Aerial

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Screamin' Eagles! Click to listen — The Soldier on sending foes to their midair death

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A Soldier hits a rocket-jumping Soldier in mid-flight to prevent him from gaining any more height. Ideally, the player would follow this up with 2-3 shots from his Shotgun during the now-slowed descent of the enemy Soldier

An aerial, or air shot, is when a player shoots an enemy that is moving through the air. This is used as an area-denial tactic that can be utilized by almost any class to prevent enemies from gaining height and to make them easier targets. The knockback from your attack will deny that player any more vertical advancement, and certainly cause them to descend, making them a much easier target.

Soldier Aerials

Demonstrating Soldier aerials

When a Soldier finds himself without his team, or a nearby Medic, keeping control of your surroundings is completely necessary for survival. Knowing exactly where an enemy is, deciding how high up your enemy gets and how fast your enemy falls makes it a whole lot easier for you to deliver damaging hits to your enemies that they just can't protect themselves from.

The Rocket Launcher isn't the Soldier's only means of performing aerials, however. Explosive jumps can be stopped with Shotgun, to conserve Rocket Launcher ammo. Experienced players tend to aerial an enemy with a single rocket, then follow it up with a few shots from their Shotgun. The Reserve Shooter augments this technique by scoring mini-crits on airborne enemies for 3 seconds after switching from the rocket launcher.

The Direct Hit, a primary weapon for the Soldier, makes aerials significantly more effective. The Direct Hit has the additional bonus of always performing Mini-Crits on a target that has been made airborne by an explosion.

Pyro Aerials

Demonstrating a deflected rocket aerial

A Pyro can perform aerials with the Compression Blast, used by pressing alt-fire with any Flamethrower active, or firing a flare from the Flare Gun. Performing an aerial with the Compression Blast is difficult, and usually situational. When a Compression Blast Aerial occurs, the enemy shoots at the Pyro from the air. The Pyro then reflects the rocket or grenade, redirecting the projectile to intercept the enemy's flight path. It is also possible for the Pyro to reflect one projectile at an enemy on the ground, launch him into the air and reflect a second projectile into the airborne opponent.

Flare Gun aerials are significantly less difficult compared to reflecting projectiles, and offer the ability to ignite enemies that are hit with it. Since enemies will be on fire upon landing, players equipped with the Axtinguisher can follow up the Flare Gun aerial with a guaranteed critical hit. If there is any water or a health kit nearby, your enemy will probably attempt to land on or in it. If there isn't any water or nearby health kits, the enemy will likely abort his flight path and retreat. The enemy is likely to have taken significant damage from the combined impact of rocket jumping, fall damage, and burning. The Flare Gun's range is useful for assuring you pick him off before he is able to retreat to a Medic.

Demoman Aerials

The Grenade Launcher and Stickybomb Launcher both fire their respective projectiles in an arc. While the Grenade Launcher is similar to the Rocket Launcher in terms of stats and function, the arc that the projectile makes as it fires through the air creates a substantial difficulty gap, and will take a player time to learn the difference between the two. The grenade projectile travels at approximately 1065 Hammer units per second, and will detonate under two circumstances; either on direct contact with an enemy or after a set interval when making first contact with the environment.

In contrast, the Sticky Bomb projectile fires somewhat slowly and heavily, at 805 hammer units per second. The Stickybomb Launcher can charge projectiles, similar to the Huntsman. While the Demoman does not suffer any loss of speed during a projectile charge, the Stickybomb Launcher can only carry a projectile like that for a short while. The Stickybomb Launcher replacement, the Scottish Resistance, suffers a slightly longer prep duration for a fired projectile than the Stickybomb Launcher.

While a bit more difficult to fire in time than the grenade, it is quite possible to perform aerials with a Sticky Bombs by detonating them in mid-air. Sticky Bombs do not need to make contact with an enemy to cause damage, and have powerful knockback. Despite their power, the Stickybomb Launcher projectile is quite slow, and a Demoman being faced with a fast-approaching enemy would be better off using their Grenade Launcher. If an enemy has closed the gap too tight, a Demoman would be far better off using their melee weapon to attack, as the explosive radius from either their primary or secondary weapon would deal a lot of damage to the user as well.

Engineer Aerials

With a Wrangler, an Engineer is capable of utilizing the rockets from his Level 3 Sentry Gun at will. While the Sentry Gun was always an invaluable counter to airborne targets, its limited range often impacted its effectiveness, and left the Engineer unable to prioritize certain targets when faced with an enemy push. With the Wrangler's manual control, an Engineer is capable of deciding who he directs his firepower toward. In general, the rules are similar to those followed when using the Rocket Launcher to stop mid-air enemies. Watch their trajectory, and wait for your enemy to begin their descent, aiming your shot to strike where they're going to land. As with any other more advanced maneuver practice is key.

The Wrangler offers a benefit that the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher lack: a laser sight to assist your aim. With the Wranglers' laser, you can always tell where your rocket will go before you fire it. However, be aware that this laser is visible to the enemy as well.

Sniper Aerials

With the Sniper Rifle's scope, an aware Sniper is capable of stopping most mid-air enemies in their tracks. Typically, a shot through your scope to the mass, or head of an enemy will prevent them from closing in on you from above. Enemies flying through the air will have needed to damage themselves to gain that height, so a single shot from your rifle won't just stop their advancement, but will almost certainly force them to retreat to a Medic, or their base. While smaller, stopping a Scout can prove just as simple for an observant Sniper. Watch their jumps, and note when a Scout leaves a smoke trail behind his feet. This is a visual representation that he has used his double jump ability, and will be unable to dodge your shot. Ready your shot for where your enemy is going to be. Let them fall in to your scope instead of trying to follow them with it.

Successfully performing an aerial with the Huntsman is, however, different in that the power and arc of the arrow projectile depend on the length of time it was initially charged. This can cause slightly unpredictable projectiles, a shallow flight path, and increased power in comparison to the Sniper Rifle. A single fully-charged arrow to the mass of an enemy can be enough to kill a medium-heavy class, such as the Demoman, or Pyro.

How to Counter

As an aerial shot is meant to put the opponent in a position in which he is unable to protect himself from incoming projectiles, dodging an aerial is quite difficult. Though one is able to take the damage in a way that may propel them to shelter, they will have difficulty avoiding a follow-up shot with their back to the enemy. One of the better, if more difficult tactics is to reverse you position with them by strafing your way to equal ground, and propelling your opponent in to the air with your own weapon. This can be especially difficult if your opponent has team mates nearby.

As a Pyro, you are able to use your secondary compression blast ability to redirect incoming projectiles to your opponent. Compression blasts can reflect any projectile, from rocket to arrow, right back to the player that fired it. The projectile will be returned at full damage, and will retain critical or mini crit status. With this advantage, a Pyro always has a fighting chance against someone attempting to perform an aerial, whether on the high ground or the low ground.

Common Rules

• The ability to consistently perform aerials is seen as an indication of proficiency with a particular class. Continual practice is key.
• Aerials force your enemy in to a temporary immobile state. You decide where they fall, you decide how much damage they take as they fall. Since they're only capable of strafing slightly, an agile player can easily protect their self by getting away from the field of view of their enemy before they are able to try to retaliate. Though any retaliation will be difficult for them, as disorientation from their fall will make aiming difficult.
• If there is a health kit nearby, your enemy will probably try to land on it. Use this to tell where your enemy will try to go, and hit them before they get there. If there is no nearby health kit, they will probably flee to find a Medic. If a Soldier is the enemy being aerialed, he will most likely attempt to pull out his Equalizer and fight you with that. This can be an opportunity to easily finish them off with your primary weapon, or simply finish them off with your own melee weapon.
• Watch their trajectory, and wait for your enemy to begin their descent, aiming your shot to strike where they're going to land. As with any other more advanced maneuver practice is key.

Related Achievements

 Soldier

For Whom the Shell Trolls Bounce an opponent into the air with a rocket and then kill them with the shotgun before they land.

 Demoman

Caber Toss Bounce an enemy into the air and kill them before they land.

See also

• Juggling
• Projectile