Demoman (competitive)
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The Demoman (often said as "demo") is a core member of the standard competitive lineup, valued for his damage output and area denial capabilities.
Contents
Information
Health
Health State | Max Health | Overheal Max | Pill Bottle | First Aid Tin |
---|---|---|---|---|
Normal | 175 hit points | 260 hit points | +36 hit points | +88 hit points |
Eyelander (0 heads) | 150 hit points | 225 hit points | +31 hit points | +75 hit points |
Eyelander (1 head) | 165 hit points | 245 hit points | +34 hit points | +83 hit points |
Eyelander (2 heads) | 180 hit points | 270 hit points | +37 hit points | +90 hit points |
Eyelander (3 heads) | 195 hit points | 290 hit points | +40 hit points | +98 hit points |
Eyelander (4+ heads) | 210 hit points | 315 hit points | +43 hit points | +105 hit points |
Claidheamh Mòr | 160 hit points | 240 hit points | +33 hit points | +80 hit points |
Normal (with the Booties) | 200 hit points | 300 hit points | +41 hit points | +100 hit points |
Eyelander (0 heads and the Booties) | 175 hit points | 260 hit points | +36 hit points | +88 hit points |
Eyelander (1 head and the Booties) | 190 hit points | 260 hit points | +39 hit points | +95 hit points |
Eyelander (2 heads and the Booties) | 205 hit points | 305 hit points | +42 hit points | +103 hit points |
Eyelander (3 heads and Booties) | 220 hit points | 330 hit points | +45 hit points | +110 hit points |
Eyelander (4 heads and the Booties) | 235 hit points | 350 hit points | +48 hit points | +118 hit points |
Claidheamh Mòr (with the Booties) | 185 hit points | 275 hit points | +38 hit points | +93 hit points |
Speed
Movement State | Running | Backpedaling | Swimming | Crouching |
---|---|---|---|---|
Normal | 93.33% (280 u/s) | 84% (252 u/s) | 74.67% (224 u/s) | 31.11% (93.33 u/s) |
Skullcutter equipped | 79.33% (238 u/s) | 71.4% (214.20 u/s) | 63.46% (190.40 u/s) | 26.44% (79.33 u/s) |
Eyelander (1 head) | 100.83% (302.5 u/s) | 90.75% (272.25 u/s) | 80.67% (242 u/s) | 33.61% (100.83 u/s) |
Eyelander (2 heads) | 108.27% (324.80 u/s) | 97.44% (292.32 u/s) | 86.61% (259.84 u/s) | 36.11% (108.33 u/s) |
Eyelander (3 heads) | 115.73% (347.20 u/s) | 104.16% (312.48 u/s) | 92.59% (277.76 u/s) | 38.58% (115.73 u/s) |
Eyelander (4+ heads) | 123.2% (369.6 u/s) | 110.88% (332.64 u/s) | 98.56% (295.68 u/s) | 41.07% (123.2 u/s) |
Targe Charge (normal) | 250% (750 u/s) | - | - | - |
Targe Charge (Skullcutter) | 212.5% (637.50 u/s) | - | - | - |
Speeds written in "u/s" refer to in-game units per second. When running in a certain direction causes slowness, rapidly switching between diagonals usually improves speed.
Weapons
The Demoman's main strength is from his stickybomb launchers. The ability to set traps, deal strong damage at range, and move extremely quickly around the map make the Demoman the most versatile and agressive class. His grenade lauchers allow him to deal damage while he has a trap laid down, and also can contribute very heavily to spam. The Demoman has a few interesting melee weapons, which can boost his overall speed and health, or simply be a good source of non-explosive damage.
Secondary
Weapon | Kill icon | Ammo Loaded |
Ammo Carried |
Damage Range | Notes / Special Abilities |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Stock Stickybomb Launcher |
8 | 24 | Base: 103—138 Crit: 353 |
Primary fire launches the bombs, secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes all armed stickybombs explode at once. Holding primary fire launches the bomb farther. Stickybombs stick to most surfaces and remain ready until the player either detonates them or dies. | |
Unlock Chargin' Targe |
N/A | N/A | Full charge:
|
Secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes the player charge forward at high speed in a straight line (turning is limited to very slight angles to the left or right). During the charge, the next melee swing is a guaranteed mini-crit at 25% charge or a critical hit at 60% charge. Any enemy hit by only the shield charge takes up to 50 damage (scales by distance), with additional damage based on the number of heads collected with the Eyelander, Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker or Nessie's Nine Iron. Charging removes debuffs. | |
Unlock Scottish Resistance |
8 | 36 | Base: 103—138 Crit: 353 |
Primary fire launches the bombs, secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes all armed stickybombs under the crosshair, and directly under your feet, explode at once. Holding primary fire launches the bomb farther. Stickybombs stick to most surfaces and remain ready until the player either detonates them or dies. | |
Craft Sticky Jumper |
N/A | 8 | 72 | Base: 0 Crit: 0 |
Primary fire launches the bombs, secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes all armed stickybombs explode at once. Holding primary fire launches the bomb farther. Stickybombs stick to most surfaces and remain ready until the player either detonates them or dies. |
Craft Splendid Screen |
N/A | N/A | Full charge:
|
Secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes the player charge forward at high speed in a straight line (turning is limited to very slight angles to the left or right). During the charge, the next melee swing is a guaranteed mini-crit at 25% charge or a critical hit at 60% charge. Any enemy hit by only the shield charge takes up to 85 damage (scales by distance), with additional damage based on the number of heads collected with the Eyelander, Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker or Nessie's Nine Iron. Charging removes debuffs. | |
Craft Tide Turner |
N/A | N/A | Full charge:
|
Secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes the player charge forward at high speed in a straight line. During the charge, the next melee swing is a guaranteed mini-crit at 25% charge. Any enemy hit by only the shield charge takes up to 50 damage (scales by distance), with additional damage based on the number of heads collected with the Eyelander, Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker or Nessie's Nine Iron. Charging removes debuffs. | |
Craft Quickiebomb Launcher |
4 | 24 | Base: 88-117/109-147 Crit: 300/375 |
Primary fire launches the bombs, secondary fire (with any weapon deployed) makes all armed stickybombs explode at once. Holding primary fire launches the bomb farther. Stickybombs stick to most surfaces and remain ready until the player either detonates them or dies. |
Usage
Demo is one of two classes (the other being Medic) limited to 1 per team in all major leagues, largely because of his ability to spam and deny chokes. Because of how useful he is in these areas, demo is played the entire round on both teams in almost all games regardless of strategy or team lineup (again, similarly to Medic).
Common Tactics
There are two great benefits a Demoman can provide to his team: damage and area denial. Both of the Demoman's standard weapons, the Grenade Launcher and the Sticky Bomb Launcher, have very high damage outputs. The Sticky Bomb Launcher in particular possesses the ability to inflict massive amounts of damage to enemies reliably and efficiently. In addition, the Demoman's Sticky Bomb Launcher is capable of completely stopping an enemy advance from one direction, forcing them to take another route, waste time destroying the stickies, or risk losing a key player. The Grenade launcher is useful for softening up a position or dealing spam damage, especially to opponents around corners.
The Demoman is a very effective mid-long range damage dealer. However, a Demoman is much less capable at defending from close threats, with his only option is to usually attempt to land direct hits with the grenade launcher, attempt to set sticky bombs while retreating and possibly taking self-damage, or attempting a melee hit. Therefore, he should be wary of opposing team members getting too close to him, especially Scouts. Because a team's Demoman is perhaps the best class for area denial, a team should try to keep their Demoman alive as much as possible. The Demoman should try and stick near the main bulk of the team, including the combo, so that they can provide protection from enemy Scouts.
A general strategy for Demomen on the defense is to leave sticky traps. By placing sticky bombs at choke points but out of sight from the enemy team, the Demoman can take out unaware members of the opposite team. Often, a skilled Demomen will wait until more valuable members of the opposing team, such as Medics, pass through the choke point before detonating the trap for maximum damage.
The vast majority of competitive Demomen stick with the standard Grenade Launcher and Sticky Bomb Launcher, though a few prefer the Loch-n-Load and some Demomen switch to the Scottish Resistance for specific points on defense. The use of melee weapons is a bit more varied, but the Pain Train is somewhat common to see on attacking demomen on control point style maps due to the increase capture rate. A demoknight loadout focused on melee attacks is very rare in the competitive world, due to the loss of the damage-dealing potential at long range.
5-CP Push Strategies
A skilled Demoman can be the first player to arrive at the mid point of some 5-CP maps. His Sticky jumping technique allows him to travel more quickly than even the Scouts on these maps, provided that he receives enough healing from his team's Medic. If a team's Demoman is fast enough, he should use the extra time to seal off the enemy team's path with stickies, forcing them to waste valuable time and giving his own team a significant advantage in the fight for the center point. A Demoman arriving quickly to the middle point should beware of Scouts, as they will arrive at the mid point around the same time that he does, before the team's Soldiers can help him fend them off.
During the mid fight, a Demoman can contribute greatly to the team's ability to spam projectiles at the enemy. Grenades from the Demoman's Grenade Launcher will deal significant damage and present a threat to the enemy team even if the Demoman does not land a direct hit, and a few sticky bombs will force the enemy to either retreat or suffer massive damage. If the opportunity arises, aggressive Demomen have the option of sticky-jumping over the enemy, planting sticky bombs along the way and using his weapons to deal massive damage to the enemy team, usually aiming to kill the enemy Medic. While often a risky tactic that places the Demoman in the midst of the enemy team, in the right situation, this technique can cripple an enemy team due to the Demoman's high damage output.
Once the mid fight is over, if a team has lost, a Demoman will usually stick with his team and try to hold a chokepoint. This option allows the team's Medic to build his ÜberCharge, and buy time to allow key players who were killed during the mid fight to respawn. The Demoman's primary weapons, especially the Sticky bomb launcher, are ideal for holding chokepoints, allowing him to keep an enemy team occupied with spam and block off a route.
King of the Hill
King of the Hill maps are much smaller than 5 CP maps, so Demomen will most likely arrive at the mid point with the rest of their teams. Most of the usual 5 CP map tactics still apply to KoTH, but due to the small size of many KoTH maps and the longer mid fights, Demoman should always join the battle buffed by Medic.
Attack-Defend Strategies
Due to the minute of setup time that exists before a round on an Attack/defend map, the defending Demoman can plant sticky bombs and score a pick or two on a careless team right when the round starts, which can easily add a minute to a team's Stopwatch time if he kills the Medic. The defending Demoman will find it much easier to set up deadly sticky bomb traps, as the defending team controls the entire map at the start of each round. The offensive Demoman is a key player, as defending teams on Attack/defend maps often run static or slow-moving defenders, such as Sentry Guns and Heavies. These defenders are very vulnerable to spam, as they are unable to avoid explosives sent at them by a Demoman. Demomen with sufficient support from their teammates are also quite adept at clearing Control points of enemies.
Capture-the-Flag Strategies
Demoman can be extremely valuable players for both attacking and defending the Intelligence in a Capture-the-flag game. Sticky bomb traps surrounding the Intelligence can prevent enemy Scouts from touching it and resetting the timer, allowing a team to return the Intelligence to their base much more easily. In addition, Engineers are not an uncommon sight in a competitive CTF game, making the Demoman's destructive capabilities a valuable asset in attacking the enemy's Intelligence room. In fact, a team's Demoman is the most common ÜberCharge target when the team pushes into the enemy Intelligence room, due to his ability to easily take out a Sentry Gun. If a team's Demoman picks up the enemy Intelligence himself, he should either drop it (default key "l") and allow a less easily harassed team member to take it back to the Intelligence room, or, if there appear to be no enemies around to attack him on his way back, utilize his ability to sticky jump to quickly reach his team's Intelligence room.
See also
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