Any tips on reflecting projectiles with the airblast?

I'm having real trouble with this, and I'm trying to work out whether it's my timing/technique which is at fault, or whether it's not really possible for my ping.

I ping between 150 and 200 on the TF2F servers, but the actual effect seems worse than that - I routinely:

• Don't know when I've been shot by e.g. a scout - the damage "ugh!" only plays from Shot 1 when I'm already being hit by Shots 2 or 3.
• Don't know when I've killed someone - kill notifications on the top right are delayed by over a second.
• Don't see a sentry before it can kill me.

(my fps is fine, by the way)

I wonder if this is killing me when I try to reflect things, too. I've tried hitting airblast as soon as I see the rocket, when the rocket seems broadly in front of me, when it's right in front of me, but nothing seems to make it reflect. Every time it hits me and I take the damage.

Is there anyone else who gets the same kind of lag as above, but can safely reflect rockets? Did it take some time to learn? What are the tricks - can you help?!

It's a lot harder reflecting things when you have high ping, but it is still possible. For me, you right click a little before it comes in the range you would have with normal ping. It works most of the time, but it's still a litle buggy..... It takes a bit of practice as well!

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I think that my ping may measure 150ish, but the actual effects I see appear to be MUCH worse than most people. Do you get the things I mentioned in my list above?:

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Oh right. No I don't......

I'm in the exact same position as you, my ping times are usually 170-180 and I never seem to get the timing right for the air blast. I also experience the other things you're mentioning. Often while edging a sentry gun I'll die even though I I can't see the sentry on my own screen.

Kill notifications seem to be delayed by a second which really messes things up in intense combat when you're not sure how many people you're still fighting. Sometimes I assume that I saw the guy die and switch to another target. Sounds silly, but sometimes fights just are that intense and the only way to win is to not spend any time shooting a falling ragdoll. Unless you have played in these conditions you cannot appreciate enough how valuable the kill notification is on a subliminal level, if you're sure there are 3 guys shooting at you and you see a yellow box up in the right corner you know there is now just 2 guys left. I recommend anyone to try playing a few nights with kill notifications disabled or somehow covered up so you can't see it while playing. You're severely handicapped in combat when you can't instantly see your kills because it's the only certainty you have, especially when you're always factoring in your latency and you know that everything you see isn't real.

The thing about hearing the shots is too true. When you go over 150 ping things get a bit funky and you can't tell what's real or not. In a sniper duel on the start of a round, me and another sniper had our dots right between the eyes and when the gates opened we both fired. I died of course, what else, but the thing is that in third person view my own muzzle flash was still visible as it quickly dissipated. I could also hear the sound of my own gunshot in third person. My client was playing the sound and displaying the graphics for my character shooting, although in reality the shot never came. What Cas mentioned is very common indeed, I usually don't hear the shot that kills me when it happens quickly because of the slight delay. I'm dead before my client shows it.

And as is the topic for discussion, airblasting becomes very difficult. Even if the rocket is caught in the blast, it still travels a little bit further before turning around, and I assume this is because of the delay. My client even plays the sound effect and smoke puff that happens when a projectile is reflected (not the airblast itself, but the shap hissing noise when projectiles change direction). In reality though, I'm probably already hit. Try blasting a bit earlier and, if you time it right, there is a slight delay before you see the projectile turn around. You don't really "feel" it like you should, it's a guessing game when you get it right.

Thanks, Sufyan. It's encouraging to hear that it can be done, even under those conditions. Perhaps I should get a .nato soldier or two to help me practice on one of the private servers for a while.

So, to boil down that advice, you're suggesting:

• I should airblast before it seems like I need to (while the rocket seems too far away)
• It will appear for a moment like nothing's happened
• Then the rocket will turn around on my screen

Is that right?

When do you hear the "hiss" effect - when you fire the airblast, or delayed a moment later when you actually see the rocket turn?

Yes it can be done, but you have to time it earlier (of course) and the sound effects and the visuals on the screen seem disjointed. I'm trying to unlearn low ping games because the "feeling" is quite different after 150ms. I'm sure you can get proficient with airblasts on TF2F but you have to learn a timing that is not at all intuitive. If you time your airblasts normally (judging from what you see on your screen) the server will tell you that you got hit. In the face!

Edit: The Hiss noise seems to be client dependent, as in that it plays when the projectile is caught in the blast, not when the projectile actually changes direction. Yes, I experience that the sound is heard before the projectile is actually seen turning. I'm guessing this is an aesthetic choice on Valve's part as otherwise many people would experience it like "FOMP!...HISS!" rather than a simultaneous effect.

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I think it's when you fire the airblast but I could be wrong. I don't care because the moment I get the BB I'm going backburner pyro on everyone's ass! (Kinda literally actually)

As a fellow Brit I get a steady high 90's to low 100 ping on the TF2F servers. I never feel much effect of it, due to the fact my main class has a server controlled device to use. However, when I pyro on servers with 5 ping, I find it much easier to deflect rockets. I believe in your case Cas you need to hit mouse 2 slightly before you normally would on say a 5 ping server to compensate for what you're seing vs what the server's seeing.

This is a best guess on my part, so maybe try some experimenting to see- if you need any assistance I'm happy to help out

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This would be great. Could we grab a slot on one of the private servers next time we're both on and you fire some rockets at me?