It was more of a "here's a cool weapon we renamed and removed a feature for then created a stuff weapon to go along with it"
I was fine with other people using it in game before the split because it was signaled the soldier had low health.
Yeah, I like the Escape Plan More than the Equalizer name-wise, and the current Equalizer can go die in a fire.
But also medics can't heal you when you hold it, so it was more of a "get to a health pack" weapon, like the back scratcher.
Poll