TF2 Tactical Knowledge - Mann VS Machine

Welcome to TF2 Tactical Knowledge, your insights for new players and battle scarred veterans alike. This marks a series of guides I will be writing which will talk about the 9 different classes that make up the TF2 universe, and how you can make each one work, get good or better at it, and most importantly, being a credit to the team! This particular guide talks about all 9 of the classes in a game mode that many play, but few understand and even fewer claim to understand.

Mann VS Machine - After suffering through a number of tours, I have been asked by my fellow battle scarred veterans of the Robot War Effort to write down my tips/tactics/ and strategies that I personally have seen and implemented. This is what i have learned, and if you need tips and possible strategies then this is the guide for you!

Overview - The War Effort

Source:http://inklou.deviantart.com/art/Mann-vs-Machine-321073694

Listen up, I do not know how much time I have to write this down, ze robots have broken through the choke point with ze bomb and everyone else on my team is dead and dieing!

My efforts to bring zem back have failed, and despite all my best efforts, we cannot hold this location much longer

We can't hold them away from ze bomb hatch any longer, I can hear zeir stomping and clanking footsteps geting closer even as i write down my final thoughts.

I tried my best to help my team prepare for the onslaught, but nothing I said worked, the idiots believed they knew everything. Those dummkopf's thought wrong!

Spy is useless, Sniper is fail, Pyro Unecessary, Anything but Buff banner/kritz is a fail strategy, all of this and more they said!

Heavy/Medic/Soldier/Demo/Engineer/Scout, standard meta strategy every time or it all fails.

Why zey think this is the ONLY way to fight is a mystery even Sherlock couldn't solve.

Well before I charge out there with my last syringe clip and my ubersaw, I am going to hide this and my strategies and interviews so that future Machine Fighters may have the chance to learn from ze mistakes this team made, so that they will have what we lacked.

The tools to win zis war!

Zey are starting to use different weapons, we are using the same ones over and over. If we don't adapt and use the tools we are given, we cannot win zis war!

They approach now, I've loaded my last syringe clip, If I'm going down I am taking as many of zem with me!

Auf Wiedersehen, my fellow Men, Auf Wiedersehen.

The Classes of War!

Listen up my fellow Mann vs Machine Warriors, the Robots will never stop attacking us, they can keep pushing us and driving us to the edge, because unlike them we tire and lose strength over time. What also seperates them and us, is that they are not afraid to charge into a hail of bullets, rockets, fire, grenades, and anything else we can throw at them.

Yet this is an advantage as well as a disadvantage, because we can OUTHINK them, and whatever they throw at us.

Only however, if we are willing to look through our arsenal of weapons and players, will we be able to destroy them time and time again!

Each class, Pyro, Heavy, Medic, Soldier, Demo, Engi, Spy, Sniper, and Scout have different roles to fulfill. However we can only bring six of these at most to the battlefield, so we must choose our team compositions wisely.

Here are some of the abilities and strategies that each class can deploy and bring to the field.

Pyro - Flames that Melt Metal! Pt 1

Source:http://ignisthepyro.tumblr.com/post/2976062739

I'm a pyro. I burn all the things. ALL THE THINGS. I turn robots into hydraulic fluid-filled tea kettles. Then I have a tea party. - ɐpɐNʎʇdɯƎΜΟΛΩΝΛΑΒΕ

As the Pyro you are a utility central class in normal gameplay, that role does not change in MVM.

Your flamethrower has the ability to not only roast the robots, and deal extensive damage to the Tank that occasionally they will roll out, but you can push the robots and their infernal bombs back to where they came!

A single pyro CAN turn the tide of battle with just ONE single airblast.

Your flamethrowers, Stock, Backburner, Phlogistinator, Degreaser, each can help your team in their own unique ways. Whether that be increased damage by surprising the robots from behind, using unending free crit damage to solo a tank, or even quick changes for combo kills, you can use your flamethrowers to spread the flame, and spread the pain!

Your arsenal is not restricted to JUST the flamethrower of your choice however, you can also utilize your secondaries, flare guns, and shotguns to help show those robots what it means to feel the burn.

As a last resort, your melee's axtinguisher, third degree, and even your trusty homewrecker can give your team that little edge needed to show them who is in charge.

First we will go over Weapons that benefit the team most, and are still helpful even if it isnt popular!

These do not include the stock weapons, because as a General Rule, stocks are always reliable.

Another General rule, when in doubt over what weapon to pick, go stock.

Flamethrowers)

Phlogistinator : The most common flamethrower that you can bring to the field, for dealing maximum damage is the phlogistinator. The more damage you can dish out, thanks to the crits, the better. This flamethrower is ideal for killing the tank, as you can deal your most damage without risk to being attacked. This weapon also can help you wipe out huge swaths of robots in one plunge.

Backburner : While not the most popular, this flamethrower with good ammo upgrades, and a smart M2 trigger finger, and good timing, can be just as effective as the Phlog and Stock. This weapon is ideal for missions where the robots jump down from a cliff, and the pyro can hide below them out of sight, where they can use the backburners crits to wipe out part of a wave before it has a chance to reach the Pyro's Allies.

Degreaser : This flamethrower lacks the dps of the others, and while the speed swap is nice, it sometimes isnt reccomended. However if your're a pyro that is more interested in going for one hit KO's and using its wep speed swap, it can shine. This is especially true if you get the drop on Medibots before they can deploy their uber.

Flare Guns

Flare Gun : The Flare is by far the most powerful of the pyro's reccomended secondaries, this is because with speed and reload upgrades at max, it can let fly twenty flares in thirty seconds, dealing massive ammounts of damage to giants, due to the crit on flame targets effect.

Scorch Shot : This flare gun is reliable for setting large groups of robots on fire, or if you want to try and knock sniperbots from their nice perches.

Detonator : This is an adequete flare gun, useful for dealing mini crit damage if you do not have the flare. It is very effective for getting off the ground with the damage to yourself effect, so you can jump over fences and onto levels you would need to otherwise walk up to if your in a hurry.

Melee

Axtinguisher/Postal Pummeler : While the axtinguisher/flame combo is not as effective in MVM as it is in normal gameplay, it DOES have its moments. If there's a medibot still alive, with an uber at the front and your about to Die, you might as well use your last breath to go for that one two punch. It may just help your team further along the round.

Homewrecker/Neon Anihilator : If there are spybots present and one of them gets the engi, it can easily help save his buildings, or at the least save his dispenser.

Third Degree : This Weapon is a nightmore for medics, robot or not. If you have a crit canteen and a giant robot has 3-4 medics strapped to him, all yu need is just 1 shot to wipe out the group. It can be handy if you have no demo/spy/sniper to take out the medics.

=Pyro Tactics=

What makes the Pyro Effective in MVM is his utility, he can easily compensate for something the team is lacking if given the chance and the funds. He can compensate for damage with the phlog, go for lon range burn/crit damage with the flare against giants, and can delay and even blow up the bombs by pushing them into pits.

One tactic of the Pyro is to not get tunnel visioned. Always look around to check the situation and see where you can be most effective. If the robots are approaching from two places, and if the sentry has one area already covered, then help hold back the robots from the other direction.

Another tactic is to use the Medibots inability to deviate from their heal targets by air blasting them from him and wasting as much of the uber as you can. They only have 8 seconds of uber, and if you can keep them away for a few seconds they will stop ubering and try to shoot you, wasting their uber.

The Tank is where you can shine the most. If you upgrade your damage to at least lvl 2 or even 3, you can almost solo the tank. The only problem is that you need to focus on your surroundings and make sure to remember where the ammo is. If you run out, grab ammo as quickly as you can and get back to the tank. If you need help tell your team, this is a Team game, you all have to work together or else you WILL fail.

=Interview with Nada, an MVM Pyro Main=

My friend Nada is a Pyro player, and always runs pyro in MVM, You won't ever find her running the "traditional" Pyro set, because she and my friends aren't traditional players. She's always at the front, in the thick of battle. Burning everything that the robots throw at us!

Q) What type of upgrade build do you use when your pyro?

A) When I start off a tour I like to upgrade flame thrower burn damage and health on kill (due to being in the thick of things). If there is a bit more money I like to upgrade either crit resistance or character speed. As the game progresses I choose my upgrades according to what is being faced in the upcoming (or ongoing) wave. If there are many explosions to be expected I’ll upgrade blast resistance. If there are many shooting heavies or scouts incoming some upgrade money is allocated to bullet resistance. In the meantime I try to upgrade burn damage, health on kill, health refill, and of course ammo capacity. Crit resistance is also very useful, especially if you have a critted adversary.

Q) What weapon Loadout do you prefer and why?

I run a backburner with a scorch shot and the powerjack. In each map I am able to find a way to place myself behind much of the incoming pack to take advantage of the extra damage afforded by the backburner. This is very useful in not having to wait for crits to build or occur randomly (especially if you’ve a shielded medic keeping a large robot occupied). The one drawback is the vast amount of ammo that is consumed with a backblast. I like the scorch shot for pinging a robot to set it aflame and knock it around. This can be a useful tool in the right situation (ie. Disrupting a sniper). As for the powerjack I like the little speed boost. It does a fair amount of damage and doesn’t slow healing (backscratcher). I don’t run the home wrecker/annhiliator simply due to less damage output and most engies are pretty good about not having their items sapped.

Pyro - Flames that Melt Metal! Pt 2

Q) Do you have to babysit classes as Pyro? Ex. engi when spys around?

I don’t feel that “babysitting” is necessary. As needed all classes should watch out for each other, something that I feel I need more work on. Considering how large a map can be, “babysitting” can be difficult. As pyro I am in the fray and removed from a centralized location. If possible I will point out possible difficulties or try to inflict some sort of damage via scorch shot due to my lack of proximity.

Q) Of the classes, who do you depend on, if any, to get your job done as Pyro?

Medic! Due to my head on, into the foxhole nature as an offensive pyro, I’m going to take a great deal of damage (and die often). Because of this nature, I am also able to rack up a massive damage count. Having a great medic is not only a boost for me, but a definite boon to the team!

Q) Is it more important to use one style of weapon over another? aka can you upgrade flare guns alongside flamethrower, or specialize?

Use what works best for you and your play style. Compared to many (and more experienced and better) pyros my loadout(s) tend to be … eccentric. In terms of MvM, I am not sure what a “standard loadout” would consist of because I don’t often come across pyros (we tend to get heckled and/or the boot). I am primarily a WM+1 when it comes to MvM. I am in the thick of things and a secondary weapon won’t do the job quickly enough. A tertiary weapon works if you absolutely must (Ammo, ammo, I need ammo!). Unless I were to have vast amounts of money (IE Mecha-Engie), I don’t upgrade my secondary or tertiary weapons due to their somewhat infrequent use.

Spy - Espionage with a Vengence!

Source:http://blue-dreamcatcher.deviantart.com/art/TF2-The-Avenger-Spy-150459101

Abuse the damage of the backstab, let no medic live - Bob

With all the robots running around, your best play with the spy is to not be all gung hoe like the other classes can be. Your job is to make your kills as quickly and effeciently as possible. Go in, get the medibot, and get out before the whole hoard kills you!

As the Spy your weaknesses and strengths are no different in MVM then they are in Normal gameplay. You still have to pick your targets, choose when to move in, and above all else keep those snipers/medics/engis in check.

You have tools that can make your job much easier, but for the Spy, unfortunatly most of the weapons you can use normally will be overshadowed by three particular weapons. Nevertheless you can use them depending on your playstyle, and how well you can use them to aid your team. Do not attempt to use the Your Eternal Reward, because it does not work on robots, and even if it did you would almost never get the chance to use it because the robots will INSTANTLY spot you the second you try.

Knives

Connivers Kunai : This knife,when combined with the sapper, can allow you to max your heatlh out almost instantly without a need for a medic buff, or the health on kill upgrade.

Spy Cicle : The Spy Cicle is a good weapon, if your trying to avoid the inevitable W+M1 Pyrobot spam. However be aware that if you lose it, you have to wait for it to refill. which can be agonizingly long if medibots start spawning if you're caught waiting.

Revolvers

Diamond Back : This is your strongest ally in the war against the machines. This weapon will store your crits with each backstab, and you can blow em all against a giant at long range if you wish. Or even better, take out sniper bots effectively with 1 or 2 shots.

L'Etranger : This gun can be good if your looking to refill your dead ringer, but otherwise nothing else.

Ambassador : While not effective against the mini bots because their constantly moving or shooting at you, if your a good shot you can easily deal good damage against giants because of their massive heads, and slow movements. Or just shoot out the sniperbots.

Watch

Dead Ringer : While go stock rule applies to most classes and their weapons, it does not apply to the spy. The Cloack and Dagger, and Stock Watch will not help you out in many situation, because the robots will shoot at your last known location or in your last known direction. Most of the time this will kill you. The Dead Ringer, with good patience and proper positioning can give you almost infinite lives and plenty of oprotunities ithe others would deprive you of.

Spy Tactics

As the Spy, patience is a virtue, a necessity, your best friend, and greatest ally.

You will NEVER be at the top of the score board unless your team is absolutely HORRIBLE, or your carrying your team like ten bodybuilders in a weight lifting contest to date Queen Elizabeth's daughter.

Let the robots run past, wait for the high priority targets. go for the support classes that really heckle your team, the snipers and engi bots along with the Medibots are the most important threats. Wait for Giant Medics to make their appearance, then use the distraction your team provides to get the 4 quick backstabs you need to bring that pain in the arse down.

Ignore the Tank, you are absolutely useless against it, and instead focus on the robots, you will do more help dealing with them then you will poking a tank with your knife.

Be quick with your picks, go in, get the kill, dead ring out, and set up for the next pick. The robots themselves are not the actual problem 95% of teams face, it's the support bots that they are protecting and working with that are the problem.

Engi bots set up their teles to bring in reinforcements faster, and the robots that come through will be temporarily ubered for 8 seconds, take out that nest!

Medibots left alone will just build uber after uber, and deploy again and again. Take em out early and your team will deal with the giants on their own.

Giant Medics are one track minded, and almost never attack or look around, but if left alone for half as long as their smaller counterparts, and they will quickly become your team's greatest knightmare! Take em out asap, that's where you are strongest!

=Interview with Bob=

Bob is one of the best spy players i know, when he plays with me and our other friends, we do not have to worry about medics/engis/snipers/ even certain dangerous targets like heavies. In my famous words, I give Bob an Overheal, he'll kill a giant Medibot, give him an Uber, he kills 3 giants.

Q) What do you Upgrade in terms of Spy, Priority wise?

Spper upgrades are a priority, max that above all else. Then Focus on attack speed and Armor penetration with the knife. I find that alternating speed and Armour penetration 2:1 at first works well. For upgrades that's basically all you need, speed boost is nice but not a live or die.

Q) In terms of Teammates (class), who would you depend on most given the situation?

The Medic, he can be an invaluable distraction for the robots, allowing you to sap or stab with abandon. With Giants he can even hold the attention of the giant until you backstab it to death if done properly.

Q) Is there any unique playstyle required for the Spy to work Effectively?

Targets should be picked simply due to sheer number of robots. They typically will drop whatever they are doing to target you after you stab something. Pick off High Priority targets, then hide and redisguise. Medics, Engineers, Giants, Snipers, very important Picks.

Q) How should the Spy work in relation to his team? (Ex. Should he work alongside them, or go off alone based on how the round is going?)

Honestly its a bit of both. You have to recognise when going off on a solo mission is what is best. Engineers with nests set up? That's all you. Scout with the bomb behind the lines? You can't do much, stay up front or with the team.

Q) Your ideal knife/pistol/watch setup and why?

The best knife is going to be the default, the other knives are simply gimmicks and don't really give a good bonus for MVM. Pistol would be the Diamond Back since you can get very large ammount of free crits from sapping robots, and watch would have to be the Dead Ringer, it will allow you to make good picks and feign death away. Even when you fake your death, with that watch the robots will still shoot you for a short time and the damage reduction it gives can save you. The default watch or CnD would only get you killed after each pick.

Heavy - Sasha is NOT Asleep!

Killing tiny babies is fun, but it's even better when there's a seemingly endless horde of them! - Doctor Fluttershy

Source:http://www.teamfortress.com/mvm/bounty/

As the Heavy you are the meatiest (HP wise) of the group, and your role as the Big Gun of the team does not change from normal gameplay to MVM. You are the toughest class to kill on the team, especailly when paired up with your trusty Medic. You will always try to be the first to draw fire, and always the one the Bots are focusing their attention on.

You will deal the most damage, your DPS is the highest next to Demo, and with a Medic, you are almost unstoppable. However all that power and money well spent, is pointless if you don't know what to buy and what to use.

Because you will rarely be using anything OTHER than your primary, most of your funds will be spent on your Minigun of choice, and/or resistances. We will focus on only the Miniguns, your sandvich is almost automatic secondary, while melee is your choice. As always we will ignore the Stock's because as a rule stock is best when you dont know what to use.

Miniguns

Brass Beast : Since you will rarely be moving around on the field, particularly since you'll be running out of ammo quickly, this weapon is a straight up Upgrade if you don't care about spinup in exchange for increased Damage. Keep near that Dispenser becasue otherwise you might as well have been running stock.

Huo Long Heater : (Sorry if i mispelled) This Minigun is adequete if you want some way to help deal with Spybots. While it Won't deter them at least it'll give you a second's warning if you suddenly hear FIRE FIRE FIRE! right next to you. Beware that many dissaprove of this weapon for its ammo consumption, but since you will be spending your time next to that dispenser, might as well act as a temporary spy checker for it.

Natascha : Give Sasha's sister a chance, she can easily earn her place in our hearts in exchange for her DPS in favor for slow effect for free. She also saves you money on ammo, thanks to her new buff.

=Heavy Tactics=

There is very little in the way of tactics for a Heavy. He may be a boring class because of how simple his playstyle is, but he is still necessary and has his tricks for the field.

Keep focusing on the giants, you deal more damage to them with your Minigun then the other classes can. You can also stand in a particular spot and Bodyblock the robots, preventing them from advancing. Also if you bodyblock them and let them come to you, you will deal more damage the closer they are, so letting them come to you is a benefit.

Be wary of spys when they come out, and occasionaly turn around just to check behind you. It doesnt hurt to toss that sandvich in case your medic is pocketing you, just in case he needs it for health.

If you upgrade your knock back rage, save it for when it counts, don't spend it shooting a bunch of mini scouts. Wait for that super scout to come down, or multiple super scouts. Giant Medics are also a good target for this rage.

= Interview with Doctor Fluttershy=

For a pony this friend of mine knows the Heavy, if you can get past the Tunnel Vision part, this heavy is good.

Q) What Upgrades should i focus on as Heavy?

Basically upgrade firing speed and knockback, after they are maxed out work on penetration and max ammo, since you don't need projectile deflection too much as well as max ammo/health on kil. Resistances are the icing on the cake, nice, but unneeded due to the health pool of the heavy.

Q) Does it matter what my secondary/melee is?

Your secondary should be your trusty Sandvich, just for the pinch saving of a teamate. The shotgun isn't worthy of upgrading, due to the strength of the Minigun. Melee should be G.R.U. for getting faster to the front lines, though the FoS can be used too if you're having some issues with survivability.

Q) Focus Fire, what's a priority?

Those tanks and big ass giants are your main priority, respectively, since you have insane DPS. If none of those guys are around, just focus on the meatier guys.

Q) Should i keep moving with the tank, or stay focused on the bots after it passes?

that is really dependent on the situation. If you have a pyro and an engie, you can go with the tank to destroy it faster, but if theres any big bots, you may want to sit back and help deal with them. And if you are lacking a pyro, you almost will HAVE to move with the tank to destroy it fast enough.

Medic - The Hurting Healer!

Source:http://owlymedics.tumblr.com/post/26563640283/wip-cos-i-dunno-how-long-this-is-gunna-take
When a Robot Bleeds, you make sure he knows that he's bleeding, then you let him know, that it was YOU who made him bleed! - Imperatordavius

This particular section will be talked over extensively, because I am a Medic main, and as i have done 75 tours alone in Two Cities as Medic in each tour, i have extensive knowledge of how this class can be/should be/is played.

The Medic is not a warrior on the battlefield, but he can still be a credit to his team and even then some. With his trusty Medigun choice, a new shield to compensate for his lack of offensive damage, and longer/cheaper canteens, he is indeed a force not to be underestimated in the robot war effort.

Your tools of the trade that you will be using will mostly involve, similiar to the Heavy, your main weapon of choice, The Medigun. (I use the term Medigun to represent the Medic's healing device, not the Medi Gun itself.) Your syringe will not necessarily be used unless its to apply the new Mad Milk effect for your team, or even yourself. Your melee is effective but only if you use the Ubersaw, due to it's uber building property.

The Medigun you choose will affect, how your team's playstyle will act. You have 4 Mediguns to choose from, and we will be covering all of them and their downsides. However as before, the stock Medi Gun will be excluded due to the general rule of "Stock when in doubt".

Mediguns

Kritzkrieg : When you think Kritzkrieg you think Damage output. You are right with this baby, just like in normal gameplay she will give your target critical damage, a necessity for killing those robots with speed. Be careful, for in exchange for damage you sacrafice invincibility.

Quick Fix : The Quick Fix offers rapid healing, and an overheal for you, in exchange for power and a quicker uber rate.Good for teams that prefer stronger stayability over damage output. This is reliable, especially for Medics who don't want the pressure that comes with the shield, the uber timing, and who need that extra bit of health and self healing to survive.

Vaccinator : The Vaccinator is the Medigun that gives a special ability that is not listed in the MVM Rulebook. When you Uber you can almost instantly revive dead players. Since the Vaccinator offers resistance to damage outputs, and gives you four ubers in exchange for a 'weak' uber. This baby can build its uber in no time, and if you can overlook the slow overheal rate, you can pop ubers like a mad man, and revive players quickly with no problems.

Medic Tactics

When you play Medic in MVM there are things you need to understand to make him work. First of all that he is strictly a support class, and should be focusing on building his uber and keeping his allies alive and healthy with overheals. What Medigun he chooses to run will determine the overall strategy of his team.

The Medi Gun (Stock) will give you invincibilty, and allow you to revive players and keep them alive while in the middle of a firefight. This can sometimes be a better benefit to your team then that Critical damage output. Another benefit is that when you pop it you will not have to fear being killed by a random critical pill that just happens to roll right behind you. I will explain another reason why This particular Medigun should be used as frequently as the Kritzkrieg later on.

The Kritzkrieg will grant you the ability to deal large ammounts of damage very quickly, and because it can charge faster without having to upgrade, it can allow you to allocate money for other upgrades. Be careful when using it however, because even with the shield, you are not invincible, and the shield will not keep robots that are determined to charge through it to get to you.

The Quick Fix is a reliable medigun that can keep yourself and your team alive in a pinch, and because of its rapid healing and high charge rate, you need not worry about how long it will take to charge. It takes the stress off the Medic, allowing him to pop ubers more rapidly than he would otherwise have to with the Kritzkrieg or Medi Gun.

The Vaccinator is effective for dealing with Crit charged bots, and because of its ability to charge uber much faster when compared to the other Mediguns, you can pop ubers quickly to revive teammates in a pinch.

The Shield

The Shield is by far the most devastating tool in your arsenal for holding back the robot menace, it charges based on how much health you do, how much overheal your giving, and how much damage your target is doing. Once upgraded and activated, you can create a shield that will protect you and your teammates from all incoming damage based on projectiles and bullet dmg. However make no mistake, do NOT believe for a moment that this is a replacement Uber. You are protected from all damage, yes, BUT it only works from a forward direction, based on the direction your looking at. Also, you have to keep looking at what your trying to protect against, if you turn your back the shield becomes useless.

Where the shield shines brightest however, is that it damages robots as they touch it, you can even use this against tanks to deal large damage bursts when there's nothing to protect against. This also works well against giants, dealing large ammounts of constant damage to them, but you need to move with the robot to keep the shield touching it.

Where the shield falters however, is that it does not protect against pyro flames. Also if robots are not stopped by the shield's dps or the wall itself, they will penetrate through the Shield and target you directly. This is almost an instant death sentence.

Another failure is that the shield will not stop robots from spamming around you or even under the shield if your on a slope or a hill. Also, the shield fails to protect you when your on stairs, as the robots, especially giant soldiers, can shoot over the shield and directly at or behind you.

-Interview with Imperatordavius-

Q) What Medigun do you use and why?

I use the standard Medi Gun, I've found that the invincibility suits my play style much more effectively. Despite how effective the Kritzkrieg is, I die too often to make use of the Kritzkrieg's charge. Furthermore despite the arguments that with Canteen Specialist, the Uber canteens just do not allow me to be as forward or agressive as I can be with the Medi Gun's invincibility.

Q) How do you use the Shield?

I use the Shield, like I said before, with the Medi Gun's invincibility. I use the shield in combination with my Teammate's attacks to damage giants and robots as frequently as I can to compensate for my lack of DPS as the Medic in General. Also, i use the shield in combination with my Spy friends and even pyros and every other class too. This is because the Robots will target the closest damagable enemy they can, however if players are invincible nearby, and are being healed by a Medic, they will tend to target either the player or the Medic.

Q) How can I use the shield in combination with a certain class.

As my spy friend, Bob, described in his part of the guide, I use the shield to first distract the giant robots so that i get their attention. Then i Pop my Uber so that he registers me as the greatest threat to him. The moment the Uber, and the Shield are deployed and have the Giant's attention, He goes in and backstabs the robot as quickly as he can. This combination is almost foolproof, and if done correctly, allows the Spy to deal massive ammounts of damage with impunity.

If done properly, the Spy can litterally kill even the toughest Giant solo.

Sniper - One Shot, 6 Kills!

Source:http://annoicw.deviantart.com/art/bot-sniper-328645244

Turning gigantic masses of bots into scrap and cash with as little as 1 click and 1 deafening hitsound - Bluehawk54

The Sniper is by far the most ridiculed class of the 9 in MVM. This is not because he is a "Bad" Class, or a "Useless" Class. This is because most people who try to play this class fail at him. Because of this the Sniper now has a stigma that he is not worth even playing with, and that anyone who plays this class wants to drag the team down, or isn't taking the mission seriously.

However, if you give that guy, who insists that he is a good Sniper a chance, his tools and tactics will give your team that killing edge that can turn waves of crit heavies into piles of red money. He is at his most effective when using one particular set up, but he can still use other weapons.

Once more we will exclude the Stock weapons for obvious reasons. Other weapons that are not listed are because they are rarely seen, and used. Therefore there is little information about their effectiveness to state how good they are.

Sniper Rifles

The Machina : The Machina is by far the most powerful one hit sniper rifles that the Sniper has in his arsenal. If your looking to save money for penetration upgrades, this will do you well. It also allows Sniper's that extra damage to take out single medibots, and when fully charged, deal over 1k damage to a giant's head when upgraded.

The Hitman's Heater : This is by far the most effective rifle for those Sniper's such as my friend Bluehawk, who can literally score headshots on flee's perched on a cat's tail. If enough headshots are provided, the Sniper that uses this, with proper upgrades mind you, can demolish anything that is not protected by a massive health bar.

The Bazaar Bargain : The Bazaar Bargain has it's usefullness, but as its just a slightly less improved version of the Hitman's Heatmaker, there is little reason to use this unless your planning to snipe heads all day for a faster charge rate.

Sniper Tactcs

As the Sniper, you aren't going to be using anything else but the Sniper Rifle of your choice for the majority of hte missions. However you are nontheless effective with other weapons. Your jarate is effective for giving Mini Crits, and for slowing down robots alongside the Scout's Mad Milk. If your team has a soldier with the Buff Banner equiped, and there's a tank running around, upgrade your buschwacka if you have the spare credits, and use it's Crit for Mini Crit boost on the Tank to add some extra damage to aid your team. You may do only 1k damage at most, but every bit counts.

Your priority targets, are similiar to the Spy. Your aim is to reduce the damage done and time spent alive of the support bots.This includes, Medibots, Engi Bots, Sniper Bots, and even the soldiers/demos/pyros and other bots that are running around. If you can remove the Medibots that the Spy misses, if your team is running a spy, then you are just as much a credit to your team.

Don't be afraid to run away from the front line to find a good, safe spot to snipe from. Your the Sniper, let the heavier classes do the majority of the damage dealing and damage taking. If you have a good healer, get those overheals just to help you survive the occasional rocket or Sniper Bot.

Interview with Bluehawk54

Bluehawk is one of the ONLY Sniper players that i have met, that can honestly break MVM to the point where it will give you less money as a Bonus. Time and Time again he has broken the game with how easy he gets headshots, and how good he is at getting them with his Hitman's Heatmaker.


Q) What upgrade should you prioritize as Sniper?

For the first wave, you definitely want to upgrade your reload speed and explosive headshots, and depending on the wave (if there are super scouts or not) use the remainder either to upgrade bullet penetration or slowdown on Jarate.Once you get reload speed and headshots ugraded, along with jarate, you can spend as much on upgrades for your rifle as you'd want, basically no point getting physical upgrades or melee upgrades unless your rifle and jarate is fully upgraded

Q) What robots should be priority targets?

Assuming there are no sniperbots out, you'd want to prioritize any medic, and then giants. Assuming explosive headshots has at least 2 upgrades, you should be able to take out any medic healing giants without triggering an uber. When the medics are taken care of, targeting the giants will inflict damage to any normal bots near them

Oh, and on a side note, super scouts are of high priority with your jarate if the scout doesn't have their mad milk ready

Q) What class do you depend on most for a mission?

Hmmm... well from personal experience, it's basically situational, so I'd say I depend on any class that can help me with spies, a medic to help me deal with large groups of bots while the other classes deal with a tank, and... I know this isn't a class but you'd also have to depend on having a good aim

Q) Should you buy any canteens as the Sniper?

Basically, I've almost never had any need to use a canteen, but if you're not familiar with ammo locations on a map, you could probably go with that. And by that I mean refill ammo

Engineer - More Gun, Always More Gun!

When you need more guns, you need more guns! If you got one Sentry Gun, then Build another Sentry Gun! 2 are better than 1! - Imperatordavius

The Engineer is by far the most versatile class in MVM, being capable of covering multiple parts of the battlefield with his tools. This is no different than in regular gameplay, but in MVM he needs to adjust his tactics.

Instead of using his Sentry guns to prevent enemies from controlling an area, he needs to use it to keep the bomb carrying robots bottled up and in choke points. Your dispenser is just as effective, if not more valuable to the team then it is to you. Your Teleporter is not as important now thanks to the Medic's ability to revive players on the front line, but it still transports teammates to the front line if they buy back or need to get up front in a hurry.

While any of the Engineer's weapons can work with him, we will mostly be discussing his buildings, as that is where he shines the most. So for this guide, we will not be talking about his weapons, as even the Eureka Effect has its merits, even if it isn't used as often.

=The Sentry Buildings=

The Sentry Gun (LvL 1-3) : The LvL 3 Sentry is the workhorse of the MVM team. This powerful quad rocket launching, double gattling gun, bullet spewing death on a tripod number is the nightmare of ANY robot offense. As long as this baby stands, almost nothing will get past it! Upgrade this thing for increased health, and greater firing speed, and it will single handedly hold the line while you sip some beer.

The Mini Sentry : While not the most effective turret to use, this little number is good for supporting your team, and goes well with engi's who want to focus more on frontline combat with their shotguns. You can upgrade it, but don't expect it to have the staying power of the bigger guns.

The Disposable Mini Sentry : While not the most effective weapon on the field, in terms of health and damage output, this little thing serves its purpose as an extra turret quite well. Despite how much damage it dishes out when compared to the other classes and your main sentry, this little number can't be upgraded at all. What it does do however, is add that extra firepower to help hold the line, it also acts as a good spam magnet, for some reason those demos/soldiers/heavies will ALWAYS shoot this thing first.

Engineer Tactics

Engineer's should focus on upgrading three things, their buildings, their metal capacity, and their wrench speed. While it seems boring, until you get those to an effective level, everything else will only decrease your overall effectiveness with the team. The Robots are not afraid or intimidated by your buildings, and they will always spam that Sentry down as quickly as they can.

Another thing you need to get, is dispenser range, while it seems pointless this allows you to hide it safely out of the line of fire. This upgrade allows your team to access it's ammo giving and health giving abilities, without having to run next to it.

As i mentioned in my Engineer Guide, another thing you need to focus on, is using that brain you have to place your buildings SMARTLY. just planting a Sentry anywhere won't help. Plant the sentry where it can 1) do the most damage. 2) Have plenty of support from the team. 3)Body Block the Giant Superscouts that might pick up the bomb. 4) Give you adequete field of vision to watch for the Sentry Busters.

Upgrading your wrench attack speed and metal capacity does 2 things, one it helps you kill Spybots faster, and two heal and rearm your Sentry and building faster. You can even out heal giant robot spam if you have sufficient metal.

There is no Engi to Interview, but everything that an Engi would need to know has been covered in this section of the Guide.

Soldier - Reboot In Robot Hell!

Source:http://valkyrie1312.deviantart.com/art/MVM-Bio-the-Soldier-365299080

If there's one thing I learned in my time playing MvM as Soldier, is that I can pretty much wreck ♥♥♥♥ while abusing the opportunity to level up my SF buff banner - Cosmicabyss

The Soldier is one of the strongest classes in the MVM field. Wielding his trusty rocket launcher, and using his buff banners, battalion backups, and his concheror's, he is a force to be reckoned with. He will singlehandedly rain down death on anything silly enough to be on the ground.

The Soldier's most effective upgrades can be found in his Rocket Specialist. With this he can put even the fastest Super Scout on hold. With this he can force all medibots to pop their ubers, or even blow them up if possible.

We will cover his rocket launchers, naimly three in particular. We will also cover his backpack weapons. As for Melee there is no need to use it, unless your desperately out of ammo and the dispenser is dead. As usual, we will not be covering Stock Weapons.

Rocket Launchers

Beggars Bazooka : This weapon, as my friend dubs it, the Ghetto Valve Rocket Launcher, is capable of unleasing a storm of rockets onto ANYTHING in front, or below you. Simply upgrade the ammo capacity, reload and firing speed on this baby, and you will be aok.

Direct Hit : There are some soldiers who take pride in their direct shots, who take pleasure in showing how good they are with aiming. This rocket launcher, is for those soldiers, and while not popular in MVM for reasons that are obvious, if you are a good shot, by all means use this rocket launcher.

Cow Mangler : While many have accused this rocket launcher of being pointless, unecessary, and not worth investing the money in, i have found that this rocket launcher is good to work with. While it cannot be crit boosted, you can still use it to deal unending damage to robots, without having to find a dispenser constantly.

Backpacks

Buff Banner : The ultimate weapon in your war against the machines, unending mini crit damage thanks to this baby! Let it loose whenever you get the chance.

Batallions Backup : Not as popular as the Buff because it only reduces damage, but it's still good to use and can easily compensate for a lack of Uber. It protects well against those crit barrages that the robots always seem to have in reserve.

Concheror : It provides health, gives a speed boost, what more do you need? It's good for the classes that deal repeated damage, such as the Heavy. Not to mention it can get your team to the front line faster without having to switch to your melee, aka the Disciplinary Action.

Soldier Tactics

The tactics the Soldier can employ mostly revolve around the rocket launchers and backpack items. Always target those demos/heavies/soldiers/and other damage dealing classes first. Don't waste your fire on pyrobots because they have a knack for relfecting your rockets. Watch out for the Deflector Heavies because of obvious reasons. If you must shoot at pyrobots/deflector heavies, aim for the feet, or shoot them when they arent looking at you.

The Tank is an easy prey, always shoot that slow moving maggot to fill up your buff quickly. Deploy it and keep shooting. You do more damage to it the longer you use that buff banner, so always stick to it. Before the round ends if the Tank is all that's left, keep your buff banner stored up and deploy it at the beginning of the next wave so that you can maximize damage output for you and your team.

Use your buff banner also near the engineer and his sentry guns. As long as he is near you, and he gets the mini crits, his Sentry Gun's no matter where they are, will recieve the same benefit!

Interview with Cosmicabyss

Cosmic is one of my old MVM veteran friends. He's been there with me fighting robots on the front line since the first days of MVM. And all this time, he's been coverin my back and spamming rockets, and in general, being a jack of all trades MVM player, but Soldier is where he shines the most. That and Scout....and Demoman...and Heavy...and sometimes Engineer.
Q) What is your ideal loadout for soldier and why?

My personal favorite loadout is Beggar's bazooka, Buff banner, and The escape plan. Reasoning for the Beggar's bazooka is that with proper positioning and proper timing on your burst fires, you'll turn into a one-man army. Buff banner is self-explanitory as you can recharge the thing almost instantly after the charge duration ends. And although I never have it out, the escape plan is for when I need to escape.

Q) What do you Upgrade as a priority above the others as Soldier?

1. My starting upgrades tend to be two points in reload speed to survive the earlier waves, then the rest in firing speed (one point in damage if I start out with a large enough amount of cash to get it), then I proceed to max it out reload speed after the first wave. Then I proceed to max out firing speed whilst upgrading damage whenever I can. The main reason I upgrade reload speed and firing speed first on the bazooka is that prioritizing damage first won't do much if you lack the utility to dish out those rockets.

In a nutshell My upgrading priority upgrades are as follows

Reload speed, firing speed, ammo capacity, damage, rocket epecialist, and buff banner duration. The health on kills upgrade is very situational, but I barely put points in increasing clip size. Even then, I only put one point in it at most, but 3 is all I need. My reasoning for why buff banner duration is a low priority upgrade for me is that the moment the buff duration ends, I'm usually able to completely refill it back up less than 5 seconds anyway.

Q) Is it Worth having buff banner all the time, or can the other backpacks work?

Buff banner's an all-around good pick for any mission. Batallion's backup is more of a situational pick, like if you're planning on having a team with 2-soldiers or the fearsome wave 666. Those minicrits aint ganna do much if your going to get bombarded by thousands of crockets and crit pipes, even with maxed out resistances. Concheror I feel has little use unfortunately. I feel that the healing is rendered redundant due to the many other, more reliable sources of health. i.e. dispensers, medics, health packs, and even health on kill upgrades.

Q) What class do you depend/rely on most in MvM, and for what reason?

I rely on the scout most of all in MvM as much as all the other class rely on him. Unfortunately the beggar's bazooka is rather cash dependant and needs that cash to be reliable, and if the scout is gonna ♥♥♥♥ up, no one is gonna get anywhere in the next wave, that is if they survive it.

Demoman - More Ale, More Pills!

Source:http://uberchain.deviantart.com/art/SFM-Demomen-339277808

It's always statisfying when a team dies of a crit sticky. It's even more statisfying to know it was done by yourself. - SunnieD_

As the Demoman, you are a power house class, one of the most powerful if not THE most powerful of the nine classes. This is true in MVM as well. When your stickies are planted, and your pills are well aimed, you can destroy any number of robots.

However your effectiveness as Demo is reduced, sadly to your sticky launchers, and your grenade launchers. Your sword, boots, and shields are only going to help so much. It is also a general rule, despite how much I wish it weren't, that Demoknights just will not work effectively even with good Upgrades the higher up you go in the difficulty levels.

Since we are going to go over the Demo, we will only be reviewing and going over his sticky launcher, and grenade launchers. His swords are up to the player's decision as to what you want to work with.

As always, we exclude the stocks.

Sticky Launcher

Scottish Resistance : The Scottish resistance is a straight up upgrade to the sticky launcher, in exchange for a small time window before you can explode your stickies. Not to metion you can lay down even MORE sticky traps. 14 Crit Stickies, Come on down Giant Medic/Heavy combo, AH DARE YA!

Grenade Launchers

Loose Cannon : This little cannon can easily turn those robots into mintsmeat piles of scrap and cash. Just upgrade this baby, let those balls fly, and watch them go bouncin around as you smack em again and again and again!

The Loch-n-Load : Are ya the type of Demo that knows how to aim his pills? Well this baby will deal all the damage ya need, upgrade her ammo, damage, reload and firing speed, and just let her do all the bloody work. Aim her pills, and she'll treat ya well!

Demoman Tactics

As the Demoman, your best weapons, and most suggest weapons, even from my veteran squads, will be your sticky launcher and your grenade launcher. These two puppies are your best friend, your best mate, and your best bloody drinking companions in the war against the Grey Horde when all things are said and done.

Your grenade launcher can deal wonderful damage upgraded, given the chance. You only need two upgrades for your stickies to kill medics, the rest can work for your grenades. Or you can max out your sticky launcher and show those robots who the REAL master of SPAM is!

Your swords are trusty, tried and true, and you can easily use them when facing off against those bloody Spybots. Heck, those new giant Demurai? one swipe from your katana, is all you bloody need to bring em down to a pile of scrap! Just beware, that the same is true for them, they only need one swing on you as well.

Interview with Supersonic

Supersonic is one of my closest allies in the war against Grey Mann's machines. What he lacks in words, he makes up for in specializing his MVM skills. He is a simple minded player, prefering to work with stock gear, its tried, true, and battle tested approved.

Q) What type of loadout is ideal for Demoman?

I prefer the primary and secondary stock weapons. I pick any melee I please. Usually my pan or bottle.

Q) What do you upgrade as Demo? Sticky or Grenade?

Sticky Always

Q) What class do you depend on most in the mission?

The soldier for buff, I like to deal lots of damage.

Medic is only important to me in Two Cities

Q) Crits, are they 100% necessary?

Crits arn't necessary at all. A bit of damage upgrades and a soldier's buff is good enough. Crits are good for emergencies though.

Scout - Ding Dong The Robot's Dead!

Source:http://valkyrie1312.deviantart.com/art/MVM-SfManiac-the-scout-365299358

Money matters more, than the bots, since your team will appreciate it more if you collected all the money, than collecting all the kills - Octavia Roll054<DNAA>


Scouts are in general, known as "Cash Cows" in the world of MVM. They are the best at picking up Money, they are the fastest and most mobile of the classes in MVM, and they are above all, the easiest to work with in terms of upgrades.

Where Scout shines best is his ability to collect money, spawn faster, and move all over the field to get the money. Not only that, but everytime he collects money he gets more health, and a much higher overheal than the Medic can give.

Where he fails however, is his damage output, certain upgrades can help, but he won't be seen blowing up giants and killing bots like the others will. His job may be boring and lame, but its necessary for the team's efforts.

His scatterguns won't help him fight, but they can help his mobility. His secondary, should always be the Mad Milk, but that is not always true as we will see in this guide. His melee can be swapped around some times, but for the most part the best will be his Fan of War.

We will now discuss weapons, stocks are again excluded from this.

Scatterguns

Soda Popper : This is ideal for dealing adequate damage, and most importantly mobility. This scattergun gives you almost unlimited mobility, and allows you to move around the map with freedom that none of the other classes can match. Those aimbot snipers will have a hard time shooting you out of the sky with this puppy.

Force A Nature : What she lacks in movement, she grants in extra jump height and damage bursts. With the proper upgrades, she can one shot medics in quick bursts. Not to mention she can knock back robots, even Giants into the air!

Babyface's Blaster : Need Speed to get around faster, well let this little number out to play. There's plenty of bots to shoot, you only need a few good shots of damage before your faster than a speeding bullet!

Secondary Weapons

Mad Milk : The Mad Milk has two benefits, one is free the other is an upgrade. First of all it gives health based on damage dealt to your allys. The upgrade is that you can slow down robots with this. A must for any team.

Bonk Energy Drink : Sometimes its more important, especially in the low money first rounds, to get that money first. In which case, you won't have the funds for the milk, but you will need to get that money before you die too fast. One sip, one round, or more, just tell your team why your using this for that wave.

Melee Weapons

Fan of War : This melee grants you a free mark of death on whatever enemy you hit. This means they will take Mini Crit damage from all sources. Perfect for focusing everyone's efforts to focus fire on a single target.

Boston Basher : While not the most understood, this weapon and it's reskin, the Three Rune Blade, have their uses especially when combined with the Mad Milk. Upgrade the attack speed, Soak the giant, and then bash away with this weapon. You'll get health as the bleed damages it, and that damage stacks up just as quickly, if not faster, than mini crit damage.

Sandman : Sometimes you want to mark enemies from range, and the baseballs of this bat do that job once upgraded. You can mark multiple targets with this number, just be aware that the upgrade is expensive.

Interview with Octavia Roll054 <DNAA>

In the tradition of asking my veteran MVM friends, Roll is a legendary scout among my community, and in my mvm circles. What he lacks in ingenuity, he makes up for with getting the job done.

Q) What is your prefered loadout as Scout?

Baby Faces Blaster Milk and Fan o War

Q) What do you buy as upgrades, priority wise and why?

Resistances would go first, depending on if there is soldiers and demo's I would put more into explosion and some into Bullets since there isn't a lot of scouts during the first round usually. But the most necessary one is the slow down for the milk, that should always be bought along with resistances

The Meta - An Enemy of Everyone!

Source:http://tf2shroomking.deviantart.com/art/TF2-MVM-321278759

A team of players on their favorite classes, with no harassment, or pressure of being forced to change and be something they aren't comfortable with, is more effective than the Meta Class Lineup will ever be. - Imperatordavius

The Meta is and will forever be, my enemy when it comes to MVM. This is because I play the way i feel is most effective and most beneficial to the team. When I have to play as Kritzkrieg, i feel forced to uber a single type of class, Demo, or Heavy for example, or it will be a waste. I can't Crit my Pyro friend because she will be running Backburner, a waste of a kritz.

My friends as well, our team usually consists of classes and weapons that would get us instantly kicked from many matches in mvm. Nobody would allow us to run, both a Sniper and a Spy, a Backburner Pyro, an Uber Medic, with a Scout and Engi to round off our team. Yet, we have proved not only to ourselves, but even to some who have randomly joined us, that the Meta is not always the way to go.

While it is true that our players were well versed in their classes and well capable of handling these roles, there are players out there that CAN make these classes work in missions as well. Mann Vs Machine is a game mode that allows for deviations in the team lineup. One thing also, is that you cannot allow a 'Standard' to dictate how people play in game.

While a team may need a Scout, the person who joins is a terrible scout, hasn't got the will to play the others, and is a MUCH better Spy than anything else. However if you force him onto scout, you will drag down your overall Team's capabilities, because he is in an uncomfortable class that he normally would never play.

The same is true for players that have to use a standard weapon, because supposedly the Meta dictates it. A Medic who hates using the Kritz, but is forced to use it is just as effective as a Medic who goes battle Medic. Don't force that on someone.

If a team of players is comfortable with their class choices, know how to play them, and know how to use them effectively alongside the other player's choices, than ANY team composition will and CAN work.

Another thing, Money, you all know who picks up the money? Scout, and do you know why? Because 70% of you, and I MEAN IT, 70% of you lazy ass people are too lazy, to look to your left, and stop shooting for ten seconds while the next wave is coming down, and pick up that 5$ because, You have a Scout.

Well listen up, this is going to be a reality changer for many of you. THE SCOUT IS NOT THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN PICK UP MONEY!

He's just BETTER AT IT than you are! Each and every one of you, can walk over, pick up that five bucks, and continue spamming rockets, bullets, grenades, stickies, and whatever else you can spam at the robots. If you fail to pick up that money, and it vanishes, what do people automatically do, blame the Scout? Damn right, because apparently the reason why you didn't get that bonus is because nobody wanted to take a few seconds to pick up 5, measly, credits.

The Scout isnt psychic and the Scout doesn't have eyes everywhere, if you see money, either A) Tell the scout EXACTLY, where it is, or B) Pick it up your damn self, don't put all that stress on one guy who is doing his best.

Another thing about the scout, don't yell at him to pick up money, there's a good chance that HE KNOWS he has to pick it up, just KINDLY point out where the money is, and he'll do it. Or like i said earlier, if the situation permits, get it yourself.

That said, to everyone who reads this guide, and wanted to know how to play MVM as ANY of the nine classes, i hope you learned a thing or two. To those who are veterans, i hope you all give people a chance to play the other classes, and now have a voice as to what classes should be used in any mission.

You do not need the same standard, Sticky Demo/Krit Medic/Milk,FoW Scout/Buff Soldier/Engi LvL 3/Heavy Brass Beast set up every game. Sometimes it's good and necessary, but some times, it just hurts the team instead of helps.

Final Words

Source:http://squar3x.deviantart.com/art/Archimedes-Mann-vs-Machine-SFM-321950377

A miracle happened, just ven i zought all hope vas lost, zhere comes my old comrades, my pyro friend, my ever prudent Spy, an exploding head sounding my sniper ally, oh my scout colleague, and there's my friend with that little turret of his.

My friends helped me save the bomb hatch at just the last second, when i zought all hope was gone.

I write down this last zought, and hope that everyone who reads it will learn ze lesson I hoped to teach.

There are 9 Classes in TF2, i am but one of zem.

Let the other 8 join me on the field, any time!

[Gray De La Muerta]

rip medic got stabbed by a medic who also stabbed a medic

[miru]

heres a thing you should add to the meta section- Every class has its map, just like spy. His best map is probally bigrock.

[Radioactive Panda]

regarding soldier with beggars..... I have to disagree.
The ability of the beggar is essentially turning your ammo cap into your clip is something that no other weapon in the game can do. What is the point of only getting 2 reload speed on beggar with having 3 makes you have at least a 20 clip rocket launcher? On to of that firing speed barely helps while damage upgrade helps tremendously. (firing speed increase overall damage by about 10% and if his playstyle if burstfire with beggar then he isn't doing the most damage with the weapon he could)
banners. conch with move speed + heal allows for much more aggressiveness and allows the player to be much more solo. Battalion is very situational so that is on the bottom of my list personally.

scottish vs default
scottish isn't a direct upgrade. They both have their own use with default being better if you team is bad as you can airburst.

[Radioactive Panda]

part of the medic guide of it's pair with spy. You do not need the uber for the robot to register the medic as the main threat or shield. The medic taking aggro and being close or sometimes requires the med to touch the giant is enough. as long as the med is healing the spy as he stabs and is taking aggro, the spy is able to stab to his heart's desire. That being said, a med runing krits is able to do this with shield but is much better paired with uber because it's safer.
so technically it's not solo but duo.

[Radioactive Panda]

completely disagree with spy's upgrade path of sapper first followed by knife speed x2 > 1 pen along with the lack of move speed. this path essentially makes him part of crowd control which he doesn't excel at while being poor vs giants especially early game. The lack of move speed also cripples him when he tries to get cash.
on the topic of knives, you never mentioned big earner which for 25 less health gives you unbelievable DR options.

heavy's playstyle. What do you mean he rarely moves? why are you waiting for robots to come to you to bodyblock? move in front and block there, why are you giving up space?
also why would you friend max out rage? It is rarely useful and 1 is more than enough if the team is that bad.

[OtterOddity]

As someone who mains medic, I would love to see your playstyle and observe how to be most effective, as just reading alone isn't enough to master a class.

[lockesdoc]

Great! I love how you portrayed the pyro as being able to compensate for anything the team lacks. I once played with a guy who had 200 tours, he made the soldier switch to engie and let me play phlog pyro. We never lost a round. Even without the class every one thinks is vital (soldier) I wish more people were open to the ideas of allowing people to play what they feel comfortable with instead of the cookie cutter scout/medic/heavy/soldier/engineer/demo set.
Thanks for writing this guide. Hope more people read this.

[T0asto]

Neat guide

[CLyS]

But still, this guide is amazing

[CLyS]

You wrote "you're" as "your" twice. Once in the Pyro part, the second one I forgot where