Basic Demoman strategy

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Not one of ya's going to survive this! Click to listen — The Demoman

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The Demoman is a tough, mobile, high-damage class using explosive weapons almost exclusively. He has some of the highest damage output in the game, but he is vulnerable to foes up close. His grenades are difficult to aim and his stickybombs have significant arming times. That said, with skill he can even outclass a Heavy's damage, and he destroys Sentry Gun nests with ease.

General

• Use the Sticky bombs to sticky jump. This is similar to the Soldier's Rocket jump technique. It allows you to move over large distances quickly or get into hard to reach places.

• To take out Sentry Guns around corners, Sticky bombs are often more useful than the Grenade Launcher. Simply throw a few Sticky bombs next to the Sentry Gun and detonate.

• The Demoman has the only indirect fire weapons in the game. Use this to your advantage; why face an enemy when you can hit him from out of view?

• Use your Stickybomb Launcher as your primary weapon. Use the Grenade Launcher as a backup for foes in your face.

• Remember that these are projectile weapons. Aim ahead!

Weapon Specific

A list of useful tidbits about the Demoman's tools.

Grenade Launcher

• Grenades explode on contact with an enemy, provided they have not bounced first.

• Grenades explode on a timer after they touch a surface, and they don't lose any damage with distance. These "rollers" can be spammed towards an opponent or area indiscriminately to stop an escape or to kill a foe at extreme ranges.

• Like most other TF2 weapons, accuracy can only be relied on at close quarters. Grenades launch to the right of the cross-hair, so you should lead to the left to compensate. This is especially important for dealing with the faster classes such as Pyros and Scouts.

• Aim for direct hits whenever possible. The Grenade Launcher fires very fast and deals excellent damage, making this weapon a serious killer in very skilled hands.

• If your timing is good, you can use the Grenade Launcher to boost your jumps. Fire into a corner, then jump on top of it to propel yourself upwards. Keep in mind that this method takes a great deal more skill, timing and time to set up than sticky jumping, but it will damage your health less.

Loch-n-Load

• The Loch-n-Load deals more damage and has the same splash as the regular Grenade Launcher. Use it against single targets and against groups. You have a good chance of killing multiple foes.
• Loch grenades are high velocity, but they shatter without exploding if they don't hit a foe, and you only have two shots before you'll reload. Practice your direct hits.
• Distance is necessary. Stand too close to your enemy, and the boosted self-damage will kill you very quickly.
• The Loch-n-Load can take down a Sentry Gun in two direct hits, one less than the Grenade Launcher.

Stickybomb Launcher

• The Stickybomb Launcher has a very large splash and deals excellent damage. Furthermore, you can charge your shots to launch them further. Use this weapon like a remotely detonated Rocket Launcher with a huge clip, but with a charge up effect.

• When setting Sticky traps, you should hide them in unusual positions like around a corner, above a doorway, to one side of the doorjamb, on the ceiling, just below the edge of a cliff, and so forth. If your enemy can't see the trap, you have a better chance of killing them.

• Three stickies will destroy any Sentry Gun not affected by the Wrangler. You can often kill the Engineer and destroy any other nearby buildings at the same time.

• If an enemy engages you in close quarters, you may retreat by moving backward, dropping stickybombs at your feet. If he continues pursuit, detonate.

• Stickies can herd a foe. Cover their retreat, then fire Stickies directly at them. They'll either take the Stickies under their feet or retreat into your trap.

• If you know you're about to die, detonate what stickies you have. You might catch someone in the blast. It is better to have a small chance of killing an enemy than no chance at all if you die and lose your placed sticky bombs.

Scottish Resistance

• The Scottish Resistance is most effective on defense because you can place a large number of Stickies very quickly and selectively detonate only some of them.

• Don't let the long arming delay discourage you. The weapon can carpet an area with stickies, and they still explode fast enough to pose a threat in direct combat.

• When defending anywhere, especially places like tunnels, set up multiple traps and detonate them as foes approach. Set fallback traps but don't stand near them while setting off other bombs. Stickies near your feet will explode.

• This weapon fires very quickly. Herding a foe is even easier, and you can place a fatal amount of Stickies almost instantly.

• While you cannot detonate all of your sticky bombs at once, you can detonate them in rapid succession by holding down the detonate key (Right-Mouse Button by default) and swinging your view across all of your stickybombs.

• Remember that the Scottish Resistance can destroy enemy Sticky bombs. Wipe out enemy Demomen sticky bomb traps!

Chargin' Targe

• Keep an eye on your Charge meter during your attack. Its color will tell you the effects of the Targe. Green is a recently-activated charge (less than 50% used), yellow means your next attack will be a Mini-Crit, and red means that your next melee attack will be a full strength Critical hit. The red zone also means that colliding with an enemy will cause the Targe itself to inflict damage.

• You must react quickly, as the 'Red Zone' will only be active during the last 25% of the Charge.

• If you're in danger or on fire, use the charge to quickly move out of the battle zone to find a Medic or Health pack.

• Do not attempt to charge Heavies unless they are distracted or heavily damaged. They are your most dangerous foe at melee range.

• The Force-A-Nature's knockback, the Flamethrower's compression blast, Sentry Guns, arrows, Natascha's speed reduction and the explosive force of grenades, rockets and Sticky bombs will all interrupt your charge. Use your Grenade Launcher exclusively until the opportunity arises to make a clean attack. Then charge!

• The Targe can also be used as a defensive weapon, useful for getting out of sticky situations when there are few teammates around to help you out. Charge and run!

Bottle / Frying Pan

• The Bottle should be used when enemies are too close to reliably kill with the Grenade Launcher.

• The Bottle's model will break on a Critical hit. This is purely visual and has no game effect.

• The Bottle has no drawbacks, so if you don't have a specific purpose, don't use a different melee weapon.

Eyelander / Horseless Headless Horsemann's Headtaker

• In most cases, the Eyelander should not be used without the Chargin' Targe.

• A Demoman with stored decapitations can switch loadouts as long as he doesn't switch out the Eyelander. A smart Demoman can use the Chargin' Targe until he accumulates 4 heads (or at least 2 to offset the initial health penalty), then return to a resupply cabinet and switch to the Stickybomb Launcher.

• This strategy will not work if "Automatically respawn after loadout changes in respawn zones" is checked in Options-> Multiplayer-> Advanced, as changing weapons respawns the player and resets the player's head count.

• The Eyelander has a very long range for a melee weapon. Get comfortable with its area of effect and take this into account when going for a critical charge.

• Don't try to use the Eyelander all the time. Stick with the Grenade Launcher until the opportunity arises for a clean kill. You should avoid dying with heads whenever possible.

• Be aware that the Eyelander 'hits' near the beginning of the swing animation, rather than at the middle. Keep this in mind so you don't accidentally 'under-shoot' an attack, especially when using the sword in conjunction with the Chargin' Targe.

• Decapitating an enemy Demoman who also has the Eyelander equipped allows you to steal any Heads he has accumulated.

Pain Train

• The Pain Train is situational, so unequip this item if you're playing defense or a game mode without capturing. Its ability will be useless and you'll take more damage from bullets.

Scotsman's Skullcutter

• The Scotsman's Skullcutter is best used with the Chargin' Targe or in closed environments.

• It has Eyelander style of range. Learn the distance and you'll rarely miss.

• Keep in mind your reduced movement speed. Running foes will be nearly impossible to chase. Also note that your charge speed with the Chargin' Targe is also affected reducing your charge distance.

• The Scotsman's Skullcutter does significantly more damage. Its Critical hit can kill a Soldier or a fully overhealed Medic in one hit.

• You may want to use The Scotsman's Skullcutter in conjunction with the Scottish Resistance, giving you a good secondary when you've detonated all your stickies. Because you're mostly camping with the Scottish Resistance, the move speed penalty isn't so important.

Claidheamh Mòr

• The Claidheamh Mòr is designed for the Chargin' Targe. The extra 0.5s of Charge will extend your charge distance by 25%. With no random Crits, rely on your charge for a guaranteed Critical hit. Without the Targe, this sword is almost useless.

• It has extended melee range like the Eyelander. Use it to your advantage, however it does not collect heads so you do not get increased health and speed after each kill.

• You can use the extra 0.5s of Charge to help you get a slight bit further with Intelligence or get to a Point earlier than a regular Eyelander user.

• The extra .5s of Charge can also be invaluable when you are retreating, giving you the extra edge to get around a corner.

Ullapool Caber

• The Ullapool Caber is useful as a last ditch weapon, or taking out high value targets. The explosion plus melee damage will kill every class except a Heavy, Soldier, or a Demoman whose collected one head.

• It's not usually a good strategy to use it with the Chargin' Targe, but it can be very useful in Medieval Mode. Enemies are likely to cluster on a point, the Caber is this mode's only splash-damage weapon, and using the Chargin' Targe will guarantee critical damage.

• You can grenade jump with the Caber by crouch-jumping while you strike the ground or a wall.

• Don't be afraid to use the grenade against clustered foes, but remember that you have other explosives which are far better and won't hurt you in the process.

• Once the explosion is used, its melee power drops drastically, only allowing you to deal about 35 damage per hit. Never rely on it in a close combat situation.

• If planning a Kamikaze approach, try Sticky Jumping in on a group of enemies before using the Ullapool Caber as a finisher.

See also

• Community Demoman strategy
• Demoman match-ups
• Team strategy