User:TheJohns

MvM Assessments

Class	Assessment
Scout	Excellent money collector  Great support capability  Flexible builds  Fast respawn time  Somewhat limited early game Due to the Scout's unique abilities involving money collection, multiple debuff applications and a myriad of viable upgrade options, the Scout is an excellent addition to any team composition. Early game, the Scout is primarily focused on collecting the money while applying Mad Milk or the Fan O'War mark for death when opportunity presents, as well as marginal damage. Later, the Scout will have enough money to either buy resistance and focus on "tanking" or upgrade his primary so that he can dish out damage as well. He can also switch to the Sandman and buy the Mark on Death upgrade to make applying mini-crits easier.
Weapon	Assessment
Scattergun	Probably the best choice for Scouts going for an offensive build. Buying Projectile Penetration early lets Scout provide a bit of "chip damage" early, and once you have enough money for damage, reload speed and clip size, he can dish out significant damage on his own. Rating: Very Good
Force-A-Nature	The Force-a-Nature is suited for a more support type build. While the pushback is somewhat difficult to control, pushback in general is useful, particularly in stalling giants in the FaN's case. While it can be built for damage like the Scattergun, its small clip size makes it somewhat less efficient than the Scattergun. Rating: Good
Shortstop	Rating:
Soda Popper	Similar in the FaN's capabilities, except it swaps out pushback for mini-crits. The constant mini-crit boosts lets the Scout deal more damage at certain periods and also lets the Scout be a threat at mid-range, thanks to the lack of damage falloff. While still not as good in terms of raw damage as the Scattergun, the Soda Popper is more effective against waves of regular robots. Rating: Good
Baby Face's Blaster	While the speed boost can be useful at times, the disadvantages often overshadows its advantage. The damage reduction means it's much weaker offensively, and the reduced speed without damage dealt often makes the Scout less effective at collecting money than without it, especially in cases where the Scout died before he can collect a lone pile of money far from the Teleporter. Rating: Weak
Mad Milk	Arguably the "best" secondary for the Scout. The Mad Milk's healing grant sustainability that allows the class to tank hits while damaging the robots, and is particularly useful against giants. The slowdown is also a nice addition to the Mad Milk's already powerful debuff. Generally, Mad Milk should be fully upgraded first, regardless of build. Rating: Very Good
Bonk! Atomic Punch	If money is sitting on or behind a highly dangerous area, Bonk allows the Scout to bypass that danger, especially in situations where the Scout just respawned or doesn't have enough health. It can also be used to tank incoming fire for a few seconds. While by no means bad, it's overshadowed by the Mad Milk's sheer effectiveness, and the invulnerability can be substituted with an Uber canteen, even though it costs money. Rating: Good
Crit-a-Cola	Gives the Scout more damage and is one of the only sources of mini-crits against Tanks. However, taking mini-crits is very dangerous for Scouts, and is much more limited in its capabilities compared to his other secondaries. Can be used as a last-ditch effort against a Tank that's giving the team a very hard time. Rating: Situational
Fan O'War	Mark for death is a very powerful debuff against giants and the like. What makes the Fan O'War truly shine is it requires no credit investment to use it effectively. Later in the game, it can be substituted for a Sandman, or you can just stick to the Fan O'War if you don't plan on investing money on the Sandman. Rating: Very Good
Sandman	While it reduces the Scout's max health, marking an enemy at a range is far more safer than making a "suicide run" to mark a robot using the Fan O'War. Even then, as long as you continue to collect money the health penalty should be rather negligible. Rating: Very Good

Class	Assessment
Soldier	High AoE damage   Great vs. Tanks   Doubles as support   Very money-dependent The Soldier is a bread-and-butter class, and provides the team a little bit of everything. Any of his primaries can demolish a wave of robots, and when upgraded and combined with a crit boost, the Soldier can deal an insane amount of burst damage to giants and Tanks. The Soldier can also buff his teammates, and the Buff Banner is one of the only sources of mini-crits against tanks.
Weapon	Assessment
Rocket Launcher	High damage, large splash radius and ease of aim means the Rocket Launcher is just as powerful as it is in the base game. Although the default Rocket Launcher is an acceptable option, the other primaries have bonuses that will outweigh its disadvantage pretty fast, particularly clip size. Rating: Good
Direct Hit	Rating:
Black Box	Rating: Good
Cow Mangler 5000	While slightly weaker than the default Rocket Launcher, the Cow Mangler's main strength is its infinite ammo, which by itself is a big advantage, as it removes the need to retreat to collect ammo and saves money. However, the Cow Mangler comes with a huge disadvantage of not being able to be crit boosted at all, thus greatly reducing its effectiveness against Tanks. The alt-fire charge shot also useless, since it uses up all the ammo regardless of clip size. Rating: Good
Beggar's Bazooka	Many Soldiers swear by the Begger's Bazooka as their choice of primary in MvM, and for a good reason. Firing multiple rockets means the Soldier can take out a wave of robots or a giant very quickly, and it makes the most out of a crit boost Canteen once reload and firing speed are fully upgraded. It does have its disadvantages, as ammo is a constant issue and you can't gain ammo from dispensers, range deviation means you have to get close to make sure all the rockets hit, and the Begger's Bazooka requires a lot of money to reach its peak. Rating: Very Good
Buff Banner	The best secondary for the Soldier in MvM, period. You won't be relying on your secondaries for damage in MvM, and compared to the Battalion's Backup or the Concheror, the mini-crit boost from the Buff Banner is the most useful out of the three. It is the most accessible source of mini-crits in general, and practically the only source of mini-crits against Tanks. Rating: Very Good
Battalion's Backup	The damage resistance aid you and your team's survivability, plus it makes crit-boosted robots a much lower threat for a few seconds. Unfortunately, the fact that it can only be charged by taking damage makes charging it a hassle. The start-up times makes using it cumbersome if you don't use it ahead of time. Rating: Situational
Concheror	While healing increases survivability against constant fire, it's not as generally useful as mini-crits and is often overshadowed by the Mad Milk. The startup makes using it in an emergency cumbersome. Rating: Situational
Escape Plan	Probably the only viable melee weapon choice for the Soldier. Thanks to the effectiveness of his primary after upgrades (as well as its dependency on upgrades), there will only be few cases where you use your Melee for damage. The Escape Plan's speed boost makes it a great weapon for retreating. Rating: Good

Class	Assessment
Pyro	Airblasts, period   Lots of weapon choices   Flexible builds   Short range effectiveness   Dependent on resistances The Pyro's trump card is his airblast, allowing him to stall giants and most importantly, reset the bomb by pushing the bomb carrier into a pit. A Pyro dedicated to resetting the bomb can greatly increase the chance of his team winning a mission. Beyond this, the Pyro is capable of other roles, whether it's drawing fire and tanking hits, dealing heavy damage up close with an upgraded Flamethrower or heavy damage long range with an upgraded Flare Gun.
Weapon	Assessment
Flame Thrower	Typically, the dedicated "pusher" Pyro will simply upgrade his airblast force and ammo capacity, and dump the rest on resistances and Uber Canteens. However, the damage capabilities of the Flamethrower should not be overlooked. If you can manage to upgrade the damage, the Flamethrower can burn through waves of robots, giants and even Tanks. Rating: Very Good
Degreaser	Although slightly weaker than the default Flamethrower, the reduced damage is almost negligible in case of pure "pusher" Pyros, as they are not focused on dealing damage in the first place. The Degreaser is more suitable if you plan on relying on another weapon for damage. Rating: Very Good
Backburner	Rating: Situational
Phlogistinator	Rating:
Flare Gun	The Flare Gun allows the Pyro to be a threat at long range, particularly against giants. If you can manage to upgrade it, it allows the Pyro to deal a constant 120 damage per hit after the first shot while being out of harm's way. While not as powerful as the Flamethrower, it's also cheaper to upgrade. Rating: Good
Detonator	If used the same way as the Flare Gun, it's inferior in every way. It only mini-crits burning enemies, so its power is greatly diminished. Detonating it to light multiple enemies has little point, since the burn damage is rather negligible. Rating: Weak
Manmelter	Pyro robots are an uncommon sight, so there are few opportunities to charge it, and even then you are not likely to deliberately extinguish a teammate, let alone find a burning one. It deals no bonus damage against burning enemies, which makes it already inferior to the Flare Gun. Even when charged, you are limited to how many times you can charge it, while the condition required to crit with the Flare Gun is to simply hit the target once. Rating: Very Weak
Scorch Shot	Rating:
Axtinguisher	The Axtinguisher is perfect for Pyros who don't plan on upgrading the Flamethrower's damage. It allows you to conserve your ammo for airblasts and does not require heavy investment to use it effectively. You can use it to take out Uber Medics in desperate situations, but you need to do it fast. Rating: Very Good
Back Scratcher	Rating:
Powerjack	Rating:
Third Degree	While its use is limited, it does have one trick: If crit boosted, it will eliminate a Medic in one hit. You can use this to take out a group of Uber Medics all healing the same giant if you lack any other way to eliminate them in one hit. Rating: Situational