Community Mannpower strategy

Hellfire

This article is about Community Mannpower strategy.

General strategy

• The Agility powerup doesn't cause the slowdown effect brought on by having a powerup when carrying the intelligence, allowing for quicker getaways.
• Reflect increases your max health to 400 hp, and a 600 hp overheal. This allows for powerful combintaions with a friendly Medic.
• A central chokepoint is a common motif among all Mannpower-orientated maps, with small, symmetrical closed rooms on both sides. Engineers can take advantage of this feature and prevent the opposing team from pushing towards the intelligence. Constructing the sentry nest closer to your team can prevent the enemies' ranged classes from taking down a portion of your nest.
• As an Engineer, you should be aware that the space surrounding the intelligence is vast, allowing the enemy to use different routes towards the briefcase and thus making it more difficult to defend the intelligence as a single Engineer. Cooperating with 2 or more Engineers to assist you in defending by placing Level 3 Sentry Guns in sheltered locations is essential, as enemy Snipers or Soldiers with Strength or Precision will easily be able to eliminate your defenses by shooting towards it from outside its range.
• Grappling Hooks can effectively reduce the time taken to enter external regions of the map. Use it more often to compensate for your class's default speed limit. Pressing space whilst using the Grappling Hook will immediately detach it, allowing you to be flung at a higher speed because of your current velocity. Doing this repetitively while using the Grappling Hook will further increase your mobility.

Class-specific strategy

 Scout

Powerup Specific strategies

• The Agility powerup effectively doubles the Scout's jump height and speed, allowing for skilled Grappling Hook users to get across large parts of the map very quickly.
• As a Scout, Haste doubles your Scattergun's clip size, firing speed, and reload speed, as well as increasing your movement speed, which can allow you to fire 12 full shots into an enemy with rapid succession.

 Soldier

Powerup Specific strategies

• The Vampire powerup can be used to gain health back at a quick rate if a rocket is shot into a heavily populated area. Paired with the Black Box, it can provide powerful regenerative options.

• Strength gives you more damage per shot, making beefier classes go down in almost 2 to 3 rockets and lighter classes in nearly 1.

• The Haste powerup gives you a great advantage over most classes, as you gain 8 rockets and twice the firing and reload speed. This allows you to take down large groups of enemies in a shorter time.

• A very powerful combo is to equip the Battalion's Backup and use the Reflect powerup, combined with a friendly Medic using the King powerup. With overheal, you'll reach 630 hp and share the increased health regen, reload speed, and firing speed with the Medic. The friendly Medic will have 250 hp and a more aggressive health regeneration, allowing him to stay alive longer. Using the Battalion's Backup is a great choice, as it gives you an increased 30 hp with overheal, and can protect you and nearby teammates if the enemy team gains revenge crits.

• Precision makes all rocket projectiles travel faster when firing. This can counter Snipers or any other class from a distance without getting up close.

• The Direct Hit can be a powerful choice of weapon if the player is skilled and has considerable accuracy with one because of the 25% damage boost. Because enemies will be airborne when using the Grappling Hook, a skilled Soldier will be able to airshot the opposing enemy to deal damage as mini-crits, effectively killing classes with 1-3 hits. Precision or Strength is advisable when using this weapon.

 Pyro

Powerup Specific Strategies

• The Vampire powerup is very powerful on Pyro, as it gives you extra defense and max health, as well as giving you all damage dealt returned as health — including afterburn. However, it is advisable not to pursue high-damaging enemies such as classes with the Strength Powerup or Revenge Crits. Their damage output is most often larger than the player's, which will quickly deplete the Pyro's health pool.

• The Reflect powerup is a strong option for the Pyro because of the high health boost (400 HP). Because the Pyro will most likely be encountering enemies in close range, the Reflect powerup will greatly increase the longevity of the Pyro as they will be taking large amounts of damage. Using the Backscratcher can help the Pyro restore more health with medkits, healing the Pyro with 50% more health. This is the more efficient option if no pocket Medics are around.

 Demoman

Powerup Specific Strategies

• The Knockout Powerup is a good choice for a Demoknight, as it plays to that loadout — and lets the Demoknight knock away enemy powerups. High-damaging weapons such as the Scotsman's Skullcutter can increase his damage output on the opposing team, allowing you to obtain a heavy killstreak. This powerup will be less effective when attempting to ambush large groups of high-health classes, and should be used to pick off lone or smaller groups of enemies.

• The Plague powerup is a good choice for a Demoknight, as it adds additional damage to a melee attack, while causing any melee attackers (say, fellow Demoknights) to either take damage or reconsider their strategies.

• The Haste powerup is a good choice for combining with the Stickybomb Launcher because if the increased clip, ammunition, and reload speed. It also shortens the arm time of the Stickybombs, allowing the player to pan out vast amounts of explosive damage. Use this powerup when ambushing large groups of players or sentry nests.

 Heavy

Powerup Specific Strategies

• The Strength powerup doubles your damage output and removes distance damage falloff — allowing the Heavy to perform massive amounts of damage from any range.
• The Regeneration powerup allows the Heavy to become completely independent from health/ammo kits. As the Heavy has the largest health pool of all classes, his health will be more difficult to deplete rapidly. This will keep you in the fight longer without needing to retreat for health/ammo. Be aware that since the regeneration rate is inversely proportional to the size of the health pool, the Heavy's regeneration is slower than any other class.

 Engineer

On Mannpower, an Engineer's buildings take on different importance than on non-Mannpower levels:

• Teleporters - Due to the size of Mannpower maps, Teleporters become even more important to getting your team into the action.
• Sentry Guns - The role of an Engineer's sentry requires careful evaluation of choices - they can guard the intelligence (which is made more complex due to grapples), they can provide fire or cover (necessary in dealing with Poweruped enemies), they can seal chokepoints (important when enemies are far more mobile), and they can protect Teleporters (vital on the larger maps). The Engineer may also find the Mini-Sentry to be less useful due to the effects of powerups to mitigate damage and improve movement, and the grappling hook providing the ability for a beleaguered enemy to get away quicker.
• Dispensers - Dispensers retain their importance, but some Powerups make them less necessary to those with them, such as Regeneration, King, and Vampire.

An Engineer in Mannpower will have to weigh their role carefully due to the additional factors of Powerups and the grapple, often having to decide if they should guard intelligence or provide support and mobility.

Powerup Specific strategies

• The Defense powerup is useful in general, but also helps defend buildings as an Engineer can handle more damage while repairing, or can try and block damage with their bodies.

• The Haste powerup doubles the Engineer's metal capacity and also increases the Wrench's swing speed. This allows you to construct buildings faster and move quicker to place buildings or flee enemies, allowing for rapid deployment or retreat. The additional speed also makes the Pistol far more effective.

• The Plague powerup can keep off enemies who would engage in close combat - including Spies. This is useful for an Engineer who must defend a small, tight space as it allows them to harm close enemies.

• The Precision powerup is most effective when used with the Widowmaker. With good aim, the increased damage at range tends to do more than 30 damage, allowing the weapon to be fired continuously on enemies that it otherwise would be ineffective on.

• The Strength powerup is a decent choice for an Engineer who's on their own - or until a better powerup comes along. A well-armed Engineer can do decent damage, and an Engineer that's a good shot can help defend their equipment effectively.

• The Reflect Powerup allows an Engineer to better defend both themselves and their buildings. By taking damage, you can hurt enemies trying to damage your buildings. The additional defensive and health bonuses also help you endure the attack.

• The Regeneration powerup provides the Engineer with a regenerative supply of metal - along with the other regeneration bonuses. They become nearly independent from having to go to resupply lockers or ammo boxes for their work. This can make weapons like the Rescue Ranger and Short Circuit more useful as metal regenerates.

 Medic

Powerup Specific strategies

• Using the King ability is an excellent choice, the extra 100 hp and health regen is a life-saver for the Medic, as he cannot heal himself. The small health regen, fire, and reload rate goes a long way to helping your teammates in a fight, giving them a significant advantage over the enemy.

• The Medic can use Strength to deliver extremely potent Crusader's Crossbow shots. A single shot can take out lighter classes with enough distance. When combined with Criticals at sufficient distance, this attack will one shot kill every class unless they are overhealed or have a powerup that protects them.

• The Haste powerup can be used with the Medic to provide you with two crossbow shots in quick succession, and also improves your evasive abilities.

• Reflect can be used as a passive defense powerup, dealing damage to those who hurt you, when healing a teammate in an area that leaves you vulnerable to attacks.

 Sniper

Powerup Specific strategies

• The Haste powerup also quickens your zoomed-in charge rate, and also allows for you to reload and shoot faster than normal.

• The Strength powerup can be useful for taking down tankier classes such as Heavies, as it doubles your damage, allowing you to one-shot most classes, although Precision can also perform this with half the charge time.

• The Precision powerup can be a more powerful alternative to the Strength powerup, as it also deals 200% damage, whilst allowing for quicker damage ramp-up and re-zoom after shooting. This can be an effective way to take down high-health classes in a shorter time period.

 Spy

The Spy is one of the more versatile classes in the Mannpower mode. He has the ability to steal dropped enemy powerups when disguised, making him quite useful for reclaiming enemy powerups. A helpful Spy may bring powerups back to his team's spawn.

Powerup Specific strategies

• Strength doubles the Spy's damage output while also removing ranged damage fall off. With Strength, the stock Revolver becomes quite fearsome, as each shot will deal 80 damage. Light classes, such as Snipers, Scouts, and other Spies, will be taken out with just two hits. Even Soldiers are taken out with just 3 hits. A full clip of 6 shots deals 420 damage, giving the Spy the ability to take out a Heavy in a direct confrontation using a single clip. Strength can also be used in conjunction with the Ambassador to deal heavy-hitting headshots. A skilled player can eliminate most classes with a single headshot, dealing 204 damage.

• Haste is an effective buff for the Spy. You can take advantage of the movement speed increase in order to make it easier to get matador stabs or sneak behind enemy lines very quickly. He can also make quick work of enemies using his Revolver, which now fires faster and has a larger clip.

• Agility is one of the Spy's best powerups, as it provides more movement speed, making it much easier to get trickstabs and move around behind enemy lines - possibly allowing you to make an agile escape with the intelligence.

• The Spy can make effective use of the King powerup, as it turns the fragile Spy into a very durable and heavy-hitting class. With the Revolver, you can easily make quick work of heavier classes.

• The Plague powerup provides the Spy with some extra durability due to its ability to pick up health packs at range. The plague effect will trigger when the Spy bumps into an enemy while disguised, but not if the Spy is invisible. The Plague powerup is invaluable for assaulting Engineer nests, as it can infect an unsuspecting Engineer, making it easier to eliminate them or force them to flee.

• The Knockout powerup is deadly for a Spy. His main weapon is already his knife, so only using it is not much of a restriction. Not having use of Sappers may seem like a disadvantage at first, but a knockout Spy can move up to a sentry while disguised and can destroy even a level 3 sentry with one slash from his knife. The Spy's Disguise Kit is not accessible while using this powerup. You can still disguise by hitting your re-disguise key (default "B"), however, this locks you into a single disguise. The best way to utilize this powerup is to steal your desired powerup from the enemy without much hassle.