Vorsprung's TITs: Episode 4

Health: 175 base, 260 overhealed

Speed: 93%

Special Ability: Takes less damage from own projectiles if they do not hit an enemy

Normal Melee Strength: 65 damage

Stock Primary Weapon: Grenade Launcher

Stock Secondary Weapon: Stickybomb Launcher

Stock Melee Weapon: Bottle

The Demoman is a powerful and unpredictable enemy on the battlefield, with the ability to deal massive amounts of damage at the click of a button. His explosives, with their high damage output and ability to surpass many obstacles on the battlefield make him a deadly trap master. He can charge up his Stickybomb Launcher shots so they can go further, and he can even use his stickybombs to ‘sticky jump’ – an insanely dangerous and effective manoeuvre much like a rocket jump. With his usefulness and dynamism, it’s no wonder he’s one of the professional competition classes.

The Demoman is a very dangerous class, in that his weapons are hard to avoid and do tremendous damage. His main skill is in area denial – a few grenades through a doorway or a ‘stickybomb carpet’ are a great deterrence against foes, and can reasonably assure a quick death. His weapons are also marked by the ability to circumvent physical obstacles – you can punt grenades down holes and shoot stickies over walls. He’s also adept at melee combat, with a vast array of melee-based weapons with long range and relentless power. He can also sticky jump to hard-to-reach locations, or speed across the battlefield.

However, the Demoman has some very prominent weaknesses that can incapacitate him if he’s not careful. Although he’s a dynamo at close or long range, he can suffer at medium range. His projectile weapons rely on you being able to judge where they land, and when he’s being harassed just out of melee range, he is veritably bumbling! He’s also very vulnerable to enemy Pyros, who can reflect his projectiles, removing carefully-laid traps and killing the Demo with his own gunpowder. On top of this, the slow speed of both his weapons and himself can leave him high and dry in a firefight.

Capture the Flag: Demomen will find they’ll be able to hold their own quite reasonably in CTF maps. Although their slow sped is ill-suited to carrying the intelligence, their explosives will excel in both defending their own intelligence, and flushing out traps from the enemy intelligence. The narrow corridors and tight corner that often punctuate CTF maps will be a Demoman’s friend. A Demoman can gain an advantage over the enemy by equipping either the Chargin’ Targe or the Splendid Screen and speeding ahead to the intelligence.

Control Points: It’s truly a two-way street in CP maps, and Demomen know this better than any class. Although they’ll do well by speeding ahead to enemy points with the Chargin’ Targe / Splendid Screen, or by defending their points with their explosives – if they’re caught in the middle of the battlefield, they’ll be easily destroyed by advancing enemies, such as Scouts or Pyros.

Attack / Defend: Attacking Demomen will do reasonably well here; clearing out points of enemy resistance and sticky jumping ahead to success. However, defending Demomen will truly shine here. They’ll be able to filch enemies right off the bat with well-placed stickies, and can prevent points from being captured similarly.

Territorial Control: Hydro’s strange combinations of wide, open spaces and narrow, winding gullies will be friends to Demomen. Use your stickybombs to travel quickly to the enemy point, and lay traps around tight corners, bottlenecks and on the point. Hydro has many tight passages and interesting surfaces which are really good to either fill with stickies, or confront enemies melee-style, where you’ll inevitably win.

Payload: Similarly to Attack / Defend, BLU Demomen will do well, and RED Demomen even better. When attacking, clear enemies out of the way with your grenades, and when defending, lay traps around the bomb and the gates during setup time – that way, you’ll either prevent or delay the enemy from pushing the cart. Watch out for Pyros, though – especially on maps such as Upward, where you’ll have to watch out for heights!

Payload Race: Of course, Payload Race is very similar to Payload, so expect similar threats. However, your defensive tendencies will emerge even stronger here. Utilise your stickybombs to protect your cart and assets, as well as deny the enemy the chance to push theirs. Go on the assault with melee weapons and the Chargin’ Targe/ Splendid Screen to cover distance, prevent enemies from pushing, and keep your cart safe.

Arena: Be careful on Arena. Although you may excel at melee combat, getting up close and personal with enemies in Arena Mode can be a very risky venture. Also note that with limited health pickups and only one life to spare, sticky jumping is dangerous, and ill-advised. As per usual, prevent enemies from accessing the point with your stickybombs, and use your grenades to both deny access and attack at a safe distance.

King of the Hill: Demomen can be very effective on KOTH maps. Use your stickies wisely, young padawan – jump onto the point for a surprise takeover, and stop enemies in their tracks with carefully laid traps. Engy installations, if laid correctly, can be the make-or-break for KOTH maps, so be sure to keep enemy Engys down. You’ll do well if you can separate foes from their teammates, and take them down individually.

Medieval Mode: The Demoman is the king of DeGroot Keep – it is his namesake, after all. But in all seriousness, the Demoman is the single most important class in Medieval Mode. His large array of melee weapons and non-mechanical items give him a distinct edge in Medieval Mode. Thus, it’s a good idea to play as Demoman here. It’s advised to go ‘full Demoknight’ here – equipping the Ali Baba’s Wee Booties / Bootleggers, plus the Chargin’ Targe or the Splendid Screen as well as his large array of melee weapons such as the Eyelander or Half-Zatoichi mean you can put him to the best of his abilities – don’t let a slot go to waste! On the battlefield, go after enemy Demos or unwitting foes of other classes with your hard-hitting swords. Just spam! There’s no ammo to worry about.

Demoman vs. Scout: You can have a lot of trouble with enemy Scouts. Because of their slim profile and blistering speed, they’re a very hard target to hit with your explosives. Not to mention, he can destroy stickybombs with his Scattergun and Pistol, as well as circumnavigate your traps with Bonk! Atomic Punch. Try and approach him at melee range with a weapon such as the Eyelander, where he’ll be easily killed. Also note that although it’s hard to hit him with a bit of the ol’ brimstone, he’ll die near-instantly from them.

There’s very little a Demoman can do with a friendly Scout. However, you can keep up with him, at least – the charge from either of your shields makes you faster than a Scout (albeit momentarily), and you can wield the Pain Train to match the Scout’s capture rate. The best you can do for a friendly Scout is clear away enemy Engy installations, and prevent burlier enemies from messing with your Scout buddies.

Demoman vs. Soldier: Anyone remember the War! Update? Where the Demoman and Soldier were pitted against each other? Well, the Demoman lost the war. So be careful. Both you and the Soldier have very strong, explosive weapons – however, his Rocket Launcher is far more accurate than either your Grenade Launcher or Stickybomb Launcher. He can also push away or destroy your stickybomb traps, as well as nearly match you in jumping capabilities. However, you can make up for his higher health and accuracy with your slightly faster speed and barrier-breaching ability. Deny him ground with your grenades and combat him at melee range, where you can better finish him off.

On any given team, a Demoman or a Soldier are real powerhouses. Although there’s nothing you can directly do to help him, you two should work together to clear out points so that the team can capture them, or you should work to get to the action quick, with you rocket- or sticky jump, comparatively.

Demoman vs. Pyro: Pyros are, by far and large, your greatest enemy. On the surface, you both have the same health, but he’s a bit faster than you. But more importantly, his airblast can reflect or remove your stickybombs or grenades. Thus, be very careful when fighting in an enclosed space with a Pyro, lest you fall prey to a reflect-kill. (Don’t detonate yourself!) Your skill at close range, too, will be nullified due to the Pyro’s deadly Flamethrower. He’s pretty much the perfect threat to you, as there’s no real way you can combat him. At close range, he’ll burn you; at medium range, he’ll pump you full of lead; and at long range, he’ll have a better chance at reflecting and avoiding your grenades. Your best bet is just to avoid enemy Pyros.

A friendly Pyro, however, can take a little of the sting out of an enemy Pyro. He’ll be able to keep enemy Pyros from meddling wit’ ye with his airblast, and can put you out if you’re on fire. Who knows – maybe even a friendly Pyro will counter-counter-attacking an enemy Pyro by playing dodgeball with your grenades.

Demoman vs. Demoman: You’ll most often come up against other Demomen in Medieval Mode, where you just have to be careful when and where you strike. However, on the battlefield, it’s more of a case of weapons choices, and being alert. Demomen will hardly ever go up against each other – but keep in mind: unlike most other classes, you have no way of disabling an enemy Demomen’s projectiles. Also note that if you’re wielding a Half-Zatoichi, and so is an enemy Demoman, you can kill each other duel-style in one-hit (same goes for enemy Soldiers wielding Half-Zatoichis).

Demomen can work together to make each other’s stickybombs go further. Work together to simultaneously cover different areas – for example, working together to lay down stickies on a point, or lacing enemy spawn-doors together during setup time whilst you’re attacking. If you play your cards right, you two can become extensions of each other, working in perfect unison to exact punishment.

Demoman vs. Heavy: If a Heavy catches you at medium- to long-range, he can do some serious damage. You can’t do much about bullets, and he churns them out very quickly. His massive health pool and weight will also make it hard for you to finish him off, or insta-kill him. That being said, his cumbersome nature and his massive size do make it easier for you to land direct hits on him with your grenades, as well as harass him with stickies or your swords. Do be warned that he can destroy stickies with his Minigun or Shotgun, and he can recover hard-won damage with his Sandvich.

You can protect a friendly Heavy by keeping him safe by setting up walls of explosives, or by removing threats to him at range. You can also help him compensate for his sluggishness by protecting him if he comes under close-range fire. Your melee abilities mean you can be a good bodyguard to a Heavy teammate.

Demoman vs. Engineer: You are, arguably, the greatest threat to an enemy Engineer – even more so than Spies. Why? Well, Sappers can be removed, and you don’t have to be there instantly. However, grenades and stickybombs can’t, and can destroy an Engy’s gear instantly – or, even an Engy instantly! Utilise the remote capabilities of your explosives to destroy Dispensers and the like. Roll grenades around corners or down corridors under Sentries, and harass Engys and their setups at range with the charge shot of your Stickybomb Launcher. As for the Engy? You’re more than a match for him. Just be careful – Engys can destroy stickies with his Shotgun or Pistol, and can prevent grenades or stickies with the Short Circuit.

You, as well as your Engineer teammates, excel at defence. Thus, work together to cover points and defend key areas. It’s a smart idea to protect your Engy’s gear with stickybombs – that way, you can prevent Spies, or prevent other enemies from wreaking havoc. It’s a good idea to practice ‘forward defence’ – that is, protect your Engy’s setup by attacking foes.

Demoman vs. Sniper: You are more at risk from Snipers than most other classes because of your slower speed. Thus, it’s a good idea to keep moving just in case. Be vigilant to keep a lookout for Snipers peering over from vantage points – you’ll be able to flush them out quite easily if you can catch them unawares. Otherwise, if you can catch them out in the open, you’ll be able to kill them easily. Be careful for Huntsman arrows, which can kill you quite easily; Jarate onslaughts; and SMG rounds – a Sniper can destroy stickies with his SMG. Snipers are also very prominent in Medieval Mode – be careful you don’t get Robin Hood’ed at range, and take them down at close range.

Realistically, there’s very little you can do to assist a friendly Sniper, other than just cover his back, and sort out any risks at closer range with your explosives. Take advantage of his Jarate to deliver devastating mini-crits with your Grenade and Stickybomb Launchers.

Demoman vs. Medic: Medics are a high-priority target, and you’re well-equipped to go after them. Use your explosives to keep them away from the pack and weaken them down, and then go after them with your melee weapons. They’re not that tough, but they can regenerate health over time, so be careful to finish them off quickly. If they deploy an Ubercharge, use your explosives (your stickies in particular) to separate them away from their patients, where they can be easily dispatched. Medics can also be prominent in Medieval Mode, where you’ll do well to avoid their quick-firing bolts and go at them at closer range.

You can make a very good Ubercharge target or Medic buddy. Your destructive capabilities and high health mean you can effectively keep your Medic safe, and wreak havoc on enemy forces if Ubered. Utilise the overheal from the Medi Gun or Kritzkrieg to sticky jump safely, take out Sentries and be more effective at melee range. Use your stickies to combat opposing Medic buddies and interrupt opposing Ubercharges.

Demoman vs. Spy: Spies can be a real thorn in your side. Your slower speed will mean it’s easier for a Spy to sneak up on you, and your inaccuracy at medium range means that a Spy can easily get away from you. Not to mention, a single grenade or stickybomb will fully fill a Spy’s Dead Ringer if activated, meaning you’re doing them a favour! Thus, be vigilant to double-tap, and Spy-check with your melee weapons. If you can get a Spy out in the open, it’s sheer child’s play to kill them. Note that his Revolver bullets can destroy stickybombs.

There’s next to nothing you can do to help a friendly Spy. Just do the usual and not break his cover. He’s quite weak, so it’s a good idea for you to protect him on the battlefield so he can get to where he needs to be.

1: Sticky Jumping
REQUIRES: any primary weapon*
(*: Note that regardless what your in-game loadout depicts, the game recognizes your Stickybomb Launcher as your primary weapon.)

Much like the Soldier can use his rockets to rocket jump, a Demoman can use his stickybombs to sticky jump. Sticky jumping is a highly effective manoeuvre which allows the Demoman to cover gargantuan distances and reach unique locations at the cost of some health. Sticky jumping, for all intents and purposes, is performed exactly like a rocket jump, with similar effects – however, a sticky jump is far more effective; but also far riskier, taking a greater portion of health to do so. However, sticky jumping has many advantages over rocket jumping:

> It can be better prepared – stickybombs can be placed with accuracy and then utilised, and can even be deployed ahead of the Demoman to save time and improve distance (think a running jump)

> It is far more accurate – you have a greater degree of mid-air control with a sticky jump

> You can experiment with jump levels – you can place a number of stickybombs to increase distance (however, this is very risky)

Sticky jumping is as easy as follows:
1. Place a stickybomb or two in the same place. (You can place as many as you like, but any more than two will likely kill you, especially if you’re not overhealed, not on full health, or if it’s a critical sticky or there’s a big fall involved.)

2. Walk at the stickybombs at the direction you want to travel in. (if you want to travel straight up, don’t bother running at it, but remember that your initial velocity and direction dictates the nature of your jump.)

3. As you pass over the stickybombs, jump and detonate them at the same time. (If you crouch-jump, you’ll be able to ‘steer’ better and go further.)

Another advantage of sticky jumping is that it is very easy to ‘pogo’. Basically, this involves placing more stickies where you are going to land whilst already sticky jumping. This allows you to maintain velocity and travel further, with more control. However, much like placing multiple stickybombs to jump, this is very risky.

Sticky jumping can be used to travel quickly and get to hard-to-reach places on the map. This can make the Demoman a very agile class. That being said, it’s a highly risky thing to do, and if done incorrectly, can be more harm than good. Always take into account that you’ll take fall damage if you’re not careful, and try and do it when you know you can rely on health pickups or Medic healing.

The risk of sticky jumping can be minimized if you use the Sticky Jumper, a craftable stickybomb launcher that cannot damage you with its stickies (as well as having a large amount of ammo, among other things). Note that it doesn’t deal damage to enemies, either, and you’ll still take fall damage, so don’t use it if you want to kill people with your stickies.
(On another note, it’s a much more viable alternative than its counterpart for the Soldier, the Rocket Jumper. The Rocket Jumper carries some highly negative attributes as well as taking up an indispensable primary weapon slot, where the Sticky Jumper has no real negatives and keeps the Demoman with a strong weapon still.)

2: Grenade Jumping
REQUIRES: stock Grenade Launcher

Another version of sticky jumping is grenade jumping. Grenade jumping is surprisingly effective, but much trickier to do. It simply involves firing a grenade at the ground, and using its explosion to jump. It’s similar to rocket jumping in that you have no control over when you jump, so be careful.

The concept is fairly simple.
1. Fire a grenade at the ground so that it ‘rolls’ around. (The key here is to get it to be primed but fairly stationary; that way, you can better judge your jump. It’s generally better to fire at flat ground; however, the grenade will roll around a lot more, so it’s harder to judge your jump.)

2. Much like as if it was a sticky, run over it in the direction you want to travel. (As per normal, crouch-jumping will give you a higher jump, and you’ll go up further vertically the closer to the centre of the explosion is.)
Grenade jumping can be difficult as you have no real control over the detonation. A grenade takes around three seconds to detonate once primed (hit the ground), so try and time your movement off that. Note that if you’re too early, you’ll likely only go straight up or in a low, useless arc, and if you’re too late, you can stand a chance of either wasting ammo or wasting health.

Grenade jumping is a good alternative to sticky jumping if you’ve run out of stickybomb ammo or if you want to conserve ammo, if you’ve placed stickies you don’t want to lose (say, during setup time), or if you are using the Chargin’ Targe or Splendid Screen in place of your Stickybomb Launcher. However, it’s a tricky and often sketchy thing to do. 99% of the time, it’s better just to sticky jump, or find another way ‘round.

Note that you can only grenade jump with the stock Grenade Launcher. The only other grenade launcher, the Loch-And-Load, has grenades that shatter if they don’t hit an enemy. Thus, it’s impossible to grenade jump with it. (Even if you managed to do so, the Loch-And-Load does more damage to the user from its own grenades, making it a much more risky thing to do.)

3: Rampsliding
REQUIRES: Chargin’ Targe or Splendid Screen

The Chargin’ Targe is an achievement item, and the Splendid Screen is a craftable item. They are both ‘shield primaries’ that can take the place of your Stickybomb Launcher in your loadout. Not only do they offer increased protection against foes, they are marked by their ‘charge’ ability. When you alt-fire with either of these shields, you charge straight forward at a blistering pace, allowing you to go faster than a Scout (although only temporarily) and cover ground. (They can also deal damage to enemies with their charge; the Chargin’ Targe only at the end of its charge, and the Splendid Screen at any time during the charge.)

This charge can also be used to exploit an interesting feature of the Source engine.

You may have heard of ‘surfing’ in TF2. Surf maps are maps which, generally, have no real objective such as capturing points and such (there are exceptions), and instead feature obstacle courses players navigate by sliding down triangular-prism-shaped ramps. Surfing is possible due to a feature in the Source engine. Certain slopes in the environment, when encountered by a player, vaguely prevent players from breaching them, causing the player to hover somewhat. Players in surf maps use this to slide down the sloped sides of surf tracks. The basic principle is that by pressing against the surface of the slope, you can travel quickly and vertically. But I digress. (I’ll perhaps write a TITs about surfing in the future, as it’s a tricky concept.)

My point is this: Demomen can use their charge against certain slopes and features in the environment to propel them up into the air. By charging at certain features of the environment, such as rocks, boulders, car bonnets, and other props lying around any given map, you can ‘rampslide’ – charge off these objects in such a way that you are sent through the air in the direction you charged at in a long, arcing, fast jump. A notable form of rampsliding is in DeGroot Keep. The rock directly in front of the BLU spawn can be rampslid off in such a way that propels you across the map and into the RED fortress – a useful manoeuvrer indeed.

There’s really nothing to it except for trial and error. Most of the time, rampsliding depends on you charging at the given object in a particular way. Once again, DeGroot Keep is a good example. This rock, from the BLU spawn’s side, has a small indent on its left side, so to speak. If you charge at it onto this indent, you’ll be sent arcing into the RED base. However, if you approach it from its right side or from the RED side, you’ll just waste your charge.

Once you’re airborne, you have a limited degree of control, much as if you were rocket-, sticky- or grenade jumping. Rampsliding is especially effective, as it doesn’t require much precision (except for where you charge; but once you’ve charged you’re basically set) and doesn’t waste health and ammo like sticky jumping or grenade jumping. Note that you’ll still take fall damage if you go too high, and also be wary that rampsliding generally doesn’t send you up vertically terribly much. Thus, employ rampsliding to travel quickly, rather than to jump high.

The Demoman, in a lot of ways, is a highly technical class that can be very difficult to play. Due to his shortcomings in direct combat and the ease at which he can hurt himself, it’s very easy to play a bad Demoman. And a bad Demoman is less forgivable than most. However, a good Demoman can be a veritable demon, and possibly the biggest single scourge to the enemy. The Demoman’s also unique in that it’s often actually better to just use stock weapons as him. The main thing to do when you’re a Demo is to be calm and calculated. Take time to plan your attacks and assaults, and minimize risks to you and your teammates.

Top Tip #1: Try and tackle enemies at medium- to close-range, and be careful not to hurt yourself with your own weapons in doing so.

Top Tip #2: Take time to set up stickybomb traps and to calculate the trajectory of your grenades.

Top Tip #3: Utilise your weapons to flush out enemies.