about is should the Soda Popper Psyched mode be a Soda popper only minicrit buff or like the Cleaner's Carbine minicrit buff.
I would buff the Sodas(Bonk and Critacola) by allowing them to give 50HP that can temporary increase HP(Bonk after the invulnerability wears off, and Critacola when you drink, might be even like a pocket small med kit when not used aggressively)
But just use the melee slot for an atomizer, that way you dont sacrifice your secondary, which is way more imprtant than the melee as a scout
@@OGuiBlindao Atomizer feels so clunky though
@@OGuiBlindaomelee slot is for the fish
@@CrustyTheMoist for me winger feels like it changes nothing, even though it does, atomizer gices the triple jump which is noticable, and lets you keep a better secondary
Fun fact: Baby face's blaster boost works with Bonk invulnerability.
Ferb I know what we're gonna do today!
@@Kewertatelol
That would actually be a great combo if baby face boost didnt go away to a stray cough
@@DoctorBones1Just go get more then
@@DoctorBones1 It still is a great combo. 8 seconds of guaranteed max boost without losing it.
I was playing on an uncletopia server as engineer and had a rough time setting up, but a scout stayed behind while under bonk and soaked up shots for my level 1 sentry from spam. Crazy smart idea and unbelievably helpful
The "Spawn-Pestering" Scout is actually a really efficient playstyle that can genuinely help the team, from my experience. If top-scoring is anything to go by, at least. It works best on Payload and most Attack/Defense maps on either team, so long as you have enough room to run around actually behind the team, so usually after your enemy's spawn moves for the first time.
The strat gets better if you can get in a voice call with a friend and coordinate. It counters sentries they might place to deter you, not to mention that being double-teamed by Scouts is a death sentence for most classes, especially if they're caught off-guard.
It's a fantastic weapon, and I hope Scouts continue to not use it so I don't have to deal with people doing that to my team.
2:20 that might as well be a f2p medic... man pushed him onto his teams teleporter and then proceeds to save his enemies life a swing later.
aw geez I'm going to die of radioactive poisoning
8:55 "Get a pick or two"
*Deals 65 damage to a Heavy*
Funnily enough in the spanish translation of tf2. The Bonk is called Bonk! La bebida salvavida (the lifesaver drink). Giving your point as a main focus of the item
The bit at the end of the video about how many other good options scout has I think really just nails it. Bonk is versatile, and has a few things it does amazingly(running through a hell choke/distracting sentry/meme tauntkills), but is really just overlooked because of how many additional great choices it has to compete with. For the situations bonk lets you barely escape too much damage, perhaps milk lets you barely get the kill instead. For the situations bonk lets you take a breather to reload, perhaps pistols let you barely get the kill instead. Etc etc
Which puts it in the useful but weird middle-ground between playing really aggressive and really careful.
Great video man! I have always wondered why no-one seems to pay any attention to the Bonk despite it's obvious advantages, so I'm glad this video gives the Bonk the respect it deserved
wait how is comment from 16 hours ago when this is just uploaded? :0
@@thisdeathmemberships?
@@SocknessMonster ohh yea i noticed they are members i see
I guess because people only see those new f2p scouts that get thrown into corner by sentry or use it to get behind enemy lines and fail hard. Not to mention stigma of it being Dead Ringer for Scout when he don't need weapon like this.
@@thisdeath Channel members get the video a day early
As someone who has always used bonk as a secondary on scout, it rly is an underrated tool for scout.
As the many applications for it are very handy when you need it such as:
-Potentially distract a sentry to try to pave way for your team to destroy it
-Get out of jail card if your in deep, meaning you can run to safety (unless pyro's or sentries lock you in place)
-Avoid effects of afterburn/bleed
-Works with jumping effects such as: Soda popper, atomizer
-Generally act as a distraction
-Run behind the enemy lines with the bonk to harass and annoy the enemy team or destroy engi's teleporter to buy your team more time
But that's what it is a tool for scout to get around or get out of situations or to use it to distract the enemy team!
As for why i feel like its unpopular among scouts is cause they see bonk as a gimmicky secondary that strips you of other secondry choices such as dmg or healing.
Anywho Great Video Fish!
I don't think anyone is complaining about this, but if you have a presistant enemy that can cover the same distance as you (soldier, demo, pyro with the thrusters, or another scout), the atomizer can help you take paths that the enemy either can't take as quickly or can't take at all.
Even though you are invinicble, its better to take flanks and not be seen. If your running past a hold, you should try to run and lose who ever may be chasing you, by losing line of sight with flank routes.
Also, plan where you want to go before drinking the bonk. Running into a dead end is a result of poor planning and will get you killed. You have think more like a dead ringer spy who just used his dead ringer.
Finally, Im very happy that someone has talk about the bonk and of how good it can be. Your using the bonk to flank and to be a lethal distraction, or to make more risky plays with a get out of jail card.
I love your videos fsoas!
Love him drinking bonk and leaving his medic to die cuz fighting a single pyro with a medic on u is too hard
He had under 20 health left
It’s actually an amazing item because people are so used to bonk being used as a meme that when someone uses it to be effective people get surprised
One of thd funnest things to do as a bonk scout is to just annoy the fuck out of the enemy heavy, whenever he is in a spot to shoot your teamates, pop bonk and just stand infront of him. Eat his bullets so he cant do anything, also a great way to ensure your heavy wins the heavy 1v1
with regard to comparing it to scouts secondaries, the bar is just REALLY high. Scout arguably has the best secondary selection in the game.
Scout has literally the best secondary selection in the game lmao
One day us TF2 players will learn that teamwork in this game will make items perform better
Thank you for making this video. The conversation rarely comes up, but people never believe me when I say this thing is really useful maybe now people will see us true potential. Great video, Fish! ❤
Love your profile picture Goofy ❤😊
I thought we pronounced Concheror like that because we all just understood it was a pun on it being a conch but I guess we're all troglodytes.
Yeah, fish is very wrong here. The word he's thinking of is "conquerer" with, you know, a q
Hate to burst you guys' bubble, but Conch is usually pronounced with a silent 'h'.
SpongeBob lied to you all.
@@Vorox1027 a coc
@@vyor8837thats the pun. it sounds like conqueror
@@Vorox1027 If you're American. In non-bald eagle hamburger miles per oil English you very much pronounce the "h".
Bonk is an item that isn't always strong, but when it is, it's amazing. Perfect niche sidegrade.
My only "buff" to the Bonk would be to have it give the player an extra (stackable with Atomizer) jump while invincible, as well as immunity to sentry knock-back. That'd cement its niche as the ultimate flank tool that can compete with the Winger, and ensure a bonk scout can consistently jump their way to the backline without being body-blocked by defenders or pinned by turrets.
I put "buff" in quotation marks because this feels more like a QOL change that just lets it do its job more consistently.
15:30 you forgot cancer
Distraction Scout exists for a reason. Enemy teams can be completely steamrolled cuz "GET THA SCOUT" becomes the entire mindset
Bonk is literally mini uber, people just don't use it right, I use it to help team push sentry nests, or straight up tank an enemy heavy medic uber by body blocking
You could also use it to force snipers to fight in close quarters. Once it wears off, blast the sniper with the scattergun
Bonk, Cleaver, and Winger are the Scout secondaries I use (in that order). Bonk is just really great for escapes, closing the distance between impossible odds, blocking enemies, and taking down nests.
As much as I love Elmaxo, his legend of bonk drinker video really pushes that negative stigma of the bonk. Great video, very funny and entertaining, but put down by a misunderstanding of what the bonk is really meant to do. Glad to see another great creator doing their best to redeem it in the eyes of the community.
I started using bonk a while back when I decided to give the shortstop a try and it's actually really fun to use, especially getting in the face of a kritz duo and stuffing shots. Nothing feels cooler than running straight into the face of a heavy trying to gun my team down and jumping all over him like a flea while he's helplessly focused down, unable to return fire. It is also a great but still balanced and not always useful escape tool, and most soldiers or demos won't realize you're bonked at first so you absolutely can get them to do some serious self-hitting, especially in a scenario like the heavy one where they try to keep shooting your teammates, since you can just stand in the way blocking shots.
Thinking about it, the Bonk basically turns you into a Medic who popped Uber on themselves only, since they have to hold the medi gun to keep the Uber active and therefore can't attack.
I’ve been running bonk as my main secondary for quite awhile and I never really understood why people disliked it so much. The most common complaint I see is that you use it to get behind the enemy lines and the enemy team will just chase you down, but this is often a good thing. They could be doing the actual objective, but instead there chasing around some random scout who may end up killing them anyway. Either they ignore you and you can do whatever you want, or they chase you and multiple players waste their time dealing with you.
1:47 Finally! SOMEONE GIVES THAT MASTERPIECE OF A THEME SONG CREDIT!!!
my go to Scout secondary is Bonk! Atomic Punch mainly because i have a strange festive one from when it didnt have the slow down if you got hit while invulnerable. it is still a fun item for scout even with the slow down.
I will always love the bonk, I fondly remember the game which I fell in love with it, all I did was drink the bonk, laugh at the enemy team, say thanks and then run away, peak scout gaming.
pissing someone off while behind enemy lines and baiting them to 1v1 you is like mge but better, and you can do it so consistently with bonk, i love it.
My favorite bonk combo is with the baby face since you can run in, get speed, then run out with bonk using the speed to get out
While watching this some points may already have been talked about but I need to say that one viable method I found with the Bonk is one thing: Bonk Surfing.
Specifically for making tactical retreats and feign plays. When I play Scout I like to be a constant nuscience, doing the absolute most stupid stuff possible to make the enemy hate me. If the enemy hates me, they'll shoot me. And when they shoot me, I can surf off that damage to do even more stupid stuff. So if I combine that with the Bonk, I turn into a subclass of the Bird Scout: The Bonkers Bird Scout. Flying through the air, using damage surfing to bob and weave through danger, and the skies remain my home, all while taking absolutely no damage, whatsoever.
For tactical retreats, I often use the Bonk as a distraction tool and more of a taunting method than anything. After all, annoying the enemy is good for my team, since they'll be too focused on *me* to stop a push of *11 other people.* Plus, it's funny to see the entire team trying to damage me as much as possible only for me to get away and do it all over again nearly half a minute later, as I'm in safety and the slowdown is meaningless unless there happens to be a Spy there.
For feint plays though? Oh boy. Oooh boy. I can use Bonk to do so many flanks, so many impossibly stupid stunts that if I take a direct fight, I don't care if I die. The moment I use the Bonk to feint out my enemies it's satisfying to see the cart or point being capped because some Boston born idiot decided to drink a soda and get an 8 second Godmode buff. And if I win direct fights even with the slowdown it's even more hilarious, because most people assume a slowed Scout is an easy target.
They're not.
10:20 The main reason is because of target priority. Who's a bigger threat- The guy shooting at you, or the guy who will be shooting at you a few seconds from now that's immune to damage? Either they focus fire on you, and then get gunned down by your teammates who are actively shooting at them, or ignore you, and then get meatshot when the bonk effect runs out with their back turned. That's the true power of the Bonk. You present them with a choice, either make a stupid play or a different stupid play. Either way, they just left themselves vulnerable and distracted.
The best use for the bonk is what King Mudkip does, where he drinks it, blocks the path of a sniper bot and taunt kills it.
I remember I was on the last point of upward and managed to help my team push using the bonk. I was too bad at demoman or spy to take out their two level 3 sentries, but as it turns out they’re not very useful when locked onto a random scout with invincibility.
The Bonk! is my favorite scout secondary, because it has all the qualities I look for in a tf2 weapon. It's a silly concept, with a fun gimmick, with great potential for meme play while also being a good offensive or defensive tool for serious play.
Dang Bonk Atomic Punch has a lot of the same side effects as Sunset Sarsaparilla 😢
Bonk Atomic Punch on offense: get behind enemies to made sentry nests easier to deal with while also making flanking harder to deal with
Bonk Atomic Punch on defense: Fatmagic easy mode
I've often been using the Bonk as a crutch, but in time I kinda saw what kind of mind games you can play on the enemy team with it. When you zip past the enemy team to flank them from behind, you are putting them in a position where they have to either ignore you and risk an ambush, send one or two of their numbers to hunt you down instead of assissting, or worst case scenario (for them) they halt all their momentum briefly as they turn around to try and hit you when the effect ends, which can cost them dearly if your allies just so happen to be making an important push at the time.
You'd have to drink a whole helluva lot of Bonk! Atomic Punch to get any of those side-effects. Like, full as a tick on Bonk!.
Anyone else notice that some of the cans have a blue baseball in the bottom? What’s up with that?
It's always been one of my go to scout secondaries.
Huh. Now I'm wondering if Bonked Scout can taunt-kill a dispenser.
"I was going to drink my drink but I forgot to drink my drink so I died. ...BONK ATOMIC PUNCH!"
-Ster
More like Bonk! Atomic Lunch. Because this is the only thing I eat. I have 17 types of cancer.
Fun fact, Bonk use to cause slow speed now matter what back when it first released, and even back then, you could still negate the slow down in the same way. There was a video showing you could tap A,D back and forth while moving forward and it still works.
Hugely underrated perk to the Bonk!: third-person view with full mobility and no noise-making. You take full advantage of it at 10:55 -- nobody saw you, and if anyone snuck up on you, you'd just run away.
IMO, Bonk isn't liked all that much because it doesn't let you attack in any way, unlike other invulnerability effects.
Maybe you should be allowed to use melee weapons while bonked, but you attack slower.
So from what I’m gathering, the best strategy for bonk is “tactical meat shield”
Tbh as an engineer main i always wanted to borrow some secondaries from the scout , especially the Bonk Atomic Punch
imagine nijaneer with Bonk+ Eureca effect combo, sneaking behind enemy line just to make tele or sentry in tactical location
it would be ridiculous creative and fun
You can’t eat what ain’t bugs but apparently you cant drink what ain’t radiation. Sucks to suck Scout.
As someone who's dedicated their entire steam and TF2 Identity to bonk, (No.2 Bonk Drinker, 20806 bonks and counting), this video really surprised me, Bonk is a weird item, nobody uses it, but nobody hates against it either, it's just forgotten about
But still, keep bonkin fellas, it'll get a buff eventually...
The bonk punch is actually pretty good in MvM.
If you use it as the first part of each wave comes down, your essentially immune and can pick up the first few money drops without issue, immediately raising your health to 300+. From that point on you simply don't die the entire wave unless you do something incredibly stupid.
“Videos like this are made possible by viewers like you.”
My inner PBS child: 😀
1:47 oh no, don't tell Fish that the download link goes to Furaffinity or he's gonna get livid
When I was doing the backscatter contract, this thing was amazing. Saved my life countless times and let me get away with silly things and escape scott free.
as someone who tried memeing with the Sun on a Stick, the fire resistance did come in handy surprisingly often. even managed to chase after someone on fire once. never got to them as they ran straight into the great wall of 10,000 rounds per minute and i was not taking that chance at less than half health.
Well I've mained bonk for a few years now and I gotta say you nailed most of the important playstyles behind it, but something I gotta add on is the surfing. When flanking, speed is key, because you gotta outrun as many pursuers as possible.
Stuff you gotta look out for is sentries, stickies and soldiers. For their _Good_ knockback.
The best you can get is with sentries, as seen here 4:20 all you gotta do is jump as its firing at you and you get launched into the roof of the map for you to freely drop down where no one suspects.
Be aware of what gives you knockback, cause there is the good knockback like this, the soft knockback like simple shotgun hits and the bad (hard to manipulate) knockback like Airblast.
that inspector bonk song was my whole childhood
FINALLY!! Someone who realizes that bonk isn’t bad! I have no clue what everyone was thinking when saying it’s bad. Having on-demand invincibility is INSANE, no matter what class it’s on.
Dafuq? I don't think I ve ever heard someone use the old regi-fight theme as a background for anything - big fan of it, great choice!
Phenomenal video as always! I most often see Bonk! being used as a panic button- a form of 'I fucked up, so let's do plan B!', which is a valid use! I don't know why people call Bonk! bad at all.
12:58 I'm sorry what. The Winger is easily one of Scouts best secondary weapons in the game. the extra jump height allows him to reach places he could normally reach, which can open more flank routes to ambush enemies. And, sure, the reduced clip can be annoying, but the Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol has one and is one of the best weapons in the game. (and I know health regen is better, but there pistols, they do good damage at mid to far reaches). Plus it doesn't leave him vulnerable to attacks like the Atomizer does. Scouts weapons as a whole are some of the best in the game, so its fine that you put it as the worst. It's just that, to me personally, to put this under the Crit-o-Cola is weird
I always assumed everyone knew that bonk wasnt bad, but that most people who first pick it up use it wrong and then give it up
If it was up to me I'd just make the Bonk give you a slight speed boost & extra jumps but when the effect wears off you get a speed debuff & can't double jump for a moment
Now that I have actually watched the full video I actually just realized a really good strat use the bonk to get behind enemy lines & then use the force of nature to fling the enemy team out from behind cover
I don't have to watch this video to tell you it's based on a false premise: Bonk! is the king of offensive pushes, being a way to freely scout and temporarily distract a literally infinite number of sentry guns. You are an ON-DEMAND UBERCHARGE for dealing with Sentry nests.
You are not gonna believe what he said in the vid (yes I know this was 7 months ago I'm just being a little shit)
Love your content fish! not only funny but informative and entertaining!
Yknow.
It's because of these videos that I now run bonk and sandman on my scout.
You helped me find their use cases.
Bonk to escape.
Sandman to slow down enemies to compensate for my bad aim
oh boi, can't wait for Bonk now getting a 10 cent rise in the market
"woah ive never thought of the bonk that way, what a good video with a great end card- is that a leoplurodon.
Honestly, this is more "advice for using" than "in defense of", but that's what Bonk needed so I'm not complaining.
Finnaly🙌
Legend says bonk drinker is still drinking to this day
My main issue with the bonk is that players get into the mindset that they have to pop it too often or early, reducing their effectiveness. At 9:18 fish pops the bonk when he could’ve killed the engineer before he sets up his sentry.
I'd hurt you but you are under the bonk effect
That Ed, Edd, n Eddy sound effect in the opening clip threw me off so much.
I love watching your vids, I'm about 500 hours deep in TF2 and I learn something new whenever I watch your vids Fish!
Thanks for being peak Team Fortress 2 edutainment.
literally the baby faces blaster, you click once, get atleast minimum move speed back, and run away and live, and yeah also the funny force a nature and sodapopper kills