The Heavy, as his name suggests, is the full frontal attack troop of TF2. Himself a heavy weapon - big, slow, tough, and powerful - he is used to wade in where others dare not. His usefulness as a shock troop on the front lines, defense breaker, and wide-area defender cannot be underestimated or ignored by either side.
Weapon Specific
Minigun AKA 'Sasha'
- The Minigun is an ambush weapon; think of it as a Shotgun with no rate of fire or reloading drawbacks. Use it when catching enemies off guard from behind or wait around a corner.
- It is better to spin your Minigun as you jump around the corner than walking around the corner.
- 200 bullets seems like a lot, but when you start firing it will disappear rather quickly! Pay attention to fallen weapons of enemies/team-mates, weapon crates or dispensers.
- Your aiming speed does not decrease when your Minigun is spinning.
Shotgun
- The Shotgun is the maneuvering weapon of the Heavy. Use when moving from point to point, retreating, approaching a Sniper, or avoiding Rockets, Stickies and Grenades. It is also handy if you run out of Minigun ammo.
- If you believe the speed decrease and spin-up time of the Minigun will be a hindrance to a successful attack, switch to your Shotgun instead.
Fists
- Fists are a fallback weapon, and your only fallback weapon if you traded your Shotgun for the Sandvich. It is also good against any class that is cornered or not expecting you to engage in melee combat.
- Holding down the fire button will make you continuously hit. There is no point trying to alternate between left and right so just holding down fire is the best tactic when plowing in with your fists.
Natascha
- Enemies taking damage from her will find themselves moving slower for an instant, forcing them to face the Heavy instead of running away.
- It inflicts 25% less damage than the normal Minigun, so the Heavy will find that it takes longer to finish off enemies. Because of damage falloff, it is best to fire at close range (it is best to avoid fighting Heavies that wield a Sasha unless you have a Medic buddy).
Sandvich
- The Sandvich is an unlockable replacement for the Heavy's Shotgun. When eaten, it replenishes 120 HP over four seconds; during this process, he is immobile and makes loud noises.
- Without your Shotgun, Snipers are much deadlier, and without a fallback weapon it makes the limited ammo supply of the Minigun all the more scarce.
- You cannot use the Sandvich while underwater.
- The Heavy's Sandvich supply is unlimited.
- Try to eat with your back to a wall! A spy that happens upon a dining heavy can spell disaster even in what might seem like a safe place. However, without his vicious backstab, the spy is much less likely to bring him down before he can bring his minigun or great, ham-hock fists up to defend himself.
K.G.B
- When the Heavy kills an enemy with the K.G.B he is guaranteed Critical hits for the next 5 seconds, and can kill additional enemies to further lengthen the boost time. This power-up is still active if he changes weapons. However, the K.G.B has a 20% slower swinging speed.
- The slow swing speed coupled with the Heavies slow movement speed makes it a risky prospect. It is best to use it when you have an enemy cornered.
Map Specific
2Fort
- Useful on defense but the wide open space in the middle makes the Heavy an ideal target for Snipers.
- The Sewer entrance is a more suitable approach, but this can be easily defended by a Sentry gun.
- Stand in the courtyard (the room with two stairs) with a view down the long corridor. Have an Engineer place a Dispenser behind you. You can then constantly fire down the long corridor or through the corridor-way into the next room. Useful for deterring spies. Acts to strongly close down the long corridor, since incoming enemies cannot dodge your fire and are exposed to it for a long time.
Granary
- A great map for the Heavy. Useful to lay fire into doorways while team-mates take the control point behind him.
Well
- This map can be both a boon and a negative to the Heavy as there are portions of land where the open spaces leave you open to more mobile characters and Sniper fire.
- Be sure to move indoors as quickly as possible so that your Minigun can make good use of its large amounts of firepower, rather than squandering it outside where it is less accurate and you risk getting killed from long range.
- Control Points 2 and 4 are great for the Heavy as they are both indoors, and they offer good cover while still giving little room to move for the Heavy's opponents.
Dustbowl
- Probably the best map for a Heavy as the congested areas and his ability to lay down large volumes of fire into the choke points and other congested areas can help progress.
- Defense
- Be sure to use ÜberCharges in response to an overwhelming rush or the attacking team's ÜberCharge as well.
- While on the ready for the opposing team, continue to check your surroundings; a Heavy whose attention is on the spawn door is a tempting target for the Spy's Backstab.
- Offense
- Build up an ÜberCharge as soon as you can in the beginning of your push to make the defensive team crumble as soon as possible.
- Like the situation on defense, Spies absolutely love this level because the action is so intense that many players do not notice a single player behind them before it is too late.
- Focus your fire on Sentry guns, entrenched Engineers, and Pyros first, as these are the biggest threats to you and your team. The Sentry guns can lay waste to anyone attempting to get past, and Pyros can make your team retreat, giving the defenders a chance to push back.
Hydro
- Against strong defenses, an Übered Heavy can clear a way for the rest of the team to take the Control Points. Just watch out for Snipers at the more open Control Points, as they can end a Medic-Heavy rush quite easily.
Gravel Pit
- An ideal map for the Heavy as his high health can get your team a foothold in heavily defended areas.
- Be sure to use the small areas on Capture Point 2 or 4 to your advantage, but make sure to have someone cover your flank as there are alternate entrances from both sides to take both points.