Team Fortress 2 Heavy Guide
February 1, 2008
Of all the classes in Team Fortress 2, the hulking behemoth called the Heavy is probably the most iconic one. He has more health than any other class, deals tremendous amounts of damage, and instills fear in any enemy who sees him spinning up his Mini Gun.
1. The Mini Gun
The Mini Gun quickly shoots hundreds of deadly bullets that can kill anyone stupid enough to get close to it in less than a second. Even at a range, the Mini Gun still deals large amounts of damage. It takes a few seconds for it to start spinning up when you press the primary fire button, and then it takes a few seconds to stop spinning when you stop holding down the button. This makes it incredibly frustrating, since the Mini Gun causes you to slow down AND not shoot anything for two seconds, while other classes can instantly aim and you and shoot. Even with the Heavy having 300 hit points, you can still take a load of damage in only two seconds. You can press the secondary fire button to spin up your gun without shooting any bullets, which makes it instantly start firing when you do press your fire button. The major downside is that it makes you incredibly noisy, so everyone will know where you are. Another negative is that Heavy, the slowest class in the game, will move as slow as he does when he’s actually firing bullets. Also, you can’t move while crouched when the gun is spinning or shooting, which doesn’t really affect the game, but it’s still a good thing to keep in mind. It uses 10 rounds per second, which gives you a full 20 seconds of ammo. Try to conserve it though, since that can get chewed up pretty fast in a fire fight.
2. They Give You Other Weapons For a Reason
While using your melee weapons, your fists, is pretty stupid since you can’t run fast enough to catch up with anyone unless they can’t see you, your Shotgun does have its uses. Since the Shotgun doesn’t cause you to slow down or have a 2 second delay, it’s best to have it equipped when you want to run across a large section of the map. If an enemy pops out of nowhere, you can just start firing. If you find an enemy who can’t see you, then you can take out your Mini Gun and fire away. And when you get to a place you want to defend, you can finally put away your Shotgun and take out your Mini Gun.
3. A Medic Is Your Best Friend
Since everyone playing Team Fortress 2 seems to think that the only thing more fun than shooting a Heavy is shooting a Medic, you’ll end up being the first or second one to die when your team attacks in a group. By finding a Medic, you can end up being the last one to die, or even manage to live. A Medic can boost your 300 Health up to 450, they can extend your life in the middle of a fight, and they can quickly heal you. By pressing “E” (I’m not sure what the Xbox and PS3 controls are) you can alert nearby Medics that you need them. Be sure not to use it too often, since you’ll annoy everyone, and some servers kick you out if you press it rapidly. Once you’ve had a Medic boost you to 450, you can go out and shoot anything that moves. Medics are usually shot at first since they heal your damage, so you can use that 5 seconds it takes to kill him to shoot at your attacker, making a Medic pretty handy for shielding you from damage. Since you are usually in front of a Medic, you can use them to protect yourself from Spies pretty easily. Just remember your Medic’s name, and when you see a back stab symbol next to his name on the kill notifications, you should instantly turn around and shoot for at least 5 seconds. Medics are people too, so don’t just treat them like a portable hospital: Instead, be sure not to piss them off by doing stupid things, like not waiting for an Uber Charge, or else they’ll ignore you.
4. Engineers Are Also Pretty Helpful
While having a Medic is helpful when assaulting an enemy base, an Engineer is useful for defending places. Teleporters are useful for quickly moving across the map. Even if 2 of your allies hog the teleport before you, you can still get to most places faster than if you walked. Sentries are good for having something watch your back, and you can tell if a Spy is around because they’ll always sap the Sentry first, since they don’t want to get shot as soon as they stab you. Just listen for any sort of buzzing noise, and an Engineer saying “Spy sapping my sentry.” The best Engineer building for a Heavy, is a Dispenser. When a Dispenser is near you, you can fire your Mini Gun indefinitely because it will restock your ammo faster than you can use it. It can slowly heal your damage, which will let you always have full health whenever a new wave of enemies comes your way. If you’re in a narrow area, like the bridge in 2fort, you can fire quickly from side to side to prevent any Spies from getting near you. With a Dispenser at your side, you become an incredibly powerful asset to your team.
5. Look Back
Always look behind you to be sure that absolutely nothing that even looks like a Spy is behind you. In case you didn’t notice, I wrote a lot about how Spies are bad in the other four sections. The reason they’re bad is because they sneak up on you, and then stab you in the back. Since you move incredibly slow, you’re naturally the biggest target. If you have a feeling that a Spy is near, just quickly spin in a circle while firing, so they can’t aim at your back without getting hit by your bullets.
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