Heavy

A portly Russian bear, Heavy has the most health in the game, with a total of 300. Not only that but his primary weapon, the Minigun, does the most damage per second in the game at close range. However, he also has the lowest movement speed in the game, which is especially cringe when his Minigun is spun up. As a result, Heavy is often unable to chase down damaged enemies to finish them off, and he has a hard time dodging high-damage attacks such as Demoman's grenades and stickybombs, Soldier's rockets, and Sniper's headshots. Additionally, he has no long-range options - he can only deal chip damage when not in close range. Heavy will most often be found near his team's Medic, as the extra 150 health buff lets Heavy block damage intended for his teammates, while simultaneously protecting the Medic from any Spy, Scout, or rocket-jumping Soldier that threatens him.

6v6

Main article: Heavy (6v6)

In the standard 6v6 format, Heavy is usually an offclass, used primarily for repelling enemies on the last point of a 5CP map. Heavy will take the Pocket Soldier's role when in play, allowing the Pocket to roam the map more freely, as Heavy is much more effective as a bodyguard for Medic. In close quarters, he can easily shut down approaching Scouts, Soldiers, and Demomen with his Minigun, keeping them from getting close to his Medic or the objective.

Highlander

Main article: Heavy (Highlander)

In Highlander, Heavy is the backbone of his team's combo along with Demoman and Medic, who cover his weaknesses. Where Heavy excels in close combat and is vulnerable at mid-to-long range, Demoman is powerful in mid-to-long range combat and suffers at close range. He provides good high damage when pushing forward or defending objectives, but needs his team nearby to operate at his full potential.

Weapons

Primary

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Minigun				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The stock Minigun ("Sasha") is the second-most common Heavy weapon. It consumes 10 ammo per second, firing 4 bullets per unit of ammo, and each bullet deals up to 13 damage. After being spun up, it deals only 50% damage and has only 50% accuracy for one second, preventing Heavy from easily killing enemies when caught off-guard. The Minigun shreds overextending enemies at close range with over 400 damage per second, but suffers at mid-to-long range thanks its wide cone of fire. It is selected in maps with cramped corridors and little open space, such as Steel.
			Natascha				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Natascha spins up slower and deals only 10 damage per bullet at close range, for a close-range DPS of around 300. In exchange for this significant damage penalty, its bullets slow enemies on hit. This slowdown effect is weak at medium-to-long range and rarely counteracts its reduced damage output, but may be useful as suppressive fire when preventing enemies from passing through a chokepoint. Also worth noting is that Heavy will gain a 20% damage resistance when spun up with the Natascha and under 150 health, making it somewhat easier for Medic to heal him.
			Brass Beast				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Brass Beast gives Heavy a role similar to that of a Sentry Gun; he is unable to move while attacking, and unable to defend himself until his gun is deployed. While he can "set up" fairly quickly with the Gloves of Running Urgently, his utter lack of mobility in combat makes him useless for anything except standing near a chokepoint or objective. This crippling overspecialization makes the Brass Beast near-useless in competitive games. As with the Natascha, Heavy will gain a 20% damage resistance when spun up and under 150 health.
			Tomislav				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Tomislav is better suited to larger, more open spaces thanks to its increased accuracy. While it fires only 8 times a second, it deals more damage at mid-to-long range than the stock Minigun. It also spins up faster and quieter, and allows Heavy to remain on guard even while traveling long distances; he can jump, rev-up his gun, then un-rev if no enemies are nearby - all at near-full speed. When fully-spun up, the weapon is silent when not firing, making it useful for preparing an ambush. This makes it Heavy's go-to primary, and is only ever swapped out for the Minigun if the map is particularly enclosed or if Heavy isn't confident in his tracking ability.
			Huo-Long Heater				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Huo-Long Heater passively uses 4 ammo per second when spun up, and creates a ring of fire which deals minor damage and ignites enemies. It can be used when dropping down on a group of enemies, igniting them to take advantage of its damage bonus against burning players. Otherwise, it has less staying power and less damage output than the stock Minigun, making it a rare choice in competitive games.

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 Heavy can't afford to slow down and use the Minigun, especially for transition plays and chasing down weakened enemies. The lack of spin-up time means it deals with ambushes better, although it deals far less damage. It is generally ignored in favor of the Sandvich, which allows Heavy to heal himself or his teammates.
			Family Business				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Family Business's deals the same DPS as the Shotgun, but fires faster and deals less damage per shot. It takes longer to reload, making it generally inferior to the Shotgun.
			Sandvich				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Sandvich is Heavy's go-to secondary. When used, it heals Heavy by 75HP per second over the course of a 4-second taunt. This is useful for saving Medic the trouble of healing him from near-death, or for roaming them map without a Medic. It can also be thrown as a medium health pack, which can save a teammate's life - especially a Medic. The Sandvich takes 30 seconds to recharge, but recharges instantly when Heavy picks up a health pack while at full health. This can be used to effectively convert a small health pack to a medium one.
			Buffalo Steak Sandvich				Allowed	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Buffalo Steak Sandvich is almost always worse than the Sandvich, since none of Heavy's melee weapons are nearly as effective as any of his miniguns, but it has some use on long rollouts if the Soldier is doing a fast Gunboats rollout and thus unable to give a Disciplinary Action speed boost. On exceedingly rare occasions, it can be used to kill a Medic in two melee hits. If combined with the Fists of Steel, Heavy has an effective 400 heath against ranged damage sources, which can force or drop the enemy Medic if Heavy isn't focused or airblasted away. Aside from these rare scenarios, however, it sees no use.
			Dalokohs Bar				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Dalokohs Bar is a tool for a roaming Heavy, as the extra 50 health it grants allows him to tank important damage thresholds like two uncharged headshots, three point-blank rockets, three grenades, and three point-blank scattergun shots. Because it takes only 10 seconds to recharge, it has an effective 6-second cooldown, allowing Heavy to regularly dispense small amounts of health to near-death players. However, it cannot be used to provide a large burst of healing to a Medic, making it less common a choice than the Sandvich.
			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 straight 20% damage penalty from the stock shotgun, but it fires 50% more pellets per shot, and deploys 50% faster. On other classes, it is used for combo-based tactics, but sees less use on Heavy, who takes too long to un-rev his minigun to make much use of the deploy speed. The Panic Attack deals more damage at point-blank range (108), but deals negligible damage past short range, thanks to its wide bullet spread.
			Second Banana				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Second Banana is a Heavy's last lunchbox item. It recharges 50% faster (every 15 seconds) but heals Heavy 33% less (200 health) and only counts as a small health kit when dropped for teammates. It supports a "solo" Heavy playstyle for roaming the map away from teammates. Its other drawback of only healing 200 health is fairly small; Heavy seldom falls below 100 health and survives; enemy players will often hunt him down and kill him. If he uses the Banana above 100 health, the effect is identical to eating the Sandvich.

Melee

			Weapon				4v4	6v6		Highlander
							UGC	Global Whitelist	RGL	UGC	RGL	ETF2L
			Fists				Always	Always	Always	Always	Always	Always
							The Fists are Heavy's default melee weapon, dealing 65 damage every 0.8 second. Melee weapons are rarely used to deal damage, especially on Heavy, who cannot quickly un-rev his gun and attack. Utility-providing weapons are almost always preferred. Thus, the stock Fists are never used in serious games.
			Killing Gloves of Boxing				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Killing Gloves of Boxing function very much like the regular fists, but only swing every 0.96 seconds. On kill, Heavy gains guaranteed critical hits for 5 seconds. This weapon is rarely used, as most players will back out of Heavy's melee range before being punched to death. Even if Heavy does land a kill, a significant portion of the crits are wasted spinning up his minigun and waiting for it to warm up.
			Gloves of Running Urgently				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Gloves of Running Urgently (also known as the GRU) are Heavy's most versatile melee weapon. While active, Heavy will instantly lose 20 max health, plus 10 health per second until he reaches 100 maximum health, effectively saddling him with a damage vulnerability that increases from 7% to 300%. His max health will be restored at 10 health per second when the gloves are holstered. The GRU allow Heavy to run as fast as Pyro and Engineer while deployed, but the further he runs, the longer he takes to recover. Additionally, holstering the GRU takes 50% longer, though this can be mostly negated by switching to Heavy's secondary, then his minigun. This weapon sees a lot of usage in Highlander, as it grants one of the team's main damage-dealers increased mobility during rollouts and when retreating.
			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 damage (from 65 to 85) in exchange for a 30% damage vulnerability while active. It also heals Heavy 50 health on kill. Melee weapons are almost never used for dealing damage, especially for Heavy; he cannot un-rev his Minigun and run up to his enemy before being killed. Thus, the Warrior's Spirit sees little to no use in competitive games.
			Fists of Steel				Allowed	Banned	Banned	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							When active, the Fists of Steel grant Heavy a 40% damage resistance to all ranged damage, but give him a 100% damage vulnerability to melee damage. Heavy also gains a 40% resistance to healing, and has his maximum overheal reduced to 390 health. The weapon also takes twice as long to holster, though this drawback can be negated by switching to Heavy's secondary, then to his minigun. Most often run when defending the last point, it increases Heavy's effective health when overhealed from 450 to 546, allowing him to stall for time and block damage intended for his teammates. It can also be used to cross a Sniper sightline, as not even a fully-charged headshot can kill him, assuming he is overhealed.
			Eviction Notice				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Eviction Notice is a slower version of the Gloves of Running Urgently. They swing 40% faster, but deal only 26 damage. Upon striking an enemy, Heavy gains a 40% speed boost for 3 seconds, in addition to the weapon's base 15% movement speed bonus. When deployed, Heavy loses 20 max health, which continues to drain by 5 health per second until he holsters it. Once holstered, his max health will increase by 5 health per second up to 300. The Eviction Notice is used most-often when the Gloves of Running Urgently are banned.
			Holiday Punch				Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed	Allowed
							The Holiday Punch is identical to the stock Fists, but when Heavy punches an enemy from behind (similar to Spy's backstab ability), they will be forced to perform the Schadenfreude taunt, regardless of whether or not they own the taunt. This leaves them helpless, allowing Heavy to finish them off with no risk of retaliation. ÜberCharged targets are forced to laugh as well; Heavy can completely shut down an ÜberCharge if he somehow manages to "backstab" an Übered target. This is rare, and will get Heavy killed more often than not, making it a rare sight in competitive games.

See Also

• Heavy (6v6)
• Heavy (Highlander)