So you want to play Mann vs. Machine?

This guide will focus on Mann vs Machine, specifically, 7 classes describing their roles, weapons, and my personal strategies. It will also contain short descriptions of the Two Cities maps, explanation of the MVM Meta and Upgrade Station, and last but not least my personal opinion on play styles, upgrades, and weapons.

So you want to play Mann vs. Machine?

So you would like to play Mann vs. Machine? Your first thoughts are probably, How do I play MVM? What class do I pick? What are the best maps/strategies? Those questions have numerous answers and will be covered to the best of my ability. After 136 tours of Two Cities I have picked up quite a few things overtime and I would like to share my knowledge with anyone who wants to learn about this gamemode. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The information you are about to read is my own personal opinion on everything there is to know about MVM. Some of you reading this who are already familiar with MVM might think differently on what weapons to use, what upgrades to buy, and what classes to play. That's fine regardless, these are what I find to be the best options for all players who want to know about the gamemode and/or improve their play styles.

Upgrades

Welcome to MVM! Odds are when you join a game this is the first thing you will see. This is an upgrade shop. Here you can buy a variety of improvements for your class which give you an edge over all the robots you will be facing.



There are 5 slots you can pick from(6 if you are playing engineer) that upgrade yourself, primary weapon, secondary weapon, melee weapon, (Construction PDA), and your Power Up Canteen. You are free to refund your upgrades anytime between waves.

"Self" Upgrades are Resistances(Blast, Bullet, Fire, Crit), Health Regeneration(Metal Regeneration just for Engineer), Movement Speed, and Jump Height.

Primaries and Secondaries typically have the same types of upgrades Clip Size, Reload Speed, Firing Speed, Ammo Capacity, and Health on Kill. Most primaries have a Damage increase upgrade while others have Projectile Penetration. (I will explain in detail what specific upgrades each class has when I cover their individual upgrades.)

Melees have Attack Speed and Health on Kill (exception Demoman if he has a Demoknight setup, again will be explained on individual upgrades.)


Power Up Canteen
The Power Up Canteen is a unique item built for MVM. You can acquire it by completing a mission or crafting it. It has four functions(five if you are Engineer) Crit Boost, Uber Charge, (Buliding Upgrade), Ammo/Clip Refill, and Return to Base.
Notice Any money spent on canteens can not be refunded if you activate it. Spend wisely.

Personal Opinion on these things, I don't like to use them. I actually learned how to play MVM without knowing about the Power Up Canteen at all. I didn't know I could use them then and I don't realy use them now.

They do have their uses(and there are a lot of uses) that can be anywhere from grinding through wave with well-timed crit-canteens or getting all your ammo back with one pop. I encourage anyone reading this to try playing the gamemode with one game with canteens and one without. You may find out you have a lot more money for upgrades, you just might notice an improvement in your skill level, or you amy find that by using canteens the game is faster/easier.

MVM Meta

What is the "Meta"?

If you are new to MVM you have probably heard the word "Meta" used frequently. The meta are the go to classes and upgrades that is "universally" accepted by MVM players. Obviously everyone has their own opinions on what classes and upgrades are best to play so it's sometimes hard to tell what is the best. I cover the upgrades later on in this guide but as for the classes the meta is:
Scout, Soldier, Demoman, Heavy, Engineer, and Medic
this leaves out:
Pyro, Sniper, and Spy.

Now the three classes that are left out of the meta are not bad, in fact they are quite good if you know what you are doing with them, the thing is that "meta" players don't like to "rock the boat." Many MVM players I have seen just like to keep the traditional six classes in play, so the game can go as quickly as possible but I say nuts to that. It's no fun playing the same classes/play styles over and over, so why not switch it up with a different class every one in awhile. It not only provides a challenge for you but a challenge to the whole team because they have to mix up their play styles as well.

Now if you are new to MVM I would encourage to learn the meta classes first, the skill cap for the substitute classes are much higher, so it's important to become familiar with the basic roles before you take on a harder one. If you are already experienced with the meta classes then go right ahead, you will find playing these classes will be a breath of fresh air and can add a fun new challenge to your MVM skills.

Class Mechanics 1

Scout

Scout's main job is to move fast, grab cash, and be a distraction.
If you buy resistances(+massive overheal from cash drops) you can be a "body blocker" and stop giants for your team. You have the Mad Milk which not only slows them down but provides an excellent heal to anyone shooting at them. Combine that with the Fan O'War marking down singular targets for mini-crits, Scout makes for a good support/utility class. Combined with the primary of your choice you can dish out a decent amount of damage as well and chase any robots that might get past the rest of your team.

Soldier

Soldier has an aggressive set. When you play Soldier it is important you stay close to your team mainly the Demoman, Heavy, and Medic. While fighting clusters of robots aim for the robot in the center to do the most damage. Direct rocket hits always do more damage than aiming at the ground for splash hits. The more damage you deal the faster your Banner will charge up. Timing of banners is crucial to keeping the robots pushed back. Whenever you have rage ready make sure you activate the second a horde drops down for maximum effect. (You can actually hold in Banners by holding down left-click when you activate it for instant deploys.)
Soldier is one of the best classes(besides Pyro) at taking out enemy Spies. When the announcer calls them you can easily rocket jump around to find them. You can also jump over to other spots where robots jump down from such as Mannhattan where they come from the center drop and staircase/catwalk or Rottenburg when they jump down from the right cliff. Engineer will most likely be the one needing assistance since he is often positioned seperately from the team on Mannhattan and occasionally on Rottenburg so be sure to listen for when he calls for help.

Pyro

Pyro is a damage dealer and cleanup class. He is excellent at attacking giants due to his flat/consistent damage as well as taking out clusters of robots. An important thing to remember about Pyro is not to play too aggressive. Pyro is strong with resistances but he is not a tank therefore you should not play him like one. The best time to strike is when the robots are focused on your teammates. Pyro has a strong secondaries which are useful at hitting singular/multiple targets from a distance or can give you a let you jump in and out of fights and harder to reach places. When I play Pyro I have two playstyles. Primary and Secondary focusing.
Primary is the average playstyle of most Pyros where I focus upgrades on my primary weapon mainly damage upgrades and resistances. This style lets you be much more aggressive especially later on and I recommend learning how to play this way first.
Secondary is focusing upgrades on your secondary weapon. Normally this is not viable and does not work but I have found a great amount of success with the Scorch Shot. High explosion radius, Second explosion with direct hits, large knockback against targets on fire, all add up to a excellent utility defence weapon. This playstyle is defensive because your focus is not getting kills but rather setting as many enemies on fire as possible, as well as knocking back deadly threats to your team. This playstyle can be aggressive if you have a Phlogistinator since your Scorch Shot damage fills the Mmmph meter.
When I play pyro I like to play conservatively, I focus on getting damage out to weaken targets for my team to clean up or I let my team deal the damage and I rush in to finish them off. Either way Pyro is a very adaptable class and is an excellent substitution for many situations. If you like adaptive playstyle this class is for you.

Demoman

What makes a good Demoman? How well he uses his burst damage. Demo's weapons are spammable and he can do a lot of damage in short bursts. In my opinion he has the strongest damage dealing arsenal in the game. With Demo there are three playstyles that I have seen to be effective on different maps. Grenade Tank, Sticky Spammer, and Demoknight(shocking but effective sometimes)
So what do I mean by Grenade Tank? Using a Grenade Launcher primary with a shield as a secondary. I don't like using stickies there just not my thing I have tried to master it but for some reason stickies are just hard for me to use. So when I tried to learn Demo I wanted to see how effective he could be using his primary instead of the Meta secondary. My conclusion from the results are the Demo's Grenade Launcher is just as effective/broken as the Stickybomb Launcher. If you know how to aim with it you are gonna have a good time. Maxing reload, firing, and projectile speed along with damage equals one deadly spammy machine. Combined with resistances from your shield you can be very aggressive and dish a lot more damage. If stickies are not your style this a is a fun way to play on maps with minimal amounts of uber medics.

Sticky Spammer is the Meta. Demo's primary job is to take out uber medics by setting a sticky trap that can "pop" them all in one detonation. All maps have uber medics so it is wise to learn how to use Stickies if you want to learn demo's traditional role. (Bavarian Botbash and Metro Malice only have uber medics on one wave respectively so you can use different playstyles for longer periods on these missions.) Maxing reload, firing, and Damage is a must with the stickybomb launcher. Getting clip size and health on kill will help too. This playstyle focuses on timing, crowd control, and spamming. If you can pop uber medics and keep the robots at bay you will have no trouble at all using stickies.

Demoknight is hit and miss. If you have a strong computer and great internet connection you will have a lot better time playing this. Demoknights focus, early on, easier to kill classes like snipers, spies, scouts, etc. Later on with upgrades you can easily kill stronger robots. Demoknights works best by upgrading resistances and your sword objectively. You need a bit of both(resistances and sword upgrades)early on to stay effective. Buy resistances for bots you have to face and for swords you will need damage, crit on kill, health on kill, and swing speed. When attacking robots charge at one or a group when it is distracted by another teammate. Once you acquire a kill you will have crits on your sword which you can use to one-shot more robots in the group. Unless you have an experienced team I highly recommend using the meta playstyle.

Class Mechanics 2

Heavy

Heavy is the brick wall of the team. He is equal parts tank and damage dealer. The thing I enjoy most about Heavy is that his minigun is already very strong even without upgrades. That being said Heavy becomes very effective when you pour your money into resistances making him have an excellent early game and a stronger late game. Another nice thing is Heavy has two different play styles that compliment what weapons you like to use and what upgrades you like to buy.


First way to play Heavy is Aggressive In you Face. Meaning you are spending your time fighting robots right at the front of your team. The closer you are to the robots the less spread there is on your minigun meaning MUCH MORE DAMAGE. With resistances and bonus overheal from Medic, you will find it easier to get up right next to the robots(especially giants) and dish out some big damage while barely suffering a scratch yourself.


Second way to play Heavy is Passive Last Line of Defence. I’ll break it down for you, Passively you stick behind your team “peppering” all the robots with your wide spread damage and letting your team finish them off. Defensively you sit in the back so you can see all the action in front of you and not just from the robots but what your teammates are doing. Since you have a larger scope you know exactly when something happens and can act on it quicker than the rest of the team. Say the Engineer just lost his sentry and needs time to rebuild you can move up and take his place while he goes back to rebuild. Last Line is nothing gets past you. SInce most of your team is taking on the horde equally you will finish off anything that might get past them and also you're the first person most likely for spies to try and attack making them easy kills for you and less worry for you team.

Both styles work very well and my personal opinion one is not greater than the other. Give them a try and see what works for you.


Engineer

Engineer is the center of his team due to his many roles. You provide ammo and health, quick teleporters back and forth between the shop and battlefield, and most important of all your sentry gun provides powerful crowd control. Engineer is one of the most complex classes to play and can be difficult to master due to his many mechanics and play styles Unique thing about Engineer is the adaptive playstyle. How well you do with Engineer depends on how your team prefers to play and how well you know how to play Engineer.
If your team likes to be aggressive/passive and you place your buildings that complement the aggressiveness/passiveness it will help your team’s performance an extraordinary amount. That being said in my personal opinion it’s important to be adaptive not only to what your team would like but to what robots you will face.(Example: If it is nothing but bat scouts, boxer heavies, or demo samurai you will know to keep your gun in an aggressive spot since they can’t hurt them or you at range, but say if it is now soldiers/demos with a lot of ranged damage you will know that you need to move your gun to a more protected position.) Same thing can be applied when dealing with sentry busters. When you hear it coming you can either pick up your gun run to the front and let the buster detonate to kill other robots or you can wait for it to come to you and you can just simply move your gun out of the way for five seconds then put it right back where it was.(To get them to detonate pick up your sentry and let the buster come to you, as soon as it starts to detonate run out of the way.)
Engineer is not too different than he is in just regular pubs, anyone who knows a few things about him when playing on defence. MVM is just a grander scale of what you normally have to face but with much more information in your favor. You know what bots are coming at you as well as what direction they will be walking towards. You understand that your dispenser needs to be in a safe spot for your team, and you also know to put your sentry gun aimed at where the bots will be.
Using all that information you know where to go, where to build, and where to run if need be.

Learn as you play you’ll find what works best for you(or your team) the longer you have played. In my personal opinion best way to learn Engi is seeing how well you can manage without insta-build canteens. 50 per canteen does not seem like much but having to use them constantly can put a drain on your cash and is honestly going to make you frustrated. If you prefer to rebuild using canteens and still do well that’s great but if you know how to rebuild without them that’s great too. If you focus some upgrades on wrench attack speed and metal capacity it becomes a lot easier to rebuild anything you might lose. So next time a building goes down you might think it better to just rebuild it for a few seconds rather than popping a canteen.
A very important thing to remember is to not panic when a building or two goes down. If your team is still holding the line build what you need in a good spot and move it up when it’s ready.In my experience you should move your dispenser up as soon as you build it because it is useful no matter what level it is. Same thing goes for your teleporter but as for your sentry you should get it to level 2 so it has some good firepower to cover you and your team.

Medic

Medic has the most important support role of any class. Not only is it his job to keep everyone healed and protected behind his shield, but he is also responsible for enhancing everyone’s abilities by providing kritz/ubercharge(canteen or medigun whatever your preference.) and massive overheal.
It works like this Wave 1 has just been completed you managed to keep everyone alive and provided good shields that blocked a lot of damage and very well timed charges/canteens that turned the tide on a bad situation or two. Scout was able to collect all the money so now you and your team can buy a lot more upgrades now. Your team is stronger and your abilities to enhance that strength are stronger now.
How well your team does with what you can give them is up to them and partially up to you. You have to pick a target to charge or use a canteen on and that person has to be able to use it well. Now a Crit charge typically is better to use on the Soldier, Demo, Heavy, and Pyro rather than the Engineer or the Scout so be sure to use it wisely. Keep in mind this is only one factor of Medic’s job that depends on on you and one person.
As for other factors you have to know how to use your shield. First thing is you know how many points put in it factors into what size is. First point can cover you and two teammates behind a square shaped shield that does a bit of damage to robots trying to pass through it. Second point can cover roughly most of the team, has a wider damage range, and is actually a bit taller and much wider like a rectangle. I highly encourage maxing your shield first since the second upgrade makes it much easier to use and provides better cover for your team.
Save your shield for when more threatening robots are about to come out. Say it’s nothing but Bat Scouts or Punchie Heavies, you don’t need to use your shield to block them because they can’t shoot anything. You can still help and do damage by letting them touch your shield but you can also save it for when the more threatening robots come.
As far as healing and overhealing go, Healing Mastery increases how quickly you can heal, heal yourself, and revive rate(not to mention faster healing rate also increases ubercharge rate). Overheal Expert increases how much overheal your teammates can have and decreases the rate it decays. These two upgrades are essential for Medic especially Healing Mastery early on.


If you can keep your team not only healthy but well enhanced it will increase everyones performance and makes the whole game smoother in general.

Two Cities

The two cities update added two new MVM maps Mannhattan and Rottenburg. Each map has two missions that vary in difficulty and require different strategies/setups. Instead of going into details about the maps and robots that you will be facing the TF2 Wiki does an excellent job at showing what robots come on each wave, links will be provided underneath each picture.


Manhattan
Empire Escalation: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Empire_Escalation_(mission)
Fun map, you start off with a good amount of money, and if you and your team are already familiar with the basics it's a cakewalk.

Metro Malice: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Metro_Malice_(mission)
Hard map, out of these four I would argue that metro is by far the most difficult. Waves 3 and 5 prove challenging even for me sometimes. Don't be surprised if you find yourself restarting waves.


Rottenburg
Hamlet Hostilty: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Hamlet_Hostility_(mission)
Difficult at first due to low money count but by Wave 3 if you have gotten a majority of the money/bonuses the rest of the game should be relatively easy.

Bavarian Botbash: https://wiki.teamfortress.com/wiki/Template:Mvm_mission_bavarian_botbash
My favorite map by far. Lots of money, overall easy gameplay if you know the basics, and best of all extremely fun when playing with friends.

Scout

Class: Scout
Role: Money Grabber, Distractor, Tank
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Soda Popper, Mad Milk, Fan O'War
Skill Level: Medium-High
Special Perks: Fast Respawn, Massive Overheal from Money Drops, and can collect money in wider radius.

Personal Opinion: I personally do not like the Scout. Only because he is actually my weakest class and I have a tendency to get frustrated when playing as him(getting all the money can sometimes be very stressful). Nevertheless he is for the most part a must have member on your team. If you like to move fast, jump high, and be an annoying tank this is the class for you!

Primaries

Scattergun
Stock weapon. No ups or downs to it. Good damage dealer early and late game.







Force-A-Nature
2 Shot Double Barrel. Extra pellets per shot along with knockback on hit makes for a very useful weapon. I think it does jsut as well as the rest of the pirmaries.





Soda Popper
2 Shot Double Barrel. Fast Reload and Firing speed with only 4 less shots per spray. Deal damage to gain boost so you can multiple jumps when activated. Combined with jump height and movement speed, this primary provides excellent mobility, damage, and distraction capabilities.



Shortstop
4 Shot Pistol/Shotgun Hybrid. Bonus healing applies with cash pickup making early ronds a bit easier. Knockback penalty is hardly a downside considering most robots with knockback capabilities already send you flying




Baby Face's Blaster *Not Recommended
Speed Shotgun. Great utility with the extra movement speed but that is quickly lost considering how many times the Scout jumps in this gamemode. I would recommend a different primary.





Back Scatter *Not Recommended
Minicrits from behind are useless considering you have the Fan'O War. The reduced clip size, lower accuracy, and no random crits are also other downsides. Would recomend something else.





Secondaries

Mad Milk
Excellent at slowing down giant scouts and perfect for helping your team keep pressure on other types of giants or large clusters of bots with 60% healing buff. This is the best secondary you could possibly use for the Scout in most situations and I would HIGHLY recommend using it.





Bonk! Atomic Punch
Scout is not as tanky without resistances early rounds. This drink is useful for getting out of a bad situation or collecting that one pile of money that is surrounded by robots. You can also drink it to become an invuln body blocker for your team when needed. I recommend using it if you have trouble staying alive early.


That covers it for the secondaries. Other than these 2 the rest are rather frowned upon for using. It is much better not only for yourself but for the rest of the team that you keep the Mad Milk or the Bonk on hand.


Melees

Fan O'War
No damage but utility! Hit any robots so you can make for the minicrits for yourself and your team. Works great with big robots. This weapon is superior above all other melees for Scout in MVM.

Sandman can mark targets for death but you only have one shot. It costs 500 credits to get the mark for mini crits on the ball hit, it costs 250 credits for faster ball recharge, and another 100 per extra ball for up to 7 Balls total. It can be a fun weapon but I would still recommend using the
Fan O'War.

Upgrades



Scout can make the most of bonus overheal from money drops if you have resistances to back them up. Buy resistances for robots you will be facing each wave and refund as needed. Mobility is very strong on Scout so buying Movement speed and Jump Height can make it much easier to dodge barrages and (Note: If using the Soda Popper, Jump Height does not typically have to be bought due to the bonus extra jumps from the special, however combined you can dodge a lot more projectiles with ease and become a better distraction for your team.)



Mad Milk has a special function of being able to slow enemy robots, including giants. This is exceptionally useful for giant scouts considering they are hard to keep up with for the rest of your team. Extra recharge rate is very useful, consider using it if there a lot of giants in the wave.

Fan O'War is strong by itself. I don't like to upgrade it.

Once you max resistances and at the slow/recharge rate on your Mad Milk go ahead and upgrade whatever you would like. I personally like to max the damage on my Soda Popper and get extra Clip Size.











This concludes the Scout portion of the guide. Happy running!

Soldier

Class: Soldier
Role: Damage Dealer, Crowd Controller, Tank Buster, Team Buffer
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Beggar's Bazooka, Buff Banner, Half-Zatoichi
Skill Level: Easy-Medium
Special Perks: Rocket-Jump, Rocket Specialist, Banners




Personal Opinion: One of my favorite classes to play in MVM. He is easy to pick up and is simple to master. If you like spamming rockets this will be your favorite class.


Primaries


Rocket Launcher
Stock weapon. No ups or downs to it.








Direct Hit *Not recommended after wave 3
Skillshotter. This weapon is as good as your aim. If you are excellent at lining up shots this would be a great weapon to use. Be warned it is much harder to take out clusters using this weapon even with Rocket Specialist due to it's smaller explosion radius. Recommendation is to switch to Stock, Black Box, or Beggar's Bazooka after a few waves to keep your damage output up since Soldier needs that extra explosive radius later on to keep his damage up.


Black Box *Recommended
The hybrid rocket launcher. This weapon is almost identical to the stock minus one clip size. Upside is you get to up to 20 health on hit(direct hits give 20). Paired with upgrades you have little chance of dying so long as you keep hitting the robots and hiding behind cover when needed. Would highly recommend starting players to try this weapon first.

Beggar's Bazooka
This spam cannon requires less money to reach maximum damage efficiency and is DEADLY against clusters and giants. Can be fired one shot at a time or in a barrage. When shooting keep yourself at medium range this weapon has a large spread when fired from a distance. This weapon is very different from the rest of the Rocket Launchers and can take a game or two of getting used too. Recommended to have Health on Kill and Blast Resistance to keep yourself alive and your damage consistent.


Cow Mangler
Infinite ammo Space Cannon. Charged shots are useful for taking out clusters and sentry nests. Downsides are no crits(even with a crit canteen, kritzkrieg, or random crits) and if you do use a charged shot all ammo is consumed in the clip even if you bought extra clip size. This weapon is still affected by the Buff Banner



Air Strike
Fast shooting from above. Gain additional clip size each kill for up to 8 shots in one clip. -15% damage penalty and -10% explosion radius that is even smaller (28%) when you rocket jump. This weapon is both/good for taking out clusters because it has a larger barrage of rockets but a slightly smaller explosive radius. This weapon gets a larger clip over time meaning you will be spending more time reloading rather than shooting.


Liberty Launcher *Not Recommended
+25% Clip Size, +40% Projectile Speed, -25% blast damage from rocket jump, -25% damage penalty. This gun sounds good on paper but in practice is utter crap. Seriously it is terrible, please don’t use it.




Secondaries




Buff Banner *Highly Recommended
Default one to use. Grants you and your allies mini-crits. Standing near a Sentry Gun or Medic with Shield active also gives them mini-crits.






Battalion's Backup
Defensive buff that gives 35% damage resistance and full immunity to crits. Very useful when large numbers of crit robots arrive.






Concheror
Heal and Speed Buff. More damage you do the more health you get back. Good early on but after Health on Kill is bought for your primary this banner will feel less powerful later on.





Righteous Bison *Recommended for Botbash or Last wave shenanigans
Fun crowd controller. This weapon does the same amount of damage at any range and can penetrate an infinite number of targets so it's best used at a distance. Combined with infinite ammo and cheap upgrade costs it's a surprisingly effective weapon for a secondary.




Melees


Half-Zatoichi *Highly Recommended
Was good before the update and is great now. Not only is it a great survival weapon with extended range it can ONE-SHOT giant Demo-Samurai which makes some waves a lot easier. Be careful because they can one-shot you as well.




Market Gardner
Basically the stock minus random crits. Handy for taking out snipers or lone singular targets.







Disciplinary Action
Situation Melee. Useful for catching up to your teammates or helping you and an ally make a quick escape. Has a large melee range as well.






Upgrades





Soldier's upgrades are primarily focused on his rocket launcher. First core upgrades are reload speed and firing speed and one point in rocket specialist. This allows soldier to dish out heavy damage early on using the extra splash damage from rocket specialist. Maxing damage first increases your crowd control and allows for easy recharge of your banners usually taking only one to two rockets. The longer your clip is the longer it takes to fire and reload even with upgrades so keep that in mind when you buy clip size. Keeping your clip small will let you fire more often which saves you the annoying wait time of having to reload a big clip.

With Beggar's Bazooka there is no need to max firing speed due to it's already annoying spammy rate. Maxing Reload speed first along with one point in rocket specialist makes it stronger in terms of DPS than the rest of the rocket launchers jsut be sure to be a bit closer so you can hit your shots and keep a close eye on your ammo count, you will burn through it quickly and you have to have a different weapon out to get ammo from dispensers for the Beggar's.






Banners can have increased duration I usually try and max these out after I have put two points into damage.





For Soldier resistances can be useful but not necessary. Having Health on Kill for your primary wil let you be very aggresive without resistances, still they can help a lot if you find yourself dying quickly. Blast resistance lets you rocket jump with little downsides and Crit Resistance will help with those pesky crit bots.












This concludes the Soldier. Good luck maggots!

Pyro

Class: Pyro
Role: Crowd Control, Ambusher
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Phlogistinator, Scorch Shot, Powerjack
Skill Level: Medium-High
Special Perks: Can attack multiple targets at once easily, excellent at destroying tanks
Personal Opinion: Pyro is very fun class when used correctly. He has good damage, good utility, and is a good substitution for a meta class. I don't recommend him for people starting out because it's best to have a meta class down before learning Pyro.



Primaries

Flamethrower
Stock weapon. No ups or downs to it.








Phlogistinator *Recommended
Strong damage output weapon. This is the perfect ambush weapon due to it's crit utility. Perfect for cleanups, giants, and tanks. Only downside is lack of airblast.





Backburner *Recommended
Another strong damage output weapon. Full crits from behind with only an airblast consumption penalty and no random critical hits make for a very strong weapon.





Dragon's Fury
When it was released this weapon was absurdly overpowered for MVM. It was promptly nerfed soon after and a lot of people, stopped using it. After some new testing with it I noticed it suffers against clusters of robots but it is very effective against giants.



Degreaser *Not Recommended
With the recent update to the Degreaser some people might think it could be good in MVM. Though it no longer suffers a damage penalty, the "popping" strategy is not viable in MVM. Having to constantly switch between the Degreaser and Secondary to get those crits shots or quick kills only works on one robot at a time, pyro needs to kill quicker than that in MVM so I would not recommend using it.

Secondaries

Shotgun
Decent secondary that can come in handy if you run out of ammo with your flamethrower.

Gas Passer *Reccommended
Another New Weapon added in the Jungle inferno Update. This weapon is basically an overpowered grenade. With explode on impact and fast recharge rate this weapon paired with a degreaser in the later game is extremely deadly. I see it as the new best secondary for pyro.

Thermal Thruster
More of a tool than a weapon. With this jet pack, Pyro has an easier way of getting around. It can be upgraded to allow you to reactivate while already in the air and faster recharge rates. In terms of use you can quickly chase down a bomb carrier or deal with Snipers/Spies as they spawn in. If robots are overwhelming one side of your team's defence you can quickly leap in to counter and if you are overwhelmed all together you can fly out and regroup.







Reserve Shooter *Not Recommended
Faster weapon switch bonus plus extra mini-crits against airborne targets. Good secondary overall. Not recommended for MVM considering it relies heavily on your airblast as well as only being able to shoot one to two targets a time.




Panic Attack
Decent weapon. Has it uses but I would recommend using a flare gun secondary.







Flare Gun *Recommended
Nice complement weapon to your flamethrower. Handy at taking out snipers or robots that run out of the range from your flamethrower.






Scorch Shot *Highly Recommended
Very fun flare weapon. Has a powerful knockback which can be spammed with upgrades and can work even on giants. Useful for keeping annoying robots away from your team or pushing robots into grinders/pitts. Be mindful that sometimes pushing back too many robots can leave your team overwhelmed, try and contain ones you can kill quickly.

Detonator *Recommended
Utility flare gun. This one can give you an extra jump boost when you fire it under your feet. It has a damage penalty and increased self-damage.






Manmelter
Good combo with the Phlogistinator. Extinguish teammates for guaranteed crits and also has unlimited ammo with increased projectile speed. It's an alright flare gun but I would recommend using the other ones.




Melees

Axtinguisher
Great weapon if you just need to take care of one or two robots in your way. Better than the stock for MVM.






Powerjack *Recommended
My personal favorite out of pyro melees. Extra speed plus a little health on kill is a good utility weapon with no damage penalty. Just don't have it out when you are near a group of robots since you take 20% more damage when weapon is active.




Homewrecker/Neon Annihilator *Recommended
Decent weapon can really help your engineer if he is dealing with spies.







Third Degree
Direct upgrade to stock. If you use a crit charge/canteen you can pop a cluster of medics.







Back Scratcher *Not Recommended
Good melee early on if you want to survive on just health packs but, it falls off very quick since medic will have enough upgrades to heal you faster than health packs.

Sharpened Volcano fragment is not much different from the stock it neither helps nor hinders you with bonus effects.

Upgrades
Pyro is very similar to the Heavy in regards to upgrades.


Resistances keep Pyro in the fight for extended periods of time. Buying accordingly to the robots you have to face will give you a better chance to kill more robots and keep yourself alive.


With Pyro buying Damage and Health on Kill are what makes his Primary strong. Ammo capacity is very useful considering how much ammo you can go through in just a short spray. Burn Damage and Extra Afterburn Time also increase your Damage output overtime.

(If you are using the Scorch Shot Strategy, putting your money into the Scorch Shot before you buy resistances makes you much more effective early game. Max reload and Firing speed makes it not only a powerful knockback weapon but also a large AOE damage over time flare gun.)

After I max out resistances I prefer to get extra movement speed and the extra fire damage/burn time on my flamethrower.

This concludes the Pyro Section of the guide

Demoman

Class: Demoman
Role: Popper/Crowd Control
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Grenade Launcher, Chargin' Targe, Half-Zatochi
Skill Level: High
Special Perks: Sticky Trapping/Medic Popping, Spammy weapons, Demoknighting

Personal Opinion: I love Demo but he is one of the few meta classes I have not really mastered. I don't like using stickies and have never been good with them so when I play him I use his primary. With the shield and upgrades he feels like a combination between Heavy and Soldier which is pretty damn fun.

Primaries

Grenade Launcher
If stickies are not your thing consider trying this out when uber medics are not a problem. This weapon has a very high damage output if you are able to aim well and has a good splash radius for clusters. Personal Opinion is I love using this weapon and I think it's bit overlooked and under appreciated give it a whirl if you are looking for some new damage.





Loose Cannon
Similar mechanics to the Stock but with a different feel. Double Donks destroy clusters of robots if you know when to hit them. Extra Projectile speed is good for hittign more shots from a safer distance and the slight knockback is useful for keeping bigger robots back when you spam them.





Loch-N-Load
This weapon used to be one of the best grenade launchers but do to its recent nerf in damage it's no longer the highest damaging primary. Still strogn like the stock with one less clip and shattring shots. In my honest opinion I prefer the stock much over this one and don't really recommend using it MVM in general.





Iron Bomber
Since the bombs don't roll you can shoot at their feet and get more damage out of it but main goal should be trying to get direct hits with this. It does not suffer too many penalties since it shows little difference with the stock therefore making it a strong primary.




Boots
Whether you're Demoknighting or just using stickies having these boots as your primary over a grenade launcher can help improve your survivability and your effectiveness with melees. 25 health flat, and if you have a shield equipped, 10% movement speed and 25 charge restored on melee kill. Very good bonuses in my opinion, would recommend using it if you are having difficulty with survival.





Secondaries


Stickybomb Launcher
Essential for destroying Uber Medics. This spammy shooter is excellent for destroying large clusters of robots or holding the line for your team. If you are going to learn Demoman for MVM best to learn with this weapon first before you try anything else.




Sccotish Resistance
This weapon is devastating in this gamemode. If you like this one over stickies keep practicing with it because you will outscore/out damage everybody on the team. Be sure to time your shots differently otherwise you will miss every robot you intend to blow up. Extra ammo, extra stickies laid out, and a faster firing speed makes this one very strong in the early game.



Shields
Since I don't like to use stickies very much I have found shields to be very useful for survivability. Some are stronger than others but overall they can increase your effectiveness in combat. I only use shields when there are no Uber Medics that wave/game to be courteous to my team. IF your team is able to deal with Uber Medics without the need for stickies then feel free to use a Shield you prefer.



Melees

Considering how many damn melees Demoman has I felt the need to shorten this section.

Stock
Neither helps nor hinders if you don't want to use anything fancy this will help you where you need it.







Eyelander Swords
Demoknighting melee. Can be useful by itself(when you are using stickies or grenade launcher) if you can corner a singular robot. Provides up to a maximum of 35 more health (210(235 with boots)) and more movement speed (123%(136% with boots).



Half-Zatochi
This weapon resotres 50% base health on kill(and can overheal). It also is able to One-Shot Giant Demo-Samurai Robots if you can swing at them before they swing at you. It excels by itself and exceptionaly well when Demoknighting. I highly recommend using this weapon if survival is a top priority.






In regards to other melees I have found their effectiveness to be either ok or terrible. Ullapool Caber is not so great, Pain Train is useless, Scotsman's Skullcutter/Persian Persuader/Claidheamh Mòr are all decent Demoknighting weapons but I prefer Eyelander or Half-Zatochi over the latter.

Upgrades

Since there are 3 different ways to play Demoman I will show what upgrades are the most important for each path.


Meta Stickies rely on 4 things Reload Speed, Firing Speed, Damage, and Clip Size. You have to max the first two asap so you can lay out sticky traps more frequently. You need the damage and clip size later to take out the bigger robots. Health on Kill and ammo capacity will help as well. After I have maxed out my weapon I buy Crit Resistance, Movement Speed, and then any other resistances I might need.


Pipe Demo relies on the same 4 things on stickies along with Projectile Speed(increased speed makes it a lot easier to land shots=much more damage). SInce each pill can do 100 damage flat and various damage in a circle to other robots in clusters like rocket specialist the grenade launchers can actually dish out as much damage as stickies(and on some maps more) making it an effective alternative strategy if you are looking to mix things up.


Demoknighting relies on Resistances, Sword Attack Speed, Damage, Crit on Kill, and Health on Kill. You need to buy resistances accordingly to the robots you face and even out your upgrades with your sword. Crits on Kill should be purchased before damage to make sure you can effectively keep your kill count up early on. You absolutely have to have Health on Kill on top of resistances to keep yourself alive. That being said Demoknight is much more effective later on so he is best played late game.



This concludes the Demoman portion of the guide.

Heavy

Class: Heavy
Role: Tank, Center of Front
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Natascha, Sandvich, Gloves of Running Urgently
Skill Level: Medium High
Special Perks: Tanky, Highest DPS of any class, can shoot through lines of robots with upgrades.

Personal Opinion: Heavy is another favorite of mine. He is one of the few classes who can take a lot of damage and dish out even more. He is very to easy and learn and is always fun to play. If you like being a deadly brick wall this class is for you.

Primaries

Minigun *Recommended
The stock works exceptionally well in this gamemode with little downsides. Highly recommend using this first to get a better feel for how the heavy works.





Natascha *Recommended
While slower wind up speed and damage penalty seems annoying they can be negligible compared to the constant slow this gun gives. Combined with firing speed the Natascha can easily slow down sentry busters to give easy ubercharge for the medic. (More benefits explained later)



Huo Long Heater *Not Recommended
Extra ammo consumption really sucks on Heavy considering all the shooting you will be doing. The ring can help give a little extra damage to targets that walk too close but it's minimal compared to how much you do when shooting. I highly recommend using a different minigun.



Tomislav
With the recent update this weapon is a bit more viable. Slower firing speed is very bad but considering it is now more accurate(tighter bullet spread) it is stronger at destroying robots in lines in comparison to other miniguns.Personally I like to use it at higher waves once you have a point in Projectile Penetration along with maximum firing speed.

Brass Beast *Recommended
Very strong in the late game with resistances. Due to low mobility it's a bit harder to use especially in early waves but later combined with resistances this weapon will shred through robots faster than any other minigun with it's bonus to damage.





Secondaries


Sandivch
It's a med kit. Nice to have when your medic is down and/or you are in a safe spot to heal yourself.







Shotgun
Considering how much ammo you burn through on your primary sometimes it is better for you to keep a shotty handy rather than a sandwich. Better to use the shotgun then sit there being a fat target.




Secondaries typically don't matter since you will be using your minigun 95% of the time but always pick a secondary that you think is more convenient or that you woudl prefer to use.

Melees

Much like the Secondaries, your melee is dependent on whatever you are comfortable with. I personally like GRU or Fists of Steel the best and find the KGB to be useful at times. Melee really doesn't matter too much with Heavy.

Upgrades

Short version: Tankiness first, Minigun Second
One fun unique thing about the heavy is; His Minigun is already very strong even without upgrades to start. Knowing this you might find it better to focus on your resistances first so you can remain effective throughout the match.


To start buy resistances accordingly to the robots. Every new wave you should refund and reset them to the new robots you have to face. Heavy is the brick wall so make sure your upgrades don't leave him squishy.


Now as far as the minigun goes you will need ammo capacity and firing speed first. You will only need one point in Projectile Penetration because usually robots do not remain in a nice straight line even when they are clumped up so any more than one point is statistically useless.
Destroy projectiles is very useful when you have to face a large barrage of rockets or pills. If you see the icon for Giant Demos and Soldiers with or without Crits consider putting a point for that wave.
Knockback rage is for the most part useless, you have to do damage(A LOT) for you to gain the effect which feels like a waste of money. It can be fun for late game shenanigans like pushing a big robot into the pit/grinder but having to drop 1050 for it to be decently effective is not worth it early on.
Health on Kill used to be pretty good but when they took away the overheal function it lost a lot of its Ummph. Still it can be a little helpful so I still put usually two points into it.
Since most of your money needs to go to yourself or your primary it should never be wasted on your other weapons or sandvich. (EXCEPTION: Ammo canteens are EXTREMELY useful for the big guy and if you find yourself liking to stay up front 100% of the time I encourage you to grab a couple when you think you will need them.)

This concludes the Heavy portion of the guide.

Engineer

Class: Engineer
Role: Crowd Control, Heal/Ammo Support
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Rescue Ranger, Wrangler, Jag
Skill Level: High
Special Perks: Strong Sentry Gun Crowd Control, Dispenser provides minor healing and infinite ammo, Teleporters
Personal Opinion: I love Engineer he is the bread and butter of this game to me. In fact he is the reason I became interested in TF2 and he just so happens to be the most important class in this gamemode. Why? He has Sentry Gun that destroys robots quicker than most classes in a majority of scenarios, provides infinite ammo for the team so long as he has a dispenser up, provides teleporters to the frontline(and back to the shop with upgrades), and can even act as another shooter on the line depending on how you play. All in all, the Engineer can do a great many things that can take a quite a bit of time to learn, but with a lot of practice he can be one of the most rewarding classes you'll ever play.

Weapons

Rescue Ranger *HIGHLY recommended
Utility weapon. Shoot at your buildings for a quick repair or right click while looking at one to pull grab it from a distance. With Metal Capacity upgrades you can quickly and easily reposition your buildings in a pinch. I HIGHLY recommend using this weapon if you are just starting to play this class.



Pomson 6000
Unlimeted ammo, 4 clip shotgun. It has a slower projectile speed, but speed does not matter if robots are right next to you. It has a bit of an absurd hitbox up close which is perfect if a spy gets close to you.





Widowmaker *Recommended
Utility and Combat. If you prefer being upfront with your team this weapon will reward that playstyle. Since it uses metal for ammo be extra conservative with your shots





Frontier Justice
Situational Shotgun. Good for starting a next wave with all the crits but odds are you will most likely die before you get to use them all. Best usage is to save them for spies and other lower risk situations.



Panic Attack
Same feelings for the Frontier Justice apply to this weapon. Best used in the same situations but considering how easy it is to spam you might as well fire some clips into a horde of robots to help your team out a little.




Secondaries

The only secondary I recommend using 95% of the time is going to be the Wrangler. Short Circuit has some uses but other than that there is no other secondary that can compare to what the Wrangler can do for you. Do not use any type of pistol it does not do anything truly useful for yourself or your team.

The Wrangler *HIGHLY recommended
Wrangler doubles the fire rate of your sentry gun and provides a laser pointer for easy aiming. A Shield also pops up and provides 66% damage resistance to your gun. (*NOTE while shielded your sentry gun repair rate is EXTREMELY slow even with upgrades. If you do need to repair it pick it up and put it back down to make the shield the disappear instantly.)

Melees


Wrench 9/10 *Recommended
Nothing wrong with using the stock.








Southern Hospitality *Recommended
This wrench is not very different from the stock. The bleed is nice just be sure to avoid pyrobots when you use it.






Eureka Effect *Recommended
With the recent wonderful update to this weapon I have found it to be very effective not only in pubs but MVM as well. Cheaper teleporters is excellent, 20% less metal from pickups is a little annoying but managable, and the slight construction rate penalty is neglible. This rework finally made this wrench fun to use and if you liked it before you will love using it now.





Jag 10/10 *Highly recommended
My go to wrench for three years. With the increased swing speed over the other wrenches this one can rebuild and upgrade buildings far faster than any other. If you don't like using canteens this is your best wrench to use if you want to learn to live without them. Be mindful that this weapon repairs less health per swing but that will feel negligible with a high swing speed.






Gunslinger should not be used in MVM except for fun final waves where your team doesn't have a need for the Sentry Gun.

Upgrades

Engineer works well when you buy upgrades equally for your buildings and your wrench.


Main priority for Engineer is Dispenser Range, Metal Capacity, Building Health, ONE Sentry Firing Speed Upgrade, and Wrench Attack Speed. Typically you want to start with maximum dispenser range and one in metal capacity. Maps with more money to start like Empire or Botbash you should also start with a some Building Health. After the first wave you will want to buy some wrench attack speed, more metal capacity, and building health. After wave 2 you should buy one firing speed upgrade and the last building health upgrade. After a few waves you should have close to maxed out building health, metal capacity, dispenser range, and ONE sentry firing speed. (Additional sentry firing speed upgrades do nothing to increase it except the first one. The second upgrade increases firing speed when using the wrangler and the third does nothing so in most games it's only practical to buy it once.) Soem people would tell you the mini sentry is useless and that you shouldn't buy it, but if you can keep it a safe spot that dishes out damage but is not completly exposed it becomes a worthy investment.



After I have finished my building and wrench upgrades I like to buy Critical Resistance and Movement Speed and depending on the map will buy other resistances for the last wave(s).

This concludes the Engineer portion of the guide.

Medic

Class: Medic
Role: Healer, Protector, Damage Booster
Preferred Weapons of Choice: Crusader's Crossbow, Kritzkrieg, and Ubersaw
Skill Level: High
Special Perks: Deployable shield that can block all enemy projectiles, has the ability to revive teammates, and a variety of upgrades that increasing ubercharge rate/duration, healing rate, overheal health, and cheaper canteen costs.

Personal Opinion: Medic is my favorite class to play right next to Engineer. I enjoy playing him because he can really change the tide of the fight. Like the Engineer, I played Medic(and I like to think mastered) without use of canteens.

Primaries

Crusader's Crossbow *Recommended
Long-range healing/damadge dealer. You can use it to close the gap between yourself and a injured teammate or deal to with pesky snipers. I use this weapon jsut about every game I paly Medic with.





Overdose
With the recent change to this weapon Medic now gains a whopping 20% movement speed buff at full charge. This makes it easier to get to a new position or make a speedy retreat.






Blutsauger
If you want to be an offensive Medic, this is your best option. Getting a little bit of firing speed and mad milk syringes makes you practically invincible(so long as you back off to reload). I only play offensive medic when it's the last wave or if you are on easier maps but it can work for whole games if you play smart.



Secondaries

Kritzkrieg *HIGHLY Recommended
This is the go to medigun for most Medics in MVM and for good reason. The stock simply can not compare to utility this medigun offers to your team. If you want to learn Medic please just learn with the Kritz first before you try any of the others.





Quick-fix
Even with the recent nerf to the Uber charge rate, this medigun is still pretty effective. An additional 40% healing rate combined with upgrades makes for an insane quick healing. Downside is much less overheal health which makes it's late game weaker. Best used early on and for newer Medic's struggling to keep his/her team alive.



Vaccinator
Before any of you go dissing the Vacc, understand it's good in different ways. Fast Uber charge rate, passive resistances, insta revives, and full crit immunity when a charge is activated. This medi gun has the strongest early game in MVM. Why people diss the Vacc is because of it's very BAD late game. Overheal is important to survival in the later waves. Use it early if you want a change of pace just keep in mind that without additional overheal it can be difficult in the late game to keep your team alive.


Melees


Ubersaw
You can grab Uber charge safely from sentry busters. Later on with resistances you can go in to get a few swings on giants.






Amputator
It can be useful early game. Bonus health regen can save your skin and the taunt healing aura is very useful early game when you your team is dealing with low damage robots.





Vita-Saw
Not the best choice but if you want to save uber charge on death you can use this. Ubersaw gives you 25% on a hit so a measly 20% back on death is not very worth it.





Solemn Vow and Stock are not recommended because the do not provide a significant advantage for the Medic in MVM.

Upgrades

With Medic there are two upgrade paths I have found to be successful. First path focuses on your medigun and second focuses on resistances.


Medigun path is what I prefer because having the experience that I do makes it more effective the whole game than the latter. The tricky thing about Medic is early on he is both a tank and squishy. With his shield he can block all types of damage (except flamethrowers) but once it goes down you are very vulnerable. A good Medic knows when to pop his shield out and when to hide behind cover. If you can manage these things then I strongly encourage using this method.
First things I will upgrade are The Shield and Healing Rate(which I would do for the second path as well) and then I would Max Overheal Rate and sometimes Uber Duration depending on the team. After that I buy what resistances I will need. I do not buy Canteen Specialist or Ubercharge Rate these are typically useless to a good Medic. You can easily use your Ubersaw to get a quick charge back, and playing Medic without canteens will help you learn the skills/strategies a lot faster.


Resistance path focuses on getting resistances early so you have better chances of keeping yourself and your team alive rather than have more damage output.
First things I will upgrade are The Shield and Healing Rate, then max resistances before going back to your medigun. Just remember to buy them for the robots you will be facing not just getting a little of each type. I liked this style when I was learning because I was able to stay alive long enough to still do my job decently. Once I was confident enough with Medic I began working my way up to using the ^first style. If you would like to learn Medic I highly reccomend starting with the second style.

In regards to other upgrades I don't typically upgrade my Ubersaw(Botbash and Empire have enough cash to do it, so if you want to have fun with a lot of free uber do it on those maps with swing speed upgrade) Health Regen is OK in general but I find extra Movement Speed can be very useful in more situations then I would care to count.


This concludes the Medic portion of the guide.

Quick Upgrade Cheat Sheet

This section gives a simple brief showcase to what upgrades I use for each class when I play them. Use this if you dont want to read my in depth explanation of each class.


Scout

Start X2 Bullet/Blast Resistance(depending on bots you have to face) and the slow on Mad Milk
Focus resistances first(even fire when needed) refund every wave for different damage dealing bots.
Max Bullet, Blast, and Crit Resistance
Max Movement Speed and Jump Height
Max recharge speed on your Mad Milk
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.

Soldier

Start 1 in Rocket Specialist and 2 in Reload Speed
Priortize Max Reload and Firing Speed first
Buy 1 Ammo Capacity and 1-2 Health on Kill
Max Damage and buy at least 1 Clip Size
Max Buff Duration
Buy Resistances or more upgrades for your Rocket Launcher

Pyro

Start 1 Bullet/Blast Resistance and 1 Damage
Max Resistances plus 1 Damage
1-2 Ammo Capacity and 2 Health on Kill
Max Resistances and Damage
Buy Movement Speed
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.

Demoman

Start 2 in Reload Speed and 1 Firing Speed
Max Reload Speed and Firing Speed
One Ammo Capacity and One Clip Size
2 Health on Kill and Max Damage
Buy Resistances and more Clip Size
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.

Heavy

Start X2 Bullet/Blast Resistance and One Ammo Capacity(Or 1-3 Ammo Canteens)
Max Resistances, 1 Ammo Capacity, 2 Health on Kill
Max Firing Speed and One Bullet Penetration
Max Movement Speed
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.

Engineer

Start Max Dispenser Range, 1 Metal Capacity, 1 Building Health(1-2 Build Canteens)
2 Wrench Swing Speed, 1 Metal Capacity, 1 Building Health
1 Sentry Firing Speed(All you need additional firing speed does nothing)
Max Wrench Swing Speed, Max Metal Capacity, Max Building Health
Max Movement Speed and Crit Resistance
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.
(I sincerely do not recommend Metal Regen, it is horrible.)

Medic

Start Max Shield and 2 Healing Mastery
Max Healing Mastery
Max Overheal Expert OR Max Resistances(Do one or the other first pick what you are comfortable with first then max the other second.)
Max Movement Speed and Max Uber Duration
Buy beneficial upgrades you want after all above have been bought.

Sniper/Spy

Some of you might be wondering, "Hey where is the sniper section or the spy section?" The reason why they are not in this guide is because I do not play them very much in mann vs machine. Does that mean I think they are bad and/or useless? No. In the right hands I think these classes are very strong and can make the game even go faster than sticking with the meta classes. That doesn't mean you should use them every game because I have seen far more bad snipers/spies than good ones. They have a higher skill cap than the other classes for the most part and take a lot of practice to master. If I find myself successful with them at any point I will happily add them to the guide but for now I am leaving them out not only for that reason, but I don't know them well enough myself or what to buy/what works best.

Thank you page

I would personally like to thank my good friends Fear the Elderly and Lone Star as well as all other members for the Darkly Gaming Network for the their input on this guide. Thanks to their ideas and encouragement this guide would have never been made in the first place.

I would also like to thank ♦ACE♦, Soggycow, Topsy_Turve, and PhearAphex for their individual inputs when I started this guide many months ago.

And finally a personal thank you too RudyHuxtable and Toughsox for teaching me how to play MVM in the first place. Without them and their friends I would not have the experience and "TF2 Wealth" I have today.

Aussies and other Gems

Here are some screenshots of some Australiums I have gotten over the years and a few other misc thigns that have happened while playing MVM

First long standing record that I could not beat for over a year.


(6/26/15) Tour#62 3rd Aussie.


(7/4/15) Tour #64 4th Aussie. I got this Medi Gun literally two tours after the Eylander.


Finally broke my old record with Pipe-Demo of all things.


(8/10/15) Tour#87 5th Aussie.


After taking two months off of playing MVM I came back at the request of a friend for one game and completly shattered my old record. This record I don't think I will ever be able to beat. It was quite literally my most perfect game to date.



Played two Botbash games back to back with Pipe-Demo and did great both times.


(3/8/16) Tour #123 6th Aussie and 3rd Minigun. Really wish I kept this one but I like to use the Natascha more. Never took screenshots of my first two (which were both miniguns) which I really regret now. I got those two on Tour #26 (7/31/14) and Tour #32 (11/10/14).


(12/8/16) Tour #135 7th Aussie. Exactly 9 months apart from my 3rd Minigun.


(8/5/17) Tour #147 8th Aussie


(2/8/19) Tour #161 9th Aussie


(9/17/19) Tour #185 10th Aussie


(5/15/22) Tour #2 11th Aussie after trying expert for the first time in years. 3rd Blutsauger IN A ROW

[MannsOverMeta]

People hate Sniper in MvM because most players, including themselves, don't know how to play the class right.
Sniper is useful for more than just Uber Medics. They are useful for anything that isn't a tank and doesn't run faster than a Medic.

The Spy is able to deal massive amounts of damage to Giant robots in a short amount of time. With max knife armor penetration and swing speed, you can get a maximum of 2 900 damage stabs per second for 2 seconds for a total of 3600 damage. That's enough to almost kill or cripple a Giant enough to make killing it easy.
Besides that, he can attract aggro, one hit any target that isn't a giant (including mini bosses), collect money decently, and if you put money into it, sap robots. Sapping is the least effective tool the Spy has though, so you're better off not using it at all.

[gabbermac]

also i dont know why people just HATE Sniper's because they are really effiecent medic pickers with explosives, my opinion is that when medic hordes apper i refund upgrades and go sniper and exterminate the annoying sh!t's so giants are easier

As for spy i dont really see alot of pro's other then the MASSIVE REDUTION of speed on giant robots with sapper, downside is that it doesnt last long but if paired with a slow mad milk/jarate its not a bad class to play as in speedy scout giants.

[gabbermac]

scouts dont REALLY need to get higer jumping depending on the map layout and/or bot types

[Dappa Cappa]

There is a mistake with sandvich on heavy

[Nicky Baby]

nice use of piemation's videos. they are really funny

[nuK3]

However wiki is stating that the base repair amount per hit is :
-105 for stock
-80 for jag

This needs confirmation because if those numbers are right (and the jag card is wrong) then the jag will be better with full upgrades by less than 3%.

[nuK3]

Yes, jag does build and upgrade faster than stock. However it does repair slower . My first calculation was wrong, my bad. Obviously the jag is better for repairing with max swing speed.

Let's say we have a base repair rate of 100% :

No swing speed upgrades
Stock : 100%
Jag : 100*0.8/(1-0.15) = 94%

Full swing speed upgrades
Stock : 100/(1-0.4) = 167%
Jag : 100*0.8/(1-0.55) = 178%

Hm I might consider changing my sweet wrench for a jag then...

[DisSpenSir]

The jag already has a high swing speed by default 15% with upgrades it becomes 55% faster compared to 40% for other wrenches. Since it can swing faster, it repairs faster.

[Edward Wigglesworth]

"Be mindful that this weapon repairs less health per swing but that will feel negligible with a high sing speed."



So the jag gives you higher singing speed?

[MannsOverMeta]

You need to buy that upgrade. And not only is it pretty broken, but it also halfs your DPS and increases damage drop off by alot.
With the Nastacha, you don't need to buy an upgrade, the slowdown is less disruptive, and you have 20% resists wehn your health drops below half wtih no slowdown.
Minigun or Brass Beast is still better, but Nastacha isn't bad.