Community Doomsday strategy

Community Doomsday strategy
Basic Information
Developer(s):	Unknown
Map Info
Environment:	Desert
Setting:	Daylight, sunny
Hazards:	Pitfall, Rocket exhaust path
Map Photos

This article is about Community Doomsday strategy.

General (All Classes)

• Special Delivery requires teams to be flexible, and switch between offensive and defensive gameplay depending on the current owner of the Australium. It is a good idea to have a good balance of offensive and defensive classes, and to be willing to switch classes between lives to better assist your team.
• The Australium carrier should be the defensive team's primary target, as their objective should always be to get the Australium reset; however, it is important not to lose track of other valuable members of the enemy team, especially Medics and players who could get in your team's way later on.
• The Australium carrier is particularly vulnerable when riding the lift, as they have nowhere to run from an attack. Killing the Australium carrier at this point can be enough to seriously set back the offensive team's progress.
  • To counter this, the offensive team should try to get as many players as possible onto the lift, both to provide firepower and to act as human shields; the Australium carrier can also crouch close to the rocket to reduce their exposed surface area, provided there are no Snipers with a line of sight to this point — if the other team has Snipers, the Australium carrier should keep moving as much as possible.
  • An equally viable tactic for the team trying to deliver is to have only the carrier (and possibly a bodyguard) on the lift while his teammates try to occupy and hold the high ground around the rocket, gunning down any enemy trying to ascend the ridge to get a clear shot at the carrier. Watch for divebombing Soldiers, Demomen lobbing their explosives on top of the lift from below and Pyros that can airblast the Australium carrier off of it if they manage to get to the top.
• The majority of the fighting on this map will take place in a large multi-level area around the rocket. Control of the high ground that the ridge overlooking the lift provides is crucial; it's very difficult to deliver the Australium if the enemy can attack its carrier freely from a high vantage point.
• Both teams should apply a lot of pressure on enemy Snipers, as they can easily ruin your progress if left alone. Have your Scouts, Spies and Flare Gun Pyros constantly harass their known locations to kill them off or force them into hiding in spawn (all the best sniping spots are near the spawn exits).
• The Australium carrier should always try to travel with at least one "buddy", to defend him and to pick up the Australium in the event of his death. The Buddy might want to keep his distance or take an alternative route to avoid being killed as well.
• Snipers will often use the path between their spawn point and the Australium drop site as a safe place from which to snipe at players on or around the lift, which can be devastating to either team. This is a very good spot for an ambush—hide in the corner, where players exiting the spawn point cannot see you, and then take them out from behind. Spies equipped with the Cloak and Dagger can land a few easy backstabs while hanging out in this area.
• Much of the strategy for Capture the Flag and Payload maps also applies to Special Delivery; many of the same tactics may be useful in this case.

Class-specific strategy

 Scout

• The Scout can be a good class for carrying the Australium, due to his speed and agility. A Scout can get the Australium to the rocket faster than any other class, at the expense of health.
• When carrying the Australium, a Scout should utilise his increased mobility to try and escape conflict, rather than attempting to engage his attacker—his low health and firepower mean it is a battle he is likely to lose.
• Staying on the lift is quite difficult for a Scout due to his low health, but his small frame and good speed can make him a hard target for Snipers, while the ability to perform double jumps can save him from rockets and bombs by jumping from the platform at the right moment with the first jump and back to it with the second, or just using it to jump back and forth.
• An alternative is to pickup the Australium, bring it to the rocket, then drop the Australium (default press L) to give it to a teammate with more health like a Heavy or Soldier.

 Soldier

• The Soldier is one of the slower classes, so it may take more defending to deliver the Australium as a Soldier. However, his high health gives him staying power, allowing him to take more of an assault on the way to the lift.
• To make up for the lack of speed, rocket jumping can be used to great advantage — it may therefore be useful to equip the Gunboats to counter the health loss (but not the Rocket Jumper, as it prevents its user from carrying the Australium). However, this comes at the expense of the Shotgun, which can be a useful alternative to the Rocket Launcher in the open spaces around the lift.
  • Rocket jumping also allows a Soldier to deposit the Australium in the top of the rocket without waiting for the lift once its lid has been opened, which may be useful if the other team already opened the lid or if your team's progress was reset at the last minute.
• When on the lift, the Soldier can be a very strong class. His rockets' high damage, large splash radius, and strong knockback make them useful defensive weapons when crouching on the lift, though you need to be precise with them. Spamming the ground with rockets from here is a good tactic, if there are no Snipers on the enemy team or they can't hit you.
• Defensively, the Soldier can also be useful. The Rocket Launcher's high damage and large splash radius make it useful for damaging everyone on the lift at once, including the Australium carrier. Even more important is the knockback provided, which can push the carrier off the lift.
• The Australium carrier will probably keep moving as much as possible, often erratically, when not on the lift, so the Rocket Launcher is less useful against him — consider using a hitscan weapon such as the Shotgun at medium-to-close range.
• Since this map is based around a large open space, your rockets, if you are in a proper position, can damage enemy Engineers' buildings from outside the range of his Sentry Guns.
• Rockets are less effective against other players, though, since they will see the projectiles coming and can easily dodge them, avoiding splash damage due to the open space. Therefore, this map tends to require Soldiers to get quite close to their targets. Rocket launchers with faster-moving projectiles, such as the Liberty Launcher or the Direct Hit can also be helpful (although the Direct Hit's lack of splash damage is a definite downside).

 Pyro

• Afterburn can be useful against the Australium carrier, allowing long-term damage to be inflicted, even after only short engagement or your own death. It can also be used as part of a co-ordinated team effort, to set up an ambush at the nearest Health pack or pool of water. It is less effective on the lift, since the lift heals all riders from the Australium carrier's team during its ascent.
• The Flamethrower's wide damage radius can damage the Australium carrier and anyone defending him, making it a good tool to dispatch of them all at once and avoid the Australium being picked up again straight away.
• Offensively, the Flamethrower can be less useful, as players on the defence will probably keep their distance. Rather than carrying the Australium, try sneaking up on defensive players using the Backburner or the Degreaser/Axtinguisher combo to clear the carrier's path. This is especially useful against enemy Snipers.
• Utilizing the compression blast to push the Australium carrier off the lift can turn an assured victory into a plummet back to square one. It is also very useful to protect yourself and your teammates on the lift, both from projectiles and from enemies jumping onto it.
• The Scorch Shot can ignite every enemy on the lift at once from a safe distance. Its knockback may also be enough to knock the Australium carrier off the lift, resetting his progress (and possibly causing fall damage if the lift is quite high).

 Demoman

• Stickybombs around the lift and on the side of the rocket are an obvious strategy when on the defence, but usually effective. They can blow up an unprepared Australium carrier and his buddies, or stall the carrier's progress while the bombs are disposed of with the Shotgun. Note that you can't put the stickybombs on the moving lift, but you can put them on the rocket itself. It is also a good idea to shoot the stickybombs and grenades upwards, almost directly from underneath the lift at the top, thus staying protected from the enemies above while damaging them.
• The speed boost provided by charging with a shield such as the Chargin' Targe can be handy when carrying the Australium to the lift, but the Demoman's lack of direct weaponry makes him a weak class overall for carrying the Australium.
• Sticky jumping can provide a speed boost to get the Australium to the lift faster, or can be used to bypass the lift entirely if the lid of the rocket is already open. This comes at the expense of more health than the Soldier's rocket jump, however.

 Heavy

• The Heavy's health is the highest in the game, giving him staying power as an Australium carrier, and his Minigun makes a strong weapon in the event of an attack. However, this is countered by his slow speed, especially when spun up, and the Heavy tends to be more useful in a supporting role.
• Offensively, the Heavy can use his health and firepower to his advantage, without worrying about his speed, by standing on the lift and defending the Australium carrier.
• Defensively, the Heavy is very good at clearing the lift by standing on one of the raised platforms nearby and spamming it with his Minigun (which does not require reloading). However, this leaves him vulnerable, both to Spies trying to land an easy backstab and to Snipers.

 Engineer

• Doomsday is not the easiest map for a classic, Wrench-using Engineer, due to its small size and wide open spaces. However, a level 3 Sentry Gun on one of the raised platforms near the Australium pickup point is enough to dispatch of any enemy who may attempt to pick it up, leaving it clear for members of your team at the start of the round or when the Australium is reset.
• Another good place for a sentry when playing defensively is on one of the raised platforms near the lift, especially shielded by one of the doorways, from where it can easily fire at any enemy standing on the lift. However, it is likely to take significant damage here, so an Engineer will need to be proactive defending it, and stay nearby to repair it at short notice, all while dodging Snipers.
• Gunslinger Engineers, on the other hand, thrive on this map, as the easily replacable Mini-Sentry Guns deployed in the open space around the lift can cover a very large area and score plenty of kills and assists on the many distracted enemies trying to ascend and wrestle control of the area from you. The intense action will make sure there's usually plenty of dropped weapons lying around, so you should have enough metal to replace lost Sentry Guns regularly. Expect to become a high-value target, though, as the little things can be a real nuisance to the enemy when used well.
• If he can get away with it, it can be useful for an Engineer to place a Teleporter entrance by the Australium and an exit by the lift. These are both highly-contested areas, so the Teleporters are unlikely to stay around for long, but it can be just long enough to get the Australium carrier through, thereby bypassing a large portion of the map. This is more effective if other players on the team actively defend both ends of the Teleporter.

 Medic

• Used correctly, a Medic can be very useful to his team. Offensively, healing the Australium carrier is obviously a good choice, as he tends to be the most important player on the team at any one moment. The frequency with which the Australium carrier is likely to be attacked will increase the rate at which you can build your ÜberCharge, at the expense of putting yourself at more risk.
• If you do get an ÜberCharge, it cannot be used on the Australium Carrier. You can make up for this by deploying your ÜberCharge on a player on the lift, who can defend the Australium carrier during the ascent, while using his invulnerability to act as a human shield.
• Defensively, the usual tactic of buddying with a Heavy, a Soldier, or a Demoman can be very useful to the team, and a well-deployed ÜberCharge can set back the offensive team significantly, or even reset the Australium.

 Sniper

• The Sniper is very good at defending the Australium pickup point — the raised platforms provide a good position from which to land an easy headshot, and anyone wanting to pick up the Australium will have to pass the same point.
• It can also be easy to pick off the Australium carrier with a headshot from one of the raised platforms near the lift.
• The elevated path from the far spawn exit to the Australium pickup point provides a good place to snipe from, but you need to be aware of your surroundings and very cautious since it's not protected from enemies in any way. Either the SMG or the Jarate/Bushwhacka combo can protect you somewhat from nearby enemies, while your team's spawn room is not too far away to run to avoid ranged attackers.
• The Machina can be extra-useful on Doomsday. Since it can penetrate the enemy, you can use it to kill both the Australium carrier and his buddies to prevent the latter from picking up the Australium; it can be fairly simple when they're all bunched up on the lift's platform, as they can't move around much. However, trying to line up your shots for penetration kills should not happen at the expense of taking down the carrier as quickly as possible.

 Spy

• The Spy can be the both teams' primary defence against Snipers, who are most likely to be found on one of the raised platforms near the Australium pickup point or the lift, depending on the stage of the game, or on the path between their base and the Australium pickup point.
• Another use for the Spy is cloaking on the lift and landing a well-timed backstab on the Australium carrier (the Cloak and Dagger is useful for this). This is a risky strategy, though, as the inevitable firefight that will ensue at this point in the game is very likely to reveal the Spy. Land the backstab fast, before you are discovered.
• If his team is on the offensive, a Spy can be handy to dispatch of high-firepower classes like the Heavy or the Soldier, who are likely to be concentrating on the lift rather than watching their backs. The passageways leading from ground level up to these platforms are seldom-used, and make it easier to go unnoticed, as well as providing a place to quietly recharge the Cloak and Dagger.
• You can try to dispatch of the entire enemy team at the beginning of the round by running around the central tower and going to the Australium pickup point through the enemy's entrance. This is a risky strategy, as you are likely to be overwhelmed as soon as you are discovered, due to the large number of enemies and the small space. The Dead Ringer could help you here, and Your Eternal Reward can make you harder to spot in the first place by allowing you to quietly take the place of the players at the back of the group if used well.
• Spies are not the best classes for carrying the Australium, as doing so renders their main assets — their Cloak and disguises — basically useless. However, Spies have better speed than the Soldier or the Heavy, and their Cloak (especially the Cloak and Dagger) can allow them to lie in wait for the Australium without being picked off by an enemy Sniper, a strategy that should be considered if the other team has multiple Snipers camping by the Australium pickup point.