Black Box

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If you're lucky enough to sport the upper body strength to actually carry this monster, you can guarantee, after firing this half-a-ton hellraiser, it will be the only thing left that's not a smouldering pile of ash.
Black Box publicity blurb

The Black Box is a community-created primary weapon for the Soldier. It is a black, rectangular rocket launcher with rounded edges, sporting two dark grey fastening bands near the front end and case coverings hanging open at both ends of the weapon. The rear case covering swings idly.

For every enemy successfully hit with the Black Box, the player will be awarded up to 20 health points per attack, based on how much damage is dealt, scaling to 20 only on attacks over base damage. Health gained through Black Box hits cannot grant overheal. The Soldier will not receive health if the target is a cloaked Spy or an enemy under the effects of an ÜberCharge; however, health will still be awarded if the target is a Scout under the effects of Bonk! Atomic Punch or a disguised Spy. A successful hit will not remove the effects of fire, bleeding, Jarate, or Mad Milk on the player. Health gains are indicated by the health counter in the Head-up display. The downside to this weapon is that its clip is reduced by one. This makes using the Black Box a good choice for improving survivability, at the expense of the amount of damage that can be dealt.

Should a Pyro successfully reflect a Black Box rocket in such a way that it collides with the shooter or another enemy, the health bonus will be given to the Pyro.

The kill icon for the Black Box was contributed by Psyke .

Damage and function times

See also: Damage
Identical to: Rocket Launcher
Damage and function times
Shot type Projectile
Damage type Explosive
Ranged or Melee damage? Ranged
Damage
Maximum ramp-up 125% 112
Base damage 100% 90
Maximum fall-off 53% 48
Point blank 105-112
Medium range 50-90
Long range 45-60
Critical 270
Mini-crit 122-151
Splash damage
Minimum splash 50% 9.1 ft
Damage reduction 1% / 2.88
Self-damage 27-89
Self damage (rocket jump) 27-46
Healing
Healing amount 1 HP per 4.5 damage dealed
Function times
Attack interval 0.8 s
Reload (first) 0.92 s
Reload (consecutive) 0.8 s
Values are approximate and determined by community testing.

Item set

Main article: Item sets
The Tank Buster
Backpack The Tank Buster Bundle.png
Effect

Leave a Calling Card on your victims

Demonstration

Crafting

See also: Crafting

Blueprint

Direct Hit Reclaimed Metal Black Box
Item icon Direct Hit.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Black Box.png
Class Token - Soldier Slot Token - Primary Scrap Metal Possible Results
Item icon Class Token - Soldier.png + Item icon Slot Token - Primary.png + Item icon Scrap Metal.png =
Item icon Direct Hit.png Item icon Black Box.png Item icon Rocket Jumper.png Item icon Liberty Launcher.png
Item icon Cow Mangler 5000.png Item icon Original.png Item icon Beggar's Bazooka.png Item icon Air Strike.png
Item icon Panic Attack.png

As a crafting ingredient

Refined Metal Tank Buster weapon Grenadier's Softcap
Item icon Refined Metal.pngx4 + Item icon Black Box.pngItem icon Battalion's Backup.png = Item icon Grenadier's Softcap.png
Black Box Reclaimed Metal Liberty Launcher
Item icon Black Box.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.pngx2 = Item icon Liberty Launcher.png
Black Box Reclaimed Metal Cow Mangler 5000
Item icon Black Box.png + Item icon Reclaimed Metal.png = Item icon Cow Mangler 5000.png

Strange variant


Related achievements

Leaderboard class soldier.png Soldier

Backdraft Dodger
Backdraft Dodger
Kill a Pyro who has airblasted one of your rockets in the last 10 seconds.


Crockets Are Such B.S.
Crockets Are Such B.S.
Shoot two non-boosted crit rockets in a row.


For Whom the Shell Trolls
For Whom the Shell Trolls
Bounce an opponent into the air with a rocket and then kill them with the shotgun before they land.


Death from Above
Death from Above
Rocket jump and kill 2 enemies before you land.
Mutually Assured Destruction
Mutually Assured Destruction
Kill an enemy sniper with a rocket after he kills you.


Tri-Splatteral Damage
Tri-Splatteral Damage
Kill 3 enemies with a single critical rocket.


Where Eagles Dare
Where Eagles Dare
Get the highest possible rocket jump using jump and crouch.


Mutually Air-Sured-Destruction
Mutually Air-Sured-Destruction
While rocket jumping, use a rocket to kill a rocket jumping enemy who also kills you with a rocket.

Leaderboard class pyro.png Pyro

Hotshot
Hotshot
Kill a Soldier with a reflected critical rocket.


Pilot Light
Pilot Light
Ignite a rocket-jumping Soldier while he's in midair.
Hot Potato
Hot Potato
Reflect 100 projectiles with your compressed air blast.

Leaderboard class heavy.png Heavy

Crock Block
Crock Block
Survive a direct hit from a critical rocket.


Leaderboard class sniper.png Sniper

Jumper Stumper
Jumper Stumper
Kill a rocket or grenade-jumping enemy in midair with your Sniper Rifle or the Huntsman.

Update history

September 30, 2010 Patch (Mann-Conomy Update)
  • The Black Box was added to the game.

October 8, 2010 Patch

January 7, 2011 Patch

February 14, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed players getting set bonuses applied on tournament servers when the server is restricting the player's weapons using the item_whitelist.
  • [Undocumented] Fixed players getting set bonuses applied on Medieval maps for items that are not allowed in medieval mode.

March 10, 2011 Patch (Shogun Pack)

  • Updated model with optimizations and LODs.

March 11, 2011 Patch

  • Fixed players getting a health bonus based on the weapon they're currently holding instead of the weapon that dealt the killing blow.

June 23, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Black Box was added to the crafting blueprint for the Liberty Launcher.

July 20, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Black Box was added to the crafting blueprint for the Cow Mangler 5000.

September 20, 2011 Patch

  • [Undocumented] Added Strange quality.

April 17, 2012 Patch

  • [Undocumented] The Black Box will now grant health when striking a Building.

April 27, 2012 Patch

  • Fixed damage to buildings applying on-hit effects.

July 10, 2013 Patch

  • Rocket explosions now use correct sound.

November 12, 2013 Patch

November 21, 2013 Patch (Two Cities Update)

December 20, 2013 Patch (Smissmas 2013)

  • [Undocumented] Added Festive variant.

June 11, 2014 Patch

  • Fixed deflected Black Box rockets not giving health to the Pyro.

June 18, 2014 Patch (Love & War Update)

  • [Undocumented] Fixed the reload of Soldier primary weapons to show rockets in first person.

July 2, 2015 Patch #1 (Gun Mettle Update)

  • Changed attributes:
    • Changed +15 health on hit to +20 health on hit per attack.
    • Changed how health on hit works for radius damage. Is now capped per attack and scales with total damage done relative to base damage. (i.e. doing 45 damage nets +10 health on hit as base damage is 90. Hitting 3 enemies for 45 each for a total of 135 damage only returns +20 health.)

July 28, 2016 Patch

  • Adjusted Black Box reload animation to be slightly faster (now matches the default Rocket Launcher).

October 24, 2017 Patch

  • Fixed the Festive Black Box not working for Black Box Contracts.

December 21, 2017 Patch (Smissmas 2017)

Bugs

  • If a long range rocket is fired, and the Soldier switches to his Escape Plan and receives the health benefit, he will still stay at the same speed, even if he was injured beforehand.
  • When starting to reload, the weapon seems to jut back.

Trivia

  • The Black Box was originally based on the real world M202 FLASH incendiary rocket launcher. The four barrel holes were swapped for one due to gameplay issues.
  • The Black Box was the name of an unreleased compilation of the new content in The Orange Box.
  • An early concept of the Black Box shows that it originally had a scope attached to it, much like the Direct Hit.
  • The term "black box" refers to any device with a known function but an unknown means of internal operations.
    • It is also a common term for flight recorders, highly sturdy devices which are used to record what happens in a cockpit in case of a plane crash. Interestingly, these boxes aren't black at all; they are a bright orange color.
    • The term "black box" is also American slang for a briefcase containing nuclear launch codes.

Gallery

See also