User:TheJohns
MvM Assessments
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Scout |
 Excellent money collector
|
| 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.
|
 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 less efficient than the Scattergun.
|
 Shortstop |
|
 Soda Popper |
Back when the Soda Popper gave mini-crits, it was useful for harassing and just adding more damage. Now, getting multiple jumps is not a useful bonus for MvM, except possibly for collecting money in high places. Its reduced clip and the fact that it does less damage the FaN and doesn't have its pushback means that the FaN outclasses it in both utility and damage.
|
 Baby Face's Blaster |
The Baby Face's Blaster is easy to charge up in MvM and once charged, the Scout becomes even more effective at collecting money and circle strafing giants. Although you lose boost from taking damage, you can just as easily refill it. Even uncharged, the reduced speed at zero boosts is not a big deal, although it may make a difference in getting all the cash or not. The reduced clip size makes the Blaster slightly weaker offensively compared to the Scattergun, but is not a huge loss.
|
 Back Scatter |
While being able to mini-crit enemies from behind can add to the Scout's damage output, the opportunity to utilize this is not consistent and sometimes rare, especially if you do not have any other front-liners on your team, not to mention it overlaps with other mini-crit sources like Jarate and the Buff Banner. Overall, the Scattergun is better suited for offensive builds.
|
 Pistol |
The Scout rarely needs a Pistol in MvM. Not only are there far better secondary choices, its ability to harass at long range is not necessary due to healing from collecting money and is overshadowed by a Scattergun with Projectile Penetration.
|
 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.
|
 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.
|
 Crit-a-Cola |
Gives the Scout more damage and is one of the only sources of mini-crits against Tanks. However, the increased vulnerability while active is very dangerous for Scouts, and is much more limited in its versatility 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. It speed can also aid in last-second money collecting, although it's risky in crowded areas without protection.
|
 Winger |
While slightly better than the Pistol due to its passive jump height boost, it is still heavily outclassed by other secondaries in usefulness.
|
 Bat |
A very standard melee weapon that doesn't provide anything particularly useful. Stick to your primary for damage.
|
 Fan O'War |
Mark for death is a very powerful debuff against giants. 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.
|
 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.
|
 Wrap Assassin |
Offers zero advantages comparable to the Fan O'War and the Sandman. Even with multiple bauble, the best you can do with them is slightly damage a few robots, which other weapons are far better at.
|
Somewhat limited early game
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Soldier |
High AoE damage
|
| 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.
|
 Direct Hit |
The Direct Hit makes the Soldier better at destroying high-profile targets, but reduces his effectiveness against crowds of robots. With the Rocket Specialist upgrade, the Soldier becomes very effective at slowing down a giant at longer ranges, although the increased blast radius matters little, even when maxed out. Note that although it has a damage bonus, it can only be upgraded 3 times, thus putting it even with the other primaries late game.
|
 Black Box |
The Black Box gives the Soldier more survivability, which improves as you upgrade the Black Box. Its disadvantage becomes almost trivial as you upgrade clip size.
|
 Cow Mangler 5000 |
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 for other upgrades. 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 tough waves and Tanks. The alt-fire charge shot also useless, since it uses up all the ammo regardless of clip size.
|
 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 since you can't gain ammo from dispensers, range deviation can be problematic if you are trying to focus on a single target, and the Begger's Bazooka requires a lot of money to reach its peak.
|
 Liberty Launcher |
The extra rocket is a small bonus, but the damage penalty is a significant drawback to the Liberty Launcher. However, some of that can be mitigated with Rocket Specialist, allowing you to deal good damage even from far distances, as long as you get a direct hit. Combining the projectile speed bonus from both the Liberty Launcher and Rocket Specialist, you can very easily get constant direct shots, even against Snipers, and unlike the Direct Hit, you will deal a lot of splash damage with it. This bonus does not apply against Tanks, however.
|
 Air Strike |
The Air Strike starts off slightly weaker than the standard rocket launcher due to its weaker rockets, but it can become devastating after a few upgrades. The fact that you can upgrade its clip size easily in MvM makes it less dependent on clip size upgrades, allowing you to focus on other upgrades first. When combined with the B.A.S.E. Jumper, you can easily take advantage of its huge firing speed boost while rocket jumping, allowing you to fire more rockets than any other primaries in bursts, out-damaging even the Begger's Bazooka in some cases. This is significantly less effective without the B.A.S.E. Jumper, however, which means as a downside you will have to sacrifice your Buff Banner to utilize it at its fullest.
|
 Shotgun |
There are almost no cases where the Shotgun is preferred over the Rocket Launcher, and it provides zero support capabilities unlike the Buff Banner and its cousins.
|
 Buff Banner |
The Buff Banner is extremely effective in MvM. 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 generally the most useful out of the three. It is one of the most accessible source of mini-crits in general, and practically the only source of mini-crits against Tanks.
|
 Battalion's Backup |
The damage resistance and the passive HP bonus aids you and your team's survivability, and makes crit-boosted robots a much lower threat for a few seconds. While not as generally useful as mini-crits, in certain missions where crit-boosted robots come by the dozen, it can come in very handy. Be sure to check ahead and see when the dangerous robots are coming.
|
 Concheror |
While not as all-purpose as the Buff Banner nor as convenient as the Mad Milk, the healing and speed boost it provides can improve your team's survivability for a few monents, as long as it's used ahead of time. If there is another Soldier with a Buff Banner, you can use the Concheror to supplement your team's offense better.
|
 Righteous Bison |
|
 B.A.S.E. Jumper |
By itself, the B.A.S.E. Jumper makes you more safe against certain robots such as Pyros or Spies, and much less against Snipers. However, it does not provide any form of support to your team, making it much less appealing to have equipped. The B.A.S.E. Jumper does have a niche in that it synergizes with the Air Strike extremely well, turning a decent weapon into an incredible one. In general, it should only be considered if you are going to use the Air Strike.
|
 Shovel |
The Shovel is already one of the worse vanilla melee weapons in TF2, and is even less useful in MvM.
|
 Escape Plan |
The Soldier doesn't have many good choices for a Melee, but the Escape Plan is one of the more useful ones, allowing you to escape and recover between waves of robots more quickly. Unfortunately, it makes you take mini-crits while it's out, making it much less effective from running away from robots while they are still alive.
|
 Equalizer |
|
 Disciplinary Action |
The Disciplinary Action helps you get to key areas faster, but requires a teammates nearby to hit in order to speed you up. Since the Soldier rarely needs his Melee, it is better than most other Melee weapons thanks to its utility.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Pyro |
Can Airblast
|
| 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.
|
 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.
|
 Backburner |
Although the Pyro will be drawing much of the attention since he's closest to the front lines, crit damage is beneficial if you can get behind a robot. The increased airblast ammo cost means the Pyro ability to stall is less effective. The Backburner is more suited for Pyros leaning towards the offensive, but still want to airblast when the situation calls for it.
|
 Phlogistinator |
While it's easy to charge the "Mmmph" meter, the activation can potentially save your life, and is a very cheap way to obtain Crits, you are sacrificing airblast for it, and much of your utility with it. Although the Pyro has strong damage potential, you need a lot of money in order to reach that peak. Unless you have another Pyro with airblast, not recommended on harder missions.
|
Shotgun |
|
 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 90 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.
|
 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. Flare jumping rarely comes in handy in MvM, and can be outperformed by jump upgrades.
|
 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.
|
 Scorch Shot |
|
 Fire Axe |
Similar to how Pyros rarely use the vanilla Axe in the base game, the Axe has no practical purpose in MvM.
|
 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.
|
 Back Scratcher |
If you find yourself relying on health packs more than you do from Medics or Dispensers, the Back Scratcher is a very good weapon to have. The bonus damage is also a plus, and it may be stronger than the Flamethrower in some situations.
|
 Powerjack |
While deployed, it increases the Pyro's movement speed, which is important if a Pyro needs to reach an objective fast. As long as it's used in a safe area, the increased damage taken should not be a problem. The Powerjack is best used for Pyros who rely on other weapons for damage.
|
 Third Degree |
While its use is limited, it does have one trick: If crit boosted, it will eliminate a Medic in one hit. Although extremely risky, you can use this tactic 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.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Demoman |
High AoE damage
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
 Grenade Launcher |
If you plan on using your Grenade Launcher as your main weapon, its functionality is similar to the Rocket Launcher. You can use it behind cover more effectively than the Rocket Launcher, but it's ineffective at longer ranges. Combine with the Chargin' Targe and you got a slightly more durable and faster Soldier. Its use as a sidearm diminishes as you upgrade the Sticky Launcher.
|
 Loch-n-Load |
The downsides to the Loch-n-Load hurts its effectiveness significantly in MvM. It can't be used to "spray and pray" while taking cover since it shatters on surface contact and it's less effective offensively due to its reduced clip size and blast radius. Its advantages does very little in MvM; projectile speed is a negligible advantage and bonus damage vs. buildings too situational to take advantage of.
|
 Loose Cannon |
The damage reduction after contact on surface and reduced detonation time makes it more difficult and less reliable as an AoE weapon, but the knockback is a very valuable asset. It's easier to knockback with the Loose Cannon than with other explosive weapons, and it can be used to push back giants and Ubered robots when needed. Its utility makes it a strong sidearm to the Sticky Launcher.
|
 Iron Bomber |
|
B.A.S.E. Jumper |
Unlike the Soldier who would prefer a Buff Banner to support his teammates, the Demoman doesn't have much of a reason not to use the B.A.S.E. Jumper. It gives the Demoman more safety against melee-range robots, but less against Snipers. However, sticky jumping is not as convenient as rocket jumping with either stickybomb launchers. Overall, if you don't rely on grenade launchers for damage, it might be of some use in certain situations.
|
 Ali Baba's Wee Booties |
The Booties is a good item to have if you plan on relying exclusively on your Sticky Launcher, as it gives you a slight boost to your health and movement speed in exchange for a weapon you don't plan on using. On the other hand, on a Demoknight setup, this means that you have no ranged capabilities whatsoever, which makes the Demoknight helpless against melee-oriented giants and overall reduces your survivability due to a riskier playstyle.
|
 Stickybomb Launcher |
The Sticky Launcher is a very effective weapon in MvM mode. It is a powerful AoE weapon especially with upgrades, and it can be prepped between waves of robots to deal massive damage in an area. It uses Crit canteens very efficiently, and it eliminates Uber Medics very effectively.
|
 Scottish Resistance |
Just as powerful as the Sticky Launcher, but even more effective at defense. The extra sticky bombs deployable allows for even better sticky carpets, and the ability to selectively detonate bombs makes it less wasteful. The bonus firing speed also saves some money on upgrades. However, the longer priming time makes it harder to use when under pressure or in succession.
|
 Quickiebomb Launcher |
The Quickiebomb Launcher allows you to play more offensively thanks to its faster arm time and charge speed, but sacrifices damage and clip size for it. However, you cannot use it to create a critical sticky bomb carpet pre-round, which prevents you from opening with a large amount of damage, especially against Tanks. Overall, the disadvantages slightly outweigh its advantages, but is still useable in MvM.
|
 Chargin' Targe |
Equipping the Chargin' Targe means you are sacrificing the very powerful Sticky Launcher, but it does come with its own benefits. The extra resistances provided helps the Demoman survive longer, and the charge can be used to get in or get out of fights quickly. Having the Chargin' Targe equipped lets you upgrade your melee weapon damage.
|
 Splendid Screen |
Same as the Chargin' Targe, except with weaker resistances. Typically shield bash is rarely used as a main source of damage, which makes its advantage mainly useless.
|
 Tide Turner |
While it doesn't provide as much resistances as the Targe, its charge is a lot more maneuverable, letting you go around corners at high speeds much easily. While it's not much of a bonus if you are relying on your Grenade Launcher, it can be potentially deadly as a Demoknight when used with the Claidheamh Mòr, allowing for hit-and-run tactics with its charge refill.
|
 Bottle |
As a non-Demoknight, you will rarely be using your melee. Most other melee weapons come with passive penalties, so the Bottle is a good choice since it has none.
|
 Ullapool Caber |
The Ullapool Caber has no passive penalties like the Bottle, and the explosion can be used in emergency situations, including when dying might actually be beneficial.
|
 Eyelander |
The standard Demoknight weapon. The main drawback of the Eyelander is its weak start, in both that you need kills to offset its health penalty and you need invest a significant amount of money on both the weapon and your resistances. But once you are able to rack up kills and keep them, the Demoman becomes a fast and tanky melee character. It's recommended to start with the Half-Zatoichi and use your refund to upgrade the Eyelander instead of starting out with it.
|
 Half-Zatoichi |
Unlike the Eyelander, the Half-Zatoichi has a much easier early game. The heal on kill saves money as the health on kill is not a requirement early on, and it lacks a health penalty. The Honorbound mechanic is not a big drawback, as kills are plentiful in MvM.
|
 Claidheamh Mòr |
|
 Scotsman's Skullcutter |
|
 Persian Persuader |
Robots do not drop metal on death, making the primary benefit of the Persuader largely moot. It only means ammo packs serve as additional medkits to the Demoman, but not being able to restock ammo without dying or retreating to spawn means the Demoman has greatly reduced staying power. Even when played as a Demoknight, the other melee weapons have better advantages and the faster charge recharge time is not very useful.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Heavy |
Consistent damage
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
 Minigun |
The Heavy's Minigun deals heavy damage to multiple robots as long as you have ammo for it. Even when it doesn't kill a robot, it's perfect for softening up other robots for other classes to finish off. With crits or mini-crits, it can even be used at longer ranged effectively. The standard minigun is strong, but the other primaries have bonuses more suitable for MvM.
|
 Brass Beast |
Most Heavies in MvM use this. The bonus damage is a very strong bonus, especially since the Heavy can't upgrade the damage of his Minigun. The reduced spin-up time and movement speed while spun up hardly matters in MvM where you're often sitting in one spot and firing constant, not to mention the damage reduction it provides while spinning will keep you alive longer.
|
 Natascha |
The slowdown effect on the Natascha slows advancing waves of robots to a crawl, and it is the best possible weapon against Super Scouts. While it's great for buying time, its reduced damage is a significant penalty, especially against Tanks, which are immune to its slowdown effects. The damage reduction while spinning is also a nice bonus to this weapon as well.
|
 Huo-Long Heater |
The ring of fire adds a very slight boost to your damage at point blank range and fend off Spies, but opportunities to use this are limited. It also chews up ammo very fast, even with extra ammo upgrades, which makes the Heavy require constant ammo restocking, which means the Heavy can be at a major disadvantage when a dispenser is destroyed.
|
 Tomislav |
The Tomislav is generally outclassed by the other primaries. Faster spin-up time and better accuracy are not as effective in MvM and it sacrifices firing speed for it, something better suited for MvM.
|
Shotgun |
Once you upgrade your Minigun even a little bit, there is no reason to use a Shotgun. Even without upgrades, the Minigun is far better in any situation.
|
 Sandvich |
The Heavy's best secondary, but mainly because his other choices have little use. The Sandvich allows you to survive a little longer when you need to, but only if you can find the time to eat it.
|
 Dalokohs Bar |
The health boost from the Dalokohs Bar lets you survive longer, especially if there is no Medic on your team overhealing you. If you don't find yourself retreating to eat a Sandvich often, it may be better to use this instead.
|
 Fists |
|
 Gloves of Running Urgently |
Getting to the front line ASAP is very important for the Heavy, so naturally the G.R.U. is a very good melee for the Heavy to have. Its penalties are mainly superficial, but try to unequip it as soon as possible.
|
 Fists of Steel |
Since the path from spawn to the front lines are almost always safe, the Fists of Steel is best used to retreat safely. Another thing the Fists of Steel can do is to let the Heavy take on a gimmicky "pure tank" role, due to how large the damage reduction is in addition to more resistances.
|
 Holiday Punch |
Robots are immune to laughter, making its main gimmick useless.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Engineer |
Practically a requirement in MvM
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
Shotgun |
On the rare occasion your Sentry isn't taking heavy fire, the Shotgun can squeeze in a bit of damage. However, the Engineer's Pistol and other primaries are better at this.
|
 Frontier Justice |
Your Sentry will be doing most of the work, which means the Frontier Justice will rack up revenge crits very fast. You can easily gain revenge crits between waves. If you can manage to upgrade this slightly, the Engineer himself can deal tons of damage effectively.
|
| Pomsom 6000 [[Pomsom 6000|Template:Dictionary/items/pomsom 6000]] |
|
 Widowmaker |
The Widowmaker is suitable for a more combat-oriented Engineer, especially if you're using a Gunslinger. It is extremely cheap to upgrade, and as long as he's near a Dispenser and is frequently close enough to his targets, it will practically never run out of ammo.
|
 Rescue Ranger |
The Rescue Ranger is a very versatile weapon, allowing you to repair your Sentry Gun from a safe spot and save your Sentry Gun from being destroyed at long range. As long as you're smart with when and where to haul your buildings, the Mark on Death shouldn't be a problem.
|
Pistol |
As a regular Engineer, you will likely be too busy looking after your Sentry Gun to use the Pistol regularly. For Gunslinger Engineers, it's an excellent sidearm in cases where you're trying to conserve your primary or attack at longer ranges where it's safer.
|
 Wrangler |
If you won't be using the Pistol regularly, the Wrangler is great choice. It allows your Sentry Gun to deal damage outside of its range, focus down a giant or Tank, and can even be used to protect it against waves of incoming projectiles.
|
 Short Circuit |
The Short Circuit's ability to destroy projectiles can shut down certain robots, but requires a lot of metal to do it constantly. When your Sentry isn't taking too much heat, you can take our your Short Circuit to eliminate incoming projectiles for yourself or your teammates.
|
 Wrench |
The Engineer's best tool. You'll be constantly repairing your buildings, so you will have your Wrench out almost all the time. It can also be used to fend off enemy Spies.
|
 Jag |
The Jag has a slight advantage where you're trying to reconstruct your buildings as soon as you can without spending money on Upgrade Buildings canteens. As a downside, keeping the Sentry from being destroyed is harder due to the reduced repair rate.
|
 Eureka Effect |
The ability to teleport to the spawn zone or your exit teleporter lets you reinforce your defenses around the map more effectively, allowing you to restock metal quickly or defend your buildings if you have to be away from them. However, the significantly slower build time makes rebuilding your defenses harder if your Sentry gets destroyed and it's possible to run out of metal over extended engagements, especially when you don't have metal capacity upgraded. While you'll have to rely on Instant Build canteens more to rebuild your defenses, teleportation can be a very useful tool when utilized at the right moments.
|
 Gunslinger |
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Medic |
Heals his teammates
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
 Syringe Gun |
As a way to deal damage, the Syringe Gun is only useful in emergency situations. Once you get the Mad Milk upgrade, it can be worth it to switch from your secondary to apply Mad Milk, giving your teammates more survivability.
|
 Crusader's Crossbow |
You will rarely be using your primary as the Medic, but the Crusader's Crossbow has some uses. Its long range allows you to harass enemy Snipers, and the occasional heal if you aim is good enough. However, you cannot get the Mad Milk upgrade on it, and is more suited for direct combat than as a supportive weapon.
|
 Overdose |
Since the Overdose is the only primary with a passive effect, it alone makes it superior to the Syringe Gun or the Blutsauger. It can be used to get to your teammates faster when needed. The damage penalty matters little, since you will be using it primarily for Mad Milk and not damage.
|
 Medi Gun |
As the Medic, you will almost always be healing your teammates. The Medi Gun's Ubercharge can be very useful in situations where it's almost impossible to survive a group of robots.
|
 Kritzkrieg |
The Kritzkrieg's Ubercharge is often more useful than the Medi Gun's Ubercharge in many cases. Damage is in constant demand especially against giants and Tanks, and 10+ seconds of crit boost is very powerful. Invulnerability can be substituted with Uber canteens, which are cheaper than Crit Boost canteens anyway.
|
 Quick-Fix |
The Quick-Fix's Ubercharge is the least useful out of the other Mediguns in MvM. While the Quick-Fix's Ubercharge heals fast, it won't prevent lethal burst damage like the Medigun's Ubercharge. However, it has its own niche in reviving teammates extremely fast when healing with the Ubercharge.
|
 Vaccinator |
|
 Bonesaw |
|
 Ubersaw |
If you can find the opportunity to use it, the Ubersaw lets you fill your Ubercharge meter faster, and Ubers are very valuable in MvM. The difficulty is in finding a lone robot to melee and being able to retreat safely to keep your Ubercharge.
|
 Vita-Saw |
If you are worried or are constantly dying and lack opportunities to use your Ubersaw, the Vita-Saw at least "insures" your Ubercharge a bit. The max health penalty can be problematic, however.
|
 Amputator |
The passive bonus to health regen alone makes the Amputator worth taking, since you will not be relying it on damage. It is better than the Ubersaw if you never find yourself with the opportunity to charge your Uber with it. There are very few cases when it's better to use Medicating Melody instead of healing regularly, as it leaves you immobile and vulnerable and doesn't charge your Uber.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Sniper |
Has Jarate
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
 Sniper Rifle |
The hardest thing about using the Sniper Rifle is landing headshots consistently, and is not as effective against regular robots. If you can find an easy target (i.e. giants & certain Heavy bots), the Sniper Rifle is a powerful single-target weapon. With Explosive Headshots is purchased, said slow robots serve as a beacon for your headshots, severely damaging every robot near it, enough to kill a wave of Scouts and heavily damage any other class. It's also the best anti-Sniper weapon, allowing you to quickly dispatch enemy Snipers without having to get close.
|
 Machina |
In MvM, the Machina's advantages often outweigh its penalties. The bonus damage on full charge means it's even more effective against giants, and the built-in penetration can be handy at times. Even Giant Heavies can be taken down with a few fully charged headshots from the Machina. Tracers have no effect on robots, and the Machina's inability to fire unscoped is a situational weakness, in cases where you want to fire shots rapidly (i.e. when using a Crit Boost canteen to rapidly shoot a Tank).
|
 Huntsman |
The Huntsman's biggest flaw is that it does not give Explosive Headshots, greatly reducing the Sniper's ability to clear a wave of robots, which Bleed hardly compensates for. It is generally harder to use in MvM because while it may take down a weak robot with one bodyshot, Explosive Headshot takes care of multiple weak robots much more effectively, plus it makes getting headshots harder since it's a projectile.
|
 Sydney Sleeper |
The Sydney Sleeper sacrifices headshot damage for long-range mini-crits. This means while the Sniper loses much of his own anti-Giant potential, it gives his teammates more damage against them. While this can be accomplished with Jarate itself, sometimes there will be cases when you can't throw a Jarate at your target, plus a target you are focusing on will have Jarate permanently applied to them. Despite not being able to headshot, can oddly use Explosive Headshots, but only if it's at least half-charged, which means the Sniper's ability to clear groups of robots is somewhat diminished.
|
 Hitman's Heatmaker |
Explosive Headshots makes filling the Focus meter trivial, the faster charge rate while focused further increases your DPS against giants and no unscoping means you can rapid-fire headshots. The reduced body shot damage is often not a big deal, as long as you have competent aim.
|
 Bazaar Bargain |
Because the Bazaar Bargain no longer loses heads on a miss, it has become more accessible than ever. After killing a few weak robots with a headshots, it will charge twice as fast at full power, which can increase your DPS even more than the other primaries, especially against the slow Giants. However, the Bazaar Bargain still requires some skill in the player's part, particularly building up those head counts and keeping them by staying alive. The drawback is not very significant, but it means dispatching slower but smaller targets is a bit harder.
|
 Classic |
While the ability to charge without zooming and it being able to fire without unscoping is convenient, it is unfortunately unable to use Explosive Headshots without a full charge, which means it not only cripples the Sniper's group-clearing potential, it makes misses even more costly. It also has weaker bodyshot damage, making the Classic even less favorable to use.
|
 SMG |
|
 Jarate |
The undisputed best secondary for the Sniper. It applies mini-crits in an AoE to robots, something the Scout can't do to multiple targets and the Soldier requiring some time to charge and deploy it. It also can be upgraded with a 35% slow, making it useful for both stalling and possibly getting an easier shot.
|
 Cozy Camper |
The Cozy Camper can make aiming easier in cases where your aim is being constantly harassed, such as a wave of Heavies firing at you at long range, and the health regeneration increases your longevity slightly. However, your survivability is significantly reduced, and you are sacrificing Jarate for it.
|
 Cleaner's Carbine |
|
 Kukri |
|
 Bushwacka |
The Bushwacka lets Sniper deal some heavy melee damage at situations where you won't be able to snipe effectively, when combined with the Jarate. It is risky to actually use this weapon, however, due it the increase damage taken while deployed.
|
 Tribalman's Shiv |
On one hand, you are slightly better against Spies. On the other hand, the reduced damage makes it weaker against everything else. It's especially worse against Tanks, and makes the Sniper even weaker against Tanks early game.
|
 Shahanshah |
In the base game, the Shahanshah is used to give you an edge against an enemy that hasn't finished you off. In MvM, walking around with <50% health is practically a death sentence, and the Sniper has no reason to go on a rampage with a Melee weapon.
|
| Class | Assessment |
|---|---|
 Spy |
Versatile role
|
| Weapon | Assessment |
 Revolver |
|
 Enforcer |
Because the Enforcer's damage bonus only works while disguised, there's almost no use for this bonus in MvM, as backstabbing is much more effective.
|
 L'Etranger |
Since the Spy's primary is not utilized very often in MvM, the L'Etranger's passive bonus to cloak duration makes it a very good primary choice, especially considering that taking damage reduces the Dead Ringer's cloak duration.
|
 Diamondback |
With the Diamondback, you can save up a lot of crits if you can manage to survive a backstabbing spree. You can use these crits to deal some damage to a giant that's very hard to approach or to tanks.
|
 Knife |
|
 Big Earner |
The Big Earner is an extremely powerful melee choice for the Spy. The Big Earner fills a half-charged watch to full with 2 backstabs, which means it has excellent synergy with the Dead Ringer. The speed boost after a backstab is very useful as well.
|
 Conniver's Kunai |
Robots are unable to see through your disguise, so the health penalty doesn't matter much as long as you don't walk into enemy fire. The bonus health on backstab gives the Spy a better chance at escaping alive. Despite this, the Big Earner is still a superior weapon in most cases.
|
 Spy-cicle |
The Spy-cicle offers very little practical advantages in MvM. While it may save you from a random Pyro attack, it means that you can't backstab for some time and become forced to retreat, and it may be faster to just die instead.
|
 Dead Ringer |
The only watch to use for MvM. Robots are always fooled by disguises, and the Dead Ringer allows you to escape safely after the next group of robots discover you, and they are always fooled by Feign Death. The short period of near-invulnerability while cloaked lets you pick up money at a location that's too dangerous. Other watches don't compare to Feign Death in MvM.
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