Team Fortress 2 Demoman Guide
January 28, 2008
The Demoman is the explosives expert in Team Fortress 2, which makes him excellent for anyone wanting the joy of blowing things up, and a good choice as an all around character. His Grenades and Sticky Bombs make him able to defeat countless enemies from across the map, and the only real negative is that he’s capable of accidentally killing himself faster than anyone else.
1. Weapons
The primary weapon for the Demoman is the Grenade Launcher. It shoots powerful explosives, which can instantly kill an enemy with a direct hit, and they deal massive amounts of damage to everyone near by. Grenades bounce off of everything except enemies, in which case it detonates. They follow the laws of gravity, which means that they fall down quickly, making them the perfect thing to throw through windows and doorways. It takes a few seconds for a grenade to detonate, and that delay makes it easy for some enemies to avoid them. You can fire them at an enemies feet to increase your chance of hitting them with the explosion, much like a Soldier’s Rockets. They can also bounce off of a wall next to a door, letting you attack someone on the other side without even looking at them. The Demoman also has Sticky Bombs, which are explosive charges that stick to any surface they touch, and detonate when you press the secondary fire button. You can have up to eight at once, so you can spread them out over a large room and still hit anyone in it. They also get effected by gravity, but you can overcome it by holding down the fire button to increase the speed that they shoot out at. They deal damage to everyone near them, so when their scattered around a capture point or flag, they can be used to kill everyone near it. If you die, the bombs disappear, so be sure to detonate them before you die, you might get lucky and hit someone. The Demoman uses a bottle of Whiskey as a melee weapon, and it deals a moderate amount of damage, but the Demoman has below average speed, making the Heavy and Soldier the only ones that you can hit with it.
2. Aim is Everything
The Demoman has the only weapons effected by gravity, so they can seem a bit difficult to use at first. I’d suggest you practice aiming each weapon at various distances, just to get a feel for them. After you’ve mastered aim, you can start practicing bouncing Grenades off of walls. You might also want to practice with the different speeds that you can shoot Sticky Bombs at. Once all that’s out of the way, you might want figure out what’s the best way to shoot in areas with and without ceilings. Also when you’re up against an enemy, be sure to account for the direction and speed that both of you are moving at. And remember, even if you miss your target, there’s a chance that you’ll hit someone you didn’t even see.
3. Location, Location, Location.
When you have your Sticky Bomb Launcher out, you’ll have a few ideas of where to put them, like at a capture point, a flag, or a doorway where enemies pass by. Placing them at capture areas is fine idea, because the enemies have to get there, and their going to stand right on top of your bombs. You can even place them on the floor in plain sight, because it will essentially seal off an area until a Spy or Uber Charge manages to pass it. If you place them at a crucial choke point, and if your team has a Sentry or Heavy there, you can almost guarantee yourself that you’ll kill someone when they stop to shoot. If you want to be stealthy about placing bombs, then you could place them on the sides and even ceiling of a doorway, on your side of it, so no one can see them. After someone passes through, just detonate them. It only takes two to four bombs to kill someone, depending how close they are, so you can split them into two groups of four, and guard two doorways or tunnels at once. If you find yourself in a narrow tunnel, and you suddenly get ambushed by an enemy, you can fire a Grenade at them directly, since there’s no way for them to turn. Also, if an enemy is chasing you out in the open, you can start running backwards and shoot a Grenade directly at them, since they’ll be so focused on shooting, and instantly kill them. If you aren’t comfortable shooting Grenades while running backwards, you can shoot a Sticky Bomb at your feet, and then detonate it when they get close. Either you damage them with the detonation, or they have to run out of their way to the side to avoid it, granting a larger distance between you.
4. Sticky Bomb Jumping
If you place a Sticky Bomb on the ground, you can use it to propel you in any direction you want. Simply shoot one on the ground a few feet away, run, jump right before you reach it, and detonate as soon as you’re ahead of it. If you want to jump vertically, just stand on top of it and jump. You can increase the effects by placing two Bombs, but it does lots of damage, and then you take more damage from falling. Sometimes you could use two to get someplace far away, like to the enemy battlements on 2Fort from your own base, but most of the time one Bomb is enough. Don’t detonate one when your standing on top of it, or near it, since it gives you more damage and less distance: Instead, always remember to jump. It would be best if you had a Medic charge your health before doing it, so that you’ll have as much health as possible. If you want to get across a map quickly, you can use it to fly forwards at a fast speed. I’d suggest that you only do this when you know that a Medic, or a Health Pack will be close to where you land.
5. Taking out Sentries and Snipers
If you shot a Grenade at a Sentry or Sniper, and then hid, you’ll probably hit the Sentry and then get hit by a Missie, or you’ll completely miss the Sniper and get hit by a Rifle shot. The best way to take them out is with a few Sticky Bombs, since they do more damage at once. If you want to take out a Sentry, then hide behind a wall or corner near it, peek around it to the Sentry, fire Sticky Bomb, hide, and repeat. After two or three Stickies are placed, detonate them. If you charge the shot before going around the corner, it would be easier to aim at it. If you are in a building or behind a wall, and a Sniper is outside, you can charge a Bomb, wait till it’s almost charged, and then quickly peek around the wall and shoot the Sticky. If you miss, try adding a little height, and try again. After you have three bombs at the Sniper nest, get into a location that can only be hit from where you put the Sticky Bombs, and wait. This is effective in a map like Well, where the center area has only two windows, and you can hide behind a train.
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