Juggling

“

You cannot run from me, my gun is faster! Click to listen — The Soldier

”

Juggling refers to the strategy of using weapons to keep an enemy momentarily suspended in the air, leaving them vulnerable and disorientated. More agile or powerful enemies may require several of these mid-air suspensions in order to be defeated, hence the term juggling.

General strategy

Juggling can be used to separate an ÜberCharged Medic from his patient by knocking them out of range, so as to cut off the ÜberCharge prematurely.

With an aimed shot, enemies can be lifted into the air in such a way that they take additional fall damage upon landing or even send them flying into an environmental hazard. It is not usually effective to use this tactic against Scouts, since they use their double jump to quickly change direction midair or significantly reduce fall damage.

Class-specific strategy

 Scout

Although harder to do than other classes, the Scout is able to juggle enemies through use of the Force-A-Nature. Shots must be fired into the feet of the target whilst they are airborne, thus it is only employable in certain circumstances.

 Soldier

Juggling can be performed as a Soldier by using the Rocket Launcher's splash damage to lift an opponent into the air (also called the 'bounce effect'). In effect, this removes the opponent's ability to dodge and allows the Soldier to subsequently predict where they will land. The Soldier has the opportunity to fire at this spot, or even to shoot the opponent out of the air. A well-placed rocket can send a foe straight up into the air and prevent any class from rushing the Soldier.

Although arguably requiring better aim due to a more concentrated splash area, as well as faster rockets, a well placed Direct Hit shot can send an opponent farther/higher than regular rockets; however, it requires a more precise hit below the enemy. It also Mini-Crits an enemy sent airborne via an explosion.

Juggling with the Liberty Launcher is recommended for people who consider the Direct Hit harder to use because of the splash area, as rockets fire 40% faster than the Rocket Launcher (only 22% slower than the Direct Hit) without the splash radius problem.

Juggling with the Black Box is essentially the same as juggling with the Rocket Launcher, except for the fact that consecutive juggling results in much more health gained, but you have to be more accurate, or else you can run out of rockets, and have to resort to your secondary or melee.

 Pyro

The Pyro can juggle opponents by knocking them into the air with a compression blast aimed at their feet, or by reflecting the explosives of another class into that opponent. A follow-up attack with a melee or secondary weapon can effectively deal with juggled enemies. The Axtinguisher excels at this, as a burning opponent can be juggled, allowing you to close the distance and land a Mini-Crit.

The Reserve Shooter can also help with juggling, however it requires a teammate or the enemy to knock themselves in the air. The Flare Gun and its counterparts are a good strategy with the Degreaser or the stock Flame Thrower. In order to perform this tactic, the player sets the opponent on fire, airblasts the burning foe, and switches to said secondary to finish them off quickly. The community nicknamed this Strategy the "Puff and Sting" tactic, or the "Combo Pyro" Subclass.

 Demoman

The Demoman can juggle using the Grenade Launcher through a direct hit to the legs of an enemy. It is also possible to juggle using stickybombs though it is more difficult due to the delayed detonation and enemy awareness. However, juggling with the Demoman is made much easier with the Scottish Resistance by selectively detonating carefully placed bombs.

 Engineer

Under specific scenarios, the Engineer can utilize his Sentry Gun's immense knockback to juggle an opponent usually whenever a Sentry Gun is getting bombed. The Wrangler makes this technique vastly easier, due to the fact that the player can extend the reach of the Sentry Gun's bullets. However, due to the Wrangler's built-in lock-on, it is difficult to knock the enemies into the air yourself.

Aerials

Main article: Aerial

Successfully juggled enemies can be hit directly in the air by any weapon. This is called an aerial, airshot, gunshot bride or middie. Depending on where the juggled player was hit, a different effect may occur on their momentum. A square hit results in a sudden loss of any momentum, which is less than ideal when trying to juggle an enemy multiple times. Hitting the player in the head with an explosive results in a sudden downward increase in velocity which is usually sufficient to kill the player upon impact with the ground; an effect called cratering. If a player is hit lower than the waist, it usually results in a midair juggle, suspending the player in the air for a quick follow-up shot.

The Direct Hit Mini-Crits any enemies launched by an explosive, and the Reserve Shooter scores Mini-Crits on any airborne enemies as well, making these weapons a brilliant follow-up to a successful juggle.