Balzac's guide to the Demoman! (inspired by DarkNecrid's Spy guide)
I've logged roughly 145 hours on Demoman alone and have learned a thing or two! Demoman was my favorite class back in the days of TFC and I began to play it alot when TF2 came out. I found myself yet again hooked on the Demoman and now have become pretty good at it! As some may know, I play LOTS OF DUSTBOWL, so some things may apply in DB situations or Defend/Capture levels but generally are factors for any situation on whatever level.
I. Introduction - The Demoman's job.
As many know, one of the man jobs as a Demoman is to make the Engineers life a living hell. Many may think "Oh I thought the Demoman's job was to spam around corners until I get a kill!" Well in some cases yes.. this is true.. but not always. The Demoman is placed in the "defense" class section, but they are also VERY good on offense as well. As many know, on defense, there tends to be many more Engineers building and groups of people standing around (on points) which makes Demoman an ideal class for taking care of things like this.
II. Strengths/Weaknesses/Things to know
Alot of people complain that Demomen are overpowered or Demomen do too much damage etc. They are just as powerful as any other class if used properly
Strenghts
*Stickys can be launched from long ranges (more later)
*Demomen crits are VERY powerful with a direct hit
*Stickies can be used as a fear tactic
*Decent amount of health (175) with moderate speed
*Can damage self with stickies to create a fast Uber-Charge
*Can sticky jump (similar to Soldier's rocket jump)
*Best class in the game for mass Engineer building destruction
Weaknesses
*In the battle field, running out of ammo=death
*Inaccurate shots are a sure way to get yourself killed
*At close range, it is easy to hurt yourself or even kill yourself
*In some cases, very hard to kill things at long ranges
*Demoman guns can be hard to use for people who do not play Demoman a lot
As requested/posted by Culex and Caval1er KRTIZ IS BETTER THAN UBER IN SOME CASES!
Overall the Demoman has more strengths than weaknesses but the weaknesses aren't things that can just be looked over. In most cases you will see a team with 4-5 demomen (mainly 32 person servers) who just use it as the "lets spam over walls class", leaving medics and the rest of the team in a bad position when those spots could be best used on classes to better strengthen the team.
III. Weapons and Strategies
The Pipebomb Launcher - "KABLOOEEEH!"
This is your bread and butter weapon, 4 shots, moderate reload time, high damage.
The damage output of the pimpbomb launcher is high, the weapon has area of effect damage when it hits its target, or even when it is still on the ground. The bombs do more damage with a direct hit than they do if they roll on the ground to the target. The damage of pipebombs varies but to give you an idea here is a # of hit list for each class (rough estimate - in a battlefield situation):
Scout: 1-2 direct hits
Soldier: 2-3 direct hits
Pyro: 2-3 direct hits
Demo: 2-3 direct hits
Heavy: 4 direct hits
Sniper: 1-2 direct hits
Engy: 1-2 direct hits
Medic: 1-2 direct hits
Spy: I find spys USUALLY die in 1 hit, 2 in certain situations
Crits with the pipebomb do massive damage and can, for the most part, kill any class except the heavy in 1 direct hit
Pipebomb strategies
The way this gun works is now different than it used to in TFC and when TF2 came out. It used to be that if you did NOT get a direct hit, the bomb would roll on the ground and explode if it hit its target on the roll. This is not the case anymore. Pipebombs that are NOT direct hits will now roll on the ground and explode after a few seconds. The rolling damage is not nearly as significant as a direct hit, so accuracy is key to pipebombs. You must aim for where your enemy is ABOUT TO GO. Aiming AT the enemy as they are on the move will result in the pipebomb not hitting anything but air, YOU MUST PREDICT MOVEMENT IF YOU WANT DIRECT HITS!
As for Pipebombs in a sentry/Engy situation, it takes about 3 direct hits to take down a level 3 sentry with Pipebombs. (2 bombs for a level 1)
Regarding walls and corners. Pipebombs can be bounced off certain parts of walls to get different leverage depending on where it is hit, for example. Shooting high up at a wall will result in the bomb moving slightly forward and dropping straight down ground, close to where it was hit on the wall if you were to draw a straight line from where you shot the wall to the ground. Shooting at mid point of a wall will result in the bomb moving forward more-so than it would shooting at the high point of the wall, making it go further than the high point shots (best for people who enjoy wall/corner spamming). Shooting at or near the bottom of the wall will result in the bomb rolling on the ground and making a roughly 130 degree angle on the ground from the wall to where it will stop rolling (best for taking out sentries you know are right around the corner or wall you are shooting at).
As for range or in a straight on situation, it is similar to the wall physics. Shooting the ground it will roll a lot, mid way it will have decent range while having a shorter amount of roll, and aiming high into the air will allow the least roll time and giving the greatest "umph" into the range of the shot, EXCELLENT FOR DETROYING GUNS THAT CANT REACH YOU
Overall, the Pipebomb launcher is a gun that takes practice to master, and it is also an under-rated gun. Do not leave the Pipebomb launcher in your belt to rot! It is a superb gun for getting points and kills and with enough practice you'll get it down in no time!
The Stickybomb Launcher - "KABOOOOOOOOM!"
As yes... the Stickybomb Launcher where to start where to start...
The Stickybomb Launcher is arguably the primary and only gun that the Demoman uses. As for me, yeah I enjoy it, but it is not the ONLY gun I use. Learning to use stickies and pipebombs together is a deadly combo. Here are a couple quick facts about stickies all Demomen should know!:
*Stickies can hurt you too, be carful where you launch them!
*Stickies CAN be detonated while you have your Pipebomb Launcher or bottle out, you do not need your sticky gun out just to detonate them!
*STICKIES HAVE A 1 SECOND PRIME. THIS IS WHY SHOOTING STICKIES 1 BY 1 AND RIGHT CLICKING FAST RESULTS IN 1 AT A TIME EXPLOSIONS!
*Use stickies on walls to damage yourself and help Medics charge a faster Uber!
*You can hold down your primary fire button to launch stickies farther! (watch the bar under your ammo go up as you hold the button down to see how much boost you get)
*You can use stickies to launch yourself in the air and across at fast speeds! (does moderate damage but in some cases is very useful)
*USE STICKIES IN A CLUMP TO SEPERATE OR DISORIENT UBERS INTO THE AIR!
*Use your environment! Place stickies in spots so that enemies do not see them when they get towards you, then blow them up when they are near them!
Everyone is afraid of stickies (don't lie.. your scared of them).. TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION WHILE YOU PLAY! just throwing a couple stickies down on the ground in front of enemies is a nice way of saying "Yeah... you can go the other way or get a screenshot of your body parts scattered on the ground" Damage wise, roughly 2-3 stickies that are close together will kill any enemy in TF2 (except heavy most of the time). CRIT STICKIES ARE EXTREMELY POWERFUL, DO NOT BLOW THEM FOR NO REASON IF THEY ARE IN A GOOD SPOT! Stickies that are spread apart will not do as much damage as ones that are in a clump, but they will have a greater area effect on the enemy. As I was saying with the pipebombs, you must predict movement, shooting a sticky behind a guy as he is running away will do NO significant damage at all, but a sticky under an enemy will do a lot!
As for the Stickybomb Launcher in a sentry/Engy situation here are some facts for the following:
*3 stickies that are ON or CLOSE TO a sentry gun will destroy it
*If you are launching them slow from far away, BE CARFUL, Engineers CAN shoot stickies away from their guns to save them
*Shooting stickies 1 at a time and not letting them prime will usually result in you dying and the sentry not being destoryed, MAKE SURE THE STICKIES ARE PRIMED WHEN THEY ARE ON THE GUN!
*2 stickies will destroy a level 1 sentry
*IT IS POSSIBLE TO KILL UP TO 3 LEVEL 3 SENTRIES THAT ARE SPREAD OUT WITH PROPER AND ACCURATE USE OF STICKIES THEN SWITCHING TO THE PIPEBOMB LAUNCHER TO FINISH OFF ANOTHER ONE
Overall the Stickybomb Launcher does not take as much skill as the Pipebomb launcher, but also cannot be spammed and randomly shot if you want to get any points/kills.
The Bottle - "CHEEEEERS MATE! *BURP*"
When your on the battlefield and run out of ammo, DON'T GIVE UP, YOU ARE NOT DEAD UNTIL YOUR DEAD! The bottle is in fact a great melee weapon with high crit damage. If your in the battlefield and find yourself with no ammo, do not be afraid to take out the bottle. Even in situations where there is just somone close to you, USE THE BOTTLE!. Against Pyros, the bottle is great, I manage to get a fair number of Pyro bottle kills a day if they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off, whip out the bottle and beat 'em down. As for 1v1 Demo fights, I find the bottle to be quite good if you can manage to dodge the other Demo's bombs and get close enough for the bottle kill, it's pretty easy, give it a shot!
JUST REMEMBER, DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE THE BOTTLE!
IV. Demoman VS. every class short strategies
Here are some quick tips and strategies vs. other classes as a Demoman!:
vs. Scouts Hard fight, takes A LOT of movement prediction to beat these guys, use stickies to predict movements and spread them out, if they are close BOTTLE 'EM!
vs. Soldiers Somewhat of an easy fight, they are slow, it is easy to get direct hits with pipebombs if you have room, if close quarters, use stickies! IF POSSIBLE GET SOME RANGE ON 'EM SO YOU CAN DODGE THE ROCKETS!
vs. Pyros VERY EASY, a lot of the time they just run in a straight line holding down shoot, just run backwards and fire away with Pipebombs. Another strategy, look directly down while running, fire stickies, blow them up 1 by 1 as the pyro gets closer
vs. Demomen Intresting fights.. Use Pipebombs if you feel confident, as both of you will probably be jumping around like idiots moving from side to side, use stickies if you are not confident, and if you can dodge their bombs and get close.. BOTTLE 'EM
vs. Heavies Hard to beat, even with direct stickies, it seems to never kill, use the Pipebombs for easy hits and better be accurate because if all 4 don't hit (or enough to kill the Heavy) your probably dead!
vs. Sniper Somewhat easy, Use the Pipebomb high shot strategy to shoot at the Sniper's general area, if you can get around them or get close.. BOTTLE 'EM
vs. Medic Sometimes difficult, Medics are usually running around a lot' use stickies unless they are standing still healing their target, then use Pipebombs. If you can manage to get behind or around them while they are busy healing... NEED I SAY WHAT TO DO?
vs. Engineer Some strategies explained above. Use walls and corners (line of sight) to your advantage while fighting sentries. A good strategy if you are close is usally just; pop out, sticky, run back, pop out, sticky run, back, until you have 3-4 stickies then blow it up
vs. Spy Easy, if they are running around spamming sappers everywhere, just shoot stickies in a close but spread out radius to take care of em, if somone looks suspicious shoot a pipe at 'em. IF YOU SHOOT A PIPE AT SOMEONE ON YOUR TEAM AND IT BLOWS UP, HES A BLOODEH SPY!
All of the above are things I have noticed throughout my hours of playtime. Some obvious to some, some not so much to others. TRY OUT WHAT MAKES YOU COMFORTABLE, this is not the only way to play the Demoman! Any feedback/comments/concerns/questions are welcome! Strategies and ideas again are mainly from a point of view of somone that just plays Defend/Capture (Dustbowl) maps.
THANKS FOR READING, NOW GET OUT THERE AND BLOW SOME STUFF UP, KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.
I've logged roughly 145 hours on Demoman alone and have learned a thing or two! Demoman was my favorite class back in the days of TFC and I began to play it alot when TF2 came out. I found myself yet again hooked on the Demoman and now have become pretty good at it! As some may know, I play LOTS OF DUSTBOWL, so some things may apply in DB situations or Defend/Capture levels but generally are factors for any situation on whatever level.
I. Introduction - The Demoman's job.
As many know, one of the man jobs as a Demoman is to make the Engineers life a living hell. Many may think "Oh I thought the Demoman's job was to spam around corners until I get a kill!" Well in some cases yes.. this is true.. but not always. The Demoman is placed in the "defense" class section, but they are also VERY good on offense as well. As many know, on defense, there tends to be many more Engineers building and groups of people standing around (on points) which makes Demoman an ideal class for taking care of things like this.
II. Strengths/Weaknesses/Things to know
Alot of people complain that Demomen are overpowered or Demomen do too much damage etc. They are just as powerful as any other class if used properly
Strenghts
*Stickys can be launched from long ranges (more later)
*Demomen crits are VERY powerful with a direct hit
*Stickies can be used as a fear tactic
*Decent amount of health (175) with moderate speed
*Can damage self with stickies to create a fast Uber-Charge
*Can sticky jump (similar to Soldier's rocket jump)
*Best class in the game for mass Engineer building destruction
Weaknesses
*In the battle field, running out of ammo=death
*Inaccurate shots are a sure way to get yourself killed
*At close range, it is easy to hurt yourself or even kill yourself
*In some cases, very hard to kill things at long ranges
*Demoman guns can be hard to use for people who do not play Demoman a lot
As requested/posted by Culex and Caval1er KRTIZ IS BETTER THAN UBER IN SOME CASES!
Overall the Demoman has more strengths than weaknesses but the weaknesses aren't things that can just be looked over. In most cases you will see a team with 4-5 demomen (mainly 32 person servers) who just use it as the "lets spam over walls class", leaving medics and the rest of the team in a bad position when those spots could be best used on classes to better strengthen the team.
III. Weapons and Strategies
The Pipebomb Launcher - "KABLOOEEEH!"
This is your bread and butter weapon, 4 shots, moderate reload time, high damage.
The damage output of the pimpbomb launcher is high, the weapon has area of effect damage when it hits its target, or even when it is still on the ground. The bombs do more damage with a direct hit than they do if they roll on the ground to the target. The damage of pipebombs varies but to give you an idea here is a # of hit list for each class (rough estimate - in a battlefield situation):
Scout: 1-2 direct hits
Soldier: 2-3 direct hits
Pyro: 2-3 direct hits
Demo: 2-3 direct hits
Heavy: 4 direct hits
Sniper: 1-2 direct hits
Engy: 1-2 direct hits
Medic: 1-2 direct hits
Spy: I find spys USUALLY die in 1 hit, 2 in certain situations
Crits with the pipebomb do massive damage and can, for the most part, kill any class except the heavy in 1 direct hit
Pipebomb strategies
The way this gun works is now different than it used to in TFC and when TF2 came out. It used to be that if you did NOT get a direct hit, the bomb would roll on the ground and explode if it hit its target on the roll. This is not the case anymore. Pipebombs that are NOT direct hits will now roll on the ground and explode after a few seconds. The rolling damage is not nearly as significant as a direct hit, so accuracy is key to pipebombs. You must aim for where your enemy is ABOUT TO GO. Aiming AT the enemy as they are on the move will result in the pipebomb not hitting anything but air, YOU MUST PREDICT MOVEMENT IF YOU WANT DIRECT HITS!
As for Pipebombs in a sentry/Engy situation, it takes about 3 direct hits to take down a level 3 sentry with Pipebombs. (2 bombs for a level 1)
Regarding walls and corners. Pipebombs can be bounced off certain parts of walls to get different leverage depending on where it is hit, for example. Shooting high up at a wall will result in the bomb moving slightly forward and dropping straight down ground, close to where it was hit on the wall if you were to draw a straight line from where you shot the wall to the ground. Shooting at mid point of a wall will result in the bomb moving forward more-so than it would shooting at the high point of the wall, making it go further than the high point shots (best for people who enjoy wall/corner spamming). Shooting at or near the bottom of the wall will result in the bomb rolling on the ground and making a roughly 130 degree angle on the ground from the wall to where it will stop rolling (best for taking out sentries you know are right around the corner or wall you are shooting at).
As for range or in a straight on situation, it is similar to the wall physics. Shooting the ground it will roll a lot, mid way it will have decent range while having a shorter amount of roll, and aiming high into the air will allow the least roll time and giving the greatest "umph" into the range of the shot, EXCELLENT FOR DETROYING GUNS THAT CANT REACH YOU
Overall, the Pipebomb launcher is a gun that takes practice to master, and it is also an under-rated gun. Do not leave the Pipebomb launcher in your belt to rot! It is a superb gun for getting points and kills and with enough practice you'll get it down in no time!
The Stickybomb Launcher - "KABOOOOOOOOM!"
As yes... the Stickybomb Launcher where to start where to start...
The Stickybomb Launcher is arguably the primary and only gun that the Demoman uses. As for me, yeah I enjoy it, but it is not the ONLY gun I use. Learning to use stickies and pipebombs together is a deadly combo. Here are a couple quick facts about stickies all Demomen should know!:
*Stickies can hurt you too, be carful where you launch them!
*Stickies CAN be detonated while you have your Pipebomb Launcher or bottle out, you do not need your sticky gun out just to detonate them!
*STICKIES HAVE A 1 SECOND PRIME. THIS IS WHY SHOOTING STICKIES 1 BY 1 AND RIGHT CLICKING FAST RESULTS IN 1 AT A TIME EXPLOSIONS!
*Use stickies on walls to damage yourself and help Medics charge a faster Uber!
*You can hold down your primary fire button to launch stickies farther! (watch the bar under your ammo go up as you hold the button down to see how much boost you get)
*You can use stickies to launch yourself in the air and across at fast speeds! (does moderate damage but in some cases is very useful)
*USE STICKIES IN A CLUMP TO SEPERATE OR DISORIENT UBERS INTO THE AIR!
*Use your environment! Place stickies in spots so that enemies do not see them when they get towards you, then blow them up when they are near them!
Everyone is afraid of stickies (don't lie.. your scared of them).. TAKE THIS INTO CONSIDERATION WHILE YOU PLAY! just throwing a couple stickies down on the ground in front of enemies is a nice way of saying "Yeah... you can go the other way or get a screenshot of your body parts scattered on the ground" Damage wise, roughly 2-3 stickies that are close together will kill any enemy in TF2 (except heavy most of the time). CRIT STICKIES ARE EXTREMELY POWERFUL, DO NOT BLOW THEM FOR NO REASON IF THEY ARE IN A GOOD SPOT! Stickies that are spread apart will not do as much damage as ones that are in a clump, but they will have a greater area effect on the enemy. As I was saying with the pipebombs, you must predict movement, shooting a sticky behind a guy as he is running away will do NO significant damage at all, but a sticky under an enemy will do a lot!
As for the Stickybomb Launcher in a sentry/Engy situation here are some facts for the following:
*3 stickies that are ON or CLOSE TO a sentry gun will destroy it
*If you are launching them slow from far away, BE CARFUL, Engineers CAN shoot stickies away from their guns to save them
*Shooting stickies 1 at a time and not letting them prime will usually result in you dying and the sentry not being destoryed, MAKE SURE THE STICKIES ARE PRIMED WHEN THEY ARE ON THE GUN!
*2 stickies will destroy a level 1 sentry
*IT IS POSSIBLE TO KILL UP TO 3 LEVEL 3 SENTRIES THAT ARE SPREAD OUT WITH PROPER AND ACCURATE USE OF STICKIES THEN SWITCHING TO THE PIPEBOMB LAUNCHER TO FINISH OFF ANOTHER ONE
Overall the Stickybomb Launcher does not take as much skill as the Pipebomb launcher, but also cannot be spammed and randomly shot if you want to get any points/kills.
The Bottle - "CHEEEEERS MATE! *BURP*"
When your on the battlefield and run out of ammo, DON'T GIVE UP, YOU ARE NOT DEAD UNTIL YOUR DEAD! The bottle is in fact a great melee weapon with high crit damage. If your in the battlefield and find yourself with no ammo, do not be afraid to take out the bottle. Even in situations where there is just somone close to you, USE THE BOTTLE!. Against Pyros, the bottle is great, I manage to get a fair number of Pyro bottle kills a day if they are running around like a chicken with their head cut off, whip out the bottle and beat 'em down. As for 1v1 Demo fights, I find the bottle to be quite good if you can manage to dodge the other Demo's bombs and get close enough for the bottle kill, it's pretty easy, give it a shot!
JUST REMEMBER, DON'T BE AFRAID TO USE THE BOTTLE!
IV. Demoman VS. every class short strategies
Here are some quick tips and strategies vs. other classes as a Demoman!:
vs. Scouts Hard fight, takes A LOT of movement prediction to beat these guys, use stickies to predict movements and spread them out, if they are close BOTTLE 'EM!
vs. Soldiers Somewhat of an easy fight, they are slow, it is easy to get direct hits with pipebombs if you have room, if close quarters, use stickies! IF POSSIBLE GET SOME RANGE ON 'EM SO YOU CAN DODGE THE ROCKETS!
vs. Pyros VERY EASY, a lot of the time they just run in a straight line holding down shoot, just run backwards and fire away with Pipebombs. Another strategy, look directly down while running, fire stickies, blow them up 1 by 1 as the pyro gets closer
vs. Demomen Intresting fights.. Use Pipebombs if you feel confident, as both of you will probably be jumping around like idiots moving from side to side, use stickies if you are not confident, and if you can dodge their bombs and get close.. BOTTLE 'EM
vs. Heavies Hard to beat, even with direct stickies, it seems to never kill, use the Pipebombs for easy hits and better be accurate because if all 4 don't hit (or enough to kill the Heavy) your probably dead!
vs. Sniper Somewhat easy, Use the Pipebomb high shot strategy to shoot at the Sniper's general area, if you can get around them or get close.. BOTTLE 'EM
vs. Medic Sometimes difficult, Medics are usually running around a lot' use stickies unless they are standing still healing their target, then use Pipebombs. If you can manage to get behind or around them while they are busy healing... NEED I SAY WHAT TO DO?
vs. Engineer Some strategies explained above. Use walls and corners (line of sight) to your advantage while fighting sentries. A good strategy if you are close is usally just; pop out, sticky, run back, pop out, sticky run, back, until you have 3-4 stickies then blow it up
vs. Spy Easy, if they are running around spamming sappers everywhere, just shoot stickies in a close but spread out radius to take care of em, if somone looks suspicious shoot a pipe at 'em. IF YOU SHOOT A PIPE AT SOMEONE ON YOUR TEAM AND IT BLOWS UP, HES A BLOODEH SPY!
All of the above are things I have noticed throughout my hours of playtime. Some obvious to some, some not so much to others. TRY OUT WHAT MAKES YOU COMFORTABLE, this is not the only way to play the Demoman! Any feedback/comments/concerns/questions are welcome! Strategies and ideas again are mainly from a point of view of somone that just plays Defend/Capture (Dustbowl) maps.
THANKS FOR READING, NOW GET OUT THERE AND BLOW SOME STUFF UP, KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!.
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