Sandman

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You Scouts are gonna love this highly collectible bat that smacks baseballs at the other team, stunning the living crap outta anybody dumb, slow, drunk, mute or Australian enough to get in the way.
Sandman publicity blurb

The Sandman is an unlockable melee weapon for the Scout. It is a wooden bat with a smooth black grip, complete with a logo reading "The Sandman" engraved on the side, and a black band tied around the end holding a cracked section of wood together. Accompanying the bat is an "All Ballers League" baseball manufactured by "Ball Fortress".

In addition to sharing the attack speed and damage of the normal Bat, pressing alt-fire (default key: MOUSE2) with the Sandman causes the Scout to launch the baseball towards the enemy. Successfully hitting a target with the baseball slows the enemy as well as damages them, provided that they are a sufficient distance away. A slowed enemy's speed is capped at 225.88 Hammer units per second (about the same speed as a walking Heavy), regardless of the class. The slow duration depends on how long the ball has been in the air; the longer the ball's travel time, the longer the victim is slowed, ranging from 1 to 7 seconds. If the enemy is hit with a baseball that has traveled for sufficiently long, the victim suffers a moonshot, identifiable by a cheering audience sound clip, and is slowed for the maximum slow duration. If the Scout launches the ball short of the minimum slow distance, the ball hits and inflicts minor damage, but bounces off the enemy with no effect. The Scout is also only equipped with one baseball, which reloads after a 10-second interval indicated in the cooldown bar on the HUD. Despite being a projectile, the baseball is considered a melee weapon, meaning it uses the higher critical chance of melee weapons and deals double damage to Heavies that have the Fists of Steel active.

Baseballs can be picked up off the ground, whether owned by the player or another Scout, or by visiting a Resupply locker. Baseballs are not classed as ammunition and thus cannot be retrieved by picking up (dropped) ammo packs. A baseball that does not hit an enemy remains on the ground and disappears after 10 seconds, effectively the time it takes the Scout to gain a new one. After slowing an enemy, it disappears much more quickly - after about three seconds - but can still be picked up and used again if acquired before it disappears. As a projectile, the ball arcs towards the ground and can be deflected by an enemy Pyro. The ball can also hit and bounce off of enemy grenades, Jarate, Mad Milk, and even enemy Scout baseballs.

Scouts carrying the Sandman lose 15 max health points, lowering their base health to 110. The weapon is therefore suited to support tactics, as it places the player at greater risk of death during combat.

Taunting with the Sandman equipped results in the Grand Slam kill taunt.

The Sandman is automatically given to any player who obtains 16 Scout achievements.

The kill icon for the Sandman was contributed by NeoDement .

Damage and function times

Melee damage

See also: Damage
Identical to: Bat
Damage and function times
Damage type Melee
Ranged or Melee damage? Melee
Damage
Base damage 100% 35
Critical 105
Mini-crit 47
Function times
Attack interval 0.5 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Baseball

See also: Damage
Damage and function times
Shot type Projectile
Damage type Melee
Ranged or Melee damage? Melee
Effect Slows proportionally to time traveled
Damage
Base damage 100% 15
Critical 45
Mini-crit 20
Function times
Attack interval 0.25 s
Recharge time 10 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Health

Main article: Health
Class Health Overheal Quick-Fix Overheal
Leaderboard class scout.png Scout 125 185 158
With the Sandman equipped 110 165 139

Demonstration

Crafting

See also: Crafting

Blueprint

Class Token - Scout Slot Token - Melee Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Scout.png + Item icon Slot Token - Melee.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Sandman.png Item icon Holy Mackerel.png Item icon Boston Basher.png Item icon Candy Cane.png
Item icon Sun-on-a-Stick.png Item icon Fan O'War.png Item icon Three-Rune Blade.png Item icon Atomizer.png
Item icon Unarmed Combat.png Item icon Wrap Assassin.png Item icon Freedom Staff.png Item icon Ham Shank.png
Item icon Bat Outta Hell.png Item icon Conscientious Objector.png

As a crafting ingredient

Sandman Scrap Metal Pain Train
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png = Item icon Pain Train.png
Sandman Reclaimed Metal Holy Mackerel
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Holy Mackerel.png
Sandman Tribalman's Shiv Boston Basher
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Tribalman's Shiv.png = Item icon Boston Basher.png
Sandman Bonk! Atomic Punch Reclaimed Metal Atomizer
Item icon Sandman.png + Item icon Bonk! Atomic Punch.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Atomizer.png

Strange variant


Related achievements

Leaderboard class scout.png Scout

Beanball
Beanball
Stun a Scout with their own ball.


Brushback
Brushback
Stun 50 enemies while they are capturing a point or pushing the cart.


Foul Territory
Foul Territory
Cause an environmental death by stunning or slowing an enemy.


Moon Shot
Moon Shot
Stun an enemy for the maximum possible duration by hitting them with a long-range ball.
Out of the Park
Out of the Park
Bat an enemy 25 meters.


Scout Milestone 2
Scout Milestone 2
Achieve 16 of the achievements in the Scout pack.

Reward: Sandman


Strike Zone
Strike Zone
Kill or assist kill 50 enemies while they are stunned or slowed.


The Big Hurt
The Big Hurt
Stun 2 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge.


Leaderboard class soldier.png Soldier

The Longest Daze
The Longest Daze
Kill 5 stunned or slowed players.


Mvm navicon.png Mann vs. Machievements

Do Androids Dream?
Do Androids Dream?
As a Scout, use the Sandman to mark 15 robots for death in a single wave.

Update history

February 24, 2009 Patch (Scout Update)
  • The Sandman was added to the game. The baseball is automatically fired if available upon primary fire; there is no alt-fire ability. It applies immobilizing stun at any distance and is capable of stunning ÜberCharged enemies in exchange for disabling the Scout's double jump and dealing half damage to unstunned targets.

February 25, 2009 Patch

  • Removed the damage reduction against non-stunned enemies on the Sandman.
  • Fixed the BONK! particles appearing in the air when this weapon's taunt kill is used on a target.

March 13, 2009 Patch

  • Players who are stunned by a ball now take 50% less damage.
  • The minimum distance to stun a player using this weapon was increased.

May 26, 2009 Patch

  • Fixed kill descriptions for Force-A-Nature & Sandman so server logs can distinguish them.

August 13, 2009 Patch (Classless Update)

  • The Sandman's stun effect went under numerous changes.
    • Players using this weapon will now receive 1 point for stunning an enemy and 2 points for a long range stun.
    • Stunned players now take 75% of all incoming damage instead of 50%.
    • ÜberCharged players can no longer be stunned.
    • Heavies spinning their Miniguns will continue to spin when stunned (whether the left or right mouse button is pressed).
    • The minimum distance to stun a target has been reduced.
  • The negative attribute was changed from "no double jump" to "-30 max health".
  • [Undocumented] Primary fire for the Sandman now swings the bat, while alt-fire now launches the baseball.
  • [Undocumented] Added swinging animations to the Sandman when a Scout swings the bat with the ball still in his hand.

December 17, 2009 Patch (WAR! Update)

  • The Sandman will only stun on a max range hit.
  • All shorter hits now force the enemy into the third-person fleeing state (also removed the damage reduction on them).
  • A recharge sound was added to the Sandman's recharge ability.

December 22, 2009 Patch

  • Updated the Baseball's HUD indicator to stay on screen when full.

January 6, 2010 Patch

  • Reduced the health penalty on the Sandman to "-15 max health".

January 13, 2010 Patch

  • Fixed this weapon being able to bat balls through doors.

April 28, 2010 Patch

  • Added a slight speed reduction to stunned players.

May 12, 2010 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was added to the Pain Train's crafting blueprint.

July 8, 2010 Patch (Engineer Update)

  • The Sandman now uses the Bat kill icon, while the ball's stun uses the existing Sandman's kill icon.

September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)

  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was added in the Holy Mackerel's crafting blueprint.

October 12, 2010 Patch

December 21, 2010 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was added in the Ullapool Caber's crafting blueprint.
  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was added in the Boston Basher's crafting blueprint.

January 7, 2011 Patch

  • The Sandman was given a unique kill icon.

February 14, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed the Sandman's melee attack not destroying remote detonation pipes (Stickybombs).

March 15, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was removed from the Ullapool Caber's crafting blueprint.

June 23, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Sandman was added in the Atomizer's crafting blueprint.

July 12, 2011

July 22, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The stun attribute wording was changed from "This bat knocks out a mean stun ball" to "Alt-fire: Launches a ball that stuns opponents."
  • [Undocumented] Fixed a Head-up display bug in which the ball recharge meter for The Sandman would show the improper amount of charge under certain circumstances.

December 21, 2011 Patch

  • Refined recoil force for the Sandman.

July 20, 2012 Patch

  • Fixed the Strange Sandman not accepting the Posthumous Kills strange part.

November 12, 2013 Patch

December 21, 2016 Patch (Smissmas 2016)

February 14, 2017 Patch

  • Fixed some missing VO sounds for the Scout when he picks up a baseball.

October 20, 2017 Patch (Jungle Inferno Update)

  • Changed attributes:
    • Long-range ball impacts no longer remove the victim's ability to fire their weapon but the victim is still slowed.
    • Max range balls now do 50% increased damage from a base of 15.
    • The flight time required to trigger the max effect has been reduced by 20%.
    • Ball regeneration time reduced to 10 seconds.

March 28, 2018 Patch #1

  • Fixed the Sandman projectiles colliding with invisible objects in team spawn rooms.

June 7, 2018 Patch

  • Fixed Scouts not being able to pick-up the Sandman's baseball.

Bugs

  • Rarely, if a player throws the ball at a wall while the Scout is in close range and they pick it up off the ground, let it refill, or go to a Resupply locker, the recharge bar remains full, but the baseball is missing, resulting in it not being usable until the player dies.
  • When an enemy Pyro blasts the ball and it hits a friendly player, they are slowed, but are not damaged by it.
    • If the Scout who launched the ball is hit in this manner, however, he is slowed and damaged as if hit by an enemy Scout.
  • In certain instances where the ball recharge meter is full and the Scout holds the ball ready, it cannot be launched.
  • If the player throws the baseball directly at their feet, the player immediately retrieves the ball, leading to the Scout showing the animation, but not launching the ball.
  • The Sandman ball does not have any effect on a target who has been ÜberCharged with the stock Medi Gun at least once.
  • The Sandman's ball can sometimes get constant guaranteed critical hits on servers with random crits enabled.
  • The Sandman's ball can go through thin walls (less than 16 Hammer units thick, such as setup gates), when thrown at the correct angle.

Trivia

  • The Sandman's name refers to the folklore character reputed to induce sleep by putting sand or dust in the sleeper's eyes.
  • The in-game model and logo for the Sandman are based on the "classic" Louisville Slugger baseball bats made by the Hillerich & Bradsby Company.

Gallery

See also

External links