User:Pm360/Sandbox/MvM Guide
This is an MvM guide for all classes and strategies, free from the restrictions and belittlement of the official guide's page. There will be more to this page once I can edit it on my computer and not mobile.
Scout
Scout playstyles in Mann vs. Machine fall into one of two categories: Damage Scout and Support Scout, as described below. A common objective for both classes is collecting credits, as Scout has a far larger collection radius than other classes, heals and gains overheal from collecting piles of credits, and has a high enough speed to quickly reach credits in danger of disappearing.
Damage Scout
Damage Scout refers to any playstyle that primarily focuses on dealing damage with credit collection and support being secondary. This way, the Scout becomes fast, tanky and deadly, capable of going toe to toe with giant robots and thinning the horde. However, Scout requires a large amount of credits in order to reach his full potential and may have to avoid larger groups entirely in early waves.
- It is recommended to use primaries that reload their entire clip at once (Shortstop, Soda Popper, Force-a-Nature) as opposed to those that reload each shot individually (Scattergun, Baby Face's Blaster, Back Scatter), as larger clip sizes make single-reload weapons take far more time to reload.
- When fully upgraded, the Shortstop has the highest DpS of any Scattergun, and a Crit-boosted Shortstop becomes the 2nd-fastest "Tank Buster" weapon. Additionally, its increased effective range allows you to deal with short-ranged robots such as Pyros and Demoknights more easily.
- The Soda Popper has the highest DpS of the Scatterguns without upgrades and can be more viable if credits are hard to come by or better used elsewhere. Its Hype jumps can aid in mobility or getting on top of Tanks in order to more easily destroy them.
- The Force-a-Nature is less effective at dealing damage than the other full-clip reloading Scatterguns, but its knockback is occasionally useful for stalling a fast bomb carrier until the rest of your team can arrive to destroy it.
- It is worth noting that it is usually more worthwhile to slow the carrier with Mad Milk or outright kill it.
- The Scattergun and Back Scatter both suffer because of their time-consuming reloads, although they can both be used to adequate effect.
- Due to the high amount of damage Scout is likely to sustain from small robots, the Baby Face's Blaster is generally considered the worst Scattergun, not to mention Movement Speed upgrades do not stack with Boost.
- The Pistols are typically less effective than other options and are best avoided, though they can occasionally help with destroying a distant robot or Sentry Gun. Similarly, the Flying Guillotine struggles due to only being able to damage one robot at a time. While Bonk! Atomic Punch can aid in collecting credits when a large amount of robots are present, it restricts your ability to deal damage and does not prevent knockback. Crit-a-Cola can be powerful, although it does require the player to buy the 3 levels of Crit Resistance in order to counteract its downside. Therefore, Mad Milk is recommended for its ability to heal teammates for damaging an important robot and slow down fleeing Super Scouts.
- Your Melee Weapon is not as crucial as the other options, though the Fan O'War and Sandman can improve your damage (although it does not stack with the Crit-a-Cola or Back Scatter), the Atomizer can aid in mobility and the Wrap Assassin increases your effective range.
- Maximize DpS and speed when upgrading. Dealing more damage will allow you to kill robots more quickly - minimizing the time they can damage you - and speed can help you outrun projectiles and reach credits in danger of disappearing.
- The key to playing Damage Scout is playing opportunistically. Avoid running straight into large groups of small robots, as they will chew through your overheal or outright kill you at close range.
- Look for large groups of small credit piles: your overheal is based on how many pickups you collected, not credits added to the total.
- Do not be afraid to miss some credits as long as most are collected. Most of the time, an A rating is more than enough.
- That said, do not be afraid to venture off the beaten path for a couple credits if you are not urgently needed.
- When fighting a giant, circle-strafe around it and it will not be able to track you properly.
- Moving in as close as reasonably possible will both make you deal more damage and make it more difficult for the robot to keep up.
- When damaging a Tank, press up against the side to maximize your ramp-up damage.
- Be aware of corners and sharp turns, or you may be crushed.
Support Scout
Support Scout, as the name implies, is a more passive playstyle that focuses on team support instead of damage, often neglecting the primary weapon entirely. This playstyle is not recommended since in most cases a Damage Scout is able to do anything a Support Scout can do while shooting robots. However, in missions with very few credits, such as Expert missions, Support Scout can be more valuable due to prioritizing collecting credits over staying near the front line and having more resistances for when overheal is hard to build up.
- Since your primary weapon will not be upgraded, the Soda Popper is arguably the best choice, not to mention the Hype jumps can help in collecting hard-to-reach credits.
- Mad Milk is almost necessary for Support Scout, especially when there is not a Medic or when the Engineer is struggling to keep a Dispenser near the front.
- The Fan O'War serves as a simple way to augment your team's damage against single targets without spending too many credits. However, the Sandman can be a viable substitute if upgrading would not detract from the resistances too much.
- Mad Milk's slowdown upgrade should be bought no later than when the first Giant Scouts appear to ensure your team can catch up if it makes it past the front line.
- Speed is usually more valuable than tankiness, so focus on upgrading that before resistances if possible.
- Unlike most classes, fire resistance can be quite worthwhile for the Scout since he will be in close proximity to the Pyros much of the time.
- Jump height should not be prioritized over more impactful upgrades such as Mad Milk's recharge.
- Since you have less impact on the wave as a whole, feel free to wander further from the front line than a Damage Scout would if you need to collect credits. However, do not go too far or credits on the front line may despawn during your time away.
- Do not attempt to use a melee weapon that marks targets for death:
- On multiple targets. Only one robot can be marked at a time.
- Against Tanks. Tanks cannot be marked and any primary weapon will be far more powerful.
- Against robots protected by a Battalion's Backup. It will completely nullify the Crit damage.
- If the target is already taking Mini-crit damage, such as from Jarate or the Buff Banner.
- Against small robots. Most of them will be killed easily regardless, and if there are many of them, charging into melee range will result in you taking massive damage and possibly you dying.
- Do not fall into the trap of never using your primary. Even without upgrades, chip damage from a Scattergun will help your teammates.
Soldier
Soldier is primarily a damage-dealer, rivaling Heavy in terms of damage output when fully upgraded. However, his main strength is his access to splash damage, allowing him to rain destruction on large groups of robots. In addition, his banners can all provide team support, with the Buff Banner being a popular choice due to its damage boost. Paired with his excellent mobility in the form of Rocket Jumping, Soldier becomes a powerful jack-of-all-trades who is indispensable in almost any situation. His strengths are tempered by his low reserve ammo and slow upgrading. A Soldier player has a heavy reliance on the Engineer's Dispenser and will need to stop next to it often. His Rocket Launcher also requires a small fortune in credits to reach its maximum potential for a class that also requires resistances.
- The Beggar's Bazooka is by far the most powerful launcher, since it is essentially able to fire a constant stream of rockets and its inaccuracy is negligible due to the sheer volume of robots to be hit.
- The Cow Mangler 5000, with its infinite ammo, makes it easier to hold the front line for longer. However, its inability to deal full Crits makes it weaker when paired with a Kritzkreig Medic.
- Most launchers can be powerful if used well, but it is recommended to avoid the Direct Hit and the Liberty Launcher due to their reduced blast radius and reduced damage, respectively.
- Any of the banners (Buff Banner, Concheror, Battalion's Backup) will be massively augment your team's strength, with the Buff Banner most notably helping your entire team damage a Tank.
- Your melee choice does not matter much, although the Escape Plan can help you escape on low health and the Equalizer can serve as a good Tank buster when at low health.
- No matter your primary choice, damage and reload speed are the upgrades you need to max out first. Clip size will always be the least optimal upgrade since all launchers reload one shot at a time.
- With the Beggar's Bazooka specifically, firing speed has little effect, so it becomes doubly important to maximize reload speed and reserve ammo.
- With other launchers, firing speed is extremely valuable and will be one of the first to be upgraded.
- Only one level of Rocket Specialist is needed, as the stunning effect is unlocked with the first level.
- Blast resistance is the most important resistance since it also reduces self damage from rocket jumping. Fire is the least important as you will likely be out of a Pyro's range.
- Aim for the center of large groups in order to maximize splash damage.
- When using the Beggar's Bazooka, it is more powerful to "tap-fire" (only load one rocket at a time) since that will minimize time spent reloading.
- It is best to refill your ammo at a Dispenser when deploying a banner to reduce downtime spent waiting on the animation.
- This is doubly important when using the Bazooka, as it will not refill ammo unless holstered.
Pyro
Pyro is a sort of utility class, usually being relegated to resetting the bomb or destroying Tanks. (also i hate playing pyro so this section will have to wait :/)
Demoman
A Demoman usually serves as the team's best way of dealing with Uber Medics efficiently. His access to Sticky Traps allows him to quickly clear groups of robots before they become an issue. Additionally, the Grenade Launcher serves as a powerful sidearm in scenarios when a Sticky Trap is difficult to set up or being saved for a more dangerous threat. That said, Demo requires a notable amount of game sense and prediction to play. Sticky Traps require a large amount of setup time, and as such the Demoman player must lay the trap down before robots reach the area. Also, in order to prevent wasting a trap, the player must understand the structure ahead of time.
- Your choice of primary weapon has little impact on your effectiveness, as Stickies will be your main source of damage, but it is recommended to use one of the Grenade Launchers.
- The stock Grenade Launcher has the highest blast radius, so it is the best against groups.
- The Iron Bomber is more predictable than stock, but its reduced blast radius is a hindrance. Similarly, the Loch-n-Load's miniscule blast radius is a noticeable detriment, and that combines with its lack of "rollers" to outweigh its benefits of increased damage to buildings and its faster projectile speed.
- While the Loose Cannon can stall giant robots, that is typically less effective than outright damaging it.
- While Ali Baba's Wee Booties (and the Bootlegger) both increase your health, that is their only benefit when not using a shield.
- It is not recommended to use the B.A.S.E. Jumper due to how robots do not have difficulty targeting an airborne player.
- The stock Stickybomb Launcher and the Scottish Resistance are better for setting up traps than the other launchers, and thus are more viable.
- The Scottish Resistance offers far more value in its traps, but it is more difficult to use in direct combat.
- Your melee weapon has little effect, so experiment to find which ones you favor.
- Upgrade your Stickybomb Launcher first, maximizing its damage and reload speed to make it easier and more effective to set up traps.
- With proper team support, it should be possible to make it the entire mission without buying resistances.
- Lay your traps ahead of the robots you wish to blow up.
Demoknight
Demoknight is vastly different from regular Demoman, being a close-range melee class who is better suited for running among groups of small robots and destroying them one by one. This also makes a Demoknight an efficient credit collector, although less so than the Scout. It is worth noting that Demoknight is generally weaker than most other classes, so only choose this subclass if you are sure of your team's ability to deal with the wave.
- The boots are far more valuable here since some of their upsides only take effect with a shield.
- Of the shields, the Tide Turner is the weakest due to its inability to produce full Crits and its reduced resistances. The other two are roughly the same in power.
- The Chargin' Targe has the highest resistances of the shields, allowing fewer credits to go toward resistances.
- The Splendid Screen has a faster shield recharge and higher bash damage than other shields, but it has lower resistances than the Targe and its faster recharge does not fully stack with the recharge upgrade.
- It is recommended to use a sword instead of the other melee weapons, as they are better suited for a Demoknight playstyle.
- It is quite easy to get 5 heads for the Eyelander, so it essentially offers increased maximum health and speed at no downside (other than the inability to random Crit). However, should you die, it may be difficult to reach that level.
- The Half-Zatoichi provides you with notable overheal, so you will not have to invest in health-on-kill upgrades. It also lets you instantly kill Samurai Demos - among the most dangerous bots if not kept under control - although the same can happen to you.
- The Persian Persuader and Claidheamh Mór both improve your charges, but in MvM you will not be charging as often as in the regular gamemodes.
- While the Scotsman's Skullcutter offers higher damage and its downside is counteracted by movement speed upgrades, it has one less damage upgrade than other melee weapons and actually deals less damage when fully upgraded.
- The Bottle and its reskins are well-rounded, not having any major upsides or downsides.
- The Ullapool Caber can only be recharged by a resupply cabinet, and since you will likely be far from spawn, it generally becomes a far weaker Bottle.
- The Pain Train's downside is not counteracted by a shield and its upside has no effect in any official missions, so it is not recommended over other options.
- None of the shields offer any bullet resistance, so it is typically what you should upgrade first.
- For melee upgrades, you should get at least one level of crits on kill as soon as reasonably possible.
- Know the "damage thresholds" for when to upgrade your melee damage:
- With 1 level, it becomes possible to one-shot Soldier robots with Crits, destroy a Steel Gauntlet with 2 Crits and kill Medics in 2 hits without causing them to use Uber.
- With 2 levels, it is possible to kill Demo and Pyro robots in 2 hits.
- With 3 levels, Medics will use their Uber after one non-Crit, but 2 non-Crit hits will kill a Soldier and a Crit will instantly kill a Heavy.
- With all 4 levels, it is possible to instantly kill a light class (Scout, Sniper or Spy; Mecha-Engineers have increased health).
- Attack speed improves your ability to make use of Crits on kill and deal with high-health targets.
- Reduced push force on the shield helps reduce how much robots can knock you back, so if you struggle with getting close, it may be worth investing in that.
- Focus on small robots instead of giants; Crits on kill will be where most of your damage comes from.
- If you have 3 or more levels of damage for your melee weapon, shield bash an Uber Medic before attacking it to prevent it from using its Uber. Then you will be able to just use Crits for the others.
- If possible, save your shield charge in case you need to escape, especially if there are Pyros present.
- When damaging a Tank or giant, hold down your bind for shield charge to deal additional damage alongside your melee strikes.