Play a Heavy in Team Fortress 2

Heavies are the Russian gunners of Team Fortress 2. Renowned for their role in defense, Heavies are also the biggest target. Armed with a Minigun, a Shotgun and their Fists, they can demolish several things and kill many people and if they are teamed up with a Medic, they can taste the Ubercharge and destroy everything and anything.

Steps

  1. Lock and load. Heavies are armed with an outstanding 300 health. Add the Medic's 150 health boost and Heavies hold the highest amount of health possible, 450. Aside from the health, they also boast the slowest speed possible but also holds a dangerous 200 bullet Minigun, a 6/32 medium ranged Shotgun and their own powerful Fists that can dent metal.
  2. Call the medic! A heavy medic combo is devastatingly strong, and and an ubercharged heavy can take down groups of enemies and destroy entire mini bases made by engineers. Your medic will keep you from dying, and will provide another target for your enemies to shoot at...
  3. Keep your gun loaded. Pick up enemies' dropped weapons to keep your ammo up. The Heavy's standard mini gun carries 200 ammo, but you can go through 12 ammo in 1 second. This stacks up, so make sure to pick up some ammo boxes.
  4. Remember to fall back once in a while to reload and heal. Heavies may have 300HP, but those points get used up pretty fast when up against several enemies. A enemy heavy firing at you will do more damage than your medic can heal, so make sure to retreat once in a while.
  5. Turn on your Gatling gun before going into the fray. It takes a second, and prepares you for the opposition, but it makes you slower than you already are being the slowest class.
  6. While it is fun to punch a guy in the face, use melee as a last resort.
  7. In the phase of the game where battles become significantly fast paced (such as while storming an enemy position with a couple of teammates in tow) or close combat battles (where the team has to go through series of corridors) it is not always advisable to keep your gun spinning while you move. Instead learn how to anticipate enemy attacks (listening to footsteps, enemy weapon sounds and projectile trajectories) and how to jump-spin (simple - just jump in any direction and hit the right mouse button the moment you jump). This will allow you to maximize your limited mobility and allow you to deliver unpleasant surprises to opponents by jumping around corners and opening fire (your mini-gun's loud spinning sound is a sure give-away of an approaching heavy otherwise, and will attract immediate rockets/sticky bombs etc from even average players).



Tips

  • Keep an eye on your medics health bar that will show on your screen when he or she is healing you. The chances of someone in the enemy team is trying to sneak up behind you and your medic and try to kill you are possible, which will lower your medics health if someone is attacking your medic, turn around and look and see if you can save him(he can get attacked from long distance or splash damage from rockets that are hitting you).
  • Don't start spinning your gun and firing away in a wide open area, as you are a sitting duck for snipers who may be looking for exactly this.
  • An engineer's dispenser is almost as good as a medic, and it gives you ammo.
  • A good Heavy will use his high rate of fire to hold down enclosed "choke points" on the map while his team establishes themselves around him. Along with being able to deliver damage at a devastating rate and quantity, the Heavy draws a lot of fire, allowing more nimble teammates to take advantage of the distraction.
  • You are at your most brutally effective while firing from close range. Although predominantly an offensive class, don't be afraid to circle around enemy clusters and use alternate map routes to your advantage to come at the enemy from behind. Basically do whatever you can (within limits) to close the gap between you and the enemy before you engage.
  • Co-ordinate with a medic to get ubercharged (invulnerability) before storming a particularly well held choke point. An ubercharged heavy storming in can be a game breaker.
  • Know what kind of ubercharge the medic is going to deliver(whether its Crits or Invuln).
  • Stay near the front of the group and have medic support, as your size provides cover for your teammates.
  • Where possible always teleport. You are abhorrently slow when running to front lines specially in large maps. Insist on your Engineer putting a forward teleporter in a safe location. Otherwise you can be rendered completely redundant as your team will mostly be fighting without you being around as you slowly plod your way to the frontline, and reach the battlefield when everyone is dead/gone.
  • Don't be afraid to go on good old fashioned berserker rage moments once you have the hang of the game (its inadvisable if you are not that good at understanding the TF2 metagame). These moments can allow your team to regroup, and cause considerable confusion and chaos in enemy ranks as they see a heavy bearing down with bullets blazing and refusing to back down under fire. Also, it just feels awesome! Use this tactic sparingly however, as a last resort, or when you feel that the team needs a distraction as they circle around enemy fortifications or strongholds. Having a medic or two heal you as you do this is essential so make sure you communicate to your medic that he should Try to stay out of sight while healing you.
  • Know your weapons. If you play a very aggressive (berserker) heavy who is medic reliant then carrying the sandwich makes limited sense. Your shotgun may serve you better in some circumstances. Also carefully read the descriptions for Natascha, Tomislav and Brass Beast and don't be afraid to switch between Miniguns based on the situation/map. (Tomislav for close quarter maps due to the silent spin and the slow spin-up time, etc.)
  • Pyro charging towards you? Just stand there and shoot. Running won't help and may even get you killed (will definitely get you killed if the Pyro is using a Backburner). Your damage output is enough to kill multiple pyros before they can do any significant damage.
  • Crouching provides no real accuracy improvements, and it turns you into a giant, level 2 turret.
  • In a team fight where both sides are present in large numbers, don't focus fire on the enemy heavy/medic combo. Try to take out smaller enemies (especially if they are closer to you). Alternatively, Try to focus on the enemy medic to force him to retreat. However, this tip comes with the rider that you should readjust your priority targets if the enemy medic is too far away for you to effectively damage (good front line medics will jump around to dodge attacks and stay behind the pyro/heavy/etc they are healing).
  • As a heavy you are the biggest class, this makes you more vulnerable to explosives.

Warnings

  • A full overheal doesn't make you invincible. A fully charged headshot from any Sniper Rifle will kill you, even if at 450 health.
  • Medics are helpful, but don't medic spam by mashing the call button. It's just annoying.
  • Stay alive! It takes longer for the heavy to reach the frontline.
  • Make sure you Spy-check, since a backstab kills in one hit and you can't outrun a Spy.
  • When you have a Medic, don't go into situations that your Medic might not survive. In a Heavy-Medic combo, the Medic is almost always more important than the Heavy.

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