Anti-Heavy strategy

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The Heavy is the sturdiest class, but also the least maneuverable. He has a huge amount of health and heavy firepower, but is poor at speed and maneuvering, requiring the swift observation behind himself and ambushing. Generally, going against a Heavy head-on is suicide: his Miniguns can mow down any class within seconds at close range, and Medics tend to hang around Heavies for protection and kill assists. While not having quite as a diverse loadout as other classes, the Heavy can nevertheless change his gameplay in several different ways, including the ability to heal, run substantially faster than normal, and even shrug off a majority of ranged damage. Surprise is often the best way to overcome a Heavy's massive amount of firepower.

General

Attributes	Anti-Heavy Strategy
Role	The Heavy's large size and weapon makes him a great shield for his allies. Taking him out can make your assault far easier. The Heavy is often the focus of many pushes. Taking out the Heavy can often defeat an entire push.
Health	The Heavy can soak up a lot of damage, especially if overhealed. Teams should focus their fire on Heavies in order to take them down quickly.
Speed	The Heavy's slow movement speed makes him an easy target for Snipers and Spies. Try to catch him off guard and take him out quickly, before he can spin his gun up and start firing on you.
Power	The Heavy's Minigun is quite a formidable weapon. It will quickly take care of any unaware class in seconds, so remain far away and wait for the Heavy's Minigun to stop spinning to strike.

Weapon Specific

A list of useful tidbits about the Heavy's tools, and how to counter them.

Primary Weapons

Weapon	Anti-Heavy Strategy
All of the Heavy's primary weapons all require a moment to spin up before he can start firing. This makes him vulnerable to ambushes. When any of the Heavy's weapons are spun up, the Heavy moves much more slowly. A preoccupied Heavy can easily be taken down.
Minigun / Iron Curtain	The Minigun can be spun up more quickly than the Heavy's other primary weapons. Be aware of this and retreat if you are facing a Minigun-wielding Heavy at mid-to-close range.
Natascha	Natascha has a longer spin-up than the Minigun. Hit and run tactics are more effective on Heavies using this weapon. At long distances, this weapon's slow down has little effect, but don't get caught at mid-range or closer, or you'll likely be unable to escape.
Brass Beast	With the Brass Beast spun up, the Heavy becomes slightly more vulnerable to projectile weapons fired from afar. Take advantage of this and attack the Heavy outside of his weapon's effective range. The Brass Beast has an even longer spin-up time than the Natascha, so hit-and-run tactics are much more effective here.

Secondary Weapons

Weapon	Anti-Heavy Strategy
Shotgun	Heavies will switch to their Shotgun when their primary weapon runs out of ammunition. Try to take them down before they find more.

Edibles

Weapon	Anti-Heavy Strategy
Dropped edibles can be picked up by anyone. Try to steal them before the Heavy or his team reaches them. Watch for Heavies retreating from a fight to run around a corner. They are probably low on health and about to use an edible. At this point, even a low-damage attack might finish them off before they get the chance. Edibles make a distinct noise when being eaten. Use this sound to track down the retreating Heavy. The Heavy is relatively defenseless when eating an edible. Try to attack a Heavy while he is eating.
Sandvich	The Sandvich replenishes health quickly. Make sure you can out-damage him while he's eating before engaging him. The Heavy can drop the Sandvich to recover health quickly. Try to grab the dropped Sandvich before the Heavy gets near.
Dalokohs Bar	This weapon only heals the Heavy for 60 health, making him more vulnerable while eating it than with the Sandvich. However, it gives him more maximum health for a short period of time, so try to kill him when he is eating it.
Buffalo Steak Sandvich	Attack from a distance while retreating, as the Heavy can only use his melee weapon when under this item's effect. He will receive Mini-Crit damage from all of your weapons. The Buffalo Steak Sandvich provides the Heavy with no health when it is being eaten, making him completely defenseless while eating.

Melee Weapons

Weapon	Anti-Heavy Strategy
Fists	The Heavy's slow speed is a disadvantage that can be exploited by faster classes during a melee fight.
K.G.B	If the Heavy has a critical buff from the K.G.B., stay back until it wears off. Your death will just extend the effect. The Heavy can also apply his K.G.B. Crit bonus to his other weapons when switched. Take him down as fast as possible to prevent this from happening.
G.R.U	A Heavy will usually only have these selected whilst running to a contested area on the map then change to a Minigun when he gets closer. Therefore, the Heavy will likely not expect an attack; this is a good time to ambush him. Beware that enemy Heavies will try and chase you down with the increased movement speed from these gloves. Try to kill them before they switch to their primary weapon and spin it up. A Heavy with the GRU equipped is an easier target than most, not only will his health be slightly below maximum, but in order to cause any significant damage, he will have to switch to his Mingun and spin it up - this extra time may be all you need to kill him.
Warrior's Spirit	The Warrior's Spirit inflicts more damage per hit than other melee weapons. Try to retreat from a melee battle with a Heavy wielding them unless you know that you are able to kill him. A Heavy with these in his loadout will have 20hp less than default. While still the highest-hp class in the game, he will be that much easier to take down - afterburn or bleed effects might finish him off when they ordinarily wouldn't.
Fists of Steel	Heavies take double melee damage with the Fists of Steel equipped. However, they tend to use this weapon more for safely advancing than provoking a melee fight. Heavies will most likely switch to their primary weapon when you approach them with your melee weapon out. Try to ambush them from behind instead if you're trying to take them out with your melee weapon. A Heavy with the Fists of Steel out is hard to kill, even without a Medic. Use teamwork to take down the Heavy from outside of melee range.

Class Set

Set

Anti-Heavy Strategy

The Hibernating Bear

A Heavy wearing this set is especially vulnerable to ambushes, because of his lower health, slow wind-up speed, and slow movement with the Brass Beast spun up. Hit-and-run tactics may prove to be effective against a Heavy using this set. A Heavy using this set can heal themselves quickly by using alt_fire to throw out their Buffalo Steak Sandvich for themselves to replenish their health, providing more reason to finish them sooner. See also Heavy strategy Community Heavy strategy Sentry Gun Heavy match-ups Team strategy