HANDS ON GUIDE

Defence #2 - Heavy

To counteract this new ability, its rate of fire is 20% slower than the original chaingun although in addition to the slowdown effect, each bullet still deals the same amount of damage as before. This lower rate of damage makes it a lot less effective against turrets, and if you go up against an enemy Heavy wielding the original chaingun, you'll often die unless you run for cover.

Sandvitch

The sandvitch replaces the shotgun as the Heavy’s secondary weapon. Since it’s not a weapon as such it leaves the heavy with no backup weapon (other than melee) when the chaingun runs out of ammo. It makes up for this by making the Heavy a lot less dependant on Medics for healing, as one chomp of the Sandvitch restores 120HP. It will lock you into a four-second munching animation though, so make sure you find cover before tucking in. It’s invaluable if your team has no Medic.

Killing Gloves of Boxing

The Killing Gloves Of Boxing replace fists as the Heavy’s melee attack. As with Natascha their rate-of-fire is 20% slower than the original weapon, but they deal the same damage. Their advantage is that after a kill you’ll get five seconds of guaranteed critical attacks. Used in a confined space with a ubercharging medic you can run about with impunity, killing any player but another Heavy with a single punch.

Best Allies: Medic

The Heavy tends to attract most of the enemy fire, which is understandable because he’s easy to hit and if the enemy don’t take you down, his Chain Gun is going to turn them into Swiss cheese. If you use a Medic to buff the heavy before he goes into battle, then it’s very difficult for the enemy to kill him. If the Medic keeps the Heavy alive until it gets into effective Chain Gun range, the Heavy can cut through almost any defence save for multiple Sentry turrets. If the Medic’s good enough to charge and apply an uber, at the critical moment, then the invulnerable train of Medic and Heavy can cut through any defences and allow backup to flood in behind them.

Worst Enemies: Sniper, Spy

The Heavy is a slow and cumbersome class, which makes him a prime target for both Spies and Snipers. When locked in combat the Heavy’s attention is normally locked firmly on a single enemy or chokepoint, which makes him very easy prey for a Spy’s Backstab. The only time a Backstab will not be fatal will be when the Heavy has been granted Invulnerability by a Medic.

Additionally, the Chain Gun effectively halves the Heavy’s already slow gait, which makes him a very easy target for a Sniper. A fully charged bullet to the head will take down a Heavy if a Medic isn’t servicing him. However, even when being buffed by a Medic a Heavy can be brought down with a couple of charged headshots, or a fully charged critical headshot.

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