Stun

“

Nice catch, knucklehead! Click to listen — The Scout

”

Being stunned is the state of being incapacitated. While stunned, players are forced into the third-person humiliation stance and rendered unable to attack, with the exception of taunt kills. Stunned players also suffer from a 50% movement speed penalty. Players can also be "fully" stunned, which renders the player completely immobile.

Sources

The initial stab of the Sniper's Skewer, the Medic's Spinal Tap, and the Engineer's Organ Grinder will fully stun a player if it connects. These attacks can stun an ÜberCharged opponent. ÜberCharged enemies are often distracted or keeping their aim at a Sentry Gun, long enough to stab them with the taunt. Even without damage, it will waste precious seconds of ÜberCharge.

The Ghosts on Halloween maps can scare players, as well as the Horseless Headless Horsemann's taunt on Mann Manor. This counts towards achievements as a stun.

In Mann vs. Machine, Sappers can be placed on robots to disable them. But unlike the 'scared' effect, this is an ordinary full stun, and can even trigger Sandman voice lines if the Spy placing the Sapper is disguised as a Scout. Giant robots are immune to being stunned, but will still receive slowdown from Sappers and the Sandman for the duration of the effect. Additionally, all regular-sized robots on the map Mannhattan will automatically be stunned for approximately 20 seconds whenever a point is captured.

The Natascha and the Force-A-Nature are also able to stun players for a short time. These stuns do not disable the use of weapons on stunned opponents, unlike other forms of stunning.

Measurements

Distance

Distance (Hammer units / feet)	Stun Time (seconds)
256 / 16	1
512 / 32	2
768 / 48	3
1024 / 64	4
1280 / 80	5
1536 / 96	6
1792 / 112	7

Notes

1. These tests were done with bots. Stun times may be subject to random variance.
2. The closest the Sandman can stun is 256 Hammer units / 16 feet.
3. The range the Sandman fully stuns an opponent is at 1792 Hammer units / 112 feet. A hit at this distance or further is required for the Moon Shot achievement.
4. Critical hits add 2 seconds to the normal stun duration.
5. Mini-Crits do not affect stun duration.
6. Stun time is calculated at time of impact. Firing the ball and moving closer could result in decreased times.

Speed

When a player is stunned by the Sandman, their speed is decreased by 50%. The below table lists the exact values.

Class	Stunned Speed	Original Speed
Scout	200v	400v
Soldier	120v	240v
Pyro	150v	300v
Demoman	140v	280v
Heavy	115v	230v
Engineer	150v	300v
Medic	160v	320v
Sniper	150v	300v
Spy	160v	320v
Civilian	150v	300v

Related achievements

 Scout

Beanball Stun a Scout with their own ball. Brushback Stun 50 enemies while they are capturing a point or pushing the cart. Foul Territory Cause an environmental death by stunning or slowing an enemy.

Moon Shot Stun an enemy for the maximum possible duration by hitting them with a long-range ball. Strike Zone Kill or assist kill 50 enemies while they are stunned or slowed. The Big Hurt Stun 2 Medics that are ready to deploy an ÜberCharge.

 Soldier

The Longest Daze Kill 5 stunned or slowed players.

Update history

February 24, 2009 Patch (Scout Update)

• Added Stun mechanic.

December 17, 2015 Patch (Tough Break Update)

• Consecutive Airblasts will no longer prevent enemies from air-strafing until they touch the ground.

October 20, 2017 Patch (Jungle Inferno Update)

• Changed attribute on the Sandman:
  • Long-range ball impacts no longer remove the victim's ability to fire their weapon (but the victim is still slowed).
• Changed on the Airblast:
  • Airblast now causes target player to have reduced footing and air control for a short period.
    • No longer a flat stun.

Bugs

• Being stunned while taunting allows a player to move at the reduced stun speed before the taunt's completion.
• It is possible to perform melee attacks while stunned with any of the Heavy's melee weapons via alt-fire.
• It is possible to perform melee attacks while stunned with the Disciplinary Action.

Trivia

• Originally any stun effects inflicted would result in the current maximum stun pose but their duration would be subject to the range (as it is now, though the minimum ranges have been tweaked also). This was changed through many permutations of the Sandman in the name of balance.
• While stunned it is possible to taunt, which can be used as a last ditch attack if you have a taunt-killing weapon equipped and your enemy is close enough.
• Should a Sniper with an arrow drawn, or a Soldier charging a Cow Mangler 5000 or reloading a Beggar's Bazooka be stunned, their shot will be released as if normally fired and may injure or kill opponents.
• It is possible to still keep reloading if the player reloads before getting stunned.
• A Heavy can rev up his primary weapons while stunned.

Class Gallery

• 

  Scout

• 

  Soldier

• 

  Pyro

• 

  Demoman

• 

  Heavy

• 

  Engineer

• 

  Medic

• 

  Sniper

• 

  Spy

See also

• Projectiles
• Slowdown