Play a Demoman in Team Fortress 2
Demomen; the Scottish grenadiers of Team Fortress 2. Armed to the teeth with explosives and drinks, Demomen will make sure they're drunk enough to forget they killed you. Demomen play the defense role as they work in area denial. What they minimally lose in speed, they make up for flinging, chucking and tossing grenades with the Grenade Launcher. If a threat is closing the distance, Demos can set up and off a trap with their Stickybomb Launchers. And if its necessary, they can whip out their scrumpy Bottle and get close in combat.
Contents
Steps
- Examine your arsenal. Demomen have a 4/16 Grenade Launcher, which shoots grenades that last for three seconds if not hit a player (Primary), a 8/24 Stickybomb Launcher, which allows up to eight grenades to be stuck to any surface and be detonated at anytime using the right mouse button (Secondary) and a melee only Bottle (Melee).
- Use your bottle for point-blank attacks. Like all melee weapons, the bottle can surprisingly come in handy for short point-blank attacks, but you must be careful, for if you miss the first time, you could end up being killed.
- Use your grenade launcher for medium range attacks. Grenades are one of your main explosive projectiles. They will explode about 3 seconds after they are launched unless they directly connect with another enemy player or enemy building, in which case they will detonate upon impact unless the Grenade Launcher you are using is the Loch-n-Load which will explode on contact with anything it touches.
- Grenades will only detonate upon impact with another player/building if they do not bounce off the ground or off a wall first. Otherwise, they will harmlessly bounce off the player. In either case, they will still explode after 3 seconds.
- Use your sticky bomb launcher to set up traps and chokepoints. A sticky bomb will detonate at your command with a simple right click. You can launch up to 8 sticky bombs at once that stick to walls, ceilings, and other hidden locations to lure unsuspecting enemies into an explosive mess. You can switch to another weapon and still explode your bombs.
- Use sticky bombs to set up bottlenecks that prevent/hinder enemy advancement on the field. You'll find that many players find a set of sticky bombs on the ground to be very intimidating.
- You can hold down the fire button to "charge" your sticky bomb launcher to shoot long distance bombs. This is especially useful for inflicting some damage before you are in enemy sight.
- Consider your offensive role. Demomen are particularly useful to eliminate close enemy congregations, since they can deal a significant amount of damage from a distance in a relatively short amount of time.
- Consider your defensive role. The Demoman's sticky bombs are a defensive staple in guarding your intelligence, as well as your capture points. Try to conceal a set of sticky bombs out of enemy sight, such as around a corner or around the outer edges of a doorway. As a group begins to rush in, detonate the concealed sticky bombs and watch the chaos that ensues.
- Be sure to switch between weapons as needed. You can detonate your sticky bombs no matter what weapon that you have selected. Don't be afraid to switch to your grenade launcher while you have your sticky bombs set up, so that you don't become a sitting duck to incoming players.
- Reload. This may appear to be a trivial and intuitive notion, but nothing is worse than being caught without any extra sticky bombs or grenades in your launchers when a group of enemies start to come your way. Be sure to keep your weapons fully loaded whenever you have the opportunity to do so.
- Use your sticky bombs to "stickyjump" to unreachable heights. Similar to the Soldier's rocket jump, the Demoman can use his sticky bomb launcher to reach great heights. Simply put one or two sticky bombs on the ground, crouch, and simultaneously jump over and detonate it to fling yourself in the air.
- Some notable locations to "jump" to are on the top of the Capture Point "B" building in cp_gravelpit and over the dividing wall in cp_well—most useful before the setup timer reaches zero.
Tips
- Take note when you shoot a "critical" grenade or sticky bomb. Your launcher will emit an electrical charge sound, and the bomb will sparkle red or blue, depending on your team color. These bombs will inflict a devastating amount of damage if detonated next to an enemy. You will find that critical sticky bombs have the power to wipe out several players in a matter of seconds.
- People often run away from someone that's shooting at them, which is exactly what you want as a Demoman. When confronting an unsuspecting enemy, quickly block their most obvious escape route with a few stickies. When they notice you, start lobbing grenades. Chances are they'll either flee into your stickies or run right over one of your exploding grenades.
- The longer you hold the trigger down before releasing a sticky bomb, the farther it fires. With good aim and practice, you can drop sticky bombs right next to your target from across the map!
- Be sure to toy around with the range and trajectory of your launchers. Note the speed that your bombs travel in the air, and try to give "lead shots" to moving enemies. Remember that you can use your sticky bomb launcher to shoot sticky bombs at a distance.
- When you have 8 active stickies, they will detonate one-by-one when you plant more. This can be a useful way to damage an enemy without wasting any precious explosions! Try placing stickies on a choke point or control point, especially one with a Medkit nearby. If you're lucky, one of your stickies will explode right next to a Medic or Scout with low health.
- Don't assume that your bottle is a total "last resort" weapon. You may find that many faster players, such as the Scout, will try to get up as close to you as they can, attempting to take advantage of your lack of short range weapons. Although you probably shouldn't rush toward a player with your bottle, it is very useful in keeping enemies a moderate distance from you.
- Hiding sticky bombs under health kits is viable but will often anger the victim.
- Take advantage of the trajectory of your bombs to strike down enemy's sentry guns and dispensers; for example, if you're on a roof and a sentry is down in front of you, stay back so you are not shot and throw bombs or stickies to destroy the sentry.
- You can keep your Sticky Bomb Launcher charged by holding down the alternate fire button.
Warnings
- Sticky jumping takes away a lot of health. This coupled with fall damage will bring you close to death. Only sticky jump when you are sure you can regain that health or in desperate situations.
- Beware that enemies can scatter your sticky bombs and knock them off walls or ceilings by shooting them. Enemy explosives will scatter them most easily (e.g. rockets, other sticky bombs), Pyros can use their compression blasts to push them away, and they can be shot by bullets.
- As of a recent patch, weapons that fire bullets (The Heavy's minigun, shotguns, pistols, etc.) can break the Demoman's stickybombs by shooting at them.
- Don't underestimate the "splash range" of your grenades and sticky bombs. You'll undoubtedly kill yourself at least a couple of times while trying to master them, whether it be by detonating them upon yourself, or by shooting a grenade too close to another player.
