HANDS ON GUIDE

Defence #1 - Demo Man

Demo Man: 175 HP

The Demo Man is a simple class who can control chokepoints on the map and capture points. However, it's a difficult class with which to rack up a lot of kills. The Demo Man doesn't carry any accurate point-and-shoot weapons, with the grenade launcher being best suited to laying down waves of timed grenades, all without having to leave cover.

Primary Weapon: Grenade Launcher

Demo Man’s grenade launcher holds a four grenade clip, more than enough to kill any enemy. Grenades detonate on impact and when you get the hang of judging the lob and timing, they can be an effective weapon in close range combat. If you have difficulty getting hits at first, get your confidence and aim up by hitting slow or predictable targets like Heavies and Pyros.

If you miss your target, the grenades are on a four second timer. This causes a problem for the Demo Man, as enemies are reluctant to stand around while grenades lie blinking at their feet. The upside to this is that a single grenade launcher can push advancing enemies back through a chokepoint. The downside is you’re unlikely to get many kills from speculative grenades.

You will, however, get kills and points for destroying structures and the Engineers repairing them. If you see a Sentry in place, pull back and find cover to lob your grenades from. You can bounce them off the walls, so there’s rarely a reason to come out of cover until the job is done. Expect to use a couple of clips to kill the Engineer if a dispenser is healing them, and until the engineer dies you’re unlikely to kill an upgraded Sentry. Sit tight, and keep lobbing in shots and always check the coast is clear before advancing.

Secondary Weapon: Sticky Bombs

Sticky Bombs can be used to set traps as they’re trigged with the right mouse button. You can lay them in groups of up to eight; your HUD displays how many Sticky Bombs you’ve deployed, and if you deploy more than eight the oldest will decay. Unfortunately the Bombs will also decay if you die, so if you want to carry out your nefarious plans, you’ll need to stay alive.

You can use Sticky Bombs in a wide variety of different ways. You can even use them to cover a control point, while you are nowhere near it. Fire your bombs at the floor/walls/ceiling of a control point and then go about your business elsewhere on the map. If the enemy attempts to capture the control point, the HUD will notify you. If they’re on your booby-trapped point, then they will be in range of your sticky bombs. Detonate and gain a hoard of kills.

Sticky Bombs are non-volatile until detonated, so a smart enemy will try to use their secondary weapon to push the bombs away. If you see your Bombs moving, switch to grenades and send a clip in the general direction of the enemy. Reload your launcher, but if anyone runs out over your charges, quick switch back to Sticky Bomb, and detonate. If you're controlling a chokepoint with your grenades, covering your escape route with Sticky Bombs will discourage enemies from following you to finish the kill. Should they walk though your doorway in pursuit, you can detonate your sticky bombs and scurry to a resupply point. You can even take on enemies at medium range with sticky bombs. However, they don’t arm until they’ve flown a few meters, so you can’t use them to fight at close range. If an enemy approaches you while you’re laying Sticky Bombs, lob a shot at them. A well-aimed Sticky Bomb can be very effective against fast moving targets. Detonate the Bomb when it gets close to the target and you’ll blow them backwards, or right up in the air.

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