Aerial

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— The Soldier on sending foes to their midair death

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An aerial, air shot, or middie is an area-denial tactic that can be used by a Soldier, Sniper, Demoman, Pyro, or even an Engineer to prevent enemies from gaining a height advantage. The maneuver incorporates shooting an enemy player while they are above the ground, denying them any vertical advancement and sometimes leading to a kill. Successful use of an aerial requires a prediction of flight paths, so an ability to repeatedly perform aerials is views as an indicator of proficiency with a particular class.

Soldier Aerials

Demonstrating Soldier aerials

When a Soldier finds himself without his team or a nearby Medic, keeping control of the high ground is always useful, if not completely necessary for survival. Keeping control makes it easier for you to deliver hits against your enemies from below, while simultaneously giving you the cover you need to avoid counterattacks.

In order for a successful aerial to occur, a Soldier will needs to be aware of his surroundings. Smarter players will try to avoid the attention of the Soldier on the high ground, and hit him from behind by surprise. Even if the Soldier has the height advantage, he should always pay careful attention to his immediate surroundings.

The Direct Hit, one of the primary unlockable weapons for the Soldier, makes aerials significantly more effective. The Direct Hit also allows Soldiers to perform Mini-Crits on an airborne target that has been propelled by a previous Direct Hit rocket. The Mini-Crit bonus combined with faster rocket speeds encourages aerials.

Another method for protecting higher ground is using the knockback effect of the Shotgun. Explosive jumps can be stopped with Shotgun blasts, preventing them from reaching the higher ground. This is useful for conserving rocket ammo, or interrupting enemy air strafing.

Pyro Aerials

Demonstrating a deflected rocket aerial

The Pyro class is able to perform an aerial with two separate, more unconventional methods. These methods being the Flamethrower's Compression Blast, and the Flare Gun. Performing an aerial with the Compression Blast is difficult, as it is 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, and redirect it to where the jumping Soldier or Demoman is going. It is also possible for the Pyro to reflect one projectile at an enemy on the ground, bounce him in to the air and hit him with his own projectile. Projectiles will always treat the Pyro that reflects them as the user who fired the projectile, which means their effects are returned to the Pyro. For example, a projectile fired from the Black Box will return 15 health to the Pyro who reflected it, instead of the Soldier who originally fired it.

Flare Gun Aerials are significantly less difficult, and offer unique benefits. For instance, the enemy will be on fire when he lands. Players equipped with the Axtinguisher can follow up the Flare Gun aerial with a guaranteed critical attack. If the enemy knows how to change direction, and there is water or a health kit nearby, he will probably try to land on it. If there isn't any water, or nearby health kits health kits, the enemy will likely abort his flight and head back the way he came. The enemy is likely to have taken a lot of damage from the combined assault of rocket jumping, fall damage, and burning. The Flare Guns range is useful for assuring you pick him off before he is able to retreat to a Medic.

Demoman Aerials

Aerials for Demomen serve virtually the same function and occur in the same situations as the Soldier's. However, as stated before, this is much more difficult. While the Soldier generally only has to aim ahead of the opponent's flight path, compensating for which direction of his screen the rocket comes from, Demomen will have to shoot at a high angle. Demomen who are already competent with the firing angle of the Grenade Launcher will have to learn to translate this into hitting an aerial target who is moving at high speed, but this is easier said than done.

Primary targets of Demo Aerials will be Soldiers, who often try to use rocket jumps to close the distance between them and an enemy Demoman. Scouts are also likely enemies, since they will jump frequently to dodge grenades. In these cases, wait until the Scout has used his double jump before firing.

It is also possible to perform an Aerial with Sticky Bombs, a method that can sometimes be easier due to the fact that the Sticky does not have to actually make contact with the enemy to score a kill. However, the delayed detonation time of Sticky Bombs can often make it impossible to blow the Sticky in range of a fast-approaching Soldier, who may already be within the detonation gap.

Engineer Aerials

With a Wrangler in hand, the Engineer is capable of utilizing all the wonderful, executive perks that come with shooting rockets at yourself and others at will. While the Sentry Gun was always an invaluable counter to airborne targets, it really only helped against those within the somewhat limited range of the Sentry Gun. In general, the rules are similar to those of using the Rocket Launcher to stop mid-air marauders. Watch their trajectory and wait for them to begin their descent. Strike where they're going to land. As with any more advanced maneuver such as performing an aerial, practice is key!

The Wrangler offers a benefit that the Rocket Launcher and Grenade Launcher lack: a laser sight. With the Wranglers' laser, you can always tell where your rocket will fire before you fire it off. Though similarly to the laser dot on the Sniper Rifle, the enemy can see your laser as well.

Sniper Aerials

Aerials as a Sniper are somewhat less difficult, or more difficult, depending on which weapon is used. A Sniper using the Rifle can usually pick off an airborne enemy with a charged bodyshot or a well-placed Headshot, since he will probably be damaged already. Snipers will need to keep an eye out for jumpers when not scoped. Some of them will try to sneak up and melee the Sniper if he hasn't noticed their approach. Said Sniper should react to this in virtually the same way he would try to avoid Spies backstabbing him. Preferably, headshot the incoming flier when he reaches the peak of his jump.

A Sniper using the Huntsman has both added advantages (bigger hitboxes, faster charge, and wider field of view) and irritating drawbacks (slightly unpredictable projectiles and slow reload as well as less damage than the rifle). The Huntsman's arrow is something of a middle ground between a rocket and a grenade. It follows a shallow flight path, but it doesn't fly a straight line like a rocket. It also flies much faster than grenades and rockets. Also, the arc and the speed of the arrow change depending on the charge. Charged bodyshots will sometimes be enough to kill Demomen, but rarely Soldiers. At most, they will force them to retreat.

How to Counter Aerials

As with any tactic you find to your advantage, you must also know of ways to counter it if it is used against you. The simplest, and usually the only way to avoid aerials is by Air Strafing. If you see an aerial rocket or grenade heading for you, use the strafe to curve your jump and dodge it. This is not fool-proof, as more experienced aerial users will be able to predict your strafe pattern and try a second Aerial.

Pyros have a slight advantage over other classes in terms of aerial defense. In addition to air strafing, a Pyro can utilize their Compression blast to redirect oncoming projectiles. This added line of defense can allow the airborne Pyro to turn the attack back on the enemy or shoot at the ground to propel away from danger.