How do I get better at playing as heavy?

[BISMARCKABLE]

I've been playing as heavy, but I keep dying, I'm trying to be able to tank shots, and apparently 300 HP isn't enough, I've heard that it's good to get a medic to be with you so you can keep going, but other than that, i think heavy is fun to play as

[76561199289544618]

Originally posted by BISMARCKABLE:

, I'm trying to be able to tank shots, and apparently 300 HP isn't enough

heavy's skill is largely tied to positioning and game sense. play corners and use map cover to dodge damage.
pre-rev so you can reach max damage ramp-up before fighting, and practice not overcommiting to bad fights.

[WraithTDK [TBTPs!]]

General tips for heavy:

1. Get an aim trainer like https://store.steampowered.com/app/824270/KovaaKs/ and focus heavily on "tracking." Get good at that and you'll be downright deadly with a minigun.

2. You heard correctly, having a medic will GREATLY increase your lethality. No other class pair quite as well, because your health pool is already so large that having it be consistently topped off can make you a nightmare. Just remember that you are just as responsible for keeping HIM alive as he is you. Which leads me to my next point...

3. Always be aware of your surroundings. This is true for anyone, but heavy most of all. As tanky and dangerous as you are, you are also very slow, and your gun is very loud, which can make it harder to hear a spy decloak, sneak up and stab you (which is easy to do because, again, you are very slow). Frequently look around. Also pay attention to your medic and what he's dealing with. `

[Bathtub Shitter]

It's all about the tracking and 180 turns

[Arc]

u dont need to buy an aim trainer lmao, heavy takes the least aim of any hitscan class and his guns are so unaccurate ull miss even if ur aim is good if the enemy is too far anyways

step 1:
equip the stock or tomi slav all other gun is bad

step 2:
equip sandwviwch or banana all other second is bad

step 3:
equip an go fast hands all other punch is bad

step 4:
dont rev up unless you have a reason to. if you think they're'is going to be an enemies around the corner, if you'r're being shotted and u dont think u can just run, if ur medic bf (best friend) is being shotted his life is worth more than yous

step 5:
rev up in the air if u plan to moive. if ur're turning an corners, jump and rev. dont just slowly rev on the floor it makes u slow being slow is dumb and low tier just like heavy

step 6:
run away if you dont think you can take a fight. heavy with no medic basically only beats bad players. anyone good will just shoot you r outside you r effective range or run away and you can do nothing to stop this. so bully weaker players, shoot soldiers who aren't looking at you out of the sky, peak around corners near a medic or dinspenser

step 7:
get shot in the head lol
lol heavy lol

step 8:
hope a medic helps you but they probably wont so see above i play heavy no medic and i do good and not bad at game pro mlg

step 9:
get a medic, ignore all the above and run into the entire enemy team expecting the medic to follow you to death for no reason, get abandoned and die while i (the medic) laugh at you in french

step 10:
waste an uber inexplicably switching to melee and never get healed again

[76561199289544618]

tracking is such a useless skill to hone on heavy unless you're already good at the class. it's more worthwhile to focus on positioning and actually playing the class right than perfectly tracking targets with a bullet hose that doesn't reward you for tracking anyways.

[fakeloo]

the most important thing is to think about where you're standing, since you can't easily move out of a bad position. are you close enough to do damage? what can kill you? do you need to be revved up?

[Rando the Crit Clown]

You're pretty much as good as you can be at that class right now.

[pocketful of sunshine]

pay for a pocket medic with vac

[Kohchu]

Improvement for Heavy relies on 2 major things:

Positioning, and Tracking.

Positioning is key. Heavy lacks movement options, aside from the GRU and Eviction Notice; and these limit his HP pool, so you're discouraged to use them in combat. This means Heavy needs to make split decisions on whether or not to commit, or retreat. This aspect of Heavy is the most important part. When it comes to Miniguns, preference is your own, as all of them have their situations; but the strength Hierarchy basically goes:

Tomislav > Stock > Huo Long Heater > Brass Beast > Natascha

The Tomislav has a tighter aim and will beat the others at all ranges except point blank (and if the enemy Heavy is already spun up). So most people go with that one, as it enables Heavy more movement options; however I discourage it early on, as the tighter spread will make tracking harder. I recommend sticking to Stock until you are a bit more confident with your aim. When engaging enemies; always take a look at what you're up against; if you physically cannot handle it; PULL BACK AND WAIT. Your team and support can help turn the tide; rather than just committing and dying because the enemy ganged up on you. The Fists of Steel help greatly for situations like this.

---

As for Tracking, this comes down to practice. The best way to aim as Heavy; is to remember you do NOT want enemies right in your face; While this will maximise damage, tracking becomes trickier as they can juke you to the left and right. You want them to be about a full character model away from you; as this will be much easier for you to track. When engaging, I strongly recommend jumping as you Rev, as the initial jump can cause Snipers to miss, and other enemies to not react as efficiently (works best with the Tomislav, but Stock can do it too).

More importantly, understand that Heavy is more an anchor for his team. While an Ubered Heavy can push through the enemy; his slow speed makes that better suited for Demo and Soldier. Heavy should assist these classes, but punishing enemies for committing; and aiding to defend his team if they need to fall back. Minigun and Tomislav are great for offense; Brass Beast and Natascha are better on defence. And the Huo Long is sorta in the middle.

Also, for secondary, use the Sandwich or the Second Banana. These two items are gloriously useful, since not only can you heal yourself; but you can throw them to teammates to top them off. REALLY useful if you have a Medic or Engineer you are working with; but you can throw your Sandwich to anyone.

[provokedartist]

Pootis.

[cat in box says a lot]

get pocket medic

and master the ancient heavy secret technique:
jump revving, takes like 10 seconds to learn, another 10 to master

[Emaulligu]

Heavy has a lot of HP but that doesn't make him immortal. He's very large and slow, which makes him an easy target for everyone. The minigun is only effective at very close range so you'll want to position yourself correctly to be able to get a few kills before you're able to retreat safely.

[U]

use shotgun idk