shorasCorsaNot being able to no-scope is hardly a downside. You can just click m2 and m1 right after each other and it's just about the same effect as a no-scope. The only true downside is the tracer when you want to stay hidden; you usually get 1-2 fewer shots from a weird angle with the machina. On top of that, any weapon that rewards lesser skill (bodyshots) should be rebalanced.
It merely rewards the snipers who can't aim more than it rewards good snipers (but it still favors everyone).
No scope can really save you when retreating, +23 bodyshot damage on a full charge isn't that big of a deal (you still can't oneshot full hp Demo/Pyro or a fully buffed Scout), collat kills happen very rarely(I recall only one that happened on high level of TF2). You ever played with/against a Machina Sniper in 6s?
I'll repeat my question: if it's actually so unbalanced, why isn't it being abused by EU players (where it's allowed) just like it was with NA and Cozy Camper?
Also no one uses Cow Mangler because of a significantly longer first reload. You all call stuff unbalanced, but it doesn't look like you actually played with it.
But the thing is you can still pretty much no scope with it by clicking m1 right after m2, like I already said, so the concept of outputting 50 damage no scopes is still prevalent. It makes you move slower for a very short amount of time. The only times you should no scope when retreating, though, is if you know they're lit or if you're at a medium distance trying to deny them from chasing, but you're probably going to live anyway with the support of your movement and your team's help. The latter is the ONLY time not being able to do a true no scope at full movement speed hurts you, but like I already said, you'll probably live anyway. You just shouldn't go for the quick 50 damage shots until you're at the point when they're lit from your teammates shooting them and running away has no benefit. It's basically the same idea with stock too, so the machina is not much of a downgrade in those specific situations.
You mention that you rarely see it being used, and you're probably right, even though in about 10/10 of the times I've opened an etf2l stream, if they ran sniper, they were using the machina. If they didn't, like you're suggesting, the reasoning is simple, and I already explained it in the post you just replied to.... It rewards the worse snipers more than it favors the very best snipers in the game, simply because its advantage is a damage boost, which is only advantageous for bodyshotting.
Some points you're missing:
-More often than not, a scout doesn't have 174-185. If you see a scout that doesn't have the beam on him, the likelihood of him being <174 is extraordinarily high. Even when a scout just got a buff, medics a lot of times only give you a tap, maybe reaching ~170.
-A demo's health is in the range of 150-173 WAY more often than you think.
Also, you said you've rarely seen collats in high level tf2. That's true, but it definitely occurs more often than you're suggesting, as I've seen like 5-10 in the past month in just frag videos of prem players.
edit: the comangler might be worse, but you guys need to understand that if something is not fun to play against because of some weird mechanic, it needs a rebalance, thus making it "unbalanced."
I'd explain why but I'm at work and clockwork already explained it well:
clckwrkIn most cases, I'd say that these unlocks are worse than the default loadouts. But, for when they aren't, it's just not fun to play against. The whole idea of "not fun to play against" is a legitimate way to consider balance. Even though it's subjective, it's pretty consistent. When the Sandman was created, everyone knew the weapon was stupid. Stuns in FPS games are not enjoyable in any sense, especially games with a lot of movement capabilities.
The direct hit is the same way. It's just worse than the regular rocket launcher, but it kills scouts in one hit. That's so stupid. In a competitive game, it's whatever. You die to a direct hit as a scout and your team rolls over the rest of the players because there's no consistent spam. But in pugs, it's just lame as fuck. And that's the direct hit. That weapon is bad and you wouldn't use it to win a game. But with the possible inclusion of different weapons that could be actual sidegrades, this problem becomes more and more apparent. There shouldn't be any projectile in this game that one-shots anything. But still we have a primary pipe launcher that nearly one-shots Medics, of all classes.
I could use the same example for the guillotine, if you think I'm biased. A medic escaping Badlands choke shouldn't be able to successfully dodge 3 pipes, 2 stickies, and a mess of rocket spam just to get clipped by this fucking invisible blade flying toward him for 70 damage.
This also applies to the machina, as dying to a bodyshot moments after getting a buff is dumb.