Demoman strategy

From TF2 Wiki

Like the Soldier, the Demoman is an easy class to pick up and play and can be great for players with poor aiming skills or those who have experience of Team Fortress Classic's Grenades. It is one of the three classes capable of being hurt by their own Friendly fire (the others being Soldier and Engineer). Advanced players can transform the Demoman from a Grenade spewing player to a lethally accurate gibbing machine.

General

The Grenade launcher rounds explode on contact with an enemy player or Sentry, but only before they bounce.

Use the Sticky bombs to propel yourself into the air, similarly to the Soldier's Rocket jump technique. This can allow you to move over large distances quickly, or get into hard to reach places. Careful as you can take fall damage when landing.

Sticky bombs can travel great distances (hold MOUSE1 to launch them further). Use this to your advantage when targeting foes from afar.

In tunnels, try to place your Sticky Bombs on the ceiling, ideally between details like support beams.. Not only it will hide them until the enemy comes closer, but players are more likely to scan floors than ceilings for dangers.

To take out Sentry guns around corners, the Sticky bombs are often more useful than the Grenade launcher, since you don't have to use accurate rebounds. Simply throw a few Sticky bombs next to the Sentry gun and detonate: the blast radius will kill the turret with ease, and perhaps injure a nearby enemy Engineer tending to that turret.
- Three sticky bombs right next to a fully upgraded enemy sentry will destroy it.

The Demoman has two main roles:
- Defense: The classic role for the Demoman is defense. Throw Sticky bombs on the point you wish to defend, then switch to your Grenade launcher to keep enemies at bay. As soon as an enemy walks over (or under) your mines, detonate them with your alternate fire button for an easy kill, then replant your minefield.
- Offense: When your team's progress is denied by a strong Engineer-led defense, switch to offense to punch through the defenses. Along with the Spy and the Pyro, you are your team's best hope in clearing enemy Sentry guns and Heavies. A good team-mate for you is the Scout, who can capture a point or the intelligence after you clear the enemy defenses, and help you battle enemy Engineers who will want to confront you directly.

While it is certainly both effective and necessary to Sticky-camp certain choke points in a map, this typically requires your active attention; you have to watch the area constantly to see if enemies pass within range of your Stickies. If you want to Sticky bomb something while still retaining the flexibility of being able move all around the map, try Sticky bombing objectives. While this seems obvious, the bonus is that the game automatically alerts you (one way or another) when your objective is under attack or being captured. When this happens, simply right-click and you'll often kill one or more enemies.

The Demoman has the only indirect fire weapon in the game meaning that he does not have to be able to see the enemy in order to hit him. Use this to your advantage!

When enemies see a heap of Sticky bombs piled at the end of a tunnel, they tend to avoid it. However, if you place your Sticky bombs all right on top of each other, less experienced enemies won't notice that it is actually multiple Stickies, not just one.

Try luring enemies into your Sticky bombs. Engage a lone enemy and, if the fight isn't going well, retreat around a corner (preferably a tunnel or narrow passage) where you have placed your Sticky bombs. Often times your opponent, sensing victory, will chase you down. As soon as they walk around the corner, detonate your Sticky Bombs. Pyros are especially notorious for being all-too-eager to chase their enemies down. This technique is very effective when employed near a health and ammo spawn. Retreat back to the health box, detonate your enemy, reset your Sticky bombs, rinse, repeat.

The Grenade Launcher is very useful as a fire-support weapon. Instead of getting up in the enemies' face at the front of an assault, try hanging back near (but a little ahead of) the snipers on your team. Fire your Grenade Launcher high into the air (45 degrees or higher) and launch all 4 shots in a row with a little bit of spread. Do this continually, using ammo boxes or Dispensers to maintain your ammo supply. This technique, dubbed "artillery," often results in extra kills and assists for Demomen while keeping him well out of the way of harm.

Grenades linger on the ground after bouncing. Keep in mind that just because an enemy isn't near where your grenades first bounce, doesn't mean an enemy won't run over them and take damage. In chaotic fights involving a lot of people, enemies often tend to ignore less immediate threats likes Demoman Grenades and instead focus on charging Pyros and Heavies. Punish them for it.

If your initial attack doesn't kill the enemy, your Grenade launcher and Sticky bombs will often launch them away from you, giving you time to set up for another attack, while also forcing them to adjust their aim.

Your own Sticky bombs can be used to scatter enemy Sticky bomb carpets. Just plant a Sticky bomb or two in center of the minefield and detonate them. The enemy mines will scatter, making them less effective.

Remember that when shooting at moving opponents with the Grenade launcher, you should aim ahead of where they are going in order to hit them dead on. Depending on distance, you should also aim up a little to account for the grenades' ballistic trajectory.

The Sticky bombs are one of the few weapons where you can see a Critical hit before it's taken. As you place them occasionally you will get an extra sparkly one. This causes a Critical hit. You can often use fewer stickies in one location if there's a critical sticky there.

In addition to being a good offense against Sentries, Demomen are also good at assisting Engineers fight off enemy spies. Place one or two sticky bombs near a building, then wait nearby. If you hear the Engineer say "Spy sapping my [building]," or if you see in the corner that an Engineer just knocked off multiple sappers, then detonate the bombs and run back to set them back up.

A Demoman is the best counter for an ÜberCharge pair. Place a string of Sticky bombs on the ground to create a mine field. You can either detonate them just before the pair reaches the bombs, hoping to push them backward, or just after the first one crosses the bombs, hoping to separate the Medic from his ÜberCharge target. Even if they manage to regroup, they have lost precious seconds. You can also place Sticky bombs on walls or edges of bridges hoping to push them into corners or off bridges; use advance planning and creativity here.

You can place sticky bombs under an ÜberCharge pair, wait for the charge to wear off, and then immediately blow them up. This is especially useful for defending control points from an enemy breaking through with an ÜberCharge.

As a Demoman can only place eight stickies down at once, previously shot stickies blow up after you have gone passed this limit. The "self-detonating" stickies can still damage opponents, and could be a useful tactic for taking out incoming enemies while still attacking other enemies with new stickies.

See this tactical map of Dustbowl for defensive Sticky placements and grenade strategies.

The Grenade Launcher (primary weapon) has the additional advantage of not suffering from falloff damage. Only two other weapons in the game, the Sniper Rifle and the Pyro's Flare Gun, have this property. This means that your weapon is deadly at all ranges, and should be used to your advantage. For example, a soldier has similar damage output and more health than you up close, but at long range his damage falls off to less than half of his point blank damage, while yours stays the same. As such it helps to get some range on soldiers when fighting them.

When retreating from a lost fight through a tunnel or the pipes in 2fort, the Grenade Launcher can easily finish off the pursuer. Using the grenade launcher in these types of area will give your enemy no place to run. This strategy isn't recommended against experienced pyros, as the compression blast will bounce the grenade back at you, and your only option is to outrun the grenade or die.

Demomen wondering about the February 2009 Sticky bomb nerf should point their good eye to this official blog entry from Valve, which also explains valuable information about the damage falloff system behind stickies. Stickies still utilize range-dependent falloff damage when detonated in the first 5 seconds of their life (as they always have). However, fresh stickies are now "only" capable of up to 138 damage (they previously could do a whopping 180 damage if the Demoman and his target were close enough to the sticky).

Weapon Specific

Grenade Launcher

An easy weapon for the inexperienced to use which becomes deadly in the hands of an experienced player.

Grenades explode on contact with an enemy, provided they have not bounced first.

Grenades spin when fired, which sometimes causes them to bounce unpredictably. They do obey gravity (e.g. bouncing down slopes) and will bounce around corners and off walls. Predicting their direction after multiple bounces relies on knowing the area being attacked.

Like most other TF2 weapons, accuracy can only be relied on at close quarters. Grenades launch to the right of the cross-hair, so you should lead to the left to compensate. This is especially important for dealing with the faster classes such as Pyros and Scouts.

Grenades are affected by gravity. To shoot long distances it's often better to jump and fire than change the angle of fire much past 45 degrees.

If a group of enemies are distracted, it's better to bounce it off a wall to get splash damage,but be careful not to miss as bouncing if off he ground at any angle makes the grenade dart forward.

Stickybomb Launcher

The use of Stickybombs is one of the defining features of advanced Demoman play. They are detonated by using your alternative fire (Default key mouse 2), no matter which weapon you are holding.

The basic rules for planting Sticky bombs are:

When guarding a capture point or the Intel, create a large blast radius by spreading out your Sticky bomb carpet.

After planting Sticky bombs around the Intelligence or a Control point, you can leave the area, listen for the announcements of "The enemy has taken our Intelligence" or "Our Control point is being captured" and detonate your Sticky bombs. Watch your total number of fired stickies, though, as the enemy could be destroying them behind your back before stepping onto the point.

When guarding other strategic locations place your Sticky bombs in locations that are either impossible to see until it's too late, or in well hidden/odd places (such as on ceilings, under stairs, above automatic doors etc).

When attacking, place them where your opponent is heading.

Never forget that you can launch them across the visible distance of all but the most open maps. Aim for windows, sniper ledges and other populated areas. When you have the trajectory right, lob in a few bombs and detonate them to clear the room.

If your Sticky bombs are clustered too closely, enemy Demomen can clear them away with a single Sticky. To counter this, spread them out whenever possible. Beware of Demomen carrying the Scottish Resistance.

Don't stand still if you're placing a lot of stickies near objectives such as the payload cart or a control point. You will become susceptible to headshots and backstabs.

Place stickybombs around Health packs, particularly if they are inside buildings (e.g. under Control point A on Gravelpit)

You can destroy enemy Sentry Guns by peeking out from a corner, firing a sticky bomb, retreating, and repeating until you have placed enough (3 stickies will destroy any level of sentry), then detonate them. This way, the Engineer cannot repair his sentry because the damage is dealt all at once. Don't take too long, or the Engineer may draw his shotgun and/or pistol and destroy the stickies before you can detonate them.

An easier way to destroy the sentry is to get to such an angle that you can place the stickies next to the Sentry. You might need a few more stickies, but it is less likely that the Engineer will be able to shoot them all away.

Disregard the last two pieces of advice. What are ye, a proud, black Scotsman, or a cowerin', snivelin' soldier? Just because ye CAN hide behind a wall and fire at arched angles doesn't mean a real Scotsman should, or would. Why settle for playing peek-a-boo with a pile of scrap metal when ye could charge out, be a REAL man, and win one for the team? Make yer mum proud, now, if ye know what's good for ye.

If an enemy engages you in close quarters, you may retreat by moving backward, dropping stickybombs at your feet. If he continues pursuit, detonate.

You can place stickies on the ceiling, often creating a nasty surprise to anyone that is in the blast.

If an enemy is on the control point, wait a second before detonating, as they may have seen them and be trying to fake you out.

If you know you're about to die, detonate what stickies you have. You might catch someone in the blast. It is better to have a small chance of killing an enemy than no chance at all if you die and lose your placed sticky bombs.

Scottish Resistance

The SR is very effective at defending tunnels and rooms with multiple doorways because of the large number of bombs it can place (currently 14) and the fact that you can detonate whatever group of bombs you are looking at. When defending tunnels, place arches of bombs every few feet down the length of the tunnel's walls and ceiling. This can block a lot of enemy traffic. If you find yourself defending in a room with several entrances, place yourself in a position where you have line of sight to every or nearly every entrance without having to turn and look a different direction. Place bombs on all the entrances the enemy can come from and wait.
While the SR does require the user to be looking in the general direction of the bombs they set, they do not have to be looking directly AT the bombs in question. Even if you don't have a direct line-of-sight to your bombs, you can still detonate them, no-matter where you are on the map, provided you turn to look in the general direction of your trap(s). This can prove invaluable if someone begins capturing a Control Point or takes your intelligence while you're busy chasing down an opponent or otherwise pre-occupied elsewhere.
While you cannot detonate all of your SR sticky-bombs at once, you can detonate them in rapid succession by holding down the detonate key (Right-Mouse Button by default) and 'swinging' your view across all of your stickybombs.

Stickybomb Jumping

Sticky jumping is similar to Rocket jumping, but you can go much higher and you also lose more health (45-114 excluding fall damage). To do this, lay a sticky at your feet, run over it, jump, and then detonate your sticky. Like when Rocket Jumping, if you crouch in mid-air before setting off your sticky, you go much higher. You can also use multiple stickies for an even bigger effect. E.g. you can launch yourself from battlement to battlement in ctf_2fort. Sticky Jumping with the Scottish Resistance does not require facing the stickies in question. Instead, any stickies immediately in the vicinity of the Demoman will be detonated when the alternate fire is activated, so long as there are no other stickies in the reticule.

Grenade Jumping

For smaller jumps or when having a group of stickies already deployed elsewhere, it might be more beneficial to use Grenade Jumping. This way you would take slightly less damage, and you would have your placed stickies left undetonated. YouTube video on various grenade jumps.

Chargin' Targe

A simple shield, just equipping it gives the Demoman a good resistance to both explosions and fire. A Demoman at full health - even with the Eyelander equipped - can survive a critical rocket if they have the Targe equipped.

Keep an eye on your Charge meter, as its color will tell you the effects of the Targe - White is recharging or charged, Green is a recently-activated charge (less than 50% used); yellow means your next attack will be a Mini-Crit, and red means that your next attack will be a full strength Critical Hit. The red zone also means that colliding with an enemy will cause the Targe itself to inflict damage. (25 Damage, give or take.)
You must be quick to react, as the 'Red Zone' will only be active during the last 25% of the Charge.
Try to attack enemies that are unaware of your presence. Getting behind a Soldier or Medic and charging will result in an easy kill.
Charging down long hallways can force enemies back as well as give you a chance at a few kills.
If you're in danger or on fire, use the charge to quickly move out of the battle zone to find a Medic or Health pack.
The very end of your charge grants you a critical hit with whatever weapon you are using. Using this critical in conjunction with the Eyelander can result in an instant kill for light classes.
The Chargin' Targe does deal damage if you come into contact with an enemy at the end of your charge. This shield bash may not deal much damage (~20), but it may be useful in some specific situations.
The Targe gives you a resistance to fire and explosive damage, but not to bullets and other projectiles. Keep this in mind when charging at Heavies, Scouts, or any players that have a Shotun equipped.
Do not attempt to charge Heavies unless they are distracted by other teammates or you know they are very weak. The Heavy's Minigun fire is very effective at close range, and if they have Natascha equipped, you will effectively be slowed to a stand still. If you are hit with Natascha, your only real chances are to either crawl to cover or to spam grenades in hopes of killing the Heavy first.
The Force-A-Nature's knockback, the Flamethrower's compression blast, Sentry guns, Natascha's speed reduction and the explosive force of grenades, rockets and Sticky bombs will all interrupt your charge.
During a Charge, you move at 750 Hammer Units per second; two and a half times faster than the Engineer, Pyro, Spy or Sniper, and 80% faster than the Scout. If a fight has gone pear-shaped, using this sudden burst of speed can mean the difference between waiting to recharge, and waiting to respawn.

Scrumpy Bottle

The Demoman's Melee weapon, the Scrumpy bottle, is valuable as an emergency fall-back, and the only weapon you can use in close-combat without injuring yourself.

The bottle should be used in the same way as most other melee weapons when enemies are too close or too fast to hit with a Grenade (or if you don't have time to reload the grenade launcher).
The bottle can also be used for Spy checking, as it is safer to use than your other weapons in close quarters.

Eyelander

In most cases, the Eyelander should not be used without the Chargin' Targe. However, a Demoman with 4 decapitations and a Sticky Launcher is a massive threat. Head count is not reset until death, so a smart Demoman can use the Chargin' Targe until he accumulates 4 heads, then return to a resupply cabinet and switch to the sticky launcher of his choice. With over 200 HP and the second fastest run speed in the game, an Eyelander Demoman using the Sticky Launcher can be a very powerful enemy and one to avoid at all costs, especially if he has a Medic.
The Eyelander has a very long range for a melee weapon. Get comfortable with its area of effect and take this into account when going for a critical charge.
Don't try to use the Eyelander all the time, you should have the grenade launcher out and be proficient with it. Use the Eyelander when you can get your enemy by surprise, cornered them or once your charge meter is full again (listen for the beep sound).
Be aware that the Eyelander 'hits' near the beginning of the swing animation, rather than at the middle. Keep this in mind so you don't accidentally 'under-shoot' an attack, especially when using the sword in conjunction with the Chargin' Targe.

Map Specific

CP_Well

To defend the second point on Well, place your Stickybombs on the ceiling above the Control point. They will be hard to see and very difficult to remove. A single detonation will clear the Control point if you have them spaced correctly.

When assaulting the middle point, fire Stickybombs at it when entering the area. You can then use these to clear the Control point or defend it for your team.

Place Sticky bombs on the blind sides of the pillars in the second room when the Control point is already covered. These pillars are typically used to hide behind by teams assaulting the Control point.

Place lines of Sticky bombs along the sides of the boxcars. Attackers typically skirt along these as cover from Snipers.

TC_Hydro

The key to proper Demoman play on Hydro is staying alive. The maps are small, and keeping your Control point defended with a carpet of Sticky bombs is essential.

When the sewer entrances are open, placing Stickybombs immediately around the corner (on the wall by the health pack) will allow you to kill attackers, while also preventing them from healing.

Place Sticky bombs on the catwalks and other high locations. These can launch people into the air, making them easy targets for others or leading to death by falling.

On the ceiling of the radar dish point.

CP_DustBowl

While defending the first point of Dustbowl, cover the back entrance to the point. Scouts sometimes stand on the point under the stairway, hidden from view.

If you defend the first point by staying on the ramp leading to the mines, you can retreat if the enemy captures the first point. While retreating, place two Sticky bombs at each corner of the mine path. If you do this properly, you'll end up with four Sticky bombs left. Place these behind the mine cart and wait.

At the beginning of the second section, place Stickybombs next to both exits from the enemy spawn.

On the second section of Dustbowl, place Stickybombs on the wall between the stairs and the back entrance to the first point. This defends both ways at once, and has the advantage of your Stickybombs being hard to see.

When defending the second capture point on stage 2, protect your team's Sentry guns by placing your Stickybombs as a mine field around them. Then listen for friendly Engineers saying "Spy sapping my sentry"; when they do, detonate to kill the Spy.

When defending stage 2 cap 2, place Stickybombs by the rock pile. This is a popular place for attackers due to its large Med kit.

The third section consists of corridors and blind turns. Use these to your advantage by placing Stickybombs at blind spots.

If attacking Stage 1 Cap 1, toss grenades into the windows of the main shed. This should elimnate any sentrys on the stairwell as well as any red team users trying to protect their point. Stickybombs work better for this, but since stickybombs needed denaoting and have a worse aim, emeny players are sure to attack you.

If attacking Stage 1 Cap 2, directly after entering the automatic grate doors, lob some grenades into the capture room. This will weaken the enemys defenses. It's also good to place sticky bombs on bottom of the stairs, any enemys trying to eliminate you will be blown to bits.

CP_Granary

Rush to the top of the ramp overlooking the middle point. From here you can easily lob stickies and control the middle.

Place Sticky bombs over any of the large open arches in the map. These Stickybombs can't be seen by advancing enemies.

When on the offensive on Granary, get to the blind spots before your enemy.

CP_GravelPit

When defending Point B, remember that the entire room counts as the point, so spread your Stickybombs out as much as possible.

Grenade jump onto the roof of Point B, and rain Stickybombs and Grenades down upon advancing enemies.

Place Stickybombs around the attacking team's exits. They should need to be low enough that the enemy can't see them, you can then take out anything that comes toward the point you're defending.

When defending the last point, remember that you can launch your Stickybombs long distances. You do not need to be up at the top in order to replace them.

CTF_2Fort

All enemies entering your fort will have to pass through the ramp room (or courtyard) to access the Intelligence, with the exception of soldiers, scouts, and other Demomen. This makes it an ideal spot for a Demoman to set up Sticky bombs. Above each of the two ground-floor doorways, and on the wall between those doorways, these are hard to spot. Enemies entering the room generally stick close to the wall to avoid Sentry gun fire from above. Scouts can sometimes slip in before you see them, but Stickybombs on the wall between the doors will still stand a good chance of taking them out.

If the enemy manages to get your Intelligence, place Stickybombs at the top of the long stairs and in the doorway of the spiral. By standing in the hay room and watching the Intel compass, you can accurately predict when and from which exit the enemy will appear.

When the Intel has been dropped, the enemy may make a dash to retrieve it before the timer resets. Drop Sticky bombs around the exposed Intelligence and wait. Often even visible Sticky bombs will be ignored by Scouts rushing the Intel. Detonate and repeat. If you are under fire, move out of sight and listen for the alert, or watch the Intel compass to know when the Intel is being picked up.

Intel room. Place Stickybombs on the closer walls (the sides that aren't immediately visible), and then by standing outside of the Intel room you can accurately gauge when to detonate them. If they go for you instead, retreat into the Intel room, and detonate the Stickybombs behind you.

The roof of the bridge is capped on each end by a triangle-shaped piece of wood. This area cannot be seen by approaching enemies. By placing Stickybombs here, you can eliminate open travel across the bridge (eight Stickybombs in this position will kill a fully healed heavy medic combo).

Place Stickybombs above each of the main entrances to your enemy's base or the entrances to your own.

Standing on the grate next to the hay loft allows you to rain Grenades and place Stickybombs in the area below and affords you some protection from incoming enemy fire.

In the Intel room, place Sticky bombs so that they appear to be right inside the Intelligence, hidden from view, and stay in the room and detonate when a Scout attempts to take it. Watch out, because critical sticky bombs can ruin this tactic, since their glow will be visible causing the Scout to hunt you down before attempting to take the Intel.