Team Fortress 2

Team Fortress 2

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MvM Heavy: The Bot Bully
By Upsilon
The tower of power, the train of pain, core member of the team, it's the Bot Bully. Don't feel like you mean much to your team? Let's go to bully school and we'll learn how to nearly carry a team!
   
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Important Notice
I think it's just about official that I am discontinuing updating/writing guides for MvM. MvM Solly most likely won't see the light of day. Thanks again to everyone who viewed and I hope the guides helped you. They were great practice for me and I had a lot of fun, but now, I'm moving on. I hope the information will still be relevant at the time you are reading, and good luck on those Aussies or whatever is the next big thing on TF2 at the moment.

- Upsilon Force
Intro
That's right, I'm back again! Author of multiple guides that hit the number 1 mark, this guide is here to teach you how to bully. You can't have a noob Heavy on the team; it just won't work. Bad Heavies are here mostly because there are some tips and tricks they aren't aware of. If you think I made Heavy easier to play, please rate (Update: Come on, 2,000 views and 60 ratings? Just click the green thumb before you go!), comment, and share the guide with others! (Edit: Don't forget to read the comments, too. Sometimes, they cover stuff that I missed like Projectile Penetration! Thanks, Mrmarioscatman!)

https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=153553501
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=152068821
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=150849187
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=148119190
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=150296100
https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=156320959
Overview
"Bully", I found, is the perfect name for Heavy in MvM because his job is to always push bots around and ruin their day by causing the most damage of any member on your team. His unique ability called Knock-Back Rage will slowly push any bot hit by his bullets backward slightly. The Bully really shines when you see him push back an entire wave of robots by himself! Just hang around the Engineer's dispenser, and you have infinite ammo! Keep pouring the steel rain until the map is a wasteland. Tired of dying all the time as Heavy? Feel like no matter what you play, you don't contribute much to your team? Then it's time to go to Bully School!


Bully's Toys: Primary Weapons
The Brass Beast (Click the white text to go to the wiki page for more information!) Is the best weapon Heavy can have in MvM. See, the idea of the Bully is to rarely move away from the dispenser. Since you aren't moving, you basically become a sentry; so why not take a gun that makes you move slower but gives you a hell-of-a-lot more damage? On a crit, the Brass Beast can do 32 damage PER BULLET (vs tanks, this damage is capped at 32. Against anything else, it can go over 100)! Scarrrry stuff! Since it makes you so much slower, you have to play smarter instead of more agile. We'll get to that later.


"Stock" Minigun is the way to go if you do not have a Brass Beast. You have more agility while the gun is deployed, but at the cost of a good chunk of dps. It's not optimal, but it's not obsolete either. If you are stuck with Minigun, you'll be fine. Since you can move better, take advantage of it! Might as well dodge now that you can!




If you want to get kicked, take any other minigun. Natascha noobs try to be clever, thinking that they can slow bots down and that will help somehow. You have Knock Back Rage, Scout has milk slow, Sniper has Jarate slow, and Pyro has airblast. You don't need to slow bots down; you need to kill them. Not only this, but there's a 25% damage penalty! WHOA! Let's do the math for a second! If you choose this over Brass Beast thats (in damage) 100%-20%-25%= 55%!! You just lost a whopping 45% damage! The Engineer's melee might out-dps you now! (To be fair, if you have two Heavies as your DPS, having one take Natascha for one round without upgrading it for the giant Scout waves might be ok, but be sure to switch back later!)

Tomislav This thing was mediocre BEFORE it got ran over by the Nerf Truck, now it just clogs up space in everyone's inventory. Hey, it makes great scrap metal! It shoots slower by 20% so that's about a 20% damage loss compared to the stock minigun. There's no reason to take it. None.

Huo-Long Heater can be compared to taxes: everyday it slowly bleeds you out until you die. This gun does the same, but to your ammo as you have it deployed. Yes, you should always be near a dispenser, but there are times when you will have to improvise without one. Nobody likes taxes. Nobody likes the Huo-Long Heater in MvM. 'Nuff said.
Bully's Toys: Secondary Weapons
This one is tough to have a complete opinion on as Heavy almost NEVER uses his secondary. If you run out of ammo in your Minigun, you're running for ammo anyway.

Sandvich is my personal favorite. Since you don't move much, you will have a 15 course meal of rockets, bullets, arrows, and bombs. Might as well top it off with a sandwich. If your health drops down less than 25%, run behind cover, take a chomp, and you're good to go!.....What is in this sandwich, anyway? It heals lacerations, bullet wounds, burns, explosive damage...is it Jesus' sandwich? Just be aware that you can still be backstabbed while trying to eat. LOL DEAD > rapid healing. Guess Heavy left out the "resurrection" ingredient. Additionally, EVERY "food" item that Heavy can carry can be thrown to teammates to heal them for 50% of their max health. One cool trick is to eat, pick up a health kit (which will give you back your Sandvich), then you can throw one to your teammate. People like your Demoman will appreicate it! (Update: This does not work with Dalokohs Bar).

Buffalo Steak Sandwich is a goof-off weapon and you should never use it if you're serious. It charges you to do minicrits, but you TAKE minicrits too, as well as only being able to melee. Melee is stupid almost always in MvM.

Don't panic if you're stuck with Stock Shotgun. Just don't upgrade it and try to run for ammo if your primary is out. Other than that, make the best of it. Same goes for the Family Business.

Dalokohs Bar/Fish cake it's untested. The little health boost might help, but not much. It's only 50 max health. It does heal you a little bit too, so maybe this item won't be too bad.
Bully's Toys: Melee Weapons
Killing Gloves of Boxing aren't the best for MvM, but I love them! On kill from these gloves give 5 seconds of crits! Sometimes, I have clobbered a stray Scout bot and got crits to stop the bomb from scoring. They're fun as heck and sometimes, they might even save you!



Gloves of Running Urgently (GRU) is what most players will tell you to take. It gives the Heavy a huge speed boost at the cost of making him take minicrits during and a few seconds after switching to them. If you upgrade your run speed then switch to these, the map becomes a whoooole lot smaller.



Fists of Steel can save you about as equally as GRU. Most of Heavy's gear is like this: it's a matter of opinion (except for his Minigun choice). It reduces damage taken from anything fired like bullets, fire, rockets and bombs but you take MORE damage from melee. Combine this with resistances, and you can often make a clean get-away.

Every other melee is ruled out due to no utility. There are rare cases where all-melee could bring down a tank quite effectively, but you shouldn't count on it. Stick with mobility/survivability. Shoot, run for ammo, keep shooting.
Bully Basics: Where to Bully
(This is a dispenser) First, if you are going Heavy, always ask your Engineer to "Max out your Dispenser range, please." (If he doesn't, kick him.) Since you will spend the whole game latched onto it like an ant on dropped food, it's really convenient. The Engie will put the dispenser near a corner, he needs to give it range or the Heavy has to juggle between getting ammo and shooting. Take this next screenshot for example:





While the dispenser is in a good spot, it can't reach you. You have to poke around the corner to shoot robots, but you have to run back to the dispenser for ammo constantly. It's annoying and harmful to the team. When upgraded, you can stand further around the corner shooting, and still get the much-needed-ammo and health. You follow the Engie everywhere. You are the bird that lives in his nest. Latch on to the dispenser and don't let go!









There are obvious exceptions of not moving, like if a hail of crit arrows are flying at you, you might wana get out of the way....or if a tank is passing by, and it has high health still, you need to kill it quick.

If you attack a tank, stand right in front of it, so it will push you. While pushing, you can keep up with it instead of waddling around with your Brass Beast, unable to keep up (well, any minigun will slow you significantly; stay infront of it to keep up!). More advanced moves later. Stay away from the corners of the treads; they can crush you up against the wall, killling you instantly.
Bully Basics: Ammo Packs
You avoid these all the time. The only exceptions is if the Engie nest was overrun and the dispenser is gone (;_;). "DISPENSER! NOOOOOOooooooo </3" Here's a tough situation: to ammo pack, or not to ammo pack? See, if you take ammo, you're still shooting. That's good, but if the Engie needs the ammo, he gets metal from it. With metal, he makes buildings. One of those is....ANOTHER DISPENSER! So you gotta weigh the costs and situation. If the Engie wants to build nearby after is first nest was overrun, let him have the ammo pack. If giants are pushing through and the Engie is setting up back at spawn, then go take the pack.

It's also important to note that ammo packs refill a % of your total ammo. Smalls are about 20%, Mediums are 50%, and Larges are 100%. If you have a total of 200 ammo and get a Medium ammo pack, that's 50%, so = 100. If you have 300 ammo and get the 50% Medium pack, it's 150 ect. It works identically with the Engie's "metal count". Try to use dispensers if you can.
Upgrade Build
Since you can never move, the first thing I always buy is 1 +25hp on kill on your minigun, then a Knock Back Rage. By now, tanks will be showing up, so take 1 Firing Speed and 1 ammo cap upgrade (If you can only afford one at the time, go for speed). Try to slip in another 25hp/kill upgrade when you can thoughout the game until it's maxed. Now aim to max out your ammo cap,firing speed, and projectile penetration. Yeah, the Bully is uncomplicated. The common joke is "I'll write a guide for MvM Heavy: Hold 1 button, YOU WIN!"

On the Mecha Engie campaign, it's a little different, but not much. You first max your Crit Resistance, then 1-2 +25hp on kill, 1 Knock Back Rage, steadily raise your Blast and Bullet Resistances, and it's the usual from there. You need Crit resistance on this campaign, or you will get 2 shot. The bots will wash over you like a tidal wave.

The canteens you take depend on your situation. If you are facing several tanks, take crit canteens. Giant spam? Uber canteens (or crit if you can keep away from them). Expecting to be separated from the dispenser? Take 1 ammo canteen. Also remember, you can buy canteens as you run out of spawn. Stock up when you need to!

If you have money to goof off with, you can go Move Speed and Melee Speed for fun.
Big Bully: Knock Back Rage
This ability is unique to Heavy and when you learn to use it, you will realize how immensely powerful it is! If timed right, you can save the team from a loss. No kiddin'; it's THAT good. First let's take a look at how it charges.

Rage charges on damage you cause. If you are shooting common bots, it will charge very slowly. If you hit giants or tanks, it will charge faster; but if you are in the face of a tank/giant, your Rage will charge almost instantly. Since it's such a huge target, Heavy builds Rage rapidly vs. tanks. Once you have Rage, you use it by spinning up your gun and pressing your "taunt" key (by default, I believe that is G. I set mine to F 'cuz that's easier for me). You'll know you've done it right because you won't taunt and the Heavy will shout. BE VERY CAREFUL! If your Rage bar isn't red, then it's not full and if you hit your taunt key, YOU WILL ONLY TAUNT, which is extremely embarassing. And painful.

Using Rage against the small bots is a big waste. It won't even help you at all, because - while under Rage effects - your damage is reduced by 50%. This leaves you with a tactical choice: do I push, or do I kill? Almost always, stick with "kill". Your Rage is a utility that should be used in emergencies. Let's see some examples right now.
  • The best time ever to use your Knock Back Rage is when a giant bot is about to score the bomb. Pyro's airblast is the only other pushing force that affects it, but while it's scoring, it becomes immune to Pyro's blast, so nothing can stop it....except the Bully's Rage! YOU CAN PUSH GIANTS EVEN IF THEY ARE UBER CHARGED! Buy your team some time! Save the day!
  • Steel Gauntlet Heavy bots are really tough characters. Since they are so resilient to damage, it might be better to push them away to buy time for you and your team to cause enough damage to FINALLY bring them down. Take the 50% damage penalty; it's worth it here. (You might want to turn slightly left and right to hit all of the Heavy bots with the Rage. Push them back as a group.)
  • Rage can push a giant Quick-Fix Medic bot away from his heal target, leaving the heal target vulnerable. In my personal experience, after I push a giant Medic bot away from his heal target, he never "pops" his uber-charge. Since these two always walk in single-file, pushing the giant Medic bot away will give your team a clear shot!
  • In rare, but very possible cases, Rage can push a giant holding the bomb into a ravine to greatly stall him, or even into a pit to completely reset the bomb!
Big Bully: Your Health
This is something you need to keep an eye on. If you bought the sustain upgrades that I recommended, you shouldn't have to watch it always. One time you should is when you are fighting a giant and you have its aggro. If your Scout marks/milks it and you have some resistances, you should be able to hold your ground vs. that giant. Maybe even 1v1. Who knows, you might have to duck behind cover and wait for the dispenser to get you healthy enough to attack again. If you just ate a crit, check your health, and decide if you should move or keep firing. Just watch your health a bit when things get dicey.
Big Bully: SUPER Knock Back!
There is a little-known, secret SUPER KNOCK BACK that is very awesome! If you block a giant bot's (or boss bot's) path, it will attempt to shoot you. However, if you try this while ubercharged, the bot will attempt to jump over you. If a giant bot is in the air for whatever reason and you use your Rage against him, THE PUSHING EFFECT SKYROCKETS! You can push a giant/boss so hard, YOU MIGHT EVEN PUSH HIM BACK TO SPAWN!

I have also heard a rumor that is similar to this, except you crouch down and aim for the bot's head/neck. This will propel him straight up and he will take massive fall damage. (Note: This 2nd method is untested. I will update this when I get results.)
Big Bully: Tight Turns
Since your minigun does phenominal damage at point-blank, you can use this to a powerful advantage. If you're playing a mission where the enemy is going ballistic with crits, you can't stand in the open unless there are giants that are milked and you have high resistances. Sometimes, you won't have either, so we gotta improvise. Check out this screenshot:




If you stand there, as soon as the bots turn the corner, they will be in great danger of your miniguns MAXIMUM damage. Not only that, but since it's such a tight turn, the enemy can't react to you in time. Most of the bots that make this turn will be dead by the time they notice you. If any do react, you've already killed about 8-14 of them, and have max over-heal due to our +25hp on kill. I don't play Heavy often, so I can't tell you EVERY turn, but I CAN tell you to look for places like this where bots make tight turns and position yourself accordingly. This is also powerful if the Engie's sentry goes down and you have to hold out on your own. No problem for the bully!

While point-blank is really powerful, do try to get SOME distance. If you look at the picture, I stand about 8ft away from the turn. This makes the bots "funnel in" to a very small path; right into the spread of the minigun.

The main issue is that you do your best damage when you are up close. Many robots are going to hit you from a safe distance, and will "chip" out your health. Take cover when you are taking damage from long range and force bots to only engage you when you're close. You can chip back a little bit, but always watch your health!
Big Bully: Spies and Snipers
These two pests - if left unattended - will be the bane of your existance.

When the Administrator shouts "THE SPIES ARE HERE!", the A.I. generally doesn't spawn much else. Check your back and take cover from the rest of the bots. Once you beat back a rush of them and only a few remain, it should be up to your Pyro or other DPS class to clean up the rest. If your team is good, you should not spend much time Spy hunting. (Only exception is Mecha Engie. There is a Spy wave that sends 100 of them at you. You will almost exclusively be Spy hunting then.)

Beating Snipers is the same with other ranged attackers: break LOS (Line of Sight). Don't let them see you. It's mostly up to your teamates to bring down Snipers. If you can't break LOS, mow down bots for health to sustain against his shots long enough for your team to kill them. They only spawn in 2's (rarely more, unless they're huntsman; then you can expect 10ish).

(This section was added later due to popular request. Thanks for reminding me politely, everyone!)
The Bully is after you, tiny robots!
Now that you have graduated my "bully school", you should fair much better in MvM. Balance cover with poking out and shooting (knowing when just comes with experience. Sometimes, going Rambo is the best way to go, too), rage at the right time, stay in communication with your team, and you should be taking so many robots' lunch money! Go be The Bot Bully!

Special thanks to FroggerLogger for your inspiration to write!

...and to you, for reading! (Note: I will not accept random friend requests.)





















If you enjoyed my guide, join my fan club! Don't think of it as me looking for worship, but more like subscribing to my channel. https://steamhost.cn/steamcommunity_com/groups/upsilonfanclub
Works Cited
All images of weapons and the avatar are provided by teamfortress wiki.

The Heavy Bully comic known as http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/211/4/d/Nope_by_Art1st4786.jpg

All accessed June 15, 2013.


http://images.wikia.com/fallout/images/6/63/Crazy_Cat_with_AK47.png accessed June 21, 2013. Text was inserted by me.
196 Comments
Alsander and Ciaran 1 Jan, 2024 @ 2:59pm 
if a pyro doesn't know how to do angled flames on tank then a maxed FS WS heavy can easily top in tank dmg
Cat 4 Dec, 2018 @ 8:37am 
well the formula for comparing natashas damage to brass beast is wrong Stock minigun does 5/6 of brass beast damage and the -25 % (1/4) penalty is taken from stock, not the brass beast, which is 3/4 of those 5/6. So Natasha does 62.5 % of the brass beat's dmg.
BirbSMB 20 Mar, 2017 @ 10:37am 
Knockback Rage? I"m cringing.
Unsuper Guy 31 Jan, 2017 @ 4:59pm 
dont
Unsuper Guy 31 Jan, 2017 @ 4:59pm 
well i ont agree with the tomislav.i excell at it well at casual.community,and mvm
Fortron 27 Dec, 2016 @ 2:34pm 
very helpful thanks mate
A Caesar Salad 21 Dec, 2016 @ 6:58am 
And I would add how the knockback rage is very good against sentry busters
A Caesar Salad 21 Dec, 2016 @ 6:55am 
The only thing I would add is that Firing Speed is a BIG YES.
HedyL 31 Oct, 2016 @ 4:24pm 
Why the fuck would you use brass beast on MVM? you can get it's perks on stock minigun with just 100 credits.
Darkenned Gunne 3 Jul, 2015 @ 6:24pm 
I guess Heavy is now going to be my most likely class on Gear Grinder. (if you cannot tell what my main in almost everything is)