Desperation (mission)

Desperation
Basic Information
Name:	Desperation
File name:	mvm_decoy_expert1.pop
Developer(s):	Valve
Map:	Decoy
Mission type:	Invasion
Waves:	7
Difficulty:	Expert
Starting credits:	400
Maximum possible credits:	7300
Minimum respawn wave time:	7
Maximum respawn wave time:	14
Fixed respawn time:	No
Tour:	Gear Grinder
Sentry Buster spawn time:	5 seconds
Sentry Buster respawn time:	20 seconds

Desperation is an expert invasion mission available on the Decoy map.

Waves

Sub-wave	Class			Count			Delay(s)		Credits
Wave 1 (900 Credits)
1A-1
		Expert	—	4	8	8	0	5	100
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
1A-2		Expert	—	1	4	4	20	25	200
1B		Expert	—	4	8	16	5	10	200
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
1C		Hard	Melee only	10	10	30	0	30	200
		Easy	—	5	10	20	15	0	200
Wave 2 (750 Credits)
2		Expert	Flank defenders's right	1	1	1	10	0	150
		Expert	Flank defenders's left	1	1	1	30	0	150
		Easy	—	1	2	5	60	25	150
		Easy	—	7	7	21	75	15	100
Support		Expert	Melee only  100% crit chance	7	14	42	0	10	200
		Expert	—	4	—	—	40	30	—
Wave 3 (800 Credits)
3		Hard	—	5	10	40	0	10	300
		Expert	—	2	8	20	60	5	250
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
		Normal	—	1	1	1	100	0	50
Support		Easy	Spawns from all three sides	4	4	30	70	5	200
		Hard	Vision range 3000	4	—	—	45	20	—
Wave 4 (1000 Credits)
4		22,000	—	—	—	2	0	45	400
		Normal	—	2	2	4	30	5	200
Support		Easy	—	5	10	24	10	10	200
		Hard	—	5	10	24	10	10	200
		Expert	—	4	—	—	20	30	—
Wave 5 (800 Credits)
5		Expert	—	4	16	16	0	25	500
		Expert	—
		Expert	Fires continuously
		Expert	—	4	4	12	10	10	300
Support		Expert	—	8	—	—	30	15	—
Wave 6 (1100 Credits)
6A-1		Easy	—	7	14	48	0	10	300
6A-2		Expert	—	1	4	12	5	8	300
6B-1		Expert	—	7	14	28	0	5	300
6B-2		Expert	—	1	4	4	25	2	100
		Hard	—	4	14	14	30	2	100
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
Support		Hard	Vision range 3000	4	—	—	25	20	—
Wave 7 (950 Credits)
7A-1		35,000	—	—	—	1	0	45	100
7A-2		Easy	—	4	4	12	10	10	50
7A-3
		Expert	—	2	6	12	20	7	100
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
7B-1
		Expert	—	4	4	16	10	0	200
	Über Medic	Normal	Spawns with full Über  +400% ÜberCharge rate  -90% heal rate  -3 seconds Über duration
7B-2-1		Expert	Flank defenders's right	1	4	6	10	22	200
7B-2-2		Expert	Flank defenders's left	1	4	6	10	22	200
7C-1		Easy	—	2	8	12	10	10	100
7C-2		45,000	—	—	—	1	50	—	0
Support		Hard	Vision range 3000	4	—	—	70	40	—

Basic Strategy

The first wave begins with 12 Soldiers, each backed by an Über Medic. A good Medic picker (Sniper, Pyro with Gas Passer, Demoman, or Spy) is mandatory to clear them out efficiently, otherwise an unprepared team will have a very difficult time dealing with them. 4 Giant Demoknights come once close to half of the Soldier-Medic combos are taken down, backed by an army of Bonk Scouts and Pyros. A Sentry Gun should be capable of taking out the Pyros and Scouts, but don't let the Scouts linger around for too long or they will drink their Bonk! Atomic Punch again and gain a few seconds of invulnerability.

The second wave is a rather simple one, with the main targets being 2 Giant Heavies, 5 Super Scouts, and a small army of Pyros. The wave itself starts off with an army of Scouts as support; a Sentry Gun should be able to take care of them. The Giant Heavies are not backed by Medics so you can freely fire at them until they are destroyed, but don't get too close or they will shred you to bits in a matter of seconds. For the Super Scouts, bodyblocking and Mad Milk are the best ways to combat them.

The main focus of the third wave is a large army of Steel Gauntlets. Classes with high DPS such as Heavies are the best way to defeat these large Heavy robots. A Sniper can deal damage to a large group of Steel Gauntlets at once, while a Spy can instantly take them out one by one. If you see a Steel Gauntlet pick up the bomb, take them out as quickly as possible; leaving them to upgrade will make them very difficult to kill. Once most of these tough Heavy robots have been defeated, 10 Soldiers each backed by an Über Medic will arrive, alongside a Giant Charged Soldier; much like the first wave, it is strongly recommended to have a good Medic picker to clear out the Medics before they activate their Übercharge. It may be best to take these tough combos out before targeting the Giant Charged Soldier; this giant is rather slow and you should have enough time to clear out the Soldier-Medic combos before it can pick up and deliver the bomb to the hatch. Be careful of the Pyros that will occasionally show up as support! A Sniper can be useful here since he will be able to handle the Soldier-Medic pairs, while also killing the the Pyros and damaging the Giant Charged Soldier in the process.

The fourth wave is a fairly short one, with the only required targets being 2 Tanks and 4 Giant Charged Soldiers. Both tanks have only 22,000 HP which, for Expert Mode, should go down fairly quickly, but be careful of the Pyros and Bowmen that show up as support. The Giant Charged Soldiers will arrive in pairs shortly after the second tank is dispatched; high Tank DPS classes such as Pyros and Soldiers can focus on the Tank, while the others can focus on the Giant Soldiers.

The fifth wave's main focus is 4 Giant Deflector Heavies that each have a Giant Medic healing it; they are accompanied by a very small group of Soldiers and Pyros. It is mandatory to take down the Giant Medics, as their insanely fast heal rate makes the Giant Heavies impossible to kill otherwise. Demomen and Spies are the best way to take out Giant Medics; Demomen can wipe out Giant Medics and the Heavies in one swift blow with one full batch of critical Scottish Resistance stickies while Spies with max Armor Penetration, Stabbing Speed, and Sapper upgrades can decimate Giant Medics in seconds if they can avoid being seen. A Sniper can take out multiple small robots around the Giants if they are clumped together. Once the Medics are taken out, high FDS classes are the best way to take out the Giant Heavies; Heavies and using stickybombs are the best options, as Deflector Heavies can shoot down rockets, flares, and grenades. A well-placed Sentry Gun should be able to take care of the small army of Soldiers and Pyros.

The sixth wave is likely going to be the hardest wave of this mission for many teams. This wave brings a whopping 16 Giant Rapid Fire Soldiers to the table, joined by a large army of Scouts, medium army of Soldiers, and the end, 7 Heavies each backed by an Über Medic. The Rapid Fire Soldiers will come constantly throughout the wave in quick succession; a Medic's Projectile Shield and Destroy Projectiles upgrades are two of the best ways to avoid the barrage of rockets, and it is highly recommended by this point to have Blast Resistance maxed out. A Sentry Gun should be capable of taking out the Scouts, but the large army of Soldiers may be too much for it to handle unless the Engineer has Building Health and Firing Speed maxed out. Medic pickers are recommended to take out the Über Medics near the end of the wave, but because the Heavies' move rather slowly and only 7 appear, it may be possible to take them out without a Medic picker.

The final wave will start out with a Tank with 35,000 HP; this Tank will appear by itself for a while, so if you can deal damage as quickly as possible, you may be able to take it out before the other robots spawn. After the Tank is taken care of, a small group of Pyros and 6 Heavy-Medic combos will arrive, followed by 4 Giant Heavies each backed by three Über Medics. Medic pickers are very much recommended for this wave to clear them efficiently, especially the ones healing the Giant Heavies. Giant Rapid Fire Soldiers (12 in total) will appear in pairs shortly after the first couple Giant Heavies are taken out, as well as Super Scouts (also 12); during the rapid appearances of the Giant Soldiers and Super Scouts, the latter robots should be prioritized first; letting them slip by with the bomb gives them a very high chance of ending the wave prematurely. Bodyblocking and Mad Milk strategies should be effective in taking them down. Much like the last wave, the Medic's Projectile Shield and Destroy Projectiles upgrades help immensely with the Rapid Fire Soldiers. Once all these robots have been taken down, the final Tank, this one having 45,000 HP, will appear; at this point, Snipers will be the only thing attempting to prevent the team from killing the Tank, and one of the players can easily leave the Tank to kill these robots, otherwise all classes should be able to focus on taking down this Tank.

See also

• Decoy
• Cataclysm (mission)
• Mannslaughter (mission)