Heavy

A portly Russian bear, the Heavy has the most health in the game, with a total of 300. Not only that but his primary weapon, the Minigun, does potentially the most damage per second in the game. These come with two downsides. The first is having by far the lowest base movement speed in the game, 77% of the standard movement speed, which becomes 37% when his Minigun is deployed. As a result the Heavy is often unable to chase down damaged enemies to finish off the kill, and makes it very difficult to dodge high-damage hits such as the Demoman's grenades and stickybombs, the Soldier's rockets, and headshots from the Sniper. Secondly, the Heavy lacks any significant long-range damage. A Heavy will most often be found near a Medic, as the extra 150 health buff helps the Heavy soak up more damage for his teammates, while simultaneously protecting the Medic from any Spies or jumping Soldiers that threaten him.

6v6

Main article: Heavy (6v6)

In 6v6, the Heavy is considered an offclass, used primarily holding last points in 5cp. Heavy will take the pocket's role when in play, allowing the pocket to play more of a roamer position, as the Heavy is capable of defending his Medic much better with his high health and damage. Heavy is capable of shutting down bombing Soldiers and Demoman with his Minigun, keeping them high off the ground due to his high weapon pushback. Alongside these roles, Heavy also serves a purpose in tanking damage. Heavy is generally run at lasts where his team is at an Uber advantage as his health and knockback can help him tank.

Highlander

Main article: Heavy (Highlander)

In Highlander, the Heavy is the backbone force of pushing or defending objectives, outputting great DPS while being able to tank incoming spam thanks to his 450 health pool when buffed. However, as the Heavy is very slow, he is rather vulnerable without a medic to rely on for overheal and as a pocket. All players on the team should work around the two, helping the team secure victory.

Weapons

Primary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Minigun				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Minigun is one of the staple primary Heavy weapons in competitive TF2. It is superior to most other primary weapons at close range and is chosen in maps where close range combat will occur more.
			Natascha				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Natascha's slowdown effect is weak at medium range and does not counteract the opportunity cost of the damage otherwise put out by the default minigun, given that weapon spins up faster and affords higher DPS. The knockback due to getting hit by the Natascha creates a higher need for the Heavy to micromanage their damage output. If not intending to play the Heavy strictly for his damage capabilities, the Natascha's slowdown effect can be useful. Also worth noting is that the heavy will also gain a 20% damage resistance whist spun up with the Natascha whilst under 50% health.
			Brass Beast				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Brass Beast weapon further accentuates the Heavy's strengths and weaknesses, thereby making the Heavy even more of a niche class, as the Heavy is only able to be useful in a smaller subset of situations. The heavy becomes alike a Sentry Gun which is able to pick itself up and move (relatively quickly if paired with the GRU). It is never used when playing seriously. Also worth noting is that the heavy will also gain a 20% damage resistance whist spun up with the Brass Beast whilst under 50% health.
			Tomislav				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Tomislav is suited to a roaming playstyle and is best paired with the Sandvich and GRU for higher survivability without a Medic. The weapon's silent spin up is useful for preparing ambushes and makes the heavy more viable as a flanking class. The 20% increase in accuracy also gives the Heavy better long range capability. This is the weapon of choice for most competitive players and is only ever swapped out for the Minigun if the map is particularly enclosed or if the Heavy isn't confident in his tracking ability.
			Huo-Long Heater				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Huo-Long Heater uses ammo even when only revved up and not firing. This weapon is used by heavies who stick to the cart or to kill multiple people at once with its fire. In Highlander it can be used for more aggressive playstyles- The damage bonus can be useful if a friendly Pyro can consistently ignite enemies-although it is seen as a gimmick and doesn't provide reliable damage output.

Secondary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Shotgun				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Shotgun is useful for situations where the Heavy can't afford to slow down and use the Minigun - during transition plays and chasing down weakened targets. The lack of spinup means it deals with ambushes better, although it has significantly less DPS.
			Family Business				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Family Business's lower damage makes it generally inferior to the Shotgun and for this reason, it's used less than the shotgun (in competitive).
			Sandvich				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Sandvich is extremely useful, allowing the Heavy to fully-heal himself with the 4-second taunt, saving Medics the time of healing 300 hp on one target and allowing him to roam more. Its secondary function acts as a disposable medium health pack, letting him heal lit targets, especially useful for pocket Heavies healing their Medics or tossing them near the team's holding position so any who are lit can get healed quickly without waiting for their Medics to tend to them. The Sandvich recharges when the Heavy takes a health pack at full health, useful for converting small health kits into medium ones.
			Buffalo Steak Sandvich				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Buffalo Steak Sandvich is generally a downgrade to the Sandvich, since Heavy melees aren't strong enough to justify using them to kill people, but it has some use on long 5CP rollouts if the Soldier is doing a fast Gunboats rollout, unable to give a Disciplinary Action speed boost, and the Heavy has no Gloves of Running Urgently. On occasion, it has the niche potential to two-shot a medic. If combined with the Fists of Steel, the heavy has a theoretical 400 heath against ranged damage sources, which can force/drop a medic if the heavy isn't focused or air blasted away.
			Dalokohs Bar				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Dalokohs Bar is a tool for roaming Heavies, as 350 hp allows him to tank important thresholds like two uncharged headshots, three point-blank rockets, three grenades, and three point-blank scattergun shots. Because it can be used infinitely without the recharge, it's also useful for healing damage taken during fights without going to the Medic or taking health packs, although taunting is slow and leaves the Heavy vulnerable. It can be used to drop a Small health pack (20%) every 10 seconds, compared to the Sandviches 50% every 30 seconds. This can prove useful for supportive heavies to heal multiple allies in dense maps, for instance, koth_product.
			Panic Attack				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Panic Attack is a community-created primary weapon for the Engineer, and a secondary weapon for the Soldier, Pyro, and Heavy. The Panic attack has a strait 20% damage penalty from the stock shotgun, but it fires 1.5 times the pellets in a single shot. The switch-to speed increases by 50%. This weapon is good with combo-based strategies due to it's faster deploy time. Even more so, it will do slightly more damage (108 vs 90 for stock shotgun) at point blank.
			Second Banana				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Second Banana is a secondary weapon for the Heavy. It recharges 50% faster, although heals 33% less (200 health). In addition, it only drops a small health kit (20% of the targets maximum health) which makes it much weaker as a support weapon, although the faster recharge rate allows the Heavy to produce health kits quickly, similar to the Dalakohs Bar. It supports a "solo" heavy playstyle since the Heavy would have comparatively little use giving health kits to teammates if he works alone, away from everyone. The other downside of only healing 200 health is deceivingly small. If the heavy eats the Banana at 100 health or more, this downside doesn't exist. Similarly, if the heavy eat the Banana at 50 health, he would still have 250 health, which is still significant. Overall, the weapon performs well given the Heavy can properly utilize the flank playstyle, and is usually worse than the Sandvich otherwise.

Melee

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Fists				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Fists are the heavy's default melee weapon. They deal 65 damage per hit. The Fists are rarely used in competitive play.
			Killing Gloves of Boxing				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Killing Gloves of Boxing function very much like the regular fists. On kills, the Heavy gains a 100% critical chance on all weapons for five seconds. This is offset by a 20% longer swing time per punch.
			Gloves of Running Urgently				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Gloves of Running Urgently (also known as the GRU) are a unique melee for the Heavy. While active, the Heavy will instantly lose 20 max health and afterward, 10 health per second until he reaches 100 maximum health. The maximum health goes back up after the weapon is holstered. The GRU allow the Heavy to run at almost normal speed (99.67% speed) while they are active. Switching off the weapon takes 50% longer than normal. This weapon sees a large amount of usage in the Highlander community for the increased mobility of the main damage class in Highlander. It is important to note that the speed boost provided by the GRU does not stack with speed boosts from items like the Disciplinary Action.
			Warrior's Spirit				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Warrior's Spirit is a melee weapon for the Heavy that exchanges health for power. The Warriors Spirit deals 30% more base damage (from 65 to 85) in exchange for 30% increased damage taken whilst active. It also gives the heavy 50 health upon killing someone. It is not seen competitively as the upsides only come into effect if you melee someone, which is very difficult to achieve and provides no other utility.
			Fists of Steel				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Banned
							The Fists of Steel are a pair of metal fists for the Heavy. When the Fists are active, all incoming non-melee damage (be it hitscan or projectile) is reduced by 40%. While active, all melee damage towards the heavy is doubled. In addition, all weapon switches made by the Heavy from the fists of steel are twice as slow. Healing from healers is reduced by 40% while active as well as a 40% overheal penalty (also while active). ( This is often considered the "second best" Heavy melee and is often run on maps/situations where the heavy doesn't have to be mobile (defending lasts on PL/5CP, KOTH, etc).
			Eviction Notice				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Eviction Notice is a pair of brass knuckles for the heavy. The fists swing 40% faster as compared to the default Fists but deal 60% less base damage (from a base dmg of 65 to 26). It also grants the heavy a 3-second speed boost on hit, which can help him to catch up to enemies. More importantly, it provides 15% faster move speed whilst active, but it drains the user's max health when active by 5 per second until the Heavy's max health is at 100. Like the Gloves of Running Urgently, the Eviction Notice has a "max health drained" stat, but it doesn't drain as fast. It also doesn't have a 50% slower holster time. This makes it a decent sidegrade to the GRU. It is used mostly in 6s, where competing weapons are banned.
			Holiday Punch				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Holiday Punch is a pair of mittens for the Heavy. This weapon functions like the default Fists except for one mechanic: the Holiday Punch will always crit when behind an enemy (similar to the Spy's backstab ability). All crits on the Holiday Punch do no damage but instead force the target to do the Schadenfreude taunt, regardless of whether or not they own the taunt. As a result, they are rendered immobile for several seconds. This weapon used to be banned from competitive leagues as ÜberCharged targets are forced to laugh as well, effectively ending the Über, but was unbanned because it very rarely comes into play. It has been experimented with as a means of denying Übers since but is completely countered if the heavy gets called out.

See Also

• Heavy (6v6)
• Heavy (Highlander)