User:Toomai/MvM strategy overhaul
I think Community Mann vs. Machine strategy could do with a split into "strats for players" and "strats against bots". This'll be the former.
Colours for reference (from paint, like mission tables):
Essential | The average MvM player will expect to see this in their teammates' loadout, and for good reason. |
Recommended | A generally-preferred option that nevertheless has some weaknesses. |
Average | Has pros and cons, or might simply have an underdeveloped meta. |
Discouraged | A pro could probably make this work, but there are better options. |
Worthless | For whatever reason, this has no practical use in the mode. |
Contents
Scout
General
Loadout
Primary | |
---|---|
Scattergun |
You can never go wrong with the stock Scattergun. |
Force-A-Nature |
Cheaper to upgrade to reach higher damage potential, and knockback is helpful to control robots, but your teammates may not appreciate it if you make robots bounce around every time you shoot them. |
Shortstop |
Effective at longer ranges and has good maximum damage rate, but is more expensive to upgrade. |
Soda Popper |
Cheaper to upgrade to reach higher damage potential and also unlocks additional mobility through Hype. |
Baby Face's Blaster |
Against hordes of robots, it becomes quite easy to build the weapon's Boost meter. However, it has the lowest damage potential of all the Scout's primaries, and upgrading movement speed already brings the Scout to near the game's running speed cap. |
Back Scatter |
Being able to mini-crit giants from behind can be useful, but there are several better ways to achieve mini-crits, and the weapon is otherwise outclassed by the other options. |
Secondary | |
Sidearms |
In essentially all situations, it is more effective to simply reload the Scout's primary weapon than to switch to his less-damaging secondary one, especially once reload speed has been upgraded. Using a pistol for its higher long-range damage is also simply subpar, as it's not worth upgrading. |
Bonk! Atomic Punch |
The invincibility that Bonk! provides makes it possible to collect dangerously-placed credits safely, but it is generally inferior to Über Canteens, as it renders the Scout unable to attack for a sizeable amount of time. |
Crit-a-Cola |
The extra damage provided by Crit-a-Cola is not a bad option for a purely-offensive Scout. Compared to the Fan O'War, it can deal mini-crits to several enemies at once, but cannot do so for teammates. |
Mad Milk |
Mad Milk is an exceptional team support tool, allowing teammates to heal by attacking sodden enemies, and a single inexpensive upgrade makes bots easier to hit and cripples Giant Scouts' ability to tear through the team's defenses. |
Flying Guillotine |
Designed to destroy singled-out, stunned targets, the Flying Guillotine has poor utility against a horde of robots. |
Melee | |
Stock |
The Bat and Holy Mackerel do not have any positive attributes to take advantage of, making them unsuitable for MvM compared to the alternatives. |
Sandman |
The ability to mark giants for death at long range is useful, but the upgrade required to do so is expensive, in addition to requiring ammo. The Sandman also reduces the Scout's max health significantly, which while not much of an issue after collecting a lot of credits, will be a concern at the start of each wave. |
Boston Basher |
While there is minor utility in helping your Medic build ÜberCharge or revealing Spies, time spent smacking robots to make them bleed would be better spent simply killing them with your primary weapon. |
Candy Cane |
A good Scout should be overhealed at all times from collecting credits, and the health kits that drop from killed robots will be in the line of fire more often than not, making them risky for teammates to go for. The Candy Cane is a good source of afterburn control if there are a lot of enemy Pyros, but the substantial increase in explosive damage is costly. |
Sun-on-a-Stick |
The Scout has higher damage-per-second with non-upgraded primary weapons than using this weapon on burning enemies. Its only potential use is against Heavies with the Fists of Steel, and even then this requires a Pyro on the team. |
Fan O'War |
One hit from this weapon marks giant robots for mini-crits for 7.5 seconds, effectively cutting their maximum health by 25% if it is constantly re-applied. With no upgrades required, it is one of the most effective ways to accelerate the takedown of stubborn robots. |
Atomizer |
A single extra jump is negligible in the grand scheme of things, especially if the Scout has the Soda Popper or jump height upgrades. |
Wrap Assassin |
Bleeding is a generally ineffective means of damage, and the weapon is basically incapable of killing enemies straight-up, making it a poor choice overall. |
Canteen | |
Über |
A few seconds of invincibility can give a Scout just enough time to take down a robot and heal from the money it drops, wade through heavy fire to collect credits in a dangerous spot, or simply distract enemies to buy time for teammates. |
Kritz |
Scouts are already exceptional at killing Tanks, and having crits multiplies his effectiveness even further. It also makes it safer for him to go after Medics, making it easier to kill them in one shot and avoid having them use their charge. |
Ammo |
Most Scouts should have enough time while they're reloading or between sub-waves to dash to an ammo pick-up or the team's Dispenser. |
Return |
If a Giant Scout slips through the defense, having a Scout teleport back may be the team's best chance of catching them quickly. However, this is rather situational. |