Community Attack/Defend strategy

Dustbowl stage 2, capture point 1.

This article is about Community Attack/Defend strategy.

General strategy

• Remember that if the square in the bottom of your HUD has a padlock on it, that indicates that the Control Point it represents is locked and you can not capture it.

• Try to use alternative routes to get to the Control Point, thus you can capitalize on the element of surprise.

• Red mainly relies on the Defense (Heavy, Demoman and Engineer) and Support (Medic, Sniper, Spy) Classes, while Blu can rely on almost any class. Keep this in mind, and pick a class relative to your objective; be that taking out a Sentry Gun, bringing down a Heavy-Medic pair, or just playing against the other team's weaknesses.

Class-specific strategy

 Scout

• When playing offense (BLU) as a Scout, your most powerful weapon is your ability to capture points twice as fast as normal classes. Use this to your advantage by focusing on capturing the control point.

• By using Bonk! Atomic Punch or alternate routes, Scouts can attempt to sneak by the enemy to a later point, leading to an easy Capture. (That is, if the opposing team hasn't thought of this and built defenses already).

• Scouts can also use Bonk to survey the enemy team's defensive situation with minimal risk.

• Scouts with the Force-A-Nature can effectively "push" enemies off the point at point-blank range.

 Soldier

• You will often find that enemies will be concentrated around the control point. Use the splash damage from your Rocket Launcher to deal damage to multiple enemies grouped around the point. You can also use knockback from your rockets to knock enemies off the control point.

• On offense, the Soldier is a very versatile class and is flexible in a variety of situations.

• On offense, you can combine your ability to rocket jump with the Pain Train to capture points faster. To be even more efficient, use either the Rocket Jumper or the Gunboats with the Pain Train. Keep in mind that you will be more vulnerable to bullets with the Pain Train equipped.

• Using any of the banners(Buff Banner, Battalion's Backup, Concheror) is great for turning the tide of battle, holding your place in battle, and survive longer.

 Pyro

• When defending, remember to use your compression blast to push people off the point.

• Be sure to help out your Engineers by checking for Spies and reflecting projectiles away from their buildings.

• While on defense, it's helpful to equip the Homewrecker melee weapon to destroy Sappers placed on friendly buildings by Spies, ultimately saving your Engineer's Sentry Guns, telepoters, etc.

 Demoman

• Using the Sticky Launcher it is possible cover areas surrounding the point with bombs (or if necessary, the point itself) to deal heavy damage to groups of people.

• The Scottish Resistance makes it possible to not only defend the point but key chokepoints where the enemies pass through to reach the control point. It is very useful for situations where you know they might make it past just one sticky trap.

• Your Grenade Launcher is useful for clearing large crowds when your Stickies are out of commission. Very helpful in intense situations to deal heavy damage to attackers.

• The Grenade Launcher can also be used to spam entry points and other confined areas to cause disarray and repel enemies from entry.

• On offense, a Demoman under the influence of an Ubercharge can quickly destroy Sentry Guns and other buildings using his Stickybomb Launcher.

• On offense, using the Pain Train with the Sticky Jumper can allow you to jump on the point from long distances and capture it as fast as a Scout can.

 Heavy

• For offense, a good choice of weapon would be either the Standard Minigun, as it deals more damage than the Natascha and has a shorter spin-up time, or the Tomislav, as it has a low spin-up time, while doing only slightly less damage. The Brass Beast is useful on defense as it does more damage.

• If your team is taking heavy fire, try tossing your Sandvich near teammates with low health. This will help them recover to get back in the fight.

• Without a Medic Overheal, Heavies are nearly useless, especially on Offense. Remember to protect Friendly Medics, as they are almost necessary to your team's success, especially if they are nearing a full UberCharge.

 Engineer

• When defending, try to avoid building in locations that are easily bombarded by enemy fire. Try to conceal your buildings from Stickybombs and rockets.

• Usually around the last control point is where a well placed Sentry Gun can be a helpful asset to the team. Place a sentry and a Dispenser beside you, and camp out the last few minutes of the game. Just watch out for Spies.

• Most Maps only have one one spawn room per team on a stage. So to keep pressure on, you should build and upgrade Teleporters to bring your team back from spawn to the front lines faster.

• On offense, the Gunslinger's mini-Sentry Guns can be quickly deployed almost anywhere. Use these mini-Sentry Guns to support your team and distract your opponents. The extra health buff will also allow you to stay alive and push forward longer.

 Medic

• On offense or defense, it is important to have at least one Medic with an Ubercharge. Build up your charge during the Setup Phase.

• On offense, do not deploy your charge immediately after the Setup Phase. It is better to hang back and get a bearing of where the enemy is before charging out with your Ubercharge.

• On defense, wait for the enemy Medics to deploy their Ubercharge first. After they deploy theirs, deploy yours to block the enemy Uber.

• The Blutsauger can be a good choice to go with whilst on the offense, since you will be in battle a fair bit, and its ability to heal three health per hit on enemy can prove to be more effective than just using the default regeneration rate.

 Sniper

• Snipers can be a good asset to the defending team, killing Medics before they can deploy an Ubercharge, as well as picking off key targets on a contested control point

• Try to eliminate valuable classes as supplementary attackers will easily retreat

• Use Jarate on enemies to expedite their deaths. If you decide to use the Sydney Sleeper to apply Jarate to enemies, keep in mind that you will not be able to make headshots. You can also only apply Jarate to one enemy at a time with the Sydney Sleeper, too.

• The Machina is generally better on defense, since you will not be able to shoot without the scope zoomed in, and your teammates will more likely be at the same area and can support you. By the same token, since the defending team will be in one general area at a time, you can use the Machina's ability to penetrate enemies at a full charged shot to quickly eliminate enemies bunched together.

 Spy

• Remember that you can't capture a point while Disguised as the enemy or Cloaked.

• Sentry Guns are often the keystone of RED defense. Use your Sapper to disable them so your team can take them out.

• Attack/Defend maps usually flow in one direction, which means enemies are more likely to run forward towards the next control point. Use this opportunity to get behind them and Backstab them.